Texas A Si M University
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YEAR * ISSUE 123 • 12 PACES
4 fM Awl
COLLEGE STATION • TX
84
56
TODAY TOMORROW
WEDNESDAY • APRIL 8 • 1998
Jews
Briefs
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■a
is A&M chancellor
featured on Web
larry B. Thompson is proud of his
ier ;is a teacher in the state pub-
xhool system, the former presi-
f—-oltwo state universities and the
snt chancellor of The Texas A&M
■ersity System.
Ie will talk about those careers,
other items of interest through
I Hi on Texas Monthly Ranch’s
(a fexan" Web page,
honpson is the first educator to
satured on the popular Web site,
■cessing the Web site at
p://www.texasmonthly.com>,
“vsei's can ask the chancellor
1>ns.
Ibjosa-Smith to
/e lecture at A&M
Konversation with Rolando Hi-
s4-Smith” will take place begin-
|at 4 p.m. Thursday in 601 Rud-
fie lecture is a part of a continu-
JBies sponsored by the Hispan-
tudies Task Force, the Depart-
itlof Modern and Classical
giliges, the Department of Eng-
a|(l the MSC Committee for the
rejhess of Mexican-American Cul-
; (CAM AC).
lilqjosa-Smith is a noted Mexi-
■merican novelist, poet and es-
Ist. He is a winner of the coveted
iape las Americas prize, an an
il iiward presented to Hispanic
K, and is a professor of English
■University of Texas at Austin.
eartworm hazards
igh with El Nino
Blame El Nino for one more thing
a higher than normal possibility
jpour dog or cat could get heart-
Irms this summer.
Bu . prevention is still the best
IsAwSclicine when it comes to heart-
|Bry#Hdisease, according to a veteri-
riif with Texas A&M University.
/“!’event!on is the key,” said Dr.
Horan, a veterinarian specializing
Hiall animal medicine. "It’s the
est, simplest thing you can do,
I there are so many products out
(fi now.”
.Basically, if there are mosquitoes
iiind — even in arid regions —
ire is a chance that pets will get
|ftworms, she said. Heartworms
Iransmitted to pets through the
e|f a mosquito. Dogs are a natur-
gpst to heartworms, and contrary
popular belief, cats also can get
■worm disease, she said. Veteri-
rians at Texas A&M recommend
be checked annually for heart-
Jis. And both dogs and cats —
[daily in East and South Texas
i[e mosquito populations are
greater — should be kept on
vorm preventative year- round,
said.
N S I D E
gram
lest 98 showcases the best
reative artwork, featuring
I'ies by students from Bryan
I College Station.
See Page 3
cjnsMBra
Nickel, Forman answer questions about platforms from students, each other
By Amanda Smith
Staff writer
Student body president candi
dates Joe Forman and Laurie
Nickel squared off Tuesday night
on campus issues ranging from
academics to tanning beds.
Both Nickel, a senior business
major, and Forman, a senior eco
nomics major, were given the
chance to ask each other about a
specific campaign platform.
Nickel asked Forman about his
recommendations to improve
student life by adding tanning
beds to the Student Recreation
Center.
“There are a lot of people who
drive off campus to go tanning,”
Forman said during a debate be
fore more than 100 students in
side the MSC. “This could bring
money to the Student Recreation
Center and save the students
money in potential fee increases.”
Forman asked Nickel about
her recommendations to im
prove relations with Parking,
Traffic and Transportation Ser
vices (PTTS) on campus. Nickel
said a student committee was
started this semester to begin
working with PTTS to help meet
student demands.
“Parking is a huge problem on
this campus,” Nickel said. “I want
to make sure that we can contin
ue to work with the director of
PTTS. We want to provide parking
incentives for students who car
pool, by allowing them to park
closer to the buildings on
campus.”
Nickel said the student body
president needs to serve as a liai
son between the students and the
administration.
“As a student body president,
you have to be willing to work
with the administration and not
against the administration.”
Forman said the position of
student body president some
times demands confronting the
administration with the requests
of the students.
“You need to work with the ad
ministration, but a student body
president also needs to be willing
to confront the administration
with the needs of the stu
dents,” Forman said. “As stu
dent body president, you need
to be representative of the stu
dent body.”
Following the formal ques
tion-answer session, students
from the audience direct
ed questions to the can
didates.
Craig Rotter, a previ
ous student body pres
ident candidate and
an agricultural devel
opment graduate
student, asked
Nickel and Forman
to name five con
tributions made to
the campus in the
past four weeks. Both candidates
cited their involvement in stu
dent organizations on campus
and their cdntributions to stu
dents through their campaigns.
Please see Debate on Page 2
■t
^PHOTOS BY BRANDON
BOLLOM/The Battalion
Keeping cool
Wm>
JAKE SCHRICKLING/The Battalion
Stephanie Swanzy, a junior biomedical science major, plays in the water at Rudder
Fountain during the MSC Rubber Duck Race on Tuesday.
IHS, truck makers
crash over testing
WASHINGTON (AP) — In TV commercials,
pickup trucks look indestructible, so much so
that one automaker brags they’re “like a rock.”
