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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