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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2001)
1 SECTION • 12 PAGES FRIDAYNOVEMBER 30, 2001 November] deck while builder Glen Gre he ship buil women’s lucy NEWS IN BRIEF New sports complexes under construction Two new sports complexes are in the works for Texas A&M and its athletes. One building is currently under construction behind the soc cer fields on West Campus. According to Athletic Director Wally Groff, this facility will cost approximate ly $5.3 million and consist of three separate buildings. Construction recently began and should be com pleted by August 2002. The project will be funded by gifts and donations to the athletic department. Watson appointed dean of faculties Dr. Karan L. Watson has been promoted to dean of faculties and associate provost, to succeed retiring Janis P. Stout. Watson currently serves as the associate dean for grad uate and undergraduate studies in the Dwight Look College of Engineering and is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Watson received her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in electri cal engineering from Texas Tech University. PUBLIC EYE Texas A&M endowments, including the University’s portion of the Permanent University Fund, totals more than $3.7 billion TODAY raanirai Page 3 The beat is on Percussion Studio presents the Big Drumbowski womens gator ma zt i&M aims at Final Four • Aggies take on Portland in Elite Eight OPINION Page 11 A true slugger Mark McGwire is not only a baseball great but an admired role model WEATHER HIGH 60° F LOW 32° F HIGH 68° F LOW 40° F TOMORROW ‘ K v ^ FORECASTS COURTESY OF www.weathermanted.com Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years S E R V 1 i 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 68 College Station, Texas www.thebatt.com Retention higher for top 10 percent By Christina Hoffman THE BATTALION Texas A&M is closely moni toring colleges with large enroll ment, including business, archi tecture and engineering, because they are close to overflowing with students admitted under the top-10-percent rule. Texas law requires that all public universities admit stu dents ranking in the top 10 per cent of their high school gradu ating class, but does not require universities to admit those stu dents into the school or college of their choice. Currently, A&M gives these students automatic admission to the college of their choice, and the retention rates for top-10 stu dents indicates they are perform ing as well as other students. University officials said. “We are finding that, across the board, no matter what high school, race or background, stu dents from the top 10 percent are doing exceptionally well,” said Joseph Estrada, associate provost for enrollment. The retention rate is defined as the percentage of students still enrolled from freshman fall semester into the the fall semes ter of the sophomore year. Overall, A&M has a reten tion rate of 88 percent. Among top-10-percent students, the retention rate is about 2 to 3 percentage points higher, Estrada said. He also noted the University of Texas-Austin has similar statistics. In continuing studies, the uni versities find that the students are not necessarily dropping out because of poor grades; rather they choose to leave A&M to attend a different university after their freshman year, Estrada said. If this is taken into account, the retention rate for A&M rises to about 95 percent. A&M draws high caliber STUDCNT RCTCNTION RflTC t. students overall, which is reflected by the overall retention rate, Estrada said. “When looking at the stu dents from the top ten percent of their high school, we see high self-expectations that carry into the academic studies EN fNEftCCNT OVCftAU Source: Associate Prevest for enrollment CHAD MALLAM • THE BATTALION at A&M. These students, there fore, generally continue to per form well,” Estrada said. He said the University is con cerned about some colleges being dominated by top-10-per cent students, but, at this time, no changes will be made. On thin ice JOHN LIVAS • THE BATTALION Firefighters responded to a motor vehicle accident on Highway speed near 60 miles per hour before she lost control and hit 60 near Easterwood Airport Thursday morning. Witnesses the median wall. The cause of the accident was attributed to reported that the driver, Jennifer Camp, was traveling at a icy road conditions. B-CS to observe World AIDS Day Free, anonymous HIV testing available at Beutel Center By Giselle Wallace THE BATTALION Every minute, five people ages 15- 24 are infected with HIV, and people younger than 25 represent half of new HIV cases, said officials of AIDS Services of Brazos Valley. Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day, observed to strengthen AIDS awareness globally. World AIDS Day was first observed Dec. 1, 1988. This year, the focus will be to raise awareness about the increasing AIDS infection rate among youth. “Youth in general should be aware of the epidemic,” said Christina Escamilla, volunteer coordinator of AIDS Services of Brazos Valley. “Many youth are com placent to the idea of AIDS and think that it can be controlled or curable like certain STDs.” HIV and AIDS affects Texas A&M students who have the disease, as well as their family and friends, said Margaret Griffith, health education coordinator for Student Health Services. “Students won’t come out and say they have HIV, but it’s important for them to have a very good support system within their family and friends, and they do,” said Griffith. “I encourage students to get tested and seek the Student Counseling Service on campus because See AIDS on page 2. FBI agent: Terrorists still living in States By Melissa Sullivan THE BATTALION Terrorists are still among us, FBI Special Agent Ronald Madd said Thursday at a panel entitled “Airport Security: What your Government Hasn’t Told you,” spon sored by MSC Current Issues Awareness. Madd described two types of terrorism: international and domestic. “The main difference is international deals with overseas sponsored groups, where domestic includes things like white supremacy groups, militias and abortion bombers,” Madd said. Madd graduated from Kansas State and upon receiving his degree, he was assigned to the Houston field division. There he investigated national security matters, primarily in the area of foreign counter-intelligence. Charles Hermann, the associate dean for International Programs at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service explained three reasons why the government was surprised by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. “You need to determine vulnerability, examine consequences and determine the capabilities the threat source may have,” Hermann said. Prior to the attacks, airport security around the nation “wasn’t very good” and was easy to subvert, Hermann said. “Usually, hijackings result in minimal loss of life where the hijackers have demands, but after a while, most hostages are released,” Hermann said. Terrorists use symbolism as a cause, but not to kill innocent people, he said. Raymond Decker, who serves as the Director of Diffuse Security Threats with in the Defense Capabilities and Management Team In Washington D.C., said there is a common denominator between international and domestic terror ism: each attack American citizens. “There is no distinction between targets, for New York changed that,” Decker said. The citizen plays a key role in staying alert of suspicious activity happening in and around the nation. Decker said. See Security on page 2. Krammer reflects on 27 years of teaching at A&M By Christina Hoffman THE BATTALION Dr. Arnold Krammer, a tenured history professor, has a love for history, a love for teach ing students and an eccentric col lection of books and posters that he calls the tools of his trade. These tools help make his teach ings real — all which form part of 27 years of teaching at A&M. Krammer began his profes sional career in Illinois in 1970, and in 1974 he moved to Texas A&M and started as an associ ate professor. He taught at Rice University for two years as a visiting professor from 1980 to 1982, then returned to A&M as a professor where he plans to remain. “I love teaching and it has been a blessing my whole life,” Krammer said. “A&M and I have grown up together. I have been teaching here longer than most of my students have been alive.” Krammer received his bach elor’s degree in history and chemistry from the University of Wisconsin in 1963, then studied abroad for a year at the University of Vienna, Austria, where he received a diploma in German history. He returned to the University of Wisconsin and received a certification in Russian area studies in 1965 and his doctorate in German history in 1970. He teaches a variety of courses at A&M including History 106, History of Nazi Germany, World War I, and in the summer he takes a class of students to Poland and teaches courses dealing with World War II and the Holocaust. “Tdon’t have a favorite course that I teach, I just love doing what I do,” Krammer said. “My wife, Jan, says if I didn’t have a classroom, I would teach door to door.” Not only does Krammer love teaching and history, but he also loves languages and enjoys trav eling to give speeches, to teach and for leisure. “I love languages. I grew up with languages. I am fascinated See Krammer o« pftge 2.