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iplishment.
TIMELESS STORY
Barry: Powerful acting makes
Restoration a winner.
Aggielife, Page 3
NEEDLESS NORTHGATE FACELIFT
Henderson: Students' money, not their interests, are an
integral part of the Northgate Revitalization Project.
Opinion, Page 11
HORSE MEAT
The Lady Aggies use tough
defense to knock off SMU.
Sports, Page 7
The Battalion
H \
1 ¥
, No. 85 (12 pages)
Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893
Monday • February 5, 1996
iave lost
the yeais
tudents celebrate canceled classes
'er
IMany A&M students
aid they enjoyed the
nexpected holiday from
lasses Friday, ignoring
warnings to stay off
an-College Station
oads.
? all of’93,1 left Col
ninus a few teeth
>rse for wear side. 1
n accident, missiej
I down a few grade
. me two years
md one semester
ny grades up to
(lards, duringwhic
topped thinking
poriant it was form
om this institution. I H
;k, but 1 find that it y Danielle Pontiff
s changed. I've sees
-us, men on the bus
offered standing
â– students wearing In-
/ university but the
w privileged to at-
'Howdy” returned,
h year of college,
L’s time to take care
it in the process of,
nore of the reason I
id the spirit and
aired me to return.
Kathy
Class of’95\
he Battalion
Texas A&M faculty, students and
taff got an unexpected three-day
eekend when cold weather and
feezing drizzle causing icy road con-
t of all, I haveyetto itions led University officials to shut
encourages tellers lo the
ini as many as space at
st be 300 words or'
uthor's name, class, anil
own A&M Thursday and Friday.
Thursday classes scheduled for
p.m. and later were canceled,
nd campus libraries and other fa-
ilities closed early.
The announcement that the Uni-
'ersity would be closed all day Friday
lue to inclement weather came
te fhursday at about 6 p.m.
The temperature in Bryan-Col-
ege Station reached a low of 28
legrees Thursday, and continued
right lo edit tellers foi
nt ID is required. Lelies
i to:
ilion â–  Mail Call
ed McDonald
&M University
e Station, IX
143-1111
)9) 045-2647
tamvm1.tamu.edu
7
s!
u fall over the weekend. Saturday
here was a high temperature of 23
legrees, a record low of 17 degrees
ind snow flurries.
The College Station Police Depart-
iccuracy. Letters may befeg^ i ssue d warnings about road
:onditions, urging motorists to use
extreme caution. Police departments
in both Bryan and College Station re
ported numerous traffic accidents be
ginning early Thursday morning, al
though an official weekend total is
not yet available.
The A&M Physical Plant respond
ed to the unusual weather by sanding
icy areas on campus, and the Depart-
ment of Parking, Transit and Traffic
Services blocked access to rooftop
parking garage spaces because of ice.
Some students could not get to their
cars all weekend.
But the weather on Friday was
not as severe as many officials had
expected, and most students did
not let the temperatures limit
their activities.
Jennifer Fuller, a sophomore
biomedical science major, said the
weather was not bad enough for
school to be canceled Friday, but
she was glad to have an unexpect
ed day off.
"I got to go out Thursday night,
which I don’t normally get to do
because I always have an organic
chemistry quiz or test on Friday,”
Fuller said. “I got out of a quiz, so
I was really happy.”
Melissa McQueen, a senior bioen-
vironmental sciences major, said the
weather did not keep her indoors
over the weekend.
“I went out every night, starting
with Thursday,” McQueen said. “I
parked on the roof of the MSC park
ing garage, but was able to get my
car before the access was blocked.
Some friends and I went ice skating
on the ice up there.”
Some students were confused
about which campus facilities were
open and which were closed.
Joy Czerwinski, a junior man
agement major who works at the
Commons Lobby front desk, said
many students asked him if dining
facilities were closed.
“All the cafeterias were open for
students who live on campus,” Czer
winski said. “What I found strange
was that the (Recreation Sports Cen
ter) was open Friday, while (Sterling
C.) Evans Library was closed.”
Bob Tu, a sophomore ocean engi
neering major who works in the
Evans Library reference depart
ment, said the library was closed
because students would rather
spend their day off at the Rec. Cen
ter than in study carrels.
“It wouldn’t have been wise to
have the library open,” Tu said. “Peo
ple knew the school was closed, so
they didn’t feel like studying.
“Even though the roads were
See Weather, Page 5
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... â– â– 
Stew Milne, Thi: Battalion
Jeff Matterm, a freshman biology major slides down the rainbow over Well
born Road Thursday afternoon.
A&M reaches
beyond campus
â–¡ Texas A&M University System
officials announced their goals
Thursday, which include attaining
independence for A&M-Galveston
and improving education at all
state levels.
By Lily Aguilar
The Battalion
Dr. Barry B. Thompson, Texas A&M chancellor,
said in a telecast Thursday that the Texas A&M
University System’s priorities include helping Texas
A&M at Galveston gain its independence.
The briefing, held via the System’s Trans-Texas
Videoconference Network, originated in Corpus
Christi and was transmitted to seven locations
across the state.
Thompson said the A&M College of Geosciences
at Galveston, which focuses on maritime studies,
might become an independent System university.
Dr. Ray Bowen, A&M president, said efforts are
being made to broaden the programs available at
Galveston and to increase enrollment.
“All our ducks are in a row,” Bowen said. “Now we
are just getting them walking in the right direction.
