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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1999)
106 YEARS A^BXAS A&M UNIVERSITY ursday • November 11,1999 College Station, Texas Volume 106 • Issue 54 • 14 Pages 3 TTS, committee seek solutions or problems caused by railway a si*® BY AMANDA SMITH The Battalion l| T* 16 railroad line that runs parallel to Wellborn Rbad and divides the main part of the Texas A&M clmpus from West Campus is used as a pedestri an and vehicle crossing; however, at other times ilfbecomes a roadblock to buses, cars and pedes- tnans rushing to class, home or parking lots. I Tom Williams, Parking, Traffic and Transporta- ti( n Services (PTTS) director, said the railroad is a primary concern for the A&M. “The railroad track, in my opinion, is the num ber-one project of improvement for the Texas A&M (immunity,” he said. “If we don’t get it taken care it will continue to be a problem, and 1 sure would pile it not to be a problem for any of my grandkids.” Williams said the proposed West Campus Park- jp BEAio/tii i$g Garage and connecting underground passage- e University of He way beneath Wellborn Road connecting West j§mmpus and main campus, should alleviate some of the congestion currently in the West Campus tat they will comefm ea 'r ra ffj c congestion, particularly during week- > happy A&M isk Ay afternoons, results from the number of stu- success against thei|: ky to get a home:: Tor notOTim".? artne r ship that comes out toil aids students lament, where it will # ,cky Sunday amt C0 [[ e ge pUTSUlt BY AMANDA SMITH The Battalion dents taking a left on George Bush Drive in front of the Callaway House and running into the tracks paralleling Wellborn Road, Williams said. The West Campus Parking Garage would be constructed in the parking area known as “fish lot,” which holds 900 spaces. The garage would hold between 3,500 and 3,750 spaces—an in crease of more than 2,500. Williams said the spaces tentatively would be al lotted students living on campus who are on the waiting list for parking garage spaces. Currently, 1,753 on-campus students are on the waiting list for garage space. Alice Macfarlane, the facilities project manager for the West Campus parking garage and under ground pedestrian passage, said construction is slat ed to begin in 2000, if the proposals are approved. Macfarlane said the new parking garage and underground pedestrian passage would reduce some of the pedestrian and vehicle traffic on West Campus and subsequently increase safety. “Now the crossover is very dangerous,” she said. “It will allow for safer passage between the two parts of campus. The issue of moving the ROBERT HYNECEK/Tm: Battalion tracks has been under consideration for a long time. Wellborn Road will still be there though.” The project was organized by the Bryan-College Station Municipal Planning Organization (BCSM- PO), although a seven-citizen Rail Advisory Com mittee (RAC) is reviewing the status of the railroad. see Railroad on Page 2. Baylt d to Baylor’s .221: ^e. Similarly, when: 'ed against Nebra: ', A&M hit a met 'braska posted a J :; I This fall marks the third anniver sary of the partnership between the Texas A&M University System and tlieTexas Education Agency (TEA), designed to encourage students in primary and secondary schools to go to college and assist them in the college transition, coach Laurie Corbe Th e Partnership for Texas Public beesj/>p/yi, school*, on e/'/nn promoting im- t is best to nufe ^ p roved educational opportunities • students and training for teach- htficulUo^vea jL rs , draws from a network of nine cute thesisp\aysM n j vers j t j es w j t i-,j n t i ie a&M Sys- Vith four seniors <Ja erri) t | ie Health Science Center and e reveryfortunateu|r , t a p ncu | tLira i anc t engineering something in a %g enc i es throughout Texas, execute it. Our 5y Stem m ade history when nV thTseZt U i0ined With TexaS public Sch00ls to attack educational matters per taining to students enrolled in ■ --pkindergarten through college. fas /DT® Dr. Bill Reaves, the System as- Mflstant vice chancellor for public ZWMMt w* education and TEA assistant com- ^■issioner for school-university 2se Specialties ala initiatives, said the System has s - all entrees und benefited from the feedback from ~~ ! " 'educators within the public s Furniture Shoppn. school system hwest Parkway & If® Reaves said partnerships be- ; -—tween universities and public Delivery Available schools benefit the educational in- 54 • Phone Orders" stjtutions involved. I “Our partnerships are important kill T©l*10rro f °r universities and for the public G ‘EM N0T! sc1ioo1s ’” h e sa id. “Ou the other Today! S I e ’ we have received and re turned a lot of report from teachers 'Notes ami administrators to improve the Semester Packs prograrn - National EMS Week PATRIC SCHNEIDER/Tiik Battalion Emergency Medical Services Resource Captain (left) Scott Kalle, and (right) David O’Bryan, a sopho more biomedical sciences major, show (center) Josh Armstrong, a freshman biomedical sciences ma jor, the inside of the EMS intensive care ambulance at the MSC Wednesday afternoon as part of Nation al EMS week. PATRIC SCHNEIDER/Tnn Battalion (R to L) Paul Parrish, Core Curriculum Review Committee(CRCC) chair, Brian Minyard, Student Senate speaker and Matthew Mendicino, a freshman math major, have a discussion at the CCRC forum yesterday. Differences in state, A&M core top forum issues BY KENNETH MACDONALD The Battalion Paul Jackman, a junior aerospace engineering major, said at the Core Curriculum Forum yesterday, that he had recently spoken with his adviser to find out more about required humanities and social science classes for his degree plan. “With 24 hours in mandated humanities and social sciences, that is almost two semesters that you are keeping students here be yond what they have to fulfill for their degree requirement,” he said. “If you were going to make a case to let the liberal arts ma jor get by with taking less math, then you should make the engi neering students take less humanities courses.” Dr. Paul Parrish, chair of the Core Curriculum Review Commit tee (CCRC), said as it stands now, the state of Texas mandates 36 credit hours in communication, mathematics, natural sciences, hu manities, visual and performing arts and social science. Texas A&M requires an additional eight hours, in mathematics, natural and so cial sciences, plus four kinesiology classes. He said if there are any changes to the core curriculum, there would be an increase in the emphasis on communication skills. “Whatever we end up recommending will probably affect stu dents entering the fall of 2001,” he