Tuesday
July 27, 1999
Volume 105 • Issue 176 • 6 Pages
College Station, Texas
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PAGE 3
Battalion Radio
Tune in to 90.9 KAMU-FM at
1:57 p.m. for more on a new
child-care food program by the
Texas A&M Children’s Center.
• New approaches are needed
to deal with the birds infesting
the Texas A&M campus.
PAGE 5
Asbestos found in Scoates
Officials say insulating material does not present a threat
BY MEGAN E. WRIGHT
The Battalion
JR BEATO/Thi Battalion
ife levels of asbestos were discovered in Scoates Hall during renovations,
I officials say the it does not pose a risk because it is not airborne.
While undergoing renovations,
an unsafe level of asbestos was dis
covered in Scoates Hall.
Gene Stuart, superintendent of
physical maintenance, said the as
bestos found in Scoates Hall was
not a harmful because the asbestos
in the area was encapsulated in the
flooring material and not airborne.
“During the renovation, we
found the fibers and they are being
removed,” he said.“There was nev
er a threat to student or faculty
health because the fibers were con
tained.”
Every building being renovated
this summer is tested for the pres
ence of asbestos.
In the case of Scoates Hall, as
bestos was found in the flooring
material and as a result, a contrac
tor was hired to redo the floor
throughout the building.
Asbestos is a group of naturally
occurring minerals, and the three
most common types of asbestos
are chrysotile, amosite and croci-
dolite. Asbestos is commonly used
as an insulator and fire proofing
agent in buildings. Its fibers are
strong and are resistant to heat.
Asbestos generally can be found
in ceiling and floor tiles, pipe and
vessel insulation and applied to
structural beams and ceilings.
Asbestos becomes hazardous
when bundles of fibers become air
borne and are inhaled into the
lungs where they may cause sig
nificant health problems. Re
searches still have not determined
a safe level of exposure.
Asbestos is not always an im
mediate hazard. If asbestos can be
maintained in good condition the
particles will not become airborne
resulting in inhalation.
Currently, there is no law stating
asbestos must be removed except
when the concentration of it in the
air is too high. However, there are
new federal regulations that re
quire all material that have not
been tested to be presumed to con
tain asbestos. Any building being
renovated or demolished is re
quired by law to have their build
ings surveyed for materials con
taining asbestos. Buildings are not
permitted to be demolished if there
is friable asbestos present.
Some health problems related to
asbestos are forms of lung disease
and cancer. Despite common mis
conceptions, asbestos does not
cause immediate symptoms such
as head aches and sore muscles.
Effects may even go unnoticed for
15 to 40 years.
:cte
Parks and Wildlife official Field day
o oversee marme program
that even a®
■Red tubes is
ttle launclii
tave happed
BY STUART HUTSON
The Battalion
he director of intergovernmental af-
for the Texas Parks and Wildlife De-
tment will take over the position of as-
ile showed ate director for outreach of the Texas
ria 10to 15Grant, an association between Texas
bright stltmVI University and the National Sea
fra!
agencies and his interest in marine re
source management put Rayburn in an
excellent position as he takes on the job
of associate director of outreach.
“He brings with him a wealth of expe
rience,” Prior said. “He is very plugged in
to coastal resource and environmental is-
n the insideftnt College Program.
:zle. The im
vere spottej
jbes, if spl. I
ing one ort' l j
off and col
ut the 81/d j
ale said.
.alph Rayburn, the new associate di-
tor, said he would like to find more al-
outside the Texas Sea Grant who are
ling to support and facilitate its pro-
Jms.
■‘My first objective as associate direc-
jr is to establish the relevance of the
nozzle ha ; 8as Sea Grant’s programs in the minds
hese slendepovernmental officials,” he said,
tich hydrogfwayburn will also serve as the head of
ihaped nozle Texas Sea Grant’s Marine Advisory
he super-cftvice (MAS) where he will direct six
iprove engirftrine agents stationed in coastal coun-
;ulating b and seven marine specialists. The goal
giant extenifthese agents and specialists will be to
ivs directly etter marine resource management rela
ys between industry and government.
5 _ W as unrfcavid Prior, dean of the College of Geo-
seconds dence at A&M, said Rayburn’s vast ex-
lers on twoftiences dealing with governmental
nit by the 111
kicked c
“He (Rayburn) brings
with him a wealth of
experience. He is
very plugged in to
coastal resource and
environmental issues.”
