EDNESDAYAUGUST 29, 2001
Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years
2 SECTIONS • 14 PAGES
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IWT President
!upple to retire
SAN MARCOS (AP) -
Southwest Texas State
University President Jerome
H. Supple said Tuesday he
is retiring.
I Leaving “will be like swing
ing the best dance partner
’ever into the arms of another,
a heart-wrenching experi
ence,” Supple, 65, said. He
| became the university's
ighth president in 1989.
Supple was diagnosed with
ancer in 1997. He said his
ecision to retire Aug. 31,
002, had nothing to do with
his health, which he
described as good.
The Texas State University
System Board of Regents will
decide how to look for
Supple’s replacement and
announce those plans at a
later date, the university said
in a statement.
UT-Pan Am prof
killed in accident
EDINBURG (AP) - Joseph
Wiener, a mathematics pro
fessor at the University of
Texas-Pan American who spe
cialized in differential equa
tions, died in a traffic collision
Monday night. He was 61.
Wiener immigrated to the
United States from Russia in
1978. Before joining UTPA,
he had headed the Vitebsk
Institute of Technology in the
former Soviet Union. He
taught at UTPA for 22 years.
While at UTPA, Wiener was
widely published and also
served as an editor in inter
national mathematics jour
nals and received several
grants for his research.
He is survived by his wife
and two children.
PUBLIC EYE
ml
Operating budget
of Texas A&M
for fiscal year 2002
$832,311,876
TODAY
AGGIELIFE
Page 1B
Choosing
a major
^students may have
trouble deciding on
majors, some
change several times
Page 4B
Ags await
opener
• A&M football
notebook takes a
look at Jay Brooks
and Ty Warren
OPINION
Page 5B
JF' —
Worth the
sweat?
• More in-depth
physicals needed for
student athletes
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BATTALIO
SERVING THE TEXA S A&M COMMUNITY SINCE 1893
Volume 108 • Issue 4
College Station, Texas
www.thebatt.com
Fee increase proposed
A&M financial
shortfall reaches
$6.2 million
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M is facing a $6.2 million
financial shortfall and will be forced to
hike student fees or cut spending.
President Dr. Ray M. Bowen told the
Texas A&M System Board of Regents
Tuesday. A combination of new expen
ditures and limited funding from the
state are to blame for the unexpected
shortfall, Bowen said.
One proposal Bowen presented to the
Regents was a $30 per-credit-hour fee
increase that would only apply to new
students, which, for a student taking 15
hours a semester, would mean would
mean an average of $400 more per
semester. If the fee is levied on all stu
dents, it would be $10 per credit hour,
which would mean an additional $150
per semester for most students.
Faculty members will get a 3-percent
salary increase, and staff members will
receive a 4-percent increase.
Bowen said the raises are necessary
to keep A&M competitive with other
universities in attracting high-quality
faculty. Also, the rising price of energy
has resulted in an $8 million increase in
the utilities buc'get.
“The state just doesn’t have a lot of
money, and they’ll (policy makers) look
at A&M and think we already get plenty
of funding, so more resources will be
devoted to other schools,” Bowen said.
Although no action was taken on the
matter, it is likely that the regents will opt
for a fee increase rather than demand cuts
in programs and services, Bowen said.
“This fall we’ll make a proposal to
the Board, but there doesn’t seem to be
much support for cuts,” Bowen said.
“We cannot maintain the quality of our
programs with the money we have.”
William Krumm, University con
troller and vice president for finance,
said he must begin creating a budget
for the University before he knows
how much revenue will be available
for the next fiscal year, which begins
Sept. I.
“What I sweat bullets over is esti
mating revenue when we authorize our
budgets,” Krumm said, with variable
factors including appropriations from
the state legislature and the perform
ance of the Permanent University
Fund.
In case the regents do not approve
new fees, Krumm said he has planned
budget cuts that would spread the cost
reductions equally among departments
and programs.
The regents approved budgets for
fiscal year 2002 for all the System
components, which includes nine uni
versities and eight affiliated state agen
cies. A&M received an operating
budget of $832 million. The total
budget for the A&M System currently
is $2.1 billion.
Wireless
Internet
offered in
Evans
By Chris Busta
THE BATTALION
Using the Internet in Sterling C.
Evans Library is now one step eas
ier for laptops. New technology
has been installed that allows lap
top computer users to access the
World Wide Web without using a
conventional hardwired Internet
connection.
For a student to use the new
technology, they must have access
to a laptop computer with a wireless
Internet card and Texas A&M’s
Virtual Private Network program.
