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THURSDAY
October 5, 2000
Volume 107 ~ Issue 30
2 Sections
A 8 pages
' B 8 pages
S MMk'i M* t -11'/ ft Ik'I kM
1 Grad school awards program named
Recognizes
10 graduate students for
excellence in teaching or
research
Provides $5,000 and
permanent recognition
for recipients
i southern Gaza, elecin
when Israelis fired an,
.sile at a small powerpt
!i civilians wereforbiddt!
e main thoroughfaresii
ink and Gaza Strip. Ai
Gaza settlement of!
te army sent a helicopt
Israelis who had
te Jewish New Year
mvoys escorted others
li soldier who accompsj
i gasoline truck dri
nk delivery was entu
1 by Palestinian fire ami
he army said,
rowingititeolihe^vyci
by Israel Contributed
non of ma&s casualties
ne i dent.'Near Netzariot
one antitank missile ki
nj tired 35 Palestinians,
rials said.
has not fired from to
with $1 million
raised through
private gifts
RUBEN DELUNA/Tm Battalion
By Stephen Metcalf
The Battalion
To Matt Wilkins, Saturday’s cer
emony announcing the birth of a
new graduate student awards pro
gram at Texas A&M marked one of
the University’s most tangible ef
forts to improve its graduate studies
and meet its Vision 2020 goals.
Wilkins, president of the Gradu
ate Student Council, said the Sena
tor Phil Gramm Graduate Assistant
Scholars Award Program will allow
the University to recognize the ex
cellence of students in the graduate
program for their research and
teaching.
The program is named for
Gramm, U.S. senator and former
A&M economics professor.
Wilkins, an aerospace engineer
ing graduate student, is one of 7,328
students in the growing A&M grad
uate program.
Provost and Executive Vice Pres
ident Ronald G. Douglas said gradu
ate students make up 16 to 17 percent
of the University’s total enrollment,
compared to other 20 to 25 percent at
other major universities.
“The reputation of a university
rests in large part in its graduate pro
gram,” Douglas said. “Having strong
graduate programs means you have
strong research, and it means knowl
edge is being created in your depart-
The reputation
of a university
rests in large part
in its graduate
programs
— Ronald G. Douglas
A&M provost and executive,
vice president
ments, and, more importantly, the
teaching of the faculty incorporates
new knowledge and new insights in
undergraduate classes.”
Douglas said improving graduate
programs is important to A&M’s Vi
sion 2020 plan, in which the Univer
sity seeks to be considered one of the
10 best public universities in Amer
ica by 2020.
Although Saturday’s ceremony
was a noticeable change in the
graduate programs, it is not being
the only change. Douglas said the
University has been conducting ex
ternal reviews of the doctoral pro
grams. Reviewers talk to faculty
and students and write reports back
to the University, giving the Uni
versity feedback and a way to eval
uate programs. The University will
have conducted about 25 reviews
of doctoral programs by the end of
the year.
“We will also be providing addi
tional graduate student stipends that
come out of the Available Universi
ty Fund (AUF),” Douglas said.
The AUF comes from the earn
ings of the Permanent University
Fund (PUF), a large state endowment
that provides for the University of
Texas and the A&M systems. Last
November, a proposition was passed
that changed the method of calculat
ing the earnings, and as a result, ad
ditional money will be paid to both
systems this year and in future years.
See Gramm on Page 6A.
eliant Energy to provide
trading floor’ for Wehner
yArati Bhattacharya
be Battalion
A touch of Wall Street excitement
ill spread to the Lowry Mays College
td Graduate School of Business
rough a $3 million gift from Houston-
rioters, but has dept | as ed company Reliant Energy Inc.
r the West Bank towfl j) ie “trading floor,” which is ap-
and Nablus, scene of' |j ear i n g across many college campus-
,sl Priitiny.tointimidakis^ will enable students to use the lat-
icoptci gunships ho\e| st technology and information to
tglitmc in ‘ niUv y n anage simulated investment portfo-
. the gunships openedlj os 0 | U p t0 million .
“We expect our new endowment to
ow students real-life applications,
ke the capabilities of an internship,”
said Dr. Timothy Dye, lecturer for the
.finance department. "The purpose will
hot be day trading, but rather a focus
analysis and research. It will have a
r ail Street look and feel to it.”
The trading floor is part of a two-
ase plan. Scheduled to open in Jan-
iarv 2001, phase one will create a tem
porary home for the prototype center in
210 Wehner. Phase two will include the
expansion of the Wehner College of
Business Building with a new 3500-
square-feet wing. The trading floor will
move* to this new location once the
wing is open for classes in Fall 2003.
The trading-floor idea began at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) in 1994. Dye said the benefit of
a financial marketing laboratory for
students has been realized by many
academic programs and trading floors
have now turned into a "national hype”
for major universities.
Dr. John Dinkel, associate dean for
the business college, said Texas A&M
would be behind if it did not incorpo
rate a trading floor into the business
curriculum.
“Trading centers and student-man-
aged funds are one way to put our stu
dents into the games,” Dinkel said.
“They have become a required part of
any major business school.” •
■ • 1
owry Mays College of Business
[f The trading floor will allow students to use the latest
technology to manage investment portfolios of up to
|| $1 million. Completion of the project is scheduled in
two phases.
PHASE 1: Trading floor opens
Jan. 2001
PHASE 2: Trading floor moves
into new wing at Wehner
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
Reliant’s gift, which is being do
nated in increments of $1 million, is
being invested by the development
foundation.
Dr. Michael Kinney, an associate
professor for accounting, explained
that the annual income will be geared
toward renewing data feeds, upgrading
software and other maintenance items
to keep the system up-to-date.
