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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1996)
Pag* • September 20; The Battalion [ready resuming onsibilities, Revei (tended a studi ■r barbecue Wedn light at the Corps ts Center, ill, a sophomore imental design (ruction science aid Reveille madt ugh the barbe nit incident. :ev’ is fine," he isn’t acting str tything, and ; to he just fine, ter returning hi the barbei ille was "hems iul self," he ■ille VI is being care of, and I’m 1 he with us end.” )ort us. ■s said the buses • used by studenci campus. -us will stop ri he Corps] dorms, his allows studi unemark (mode lowntown Bryan >w, then come ate and be rig :xis.” yon said Kyle Fiel main route, so lay use it for mil ictice, and riding vill he free next He tlume 103 • Issue 16 • 12 Pages Monday, September 23, 1996 The Batt Online: http://bat-web.tamu.edu ctivities. ss said he belie s fellow students' buses. ;ies are the smartf in the world,"Cal f this thing keeps er, it’s gone." Student dies in accident By Erica Roy The Battalion An accident involving 10 Texas A&M stu dents on Highway 6 between Old Reliance Road and Highway 21 killed one student and injured nine others Sunday evening. The students were returning to College Station from the first Bonfire cut near Hearne. Sgt. Choya Walling of the Bryan Police De partment said the Ford Ranger pickup truck the students were in veered to the left side of the road and then came back across to the right. The truck rolled over twice and hit a large highway sign before it came to a rest up side down. Six students were taken to St. Joseph’s Hos pital and four were admitted to Columbia Medical Center. Elizabeth Scott of St. Joseph’s said one male student admitted to the hospital died at 8:50 p.m. and another is in critical condition. Two males and two females are listed in seri ous condition at St. Joseph’s. Mary Jo Powell, associate director of public information for the University, said the four female students at Columbia are listed in sta ble condition. The students’ injuries include severe head injuries and broken bones. The accident occurred at 5:06 p.m. on southbound Highway 6. Walling said the cause of the accident has not been determined. Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president for Student Affairs, said in a statement to the press that the University is prepared to handle the situation. “The Division of Student Affairs Crisis Re sponse Team has been activated and has staff on scene at both hospitals and on cam pus to help deal with the aftermath of this incident,” Southerland said. “We are — and will continue — to communicate and coordinate with the parents, hospitals, residence halls and other concerned in dividuals and groups as the situation de velops further.” For updates on this story visit The Battalion Online at HTTP://! Cut season focuses on unity the Coloradofoo;; oseCalcaneo, a senior aerospace engineering major, cleans the stands of Kyle Field Sunday morning. On Saturday he Aggies beat North Texas 55-0: See related stories, Page 7. too 10 list Glamour magazine honors A&M student n , ?j li Tim Moog, The Battalion nily Norman, a senior mechanical engineering ^jor, was selected out of 1,000 applicants based I academic and personal achievements. By Erica Roy The Battalion ' A Texas A&M student was chosen as one of Glamour Mag azine's Top 10 College Women for 1996. Emily Norman, a senior me chanical engineering major, was chosen from over 1,000 appli cants for her academic and per sonal achievements. Norman said winning the competition was especially re warding since she is a woman in the male-dominated field of engineering. “It made me much more proud to be a woman, in my major espe cially,” Norman said. “It’s OK that I’m in this field. I know that I can make a difference.” Norman is not letting her gender hold her back in the en gineering field. As an intern at NASA in 1995, Norman designed Traybot, a ro bot that harvests wheat in bio mass chambers. Wheat is grown in biomass chambers to serve as an air filter, not just a food source. Traybot and the wheat are being tested for possible use in long-term space travel and colonization. Norman spent this summer co-oping at NASA’s jet-propulsion laboratories in Pasadena, Calif. She designed RETT, a robot that may investigate the sur face of Mars. Norman is a member of Delta Zeta and she volunteers for Habitat for Humanity and participates in various walks for charities. Approximately 1,325 elemen tary, junior high and high school students in Austin and Houston have heard Norman speak about her experiences at NASA. She aims her speeches mostly at young girls. “I want to encourage women in the classes to pursue math and science, especially at that age,” Norman said. “It’s impor tant for them to have an actual female role model so they can say T can do that, too.’” In her speeches, Norman challenges the stereotypes about engineers by telling the students about life in outer space. “I want to show engineers are fun and can have exciting lives,” Norman said. Norman applied for the Glamour competition in January 1996 and found out she was se lected in June. Norman and the other nine women visited New York City for four days in August. They were given a tour of the city, during which they visited places like the New York Stock Exchange and Broadway. The 10 women also met with successful career women like Madeleine Albright, the U.S. am bassador to the United Nations. See Norman, Page 12 By Erica Roy The Battalion Approximately 2,500 Texas A&M students set out early Sunday morning to display their “burning desire to beat the hell out- ta t.u.” at this year’s first Bonfire cut. At the cut site near Hearne in Milam County, students cut down trees used to build Bonfire, which will burn Tuesday, Nov. 26. R. E. Hopkins, head stack and a senior agricul ture development major, said cut requires hard work and dedication. “You’re out there all day,” he said. “You’re cutting down trees, cleaning them up, topping