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NEWS IN BRIEF
Faculty Senate
approves new
degree programs
The Faculty Senate recom
mended approval of two new
degree programs in the
College of Geosciences
Monday.
The Senate's vote recom
mends the degrees, a bache
lor's in environmental studies
and a bachelor’s in environ
mental geoscience, for consid
eration by the administration.
The Faculty Senate meet-
ing opened with a presenta
tion by Vice Chancellor and
Dean of the College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences
Edward A. Hiler, and Dean of
(he College of Geosciences
David B. Prior. Hiler and
Prior were proposing an envi
ronmental studies program
that would bundle the envi
ronmental aspects of many
different colleges.
The umbrella program. “Big
Tent,'' would “deliberately
combine geosciences, geo
physics, oceanography, etc.,
with fields in liberal arts and
the business college such as
management and political sci
ence," Hiler said.
Hiler described the program
as ‘a win-win situation for the
University."
The Senate also approved a
Dwight Look College of
Engineering certification pro
gram that would give stu
dents certification in systems
safety engineering. This certi-
Itton will appear on the
jj tecripts of students who
compfefe an additional 15
tars of safety training.
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Page 3
Healing
power
Many students,
professors have
discovered the
importance of certain
foods, chemicals
iggies face
rough road
ahead
•A&M football record
impressive, but road
_may have been easy
Page 9
Difficult
tracking
• Student database
may be necessary to
combat terrorism
Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years
THE BATTALIO
S E R V 1
1 N G
THE
TEXAS
A&M
C O M M U N
1 T Y
S 1
1 N C E
18 9 3
Volume 108 • Issue 32 College Station, Texas www.thebatt.com
Spring 2002
registration
available on
the Internet
By Tanya Nading
"the battalion
This November, students have a
new venue for registering for
Spring 2002 classes: the Web.
Timothy Chester, senior sys
tems analyst for Computing and
Information Services (CIS), said
students will be allowed to sign
up for classes on the Web and via
telephone.
“This is a considerable chal
lenge,” Chester said. “A good deal
of the students are Web-savvy.
About 50 percent will have no
problems registering, the other
half will have to pay close atten
tion to the instructions provided.”
In the past, phone registration
has been done in phases according
to classification and by last name,
which were alphabetically
blocked. This year, students will
still register according to their
classification, but they will not be
sectioned based on last names.
Start dates and times will be
randomly assigned to the students
within each classification, Chester
said. Once the start date and time
begins, there will be 48 hours open
for the students to register. This
excludes weekends and holidays.
“Two hundred and fifty to 350
students will be allowed access to
the registration system every 30
minutes,” said registrar Don
Carter.
Emilie Stallings, a senior
mechanical engineering major, said
he worries about the new system.
“I’m a little nervous about
[Web registration] simply because
it's new to me.” Stallings said.
“But I'm glad there will be Web
registration this year, if for no
other reason than I won't have to
listen to a busy signal for two or
three straight hours.”
Carter said the software has
been stress-tested by CIS, with
several students adding and drop
ping classes.
“We did performance tests with
a number of students.” Chester
said. “We wouldn’t turn it out if we
didn’t trust it. With a small amount
of students registering at one time,
the chances of possible problems
will be minimal.”
Email notifications for prereg
istration will be sent to Neo email
accounts and posted on the Bonfire
information system on Oct. 29.
“We want to make sure students
have all the possible information
they will need for registration,”
Carter said.
Chester said students are
encouraged to visit http://regi.s-
ter.tamu.edu to make sure the
Web-registration system will run
properly with their computer.
“There are lots of help
resources available,” Chester said.
“There will be a help file system
and a tutorial that will show stu
dents how to use the system. All
student workers will be up to
speed on how the system works
and will be able to answer any
A National Guardsman oversees a passenger screening
Monday afternoon at Easterwood Airport in College
Station. National Guardsmen will be on duty at all times,
in accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration,
CODY WAGES • THE BATTALION
for departing flights in response to the Sept. 11 events
in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.
According to Director of Aviation John Happ, the troops’
duties will be restricted to the screening process.
Tests show anthrax in second Florida man
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — The FBI
on Monday took over the investigation
into the anthrax death of a Florida man
after the germ was found in the nose of a
co-worker and on a computer keyboard in
their office. Hundreds of people who
worked near the men lined up to get med
ical tests.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said
the case could become “a clear criminal
investigation.”
“We don’t have enough information to
know whether this could be related to ter
rorism or not,” Ashcroft said during a
news conference in Washington.
The FBI sealed off the Boca Raton
building housing several supermarket
tabloids, including The Sun, where both
men worked. Agents donned protective
gear before going inside.
How the bacterial spores got into the
newspaper’s office remained under inves
tigation. Federal investigators handling
the cases have eliminated the obvious
Fears of bioterrorism in Florida
Anthrax spores were found jn the nasal passages of a co-worker
of the man who died of a rare form of the disease Friday. The FBI
took over the case, sealing off the building housing the supermarket
tabloid The Sun, where the men worked. Other investigations
related to the Sept. 11 have focused on some nearby locations.
Belle Glade
A group of men, including alleged
hijacker Mohamed Atta, asked
suspicious questions about a crop
duster.
