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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1995)
X A A Sc JS/l U N R T 'o could at n £. 'uding in e said. “% s of yet. - President, n '°r geneti ncerned si d a pressed wii sm of jio expresseij ” he said, mcerns wen the film st ^tee. smoothly; impresset "s are hat- Towing the line I Keeping the faith All-SWC offensive lineman Calvin Collins does the dirty work for the Aggies. Sports, Page 7 Pawlikowski: Catholic students should use the film Priest as a way to grow spiritually. Opinion, Page 9 Video honors Dr. Dre, TLC and Weezer lead the way at the MTV Video Music Awards. Aggielife, Page 5 as handlings' decision >ened. Jortant fib. e who warn Battalion 102, No. 10 (10 pages) Established in 1893 Friday • September 8, 1995 ncephalitis carrier found in College Station laying indoors during early enings, using insect jellent and changing water Council: [flower pots are ways B-CS id campus residents can pd off mosquitoes that may irry the disease. James Bernsen IE Battalion jlhe Texas A&M campus is being arched for possible breeding grounds mosquitoes that may carry a fatal ■ain of the disease encephalitis, which cently killed a 33-year-old College ation man. The search is in response to Thurs- iy’s announcement from Brazos Coun- Health Department officials that a ulex mosquito that was infected with t. Louis encephalitis was found in Col- ■ge Station. Council: mational l Rudder, all Erika Society: national in 202 is neces- lied. For te Baron 4397. i service ent and s. Items ter than the de- n dead- events it's Up. please m. Dr. William Conkling, with the Bra zos County Health Department, said the man who died from the disease had traveled in several other counties, but was most likely infected in town. Conkling said traps were set in the area around Francis Drive, and a mos quito with the virus was identified. “We had known we had a case of St. Louis encephalitis, which precipitated the search,” Conkling said. “That (the presence of infected mosquitoes) has now been confirmed.” Dr. Jim Olson, a Texas A&M profes sor of entomology, said the virus is car ried by birds and can be transported to humans when mosquitoes bite the birds and then bite humans. “[The mosquitoes] preference for feeding is, first and foremost, birds,” Olson said. “But on occasions when birds and humans get in close proximi ty, the mosquito spins off and goes for an opportunity.” The Culex mosquito, otherwise known as the southern house mosqui to, is the only carrier suspected, but other mosquitoes may transmit the disease as well. Once a person is infected, they can not infect others by direct contact, and the disease is fatal in 15 percent of the people who are infected. The primary symptoms of St. Louis encephalitis are fever, nausea and/or vomiting, sleepiness, con fusion and dis orientation, delirium and very strong headaches. The people most at risk are infants and the elderly, but only 1 percent of mosquitoes are likely to be in fected, and only one in 250 people bitten actually get the disease. The majority of those infected survive with no permanent health problems. There is no treatment for the virus itself to date, Olson said, but antibi otics can be given to help the body’s immune system. Olson said mosquitoes breed any where where there is standing water and often can be found in flowerpots and pools. “The first concern we have, therefore, in order to break the cycle ... is to stop the breeding,” he said. “And that falls on the [home] owners.” Charles Sip- pial, assistant vice president for A&M’s Phys ical Plant, said the University is taking quick action to minimize the danger. “We started today looking for areas where we have standing water,” Sippial said. “If we can’t drain them, then we will use larvacide.” Sippial said the Physical Plant will also look at areas where grass is being watered to determine whether it should be stopped. “We will evaluate areas where we have runoff, and if we have standing water, then we will cut back,” he said. Conkling said the main things area residents can do to protect themselves are to stay indoors during the mosqui to’s prime feeding hours, which are in the early evening, and change any wa ter in flower pots or other areas every three days. “Don’t panic, but the public should protect itself by stopping mosquito feed ing and mosquito breeding,” he said. Olson also cautioned residents to be careful with “bug zappers.” “Based on the research we have, they attract far more insects than they kill,” he said. “If [people are] going to use [hug zappers], they should put them as See Mosquitoes, Page 6 RCC relocates to Read Building Amtrak issues its last call in CS 3l1ie computing center was moved to allow for the reconstruction of ushing Library. The ew computer lab iers more terminals. Ijames Bernsen :he Battalion Texas A&M students look ing for the Remote Computing ffentercan find it beneath Kyle :eld, where the center was re bated from the Cushing Li brary this summer. Renamed the Read Lab, the waputer center is housed in 50 Read Building beneath the last stands of Kyle Field, adjoin- agG. Rollie White Coliseum. Dr, John Dinkel, associate :rovost for computing, said the 3ove was as a result of renova- mto the Cushing Building. For the past couple of 'ears, we have been looking for place for the RCC,” Dinkel 'aid. “We wanted something ifeal to campus, and [the De partment of] Health and Kine- eame forward.” The center was combined *ith an existing, smaller com pter center in the health and anesiology department. Loren Cervera, a senior me trology major, said the new was difficult to find. The RCC was in the middle atcampus,” Cervera said. "I ess I just found out about iisthrough friends.” Becca Musselman, a senior elementary education major, said there are benefits to the center being near Kyle Field. “It is hard to find,” Mussel- man said. “The only good thing is for commuter students who want to stop by in the morning.” Waine Newland, Read Lab second shift supervisor, said | many students do not know the center is there, and the ones who do know say it is too far away. “I’ve been told by users and faculty and staff that it’s an in convenience,” Newland said. “I really don't think so.” Dinkel said the new loca tion is probably better than the old one. 