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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 1999)
TUESDAY July 20, 1999 Volume 105 • Issue 172 • 6 Pages College Station, Texas 'ther, Se ti ''* ass -, sat ie had "but w a t Hickot 'lemstheiv ist didn't* 're. ” ine andJci entingat their motif another a 'ty. The;.: tell off 5,1 ’s estate, • The Brazos Valley Museum of Natural Science is bringing Africa’s Serengeti to Texas. PAGE 3 Battalion Radio For details about the A.R Beutal Health Center s program on the benefits of smoothies, listen to 90.9 KAMU-FM at 1:57 p.m. • Computerizing the GRE is a step in the right direction of standardized-test reform. PAGES gnerofmi .her broth ;ave st been the aline and!, u the one. Graves welcomed to campus University officials honor new System chancellor with reception ANTHONY DISALVO/The Battalion Av A&M chancellor Gen. Howard D. Graves greets Maj. Brian Carlson of the Air Force ROIC in a procession on put line Monday at the J. Wayne Stark Gallery. 1 made its is to ker f tauseit .n open BY CARRIE BENNETT The Battalion Texas A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen and his wife, Sally, welcomed the new chancellor for the Texas A&M Uni versity System, Gen. Howard Graves and his wife. Grade, to A&M with a reception held yesterday at the J. Wayne Stark Gal leries in the MSG. More than 100 A&M employees from various departments attended the recep tion, including Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president for student affairs; Dr. Jerry Gaston, vice president for administration; and Student Body President Will Hurd. Bowen introduced Graves and said A&M has a great responsibility to support the goals of the large system of universi ties and of the new chancellor. “I wanted [Graves] to have the op portunity to meet some of the wonderful people that make the University a unique place for students,” Bowen said. He said the culture found on the cam pus at A&M is not an accident — it is cre ated by the faculty, staff and students who attend and work at the University. Bowen said he hopes people will look back in history to this time and ac knowledge the chancellor’s critical role at A&M. Graves said it is significant that a re lationship between himself and the Uni versity begins with an event such as the reception. ‘‘An event like this lets us appreciate what [the employees] do,” Graves said. “We want to thank [the employees] for the job [they] do.” Graves said he is looking forward to getting to know the faculty and staff. “We are looking forward to becoming contributing members of the communi ty,” Graves said. He said all of the universities in the A&M system are important, but A&M, the flagship campus, has a special role. Graves was officially appointed as new System chancellor by the Board of Regents in June. His responsibilities will include overseeing the nine universities in the System, the eight agencies and health sciences centers, which serve over 88,00 students and reach more than 3.5 million others through out reach, and continuing education pro grams. Graves will officially assume the ti tle of chancellor on Aug. 1 but will work with the current chancellor, Barry Thompson, until Thompson’s retire ment on Aug. 31. eace Corps ooking for g recruits (Dallas recruiting of WHAT: Peace Corps Recruiting Fair WHEN: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. WHERE: MSC Lobby Gabriel Ruenes/Thl Bat talion BY MEGAN E. WRIGHT The Battalion sit IWHi® Representatives from the Peace Corps’ regional recruiting of- ■ ^ , fice in Dallas will be on campus this week speaking with students smartDt |Pa[ n( j ac j v isers as well as conducting interviews with individuals i interested in joining the Peace Corps. ndhis^M Peace Corps representatives will have a booth in the MSC to- 3n ' .my an d tomorrow from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. In addition, a video main 0 presenting the benefits of a ca- is therej n q ie p eace Corps will be ,rualA ' IfShown at 7 p.m. in MSC 138. BritishPatrick Niemeyer, an on- campus Peace Corps recruiter ' Rodlu an( j a so jj and crop sciences her lorf "graduate student, said the peace Corps is seeking individ- ecanct- Jaig w jth a willingness to ad- ' his pPj just to any situations, red He* 1 ■ “Currently we are experi- rs were epcing a shortage of individu- a|ls to work in the environ- sacrili^ mental, business and ilelife'- agriculture fields and people who speak French,” Niemeyer said. “These skills aren’t re- |iitred. We’re looking for an ability to adapt to different situa- ans and a desire to go the distance to help others. Patience is definite virtue we look for also.” The Peace Corps was founded in 1961 by John F. Kennedy and as established to fulfill three goals: to teach other nations about ie people of the United States, to teach people of the United Jtates about other countries’ cultures and