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/TEDNESi^AY
May 30, 2001
Volume 107 ~ Issue 146
6 pages
News in Brief
tot
State
an found shot in
ead in Dumpster
M|DLAND (AP) — A 48-
vith the.hntHgap.oi^ Midland man was
sn to BasilM^ot to death and his body
dven to anotOumped from a car near a trash
i operatinsMin on the city's north side
iBdonday afternoon.
• Police searched Monday
■ight for clues in the death of
J Jtrthur B. Guess, who was shot
■ PTV t ^ ie back of the neck or head
Before his body was dumped.
His death is the second homi-
_ JBide this year in Midland.
|| Ijk The car from which witness-
said Guess' body was
. Bumped belonged to Guess
nveaciir 6 was found later in an
± Bnartmpnt cnmnlpx narki
t meet:
reet Wednesq
10 said diet
d not constir.
j^ency or marc
threatened h:
it the impeae
tinned.
■partment complex parking
It, The Midland Reporter-
meiegram reported.
.Students injured in
I to demandttM . .
impeachWtS^orning bus wreck
and incaniJ| SAN ANTONIO (AP) _
Borne students were slightly in-
sterSusiloE j|j r ed Tuesday morning when
o trucks collided and one
ashed into a stopped school
■us, authorities said.
I Eight students were trans-
lorted to hospitals, but only six
If those appeared to be in-
nister Mohr ir red ' according to the Bexar
a 3* oun ty Sheriff's Office.
S U j if^H ° ne trucker was also treat-
' un .- c [ 1 l .Id for minor injuries.
its of v,h\cu'i>.l Southside ■ Indepen-
ly announced, dent School District school
e the address- Hus had stopped — with its
-Wahid mob red lights flashing — to load
ince of East. 1 some students.
ets, calling for: j School district spokes-
pponents an worr| an Nancy Thompson says
indofficesofs a l:ruct< behind the school bus
i in several» | . dst, f P ed / bl .' t
. ,-n did not. That vehicle hit the first
.he townofr^ uc [ < — w (-,j c h struck the bus.
with sharper® This is the last week of
fos, burnedtm sc tj 00 | f or s an Antonio area
ty headed by 1 students,
niwati Subrn _ ...
chief rival r f-year-old drowns
e. Other house in apartment pool
1400 miles easi
Iso setonfe. MIDLAND (AP) — A 5-year-
no immediate old b °y drowned Monday in
es, but police^. a P artnr ? ent implex swim-
• h l lin g pool.
111 n TTr^j 1 Rescuers who pulled Rudy
pro-Wahid Ramirez from the bottom of
at an opposit p 00 | we re not able to re
’s home. Onet vive him.
: country’s secor Witnesses told The Midland
Surabaya, Reporter-Telegram Tuesday
irning tires, fat Rudy's parents searched
for him for 30 minutes. He
had been playing and swim-
m • ^ming in the pool.
T"I Ijlj Authorities were not certain
^ X-XV/ (X) W | on g the boy was under
1 water.
C| Nine-year-old Alyssa Rob-
W'les said she was not strong
enough to pick him up when
^ -J J-4-/)/she went down to the bottom
flXlof the pool for him, Sherri
Gonzalez, 28, pulled the boy
ark said last weedrom the water and tried to
irnment has p resuscitate him.
:ling medicinal
, and the Canadi
iciation Journal'J
>rted full dec
Canada’s Suprf
onsider a case
:ontends crii
the personal us<
olate constitutii
ossession and
nts of marij
— akin to a
id of a criminal
d move Canai
r to attitudes in
s and away from
es, its neighbor
e partner,
tries U.S. anti-
Robert Magi
Research Co>
e a residual e
' of depressing p<
g marijuana n>
le said.
knows a shift
uld boost the at
nerican advocate
dmg laws. “We
e piling up on us 1
tore difficult” toft
taginnis said.
INSIDE
Battalion News Radio:
1:57 p.tn. KAMU 90.9
wvww.thebatt.com
Need for speed
ANDY HANCOCK/The Battalion
Scott Mazoch, a senior international studies major, in place. They are modifying the car for street and strip
bolts a racing exhaust system to a Camaro as Tony racing. The new system will provide better sound and
Shepherd, a senior industrial distribution major hold it increase the horsepower and torque of the engine.
Senior's
death
under
review
By Stuart Hutson
The Battalion
A 22-year-old senior industri
al distribution major and mem
ber of Corps of
Cadets outfit
A2, Samuel
Hernandez,
died May 18. A
source within
the McAllen
Police Depart-
mentsaidHer- hf.rnandez
nandez’s death
resulted from a drug overdose.
Police refused to comment
further, citing that Hernandez’s
death is still under investigation.
His family could not be reached
for comment.
Funeral services were held
May 21, and Hernandez will be
honored at die Sept. 4 Silver Taps.
One man's trash ...
As students leave town, scavengers sort through increased refuse
By Stuart Hutson
The Battalion
Summer sessions have begun, and
the sma ll size of the student population
has left fewer cars on the roads, fewer
patrons filling bars and a campus that
may seem virtually empty when com
pared with the crowds of the spring and
fall semesters.
But as the college men and women fil
ter out of town, they leave behind what
may be the most significant reminder of
a student’s presence — trash. .
College Station Sanitation Superin
tendent Pete Kaler said that last year’s
813-ton increase in the amount of trash
for the month of May most likely will be
repeated again this year.