“We have the support of the community ... and
Galveston is a great place to be. We are going to
make it into a full-blown university with student
services and financial aid.”
Another of the System’s priorities is involve
ment in a Harris County outreach program in
which System resources will be used to improve
educational opportunities for inner-city children.
Preston Sides, Harris County extension director
for the A&M Agricultural Extension Service, said
the System has implemented a pilot leadership
program at Alief Middle School with the help of
the Leadership Center of Houston.
Twenty-six children were selected to partici
pate in weekly classes to study self-improvement
and leadership skills.
“Teachers identified these kids as being at risk,
meaning they were not living up to their poten
tial,” Sides said. “We have had tremendous results
having only had the program for one semester.”
He said 85 percent of the students in the program
have improved their grades and 90 percent have got
ten involved with extracurricular activities.
See System, Page 5
A&M rolls with the times
mies
ffice
nal Assoc.
Inc.
fjpi^ TAfVfU enrollment dropped from 41,790
in the Ml to 39,183 in the spring.
m ^'°rp,s enrollment dropped from 2,146
§ij, j cadets m the fall to 1,947 In the spring,
Decreases are due to a high fall graduation
rate and low influx of freshman urn!
transfer students in the spring.
The average number of incoming students
in the fall: 6,000.
The average number ofineoming students
in the spring: 1,200.
â–¡ Total enrollment at A&M and en
rollment in the Corps decreased
from the fall semester to the spring
semester.
By Courtney Walker
The Battalion
The number of students enrolled at Texas
A&M dropped from the fall semester to the
spring semester, which registrar officers said is a
normal occurrence.
Statistics collected after the 12th day of classes
show that overall enrollment at A&M dropped from
41,790 students in the fall to 39,183 in the spring,
and membership in the Corps of Cadets dropped
from 2,146 cadets to 1,947.
Don Carter, admissions and records registrar,
said the decrease is due to high graduation rates in
December and a low influx of freshman and transfer
students in the spring.
The average number of new students in the fall is
6,000, but the spring average is only 1,200.
Col. Donald Johnson,Corps deputy commander,
said the decrease in spring Corps enrollment is due
to students leaving and a lack of incoming freshman.
“Some people find out they don’t like the Corps
See Enrollment, Page 5
Aggies enhance small town
tlThe Smithville project
s providing students
'vith practical civil
engineering experience
end helping Texas
town improve its
infrastructure.
7 Pamela Benson
Ihe Battalion
Several Texas A&M civil en-
!>Heering students have been
1'ving Smithville, a small
"exas town in Bastrop County,
! face-lift.
During the fall semester, stu
dents in senior civil engineering
classes taught by Walter Moore,
professor, and Melody Bruner,
assistant lecturer, participated
in projects that will change the
quality of life in Smithville.
The class assignment was for
students to break into small
groups and develop strategies to
correct some of the city’s infra
structure problems.
These small groups, or con
sulting firms, traveled to
Smithville to present their ideas,
competing for the opportunity to
implement them.
Vernon Richards, mayor of
Smithville; Bob Miller, city man
ager; and two engineers from the
Lower Colorado River Authority
selected the plans of three stu
dent consulting firms. Each win
ning group was awarded $100.
The designs of senior civil en
gineering students Warren Rus
sell, Shawn Shuler and Ray
mond Wells, members of Public
Works consulting firm, included
a water management system
controlled by computer.
Russell said the software his
group used was so new that they
had to teach themselves how to
use it before they could begin
learning about city restrictions,
codes and other information es
sential to the project’s success.
The students said they were
excited about doing the project,
See Town, Page 5
University observatory
offers limited accessibility
Stew Milne, The Battalion
The observatory is on top of the 14th floor of the O&M Building and
is closed to the general public because of fire safety regulations.
â–¡ Students can witness
the view from the
O&M Building, the
highest point between
Houston and Dallas,
by appointment only.
By Courtney Walker
The Baitalion
Peering through windows of
Texas A&M’s Oceanography
and Meteorology Building’s ob
servatory, students and faculty
can see, on a clear day, all the
way to the College Station wa
ter tower on Highway 6.
Once used by meteorology
students to study weather pat
terns, the observatory, which is
the tallest building between
Dallas and Houston, is now
empty except for a few dusty
chairs and a chalkboard.
Today computers are main
stream in weather studies, and
meteorology students rarely use
old techniques of spending
hours in the observatory.
Dr. Gerald R. North, meteo
rology department head, said if
the observatory is ever re
opened, it would probably be
used as office space because me
teorology students are taught
differently than they were sev
eral years ago.
“The meteorology curricu
lum has changed so much over
the last couple of years that
our students use computers
and view graphs instead of just
looking into the sky from an
observatory,” North said.
The observatory, which sits
on the 14th floor, went under
lock and key to the general
public two years ago because
it did not meet fire safety reg
ulations. The observatory has
only one exit and entrance
and no sprinklers.
Gabe Salas, a senior journal
ism major, said he visited the
observatory before it was closed
to the general public and wishes
it was still open to everyone.
“It was a relaxing, quiet
place where I could do work
and get all views of campus,”
Salas said..
Wheelchair inaccessibility is
another reason the observatory
was closed. After reaching the
12th floor, the elevator stops
and visitors must climb two
flights of narrow stairs.
See Observatory, Rage 5