HURSDAYSEPTEMBER 6, 2001
Texas AdrM University
2 SECTIONS • 16 PAGES
Celebrating 125 Years
THE BATTALION
SERVING THE TEXAS A&M COMMUNITY SINCE 1893
Volume 108 • Issue 10
College Station, Texas
www.thebatt.com
NEWS IN BRIEF
ie FAA andl Bl IS OpS Offers
shuttle service to
> calm. * on-campus Ags
k managr Students without vehicles
-neraicd sirwh' live in residence halls
no longer be stranded on
are euui car ipus during the weekends
nit rollers "■'Kause of the Dinner and a
!>► IretjuciktWvie Shuttle Service provid
er a! ibei - ed by Bus Operations.
^■he service takes students
noted 20 prjlo live on campus to area
u lAA Pi reftaurants. theaters and
r sc” shopping centers,
stons lm« c®uses leave the Military
(^Bences Building every 30
loMcollifc #iutes from 6 p.m. to 2
,t | n a.m. on Thursdays and
wasUtkiru Ways. Services start at 10
collidin' - a - r on Saturday and last
l 2 a.m. except on home
foc*:)all game days.
jB'he shuttle makes stops at
I^Hna Ranch Restaurant. Post
Oak Mall. Hollywood Theater.
Te as Roadhouse and
Cheddar's. The shuttle also
Bps at Albertson’s Food
Store, and at Best Buy and
Barnes & Noble.
Inspectors bust
three people for
smuggling drugs
KT PASO (AP) — Two men
aid a woman have been
charged for trying to smuggle
more than 10,000 tablets of
Vilium and Xanax they
puffed into pantyhose they
were wearing.
||The three walked into the
United States at the Paso Del
Norte port of entry in El Paso
on Monday night when they
y»re Interviewed by a U.S.
Customs inspector.
■Officials estimated the pills
■ere worth $95,000.
PUBLIC EYE
Tarti
nnual budget for
the Memorial
Student Center
$5.6 million
SPORTS
^Page 1B
Team
for redemption
• Aggies set to take on
Wyoming Cowboys
OPINION
Page 7B
Hey God,
remember me?
• People have
sacrificed spirituality
for society
WEATHER
TODAY
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FORECASTS COURTESY OF
www.weathermanted.com
TOMORROW
20% . „
TODAY
mill
Page 3A
Texas
country vs.
old country
• Texas-style
country is quickly
gaining popularity
Lepper
Award
honors
professor
By Mklissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M political science
instructor Nikki VanHightower
was awarded the 2001 Mary
Lepper Award from the Women’s
Caucus for Political Science at the
annual American Political Science
Association (APSA) Convention
in San Francisco last week.
The Lepper Award honors those
who have blended academic teach
ing and research with government
service. It also recognizes the
important contributions of women
whose careers combine work with
government commitment.
Along with the award, recipi
ents receive a monetary prize of
$500.
“1 received the award for my
academic work combined with
grassroots organizing on behalf of
survivors of domestic violence,”
VanHightower said.
VanHightower earned her bache
lor's and master's degrees from the
University of Houston and has a
doctorate in political science from
New York University. She joined the
A&M staff in 1992, serving as polit
ical science instructor and visiting
assistant professor with the A&M
school of Rural Public Health.
From 1976 to 1978.
VanHightower served as the
women's advocate for the city of
Houston, as well as founding the
Houston Area Women's Center,
where she served as president and
executive director.
The Women's Center was the
first organization in Houston to pro
vide shelter and other services for
women and children who were vic
tims of family and sexual violence.
"I wrote my dissertation on the
role of women in politics, and my
research made me keenly aware of
the discrimination that women
faced in their lives, which affected
their ability to participate in politi
cal life,” VanHightower said. ”1
accepted a position in the Houston
mayor’s office in 1975, and I have
been an advocate for women’s
rights ever since.”
In 1983 Vanhightower ran for
an at-large seat on the Houston
City Council. In 1986 she was
elected Harris County treasurer
and upon completion of her term
she ran for Texas state treasurer,
but was defeated.
See Award on page 2A.
A&M becomes first institution
to clone three species successfully
By Courtney Si elzel
THE BATTALION
Researchers at Texas A&M
announced the successful
cloning of swine Wednesday,
making A&M the first institu
tion in the world to have
cloned three different species.
Nine cloned piglets were
born Aug. 12 at the Center for
Animal Biotechnology and
Genomics (CABG) at the
College of Veterinary
Medicine. They are the first of
five expected litters of trans-
gentically-cloned piglets.
Five sows were impregnat
ed by Dr. Jorge Piedrahita,
associate professor at the
College of Veterinary
Medicine, Assistant Research
Scientist Dr. Juan Romano and
a team of researchers. The four
other sows are expected to
deliver soon.