'There’s parking nearby,” he said. “It’s right by the MSC. It’s : a little hit off to the side, but the necessity of parking negat ed that.” The change also allowed for a much-needed expansion of the center, he said. “The existing RCC was too crowded, and we couldn’t get ; more equipment in there,” he said. “WeVe got more comput ers, and it's not filled-out yet.” Musselman said she likes the new lab better than the old RCC. “I think this lab is better be- • cause there’s more space and many more terminals,” she said. “It doesn’t seem crowded. You used to have to wait in line sometimes to get into the RCC.” The Read Lab has 33 of 486s, 33 of Macintosh Centris 610s, 28 of Power Macs and 32 of VT200 terminals, which are used exclusively for net work applications. □ The train service in College Station will end Sunday, despite mar keting ideas to intro duce "Aggie Special" revenue. By Courtney Walker The Battalion Amtrak will end Texas Eagle train service to Bryan-College Station Sunday as a result of the company’s national effort to re duce service and cost. Since 1988, the train has pro vided southbound service to Houston and northbound service to Dallas from College Station. The train service will be re placed by two Thruway bus ser vices beginning Monday. Buses will run to Longview and Houston, where passengers can board Amtrak trains. The station on Marion Pugh Drive in College Station will op erate the bus service for a few weeks, but in October will move to the new Brazos Transit Ter minal in Bryan. Cathy Locke, College Station city attorney, said the service will change locations because Amtrak leases the land the sta tion is on, and the City of Col lege Station chose not to renew its land-lease for the station site. “City council decided not to renew the lease because Amtrak is terminating their services,” Locke said. “The decision was made after Amtrak announced it was terminating service.” Sherman Frost, chairman of Passenger Rail Initiative, a citi zens group of Bryan-College Sta tion residents, said Amtrak has been in serious financial trouble since January and would go bank rupt if they did not cut services. Nick Rodnicki, The Battalion Passengers board one of the last Amtrak trains to come through College Station. Amtrak is discontinuing service to and from College Station effective Sunday. Mark Willis of the Bryan- College Station Chamber of Commerce said Amtrak was losing $1.6 million a year be cause they did not have a con stant flow of passengers. “They didn’t market well and did not run at the right times to meet clientele,” Willis said. Amtrak publicly announced the nationwide reduction of train service in April and has already cut 25 percent of its service throughout the United States. Despite community efforts over the last six months, Willis said there was no way to save the station. “They have to cut some where, and they (Amtrak) are looking for the smallest opera tions that are losing the most money,” he said. In Fall 1993, Amtrak reduced the daily train service to three times a week after the passenger count dropped from more than 7,000 in 1989 to 4,000 in 1994. Although there was a signifi cant decrease in passengers over the last five years, Tex Owens, local volunteer coordi nator for Amtrak, said there were plenty of Texas A&M stu dents who rode the train home to Dallas on Fridays and came back on Sunday. “There were at least 50 to 60 student [passengers on week ends] because their parents did n’t want the young ladies to dri ve late at night on the highway,” Owens said. “Then the guys found out about it, so they would park their gas guzzling trucks and ride the train.” Shutting down the train ser vice takes away 1,000 seats available for traveling, Owens said, since a bus does not have as many seats as a train. Because of the discontinued service, more travelers will hit the roads, he said. “This will turn a lot of people on the highway that were satis fied traveling [by train], other wise,” he said. Willis said offers were made by B-CS residents to try and help the train live up to its mot- See Amtrak, Page 6 lack former students come together Aggie Umoja" will feature "'orkshops, forums and a briquet to bridge the gap ween the former and current students. h Wes Swift fHE Battalion Several generations of African-American i! e xas A&M students will meet during the Black Former Student Reunion today. More than 75 former students, represent- years of African-American graduates, :fe expected to attend the three-day confer ee that will feature workshops, forums and banquet. Aggie Umoja, the theme of the reunion, is designed to bridge the gap between former and current students. Felicia James, assistant to the vice presi dent for student affairs and Class of ’87, said umoja is the Swahili term for “unity”,repre senting the reunion’s purpose. “This is a chance to build networks be tween the former students and the current students,” James said. “It will update the for mer students on how much the University has changed, and it gives the current students a chance to meet and interact with successful former students.” Those who attend the reunion will discuss the changes facing African-American students Steven Traylor, a junior finance major par ticipating in the reunion for the first time, said he thinks the former students will be surprised by the changes in the University. “We still face some of the same issues that [the former students] faced,” Traylor said, “but there have been a lot of changes in the policies and rules that affect African-Ameri can students.” James said she can see how the University has changed since beginning her studies at A&M in 1983, and believes other former stu dents will notice it as well. “The former students will realize that, as far as African-Americans are concerned, there have been changes, especially in [class] size,” she said. “When I began my studies in 1983, there were maybe 500 African-American stu dents on this campus. “Now there are 1,200. That’s a small percentage of the student body, but a big jump in numbers.” Traylor said he is looking forward to meet ing the former students and creating contacts. “Basically, it’s a chance to get advice from See Reunion, Page 6 The show goes on Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president for student af fairs, rejected an appeal by con cerned Catholic students who wanted to block tonight’s screen ings of Priest. Jennifer Below, a senior Eng lish major and spokeswoman for the Catholic Student Associa tion, said the film attacked the beliefs and sacraments of the Catholic Church. The MSC Council Executive Committee decided to show the film after hearing Below’s con cerns on Wednesday. The Catholic Student Asso ciation will have a table set up in the Rudder lobby during tonight’s screenings to provide literature on the beliefs of the Catholic Church. An announce ment about the table will be made before the movie starts for students with questions about the film’s portrayal of the religion. Despite some students’ charges, Below said she was not arguing for censorship or trying to cover up problems in the Catholic Church. “The issue has been about our attempting to combat the misunderstandings on this cam pus that Catholics are not Christians,” she said. “We most certainly are.”