Pa?
iy • February 14,
n Page \
issue has beenas
ns for some tinn
Her routes areneo
■main competii
who should fly tht
e up to 70seats,
anics, flightatten
; all have higher
'ounterparts atA
inerateoffouisep
eling $1
lines. ■’residents all around the Texas
s.? percentpayint 4 campus will celebrate Presi-
he next threeyeai«t s Day today.
Aug. 31,2000. ■’oby Boenig, former student
want stock optitfiy president, spent last year’s
aares at below-nMjdents pj a y holding up a sign
to phase out ove:Wj n g ) “Honk if You Love Your
and pension scaifcjdent” for cars to read as they
that has beeninBdby Boenig said this year’s hol-
1' will be spent differently be-
Bse of injuries he sustained in an
J c j ent i ast spring.
id the visit to,®I ana still doing rehab,” he said,
ething the chilfth be doing it for another three
imember. jmr months.”
hem to know
lays off,” she
they will remeu
■ords like 'senaif
will be able to
he studentcoui
ay. Dewaldsaid
1 see a continual
e Buddy Menton
ike at one
( i pate in a conn
roject where otn|
Hindi cancoopi
nigger studentp
e said.
MELY7
ALL
MIGHT!
-825-797!
xt. 5041
59 per min,
t be 18 yrs,
(619) 645-8434
.TCT.'l’ffl
The Battalion
>lume lOi • Issue 94 • 10 Pages
Tile Ball Online: htln:// hal weh.lamu.eclti
Monday, Fehmary I/, 1997
’residents celebrate holiday
Texas Task Force I
By Jackie Vratil
The Battalion
Boenig’s birthday coincided with
Presidents Day last year.
“I had balloons up to the ceiling
in my office and the Women’s Cho
rus came and sang,” he said. “So all
that happened to me on that day
was for my birthday as well.”
Because of allegations of hazing
against the Fish Aides after last year’s
kidnapping of Boenig, student body
president Carl Baggett said he did not
know if the Fish Aides were planning
anything this year.
“The day will be just like any oth
er day, going to school and working
to fulfill my job as student body
president,” he said. “There will be
no kidnapping.”
Kelsey Temple, a freshman
journalism major and Fish Aide,
works with Baggett on a daily ba
sis. She said the members of Fish
Aides were planning to get Baggett
a cookie cake, and maybe serve
him breakfast in bed or decorate
his office.
“We are going to keep things re
ally mellow,” she said. “Because of
last year, we don’t want to do any
thing that even comes halfway close
to being [considered] hazing.”
Baggett said, although the is
sues he faces are nothing in com
parison to what world leaders face,
he still respects the extensiveness
of their jobs.
“It is important to look back and
reflect on the great leaders of our
country,” he said. “We are extreme
ly fortunate we have great people to
follow and look up to.”
Temple said she has a greater
understanding of Baggett’s job be
cause she takes his messages and
knows exactly who calls and how
many times they call him.
“Working with Carl has changed
my perspective on what being [stu
dent body] president entails,” she
said. “I not only have a more per
sonal relationship with him, but I
understand more about how he
handles people and the amount of
work he really has to do.”
New team plans
strategies, goals
(R)
50 12:30
3 G)
30 8:45
3 (PG-13)
05 9:50 12:00
" PRINTS (PG)
5 10:0512:50
G-13)
30 10:30 1:00
'UND(R)
15 10:15 12:40
:R(R)
:00 12:50
3 PRINT> (PG)
30 12:00
PG-13)
15 9:30 12:15
.ND THE BEAST(PGI
0 9:55 12:30
Dave House, The Battalion
I I Kyle Nelson, #15 of the A&M roller hockey team and a junior engineering major, battles it out with an opponent during a
IfSCG OlT game against the Sherman Fury in a Dallas tournament Sunday. The Aggies won the tournament after their
' fourth victory in a series of games. See related story, Page 7.
By Graham Harvey
The Battalion
International terrorism and nat
ural disasters have a new enemy as
Texas’ first urban search and rescue
team, Texas Task Force I, kicked off
Saturday in Rudder Tower.
The event provided an overview
of the efforts to begin the team, an ex
planation of the composition and
functions of the team itself and an in
troduction to the Federal Emergency
Management Association’s Urban
Search and Rescue Response System.
Brenda Sims, director of public re
lations for the Texas Engineering Ex
tension Service, said the new team
consists of 124 emergency service
specialists from across Texas.
“They have been tapped to serve
Texas as part of a team that will re
spond to mass-casualty disasters,
such as the Houston Northline Mall
tragedy, had there been a large num
ber of victims,” Sims said. “The USAR
Team, which is sponsored by the
Texas Engineering Extension Service,
a member of the Texas A&M Univer
sity System, is seeking a national des
ignation from the Federal Emer
gency Management Agency.”
