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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
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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:
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all Erika
Society:
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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.”