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.
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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