The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 01, 1996, Image 1

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    Gen. Schwarzkopf to visit A&M
By Michael Landauer
The Battalion
Heroes are all around us, but re
tired Army Gen. H. Norman
Schwarzkopf does not count him
self as one of them.
"I don’t consider myself a hero,
and that’s the important thing,’’ he
said yesterday in a phone interview.
“I've been given a wonderful oppor
tunity to give something back. If I’m
a role model for other people, I
hope it’s a positive role model.”
Although he has retired from
military service, Schwarzkopf
said he will continue to be a
public servant.
"It may not be in the military
service, but it is in service of the
country,” he said.
Schwarzkopf serves on the
boards of several corporations
and Richmond University, and
is an advocate of environmental
conservation and prostate can
cer awareness.
After retiring in 1991 and writ
ing his book, It Doesn’t Take a
Hero, Schwarzkopf began his
rounds on the speaking circuit.
Adding to a seemingly endless list
of honors, he was named Toast
masters International Best Speak
er for 1992.
“I say to my
wife every day, ‘I
can’t believe
how lucky we
are,”’ he said. ‘‘If
six years ago
someone had
told me I would
be living the
kind of life I m Schwarzkopf
living and be
able to have the influence I have
today, I would have told them they
were crazy.”
But Schwarzkopf has drawn
large audiences since his retire
ment, and Wiley Lecture Series
chair Chris Hable said he expects
a large crowd for Saturday’s ad
dress in Rudder Auditorium.
Schwarzkopf said he will talk
about the fundamentals of lead
ership in Saturday night’s speech,
discussing some of the everyday
heroes in America.
"There are people that every
day are out there doing great
things, performing heroic acts,
which they themselves may not
view as heroic,” he said. “And
they’re providing great service to
their country and great service to
their fellow human beings. And
that all speaks very well for the
state of this nation.”
He said all good leaders have
one thing in common.
"The most important element
of leadership is something called
character, and that’s something
only you can give yourself,” he
said. “Character is alive and well. I
run into people everywhere who
still believe in all the fundamentals
that have made America the great
nation it is.”
MSC Wiley Lecture Series brings ‘On the Front Line’
By Erica Roy
The Battalion
Retired Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf will
discuss leadership and foreign policy goals Satur
day, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. in Rudder Auditorium.
The MSC Wiley Lecture Series is sponsoring
Schwarzkopf and his speech, "On the Front Line.”
Chris Heble, chair of Wiley Lecture Series and a
senior bioengineering major, said Schwarzkopf will
speak about foreign policy and its implementation
in the state, abroad and on the front line.
“It’s an opportunity to hear somebody speak that
has a breadth of knowledge on foreign policy,”
Heble said.
Schwarzkopf was commander of operations in
Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
After Iraq invaded Kuwait, Schwarzkopf coordi
nated the efforts of the allied forces in Kuwait from
August 1990 until his retirement a year later.
No live questioning will be permitted Saturday
night, but questions may be submitted in advance.
The questions submitted will be previewed by the
Wiley Research Committee and then given to
Schwarzkopf.
His speech will last approximately 45 minutes,
and the pre-screened questions will be answered for
15 minutes afterward.
Ticket prices are $20, $15 and $10 for students
and $25, $20 and $15 for non-students. They are
available through Rudder Box Office.
Heble said Schwarzkopf can offer insight to A&M
students on foreign policies.
“It’s a great opportunity for the University with
such a strong military background to have a speaker
of this caliber to speak to the students.”
The retired general finds exam
ples of good leadership both in
and out of the armed forces.
“The Army is a cross section of
the American people on all levels,
as well it should be,” he said.
“There are literally millions of peo
ple all across this country that have
the fundamental value systems
that make America great.”
Saying that leadership requires
personal integrity, Schwarzkopf
credits his father for instilling such
values in him. His father, like
See Schwarzkopf, Page 5
Directing
Traffic
Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion
Senior Redpots, standing atop part of centerpole, point to where one of the pieces is to be set. The two logs
that make up centerpole will be wetted down for a week to make sure they do not shrink. The logs will be put
together next week and raised Thursday afternoon.
Bowen looks forward to OSU game
By Wesley Poston
The Battalion
Texas A&M will take on the Okla
homa State University Cowboys in a
game that will be a homecoming for
at least one Aggie.
Dr. Ray Bowen was interim presi
dent at OSU before he became pres
ident of A&M two years ago.
“One of their colors is orange,” he
said. “I have some orange shirts that
The Battalion
TODAY
{Animal House
IPets whose owners
(can no longer care
|for them find a home
(at Texas A&M.
Aggielife, Page 3
I High Hopes
The struggling A&M
Football Team looks
to rebound Saturday
at Oklahoma State.
Sports, Page 7
PG-TV
Apgar: Television
shows should be rated
to control the amount
| of vi olence kids see.
Opinion, Page 9
I don’t have any use for at all.”
Bowen said he and his wife, Sally,
are looking forward to visiting the
campus. They plan to have dinner
with friends and may place a wager
on the game, he said.
“We’ll gossip and tell some lies,”
he said. “I think they’d rather see her
(Mrs. Bowen) than me.”
A stop at the famous restau
rant, Eskimo Joe’s, is also on the
itinerary, Bowen said.
“It’s sort of like the Dixie Chick
en,” he said. “I couldn’t go to Stillwa
ter without going to Eskimo Joe’s.”
