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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2002)
SPO! IE BATTAul EDNESD AY JANUARY 23. 2002 VOLUME 108 • ISSUE 78 from page! 0-25 margin. u go on the o a lot of thin head coach ave to avoid; 'TUT? T> A TT A T irVXT JL iiii 1>A I. 1ALIUIN some free ttej rebounding. T; oday.” .rd Bernard A sophomoit ng added II TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY ch roles. »y this monr results: Students support Bonfire kins said, "'km , , _ xtck at it thfl By Rolando Garcia ing our nextiJi THE BATTALION ^day), thatsMg on jj rc 2002 planners are - >n ^^^^tppointed at the dismal ■j*onse to the survey under- akcn last week to gauge stu- ■t support for the drastically evjamped Aggie Bonfire. Only i2. »o students responded to IIS tO NO.B survey, including less than rddd ot l * ie undergraduate .tupent population. “1 would have expected con- Based on the low turnout. Cole said he would not feel con fident reporting to A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen that the student body wants to have Bonfire. a worn*.. , ■ l ost adcrably more because ot the Colorado & visibility of thi.s^ issue” Rn.ilHArrai Bonfire 2002 Steerinj A&M wome£ ?am f in Boulder,U 9 Buffaloes i 1 ^ 0 ' ' 111! *^1 3-point atte'^'j an ( °! c ored (7 90' e throw liner" ido its eif over A&M. led by sc ya Rose's homore gu iams added junior fom- had a dou:* 12 points r ng Coordinator Dr. | Bowen is I expected to ^ ftl nia ke a final decision Feb. 8 if Bonfire | will burn next Among those who completed the survey, more than 90 percent said they supported having Bonfire under the strict new safety parameters, but stu dents were less enthusiastic about having to pay for it. Student Body President Schuyler Houser, a senior indus trial engineering major, said that compared to turnout in student elections the number of students who completed the survey is an overwhelming show of support for Bonfire. Every student received a link to the online vot ing site through Neo email accounts. Students were asked to choose from three potential stack designs selected by the committee, and almost 97 per cent chose the wedding-cake design. All the logs in the design would touch the ground, but would be cut to different heights to give a multi-level appearance. Because of the overwhelm ing student preference, that is the design the steering commit tee will recommend to Bowen in its final report. Cole said. All designs meet Bowen’s parame ters, which include the use of professionally cut lumber, a one-tier stack and work on Bonfire will be limited to two weeks. Cole said each design could accommodate up to 2,500 workers, but each student would Student Bonfire Survey Results See Survey on page 8 Student body population Number of survey respondents Ethnicity~| Residence Other 6.3% Asian-Amerlcan 2.3% African-American 1.3% CHAD MALI.AM • THE BATTALION Jars of clay 5, Colorado < point, but co. he duo ofler’ -and Ma’: who combir Colorado's: 5 will conti a me road ? when they fa .m. wimmin; road 19 Texas « rung and iff I a 141-80* University onroe SaturOJ s were vA of nine of ft ars, who m, at the Doi ■ws Swimnv lassie, hirt freshmf :ek and R: ired wins at? ek won the; Collins won? i’s squaf is win JOHN L1VAS • THE BATTALION Rachel Nelson, a sophomore general studies major, teaches beginner Thomas Wetteraur, also a sophomore general stud ies major, the pottery technique of trimming. Pottery wheels and other creative tools are available at the MSC University Plus. A&M wome' id diving te. : md meet in Tuition hike proposed for salary increase By Christina Hoffman THE BATTALION Texas A&M administrators are proposing a $2 per credit hour University Authorized Tuition (UAT) increase to raise faculty and staff salaries starting in the fall of 2002. If approved, the increase will raise A&M’s tuition from $42 to $44 per credit hour. “This will be an incremental increase, totaling $2.2 million dollars for 2002,” said Bill Krumm, the vice president for finance. The Texas Legislature recently approved a bill that would raise the maximum cost state universities can charge per cred it hour from $42 to $44. This would be in addition to the proposed Enhancement Fee which could charge incoming students up to $30 per semester hour, with the average full-time student seeing an increase of $400 per semester, beginning in Fall 2002. Krumm said the two proposed fees are not related. According to research by the Office of Institutional Studies and Planning and Academe Magazine, A&M ranks 25th among universities across the country in faculty and staff salaries. Krumm said A&M needs to keep faculty and staff salaries competitive with peer universities,to maintain the quality of education available to students. He added that the University of Texas-Austin pays full-time professors an average of $9,000 more per year than A&M. Krumm stressed that as student tuition increases, so does the amount of financial aid