Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 1998)
I Texas A & M U n i v e r s i t 1 §r mi I 56 35 65 35 TODAY TOMORROW )4 TH YEAR • ISSUE 75 • 10 PAGES COLLEGE STATION • TX FRIDAY • JANUARY 23 • 1998 egents OK first-ever affiliation with law school APPROVED: • affiliation agreement between South Texas College of Law and Texas A&M. • ranking of sealed proposals for Kyle Field expansion project. e Board of Regen TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY 1 Si JR BEATO By Colleen Kavanagh Staffwriter The Texas A&M System Board of Regents Thursday gave Texas A&M University President Dr. Ray M. Bowen the authority to execute an affiliation agreement between Soutli Texas Col lege of Law and Texas A&M. Jim Ashlock, director of University Rela tions, said he anticipates affiliation will happen after the Board meets to morrow morning. “The main advantage is that for the first time in history, A&M has an affiliation with a law school,” he said. “This absence has kept A&M from being qualified as a top university.” Ashlock said this affiliation will encourage A&M students interested in attending the law school. “Fifteen percent of their students right now are from Fifteen percent ol their students nght now are from u |-drop deadline faces revision if idministration approves Senate bill A&M,” he said. “Now, we hope there will be more in terest in Aggies going to the South Texas College of Law because they will be in the family.” As of now, there are more students from the Uni versity of Texas and the University of Flouston than from A&M attending the law school. “That says a lot about the quality of the college be cause UT and U of H have their own law schools,” Ashlock said. The South Texas College of Law would maintain its private school status, but the schools would share li braries and set up joint programs in law, business and the George Bush School of Govermnent at A&M. The Board also approved the ranking of sealed pro posals for the Kyle Field Expansion project. Bartlett Cocke, Inc., of San Antonio was the preferred compa ny, with a proposed amount of $35.7 million for the Phase Illb expansions. Wally Groff, A&M athletic director, said negotiations on the amount of the project will begin on Monday. “The price may be lowered because there may be some parts of the project that can wait,” he said. “The space will still be there so the parts can be built later on. We hope to get the negotiations finished within three to five weeks so the final budget can be presented to the Board for approval.” Groff said the new ranking procedure makes sense because now a company is not chosen only because they proposed the lowest bid. “The system makes sense because now we can see the whole offer, and we don’t just have to take the low est bid,” he said. “It’s a win-win situation.” In other action, the Board: —approved guidelines for the 1999 fiscal budget. —authorized a name change of the Texas Animal Damage Management Service to the Texas Wildlife Damage Management Service —approved the campus enrollment management projections for the 1998-99 academic year. —designated a 40-acre area of land between the George Bush Library and the Horticulture Science building as the West Campus greenway. By Stacey Becks Staff writer The Student Senate approved a q- >p bill Wednesday night that would end the deadline to Q-drop a course til last day of classes if approved by : af ministration. Ilpbn Bigbee, a senator and sophomore |,l thematics major, said the current drop idline is too early in the semester. “The current Q-drop policy is unfair,” said. “Originally, it was intended to e students a second chance." The deadline to Q-drop and change ourse to pass/fail is the tenth week school. The bill also would benefit students iO need full enrollment for insurance rposes and would give students with aolarships more time to make the re- ired grade. The bill would not go into effect until ? Fac ulty Senate and University Acade- c Operations Committee approve it. Thomas McKittrick, secretary treasur er of Faculty Senate, said if the bill is ap proved, it will be enacted by next fall at the earliest. Craig Rotter, a senator and an agri cultural education graduate student, CTIinPM* ffiswy mtI? s mF imm m lit Mrm m m/tii said he hopes the administration will support the bill. “I’m hopeful the administration will take a serious look at this bill,” he said. “It’s something that positively affects the student body.” Robert Kimmel, a senator and junior mechanical engineering major, rein forced that the bill will only go into ef fect if the Faculty Senate and AOC ap prove it. “I don’t know what the Faculty Senate will do,” he said. “If they pass it that would be great, but we simply don’t know where AOC or Faculty Senate stand.” Lisa Jones, a senator and sophomore finance major, said money should not be a factor that determines the faculty’s de cision because the University will contin ue making money. “If a student Q-drops a class that is re quired, he will have to retake the class,” she said. “The school will make money off of the class again.” Lee Doggett, a senator and sophomore political science major, said he hopes the Q-drop bill will help change the image of Student Senate. “We’re always hearing complaints about how we never do anything of rel evance for the student body,” he said. “I think the Q-drop bill speaks loudly to the contrary.” &M researchers aim to foil ligh cost of food packaging By Susan E. Atchison Staff writer Researchers in the College of Engineering at Texas A&M Uni- sity will begin Monday testing plastics as a cost-cutting al- |r native to the aluminum foil food packaging systems now ;d for military meal rations. Dr. Elena Castell-Perez, a researcher and assistant professor I i&M, said the goal of the project is to determine whether new Stic, biodegradable forms of packaging will keep foods safe 1 acceptable during the three-year life span of military pack- id foods. She said she hopes the project will help determine alterna- law ■ | ! : uses of plastics and save the U.S. Army money. J Castell-Perez said the top priority is to keep the food safe and eptable. ‘It has to look good, it has to taste good, it has to be attrac- : to the soldier, and it has to be safe.” |l \fter two years of testing, researchers at Texas A&M ex- al !