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ushing unveils itself, treasures
BY NONI SRIDHARA
The Battalion
shing Memorial Library’s
ake booklet reads, “For
( the Cushing Memorial Li-
sat quiet, concealing a mul-
1 of treasures most Aggies
never even imagined.” Ves
t’s rededication of the library
that silence.
[ter four years of renovations
ig $7 million dollars, Cush-
ortrays an altered look from
it opened in 1930 as the first
y on campus, according to
ed M. Heath, library dean,
ath said in his welcoming
h there are three main pur-
of a library: to be a place of
ction, a place of research
place of culture,
ur mission is to maintain
collections in a beautiful
ntellectually stimulating en-
iment,” he said,
xas A&M University Presi-
Dr. Ray M. Bowen said the
rical restoration of the library
s as a symbol of respect for
Texas A&M’s history.
“This library stands as a grand
monument for both our history
and future,” Bowen said.
Sir Roger Elliott, a theoretical
physicist from Oxford University
who has worked with the Oxford
Press and is executive director of
B.H. Blackwell LTD, and John
Lindsey, a member of the Board of
Regents, were the rededication
ceremony’s keynote speakers.
Elliott said the core of any uni
versity is the library.
“Most noble scholars base their
work on the past, thus it is imper
ative that the libraries give a prop
er home and properly preserve
these rare collections,” he said.
Lindsey said he is glad to see
the building restored.
“We may have helped save the
building, but it was Col. Cushing
who saved Texas A&M in times of
financial distress,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey said everyone should
visit the library.
“People should come here to
pursue scholarly experience, but
also come here for pure enjoy
ment of its grandeur of an era past
but not forgotten,” Lindsey said.
Many former students attend
ed the ceremony.
David Moore, Class of ’74 and
development coordinator, said
some of the classes split their do
nations between gift items and
partial endowments to support ac
quisitions.
“The Class of ’47 designed the
Gateway to the Kelsey reading
room on the second floor, the
Class of ’45 designed some book
shelves and the Class of ’49 is
helping put historical information
on the World Wide Web,” Moore
said.
Cushing houses a diverse col
lection of rare books. These range
from collection from the history of
the University to sports to military
collections. There are also visual
exhibits such as a baseball signed
by Babe Ruth which was a gift
from C.E. “Pat” Olsen, Class of
’23, and a hand-colored plate from
History of the Indian Tribes of
North America by Thomas Lor
raine McKenney.
Photos by
ROBERT MCKAY
RIGHT: Dr. Fred M. Heath, library
dean, welcomes the audience to the
rededication of the Cushing Library.
BELOW: At the Cushing Library reded-
ication, Marvis Kelsey, checks out a
pair of spurs donated to the Universi
ty. The spurs represent the time and
dedication it took to develop the San
ta Gertrudis breed of cattle.
Enzyme
could lessen
weapons’
threat
BY AMANDA STIRPE
The Battalion
Chemical weapons, which
could potentially kill millions
of people, could no longer be a
threat as a result of a bacterial
enzyme found by Texas A&M
researchers.
Fifteen years ago, a Texas
A&M student discovered a nat
ural bacteria that could break
down pesticides to allow crops
to grow faster, a technique
known as Chemical Intensive
Agriculture in which chemicals
are used to improve the quali
ty of agriculture. In 1993, the
student applied this knowledge
to chemical weapons because
insecticides have the same
chemical structure as warfare
agents.
Kirby C. Donnelly, professor in
the College of Veterinary Medicine,
said the bacteria completely elim
inates toxicity within 24 hours.
Dr. James R. Wild, head of
the Biochemistry and Bio
physics Department, said the
bacteria is being used to combat
chemical warfare.
see Research on Page 2.
Panel to discuss weapons
of mass destruction
BY MELISSA JORDAN
The Battalion
Wiley Lecture Series will host
“Weapons of Mass Destruction,”
a panel discussion tonight in
206 MSC.
The discussion will pertain pri
marily to chemical and biological
weapons. The impact of these in
struments on national security
and foreign policy will be a major
part of the evening’s discussion.
Speakers in the panel discus
sion will include: Dr. Ray Wilson,
an expert on nuclear proliferation
and disarmament and professor
emeritus of physics at Illinois Wes
leyan University; Col. Jim Davis,
an expert on chemical and biolog
ical weapons and a graduate of
Texas A&M; and Dr. Charles Her
mann, director of the George Bush
School of Government and Public
Service, who will serve as moder
ator of the discussion.
News events, such as the Okla
homa City bombing, concerning
the impact of these weapons on
U.S. national security will be dis
cussed by the panel.
Rahul Patel, chair of the Wiley
Lecture Series and a senior bio
medical science major, said with
threats such as the Cold War be
ing a thing of the past, the discus
sion will focus on terrorism.
Hermann said the lack of for
eign threats has made the United
States comfortable and not as
aware of potential dangers.
“The end of the Cold War has giv
en all of us, I think, the idea that there
are no threats to the U.S.,” he said.
With the proliferation of
weapons that cause massive loss
of human life, Hermann said it is
important to address these issues
because terrorist groups, as well
as states have access to these
weapons.
