VOLUME 108 • ISSUE 105
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ALISSA HOLLIMON • THE BATTALION
Junior agricultural economics major A. Spence Pennington is con
gratulated by a friend after being named Corps Commander.
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
The Corps of Cadets
announced Thursday that juniors
A. Spence Pennington and Travis
Nichols will lead the cadets dur
ing the 2002-03 school year to
carry on the 125-year tradition of
Corps leadership.
Pennington will serve as Corps
Commander and Nichols will serve
as Deputy Corps Commander.
“The Corps is not intended to
be easy, and has high standards
but leaders have even higher stan
dards,” said Commandant of
Cadets Maj. Gen. Ted Hopgood.
“The candidates have met all
demands asked of them.”
The two were chosen from a
total of 35 cadets by an 18-mem-
ber board, consisting of military
officers and current cadet leaders.
Pennington is an agricultural
economics major and currently
serves as sergeant major of the
Corps of Cadets. He will become
the highest ranking cadet in the
2,000-member Corps of Cadets
and will lead the largest uni
formed body of students outside
the U.S. service academies.
Pennington is enrolled in Air
Force ROTC and seeking a com
mission as a second lieutenant
after graduation.
“The Corps is on the way to
great things,” Pennigton said. “I
look forward to carrying on the
vision and working with an amaz
ing person like Travis.”
Nichols is an animal science
major and serves as sergeant
major of the 1st Brigade, a Corps
unit of 400 members. After grad
uation he will pursue a civilian
career, as approximately 70 per
cent of graduating cadets do.
“I am excited to work with the
new commandant and the new
University president,” Nichols
See Corps on page 2
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man the republican primary early voting room. The Republican
and Democratic primary early voting
meeting rooms. Early voting will end
JOHN LIVAS
is available at
March 8.
•THE BATTALION
the first floor
Freeze hurts
Texas crops
Unexpected cold weather
worries Texas farmers
Health center to adjust excuse guidelines
By Sarah Darr
THE BATTALION
[Physicians and nurse practitioners at the
k\ .ij'ii,i. y\b Beutel Health Center are following strict
guidelines in adhering to Texas A&M
^University Student Rules when providing stu-
•dents with class excuses, officials said.
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“The student rules about missing class
because of illness are not being changed, we
are just trying to apply it more consistently,”
said interim Student Health Director Terry
Pankratz.
Pankratz said the biggest problem the
health center faces with excuse notes is when
students ask for a note to be excused from a
missed class after they have been sick, without
having seen a doctor at Beutel. Beutel
employees cannot issue a medical excuse
without witnessing the problem, because they
cannot determine if the student was really
sick, Pankratz said.
He said it is at the physician’s discretion
whether an excuse will be issued. Student
See Guidelines on page 2
By Sarah Szuminski
THE BATTALION
Temperatures dramatically dropped into the teens late
Tuesday night, breaking the record low and bringing concern
to farmers across Texas.
Bryan-College Station temperatures reached 17 degrees
early Wednesday morning, shattering the previous Feb. 27
low of 31 degrees that was set in 1977.
Associate professor in the Department of Horticultural
Sciences Dr. Mike Arnold said many crops may have been
damaged from the unexpected temperature drop. Arnold
said peaches, melons and squash are especially sensitive to
freezing temperatures.
“I suspect that a lot (of crops) were harmed. We got
unlucky this year,” Arnold said.
Associate professor and extension fruit specialist Jim
Kamas was assessing the bud damage to crops in Gillespie
County Thursday. He mainly deals with fruit crops such as
berries, peaches and grapes.
“There was a 71 degree drop in temperatures over a 30-
hour period,” he said. “I’m concerned.”
Kamas cut open dormant flower buds to view the extent
of the harm caused by the freeze and is predicting damages
ranging from 50 to 80 percent.
Still, Karnas said there is hope to produce a full crop
even with the loss, because growers eliminate approxi
mately 90 percent of plants in a crop each year to thin out
the fields.
Because of this, there may not be any serious loss because
of the freeze. Damage to crops is being assessed and will be
complete in the next two to three days, Kamas said.
Two rules of thumb used in crop growing are the 50 per
cent and 90 percent “frost-free” dates, Arnold said. The 50
percent frost-free date is March 1, meaning there is a 50 per
cent chance there will be a freeze after that date. March 15
is the 90 percent frost-free date, predicting a freeze after this
date only one out of every 10 years.
“One thing you can bet on in Texas is fluctuating tem
peratures,” Arnold said, but added that such a severe tem
perature drop is abnormal for this time of year.
Domestic plants such as flowers can be safe from cold
temperatures if they are near a wall or fence, Arnold said.
Most of these types of plants should not have been damaged,
but tomato plants are not likely to withstand a freeze, he said.
2002 ELECTION
Brown challenged by Brazos judge in District 14
A1 Jones, Brazos County judge, is challenging state Rep. Fred Brown, R-College Station, in the March 12
Republican primary for the State House District 14 seat. The winner of the primary will be unopposed in the
November general elections. The Battalion is profiling both candidates and will select a candidate to endorse.
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
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! Bryan-College
Station needs better
representation in
Austin, Al Jones
said, and his track
record as Brazos
County judge
shows he can get
things done.
Jones is chal
lenging Rep. Fred Brown in the
March 12 Republican primary for the
District 14 seat.
I “Seniority without leadership has
no real value, and Mr. Brown hasn’t
demonstrated real leadership,” Jones
aid. “He has not been an effective
representative for this district.”
Jones said he has worked with
Sen. Steve Ogden, R-College Station,
to move up Highway 6 on the state’s
funding priority list, and Brown has
done little to get more transportation
funding for the district.
“We’ve gotten things done by
being proactive, but we didn’t receive
any help from Mr. Brown,” Jones
said.
Jones also questioned Brown’s
credentials to chair the higher educa
tion committee, pointing out that
Brown does not have a college
degree, and said Brown has obscured
his educational background.
The substantial student fee hikes
proposed by the University of Texas
and Texas A&M are inevitable results
of increased services and improved
quality, Jones said, and with the state
facing a budget shortfall next year,
students will have to shoulder more
of the cost of higher education.
Jones said the system for funding
public schools is unfair to wealthy
school districts. The “Robin Hood”
plan, which requires affluent districts
See Jones on page 2
BROWN
Fred Brown
Poised to assume
the position of chair
person of the higher
education commit
tee in the Texas
House of
Representatives next
year, Fred Brown
said expanding
access to college and
keeping costs down for students will
be his top priorities in the next legisla
tive session.
Brown is seeking a third term rep
resenting District 14 in the state legis
lature and is being challenged in the
March 12 Republican primary by
Brazos County Judge Al Jones.
Brown, currently vice chair of the
higher education committee, will like
ly become chairperson of the panel if,
as political observers expect.
Republicans gain a majority in the
Texas House.
Although the state is facing a $5
billion budget shortfall, increased
spending on higher education is an
investment that will give Texas the
skilled workforce it needs to be eco
nomically competitive, Brown said.
The Texas Grant, which Brown co
sponsored in 2001, provided $200 mil
lion for low-income Texas students to
attend college, and Brown said he
would work to continue the program.
“The only way for Texas to survive
economically is to make sure our
brightest students have a college edu
cation,” Brown said.
Brown expressed his dismay at
University of Texas and Texas A&M
officials who are proposing substantial
fee hikes, up to $ 1,000 a year for most
students, and said other alternatives
should be found to meet the universi
ties’ needs.
See Brown on page 2
Sports Pg. 5
No. 22 Red Raiders
invade Olsen Field
No. 17 Ags open Big 12
play with 3-game series
against Texas Tech
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