>t to have a prototype for the army to test among soldiers / he field. FThe army is currently using meal, ready-to-eat (MRE) rations I' 1 ;kaged in foil which can cost up to $7 per 2,000 calories of I 11 d. Using plastic film in the packaging of military meal rations 1 , dd cut the military’s cost in half, Castell-Perez said. I^ 1 These military packages are shipped to soldiers in the field, efugees in other countries, or to people displaced by natur- isasters. Castell-Perez and Associate Professor Dale Whittaker, Di- tor of the Center for Food Processing Technology, are co- ncipal investigators in the project. They are collaborating with Dr. Rahmat Attaie of the agriculture department at Prairie View A&M as well as researchers from the Department of Agri cultural Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Animal Sci ence at A&M. Whittaker said the project developed out of discussions within the Combat and Rations Network, consisting of uni versities, the military and manufacturing companies, that meets to discuss issues such as food packaging, clothing, and nutrition. The United States Army Soldier Systems Command ap proached Texas A&M specifically to develop the project, grant ing researchers $494,000 of funding to complete the three-year study, Whitaker said. The project testing is a three-part process called “accelerat ed shelf life studies.” The first part of the study exposes chicken patties packaged in commercial plastics to extreme heat and humidity. After a month of weekly analysis, researchers should be able to deter mine whether the plastic film protects the safety and accept ability of the food. The second part of the study exposes the food to a temper ature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit for six months. The third part of the study involves leaving the food at room temperature for three years. During this time, researchers will analyze the microbial, chemical and sensory quality of the food. Castell-Perez said testing of this kind has never been done before. She said that the project allows researchers at A&M to con duct applied research that will serve a purpose while conduct ing fundamental research on material properties and plastics development and packaging. Campus organizations gearing up for this weekend’s Open House By Stephanie Dosher Staffwriter Approximately 300 student organiza- >nl will line the rooms and walkways thp MSC Sunday from 12-4 to talk and tswer students’ questions at The MSC ring Open House. Steven Biles, Associate Director of the smorial Student Center, said the pur- 'se of Open House is to get students fa- iliar with the many student organiza- >ns on campus. Biles said Open House also helps stu- nt organizations recruit members for the new semester. Greg Toole, senior marketing major and president of the Water Ski Club, said the club gained a lot of awareness last year at Open House. “We had our boat in front of the wa ter fountain and a table inside,” he said. “With a physical object to catch every one’s eye, we gained a lot of attention and our membership went up.” This semester, student organizations may have a tougher time gaining atten tion. Student organizations will not only be competing against each other to re cruit new members, they will also be competing against the Super Bowl. Although Open House ends before the game is scheduled to begin, one or ganization is making early prepara tions in case the turnout is lower than in past years. Brittany Winnicke, MSC Director of Special Events, said Off-Campus Aggies are planning a football theme for their table on Sunday. Off-Campus Aggies will also be in the MSC today handing out fliers about their organization for those interested in Off- Campus Aggies, but who do not wish to miss any of the pre-game excitement. The Boxer ROBERT McKAY/The Battalion Scott Junkins, a sophomore biomedical science major, works out at the Student Recreation Center on the punching bag Thursday afternoon. Pope hits home with abortion, school issues HAVANA (AP) — On his first full day in “this beloved country,” Pope John Paul II went straight to the hearts and home life of the Cuban people, despairing over easy access to abortion and scolding the Castro government for closing the doors to Catholic education. When it comes to schools, “parents ... should be able to choose,” the pope declared, to applause from tens of thousands assembled for Mass in the dust and swelter ing heat of an athletic field in the provincial city of San ta Clara, 160 miles east of Havana. The demand for Catholic education was also believed high on John Paul’s agenda for the most important offi cial encounter of his five-day visit — a meeting with Pres ident Fidel Castro. The pope and Castro talked privately for about 50 minutes in the Palace of the Revolution Thursday. There was no immediate word on what they discussed. Entering and leaving the meeting, John Paul walked slowly with the help of a cane down a red carpet, with Castro slowing his step to the pope’s pace. After concluding their talks, they exchanged gifts and posed for photographers at the top of the broad steps outside the palace. “(See) how we are after 70 and something years?” the 77-year-old pope said to Castro, who is 71. Noting John Paul’s difficulty in walking, the Cuban leader responded, “It must be because of the accident,” referring to a 1994 fall that required the pontiff to un dergo hip replacement surgery. Castro gave the pontiff a 120-year-old, leather-bound biography of Father Felix Varela, a 19th-century priest considered to be a founder of Cuban nationalism. “We racked our brains a lot” to come up with some thing, Fidel told John Paul. aggie life Star Gazing: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio soars above water in Titanic. See Page 3 sports Former A&M players and coaches make impact on Super Bowl teams. See Page 8 opinion Parekh: Possible dangers of human cloning warrant immediate ban on testing See Page 9 online http://battalion.tamu.edu Hook up with state and national news through The Wire, AP’s 24-hour online news service.