Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 2001)
1 SECTION • 12 PAGES MONDAYDECEMBER 3. 2001 day, November 31,J WS IN BRIEF iers, agesli 13, charged murder ,C0LA, Fla. (AP) brothers Wednesday witli ler soon after the home after being »k. Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years S E R V 1 N G THE TEXAS A&M COMM UN 1 T Y 5 5 1 N C E 18 9 3 Volume 108 • Issue 69 College Station, Texas www.thebatt.com idy of Terry Let found early Mot efighters respond he family home it;; lantonment. Shep said he died from fg but did not elate is, Derek, 13. andL; endered to sir' Tuesday lief Deputy Larry S* boys talked within but Smith would what the brotherss d personalit) to overturn f tossing t)2i . Fla. (AP)-A3te; No personality sue ay. seeking to over, ban on dwarf ta n earn money attraction, lood. who appears; g radio talk sb ne Dwarf,” said think the state:: >w he earns his N wsuit filed in I. ourt names GovJ the head of thesa which enforces . The law allows revoke the It fine a bar that a: sing, an activity jlar in some Fio r o e late 1980s, dies durinti ntation of :ial heart )N (AP) - A man n chronic heart rom severe rgery to i ined mechani tors said, gical team perfo ocedure at St. U Hospital on Tie* hours trying to 9 deeding. The mi’ not released olutionary AB r-run, plastic-2'.' fevice the size las been impla ients since JulyJ e well, though tl pient suffered lier this month. NEWS IN BRIEF Anthrax found in Connecticut postal facility HARTFORD (AP) - Trace amounts of anthrax were found at a postal facility that sorts mail for the town where a 94-year woman mysteriously died of the dis ease last month, officials said Sunday. Ottilie Lundgren, of Oxford, was the fifth person in the nation to die since the anthrax scare began in October. The source of her exposure has baffled officials, who are investigating whether she could have come in con tact with tainted mail. The spores were found on four sorting machines dur ing tests at the Southern Connecticut Processing & Distribution Center in Wallingford. The center processes about 3 million pieces of mail daily for Oxford and other towns. The trace amounts most likely were left on the machines when a letter sent to Seymour, near Oxford, passed through the facility on Oct. 11, said Jon Steele, vice president of the Postal Service's Northeast Area Operations. Officials announced Friday they had found a single spore of anthrax on the Seymour letter. PUBLIC EYE Percentage of infants'! 9-35 months old in Texas with the proper vaccines, the lowest of all 50 states 69.4 TODAY Page 3 [nights in shining maroon • Chivalry remains a timeless and appreciated practice on campus Teacher shortage sparks new program TEACHERS NEEDED IN TEXAS Percent of teachers needed but not hired SUBJECT AREA! TEACHER SHORTFALL ELEMENTARY ESL SECONDARY MATH SECONDARY FOREIGN LANGUAGE SECONDARY ESL | SOURCE; AAM's Institute for School Unviverslty Partnership CHAD MALLAM • THE BATTALION By NONl SRIDHARA THE BATTALION Starting this spring, Texas A&M will be the first universi ty in the state to participate in an alternative teacher-certifica tion program partnership to address teacher shortages in areas like math, science and bilingual eduOcation. The U.S. Department of Education funded a $ 1.4-million “Transition to Teach” grant that allows A&M to partner with the Region IV Education Service Center (ESC) in Houston. The ESC has had an alterna tive certification program in place since 1991, allowing pro fessionals to enter a condensed certification program, said Dr. Joe D. Crane, chief officer of the Human Resources Services Division of the ESC. The pro gram began with Aggies seeking to partner with the ESC, he said. “A lot of students were reach ing the end of their program and looking for other options and including teaching as one of them,” Crane said. Critical teacher shortages are a nationwide phenomenon. Crane said. “It is kind of hard to pinpoint what teacher shortages are attrib uted to, but some of it is pay and working conditions,” he said. The A&M System’s See Teacher on page 6. Reindeer games STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION Senior psychology major Flyan Beard, dressed as Rudolph, Sigma Theta to provide free breakfast and toys, which were greets children during Breakfast with Santa at the Lincoln donated by campus and community organizations for Bryan- Recreation Center on Sunday. The event was organized by Delta College Station area children. Brown wins mayoral runoff A&M leads in cloning research By Tanya Nading THE BATTALION With recent advancements in cloning technology, Texas A&M continues to lead the field in biotechnology and cloning research. A&M is the first institution in the world to have cloned three different species: a Brahman calf in 1999, an Angus calf in November 2000, a boer goat in March 2001, and nine piglets, born Aug. 12,2001. “The cloning research is important to Texas A&M because we are leading in the field of cloning,” said Dr. Jorge Piedrahita, associate professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine and assistant director of the Center for Animal Biotechnology and Genomics (CABG). “It would be unwise to give up the leadership and realize later that we could have been the next Microsoft, for