The Battalio
ol. 102, No. 165 (6 pages)
Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893
THE BATT ON-LINE: http://bat-web.tamu.edu
Tuesday • July 16, 1996
eltsin’s health
questioned after
ancelled meeting
MOSCOW (AP) — Boris
feltsin abruptly postponed a
neeting with Vice President A1
lore on Monday, raising new con-
pms about his fragile health.
Aides described the Russian
president as exhausted, not ill,
ut said he has been avoiding
nedical checkups.
Gore, in Moscow to orchestrate a
series of Cabinet-level encounters
Detween Russian and U.S. officials,
would have been in a position to ob
serve Yeltsin’s appearance and ap-
iarent state of health. Yeltsin has
Deen little seen in recent weeks.
The Kremlin insists that long
days campaigning simply tired
the 65-year-old president.
“He just needs a good, proper
rest,” said Yeltsin’s chief
spokesman, Sergei Medvedev.
Aides said Yeltsin started a
two-week vacation Sunday at
the government resort outside
Moscow where he recuperated
from heart ailments last year.
They said he probably would
in Center.
meet with Gore there Tuesday.
Medvedev said Yeltsin has not
had a real checkup since late last
year and has refused in recent
weeks even to allow his blood
pressure to be measured.
“It's very difficult for the doc
tors,” Medvedev said.
He said doctors might exam
ine Yeltsin during his vacation
at the resort in Barvikha, seven
miles northwest of Moscow.
The abrupt postponement fol
lowed a string of no-shows that
renewed worries in recent weeks
about the president’s fitness.
Yeltsin’s energetic re-election
campaign clearly took a toll on
his health. Medvedev said the
president worked 16- and 17-
hour days, and now faces pres-
sures to form a new government.
“I see no serious grounds for
panicky assertions that some
thing serious has occurred, that
something is once again wrong
with Yeltsin’s health,” Medvedev
told reporters in the Kremlin.
Shuttle program works to
eliminate drunk driving
DAB founders hope to start the bus service in the fall
By Brandon Hausenfluck
The Battalion
Almost 42 percent of Texas A&M students
admit to driving after drinking alcohol.
DAB (Designate A Bus) Transit, a non
profit venture, is working with The Brazos
Valley Community Action Agency to allevi
ate the problem.
DAB will provide shuttle buses on Thurs
day, Friday and Saturday nights in an effort
to reduce the number of accidents involving
drunk drivers.
In 1993, the Harvard University School of
Public Health surveyed 140 colleges across
the country regarding alcohol consumption
on campus. Texas A&M students did not
fare well in the study. Aggies exceeded the
national average in almost every category.
Almost 42 percent of Aggies surveyed ad
mitted to driving after consuming alcohol;
the national average was 26.5 percent. When
asked whether they drove after having five
or more drinks, 20.9 percent answered yes;
9.2 percent was the national average.
LT. Scott McCollum, College Station Po
lice Department public information officer,
said he is aware of the problem of drunk dri
vers in the B-CS area and thinks DAB Tran
sit will be good for the community.
DAB
WEB SITE
http://www.dabtransit.com
“There is a problem with drunk driving in
College Station,” he said. “The founding fa
thers of DAB have tried to pull together to
solve a big problem. The program will defi
nitely be beneficial, but the key element of it
being a success is if the citizens it’s targeting
actually use it.”
McCollum said he hopes the program will
help people to change the way they go out.
“There will have to be a change of lifestyle
for some people who Eire used to having their
cars with them when they go out,” he said.
“When people drive drunk, they take huge
chances. And a good thing about DAB is it
will benefit even those who don’t drink by
keeping the drunk drivers off the road.”
Matthew Kenyon, a senior biomedical sci
ence major, came up with the idea of DAB
Transit and developed it with the help of sev
eral volunteers. He said Texas A&M and
BryEm-College Station need some sort of pub
lic trEinsportation to deal with drunk drivers.
“DAB Transit will be helpful to the com
munity because it will help reduce the num
ber of alcohol accidents; it will reduce the
risk of alcohol-related deaths; streets will be
safer to travel at night; it will provide mass
transportation at night; and it could create
jobs for B-CS residents,” Kenyon said.
He also said the committee is developing
an operating schedule for the B-CS area.
“The buses will run from 8:00 p.m. until
3:00 a.m,” Kenyon said. “We are hoping to
have an off-duty police officer there (on the
buses) to prevent any fighting or mischief
that might occur on the buses. Up north and
See DAB, Page 2
A&M student sets sights on city council seat
By Melissa Nunnery
The Battalion
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he College Station City Council will hold
a special election on Aug. 10 to fill Mayor
Lynn Macllhaney’s seat — and a Texas
A&M student has his eye on it.
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Gwendolyn Struve, The Battalion
Brad Martin, a senior horticulture major, is run
ning for a College Station City Council seat.
Brad Martin, a senior horticulture
major, is running for the seat against
five other candidates.
Martin said he is running because
he wants to make a difference and rep
resent the community.
“People like to see young people get
involved in government,” Martin said.
“I’ve had very positive reactions and a
lot of support.”
