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CHECK OUT
THE BATTALION
FRIDAY
September 18, 1998
Issue 16 • 8 pages
A&M Foundation builds new home
freshman class of 7,355
;h retention rate of upper
f>, a total of 43,399 are at-
&M.
m thcMs: irollrlent figures indicate
ise in the number of His-
African-American students
year, as well as a jump of
k _ -73 transfer students.
vl^ 6 hi 6 her registrations of
nerican and Hispanic stu-
lim ^ ^ welcome, A&M officials
5 figures are still below the
r : ,,. 290 African-American stu-
l994 and 891 Hispanic stu-
rolled in 1995 before the
1 decision barred race-relat-
;sions and financial aid.
n reed couple
« i s over tickets
' l, ' i irmer Texas A&M students
' ved that a messy divorce
onlv pi could affect getting a seat
tup football games.
I jto mi 92, an unidentified couple
work 3d Texas A&M with a
tutioiu ) endowment and in turn re-
\ win our Aggie football season
ms pres or life, HolYWiatt, directofoT '
his par' and the University Police
mJ 0 lent, said.
nired in said the couple divorced in
nship .i nd the divorce decree men-
ithing about the tickets; there-
tickets remained a joint claim
the man and the woman.
•f f nan, who now lives in Bren-
| t/]pressed a desire to acquire
J- ^ seats this season. Wiatt
>rder for that to happen, he
a inazi ; h er have a court order or a
ind fur gned by his ex-wife, a resi-
ivers re Houston, saying she does
H'irglt t the tickets,
is nows er, supposedly from the ex-
, physiu s sent, but she later called
nd. TT i Man Foundation and said
Line ere not write the letter.
■r its pi; and the University Police
; the coi nent are investigating as to
:learance - or not the case is one of
ding. However, he said the case is
gators • £h priority to the department
10 conclLme because the case is still
Initarel nvestigation, and the out-
ossibilitj as not yet been determined,
m relate not a high priority because
ctrical w lot been awarded by the 12th
undation the tickets,” Wiatt
'he only significance is that
■ —^er would constitute forgery.”
Oh a Phi Alpha
^.sfs Alphapalooza
ia Phi Alpha and MSC Town
il sponsor Alphapalooza ’98
a rYl( ayat7:36 P' 171 ' a1: Rucicler Au -
ill'Ti. The concert will feature
DeBarge and an after party
imnlfQW at G. Rollie White Colise-
le cost is $15 in advance,
at the door.
BY LESLIE STEBBINS
The Battalion
The Class of 2002 class council
and senate election meeting was
held last night to address campaign
issues and regulations.
The election commission in
formed the freshman on how to
run a campaign without receiv
ing a fine or being removed from
the ballot.
Student Body President Laurie
Nickel delivered a welcome speech
in which she encouraged all of the
potential candidates to have a good
time while campaigning.
“This is a chance to prove your
self as an individual,” Nickel said,
“and it is not about the position
you get elected to, but the relations
you made along the way. ”
Candidates were informed of
the budgetary restrictions, rules,
fines and campaign procedures.
The freshman class president
candidates are allowed a maxi
mum budget of $250 and the can
didates for the other positions can
spend up to $100.
Every expenditure is to be
pfoperfy recorded according to
Engineers
develop pigs
with less fat
BY AMY CURTIS
The Battalion
New genetic research presents the
possibility of pigs with more muscle
and less fat.
Jorge Piedrahita, associate profes
sor of veterinary medicine, said the
genetically engineered pigs will have
15 to 20 percent more muscle with
less fat in it.
Pigs with the genetic alteration
will require the same amount of
feed as they eat now, but will grow
more muscle.
This will result in a lower choles
terol pork which will be beneficial to
both consumers and farmers be
cause the pigs will produce more
meat with the same amount of feed.
Piedrahita said the protein that
regulates muscle growth, GDF8, has
been isolated to a certain gene. With
the removal of that gene, the pigs
grow more muscle on the same
amount of feed and care.
Piedrahita said the project with
GDF8 started four years ago at
Johns Hopkins University. Re
searchers at Johns Hopkins devel
oped technology to discover new
types of genes.
see Pigs on Page 2.
the election commission guide
lines. If a candidate exceeds the
budget he or she will be removed
from the ballot.
Some changes were made from
last semester’s regulations by the
Student Senate.
The use of sandwich boards is
no longer allowed and no off-cam
pus campaigning is permitted.
Alice Gonzalez, director of pro
grams for the election commission
and a senior agriculture develop
ment major, said people might
steal the sandwich boards and can
didates would lose the investments
they made in the sandwich boards.
Oh campus door-to-door cam
paigning will be allowed, but each
hall will be open to candidates for
only one night from 7-9 p.m.
Each hall has a designated
evening when candidates can
legally campaign.
Candidates will be fined if they
are caught campaigning in a resi
dence hall after the designated date
and time.
Candidates have until midnight
of Sept. 28 to campaign, and the
elections will be held on Sept. 29
and 30from 9 a.ffirt»*5*p ! .m<' ”
BY AMY CURTIS
The Battalion
Construction on a new Texas
A&M Foundation building, the Jon
L. Hagler Center, is underway and
should be completed by fall 1999.
The building will be located at
the corner of Houston Street and
George Bush Drive, across the
street from the Clayton Williams
Alumni Center.
Rose Ann Thomas, manager of
communications for the Texas
A&M Foundation, said the building
is being constructed to accommo
date the growing number of staff
and fund-raising functions of the
Foundation.
“We need a facility that can ac
commodate the higher level of
fundraising at Texas A&M,”
Thomas said.
