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)4 TH YEAR • ISSUE 58 • 12 PAGES
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COLLEGE STATION • TX
WEDNESDAY • NOVEMEBER19 • 1997
earch under way for missing A&M professor
By Robert Smith
Senior staff writer
[search continued Tuesday for a missing
kA&M geology professor who left Bryan
pveningof Nov. 13 in his private airplane
ded for Van Morn, Texas, officials said.
This Cessna 180, Norman R. Tilford of
|ege Station departed Coulter Field at
Ip.m. Nov. 13 to meet a group of A&M
dents on a field trip, said Major Caryl
BHBss of Civic Air Patrol (CAP).
Weiss said CAP found no new clues after
sending seven aircraft from Texas, New
Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana in search
ofTilford today.
“We sent out aircraft from different
states just in case the plane flew out anoth
er direction,” Weiss said.
Weiss said CAP began searching for Tilford
Saturday night after the Air force Rescue Co
ordination Center reported Tilford missing.
CAP, a volunteer organization, dis
patched an aircraft Saturday night to search
for an Emergency Locator Signal from the
plane but did not find one.
Weiss said CAP can find a plane giving an
ELT within three to four hours.
Airport manager Gary Gandy said stu
dents called the airport Friday morning and
said Tilford had not arrived in Van Horn.
Gandy said the students called again in
the afternoon and evening.
“I became concerned because it was not
like him to not report in,” Gandy said.
Gandy said Tilford did not file a flight plan
with the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA does not require private flights to
file a flight plan, but the administration search
es for all flights filed that have not reported
landing two hours past their destination time.
CAP flew 48 “sorties,” or search flights,
with 55 people and 12 aircraft Monday and
22 sorties with 17 aircraft and 54 people
Sunday. Each sortie is sent to a specific area
of about 15 square miles.
Bryan Aviation sent two independent
aircraft Saturday.
The plane was equipped with a new
emergency transmitter, but the batteries in
the device last only 48 hours, Gandy said.
The emergency transmitter will give an
ELT if the plane has a hard land but will not
respond if the plane is severely damaged or
the engine is destroyed, Weiss said.
Gandy said Tilford was prepared for a
camping trip and had food, water and a
sleeping bag with him.
“Every possibility exists that he can deal
with the situation out on the field,” he said.
lERE : ]
'resentation addresses campus
onstruction, future projects
By Amanda Smith
. Staff writer
iBryan-College Station officials ex-
pined construction projects to Texas
ItM students during a parking and
[nsportation presentation last night in
[Rudder.
[MSC Student Conference on National
pairs (SCONA) sponsored the presen-
jion about parking issues on the Texas
fiM campus and transportation in the
yan-College Station area.
[Martha Middleton, the vice chair of
jiblic relations for SCONA and a
Iphomore elementary education ma
lt, said the presentation was to edu-
Itestudents about transportation is
les at A&M and the Bryan-College
|ation community.
hope that students can become
{ware of what’s going on,” Middleton
d. “When [students] have a problem
!h parking and buses, we want stu-
lents to be informed. We wanted the pre-
ptation to tie in with local issues.”
Representatives from the Texas De
partment of Transportation (TxDOT)
and Parking, Traffic and Transportation
Services (PITS) at Texas A&M addressed
issues dealing with transportation, park
ing and construction.
After the presentation, students asked
questions about transportation issues.
Gary Jackson, the PTTS shuttle bus
manager, said Texas A&M has one of the
biggest fleets of buses in the nation.
“We do have an aging bus fleet,” he said.
“We are as much as twice as many miles into
many of the buses’ life expectancies.”
Jackson said the average life expectan
cy of a bus is between 150,000 and 200,000
miles. He said PTTS is looking at plans to
purchase more buses.
“We have to develop a plan that will
generate capital,” he said. “We have looked
at a lease plan, increasing the transporta
tion fee and a possible bond issue. In the
end, you may see a combination of two to
three factors.”