— David Prior
Dean, Texas A&M College of Geoscience
Julie Massey, Galveston County ma
rine extension agent, said Rayburn will
bring with him experience, contacts, vi
sion and an understanding of the ne
cessity of marine issues that will be im
portant in the upcoming century, which
is expected to bring record numbers of
people moving to coastal areas and a
boom in commercial utilization of
Texas’ marine areas.
Rayburn first worked for the Texas Sea
Grant 21 years ago as a county marine
agent in San Patricio County and is eager
to return to the program.
Rayburn said he was excited to get in
volved with marine resources one again.
“[This] is where I based my education
as well as the first 17 or 18 years of my ca
reer,” he said.
Rayburn received a bachelor’s degree
in zoology and then went on to a master’s
degree in biological oceanography from
A&M in 1969. He later served a term in
the U.S. Army that was followed by his
service as a county marine agent, which
ended in 1978.
Rayburn went on to serve as a director
for the state’s shrimp management and
artificial reef programs. At the Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department, he helped for
mulate policies and strategies for the de
partment and acted as a liaison between
his department and state and national lev
el agencies.
ers
’rogram requirements
1 Ol( ch ° o1 districts applying; to CCLC
'■re required to carry out at least
of the following activities:
■onstt
A&M center director
named to task force
Literacy education programs
Senior citizen programs
Children’s day care services
Integrated education, health, social
service, recreational or cultural
programs
Summer and weekend school
programs in conjunction with
recreation programs
Nutrition and health programs.
Expanded library service hours to
serve community needs
Telecommunications and technology
education programs for individuals
of all ages
Parenting skills education programs
Support and training for child day
care providers
Employment counseling, training,
and placement
Services for individuals who leave
school prior to graduation from
secondary school, regardless of the
age of such an individual
Services for individuals with
disabilities
BY SUZANNE BRABECK
The Battalion
Dr. Clifford Whetten, Texas
A&M’s director of the Center for
Community Education, was select
ed by the National Center for Com
munity Education to join the 13-
member task force currently
working on developing a nation
wide, after-school program called
21st Century Community Learn
ing Centers (CCLC).
The program was authorized by
Congress under Title X, Part I of
the Elementary and Secondary Ed
ucation Act; 18 of the 468 CCLC
programs are located in Texas.
The Department of Education has
increased funding from last year
from $40 million to $200 million.
Whetten said the CCLC focuses on
conducting training workshops for
inner-city and rural schools because
schools in these areas often lack re
sources and tend to have a larger
number of students with strong so
cioeconomic needs.
Charla Jones, of A&M’s Univer
sity Relations, said Whetten’s ini
tiative makes him an ideal member
of the task force.
“Dr. Whetten was asked to be a
member of the task force because
he is known for helping public
schools become community cen
ters,” she said. “Instead of schools
just being open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.,
schools are now being used at
night for adult classes and for af
ter school programs
The CCLC is designed to pro
vide support in areas ranging from
foreign languages to math and sci
ence.
As part of the program, appli
cants must choose at least four ed
ucational activities to implement
in their program. Some of the pos
sible choices include: telecommu
nications and technology for indi
viduals of all ages, parenting
skills, support and training for
child daycare providers and em
ployment counseling, training and
placement.
Schools that are accepted into
the CCLC programs are chosen
from the following criteria: need
for the project, quality of project
design, adequacy of resources,
quality of management plan, qual
ity of project evaluation and com
petitive priority.
ANTHONY DISALVO/Thh Battalion
Alison Peters, a junior exercise technology major, gets ready to coach for the Texas
A&M Soccer Camp Monday. The camp will continue through Thursday.
Diversity program revived
BY STUART HUTSON
The Battalion
The Multicultural Ambassadors^ a pro
gram sponsored by the Department of Mul
ticultural Services that aims to help in the
retention and recruitment of a more diverse
student body, was revived this past spring
and will be in full swing this fall after two
years of inactivity
The program was officially established in
1991 with the goal of communicating the
purpose and programs of the Department of
Multicultural Services to the student body.
Alicia Cyrus, chair of Multicultural Am
bassadors and a senior marketing major,
said the program uses student volunteers
from the Department of Multicultural Ser
vices as liaisons between the department
and other student programs, such as
Whoopstock and student panels to help stu
dents better understand the department.
Cyrus said the students and faculty of the
department decided to bring back the pro
gram because the department felt that there
was a great need to spread the word about
the department.
Cyrus said the program has probably been
on hiatus due to a lack of student interest.
“We found that a lot of students had ei
ther not heard of the department or had bad
misconceptions about it because of mis-
communications and misunderstanding,”
she said.
see Diversity on Page 2.