offered to both undergraduate and graduate students. “The UAT increase can be offset with financial aid,” Krumm said. The Board of Regents will meet and vote on the proposed UAT increase in March 2002. A&M President Dr. Ray Bowen said students will be given the opportunity to express opinions and concerns about the proposed increase at open forums within the next two months. Krumm added that tuition hikes occur regularly to keep pace with inflation. “Tuition can’t remain flat, but [the legislature] should decide where the index should be,”Krumm said. The UAT was last raised in 2001 when it increased from $40 to $42 per credit hour. against F )f Louis'0 36, Saturday ed first placel /ent. ■ Aggie football team graduation rate low By Justin Smith THE BATTALION a 2001 report released by the ashman CaF ted wins in? 000 frees? hman Kelts i ona l Collegiate Athletic Association, m IVI he graduation rate of football players ped the Aes ro,n Texas is 36 percent, ranking 1 A&M's University eighth in the Big 12. Jan 26agai? ?The overall graduation rate for the sin Houston Astudent body is 64 percent. ■Of the remaining 1 1 schools in the conference,' Kansas State University I team held the highest graduation rate with 77 percent and Oklahoma State University ranked twelfth with 17 percent. “The numbers in the report don’t exactly tell the whole story. There are fac tors that they don’t include which they should,” said Tim Weiser, the director of athletics at Kansas State University. Texas A&M Athletic Director Wally Groff said the number of players who go on to play professionally are slated as withdrawn without graduating. “We have five to seven players go to the pros every year, either in the draft or as a free agent,” Groff said. “Another thing they don’t include is the number of players who come back once they go to the pros and get their degree.” Groff said another large factor affecting the rankings are students transfen ing to other universities. “If a student transfers from the school, they are still counted as having not graduated,” he said. Groff said some players do not pass their classes and ultimately fail out or have other problems, but he said that the same thing happens to students who are not participating in athletics. A new athletic study center at the south end zone of Kyle Field is being planned. Computer labs and study facil ities will be available for athletes, as well as individual tutoring. Groff said IRS IDE ji iLb r 1 ,, See Graduation on page 8 No. 5 Big 12 soft?; the Aggies he conferee ig 12 champi? »ed first pin n of the pos; ilace votes, the Big champion a? allege Wd pant last sei the other ft es. sity of Texas while Kansas loints ahead! cott chosen Texas cientist of the Year Texas passes No-Call Law By Justin Smith THE BATTALION By Marianne Hudson . THE BATTALION I The Texas Academy of Science named Texas A&M Distinguished Professor Dr. A. Ian Scott the Texas Scientist of the Year for 2002 for his success in geneti cally engineering vitamin B-12. Scott's research involved determining how nature produces vitamin B-12 and replicating the process through genetic engineering. I “Finding out how nature makes vitamin B-12 was like a detective story,” Scott said. “First we had to identify the 22 genes that make up the vitamin. Then we had to find out See Scott on page 2 A new law aims to end quiet evenings disrupted by pushy telemarketers peddling their wares. As of Jan. 1, Texas residents can register for a no-call list. Once a citizen is on the list, it is illegal for a solicitor to call them. If the solicitor does so, they will be prosecuted. “If a telemarketer calls you and you are on the no-call list, they can be fined $1000 per call,” said Theresa Gage, spokesperson for the Texas Public Utilities Commission, which maintains the list. Gage said telemarketing vic tims can take the company that called them to small claims court. The attorney general has the option to pursue further action against the company. State Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Denton, the author of the no call bill, said, “Telemarketers don’t want to call people who don’t want to hear from them.” Solomons said it is a waste of time and money for telemar keters to harass people uninter ested in buying the products or services they are selling. However, residents who put their phone numbers on the list will not be shielded from all solicitors. Exceptions include non-profit organizations, opin ion polls and calls asking for support for political candi dates. Also, any company with whom a resident has had busi ness in the last year is allowed to call them. This service, unlike similar services in other states, is not free. For $2.25 per telephone number, Texas residents can be on the no-call list for three years. See No-Call on page 2 AggieLife Pg. 4 Once upon a time ... Students and faculty are publishing their work TODAY HIGH 78° F LOW 64° F THURSDAY FORECASTS COURTESY OF www.weathermanted.com