According to Dilawar Grewal,
director of the Academy for
Advanced Telecommunications at
A&M, students will be able to
temporarily check out laptop com
puters from the library’s circula
tion desk.
“Students have the option of
checking out either a laptop that is
ready for Internet use, or they can
check out a wireless card to tem
porarily install in their own laptop
computer,” Grewal said.
Much of the new technology
was donated by Cisco Systems to
help create a good working rela
tionship with the University.
“Cisco wants to get their name
out, and they thought that a dona
tion would be good for public rela
tions,” Grewal said.
Corbett Graves, a freshman
speech communications major,
said he is excited about the mobil
ity a laptop will provide.
- “The new Internet capabilities
in the library are great,” Graves
said. “The wireless connection
See Wireless on page 6A.
i \ ■ \
Pi
r
■ ■ ■■
Silent predators stalk Ags
By Amanda Smith
THE BATTALION
While most students worry about the
security of their purses or wallets, many
are unaware of a crime that is occurring
more frequently in the Bryan-College
Station community — identity theft.
Sgt. Betty Lemay. a University Police
Department (UPD) certified crime pre
vention specialist, said many identity
thetT happen w ithout the % ictim’s
know ledge.
“There are some people who would
not even pay attention to it." Sgt.
Lemay said. “For the most part, stu
dents do not realize ?he\ have been
ripped off until after it happens, but
they need to be aware of identity theft
and that it happens."
Lemay said students should avoid
carrying too much cash or too many
credit cards in their purses, wallets and
backpacks.
“We are all sometimes guilty of car
rying too much cash or too 'many credit
cards.” Lemay said. “It only lakes a sec
ond for thieves to pick them up. Credit
cards have become such an eas*y thing
because almost anyone can gain access."
Lt. Bert Kretzschmar. head of
LlPD’s Crime Prevention Unit, said
credit cards have become particularly
easy for thieves to use at pay-at-the-
pump gas stations, where customers are
not required to show identity to make a
purchase.
Kretzschmar said advancement in
electronic technology has contributed to
the alarming growth in identity crimes.
Information can be accessed easily from
sites on the Internet.
“Do not give any personal, infonna
tion to anyone over the Internet unless it
is a secure connection and you feel com
fortable about doing it." Kret/schmai
said. “Do not loan any type of credit card
to anyone, and that includes Aggie
Bucks. Do not give any personal infor
mation over the telephone, unless you
initiate the telephone call yourself to an
established legitimate business.”
See Identity on page 2A.
GUY ROGERS • THE BATTALION
Gramm visits historic ship La Belle
By Justin Smith
THE BATTALION
Sen. Phil Gramm views the wreck
age of La Belle, a French ship sailed
CHRIS YOUNG • THE BATTALION
by French explorer La Salle in the
17th century.
Sen. Phil Gramm visited Texas A&M
Tuesday to celebrate the final stage in the preser
vation process for the hull of La Belle, the flag
ship of the famous 17th century French explorer
Rene Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle.
The final step will consist of slowly lowering
the hull into a tank filled with a chemical vital to
the conservation process.
The hull is kept at the Conservation Research
Lab at A&M’s Riverside Campus, along with
many other recovered artifacts. The lab is world
renowned as a leader in naval archaeology.
“This is one of the most important finds in
Texas history,” Gramm said. “Since La Salle
had not completed his mission and never start
ed settling the area, it gave Spain the opportu
nity to colonize this area and give us our rich
Hispanic heritage.”
The ship’s journey began Aug. 1, 1684,
when La Salle embarked on a journey to estab
lish a French colony at the mouth of the
M ississippi River. Three years earlier, he
sailed the length of the river and claimed the
surrounding land for France.
La Salle’s second voyage was not as suc
cessful.
The ship was 400 miles off course when in
January 1686, La Belle was sunk in a stonn.
More than 300 years later, the Texas Historical
Commission (THC) discovered the ill-fated
vessel and had it pulled from the floor of
Matagorda Bay.
Jim Bruseth, the THC archaeology director,
said a $1.4 million coffer dam was constructed
around the wreckage, and the water was pumped
out to produce a dry excavation site. In addition
to the hull, there were nearly one million other
artifacts such as pottery, bells, rings, weapons
and a human skeleton.
After the hull enters the final conservation
stage next month, it will take about two years
until the public will be able to view it again in
the new Texas State History Museum in Austin.
In the meantime, some of the artifacts will be on
a touring exhibit, traveling throughout the state
and the nation.