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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
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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.