Lantana
Home of Bob Stevens, 63, an
employee of The Sun. Stevens
died Friday of the first U.S. case
of inhalation anthrax since 1976.
Delray Beach
Some suspected hijackers lived
in an apartment complex here.
Boca Raton
Employees of The Sun, located
here, were advised to receive
testing and treatment. Anthrax
spores were found on Stevens’
computer keyboard.
Hollywood
Investigators believe that
suspected hijackers, including
Mohamed Atta, stayed here.
See ANTHRAX on page 2. SOURCES: Associated Press; ESRI; GOT
Allies
strike
again
Taliban: Civilians
killed in attacks
by U.S., Britain
KABUL, Afghanistan
(AP) — After a second
night of air attacks, a lone
jet woke up Kabul about
dawn Tuesday with a single
bomb dropped near the air
port. A missile streaked into
the eastern edge of the capi
tal minutes later.
The fresh assault at 6:50
a.m. rattled windows in the
capital, ending a quiet few
hours after the second wave
of U.S. strikes Monday night.
There were no immedi
ate reports of damage or
injuries.
Taliban anti-aircraft guns
responded again Tuesday as
they had during Monday’s
raid when at least three
bombs exploded — one each
in the eastern, western and
northern sections of the city.
A high-flying plane was
seen dropping flares before
the detonations.
Targets in Monday’s
raids included areas around
the capital, the Taliban’s
home base of Kandahar and
Afghanistan’s north, where
an opposition northern
alliance is battling the
Taliban, the Islamic move
ment that controls nearly all
of Afghanistan.
The military campaign is
aimed at punishing the
Taliban for harboring
Osama bin Laden, the man
accused of plotting the Sept.
I l attacks on New York
City and Washington, D.C.,
that left more than 5,500
people dead or missing.
The Afghan Islamic
Press agency in Islamabad,
Pakistan, said the airport in
Kabul and a hill where a TV
transmission tower is locat
ed were both targets.
The agency, which has
close ties to the Taliban,
said one bomb landed near
a 400-bed women’s hospi
tal in Kabul but made no
mention of any damage.
The reports could not be
independently confirmed
See Attacks on page 2.
Economy may hinder fundraising
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
A slowing economy may force Texas
A&M to revise the unofficial $1 billion
fundraising target of the “One Spirit, One
Vision” capital campaign, said A&M
President Dr. Ray M. Bowen.
“When we were planning this about a
year ago, the economy was booming, but
with the economy softening now, if you try
to do public events, you won’t be success
ful,” Bowen said. “You want to set a
fundraising target that you can exceed.”
The theme and executive committee of
the campaign was unveiled Oct. 4 at the
125th anniversary gala, but the campaign
is still in its “quiet” phase, Bowen said,
with the University soliciting from a hand
ful of major donors. In about two years,
once several large gifts have been collect
ed, the University will kickoff the public
phase of the campaign, announcing an
official fundraising goal and targeting a
wider audience of smaller donors.
Rose Ann McFadden, spokesperson for
the Texas A&M Foundation who is coordi
nating the campaign, said that during this
phase of the effort, the organization is tailor
ing funding proposals for particular donors.
“From their past giving, we usually
have an idea of the type of programs an
individual might be interested in support
ing, such as scholarships or faculty chairs
in a particular department,” McFadden
said. “We’ll draft a proposal, and Dr.
Bowen will visit with that person and begin
a discussion about donating.”
The foundation has liaisons attached to
each college who are familiar with their
funding needs and long-term plans,
See Campaign on page 2.
WEATHER
today
HIGH
86° F
LOW
54° F
tomorrow
high
84° F
'OiBss
LOW
67° F
forecasts courtesy of
Www.weathermanted. com
A&M sophomore dies in two-car
By Christina Hoffman
THE BATTALION
Matthew David Howton, a sophomore agriculture
and life sciences major, died Oct. 5 in a car accident
on his way to Winnsboro from College Station.
Howton was travelling north in his Ford Explorer
on Highway 14, just south of Hawkins, during a
heavy rainstorm. He hydroplaned, hit an elderly cou
ple in another car and rolled into a ditch. Both cars
caught fire.
He and the couple in the other car were both killed
in the accident. Police said Howton was not speed
ing, but hit a deep patch of water that caused him to
lose control of the vehicle.
“There is a new bridge that was just built, and when
he came off the bridge, he hit a large accumulation of
water, hydroplaned, swerved to the fight, over-cor
rected and swerved left into oncoming traffic, “ said
his father, Dr. David Howton.
Howton’s Explorer broadsided the other vehicle
before going into an embankment and catching fire.
“Everything was lost in the fire,” Howton’s father
said. “All we have left from the accident are a few
collision Friday
things that flew out, including his Bible, school
books, a pair of pants and some blank checks.”
Matt Howton was heading home for the weekend to
see family and friends at his high school’s homecom
ing. He also wanted to visit a friend who was in the
Autumn Trails Queen Pageant, an event held in
October in Winnsboro, David Howton said.
Friends and family remember Howton as someone
who was always willing to help others and loved the
outdoors.
See Howton on page 2.