Page 2 • Tuesday, June 8, 1999
News
The
NUTZ
BV R. DELUNA
Team looking to
NEWS
IN BRIEF
slow light speed
Engineering
honored by AS!
BY STUART HUTSON
The Battalion
Outreach
Continued from Page 1
“We connect the dots,” she said.
“We plug both the students and par
ents into opportunities like volun-
teerism and preparing for college. ”
Bernadina Streeter, director of
the University Outreach Center in
Houston, said 80 percent of UO stu
dents enroll in colleges and univer
sities of their choice.
“We act as a bridge from middle
school to high school, and from high
school to college,” Streeter said.
Streeter said although the stu
dents are strong academically,
many of them face additional chal
lenges, such as being first-genera
tion college students or financial
problems because they do not live
with their parents.
Marco Portales, professor of Eng
lish at A&M, said the University Out
reach program is like a lookout post.
“They’re out there scouting the
horizon to see which students are like
ly to be successful at A&M,” he said.
He said once University Outreach
students have entered school, they
need the support which allows them
to be successful.
“If you’re going to invite them to
come in the door, you must have the
appropriate resources once they get
in the house.
“We have to have everyone on
base. Everything comes down to
having sufficient resources — both
for the programs and for the stu
dents,” he said.
A Texas A&M physics research
team is experimenting with a new
way to slow down the speed of
light which could be applied to
wards the production of faster com
puters, holographic medical X-rays
and even “light sabers.”
The experiment, which involves
the use of a gas consisting of the el
ement rubidium to slow down the
light emitted by a laser, was con
ducted by Michael Kash, an asso
ciate professor of
physics at Lake
Forest College in
Illinois; Vladimir
Sautenkov, a
Bush signs abortion bill
New law will require parents of minors be notified of procedure
DALLAS (AP) — Gov. George W. Bush on Monday
signed a bill requiring that parents be notified whenev
er their unmarried, minor daughters seek abortions.
“This law both respects families and protects life,”
Bush said during a public signing ceremony at a Dallas
hotel. He was surrounded by a handful of lawmakers,
including the bill’s author Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-
Plano, and Rep. Dianne White Delisi, R-Temple.
“Thank you all for your principle and for your per
sistence. Thank you for showing how a debate on abor
tion should be conducted.”
The law is effective Sept. 1.
The bill passed the Senate early in the session, then
was amended in the House after prolonged negotiations,
heated debate and attempts by opponents to derail it.
Senators finally agreed to the House amendments in the
final days of the session.
That OK came only after several senators voiced
concern about what would happen to girls who fear
having their parents told. The requirement does allow
abortion providers to skip the notification requirement
if a judge decides the girl is mature enough to make
the decision herself.
Information about the court bypass process will be
made available at the abortion provider’s office.
Shapiro said the new law is important for girls in cri
sis. She said parents can rest easy now for being in
cluded in the abortion decision with their own daugh
ters.
“This is one of the most significant things that we
can do to bring parents back into the loop and to
have parents involved in their minor child’s deci
sion,” she said.
Thirty-seven other states have parental notification,
Shapiro said.
Anti-abortion activists praised the signing as a move
in the right direction.
Darla St. Martin, of the Washington, D.C.-based Na
tional Right to Life, said abortion opponents and law
makers in Texas have been pushing for notification laws
on minors for 25 years.
“It also helps establish a general pro-life attitude on
the part of people in the state,” St. Martin said.
Bush, who is on the verge of beginning travels around
the U.S. to push a probable presidential bid, has been
criticized by some in the anti-abortion movement as be
ing soft on abortion and not pro-life enough.
postdoctoral re
search associate
at A&M; and
George Welch, an
associate profes
sor of physics.
Welch said a
light wave may
enter the gas, be
delayed for a few
hundred mi
croseconds and
leave the other
end at about 95
'7f we can ever
slow down light
enough, some day
we may be able to
make light sabers
like the ones in
Star Wars."
— Michael Kash
Research team member
“I believe that government
can encourage ...for minor
daughters to interface with
their parents.”
- GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH
percent of its original intensity.
The extra time allotted by the
delay allows the team to scientifi
cally manipulate the light beam by
means of other lasers.
“The delay allows us to alter the
frequency [color] of the light en
tering the rubidium,” Welch said.