Katheryn Mathis, the PTTS associate
director of administration, said the Reed
founcil aims to protect Aggie traditions
By Karie Fehler
Staff writer
[The Traditions Maintenance Council was started this se
tter to remind Texas A&M students of Bonfire’s goal and to
unite Bonfire workers to pre
serve traditions.
The council, an unofficial stu
dent organization, has one rep
resentative from each yellowpot
and co-chair residence hall.
These representatives were vot
ed on by former Bonfire yellow-
pots, crew chiefs and co-chairs.
The representatives voted on
an executive council and the
council appointed a group facil
itator, who sets the meeting
agendas and facilitates group
discussion.
J.W. Washington, the council’s
group facilitator and a senior
agricultural development major,
said the group talked about mo
bilizing last spring, but decided
to come together when the issue
fprofanity on workers’ pots surfaced this year.
1 “We got a lot of people together to tiy and help solve the pro-
nity problem and we discovered that profanity actually existed
It is so important for
1 Ags to see how the
ition is continuing.
Ve want to get
iback from current
onfire workers and
se with stories to
^reserve Bonfire’s
nosphere.”
J.W. WASHINGTON
GROUP FACILITATOR, TMC
elppi
lifestyles
“Arsenic and
Old Lace”
mixes murder
and humor in
Stage Center
production.
See Page 3
Women's Basketball
earn falls to tenth-ranked
anderbilt in season opener.
See Page 7
allaway: Corps of Cadets
iter valuable lessons in
i ork ethic, discipline.
See Page 11
online
|ttp://battaiion. tamu.edu
°ok up with state and
Clonal news through The
f ir e, AP’s 24-hour online
Nvs service.
Fraternities, sororities display
Greek pride through Letter Day
By Wendy Dulaney
Staff writer
Members of fraternities and sororities are
wearing their letters today in support of the
Greek System at Texas A&M.
Carrie Beyer, a graduate assistant at the
Department of Student Activities and an ed
ucational administration graduate student,
said letter day promotes unity within the
Greek community.
The three councils that govern the Greek
system — Panhellenic, Pan-Hellenic and In
terfraternity Council — want members to
identify with the large group as well as with
the individual fraternities or sororities.
Eric Vroonland, president of Interfraterni-
ty Council and a senior finance major, said
Greeks want to show their presence on the
A&M campus.
“Letter day will help Texas A&M students
recognize what an integral part of campus
life the Greek population is and show the
spirit of the Greek community,” he said.
Vroonland said many students will be sur
prised at the number of activities fraternity
and sorority members are involved in be
sides Greek activities.
Beyer said letter day also shows Texas
A&M students what a large percentage of the
student body belongs to fraternities or soror
ities, and more than 4,000 members have the
4A
opportunity to show their pride for their fra
ternity or sorority.
Greeks have been on campus since the
1970s, and were officially recognized by the
University in 1990.
Jennifer Burns, president of Panhellenic
Council and a senior nutritional science ma
jor, said fraternities and sororities have dif
ferent days to display individual letters. “This
is the first time everyone has tried to work to
gether,” she said.
An All-Greek Forum Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
in Rudder Auditorium also will promote
Greek unity.
Fraternity and sorority members and
Texas A&M students, faculty and staff are in
vited to the presentation to learn more about
the three councils.
How does your garden grow?
Arena parking area is expected to hold
1,500 spaces designated for off-campus
students with blue parking permits.
Mathis said that University President
Dr. Ray M. Bowen is reviewing a proposal
for a 1,500 to 2,000 space parking garage
on West Campus.
She said that there are no plans to
build a parking garage for the George
Bush complex.
Catherine Hejl, the assistant area engi
neer for the Brazos County division of Tx
DOT, said she wants students to be in
formed of the development of 11 highway
construction projects in Bryan-College
Station, including Texas Avenue, George
Bush Drive and FM 2818.
“We have received a lot of negative pub
licity on the (Texas Avenue) job,” Hejl said.
“They are within two to three weeks on
schedule of what they projected in Febru
ary 1996. By late spring, the main con
struction ought to be done.”
Last night’s presentation was a pre
lude to SCONA’s annual conference Feb.