“The end of the
Cold War has given
all of us r I think,
the idea that there
are no threats to
the U.S/'
— Dr. Charles Hermann
Director, George Bush School
of Government and Public Service
“It’s one of the most serious
threats to this country,” Hermann
said.
Patel said by coming to the dis
cussion students will gain a better
understanding of weapons of
mass destruction and the reality of
their use in terrorism.
“They will gain the knowledge
of what’s going on in the world to
day in the sense of terrorism,” Pa
tel said.
" Jorum examines campus race relations
pifrom Northgate
incidents to Racial
inity Month, students
meet to brainstorm
wout improving A&M
immunity.
I BY MEGAN WRIGHT
1| The Battalion
■The Baha’i Club sponsored a racial
H l ty forum to reco g n ize Racial Unity
fgll ®nth and address concerns raised by
■ recent Northgate incidents.
■ ■Topics discussed by the group in-
2^®ded minority recruiting techniques
■rrently employed by Texas A&M, tra
ditions and the effectiveness of multi
cultural organizations on campus.
Matt Sherrill, a Baha’i Club member
and a junior electrical engineering ma
jor, said the purpose of the forum was
to acquire potential ideas for improving
campus race relations.
“The purpose was to gather solu
tions,” Sherrill said. “We want to even
tually fix some of these racial and com
munity problems, and tonight we got a
good feedback.”
Layla Aflatooni, a Baha’i member
and a junior bioenvironmental science
major, said the next step is to make tan
gible changes.
“It wound up, to a certain extent, to
be a lot of concerns and issues,” Afla
tooni said. “It’s now a matter of imple
mentation. We’ve got a lot of names
and e-mail addresses, and we’re going
to go from here.”
Leading the discussion were two rep
resentatives from the University Aware
ness for Cultural Togetherness (U-ACT)
organization. U-ACT is an organization
that participates in various cultural fo
rums, discussions and events throughout
the year on campus. Event facilitators
spend one semester attending classes
and seminars educating them about is
sues facing different cultural groups.
Christina Bloem, a facilitator at the
forum and a senior biomedical engi
neering major, said it is important to
discuss race relations.
“Any opportunity to have a discus
sion about issues in general, especially
diversity issues, is a positive venture,”
Bloem said.
Aflatooni said the forum went well
and was pleased with the amount of
participation.
“I was really happy to see a lot of dif
ferent people here with various input
and opinions,” Aflatooni said.
Rasheda
Jones, a
junior
accounting
major,
leads a dis
cussion at
the Racial
Unity
Forum
Tuesday
night at the
MSC.
ROBERT MCKAY/Thk Battalion
NEWS IN BRIEF
Law School caravan
makes MSC stop
Students interested in attending
law school can attend the law
school caravan today in the MSC
Flagroom from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The law school caravan is an
open forum with 85 law school rep
resentatives from academic insti
tutions across the country.
Dr. Anne Blum, director of the Of
fice of Professional School Advis
ing, said 85 of the 130 law schools
in the country will will be . repre
sented at the caravan.
Yale, Duke, Washington and Lee,
University of Texas, Vanderbilt,
Notre Dame, Pepperdine, George
town and all the Texas law schools
will be represented.
Approximately 1,000 students
attended the caravan last year.
The caravan is sponsored by the
Student Law Council, Office of Pro
fessional School Advising and South
west Association of Pre-Law Advisors.
Exxon contributes
to A&M research
Exxon continues to fuel research
and academic programs at Texas
A&M University, expecting to bring
their total 1998 contributions to
Texas A&M to $800,000.
Exxon Chemical Company Presi
dent Ray Nesbitt, Class of ’55, will
present a $103,000 check to Texas
A&M University President Ray M.
Bowen at a luncheon today.
The Exxon Corporation and the
Exxon Education Foundation have
donated $4.5 million to Texas A&M
University since 1994. The money
goes to 11 departments within the
University that demonstrate contri
butions to science and engineering.
Muslim students
to discuss Quran
As part of Islam Awareness
Week, the Muslim Students’ Asso
ciation is sponsoring “Quran: The
Final Testament.”
Joban An, an Indonesian islam-
ic scholar, will be the speaker for
the program.
The Quran is the holy book of the
Muslim religion. An will discuss how
the Quran offers details on living life
according to Muslim tradition.
“Quran: The Final Testament”
will be in 301 Rudder at 6 p.m.
Student life hosts
leader luncheon
As a part of National Colle
giate Alcohol Awareness Week,
the Department of Student Life
will be holding a Student Leader
luncheon.
Representatives from the Corps
of Cadets, Panhellenic Council and
the Interfraternity Council will be
present to discuss alcohol and it’s
role in the traditions of Texas A&M.
Storms lead to
drain investigation
Texas A&M’s waste water plant
experienced a heavy influx of water
during the storms last weekend.
The experience has led Physical
Plant officials to believe that there
are cross ties in the sanitary vs.
storm drains system.
To locate these areas, officials
plan to smoke test the sanitary
and storm drains starting with
west campus.
Officials do not expect to experi
ence any problems within the build
ings, but there may be reports of
smoke coming from manholes.
Smoke entering buildings should be
reported by e-mail to Gene Stewart,
superintendent, Facilities Mainte
nance, atgstewart@ppfs4.tamu.edu.