Only 26, Martin does not think his
age or status as a part-time student will
be problematic for him in the election.
“It’s to my advantage to be young,”
he said. “I’ll work very hard and be
enthusiastic.”
Martin said he has met a lot of peo
ple in the community through active
participation in community organiza
tions. He is on the BoEird of Directors
of Brazos Beautiful and the adminis
trative board of A&M Methodist
Church. He is also involved with Elder
Aid and owns a landscaping business
in College Station.
Martin said his situation is unique
because he is both a student and
businessman.
“I mainly want citizens to know
even though I’m a student. I’m more
permanent,” Martin said.
He said student representation on the
College Station City Council is importEmt
to the city’s relationship with A&M.
“It’s important (for College Station)
to get involved with the University,”
Martin said. “There is already a good
relationship with the University; I’d
like to see it get stronger.”
Martin said there is no student
representation on City Council be
cause many students are not regis
tered to vote in Brazos County. He
said he would like to see students
and permanent residents of College
Station treated equally.
Martin would like to see more stu
dents involved in community service
organizations.
“I would like to set something up
on a countywide basis that would be
like the Big Event, only year-round,”
Martin said.
Michelle Olesen, who graduated
See Martin, Page 2
Groups work to improve campus recycling
Pat James, The Battalion
By Amy Protas
The Battalion
Although Texas A&M was ranked
number one by the Texas Natural Re
source Conservation Commission for its
recycling efforts, many students believe
more can be done.
The Texas A&M Recycling Center recy
cles all paper products, aluminum cans
and toner cartridges from over 200 build
ings on campus. The sale of these materi
als helps fund the center.
Cassandra DeLarios, assistant recy
cling coordinator at the Recycling Cen
ter and a senior geography major, said
improvements need to be made within
the University.
“In 1991, we received a governor’s
award for having the best university-run
recycling program,” DeLarios said. “But
now we are at a stalemate. We’ve in
creased our intake but haven’t increased
our efficiency.”
DeLarios said recycling is often neglect
ed at A&M because it is not a top priority.
“They (the University) have a budget,
and it’s based on whatever is good for the
year,” DeLarios said. “But they don’t con
sider the long run. We’re breaking even,
but we also have to deal with a volatile
paper market.”
Each month, the center calls paper
buyers and sells to the highest bidder.
Nicole Patschke, assistant recycling co
ordinator at the Recycling Center and a
senior agribusiness major, said the Uni
versity benefits from recycling.
“The University as a whole can save
waste disposal costs by recycling,”
Patschke said. “They also save landfill
space because we’re running out of land
fill space right now.”
The landfill A&M currently uses is shared
by 17 other counties and is almost full.
“Recycling should be a top priority be
cause our landfill will close in two years
and we’ll have to get another one,” DeLar
ios said. “Landfills are engineering feats;
they’re not just a hole in the ground. It
will cost nearly $1 billion.”
Patschke said the center has an agree
ment with the city of College Station.
“We accept all of the white paper from
College Station city offices and they ac
cept all of our newspapers we collect on
campus,” Patschke said. “They have a
market for newspaper and we have a
market for white paper. This agreement
is the first of its kind in the state.”
While the center collects recyclable
materials from campus offices, the resi
dence hall councils are responsible for
their own recycling. Each hall is responsi
ble for collecting and cleaning their bins
and bringing them to a recycling center.
The center they use does not have to be
on campus.
Chuck Crews, former environmental
chair for Crocker Hall and a senior elec
trical engineering major, said the resi
dence halls need a more organized pro
gram for recycling.
“I Eilso see the dorms els having the po
tential for recycling a lot of their waste if a
good program is started,” Crews said. “Very
FITNESS FANATIC
Eric Moon, a senior environmental design major, instructs an aerobics
class at the Student Recreation Center Monday.
Nuclear Science Center plays
key role in cancer treatment
By James Fowler
The Battalion
Gwendolyn Struve, The Battalion
Aluminum can recycling bins are located
in residence halls. Each hall is responsible
for its own recycling.
few dorms have realized that potential.”
Crews said the Physical Plant picks up
the bins from University offices, and a
similar arrangement should be organized
for the residence halls.
“I think the University has a positive
attitude toward recycling, but it’s not
their highest priority because of tight
funding — especially in the custodial
See Recycling, Page 2
Everything King Midas touched
turned to gold.
But for cancer patients at M.D. An
derson Hospital in Houston, a little gold
touched by Aggies goes a long way. In
fact, this “Midas touch” could save their
lives, thanks to a procedure using gold
radioisotopes supplied by the Texas
A&M Nuclear Science Center (NSC).
The gold isotopes produced by neutron
bombardment at the NSC provide specific
radiation levels to kill cancer tumors.
For over twenty years, the NSC has
been on call to supply the radioactive
gold pellets to doctors in Houston in or
der to fight tumors from the inside out.
Jane Chapman, M.D. Anderson cer
tified medical dosimetrist, said the
NSC has always been responsive to
their quick-reaction needs in supplying
See NSC, Page 2
Pat james, The Battalion
Texas A&M’s Nuclear Science
Center is located on West Cam
pus by Easterwood Airport.