example.” Piedrahita’s research has two major goals that he and his team set forth. “The first goal is basic research on understanding nuclear reprogramming,” he said. “We look at what happens to the nucleus and try to determine why some clones are not as normal as others.” The second goal is to create geneti cally-modified animals, or transgenic animals, that can be used for biological and medical research. “Cloning is so important because the technology has a tremendous potential for medical treatments as well as food products in the future,” Piedrahita said. The nine piglets were born at the CABG and were the first of five expect- See Cloning on page 2. Secret invention revealed Hyped as the new alternative to cars NEW YORK (AP) — After months of hype, an inventor is set to unveil an elec tric scooter being billed as an environ mentally friendly alternative to cars. Inventor Dean Kamen and his backers said the scooter needs less energy and creates less pollution than cars, and could help people move about more effi ciently in urban areas. The Segway “will be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy,” Kamen told Time magazine for Monday’s edition. “Cars are great for going long distances. But it makes no sense at all for people in cities to use a 4,000-pound piece of metal” to get around town. Kamen holds roughly 100 U.S. patents. His other inventions include the heart stent used by Vice President Dick See Invention on page 2. HOUSTON (AP) — In the wake of a ferocious and negative campaign, newly re-elected Mayor Lee Brown on Sunday asked the city to coalesce for his final two years in office. “I’m very pleased with the outcome,” Brown said. “This is a city I love. I want to make sure I do everything I can to see it progress. I believe when we work together as one city, we have a very bright future.” Saturday’s election was as close as predicted, with results seesawing all night NEW YORK (AP) — Culminating a stunning six-week downfall, belea guered energy company Enron Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protec tion on Sunday and filed a $10 billion lawsuit against Dynegy Inc. for scrap ping a proposed buyout. Houston-based Enron listed $24.7 bil lion in assets — more than $38 billion less than it had two months ago — and $13.1 billion in liabilities, according to the filing, making it one of the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcies ever. Enron accused Dynegy of wrongfully terminating its $8.4 billion takeover bid and said it would seek at least $10 billion in damages. Enron said proceeds from the lawsuit would benefit it creditors. Both actions were filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Enron also said it is in “active discus sions” with several financial institutions to secure credit for the continued opera tion of its wholesale energy trading busi ness, as well as additional funding to until Brown surged late. Brown had 165,865 votes, or 52 percent, to Sanchez’s 155,164, or 48 percent. Brown starts his third term in January. He cannot run again because of a term limits ordinance. More Houstonians participated in the runoff than the 288,000 who voted in the Nov. 6 general election, which featured hotly contested city charter amendments in which voters barred same-sex benefits for city workers and preserved a light rail line already under construction. keep the rest of the company operating. A cash and credit crunch following disclosures in mid-October of question able financial partnerships has made it difficult for the once-mighty energy trad ing to continue doing business. Enron tried to restore confidence by raising more cash and promising to sell its money-losing businesses to shore up its once-profitable trading business. But investors continued dumping shares and several energy companies stopped mak ing trades with Enron for fear they would not be paid. Enron chairman and chief executive Kenneth Lay said Sunday’s filings will help the company, which just months ago was the country’s seventh largest in terms of revenue, regain the confidence it has lost. “While uncertainty during the past few weeks has severely impacted the market’s confidence in Enron and its trading oper ations, we are taking the steps announced today to help preserve capital, stabilize See Enron on page 6. City council member Orlando Sanchez, who often did not respond to Brown’s attacks about his work record as a probation officer, an anonymous donor backing his daughter’s private-school education or his conservative beliefs, said he hoped his campaign would benefit the nation’s fourth-largest city. “I hope our message resonates that we talked about: making public safety No. 1, taking care of the city’s infrastructure. See MAYOR on page 2. A&M gradsy students among those affected By Rolando Garcia * THE BATTALION The sudden collapse of Enron Corp., a Houston-based energy con glomerate, has forced the company’s employees, including many Aggies, to update their resumes. Enron employs more than 20,000 workers worldwide, and layoffs at its Houston headquarters are imminent. “They’re going to layoff 3,000 peo ple tomorrow, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose my job,” said Mark See Layoffs on page 6. Enron files for bankruptcy, sues Dynegy