tting their kicks:
■gkij^/S soccer readies for
kQN on ‘Quack Attack.’
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Going global:
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offer world of knowledge.
page 3
The
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105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
August 26> 1998
Issue 1 • 16 pages
WEDNESDAY
Partly Cloudy
HIGH 96
LOW 79
V V
ut
S, Bus Operations
ke changes for fall
Aggies to assist in cloning dog
By Amanda Smith
The Battalion
Iking, Traffic and Tkansporta-
lervices (PTTS) begins the
|98 semester with some new
on the pavement,
h Williams, the PTTS direc-
lid he hopes parking will go
Ihly this semester,
ly hope is that we can have
pig run without problems this
■ter,” Williams said.
■h Lot, or PA-56 and PA-61, are
■iger divided into red and blue
ing lots but intermingles them
■ypes of permits together in
ilots.
Itudents with red permits
■ clear the lot on Friday
its by 6:30 p.m. before home
Itball games.
Williams said towing will be
forced for those who violate
■ng regulations on game
pends.
“If they do not move the cars,
■ we have to tow them,”
ifiams said. “The reason that
||ave waited to change the lots
that we do not want to have to
iake the residents move. But vis
ors to athletic events are our
nests on campus and it is im-
Bttant to accommodate them.”
The central campus garage.
which opened this summer, con
tains 600 faculty and staff spaces.
At night, 550 spaces will be
opened for visitors to the Texas
A&M campus.
PA-72 near the Wehner Build
ing on West Campus now con
tains an automatic pay station, at
which a 20-minute grace period is
given for cars to exit the lot. The
pay station is designed to de
crease the time required to exit
the lot.
Another measure taken by
PTTS to save time this summer
was the mailing of an additional
500 parking permits, to decrease
the long lines at the PTTS office at
the beginning of the fall semester.
At the Student Recreation Cen
ter, temporary parking permits can
be used for the spouses of faculty
members using the facility.
Bus Operations has made addi
tional changes affecting students
using on-campus transportation.
Bus shelters have been added at
the Bush School of Government
and Public Service. A bus stop has
been added at the corner of Kim
brough and Olsen to provide trans
portation for the students using the
1,500 commuter spaces at Reed
Arena lot.
see PTTS on Page 10.
By Amanda Smith
The Battalion
Researchers at the Texas A&M
College of Veterinary Medicine
and a California-based research
company have teamed together to
study dog cloning in a $2.3 mil
lion effort called the “Missyplici-
ty Project.”
The project is named for the
dog. Missy, whose DNA will be
used in an effort to produce the ini
tial cloned offspring. A United
States millionaire and owner of the
dog. Missy, is the sole financial
supporter of the project.
Texas A&M researchers Dr. Mark
Westhusin, Dr. Duane Kraemer and
Dr. Robert Burghardt will work with
a team involving several researchers
and universities. Lou Hawthorne,
president of the California-based Bio
Arts and Research Corp., will man
age the project.
Dr. Westhusin, who will lead the
Fish frenzy
scientific group, said the cloning ef
fort will take place at Texas A&M
College of Veterinary Medicine facil
ities and expects to operate with a 10
to 12 member staff.
“We are getting started on the
project right here, right now, or
dering the supplies and doing the
interviewing” Dr. Westhusin said.
“Now, we think that the biggest
challenge of the project is to de
velop an understanding of the re
productive physiology in dogs.
Understanding more about that is
going to give us more information
about the contraception and ster
ilization methods which can be
used for dogs.”
Researchers report that project
could reduce the number of un
wanted dogs and possibly increase
the replication of exceptional dogs
of high societal value, according to
a report from Texas A&M Universi
ty Relations.
Missy is an 11-year-old border
collie-husky mix. The cloning ef
fort will study numerous areas of
canine reproduction, which could
find improved means of contracep
tion and sterilization.
Kathy Vice, the executive direc
tor of the Brazos Animal Shelter
Humane Society, said finding a
means to clone dogs could de
crease over breeding dogs.
“The search for the perfect dog
may be over (with dog cloning),”
Vice said. “Some dogs may be bred
1,000 times to produce one ‘per
fect’ dog. The (unwanted dogs)
become part of the pet overpopu
lation problem. But cloning a few
pets a year won’t take away the
overpopulation problem.”
Vice said one-third of the home
less animals sent to the shelter are
purebred dogs and 500,000 home
less dogs are killed in Texas alone
annually.
