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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1998)
le Battalion Aggielife Page 5 • Thursday, October 1, 1998 test Campus Library caters business, agriculture BY MEREDITH MIGHT The Battalion ■ looking for the most recent selection |rom Oprah’s Book Club, students Ihould not expect to find it at the iVest Campus Library. ^■hat is because the West Campus Li- irai caters to the Lowry Mays College ^■Graduate School of Business and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the services provided are geared to- Mds research and house databases re jig to business and agriculture. ERIC NEWNAM/The Battalion ^trium of the West Campus Library spans j stories. The building, designed by Ray Bailey Itects Inc., was erected in 1994. houses journals and research materials primarily iihe areas of business and agriculture. The West Campus Library, designed by Ray Bailey Architects Inc., opened in August 1994. The library’s area totals 45,000 square feet. It cost approximate ly $8 million: $6 million went towards the construction of the building, $1 mil lion towards furniture costs and $1 mil lion towards design and miscellaneous costs. The library carries a total of 18,000 volumes of which 12,000 are journals. Only 6,000 volumes are allowed to cir culate. The volumes cover topics relat ing to business or agriculture. The library also houses the R.C. Bar clay Reference and Retailing Resources Center. The Barclay Center was initially orga nized by the Center for Retailing Studies as a memorial to Randall C. Barclay. Bar clay was one of the two founding part ners of Randall’s Foods in Houston. Robert McGeachin, interim head of the West Campus Library, said most of the funding for the library came from a permanent university fund package that was allocated nine years ago. “The actual endowment, set up in 1993 while the library was still under construction, is funded by corporations and individuals,” he said. There are two tiers of donors. Ran dall’s Food Market makes up most of the top tier. It includes three different com panies of the Barclay family. The second tier is composed of Am bassador Cards, Fleming Companies, Anheiser Busch and the Houston A&M Club, Mrs. Baird’s Bakeries, the Kellogg Company and Nabisco. Most of those donors were contacted by the Center for Retailing Studies, which existed in the College of Business before the library was built. Mike Goldwater, assistant director for fa cilities and maintenance, said the state pays for a portion of the library’s expenses. Rumored hauntings, agriculture makeup history of building BY MARIUM MOHIUDDIN The Battalion R oy Simms, meat laboratory manager in the Animal Industries Building, was doing some routine meat cutting with his co-workers one weekend afternoon in 1965. Simms got up on to the table to better cut across the meat. Simms was not wearing a cutting apron. On the third slice, he cut straight through the meat and into his leg, severing his femoral artery and bled to death. From that tragedy, many stories have emerged about the building being haunted. Sightings, voices and moving objects have been recorded in the building. Custodial workers remind professors to leave the elevator on the bottom floor so Simms can use it at night. Otherwise, Simms’ ghost cannot get into the elevator and will wander around the meat lab instead. According to Cushing archives, visitors to the building have reported hearing someone walking through the halls or doors loudly opening and closing when there was no one in the building. However, the ghost of Roy Simms is not the only legend attached to the Animal Industries Building. From the rise of its walls in 1929, the 44,859-square-foot larchitecture k see Library on Page 6. building has enjoyed celebrity status. Built for $225,000, the Animal Industries Building first housed the animal science department. In 1931, the building was opened, and in 1936, it was ded icated as a memorial to the pioneer livestock men of Texas. Barron Rector, assistant professor and an extended range specialist, said the building is a hallmark of the Depression era. “It was built by people out of work who were part of the programs set up by President Roosevelt,” he said. “The Uni versity brought in people who were masters of masonry and metal work. It was well built and has beautiful artistry.” The workers wanted the architecture of the building to re- GREG MCREYNOLDS/Thi li u I \i ion The entrance to the Animal Industries Building adorns heads of cows and horses in its architectural decor. fleet a theme of agriculture. The masons outfitted the build ing with many stone images of animals. Concrete horse skulls, horse profiles and cattle and goat heads lend to the building’s character. Above the south entrance of the build ing, two goat heads support a crown above a shield wearing a bovine skull. Inside, the animal motif is continued in the lobby. Iron workers created the main door, which was adorned with iron grills, and made brass and steel figures of long horns. The floors are laid with marble instead of tile, which is commonly found in many other buildings on campus. Transporting the marble was not an easy task for the builders. Rector said for a building of that period, the Animal In dustries Building was of above average construction. see Animal on Page 6. dies, llxk 11 *- naHotl# Wete* 1 nis.t y Ife-* Hall of fame It’s just Texas to us! Thursday Night Oct. 15 29 Cass 1 ’ 1 1 33A»I | * ii) I !03tW" : [ jSAaW'T Concert & Dance Advance tickets available at Longhorn Tavern Steakhouse; Bryan Cavenders Boot City; College Station and the Hall beginning today, October 1 St FRIDAY SATURDAY G U YS OlWly $ H 50C Well drinks & 75C Longnecks fill 10pm. $ 2.50 pitchers all night COUNTRY MUSIC w/ Branded Heart 50C Well drinks & 75C Longnecks fill 10pm. 1 s 2.50 pitchers all night $2 off w/college ID! —* —w 46t/i annual t . J.EXAS FAIR RODEO WACO • TEXAS FRI. OCT. 2nd October 2-10 proudly presents JOHN MICHAEL MONTGOMERY ROBERT EARL KEEN FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2nd • 8 p.m. • Heart O’ Texas Coliseum in Waco Tickets are $19.50 each (includes your Fair & Rodeo admission) and are available at Dillard’s in Waco and at the Coliseum (4601 Bosque Boulevard) ticket office Call 254-776-1660 for ticket information