Texas Task Force I consists of
search, rescue, medical and techni
cal teams. Team members are ex
perts in their fields. They were issued
a pager and a photo identification
badge Saturday to aid in prompt re
sponse to potential disasters.
G. Kemble Bennett, chair of the
advisory board for Texas Task Force
I and director of the engineering ex
tension service, said the team was
started because of recent terrorist
activity in the United States.
“Our freedom and our lives have
been invaded,” Bennett said. “The
Oklahomar incident brought it
home to Texas personally.”
In the fall of 1996, an advisory
board was created with the goal of
joining the prospective team and
the national urban search and res
cue task force, Bennett said.
Over 200 people applied to join
the team.
“Lots of people applied,” Bennett
said. “We put together an excellent
proposal [for FEMA], I’m convinced
that if we don’t win this round, an
other will come. We’re confident.”
Only 18 national FEMA urban
search and rescue teams are cur
rently deployable, none of which
are located in the Midwest. Ben
nett said this will work to Texas
“We have come
together to put first
the best interests of
the state, namely
saving lives.”
G. Kemble Bennett
Chair, Texas Task Force I
advisory board
Task Force I’s credit when FEMA
considers the proposal.
“This is a milestone for Texas,”
Bennett said. “We have come to
gether to put first the best interests
of the state, namely saving lives.
This team will play a significant role
when disaster strikes within our
borders. I am proud to be associat
ed with all those involved in this im
portant undertaking.”
The team’s budget is $750,000,
enough to fund it as a statewide orga
nization. However, $2 million is need
ed from the state before FEMA will ac
cept the proposal for membership.
State Senator Steve Ogden said
he supports this funding in the state
legislature.
“This group of people (the
search and rescue team) represents
what’s right about America and
what’s right about Texas,” Ogden
said. “I pray that you are well fund
ed, well trained, well prepared and
that we never have to use you.”
Patrick Dubose, a new Texas Task
Force I member and a nine-year
rescue specialist for the San Anto
nio Fire Department, said he is
proud to have joined the team.
“We’ve been talking about and
expecting this for a long time,” Du
bose said, “I’m looking forward to
being able to help throughout the
state, and if we become a FEMA
team, to help throughout the Unit
ed States.”
-JASA orders spacewalk
repair Hubble damage
Greek Week
Students to take part in festivities
Astronauts will
conduct an extra
spacewalk to fix
thermal insulation
tonight.
Showing]
ifcoy Mionc* &
iTAUABil
PACE CENTER, Houston (AP) —
SA ordered Discovery’s astronauts
day to conduct an extra space-
to patch insulation on the Hub-
Space Telescope that’s peeling off
worn wallpaper.
[Spacewalking astronauts will
er the damaged thermal insula-
with swatches of spare materi-
iarried on the space shuttle.
Although the repair is not con-
ered urgent, scientists do not
nt to wait until the next servicing
ssion in late 1999. Additional sun
mage to the tissue-thin, reflective
mlation could allow Hubble’s
ctronics to overheat and could
balance its mirrors.
"We’ve got a $2 billion invest-
“nt here,” said EdWeiier, NASA’s
ief Hubble scientist. “Why take
hance?”
Mission Control added a little of
! mending to Sunday night’s al-
:b. 14
'asablanca
Feb. 15
:30pm
Jacket
[The Battalion
INSIDETODAY
50 in advance and
ght of the showinf 1
shown in Ruddef
re Complex.
ill the Aggie Cinf' 1
r (847-8478). ■
:h special needst 1 BIOODS
ithin 3 days of f ■ S p 0rts
lowing. . .
tip pi DIO FI
SAFETY 'NET?: Stalkers
can access a wealth of
information on victims
|via the Internet.
Aggielife, Page 4
Page 6
Page?
Page 9
ready scheduled spacewalk — the
fourth of the mission — on which
they were to equip Hubble with new
drive electronics for its solar panels
and sturdier caps for its two magne
tometers, instruments that are part
of the telescope’s guidance system.
The bulk of insulation repairs
will be conducted during the newly
scheduled spacewalk No. 5 on Mon
day night by Mark Lee and Steven
Smith, who installed three Hubble
parts Saturday night. The crew was
supposed to have Monday night off.
Americans have conducted five
spacewalks on a single mission just
once before — during the 1993 mis
sion to correct Hubble’s blurred vision.
Discovery’s astronauts discov
ered the ruined insulation late last
week. The worst damage was on the
side of the telescope most often ex
posed to the sun’s heat and intense
ultraviolet radiation during the sev
en years since its launch.
Hubble’s exterior is subjected to
extreme temperature changes each
time the telescope’s orbit carries it in
and out of sunlight — from 400 de
grees Fahrenheit to 400 below zero.