said. “We don’t follow the ex- post-facto law. Whatever we recommend be implemented, [up perclassmen] wouldn’t suddenly find themselves having to take my Shakespeare course.” Parrish said a model the CCRC has been looking into is designed to give engineering and geosciences students more opportunity to write in some of their classes. “It is a way of continuing writing, but it is not seen as a substi tute for the foundational writing courses,” Parrish said. “We are talking about more writing and speaking within the course.” He said another issue bothering several individuals at the forum was the University mandated kinesiology. “In our study of 17 other universities, only three had any sort of physical education requirement,” he said. “The University of North Carolina still has a swimming requirement, the other two were the University of Chicago and Rice [University], which is interesting be cause they are very high-powered intellectual institutions.” A&M is unique because of its four-hour kinesiology requirement, Parrish said. Brian Minyard, speaker of the Student Senate and co-host of the fo rum, said one of the biggest issues brought up was the time involved in having to take four physical education classes. see Committee on Page 2. see Partnership on Page 2. Exam Packs Available for: .506 >03- 504 >00 >09 >500 idon ' i s ' c eIona »t e rdam Jallas each w >n a rt purchase do not include are )r departures ember and are to change, lions apply. Sports •Soccer team wins first-round game against Montana Aggie soccer team garners 2-1 win. Page 9 i, Aggielife Devour the snow Pljay about the trial following the Donner party tragedy. Page 3 |[)pinion •Howard Stern crisis Self proclaimed “King of all media” faces divorce, inability to lead double life, Page i: tt Radio Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9 at 1:57 p.m. for details on a stabbing in College Station. Food Fling to feature cow, games BY BROOKE HODGES The Battalion Students walking through the MSC may gain valuable informa tion and will have the opportuni ty to see a cow at one of the booths at Food Fling, a nutrition al carnival from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jennifer Gonzales, a nutrition al graduate assistant, said the car nival will offer information booths of food samples, games and giveaways. Margaret Griffith, health educa tion coordinator at A.P. Beutel Health Center, said the information presented at the carnival address es hot topics in the news. “There are many misconcep tions—every time you turn on the TV there is something new,” she said. “This [carnival] is a fun way to get the information out there and clear up misconceptions [about nutrition].” Gonzales said the booths will have information on many sub jects, including dieting, sports nu trition, herbal remedies, and fruits and vegetables, fad diets, eating disorders and holiday eating. Amy Chapman, a lecturer in community nutrition and direc tor of a dietetic internship, said the topics were selected because FOOD FLING MSC -11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 't} Dieting 'b Sports Nutrition 'b Herbal Remedies Calcium Booth with a A * Live Cowl iw Houston high-schools chosen as site of scholarship program RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion they are relevant to college stu dents. “We really do a collaboration with [A.P.] Beutel Health Center and their outreach programs,” she said. Companies in the Bryan-Col lege Station area will provide gifts, certificates and samples. The carnival is being spon sored by the A&M nutrition course, community nutrition, and the Health Education Student Health Services. Chapman said the goal of com munity nutrition is to make the public aware of valuable nutri tional information. “Our big objective is to take nutritional principles and the sci ence of nutrition and convey that message at the general public’s level,” she said. BY ROLANDO GARCIA The Battalion In an effort to attract top minority students, Texas A&M will be offering full scholarships to a few lucky stu dents from selected high schools in the Houston area. The Century Scholars Program is open to graduat ing seniors in the top 10 percent of their class from 16 Houston high schools. Twenty scholarships will be giv en to cover tuition, fees, books and room and board for four years. In addition to academic performance, applicants will be considered on the basis of SAT scores, financial need, extracurricular activities, leadership experience, community involvement and a personal interview. Joe Estrada, director of admissions, said Century Scholars is an effort to attract students that would oth erwise not consider A&M as their school of choice. Houston was chosen as the site of the pilot project in part because of its proximity to the University, Estrada said. “We targeted schools in the Houston area whose students rarely come to Texas A&M because we saw the opportunity to make an impact in our own back yard,” he said. “We’re looking for leadership characteristics be cause we want these students to to back to their schools and serve as ambassadors of the University,” Estrada said. He said the University has been actively promoting the program, including a reception two months ago see Century on Page 2. Look College receives $47,000 BY RICHARD BRAY The Battalion Phillips Petroleum has given the Dwight Look College of Engi neering at Texas A&M University $47,000 to be used for engineer ing scholarships and professional development for faculty mem bers. Phillips has donated money to the College of Engineering for 34 consecutive years, totaling nearly $3 million. Mike Downey, a science writer for the College of Engi neering, said most of the mon ey will fund engineering schol arships. “A large bulk, $37,500, goes to scholarships in the chemical, me chanical and petroleum engi neering departments,” he said. “Approximately $6,000 will go to faculty and student develop ment, and they will split approx imately $3,500 between the JETS [Junior Engineering Technical Society] and WEST [Women in Engineering, Science and Tech nology] programs.” Jeanne Rierson, director of En gineering Student Programs, said JETS received only $500 of the $3,500, and said she presumes that WEST received the remaining $3,000. She said WEST will use the money to pay for the Women in Engineering Conference and mentoring programs. Carl Jaedicke, assistant vice president for development of the Texas A&M Foundation, said Phillips donates money to improve the quality of education for its po tential employees that come out of the College of Engineering. He said that hundreds of A&M engineering see Look on Page 2