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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 1995)
1st 1, If A. Sc 1S/L U N V R T t the/ol. 101, No. 183 (6 pages) ipimHBL ~ Established in 1893 Wednesday • August 2, 1995 3 toll the yet Future of Law, Puryear residence halls uncertain be me; iy a iretio Demolition of the two ‘ttedfr ... e UrNorthside non-aircondi- ^ n piioned halls will not be de- prevercided until Fall 1995. iventt 3 ingcr;jJ Katherine Arnold ness fhe Battalion ty wit; shot The future of Law and Puryear resi le aredence halls will remain in question crime mtil a third structural analysis of the \ Coibuildings is completed. partt fficer.i respc The report was not completed in time to make the agenda of the Texas A&M Board of Regents’ Aug. 31 meet ing. The Board will make the final de cision to either renovate or demolish the two halls. The third structural analysis began in January after the regents turned down A&M administrators’ requests to demolish the buildings. University officials had planned to tear down the halls this summer. Two prior reports indicated that the build ings had extensive structural damage that had to be repaired. Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice presi dent for student affairs, said the recom mendation to demolish Law and Puryear is based strictly on safety issues. “The issue for us is that we have re ports from engineers saying that the buildings have faulty foundations,” Southerland said. “Something has to be done.” Ron Sasse, director of the Depart ment of Student Affairs, said structur al reports indicate that renovating the buildings will cost about as much as Nick Rodnicki, The Battalion want:Regents have yet to make the final decision to either renovate or demolish Law and Puryear halls. t and ; hbors; not: olice ,n func te a the cost of a new building. Renovations would include founda tion repair, asbestos removal and up dating facilities to be accessible to dis abled students as required by the American Disabilities Act. “It would cost about $6 million to renovate the dorms, which does not in clude bringing the buildings up to code for the American Disabilities Act” Sasse said. “We could build a new dor mitory for about the same amount.” Although the costs of renovation and a new building are comparable, the University has no plans to con struct new residence halls, Sasse said. Last March, the Residence Hall As sociation proposed rent increases to help pay for renovating Law and Puryear. Despite RHA’s recommenda tion, Sasse said demolition must be looked at from a financial perspective. “This is all students’ money that we are working with,” he said. “Everyone would be paying for the renovation. We just don’t think renovation would be a wise use of students’ money.” Demolition of the halls would cost $650,000, which includes asbestos abatement and demolition. The money for demolition already has been set aside, Sasse said. Demand for non-airconditioned halls like Law and Puryear has de creased in the past three years. In Fall 1993, 208 students requested to live in non-airconditioned halls, and 289 spaces were available. The University received 139 requests for 443 available spaces Jn 1994 and 50 requests for 166 available spaces in 1995. If the regents decide to renovate rather than demolish the halls, air conditioning systems will be installed. Chareny Rydl, assistant director of student affairs, said students have not been assigned to Law and Puryear halls for fall, and the halls will remain empty until a decision is made. “Either way you look at it, students can’t live there,” Rydl said. “If they de molish them or renovate them, we can’t have students occupying the rooms.” Law and Puryear combined have 402 resident spaces. In Spring 1995, 279 students lived in Law and F*uryear. Of those students, 141 renewed their housing contracts. All students were See Halls, Page 4 Providing a Helping Hand School Re-entry Program encourages chronically ill cids to return to school Police s one:.; niver>: . i A&M graduate stu- ■zsck ° ntion lents will participate in S>is program, created by ch^exas a&M and Scott event nd White Hospital. ■ and®. elpl^y Javier Hinojosa andtfcHE Battalion dthese: Texas A&M and Scott and j cohes/Lite Hospital have created a i resi(it' ro gT a m that makes returning > school easier for children with 3 can! lrori ic illnesses, nd by p 'Lh 0 School Re-entry Program -jiciou; ' r Chronically Ill Children will )omms e £i n this fall at Scott and ^ 0 tj/hite Hospital in Temple. The program’s research team onnie ;>ns ^ s t s ^ wo A&M professors, gjjjVo Scott and White doctors and tstoit Ve A&M graduate students. theird 16 ^ eam will work primarily ith children who have cancer come; waren lity. awarer nd. sickle cell anemia, but the rogram will expand to include iabetes and cystic fibrosis. , ,, , Dr. Frances Worchel, a mem- 1 dal ' er of the research team and an T &M associate professor of edu- ! P’ Rational psychology, said going ud tn. ack to school is difficult for srsity, -ironically ill children because of ^ ! iedical and emotional reasons, mnitv ma y be that a child has ad an amputation of a limb or leratHair loss and feels embarrassed oudot } _ Q ^. 0 sebool,” Worchel said. racU id Cob ities,’ ity is-' o taker “They don’t know how to explain things to their friends.” Dr. Robert Heffer, a member of the research team and an A&M assistant professor of psy chology, said prolonged absences make children hesitant about re turning to school. “They don’t feel connected to their peers,” he said. “We try to lower the emotional and physical barriers that keep these kids from being successful by creating an atmosphere where they can feel successful and confident.” The other two members of the research team are Dr. William Rae, a psychologist at Scott and White, and Dr. Lawrence Frankel, a pediatrician at Scott and White. Worchel said that the pro gram administrators work with the school, at the children’s re quest, to set up a program for their peers. The program includes a videotape of scenes from the hospital and the treatment so the children’s classmates can see what the experience is like. A question and answer period also can be arranged. “We follow up to make sure that any concerns of the child or family have been met,” she said, “and to make sure that there is a plenty of open communication between the teacher and the hospital personnel.” See School, Page 6 Students can guard ^against slamming ■o tSTENlt, irt/LYf; 3A*9 ©pi □ Students' long dis tance service cannot be switched