transferring techno logical knowledge to other countries. The Peace Corps focuses p the areas of education, health, environment, business, agri- lulture and community development. Currently, there are over '6,000 volunteers serving in 80 countries worldwide. see Recruit on Page 2. ustice to speak n court issues Fowl play GUY ROGERS/The Battalion Jimmy Evans, tree maintenance specialist for Texas A&M University, oversees the firing of propane cannons on campus yesterday. The cannons are being used to frighten troublesome birds away from campus. Propane cannons fired to deter birds BY NONI SRIDHARA The Battalion The deafening sound of propane cannons blasting could be heard last night on Ross Street, between Spence Street and Ireland Street, as Texas A&M maintenance crews at tempted to scare off birds that have infested the area. Jimmy Evans, tree maintenance specialist for A&M, said they are trying to scare off the birds because of health concerns. “This was becoming a health hazard due to the unsanitary conditions,” Evans said. He said the use of the cannon was a last re sort. Previously, workers hosed down the bird droppings on the sidewalks, but this did not help eliminate the odors. There were some reports that classes were canceled in the Chemistry Building due to the odor. Evans said they had also put balloons called “owls” up in the trees to scare the birds, but the balloons did not scare the birds away either. He said one expert said the reason for the in creased number of birds this year is because of the increased feeding grounds they have. “The increased number of mosquitoes and other insects is attracting more birds,” Evans said. Evans said the birds are not harmed by the cannon blasts. “There are no plans to try to get rid of the birds,” he said. “Many of the birds are purple martins, which are a protected species.” The cannons will be fired every evening this week from 7:30 until dark. BY RYAN WEST The Battalion Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas R. Phillips will ipeak about judicial issues lud the upcoming millennium this evening at 5:30 in the APidf' Oakwood Room at the College Htljltfitation Hilton as part of the v O^tlc Uth an d Abraham Clearfield • .Millennium Series, r hoP f|l B Tonight’s dinner and lec- J .'Tture is sponsored by Larry 3 # *°lt, a local attorney, and is e . n iiiTpart of a six-part series given D to® y t ' ie Brazos Valley Arts Ts - ounc ^ concerning issues the jerse. Brazos Valley may face at the turn of the century. P. David Romei, executive director of the Brazos Valley Arts Council, said the council is trying to celebrate the millenni um with a significant expres sion of where the community has been, where the communi ty is and where it is going. Romei said the Arts Coun cil chose the chief justice be cause he has been involved with the way Texas judges are chosen and the way Texas law is interpreted. see Justice on Page 2. New vaccine offers alternative for flu shots BY RYAN WEST The Battalion Recent medical advances in nasal drops may offer a painless al ternative to the all-too-familiar nee dle prick to the arm for those hop ing to avoid the flu virus during the winter season. Dr. John Quarles, professor of microbiology at Texas A&M, said the nasal vaccine grew out of a se ries of nasal-drop flu studies con ducted at the University over the past 20 years. Quarles said FluMist is an atten uated live strain in the sense that it can reproduce but cannot cause dis ease. Through this weakened strain of the virus, the person is actually given a minor infection; the milder strain then causes the body to re spond by producing an antibody. “Flu vaccines are a good level of protection as long as the virus has n’t changed much,” Quarles said. “We aren’t anticipating any prob lems with the [FluMist] spray — we’ve been using the nose-drop vaccine on students and faculty vol unteers for years.” Nancy Arden, research associate at the Baylor College of Medicine, has been involved in a multi-year study at the National Institute of Health with the Baylor Influenza Research Center. Arden said the study will look at the benefit of immunizing children with FluMist. She said children are believed to be both the group most likely to be infected and the group most likely to spread the illness. Arden said researchers will com pare the number of doctor visits in which patients are diagnosed with the flu in the Bryan-College Station area, which lacks a special vacci nation program. The results will b compared with another city, sue as Temple, in which a high numbe of child vaccinations will be ac ministered. Arden called the FluMist stud an “ecological study” because does not focus on the individual hr rather on the impact of influenza o the entire community. “For Bryan-College Station, w will study the number of ‘primary influenza visits to Scott & Whit clinic,” she said. see Flu on Page 2