Some pet owners only desire to
replicate a dog that they love. Vice
said.
“Some people love their animal
so much they will give any amount
of money to clone that animal,”
Vice said. “That is special.”
Researchers aim to apply the
knowledge gained from the “Missy-
plicity Project” to increase repro
duction of animals facing extinction.
The developers of the “Missy-
plicity Project” conceived and out
lined the idea in July 1997 and se
lected the winning scientific
applicant in March, according to
the project’s Web site.
The project has created a Web
site at www.missyplicity.com,
which includes history and updat
ed information on the project.
The interim between selection
of the scientific party involved and
the public announcement of the
project has been spent finalizing le
gal negotiations and planning tis
sue sampling process, according to
the project’s Web site.
international students
t taste of Texas A&M
By Joe Schumacher
The Battalion
e fifth annual International
[) (I-Camp) was held last week-
tthe Memorial Student Center.
iMlamp, international students
J given their first glimpse at the
^tprmel0i re and traditions surrounding
dLCI1 1 A&M University.
h .imp, which took place on
Kday, Aug. 22, is sponsored by
n at International Student Associa-
i . fiiitiOSA), the Association of For-
JJlH ^ erStudents and the Liberty Club,
Jrganization comprised of for-
| international students from
M currently living in Houston,
rlie Aggie Wranglers, Yell Lead-
ud Reveille were all at I-Camp
demonstrate and explain Aggie
Stions.
The Aggie Wranglers performed
try and western dances for the
ients. The Yell Leaders held a
yell practice. A&M Student Body
President Laurie Nickel and
Reveille were also on hand
Frank Muller, Class of ’65, was
one of the guest speakers in atten
dance. He gave a motivational
speech entitled “What it means to be
an Aggie” to the incoming students.
“We had an excellent turn out,”
said Roselynn Regina, the vice
president of public relations for the
ISA and a junior industrial engi
neering major. “We were pleased at
how many students showed up
even though it was raining. ”
Regina said attendance at I-
Camp was around 175 students.
The international students also
attended the Aggie football team
“Photo Day.” There, they had a
chance to meet the members of
the football team and receive
player autographs.
see Students on Page 10.
MIKE FUENTES/Thf. Battalion
New members of Corps Squad 1 give the freshman wildcat as they leave Dorm 10 on the Quad Tuesday night.
Giving a helping hand
TEES emergency group travels to Del Rio to help flood victims
MIKE FUENTES/Thf Battalion
LeeGiullman of College Station, a medical techni-
i, loads his gear for Texas Task Force One’s deploy
ment to help flood victims in Del Rio Monday.
By Bryan Buckman
The Battalion
In a first for the state of Texas,
firefighters and emergency work
ers were deployed from College
Station Monday night to deal with
flooding in South Texas. Members
of Texas Task Force One, orga
nized by the Texas Engineering
Extension Service (TEES), based
at Texas A&M, were sent to Del
Rio and Eagle Pass to spearhead
search and rescue efforts.
Sixteen people are confirmed
dead and 30 are missing as a result
of the flooding in south Texas.
Fifteen members of Texas Task
Force One who specialize in rapid
assessment and evaluation of dis
asters were sent to Del Rio by heli
copter earlier in the day to assess
the situation, and were expected to
be among the first rescue units on
the scene. Two 62-person teams
were transported later in the day
by Army National Guard planes
and trucks, an official said.
Jim Campbell, a spokesperson
for the TEES, said firefighters,
search-and-rescue experts, and
hazardous materials specialists
were called in to participate.
“They got literally a minute’s
notice,” Campbell said. “They im
mediately dropped what they were
doing and began to drive in.”
The team includes several
residents from the Bryan-College
Station area.
This deployment is the first
for Texas Task Force One, which
was formed following the 1995
Oklahoma City bombing to deal
with natural and man-made dis
asters including terrorist inci
dents. The team has practiced to
deal with such emergencies.
The team includes canine units,
doctors and other experts who can
begin search-and-rescue opera
tions immediately. Other team
members are expected to relieve
them within four days due to the
fatigue and stress associated with
their operations, an official said.
Please see related story on Pg. 10.
MIKE FUENTES/Thf. Battalion
Fleta Kirk of Dallas, a member of the Texas Task Force One urban search-and-rescue
group, and “Saber,” a rescue dog, wait to board a C-23 multi-engine plane headed for
Del Rio Monday