Thomas said the construction,
which began in April, is ahead of
schedule and is expected to be fin
ished in early fall of 1999.
The building is being funded by
private donors and endowments.
Thomas said fundraising took a
major step forward between 1990
and 1996, when the Foundation re
ceived more than $637 million in
gifts and pledges.
Thomas said with the increas
ing enrollment, the Foundation
needs to have the facilities to aci__
*■' ;a#nmodate the growing nu’mj^gr
JAKE SCHRICKLING/The Battalion
The Jon L. Hagler Center, new home of the Texas A&M Foundation, is
expected to be completed in Fall, 1999.
of students, faculty and donors.
Thomas said the architect of the
building, HKS Inc. of Dallas, took
into account two things when
planning the building: the place
ment of the trees at the site and cre
ating a reflection of the Clayton
Williams Alumni Center located
across the street from the site.
Thomas said the building is
named in honor of Foundation
trustee Jon Hagler, Class of ’58 and
co-chair of Vision 2020.
Thomas said the building is de
signed with a curving entry hall
called the. Donor Hall where names
of donprg and University associates
— including corporations, individ
uals and organizations — that have
given at least $100,000 will have
his name engraved on the wall.
The curving hall is lined with 74
pillars. Any individual or group
giving more than $50,000 to the
construction will have their name
carved onto a pillar. Thomas said
the Foundation staff themselves
are funding a pillar.
Suzy Keller, assistant to the ex
ecutive director of the Associa
tion of Former Students, said the
construction has not created
more traffic than usual on George
Bush Drive.
Lord of the rings
JAKE SCHRICKLING/The Battalion
Nathan Foreman, a senior sports management major,
picks up his Aggie ring at the Clayton Williams Alumni
Center Thursday morning. Today is the last day to order
Aggie rings.
Hughes med program
denies grant renewal
BY AMY CURTIS
The Battalion
The Howard Hughes Medical
Institute program at A&M will con
tinue despite the lack of external
funding.
The HHMI is a philanthropic
foundation designed to help im
prove the quality and pool of stu
dents that will go into graduate
studies in the medical sciences.
Edward Funkhouser, professor
of biochemistry and biophysics and
the associate director of the Office
of Honors Programs and Academic
Scholarships, said the institute is a
nationwide foundation that gives
grants to universities across the
country.
A&M applied for and received a
four-year grant from the HHMI in
1994.
“Each two years they invite
about 100 to 110 universities to ap
ply,” Funkhouser said.
Funkhouser said A&M applied
for a grant renewal in the spring
and received an answer to its ap
plication after it was prepared for
the fall.
Funds saved from the previous
grant were set aside to finance the
Fall 1998 semester and 33 more
freshmen were invited into the
program.
Funkhouser does not know why
A&M’s application for another grant
was rejected because the HHMI
does not release that information.
A&M will reapply if invited by the
HHMI in 2000.
Dr. Susanna Finnell, executive
director of the Office of Honors Pro
grams and Academic Scholarships,
said students that were in the pro
gram last term and those in it this
term are encouraged to continue
those studies.
She said although the funding
has stopped, there is still access to
labs and materials, so students can
continue their research experience.
Finnell said there will not be
funds to pay the student workers in
the program or provide research
funding after this semester.
Funkhouser said the program is
a research program for undergrad
uates. It includes two sets of ac
credited courses.
For the freshmen and sopho
mores, the classes comprise the the
ories of research. For juniors and se
niors, there are research courses.
The grant money also was used
for improving teaching labs and
providing summer research op
portunities, as well as funding ju
nior and senior researchers and
freshmen and sophomore student
workers.
ckel wants to be recognized for leadership skills, not just for being a woman
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Nickel, a senior business analysis ma-
s/intoi"serving as student body president at
■@ 8-L' A&M.
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BY MEREDITH RIGHT
The Battalion
When Laurie Nickel, student body
president, was giving a tour of campus
her sophomore year, she was asked for
the first time about the potential for
women to succeed at Texas A&M.
“The woman said, T want my daughter
to be a leader. I don’t know if that oppor
tunity exists here at Texas A&M.’ When she
asked that, it blew my mind,” Nickel said.
As a tour guide, she was trained to an
swer the question in a way that repre
sented all of campus.
“I really think I’ve had an exceptional
experience. When I was a freshman,
Brooke Leslie was student body presi
dent. I was in the Fish Aides program, so
I was able to work with her through stu
dent government. Immediately my per
ception was men and women are treated
the same,” ‘she said.
“My parents had three daughters and a
son. They treated us all the same. A&M
was the same type of experience,” she said.
Over the past four years at A&M, Nick
el has been a Fish Camp Co-Chair, an Ag
gie Wrangler and director of the Fall Lead
ership Conference.
She also was vice-president of student
government, an assistant to the student
body president and served on the Student
Government Association Executive Coun
cil for three years. She also was the chair
of the Student Leader Advisory Board.
Her role as student body president is
one of great responsibility.
“I want to do a good job so people can
see that a woman can successfully fill a
leadership role,” she said.
There are already candidates for next
year’s student body president, and some
are female.
“Vote for the best candidate. All of
them have worked hard and worked
steadily,” Nickel said.
Nickel said she has seen men and
women apply for positions in organiza
tions, and and the best person is usual
ly appointed.
She said that in her position as student
body president, she often walks into
meetings where she is the only female.
“They are gentlemen, and treat me like
a lady. They also treat me as a student
body president, not as a woman student
body president,” she said.
As far as what she would like to see im
proved, Nickel said she hopes that it is al
ways the point of the leader and what
they stand for, not their sex.