August 2, 1999
Volume 105 • Issue 179 • 6 Pages
College Station, Texas
PAGE 5
M 2818 renamed
o honor Mitchell
Field of dreams
BY STUART HUTSON
The Battalion
■The Bryan and College Station City Councils, in con
junction with the Texas Department of Transportation,
renamed Farm to Market Road (FM) 2818 yesterday to
Ha vey Mitchell Parkway.
■The name of the road was changed to honor
■tchell, called “the father of Brazos County.” Mitchell
was a businessman and philanthropist who served as
■azos County’s first deputy for the clerk’s department,
liunty judge, treasurer, tax collector, and surveyor. He
is most remembered for establishing the petition for
fexas A&M University.
Hlhe name change also was made to solve problems
bused by the prior labeling of the road, which was
originally divided into five different sections.
■ Lance Simms, the building official for College Sta
tion, said this “patchwork labeling” caused many
problems such as misdirected mail, slowed emer
gency response times, and confusion for out of town
Visitors.
■ The new Harvey Mitchell Parkway is divided in to
"North Harvey Mitchell Parkway” in Bryan and “Harvey
Mitchell Parkway South” in College Station. Simms said
both divisions of the street are numbered in a consistent
pattern, which will strongly increase the response time
of the police and fire departments to that area.
“We’ve got to believe that with the logical block
arrangement, it will be much easier to respond to emer
gencies,” he said.
The resolutions to rename FM 2818 came in April of
1998 from the College Station City Council followed by
the Bryan City Council in May 1998.
Simms said the application for approval from the
Texas Department of Transportation was not sent in un
til this past April.
“The delay resulted from the council’s failure to no
tify the proper departmental officials within the cities
after the resolution was passed,” he said.
He said the cost for the change of the signs was es
timated to be $9,000.
“The price does not include the cost to individuals
who must change their address designation outside
their homes and businesses,” Simms said.
Simms said he has heard almost no negative feed
back from citizens and businesses affected by the
change, but instead has received positive comments.
“You always face resistance to change,” he said. “But
I think this will be very beneficial for both cities.”
Researcher finds decline
in alternate-fuel research
BERKELEY, Calif. (U-WIRE) —
Worldwide expenditures in energy
Iresearch decreased dramatically in
the last 20 years, a University of Cal-
ifornia-Berkeley researcher shows
in a study published in Friday’s is
sue of Science magazine.
I Daniel Kammen, an associate pfo-
Hssor of energy and society, co-au
thored the study with Robert Margo-
fijs of the Science, Technology and
Environmental Policy Program at
Princeton University.
I Between 1980 and 1995, funding
for solar, wind and bio-mass energy
Jsearch in the United States de
creased 58 percent, they said.
Currently, the U.S. government’s
annual expenditure on research and
development is approximately $100
billion, the study indicates. Approxi
mately $4.3 billion was spent on en
ergy research in 1996, a drop from
$11.9 billion in 1979.
Worldwide, the researchers said
there has-been a 39-percent decrease
in funding since 1970.
The study also analyzes the
number of patents granted by the
federal government and notes a
correlation between the decline in
funding and the number of patents
issued.
In 1994, 54 energy-related tech
nology patents were granted. This
number is down from 228 patents
approved in 1981.
Kammen said one possible reason
for the drop in energy research fund
ing is the availability of cheap oil in
the past few years.
While the oil crisis of the 1970s
may have spurred policy-makers
to find cheaper and more environ
mentally friendly energy alterna
tives, Kammen said the stability of
oil prices in the past few years has
decreased the need to find and de
velop those alternatives.
see Energy on Page 2.
BRADLEY ATCHISON/Tiik Battalion
Eight-year-old Hannah Hancock of the Brazos Valley Force softball team takes a few practice pitches
during a softball clinic Sunday at Bee Creek Park in College Station.
gainst the wind
NEWS IN BRIEF
mmnel facility provides testing for Tour de France winner Armstrong
BY RYAN WEST
The Battalion
I Lance Armstrong, winner of the 1999 Tour
de France, tested the bicycle that took him
across the finish line in Paris at Texas A&M’s
low-speed wind tunnel.