the trees off, and carrying them to the tractor paths.” Workers representing residence halls, Corps of Cadets outfits, Off-Campus Aggies and Women’s Bon fire Committee show up at the cut site to volunteer. The workers are super vised by yellow pots from the residence halls or butt pots from the Corps outfits, and the crew chiefs. Hop kins said it is their job to en sure the workers remain safe and motivated. K2 freshmen remove a log from Brown pots are “the maintenance men of Aggie Bonfire,” Hopkins said. They handle the chain saws and the ropes used at cut. Next in the Bonfire hier archy are the junior red pots. They supervise the entire cut site and help yel low pots and butt pots when needed. “They are constantly moving through the woods,” Hopkins said. “They don’t stop and they’re always there.” The senior red pots are at Ryan Rogers, The Battalion the woods at cut on Sunday. the top of the hierarchy. Hopkins said the red pots’ main concern is safety. If there is a problem, the se nior red pots are immediate ly there to help. The Women’s Bonfire Committee provides food and water to the workers at the cut site. WBC is led by two senior pink pots and two junior pink pots. Residence hall represen tatives are next in the chain of command. See Cut, Page 12 Bonfire Cut and Stack Schedule Sunday, Sept. 22 First Cut Sunday, Nov. 3 Cut Sunday, Sept. 29 Cut Thursday, Nov. 7 Centerpole Sunday, Oct. 6 Cut Raised Saturday, Oct. 12 Cut Saturday, Nov. 9 Last Cut .Sunday, Oct. 1 3 Cut Sunday, Oct. 20 Father/Son (Corps Trip); Stack Begins Cut Sunday, Nov. 10 Dorm Logs, Sunday, Oct. 27 Cut Last Load Saturday, Nov. 2 Cut, Center- Thursday, Nov. 14 Push Begins pole Arrives Tuesday, Nov. 26 Bonfire Burns Battalion TODAY llant the Hell |)lunteers in an Aggie Japter of the Master lardeners strive to eautify the campus. Aggielife, Page 3 till Perfect le sixth-ranked A&M Soccer Team extend- iits record to 8-0 ith a win over Florida. Sports, Page 9 Prophecy feducia: A former Columnist forte 11s the ture for the Class of Opinion, Page 11 Equipment helps students measure anxiety By Brandon Hausenfluck The Battalion Some experts say relax ation is perhaps the best tool in preparing for an exam. Texas A&M’s Student Counseling Services houses biofeedback equipment ca pable of measuring the anxi ety students may be experi encing. Students may then be able to learn how to control their anxiety. Dr. Nick Dobrovolsky, a psychologist at Student Counseling Services and di rector of the Biofeedback Center, said anxiety affects student exam performance. “Anxiety is like static on a radio,” Dobrovolsky said. “With all that static, it’s hard to understand what you’re trying to learn. “One of the benefits (of re ducing anxiety) is it helps you to retain more information.” Dobrovolsky said symp toms of anxiety include tense muscles and cold hands. The center has ma chines that use sensors to gauge both ailments. “Biofeedback is instru mentation about what is go ing on inside (the patient),” Dobrovolsky said. Students must complete a one-and-a-half hour work shop before using the biofeedback equipment. Once the workshop is com plete, students have access to the equipment on a first come, first served basis. Dobrovolsky said anxiety is controlled by the mind. “If you have test anxiety, it’s pretty hard to relax,” he said. “But if your imagina tion has you on a tropical is land, laying in the sand and watching the palm trees sway in the wind, you’re not at Texas A&M worrying about a test tomorrow.” Biofeedback is used by several health care profes sionals including psychia trists, psychologists, dentists and internists. A benefit of biofeedback, experts say, is showing pa tients how much control they actually have over their body. Biofeedback has been used to rehabilitate stroke victims as they regain move ment of muscles paralyzed in the stroke. It has helped alco holics stop drinking. And it can be used to increase brain activity for people with At tention Deficit Disorder. Dobrovolsky encourages students to visit Student Counseling Services if they are experiencing academic difficulty. “We have a lot of services, and most people don't know if they’re having problems,” Dobrovolsky said. “If in doubt, come by and check,” he said. “Our job here is to help you (students) fig ure out what’s going on.” Students interested in biofeedback can call Student Counseling Services at 845- 4427, or visit Henderson Hall. Deadline threatens immigration issues WASHINGTON (AP) — Just two years ago, the prospects for passage of substantive immigration reform in the 104th Congress seemed particularly bright. A presidential commission headed by former Texas Con gresswoman Barbara Jordan offered a series of tough mea sures designed to reduce illegal immigration and streamline a cumbersome legal immigration apparatus. The Clinton administration and congressional Republi cans alike praised the Jordan commission’s findings and pledged to craft bipartisan legislation. That promise seemed realized last spring when the House and Senate, with overwhelming support from both Republicans and Democrats, endorsed bills crack ing down on illegal immigration. All that remained was reconciling differences between the House- and Senate- passed bills. And there, the trouble began. Republican infighting, focused largely on a House-passed amendment allowing states to deny free public schooling to illegal immigrant children, for months has stalled the bill. Now, with Congress just days away from adjournment, immigration remains one of the major unresolved issues — with the fight over the schooling amendment, named after Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif., occupying center stage. Observers offer differing assessments when asked if any bill is likely to pass Congress this year. “They are running out of time,” said Frank Sharry, head of the National Immigration Forum, which opposes many aspects of the GOP-written bill. “I think the chances of a bill being enacted this session are growing slim.”