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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 1995)
ecause they rt than they co nan said, onday throug; p.m. Studen: : or they will ne 244 A.P. Bet A ]Vt u R r ol. 101, No. 166 (8 pages) Established in 1893 Thursday • June 29, 1995 fc|TK4erchants adjust to road construction Stew Milne, The Battalion Workers clear and smooth the dirt on College Main in preparation for a concrete road. The cement will be oured later this week. College Main construction is scheduled to be complete Aug. 1. □ Access problems have resulted in the closing of Perfect Tan III and Lacey's Sterling and Stone. Dead Lazio's will be closed during July. By Tara Wilkinson The Battalion Dust swirls and bulldozers con tinue to roar on College Main. Although a few Northgate merchants have decided to close down for the remainder of construction being done on Col lege Main, most merchants will continue business as regularly as possible. The majority of merchants staying open for the duration of construction agree that the torn-up road has significantly slowed the activity of their businesses, but that the reno vations are necessary. The city of College Station or dered the replacement of worn- out, underground utility lines on College Main as part of the Northgate Revitalization Project. Todd McDaniel, project coor dinator, said concrete streets and wider sidewalks will replace the section of College Main from University Drive to Church Street. The sidewalks will be reddish-maroon stamped con crete which resembles brick. McDaniel said the revitaliza tion is progressing well. “The section of College Main from University to Church Street is about 50-percent com plete,” McDaniel said. College Station officials and merchants are looking toward an Aug. 1 finish date for construc tion in front of the College Main businesses. Crews then will pro ceed north on College Main with similar renovations. New businesses have suffered most from the construction’s road blocks and torn-up street, merchants said. X Perfect Tan III and Lacey’s Sterling and Stone already have temporarily shut down, but Mc Daniel said both will resume normal business hours by Aug. 1 at the latest. Todd Traylor, manager of Marooned Records and CDs, said the owner of Lacey’s is planning to reopen tentatively after July 4, for three or four days each week. Aaron Brown, co-owner of Dead Lazio’s, a College Main cof fee shop that opened April 17, said he and his partner have de cided to shut down for the month of July and reopen Aug. 1. “Because of construction, business has gotten so bad,” Brown said. “We’ve been losing money every day.” Brown said they will pay rent and utilities on the building, but are not making enough profit this summer to continue paying employees for the month of July. Kathy Dudley, manager of See Main, Page 6 /ba\\ LD First summer session ends Monday i Final examinations for the first sum mer session five-week classes are sched uled for Monday, July 3. The second sum mer session begins July 5. ' Tuition and fees for the second sum mer session are due Friday. Students who have not paid their tuition and fees by this day will have their registered classes dropped from their schedules. Final Exam Schedule All finals are on Monday, July 3 / Nails s Magazine Class meeting 8 - 9:35 a.m. 10-11:35 a.m. 12-1:35 p.m. 2 - 3:35 p.m. time 8-10 a.m. 10:30 a.m. — 12:30p.m. 1-3 p.m. 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. IT STUDIO reldraw 3.0 PRINTS ch x 6) -; from 135, negatives! JEl I with other offers L University to close for July Fourth holiday All campus facilities will be closed July 4 for the Independence Day holiday. Dining halls, libraries and computing centers will reopen July 5 for the first day of the second summer session. Publication notice: The Battalion will not publish on Mon day, July 3, or Tuesday, July 4, because of final examinations and Independence Day. Regular summer publication will re sume Wednesday, July 5. Texas A&M and the city of College Station are co-sponsoring a free July 4 celebration at Olsen Field Tuesday. The Old Fashioned Independence Day Celebration is presented by the College Station Noon Lions Club. The club has hosted the July 4 celebration for 36 years. Concession stands will begin serving when the field opens at 5:30 p.m. Games and activities will begin at 6 p.m., and will include jumping tents, a soccer ball kick contest, softball throw contest, sack races and an egg toss. The Knights of Columbus will raise the American flag at 8 p.m. Mu sical entertainment will begin shortly afterward. Musical performers will include Bob French of KBTX-TV, who will play guitar and sing; the Brazos File Photo Valley Chorale; the Brazos Country Grass Band; and the First Baptist Church Choir. The fireworks display with patriotic music will begin at 10 p.m. No parking will be allowed on the parking lot near the tennis courts, which will be the fireworks launch area. Campers and RVs are not allowed at the Olsen Field parking lot. ^Engineers test electric Porsche s controller „ ,pThe car's controller reg- nfstax ulates the supply of elec- _^^^gtrical current. —- By Javier Hinojosa ier as manyf 1 ^ Battalion lal topping | ^ division of Texas A&M’s Texas pizza. Engineering Experiment Station will conduct research on an electric sport on with otb* ca r ’ s acceleration capabilities, coupons. 