But back them into a loading dock or bump
them into another vehicle and it can be a differ
ent story.
An insurance industry study released Tues
day found that some popular small pickups
racked up sizable repair bills in cra'sh tests at just
5 mph. Leading the way was the Toyota Tacoma,
which sustained $4,361 in damage over four
low-speed tests.
The best of the lot, the Chevrolet S-10 LS, had
$2,246 in damage. The other trucks tested by the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety were the
Ford Ranger XLT ($2,952 in total damages), the
Dodge Dakota Sport ($3,863) and the Nissan
Frontier XE ($3,867).
The institute, which is sponsored by the in
surance industry, said the trucks sustained the
damage because most are equipped with rigid
bumpers. By contrast, cars have bumpers that
contain energy-absorbing materials such as
foam.
“People may think that pickup trucks are
tough. But they quickly find out this isn’t true
when they bump into something at a slow speed
and then have to shell out thousands of dollars
to repair the damage,” said Adrian Lund, the in
stitute’s senior vice president.
Truck makers took issue with the test results,
as well as the group conducting them.
“The Tacoma meets all the general require
ments for crash worthiness,” said Julie Alfonso,
spokesperson for Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc.
Last year the company sold 145,911 Tacomas,
little brother to the full-size T-100 pickup.
Kyle Johnson, spokesperson for General Mo
tors, maker of the Chevrolet S-10, said the insti
tute was releasing the data as part of a campaign
to get the federal government to raise the
bumper standard to 5 mph. It was at that speed
in the early 1980s.
Truck damage
In 5 mph crash tests, a recent
study found some small pickup
models sustained sizable
damage. A look at total
damage amounts:
1998 test
results:
Toyota Tacoma
Nissan Frontier XE
Dodge Dakota Sport
Ford Ranger XLT
^SKSKSiiiiSi $2,952
Chevrolet S-10 LS
$2,246
Source: Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety
AP
“The insurance industry is once again stag
ing dramatizations in its selfish concern over
bumper repair costs,” said Johnson.
Before changing the speed, he said, the Na
tional Highway Traffic Safety Administration
studied the issue and determined that 2.5-mph
bumpers were sufficient when weighed against
the added cost of equipping passenger cars with
5-mph bumpers.
Water lost in space
Ijias A&M rally comes too
fe in 5-4 loss to Sam
Jston State Bearkats.
See Page 7
SSSSSESI
; alloway: Students should
more attention to the
Jie Code of Honor.
See Page 11
online
ftp: / / battalion, tamu. edu
|ok up with state and na-
jnal news through The
jre, AP’s 24-hour online
|ws service.
Scientists liken
conditions on Titan
to the beginning of
life on Earth
LONDON (AP) — Orbiting high
above Earth, Europe’s infrared space
observatory has discovered water
around stars and planets and in many
other surprising places, raising ex
pectations of life elsewhere in the uni
verse, the European Space Agency
said Tuesday.
The discovery of water vapor in
the atmosphere of Saturn’s largest
moon, Titan, has generated the
most excitement, because that
moon may duplicate the conditions
that led to the creation of life on
Earth, said Roger Bonnet, the
agency’s director of science.
“Now that water has been discov
ered ... this lends more support to the
possibility that we have all the condi
tions which prevailed on Earth 4 1/2
billion years ago to give birth to life.”
Titan facts
Europe’s infared space
observatory has discovered
water on Titan, Saturn’s largest
moon and the only satellite
with a thick atmosphere.
Diameter: 3,200 miles (5,150 km)
Atmospheric pressure:
1.5 times that of Earth
Atmospheric makeup:
mostly nitrogen and methane
Seniors leave more
room for freshmen
Mercury Earth
Jupiter
Sun
TITAN
759,067 miles
from Saturn
Uranus Pluto
Venus Mars
SATURN
Neptune
Source: NASA
By Jennifer Wilson
Stajf writer
Texas A&M’s incoming freshman
class will be even larger than last
year’s despite decreased numbers in
applicants, new application process
es and a higher application fee, ac
cording to a report by the Office of
Admissions and Records.
The number of applicants for
freshman admission has decreased
from 14,783 last fall to 13,129, but the
number of students offered admis
sion increased from 10,856 in 1997 to
11,350 for 1998.
“The reason for the increase in ad
missions is a change in the admission
target from 6,200 last year to at least
6,300 freshmen for this coming year,”
said Gary Engelgau, executive direc
tor of admissions and records.
Engelgau also said the increased
numbers are the result of a record-
AP sized graduation class which has cre
ated more spaces for incoming fresh
men.
Ron Douglas, A&M executive vice
president and provost, said the legis
lation requiring the automatic ad
mission of high-school seniors in the
top 10 percent of their classes has
had no affect.
“While analysis is not complete,
preliminary data suggests the
number of admitted applicants
from the top 10 percent is similar
to last year,” he said. “Because of
the legislation, many of these ap
plicants received their notice of
admissions earlier; thus we hope
the ‘catch rate’ [those who actual
ly enroll] will increase.”
Despite the overall higher admis
sion rate, the number of both incom
ing freshman minority applicants
and minority students admitted has
decreased.
Please see Freshmen on Page 2.