19 through 21.
V
UlSr
on only 3 percent of the pots,” he said. “TMC realized that even
though this particular issue may have been a bit superficial, it was
our catalyst and Bonfire’s traditions needed some protection —
we are simply here to preserve, protect and maintain Aggie Bon
fire traditions.”
Washington described the council as the “middle manage
ment” in Bonfire leaders.
“We’re the middle management in Bonfire — the upper man
agement are the senior [redpots] and top guys, and the lower
management consists of the crew chiefs and co-chairs,” he said.
“We can help out because through our network of leaders from
each dorm, we can get the right story out to workers and encour
age them to follow our example — they respect old pots and co
chairs and will listen to them on issues like profanity.”
Colby Turner, a council member and a senior engineering
technology major, said the group wants to work closely with the
University on proposed changes to different Bonfire traditions.
“We just want to maintain the way we build Bonfire,” he
said. “The council wants to work with Bonfire officials and the
University to make sure all future changes are truly justified,
and maybe to review past changes to make sure those are
needed also.”
Washington said the council’s plans include contacting former
A&M students who were involved with Bonfire to find out their fa
vorite Bonfire stories and compiling these stories for future Aggies.
“It is so important for OF Ags to see how the tradition is con
tinuing,” he said. “We want to get feedback from current Bon
fire workers and those with stories to tell to help preserve Bon
fire’s atmosphere.”
: ■
p
isL
ROBERT McKAY/The Battalion
Sharon Banister checks the condition of a batch of Poinsettas under her care at the
Floriculture Greenhouse tuesday afternoon.
National Children’s Book
Week stresses importance
of literature for youth
By Rachel Dawley
Staff writer
The MSC Literary Arts committee is cel
ebrating literature through its observance
of National Children’s Book Week. The 78th
annual celebration, sponsored by the Chil
dren’s Book Council in New York City, is
from Nov. 17 to 23.
“Any Time is Book Time” is the theme for
the week, which dates back to 1919. Chil
dren’s Book Council President Paula Quint
said the week is an opportunity to focus on
the importance of books for children.
Sarah Lloyd, chair of Literary Arts and a
senior English major, said the week helps
students and faculty enjoy the books they
read as children.
“The purpose of the week is to try to get
everyone to think about books they read as
kids,” Lloyd said. “This allows them to reflect
and remember how much fun reading can be.”
Several programs are scheduled for the
week. Campus leaders, including MSC Di
rector Jim Reynolds and MSC President Nel
son Burns, will read Shel Silverstein books at
Rudder Fountain at 12:15 each day.
Bryan-College Station author Kathy Ap-
pelt will present a workshop on how to
write a children’s book Wednesday at 7 p.m.
in 292 MSC.
Dr. Donna Norton, an A&M professor of
instruction and curriculum in the Texas
A&M College of Education, will present
“The Challenge of Children’s Books” Thurs
day at 7 p.m. in 292 MSC.
Norton is the author ofThrough the Eyes
of a Child...An Introduction to Children’s
Literature, a book used by universities
around the world. Thursday’s presentation
will focus on different ways books can be
shared with children for excitement. It will
also use award-winning literature for edu
cational purposes.
“The focus is to try to get people to read
quality books,” Norton said. “During the
week, several sources are trying to emphasize
fine literature for children. By getting into
award-winning books, you study the tech
niques authors use and start to appreciate
good literature.”
Norton said children’s literature can bring
history to life through characters and set
tings. The books also help students to appre
ciate art, she said.
Literary Arts raises campus awareness of
literature and aims to increase understand
ing of books, Lloyd said. The group has 25
members with a variety of majors.
Denise Goertz, small programming exec
utive for Literary Arts and a senior genetics
major, said children’s books have great mean
ing. Goertz said she read books such as
“Where the Wild Things Are” and Dr. Seuss’
“Hop on Top" as a child.
“The programming helps students realize
the importance of reading and the impor
tance of children’s books,” Goertz said. “We
do this week for fun. It is a break to bring you
back to your childhood.”