“Right now we can only change the
color slightly ... but the potential
for the telecommunications indus
try which uses fiber optics is al
ready tremendous.”
Welch said manipulation of fre
quency may someday allow doc
tors to take three-dismensional
holographic X-rays of patients and
make laser measurement and com
puting devices far more accurate.
“We are seeing that in the future
computers will become more opti
cally based,” Welch said, “so this
manipulation of light will be bene
ficial.”
Kash said though the idea was
“far fetched,” he proposed a Star-
struck application for the experi
ment’s findings.
“If we can ever slow down light
enough, one day we may be able to
make light sabers like the ones in
Star Wars," he said.
Any material can
slow the reproduction
of light, but materials
that slow light down
the most also tend to
absorb a lot of its en
ergy. This means light
cannot pass through
thick materials.
The team’s exper
iment heats the ru
bidium into a state of
matter called
“phaseonium.”
While in this state,
the rubidium will slow
light but not absorb
much energy, thus al-
Stephen A. Holditch.alei-
University petroleum engines:
lessor, has received thete|
can Association of Mecha
neers' (ASME) Petroleum!
Rhodes Industry Leaders-;
Drop) Award.
The Rhodes Award is|
annually in honor of Allen R/ :
president of ASME Interna
1970-1971.
The award recognizes "a
contribution to the petrole
try demonstrated through-]
ment, motivational ability,e
neurship and innovatemeb
Holdritch was named to;
Adams Endowed Profess*
1995. He has authored raa
100 research articles andl*
tnbuted to two textbooks. ;
Holdritch has earned his;
lor’s, master’s and doctoralii
in petroleum engineerings
Texas A&M.
Tickets availal
for World Seri-
lowing light to pass through matter,
but with a much slower velocity.
A similar experiment was con
ducted by a team of Harvard and
Stanford physicists who used a ma
terial consisting of sodium cooled to
almost absolute zero (459.6 degrees
below Fahrenheit), called Bose Ein-
stien condensate, to slow light.
The advantage of A&M’s exper
iment is the rubidium is heated to
190 degrees Fahrenheit. This high
temperature is much less costly
and much easier to sustain than the
supercooled temperature required
by the condensate.
Aggie baseball fans can
tickets to the College Worici
from Omaha Ticketmasteri
422-1212.
Callers should identify:
selves as Texas A&M fans.
The Aggies will face Fte
University in the first rourc 1
College World Series Sate
12:30 p.m. (CDT).
The game will be broafc
CBS.
Other first round mater.-
elude Oklahoma State Uni\t
Alabama and Rice vs. Mia-
day. and Stanford vs.Cal St:
ton on Saturday.
Researcher
to aid sea tuil
Opponents of notification argue the law targets the
state’s most vulnerable females and that pregnant mi
nors — fearful of having to tell their parents of their de
cision to abort their pregnancy — will seek dangerous
back-alley procedures.
Bush has said he signed the bill to reduce the overall
number of abortions in the state and “involve parents
in this major decision of their minor daughters.”
“I believe that government can encourage — like they
do in all other kinds of medical decisions — for minor
daughters to interface with their parents,” the governor
said Monday.
Canadians protest death sentence
AUSTIN (AP) —A “psychiatric
delegation” from Canada and the
United States pleaded Monday
with the Texas Board of Pardons
and Paroles and Gov. George W.
Bush’s general counsel to hold a
hearing on the medical testimony
of death row inmate Joseph Stan
ley Faulder.
Faulder, 61, is scheduled to die
by lethal injection June 17 for the
fatal beating and stabbing of Inez
Phillips, 75, during a 1975 rob-!
bery.
If the execution is carried out,!
Faulder will be the first Canadian
executed in the U.S. since 1952. |
The group’s chief complaint is!
that the jury was not informed:
that Faulder sustained severej
head injuries when he was a
child, resulting in brain damages
that may still effect Faulder’s per-j
sonality.
GTTuek’s Pizza.
PIZ1Z.A- STROM BOH HOAGIES
Featuring
■ Reed Boyd
y Starts at 9pm
•Tues-Sat
Tuesday !