“The cloning of today may
have extensive applications to
the biomedical discoveries of
tomorrow in areas that we sim
ply cannot forecast yet,” said
Dean H. Richard Adams of the
of Veterinary Medicine.
“A&M continues to lead in this
area of biotechnology.”
A&M researchers had pre
viously cloned three animals
representing two species: a
Brahman calf born in 1999, an
Angus calf bom in Nov. 2000
and a boer goat born March
29, 2001.
The Brahman calf, named
Second Chance, was cloned
from a 21-year-old adult steer
under the biomedical expertise
of Dr. Mark Westhusin, an
associate professor in the
Department of Veterinary
Physiology and Pharmacology
at Texas A&M.
“In my mind [the cloning
program] highlights the enor
mous strength we have as a
university,” Westhusin said.
Westhusin and his team of
researchers also cloned the
Angus calf. Bull 86, a genetic
donor naturally disease-resist
ant to brucellosis and several
other diseases. The intent was
to genetically engineer a dis
ease-resistant calf, Westhusin
CODY WAGES • THE BATTALION
Top: Ralph Fisher displays Second Chance at the Large Animal Clinic
at the College of Veterinary Medicine Wednesday. Above: Matthew and
Nicholas Hernandez, pet cloned pigs at a press conference Tuesday
where the pigs and Second Chance made a public appearance.
said. So far. Bull 86 Squared
has remained free of disease.
The goat used for cloning is
an 8-year-old show goat owned
by Donna and Ewing Downen
of Early, Texas.
Funding for A&M’s swine
cloning came from the National
Institutes of Health National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
(NIH) and the Advanced
Technology Program of Texas.
“Our research in cloning
swine will help increase
cloning efficiency and support
the development of genetically
modified cloned swine for use
in medicine and agriculture,”
Piedrahita said.
James Womack, director of
the CABG, said each step in the
cloning process is a necessary
step toward future knowledge.
“The announcement today
represents an important mile
stone in the brief history of the
CABG at Texas A&M
University,” Womack said.
Rowan continues to
serve as president
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
Josh Rowan will continue serving as Memorial Student Center
(MSC) president pending his appeal of the MSC Council’s vote
Monday to remove him from office.
Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. J. Malon Southerland will
make the final decision, but he has instructed Dean of Student Life
Dr. Dave Parrott to review the matter and make a recommendation.
“He’s the hearing officer, and he’ll review all the important infor
mation and hopefully I can just say yes to his recommendation,”
Southerland said.
There is no deadline, but Southerland said he asked Parrott to
work in an “expeditious manner.”
Rowan w-as removed following an investigation by University
officials into allegations of misconduct by Rowan while on a
University-sponsored trip to Italy during the summer.
Immediately following the council’s vote, Rowan said he
would begin to transfer some of his day-to-day duties to Jennifer
Brasliares, MSC executive vice president for programs and a sen
ior sociology major. If he is removed. Rowan said Brashares
would assume some of the duties of MSC president until a
replacement is chosen.
Rowan could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
A&M, Asian universities
foster new relationship
By Eric Ambroso
THE BATTALION
A class on the Vietnam War, taught in Vietnam,
is one of the possibilities that may be available to
students as Texas A&M builds research relation
ships with schools in Southeast Asia.
A faculty delegation from the Institute of
Pacific Asia (IPA) at A&M spent three weeks
this summer visiting 10 universities in Thailand
and Vietnam.
“The mission of IPA is to find opportunities for
faculty and students to develop research and aca
demic relationships,” said Richard Nader, head of
the IPA delegation. “The office uncovers rocks to
dig up interesting opportunities overseas.’
The exchange of information and faculty will
give A&M a better understanding of Asian cul
ture and ideas, Nader said, which will become
increasingly important as the American popula
tion becomes more diverse and a global econo
my emerges.
IPA introduces professors at A&M with col-
legues in Pacific Asia who have similai reseaich
interests and are willing to cooperate with them.
The relationships can then evolve into an
exchange of faculty to work together for a certain
period of time. Benefits also include strengthened
teaching, opportunities to create new academic
programs, collaborative research advancements
and outreach to local communities, Nader said.
“The trip to Thailand was also part of The
Association of Former Students’ outreach pro
gram to reach out to former students living in
Thailand,” Nader said. “While in Thailand, we
were able to address the former students at a pres
entation given to the Thailand A&M club.”
While in Pacific Asia, IPA representatives iden
tified faculty members who might be interested in
participating in an exchange. At the Hanoi
University of Technology, a number of professors
expressed interest in working with A&M’s infor
mation technology and environmental engineering
research, Nader said.
Many professors at A&M are interested in
participating in the exchanges. Dr. Terry
Anderson, a history professor, would like to
team teach a course on the Vietnam War with a
historian from Vietnam.
See Professors on page 2A.