1 The car is powered through a ler, please patented MOSFET DC motor con- ; Mr. Gatti's troller, produced by DAX Industries pic. of Houston. | The controller regulates the sup- 'ply of electrical current that goes into an electric car’s motor. The controller, which has been placed in the body of a Porsche look- a-like, will arrive at A&M Wednes day, and the University will test the car for three weeks. Mark Kohler, assistant director of the TEES Center for Electrochemical Systems and Hydrogen Research, said the controller is the equivalent of a fuel injector or carburetor in a gas-powered car. “Think of current as gas,” Kohler said. “The more of it you can pull, the faster the car can accelerate. Most of the controllers up ’til now have been small-power devices. Motor vehicles tended to be slow because there is not enough current being passed.” The controller supplies the motor with power needed to accelerate a ve hicle. DAX decided to build a con troller that supplied a current suffi cient enough to provide the accelera tion drivers are accustomed to. The controller provides speeds over 100 mph and accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in nine seconds. Charles Masterson, director of marketing for DAX, said the MOS FET controller is 99.6-percent energy efficient. “Our technology not only gives you more acceleration, but gives the bat tery a longer life,” Masterson said. Kohler said the controller helps move most of the car battery’s cur rent from one point to another with little waste. He added that the battery’s life cy cle can be extended by utilizing the energy in the battery. Kohler was chosen by DAX to se lect the car’s components. “I was told to pick out whatever motor, battery and components that needed to be put with the controller to make a good vehicle,” Kohler said. A kit car with a body resembling a Porsche was chosen by Kohler for its sporty appearance. “The idea was to get investors,” Kohler said. “We needed something to get people excited, something they would want to drive.” See CAR, Page 6 Program helps employees earn GEE) diplomas □ The program stresses the impor tance of continuing education for A&M employees and their families. By Michael Simmons ~ The Battalion Texas A&M University employees can pre pare themselves for the General Education De velopment diploma by participating in a preparatory program sponsored by the Depart ment of Human Resources. Michele Kinney, training and development specialist with the Department of Human Re sources, said the program runs year round in or der to prepare University employees to take the GED test. The GED diploma is the equivalent to a high school diploma. The test covers five general-topic areas: math, writing skills, science, social studies and litera ture and art. Employees are allowed to miss three hours of work each week to attend the preparatory class. The classes are held from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., Monday through Thursday. Kinney said that employees who have worked for the University for at least six months can be gin the program at any time and work at their own pace. “Progress is controlled by the individual stu dent,” Kinney said. “We have new students start ing the program on a continuing basis.” Since the program began in 1986, approxi mately 128 students have graduated, Kinney said. There are two graduation ceremonies each year, one in October and one in April, for those students who successfully complete the GED test. A&M employees who have successfully com- pleted the preparatory class can take the GED test at any time during the year. Starrla Craig, test ing supervisor for the Student Counseling Center, which admin isters the tests, said the that tests are giv en every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at the counseling center. Students can take the test in its entirety or in in dividual sections. “The center tests roughly 500 people a year, from both the human resources department and the surrounding community,” Craig said. “We administer tests to University employees, resi dents of Bryan and College Station and also high school students.” Hugh McElroy, associate director of the De partment of Human Resources, said the program stretches beyond improving the well-being of the University and its employees. “The social implications of the program have an impact on the homes and families of Universi ty employees,” McElroy said. “Think of the im pact it has on children when they come home and see Mom or Dad studying and doing homework.” The program stresses the importance of con tinuing education for employees and their fami lies, McElroy said. Paul Reyna, a graduate of the human re sources program, said the department is well- suited for the needs of the GED students. “Michele Kinney works with you to make sure you really understand the material,” Reyna said. “If you are having trouble with a subject area, they will pretest you over it.” Another program benefit available is having all the course material in English and Spanish, Reyna said. “For a lot of people, this is the only way they would be able to get their diplomas,” Reyna said. "We have new students starting the program on a continuing basis." — Michele Kinney Department of Human Resources