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Texas A & M U n i v e r s i t
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)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,
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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
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