without their consent if they sign a restriction form with GTE. By Jill Saunders The Battalion Texas A&M stu dents can prevent i unauthorized switch- j ing of their long-dis tance carriers, called slamming, by signing GTE’s long-distance restriction form, i Bill Erwin, public relations manager of GTE, said that GTE is one of the local phone companies that gives equal access to long-distance carriers, and it can easily stop slamming. I “To prevent slamming, GTE customers can sign a form to block changes in their long-distance carrier without their written permission,” Er win said. A&M students should sus pect that slamming has oc curred if they receive a bill from a company they do not recognize, he said. Annette Eslick, senior com puter science major, said she was a victim of slamming. “It really made me mad when my long-dis tance company was changed without my consent,” Eslick said. “I’m glad GTE offers some protec tion to keep it from happening again.” The Federal Com munications Com mission (FCC) re cently amended its rule on slamming, making it more dif ficult for the unauthorized switching to occur. The amended rules require ap proval forms authorizing the See PHONE, Page 4 A&M Creamery kicks the bucket □ Due to the Cream ery's closing May 31, the Retail Sales Outlet on West Campus will be selling only Blue Bell ice cream for the next two years. By Libe Goad The Battalion P pople are screaming for ice cream, and the storekeepers at the west campus Retail Sales Out let for the animal science de partment can’t take it anymore. Workers at the Rosenthal Meat Science and Technology Center, famous for its generous scoops of Aggiemade ice cream, are bearing the brunt of the blame for a dwindling supply of the popular dessert. Jennifer Wahrmund, a store keeper at the center and a ju nior animal science major, said customers are not pleased when they discover the west campus store is starting to carry only Blue Bell ice cream instead of ice cream from the A&M Dairy Production Laboratory.' “People get angry at me,” Wahrmund said. “All I can say is, ‘Hey, I just work here.’” Since the laboratory, or “Creamery,” closed May 31, the Retail Sales Outlet has been dishing out its last con tainers of the creamy dessert and replacing them with fla vors from the Blue Bell cream ery in Brenham. The creamery closed after the Parking, Transit and Traf fic Services took over the build ing to turn it into a five-story parking garage to accommodate the proposed library, computing and study complex next to the Sterling C. Evans Library. The Retail Sales Outlet con tinues to sell meat products leftover from animal science de partment activities and brand- name dairy products Monday through Friday and during home football games, various cuts of beef, lamb and pork can be purchased at reduced prices, even with Aggiebucks. Though the meat will con tinue to be sold, nothing will satiate the appetite of ice cream lovers until a new creamery opens. The Creamery’s manager and dairy science graduate student Hector Astorga is planning and coordinating the opening of a similar research facility in 1997. Astorga said the new facili ties will compensate for the two-year loss of production since milk trucks could barely drive through the congested streets near the creamery. “There will be a long down time, but it is good that we’re getting away from the main campus,” Astorga said. When people learn that the regular ice cream flavors will not return for two years, Julie Hodges, another employee, said that people demand names and numbers they can call to complain. “They drive us all crazy,” she said. ' Stew Milne, The Battalion Julie Hodges scoops into one of the last flavors of ice cream made at the Creamery. All other flavors sold are made by Blue Bell. Wahrmund said the remain ing cartons of french silk and chocolate ice creams will last until mid-August and then the homemade flavors will be gone until the new creamery opens. Despite the future plans for See Creamery, Page 2 ACS establishes minority scholars program □ Scholarships from the American Chemical Soci ety and A&M encourage minorities to seek chemical professions. By Michael Simmons The Battalion A new minority scholars program established by the American Chemical Society will increase the number of undergraduate scholar ship incentives offered by Texas A&M’s Department of Chemistry. The ACS recently selected 201 recipients to receive more than $600,000 in scholarships for the 1995-96 school year. Dr. John Hogg, undergraduate advisor for the Department of Chemistry, said Noe Tamze will receive the University’s first ACS minority scholarship this fall. Although not a chemistry major, Noe Tamze, from Edinburg, Texas, will be the first ACS scholarship recipient to attend A&M, Hogg said. ACS scholarships are awarded based on a student’s financial need and academic performance. “The scholarship programs available to [Chemistry] majors are a good incentive for students to continue studying in various fields,” Hogg said. “A lot of students don’t realize that chemistry is good, if not better than other majors, to prepare them for medical school.” The chemistry department also offers scholarships for under graduate students and graduating seniors who will be continuing their educations. The Monsanto Company, based in St. Louis, Mo., annually do nates $35,000 to the chemistry department for undergraduate stu dents and those students who wish to pursue graduate degrees in chemistry, Hogg said. Monsanto awards 20 undergraduate scholarships awarded each year to chemistry majors of all classifications at A&M. The scholar ships, each valued at $500 per semester, are renewable based on a student’s academic perfonnance. See Scholars, Page 4 American Chemical Society Minority Scholars Program Chemistry Scholarship Program will benefit African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans. Three minority groups are underrepresented in the chemical professions. The graphs below show the percentage each group represents in 1) our overall population and 2) the overall number of 1994 B.S. chemistry graduates. The American Chemical Society's new Minority Scholars Program is designed to bring more of these minorities into the science workplace. AFRICAN AMERICANS IVrccnlajic of L’.S. population: 12 Ecrcctilacc ol chemistry crachiitics 3.3 HISPANICS Percentage of Ij.S. population *).y Percentage of chemistry graduates: 4.1 JJ *3 of total population I c )94 IH r '< B.S degrees in chemistry 1994 Courtesy of 1994 ACS Starting Salary Survey and 1994 US. Census projections