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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1998)
WEfiTHER • m £^j poignaitj yrd weft ‘rchanr' Jasper te said, n have; isavon .thecae a of the b suppo Today J I M C ■ fTTfr F Aggielife ... see Page 3 * ^ t Opinion ... see Page S LOW Tomorrow leu high low 104™ YEAR • ISSUE 157 • 6 PAGES Battalion TEXAS ASM UNIVERSITY ■ COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS Tomorrow Sports: Jennifer Bohac coaches student athletes on how to succeed in the real world after college athletics. TUESDAY • JUNE S3 • 1998 ... Incomplete Kyle Field construction calls for temporary seating Photo By Jake Schrickung / The Battalion By Sarah Goldston Staff Writer When the Aggie football players take the field against Nebraska this fall, spectators nor mally viewing the action from the north end will find themselves in bleachers at the south end instead. Athletic Director Wally Groff said the Ath letic Department is investigating the use of temporary bleachers to replace the seating de molished by construction. Groff said temporary bleachers at the south end of Kyle Field and chairs put on the track will provide total of 3,500 extra seats. The Kyle Field expansion project is expect ed to be completed before September 1999 vice chancellor for Facilities, Planning and Con struction, Wesley E. Peel, said. Peel said construction is still in the beginning stages, but the project is currently on schedule. "At the beginning of the project, we could n't be guaranteed a steady, sufficient supply of concrete to keep the job on schedule because of a statewide cement shortage," he said. Now that construction is back on track, the building project offers an opportunity for stu dents to take part in the construction. Instead of just waiting for its completi on to watch foot ball, students can work with the contractor building the north end. Martin Garza, project manager for Bartlette Cocke Inc. and Class of '82, hired the students through a career fair in the Col lege of Architecture. Jeremy Ballard, a senior construction sci ence major and student worker on the Kyle Field construction site, said he is using the op portunity as a summer job and enjoys the hands-on experience. "We just finished pouring piers and putting together steel cages for reinforcing," he said. Garza said the need for workers will carry over into the fall. "We will continue to hire students in the fall," Garza said. "It's open to all students who are interested in construction. If students are looking for full time work they should drop by the field office on the job site," Garza said. Students would be able to work as carpen ter's helpers, laborers and have other duties, he said. It hr |r: Asian students’ work restrictions 4 temporarily lifted Amber Benson City Editor Immigration and Naturaliza tion Services has temporarily lift ed work restrictions for some F-l .student visa holders to provide [n#!®relief for students struggling to [pay for their educations during the Asian currency crisis. The program lifts the employ ment restrictions for internation al students from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Phillipines, South Korea or Thailand who meet oth er qualifications regarding en rollment and funding, INS offi cials said. Eligible students will be able to reduce their course loads and be allowed to work more than the 20 hours-a-week limit normally imposed by the INS. The INS estimates that the Asian currency crisis has caused I economic hardship for almost 180,000 international students at- | tending universities in the Unit ed States. Suzanne Droleskey, di rector of Texas A&M International Stu dent Services said lifting the re strictions could benefit interna tional students. "This program will allow stu dents who need additional fund ing the opportunity to seek it," Droleskey said. Although over 500 A&M in ternational students come from the five countries hit hardest by the downturn in Asian markets, not all of those students are el igible for the program, Droleskey said. "There is a lot of misinforma tion out right now," Droleskey said. "If students are curious about whether they qualify, they need to come see the Internation al Students office immediately." Nattavut Duangsungnaen, an aerospace engineering graduate student from Thailand, said the restrictions were helping some students. "We can work off-campus now," Duangsungnaen said. "We couldn't do that before with the restrictions." Droleskey said the waivers are only for an interim period, and the regulations can change at any time. The INS is accepting opin ions from international students and universities on ways to alle viate the problem. "We're still in the comment period, it will take a while for the INS to work out a solid program that will work effectively," Droleskey said. "This program has the potential to supply relief to those most in need of it." News Briefs On gu< vrmm ‘Mim® wimm. ■u W ar * mmmm f ZMw r * - ’ ‘ ' hi * t •TrfWft MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion Lifeguard Byron Moore, a junior biology major, works at the Student Recreation Center swimming pool Monday. Moore has been a lifeguard for a number of years, but this is his first summer working for student services. Former alumni president dies Memorial services for J.R. (Bob) Latimer Jr., Class of '47 and past president of Texas A&M Universi ty's Association of Former Stu dents, will be conducted at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Highland Park Unit ed Methodist Church. Latimer died Saturday after an extended illness. He was 74. Latimer served as president of Texas A&M's alumni association in 1972. He earlier served as the asso ciation's first vice president for high school relations, during which time he organized a team of more than 2,000 former stu dents who visited high schools throughout the state to recruit more high-achieving students for the University. Latimer was active in winning the Association of Former stu dents' support for admission of women to Texas A&M in 1 964. He subsequently participated in reorganization of both the Associ ation of Former Students and the Texas A&M Foundation, creating the pattern of scholarships and alumni financial support that has made both organizations models in academic circles. In lieu of flowers, Latimer's family requests that donations be made to the Bob Latimer Scholarship at the Texas A&M Foundation. Cars on Spring Loop burglarized Three vehicles were broken into and had stereo equipment stolen from them on Spring Loop Drive Sunday, according the College Sta tion Police. Lt. Scott McCollum said this is not uncommon. "The burglars usually don't hit one car," he said. "They hit several." Engineering prof recognized Texas A&M electrical engineering department head Dr. Chanan Singh has been named the outstanding ed ucator in power engineering by a di vision of the world's largest technical professional society. Singh will receive the 1998 Out standing Power Engineering Educa tor Award from the Power Engineer ing Society (PES), part of the global 320,000-member Institute of Elec trical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The honor will be presented at the PES summer meeting next month in San Diego. At Texas A&M since 1978, Singh has been depart ment head since June of last year. The electrical engineering pro fessor, who specializes in electric power systems, power electronics and urban transportation systems, is being recognized for innovative leadership and outstanding contri butions in power engineering edu cation. Singh has been an IEEE Fel low since 1991. Disaster drill Emergency response center trains against terrorist attacks Amber Benson City Editor As the Oklahoma City bombing trial jurors made a pilgrimage to the scene of the crime, the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NRRTC) at Texas A&M is taking steps to ensure that situation never happens again. The NRRTC has joined the U.S. Department of Justice, New Mexico Tech, the Nevada Test Site, Louisiana State University and Fort McClellan in Alabama to form the National Do mestic Preparedness Consortium to fight domestic terrorism attacks. The Consortium, established on June 11 in Washington, D.C., will play a leadership role in preparing firefighters, law enforcement, med ical and other emergency personnel to respond to acts of chemical, bio logical or nuclear terrorism. The consortium was designed after senators noticed there were several federal entities and acade mic institutions involved in anti terrorism activities that compli mented one another. Texas Senator Kay Bailey Flutchi- son was one of the legislators who es tablished the partnership. tt It brings together the resources needed to deal with such threats immediately and effectively.” — Kay Bailey Hutchison Texas Senator "The agreement means we will be able to train a million first-response workers during the first five years of the program," said Hutchison. "It brings together the resources needed to deal with such threats immediate ly and effectively." The Consortium will develop na tional standards for emergency re sponse management as well as cre ate a national curricu lum for training emergency personnel. Brenda Sims, a spokesperson for the Texas Engineering Extension Service which runs the NRRTC, said the center in College Station will play an instrumental role in the training process. Part of the program will include the construction of a "disaster city" in College Station. The replica of a neighborhood will be used to teach emergency managers how to handle chemical, biological and nuclear at tacks. The center will also use virtu al reality simulators to aid in the teaching process. "These simulations will provide the reality-based experience that workers need to successfully counter terrorism attacks," Sims said. Sims said the Texas A&M com munity will benefit from the Con sortium through research and jobs. "We will depend on the research community to develop new technol ogy," Sims said.