Only the outermost layer of
Teflon insulation has peeled away
in six places on the telescope,
which is 43 feet long and 15 feet in
diameter. The 16 remaining layers
of tissue-thin reflective insulation
do not appear to be damaged;
neither do any of the telescope
components.
The peeling insulation does not
seem to be brittle, easing scien
tists' initial fears that flakes could
drift toward the telescope’s open
aperture and contaminate Hub
ble’s sensitive optics.
Astronauts on the 1993 repair
mission noticed spidery cracks in
the insulation but no peeling. This
crew is equipped with more power
ful cameras, however, and has had
more time to survey the telescope.
See NASA, Page 8
By Marissa Alanis
The Battalion
GreekWeek begins Tbesday when
fraternities and sororities will cele
brate being “United in Tradition” by
taking part in activities throughout
the week.
The festivities kick-off Tuesday
when fraternities and sororities
showcase their organizations with in
formation tables at Rudder Fountain.
Week-long activities include the
Grab-a-Greek date auction, intra
mural sports, a barbecue at the Grove
and a Corps of Cadets vs. fraternities
basketball game.
Proceeds from the events will
be donated to the Koldus Endow
ment Fund for the Betterment of
Student Life.
Order of Omega, the Greek
Honor Society, coordinates Greek
Week events.
Susan Goss, a co-chair of Greek
Week and a senior biology major,
said the week showcases Greek life,
allows the opportunity to dispel mis
conceptions and provides a time to
give back to the community.
“It’s unity, community and
A&M,” Goss said. “Those are our
main focuses.”
Goss said Greek Week is the one
time during the year when all the
Greek organizations unite.
“We came to be Aggies first, and
then we joined the organizations,”
Goss said. “Our goal is to reach all
Aggies and let them know what we
are doing.”
On Tuesday night Bryan Boruff, a
national speaker, will discuss driving
under the influence of alcohol.
Boruff, who has appeared on the
Oprah Winfrey show, survived a
drunk driving accident while he was
a member of a fraternity in college.
Shelly Shrader, Order of Omega
president and a senior industrial en
gineering major, said students who
are not in fraternities or sororities say
Greeks do nothing but have parties,
and they are unaware of their phil
anthropic causes.
Shrader said the parties are much
more publicized than all the contri
butions made by Greeks.
More understanding of Greek or
ganizations is needed to dispel these
misconceptions, she said.
“We would really just like them to
take time to find out about Greek life,
because it might not necessarily be
what they think,” Shrader said. “I feel
it’s better to learn [about] what you’re
not a part of.”
Date packages will be auctioned
off Thursday night as part of the Grab-
A-Greek auction. Fraternities and
sororities will auction off a represen
tative from their organization. The
date packages have to be within $50.
On Friday night, members of
Greek organizations will attend the
Corps of Cadets vs. fraternities bas
ketball game with the Boys’ and Girls’
Clubs of Brazos Valley.
The week’s activities will culmi
nate with the championship intra
mural games at the Polo Fields on
Saturday morning.
Eric Vroonland, Interfraternity
Council president and a senior fi
nance major, said people will be im
pressed that everyone will be work
ing together during Greek Week.
“I like the fact that it promotes
interfraternalism,” Vroonland said.
“It allows the opportunity for indi
vidual chapters to interact in a
friendly environment.”
Church leaders break ground for student center
St. Mary's Catholic Center plans to complete new facility in 1998
Amy Dunlap, The Battalion
Church leaders participate in the groundbreaking ceremony
for the new student center.
By Kathleen Strickland
The Battalion
St. Mary’s Catholic Center of College Sta
tion broke ground Sunday for a new student
center which is set for completion in 1998.
The facility will be constructed to the
east of the church on Nagle Street and
will serve thousands of Texas A&M
Catholic students.
Church leaders said the current cen
ter, which was constructed in 1954, was
showing wear and tear and was unable
to meet the needs of the growing stu
dent population.
At the time the center was built, Texas
A&M had only 7,000 students. Now with
43,000 students, about 10,000 of them
Catholic, the center could not meet the
ministry needs of the church. It will be
demolished and the area will be used as
a green park.
Peter deKeratry, St. Mary’s develop
ment director, said the center will provide
much needed space.
“We’ll have 30,000 additional square
feet,” deKeratry said. “We’ll have a small
chapel for daily mass and small wed
dings, an activity center which will allow
300 students to sit for a meal, complete
with a commercial kitchen, and a 20,000-
square-foot, two-story ministry center.”
The ministry center will include six
classrooms and meeting rooms, two con
ference rooms, a workshop room and a
theological library. The center also will
house a nursery, an administrative suite
with 10 offices, three small group study
rooms and a set of study carrels for indi
vidual study. The computers will be
equipped with modems for students to
access the Internet.
See Church, Page 8