“Students will be able to simulate
various risk-management and stock
strategies also, while choosing which
stocks to purchase and sell,” Kinney
said. “The trading of stock and com
modities will give our students a com
petitive advantage in the workplace.”
Dye said, not only will the gift as
sist in belter preparing business stu
dents, but the Houston-based compa
ny has always showed an interest in
being involved with A&M, and its co
operation with the program will be an
other effective way to recruit top-
notch students.
In support of the business school’s
aim to integrate the trading floor into
all majors and disciplines, Kinney said,
the floor will be of utmost benefit to the
professional program in accounting
(PFA). The largest PPA track is finan
cial njanagement; the new grant will
aid those students seeking career posi
tions like investment banking. .
“Students have shown a natural in
terest in it themselves,” Dye said. “Al
though we are now budgeting open-ac
cess times, and several classroom
presentations will revolve around the
new facility, many student organiza
tions are also trying to plan for their
own simulations. We are trying to
make it so the trading floor will be use
ful to all business students.”
Building a future
STUART VILLANUEVA/Thk Battalion
Jared Klostermann, a sophomore petroleum engineering major, relaxes between classes
by building with Legos at the creativity booth at Rudder Fountain on Wednesday.The
booth was set up for Beat The Hell Outta Stress Week, sponsored by the Student Coun
seling Service to help students manage their stress.
mm**
gs take over
TTS routine
Students handle administration
] Richard Bray
be Battalion
Standing under the hot sun in a Parking, Traffic and
Transportation Services (PTTS) uniform, Student Body
President Forrest Lane experienced first-hand the daily tasks
bfa PTTS job.
I “This is going to improve our working relationship be
cause, when you see where they come from, you understand
ftheir perspective better,” Lane said. “I think one of the
|hings we saw today which was really interesting was the
[lumber of fake permits that are out there. I never realized
See PTTS on Page 2A.
Study abroad takes students on world tour
By Tamra Russell
The Battalion
An increasing number of Texas A&M students are
realizing that some of the best educational experi
ences can be found outside the Bryan-College Station
area — way outside the area.
Adrianne Leis, a graduate student in the Lowry
Mays College and Graduate School of Business,
spent two summers in the marketing study abroad
program, one as a student and one as a chaperone.
Leis said it was educational and one of the best times
of her life.
“I learned a tremendous amount about foreign busi-
Overseas programs offered
for various degree options
nesses, how they are run and about different cultures,”
Leis said. “It was a great experience, and the contacts
and friends I made will last forever.”
The College of Business is just one of the eight col
leges that offer study abroad programs for the sum
mer and fall. Colleges of agriculture, architecture, ed
ucation, engineering, geosciences, liberal arts and
veterinary medicine offer programs for students of all
majors to study in Europe, Asia and other continents
for course credit.
Cathy Schutt, assistant director of Study Abroad
Programs, said roughly 1,000 A&M students join the
programs every year. She said she hopes that the ap
plications will come in by Thanksgiving this year in
order to process them before December so students can
take a one-hour course prior to the trip to prepare them.
The fees vary from program to program, but
many, such as that of the College of Engineering, are
about $4,500, including airfare, room and board, in
surance, and planned field trips. The cost does not
See Study on Page 6A.
Tech Med School building underway
ends at 11:59 PM
publications are
Photo Contest,
Installations. All
al agencies and
STUART VILLANUEVA/The Battalion
Ferguson and Forrest Lane ticket President
owen's car Wednesday as part of the PTTS job swap.
Rob
AMARILLO (AP) — Texas Tech
University broke ground on a $21.8 mil
lion Medical School and Allied Health
Center in Amarillo Wednesday that will
allow the school to expand its programs
in women’s health, agriculture medi
cine, genetics and pediatrics.
The 158,000 square foot Texas Tech
Allied Health and medical school build
ing is expected to be completed within
18 months.
It will sit adjacent to the university’s
pharmacy school and give a more cam
pus-like feel to the Amarillo facilities,
said Texas Tech Chancellor John T
Montford.
“Every day some child, some person,
some senior citizen is helped by this in
vestment,” Montford said. “We want to
make sure our people on the High Plains
enjoy the same quality of health care as
any other person in the nation.”
The school is part of a city complex
that includes 17 health facilities, such as
Baptist St. Anthonys’ Health System,
which specializes in acute care and re
habilitation; Northwest Texas Health
care System, which focuses on trauma
and pediatric care; a VA hospital; and
Don & Sybil Harrington Cancer Center.
The complex treats more than one
million people a year from Texas, Ok
lahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New
Mexico.
“It gives the school tremendous po
tential because all of these places are
very different and have very different
needs,” said Dr. Steven Burke, the re
gional dean for the Amarillo campus,
which is part of Amarillo’s medical cen
ter complex.
David R. Smith, president of Texas
Tech’s Health Sciences Center, said the
expansion comes as many other health
science centers across the country are
cutting back.
“We decided the best move was to go
forward, not hunker down,” he said.
And that is good news for Amarillo
and smaller communities surrounding
it, said Michael R. Bourn, executive di
rector of the Amarillo Economic De
velopment Corporation.
“We were very involved in the fund
ing of the Pharmacy School and we had
hoped six years ago it would lead to
something like this, and it has,” he said.
House bill
to provide
college aid
WASHINGTON (AP) — Eight
women’s colleges and universities, in
cluding one in Texas, would receive
up to $70 million to help preserve and
repair aging buildings under a bill
passed in the House Tuesday.
The bill, passed on a voice vote,
authorizes the Secretary of the Inte
rior to make matching grants of up to
$14 million available to the colleges
See Women’s on Page 6A.