Bowen travels with the football
team for all out-of-town games,
and will be watching Saturday’s
game from the visiting athletic di
rector’s box.
“I think we can beat them,” he
said.
The Aggies have yet to play a
team better position-by-position
than themselves, Bowen said.
“We’ve been our own worst
enemies.”
A&M was defeated when they last
played OSU in Oklahoma and Barry
Sanders was on the OSU team then.
Bowen said Sanders was a strong ad
dition to the team’s offense. Sanders
is now a star running back with the
Detroit Lions.
See Bowen, Page 4
A&M hosts robotics competition
By Courtney Walker
The Battalion
Regional champions
from high schools across
the state will meet at
Texas A&M this weekend
for the “Boosting Engi
neering, Science and
Technology” state team
competition.
Each team was sup
plied with identical kit
parts, game task descrip
tions and game rules.
They had six weeks to de
sign their robots before
the regional playoffs.
The students were
paired with volunteer
mentors from the engi
neering industry to
coach them. A&M engi
neering students were
mentors for the area high
schools that participated
in the competition.
Tom Talley, an associ
ate professor of electrical
engineering, said the
students that served as
mentors related well to
the students.
“We’re (professors)
pretty far removed from
the high school age,” he
said. “Even though three
or four years may seem
like forever to a college
student, it’s a lot closer
than a professor or
teacher.”
The volunteers serve
in a mentor capacity to
students who will be
building the remote-con
trolled robot vehicles.
The vehicles are then
given limited time to
complete specific tasks.
Before each level of
competition, the robots
are measured to make
sure they meet the re
quirements of being able
to fit in a 24-inch cube
and weigh no more than
24 pounds.
Jason Cole, a senior
electrical engineering ma
jor and mentor, said A&M
students developed good
relationships with the stu
dents. He said now they
can joke around while
they are working.
“At first they were like,
‘Who are these guys?”’ he
said. “But after a while a
lot of them would bounce
the ideas off of us to see if
it would work.”
The mentors were not
allowed to help with the
projects, and could only
make suggestions on ideas
that would work or not.
Talley said building an
electric prototype is a re
quirement for his engi
neering class, but serv
ing as a mentor was a
great way to experience
teaching.
“When you learn for
yourself, you learn only
what you need to solve the
problem,” he said. “But
when you’re teaching you
learn a broader foundation
because there’s no telling
what kind of questions will
be asked.”
See Robotics, Page 4
DAB undergoes
restructuring
Program in need offending
By Brandon Hausenfluck
The Battalion
DAB Transit is restructuring
its service to make it more
convenient to the public and
ensure its future existence.
Matthew Kenyon, executive
director of Designate a Bus
and a senior biomedical sci
ence major, said there is al
ways room for improvement.
“Ridership has increased
every week,” Kenyon said.
“But we’re still trying to make
it more convenient.”
Kenyon said the biggest
problem right now is the lack
of funding.
“We need to get more fund
ing so we can provide and im
prove [DAB] for the spring se
mester.
“We are trying to make it
where (bus) passes will be
good around town for dis
counts,” he said. “We also
plan to ask insurance compa
nies to provide their clients
with free passes.”
DAB’s operation cost is
around $10,000 per month.
Alex Cates, owner of Dream
Associates Advertising Agency,
has donated his time and ad
vertising expertise to DAB.
Cates said funding is vital to
the future success of DAB.
“It all boils down to the
economics of the deal,” Cates
said. “Corporations need to
see a track record before they
decide to support us. We
should’ve started a little
smaller.”
Downscaling is part of the
operation’s restructuring.
The number of buses that
travel a scheduled route will
be reduced to three. A fourth
bus will be used as a “demand
response” bus. This bus will
transport riders to requested
locations, including bars and
residences.
Kenyon said DAB is working
with College Station to get ap
proval to use the parallel park
ing spaces on University Drive
in front of Northgate. The bus
servicing Northgate would then
be able to use that space for
boarding passengers.
The buses would all leave
at the same time to run
through their respective
routes, then return to pick up
more passengers.
The route that would ser
vice The Tap, J.D. Wells and
Sidepockets will also stop at
the Commons on campus.
A second bus will run from
Northgate to downtown
Bryan, servicing Carney’s, the
Ptarmigan, 3rd Floor Cantina,
Hurricane Harry’s and the
Dixie Theatre.
The third bus will service
residential areas that have
produced the most riders.
“We need to get L
more funding so I
we can provide
and improve
[DAB] for the
spring semester. ,, I
Matthew Kenyon
Director of DAB
Buses will still stop for peo
ple who flag them down.
Kenyon said on-campus
residents can benefit from the
service.
"We are targeting campus
now ... so people who don’t
have cars or who don’t feel
like driving can get around
town,” he said.
Kenyon said DAB has made
an impact on drunken driving
in Bryan-College Station.
“Even if people don’t ride
the bus, more B-CS residents
are designating drivers be
cause they don’t want to feel
stupid getting a DWI when
they could’ve taken g bus,” he
said. “But as an option, the
success of DAB has gone
above and beyond that which
was previously expected.”
Bonfire night, which is Nov.
26, spectators will be able to
ride the buses free of charge.
Cates said DAB is not only a
convenience, but a necessity.
“It’s impractical not to have
a nighttime shuttle bus ser
vice provided,” he said.