I The Oran Nicks Low-Speed Wind Tunnel in
College Station is one of three wind tunnels in the
United States designed and sized exactly for bikes.
I John Cobb, owner of Bicycle Sports in College
Station, brings cyclists such as Armstrong from
over the country to test their bicycles and
equipment in the tunnel before competing.
had actually designed the bike Lance rode
(in this year’s tour) a few years ago,” he said. “I
just had to adjust the front-fork, the handle-bars
,nd the wheels.”
He said this past January was not the first time
rmstrong had visited College Station to use the
ind tunnel.
Cobb said the first time Armstrong was in the
tunnel was in 1991 when he came with Greg
B-eMond, the first American to win the Tour de
" France. He said there were about five other times
mstrong has been to A&M, including before his
|ast Olympic competition and before he won the
brld Championship.
Carlos Yapura, research associate for the wind
funnel, said the cyclists and their bicycles are
•laced on a balance as they travel through the tun-
iel. This balance measures three factors: the drag
orce, or the force of the wind going toward the
•erson and the bicycle; the side force; and the lift
force or minimal upward force that counteracts
; \¥"- *
f 'i' *
j m H I ri l'l I t •! ;
BRADLEY ATCHISON/The Battalion
The Oran Nicks Low-Speed Wind Tunnel in College Station is one of three tunnels in the United
States designed specifically to test bicycle performance. 1999 Tour de France champion Lance
Armstrong tested his bicycle at the tunnel in January.
the drag force. Yapura said the researchers use
smoke to see the forces at work.
“When a stream of smoke is blown through
the tunneb it also provides a ‘flow visualization,’
demonstrating how air floats around the bike,”
he said.
Cobb said tests take between four and eight
hours. In addition to designing new bicycles and
improving existing bicycles, Cobb focuses on the
cyclist’s position. By testing the force (measured in
pounds per square inch), the cyclist’s power and
oxygen uptake, Cobb is able to determine the great
est amount of power with the least amount of drag.
He said Armstrong’s 1999 visit to A&M may
not be his last.
“Lance will probably be back here again in
January before he enters the 2000 Olympics,”
Cobb said.
Local police to host
Night-Out festivities
Law enforcement agencies in
the Bryan-College Station area will
host a National Night Out Kick-off
Party at Post Oak Mall tonight.
The Bryan, Brazos County and
College Station Police Depart
ments, the Department of Public
Safety and the Texas Game War
dens Law Enforcement Agency will
be represented at the event. A
drawing will be held for a bicycle
and other prizes.
Exhibits and crime prevention in
formation will be available.
National Night Out will be to
morrow night from 7 to 10. Neigh
borhoods can register block parties
and receive more information by
calling the Bryan Police Department
by calling the Bryan Police Depart
ment at 822-0075.
A&M names Gates
as new Bush dean
Robert M. Gates, former director
of the Central Intelligence Agency,
has been named interim dean of
the George Bush School of Govern
ment and Public Service at Texas
A&M University, coinciding with its
newly acquired independence from
the College of Liberal Arts.
Texas A&M President Dr. Ray
M. Bowen said in a press release
that Gates will assume leadership
of the school Sept. 1 and serve as
dean for one year while a nation
al search for a permanent dean is
conducted.
Gates was director of the CIA
from November 1991 until January
1993 under appointment of Presi
dent George Bush.
Gates has ties to several uni
versities and developed a coopera
tive program between the CIA and
the John F. Kennedy School of Gov
ernment at Harvard University to
develop case studies on the role of
intelligence in American govern
ment decision making.
Repairs scheduled
for Parking Area 5
Parking lot maintenance is
scheduled for Northside Lot Park
ing Area 5 tomorrow. The lot is to
be repainted and resurfaced,
weather permitting.
The project is scheduled to im
pact only half of the lot at a time.
Some faculty and staff will be able
to park in the portion of the lot that
is not being resurfaced.
Once the lot is full, persons with
PA 5 permits may park at no charge
in the Northside Parking Garage
and the Central Campus Parking
Garage by pulling a ticket upon en
tering the garage and presenting
the ticket with a PAS permit to the
cashier when exiting.