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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 1998)
Page 6 • Friday, October 30, 1998 ampus M battalion Texas A&M to host New Student Computing Center optl state robotics finals BY NONI SRIDHARA The Battalion BY AMY CURTIS The Battalion Texas BEST Robotics Champi onship will bring over 300 mid dle- and high-school students to Texas A&M to demonstrate ac complishments they have made in engineering. The competition is open to the public and will be on Saturday in G. Rollie White Coliseum, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. A presentation featuring astronaut Story Mus- grave will be tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Rudder Theater. Texas BEST stands for “Boost ing Engineering, Science and Technology” and is a student- team robotics competition that in vites high schools and middle schools all over the state to com pete. The competition is open to any school interested. Teams can have as few as two members, but there is no limit to the number of members a team can have. Anne Prewett, spokesperson for Texas Instruments, a sponsor of Texas BEST, said the competi tion offers students the chance to use their math and science skills in a fun and imaginative environ ment, and introduces them to deadlines, schedules, regulations and budgets. “It combines the spirit of a sporting event with a real-world business effect,” Prewett said. Prewett said the program was created to inspire and motivate students pursue careers in tech nology, science and engineering. He said the competition gives the students an opportunity to realize that engineering can be fun. Prewett said students are given the same kit of materials, and they are given six weeks to create re mote-controlled robots that meet pre-established guidelines. “The competition pits student- built robots against each other,” she said. Prewett said the Texas BEST competition has grown from 14 competing schools when it start ed, to include more than 175 from Texas and other states. Prewett said the robots must be built by the students. The teams are aided by coaches and mentors who can suggest ideas and advise, but cannot help students with construction. Prewett said the competition is a fun event be cause students invite family and friends, and some schools bring cheerleaders and bands to cheer along contest participants. The competition is judged by A&M engineering professors. Prewett said trophies, medals and grants up to $1,000 to the team’s school will be awarded to top qualifiers. She said other awards and titles will be given out, such as “Best of the Best,” “Most Unique,” “Most Robust," “Most Sturdy,” “Most Photogenic” and “Most Elegant.” Story Musgrave, Friday night’s speaker, is a retired astronaut who has worked for NASA for 30 years and flew the longest shuttle mis sion in NASA’s history. Among his other accomplishments, he also tied for the record for most space flights, was the first to fly in all five space shuttles and served on the mission that repaired the Hub ble Space Telescope. A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place Thursday morning to honor the official opening of the new Student Computing Center. The idea for the center was conceived by Steven Weber, Ed ward Munoz and Chris Taffinder in October 1990. These students were special assistants to the stu dent body president. Weber, Class of ’92, said the student body president at that time had appointed special assistants who were assigned to explore various campus issues. “I was assigned to library re sources, Thomas was assigned to representing facilities and Edward was assigned to computer assis tance,” Weber said. Weber said the three conceived the idea for the center over dinner. “One day, I kept waiting and waiting until about two o’ clock in the morning, and I could not find a computer and had a paper due the next day. Edward was facing similar problems, so we decided that we needed to come up with a plan to create a larger computer space with 24-hour accessibility," he said. Weber said they presented their proposal to the Student Govern ment Association and then moved on to the Student Senate to gain its support. The Senate approved the idea for funding the center’s con struction, which they decided would be collected through an ad ditional $1 per-credit-hour charge added to the Computer Access Fee. Weber said the computing cen ter proves there can be effective col laboration between the student body and University administrators. “This center is proof that stu- both* i! Texas A&M University President Dr. Ray M. Bowen speaks Thursday new Student Computing Center, next to the Sterling C. Evans Library. ROBERT MOW at the dedication ceremontl dents can become aware of their needs and derive viable, realistic and creative solutions. This center is proof that the administration will listen to the student body’s ideas, respect their opinions and is not afraid to act upon then. The creation of this center defines the true Aggie spirit,” he said. Texas A&M University Presi dent Dr. Ray M. Bowen was also present at yesterday’s ceremony. Bowen said that computing re- sources tire one of tr able resources the Ut “We should nevei cus on how importar ?rsin puling centers are if we want to reach our aspirations and contin ue to be what we are today,” Bowen said. Bowen also said that the Bryan- College Station community needs to team up with the University to help provide high-speed network ing and get more off-campus stu dents connected. Dr. John J. DinkeU dean for the master’s pis the Lowry Mays Colleger uate School of Business, opening of the compuiip marks a special event. 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