“This is a historic trend that follows
at least all the way back to 1990,” he
said. “This is something that we prepare
for ahead of time because we know that
May will always see a a lot more trash as
the students pack up and head out of
town.”
Preparations include ensuring that the
22 drivers who are responsible for col
lecting College Sitation’s trash on a daily
basis are not on v acations or undergoing
training and that they are ready to work
overtime.
The on-campus trash tells a similar
tale. Supervisor for A&M’s refuse and re
cycling program Ronnie Fontenot said
that he expects the final tally for May’s
on-campus trash mcrease will be as much
150 extra tons.
“We put out 20 extra trash containers
which are emptier J 28 times throughout
May,” he said. “We contract with Texas
Commercial Waste to help us haul the
extra trash away.”
But as the saying goes, what is one
man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Kaler said the biggest problem College
Station collectors encounter is scav
engers sorting through the trash for
valuable items.
“People will go 1 through and throw
stuff out of the containers and rip open
garbage bags while they are looking,” he
said. “It makes a mess, but it is also
against city ordina nee. If the collectors
see a scavenger, they call the police.”
Kale said that it is little wonder that the
refuse of college students is scavenged.
He said the “trash” may include anything
from electrical equipment to new cloth
ing to usable furniture that is just un
wanted by the owners.
“A lot of it is brand new stuff,” he said.
“Organizations like Twin City Mission
are always willing to accept the items, but
I guess it is just easier for the students to
throw it away.”
Fontenot said he has seen many valu
able items simply discarded by students
during move out, but he has also seen a
few items unintentionally trashed.
“One guy got some money from his
parents and decided that the safest place
to put it was in a textbook,” he said.
“Well, at some point, I guess he forgot or
something since the book got thrown
away. I ended up having to send him to
the dump to look for it.”
Fontenot said another unfortunate
circumstance occurred when a senior
corps member placed his senior boots
and uniforms in a garbage bag for mov
ing but ended up mistaking the bag for
just another trash bag.
Fontenot said he does not know if ei
ther student found their missing items.
ROBIN GRAHAM/The Battalion
Students leave town and leave a large
amount of trash behind.
First woman
earns highest
alum award
By Shauna Lewis
The Battalion
Josie Ruth Williams joined
the U.S. Airforce in the 1950s
to take advantage of the G.I.
Bill which would help her pay
her way through college. It was
during her work at a military
hospital that she cared for the
wife of a Texas A&M professor.
It was this professor who en
couraged her to pursue her
dream of becoming a doctor by
going to A&M.
Decades later, after receiv
ing tremendous medical hon
ors, Dr. Williams still bleeds
maroon. It was for the combi
nation of these accomplish
ments that Williams became
the first woman in A&M histo
ry to receive the University
Distinguished Alumnus Award
during the May 2001 gradua
tion ceremonies.
Laura Thompson, a Texas
A&M administrative assistant
for programs, said the award is
the highest honor bestowed
upon former students.
The Association of Formear
Students and A&M established
the award program to recog : -
nize and honor former stu
dents who have made signifi
cant contributions to society
and whose accomplishments
and careers have brought cred
it to A&M, Thompson said.
Today, Williams, class of’71,
serves as medical director of
the Texas Health Quality Al
liance in Austin and specializes
in gastroenterology and the
evaluation of quality of care
and medical outcomes. She is
certified by the Texas State
Board of Medical Examiners
and the American Board of In
ternal Medicine.
Williams is on the American
Medical Accreditation Pro
gram (AMAP) Governing
Board and the Texas Medical
Association Speakers Bureau.
See Williams on Page 2.
Former Viz Lab Ags
use skills on screen
By Justin Smith
The Battalion
As movie going Aggies giggle
at the gruesome ghoulies of the
full-length computer-generated
movie Monsters, Inc., this No
vember, they will be seeing some
of the monstrous work provided
by former students of Texas
A&M’s Visualization Laboratory
— better known as Viz Lab.
Pat James is one of the former
students who have made their
way to Pixar to aid in producing
animated feature films. James
joined the Pixar team in 1998
and started work on Toy Story 2.
As a technical director, James
soon began working on special
effects like snow, dust and ex
plosions for Monsters, Inc.
James received much of his
training while working with the
A&M Viz Lab. T his division of
the College of Architecture has
a reputation for quality in the
realms of art and technology.
The Viz Lab has about 50
students who are trained with
the skills necessary to produce
art with the aid of computers.
Training ranges from comput
er animation to cinematogra-
Upcoming movie
showcases talents
of A&M alumni
phy to videography. Former
students of the lab have worked
on feature films such as Pearl
Harbor, the Toy Story movies,
and the current hit realease,
Shrek.
James said the Viz Lab not
only teaches the basic skills, but
also “gives a good idea of what
will happen once you enter the
industry.”
One of
James’ most in
fluential teach
ers was the Viz
Lab’s director
Bill Jenks, who
was instrumental
in the development of
the Viz Lab when it
started in 1988. % a
“[The Viz —
Lab] is a great
way for students to enter
the film and video game
industries,” Jenks said.
“The Viz Lab does not
just accept computer science
majors though.”
James, for example, was an
environmental design major
and was planning on becoming
an architect. He said he hardly
even knew how to use a com
puter when the Viz Lab drew
him in and taught him every
thing he needed.
“Who knew I would end up
making movies?” James said.
See Viz Lab on Page 2.
COURTESY OF PIXAR