Alt Day! \
t/2tb. Burgers i
and Fries
No Cover
Post Oak Mall
693-6429
Buy / Get /
Half-Price
Medium One Topping
Pizza $3.50
* Order 3 for free delivery
"693-BUCK
Does your university
recognized organization
have a special talent to
share with your fellow
Aggies??
Come Perform at MSC Open House
on September 5th!!
If you are interested, we would
love to give you a
chance in the spotlight!
Contact Michelle Walker in the MSC at
845- 15 15, or by email at
michellew@tamu.edu
prior to September 1st
at noon.
Texas A&M University^
David Owens said thifl*V
nests made by Kemp's to*;
ties, the most endangered*
turtles, is one sign of rec#
creatures.
A total of 14 nests lw
found in South Texas,#
largest number ever disc;
most turtles nest in Mexico.
Owens said his goal is ton
population of the turtles told!!
males by the year 2020,#
place them on the “threatens:
stead of the "endangered'lis:
more reasons to
sign up For our
/
course
Personal Attention
Our course includes one-on-one meetings with
your teacher, and free extra help is available if
you need it.
SatisFaction Guaranteed
- J If you're not satisfied with your score, we'll work
1 with you free for any one of the next four
CO administrations of the LSAT.
Classes start 6/26* Call now.
THE
PRINCETON
REVIEW
(409) 696-9099
or visit us at
www.review.com
• jhe Pnnteton Rewew 15 nor ofthoted with Pnnceton Umvetaty or Low Sarvxes.
more reason to
sign up For our
There are Few guarantees in ItFe.
We hove one of them. If you're not happy with
your score, we'll work with you until you are
^ satisfied. Period.
THE
PRINCETON
REVIEW
Classes start tomorrow.
(409) 696-9099
www.review.com
• Hie Pnnceton Review is not offtkoted witi Pnnceton University or E1S.
105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
Kasie Byers, Editor in chief
Sallie Turner, Managing Editor
Veronica Serrano, Executive Editor
Mark McPherson, Graphics Editor
Riley LaGrone, Aggielife Editor
Doug Shilling, Sports Editor
Matt Webber, Night News Editor
Sallie Turner, Photo Editof
Guy Rogers, Photo Editor
Caleb McDaniel, Opinion!
Veronica Serrano, City Ed!
Noni Sridhara, Campus Ed
Ryan Williams, Web Editor
Kyle Whitacre, Radio Proo
Staff Members
City - Carrie Bennet, Sameh Fahmy, Ryan West, Suzanne
Brabeck & Stuart Hutson.
Sports - Jeff Webb, Santosh Venkataraman, Michael
Rodgers, Ruth Stephens & Reece Flood.
Aggielife - Assistant: Stephen Wells; Aaron Meier,
Scott Harris, Brian Fleming & Michael Maddux.
Opinion - Tom Owens, Jeff Becker, Mark Passwaters,
Marc Grether, Chris Huffines, Megan Wright, Aaron
Meier, Beverly Mireles & Ryan Alan Garcia.
Photo - Assistant: JP Beato; Mike Fuentes, Terry
Roberson, Bradley Atchison & Anthony Os
Graphics - Assistant: Mark McPherson; Jeff
& Michael Wagener.
Cartoonists - Gabriel Ruenes.
Copy Editors - Amy Daugherty, Marium M?
Mandy Cater Graeber & Aaron Meier.
Page Designers- Manisha Parekh.
Radio - Andrea Bragdon, Paul Breaux,Am
Campbell, Francis Fernandez, Jason Pucte
Stephen Landin & Logan Youree.
News: Ttie Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Division of Student Publicafc
Department of Journalism. News offices are in 013 Reed McDonald Building. Newsroom phone: 845-3313; Fax: 84Si
batt@tamvml.tamu.edu; Website: http://battalion.tamu.edu
Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and nato
tising, call 845-2696. For classified advertising, call 845-0569. Advertising offices are in 015 Reed McDonald, and office hoursarei
Monday through Friday. Fax: 845-2678.
Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of the Battalion. Fist'
tional copies 254. Mail subscriptions are $60 per school year, $30 for the fall or spring semester and $17.50 for trie summer. S'
card, call 845-2611.
The Battalion (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Monday ttaf''
ingthe summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University. Periodicals Postage Paid at College St#
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 015 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station,IX ?M
i
(Frc
I seif
leyt
| n °e
[mei
. fine
coo