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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 13, 2002)
^ATIC r TALlf ee Agcielife: Summer memories • Page 3 Opinion: Military school applications up • Page 7 THE BATTALION [Volume 108 • Issue 150 • 10 pages 108 Years Serving Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Thursday, June 13, 2002 md shift';! Hayma-; authoritl south of | i Provost resigns to allow new appointment By Chrstina Hoffman THE BATTALION Texas A&M Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Ronald G. Douglas announced Tuesday that he will step down from his position on Aug. 1 to allow the incoming president. Dr. Robert Gates, to choose his own associate. Douglas said he will step down because he feels his position is based on current relations with University President Dr. Ray M. Bowen and the decision to appoint him as provost in March 1996. “My effectiveness and joy of the job has been premised on the fact that Bowen chose me to serve,” he said. “I want to give Dr. Gates the opportuni ty to choose his own person to serve as provost.” As Provost, Douglas acts as Bowen’s right hand man. He is the act ing president when Bowen is away or unavailable to make immediate deci sions, he said. He is also responsible for all academic programs, operations and creating budg ets for all University departments. “Everyone reports to me,” Douglas said. “I work with all the department heads and set the budgets.” After Douglas’ announcement. Gates asked him to serve as counselor to the president until the end of this year. As counselor, he will assist Gates in gaining knowledge, as well as provide advice and a historical knowl edge of the University, Douglas said. “Gates asked me to stay on until the end of the calendar year to help with the transition,” Douglas said. “I will also be available to give advice.” Douglas has gained an immense DOUGLAS amount of knowledge and expertise of the University and the relationships across campus. He will be able to serve Gates well as he begins his presidency, said Cynthia Lawson, director of University Relations. “[Douglas] has an extremely instinc tive memory of the University and how its come along,” she said. “He can See Provost on page 2 Cotton shares insight after 50 years II; GDT y for lb the« f the s. air pi', ouldit. mother had n that; i a sir. :e. resp: liban f accused: y they- 10 crimn ie nation RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION A distinguished doctor in chemistry. Dr. F.A. Cotton has authored over 1,500 pub lished articles in 50 years, more than any other A&M professor. By Melissa McKeon THE BATTALION T he walls of distinguished chemistry pro fessor Dr. F. Albert Cotton’s office are covered with many honorary degrees and prestigious awards. They are so numerous in fact, the awards are beginning to hang on the walls of his secretary’s office. He even displays models of the many molecules he has discovered on a bookshelf. Recently, Cotton published his 1,500th jour nal article, the highest number by a professor at Texas A&M. Cotton, 72, also recently received his 27th and 28th honorary doctorates from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Drexel University in Philadelphia. While some professors attempt to publish a couple of articles a year. Cotton has published about 30 each year for the past 50 years. He said the reason for his productivity is his research group. “You have to have a productive research group,” Cotton said. “You have to encourage people. I believe in publishing what you do, even if it is not earth-shaking, so other scien tists have access [to your findings].” Cotton’s main focus in chemistry is creating new molecules and determining their structure. He has created over 3,000 to date. His first published work appeared in 1951 while he was an undergraduate student at Temple University, a remarkable accomplish ment because journals rarely publish articles from students who have not yet graduated. “I was very, very thrilled at the time,” Cotton said. See Cotton on page 2 Memorial plan under discussion after short delay By Melissa McKeon THE BATTALION A resolution proposed for the Bonfire Memorial Committee in regards to the Bonfire Memorial is set to undergo further discussion. At least one student was killed in 1996 on the way back from Bonfire cut site and 12 Aggies were killed and 27 injured in the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse. A complete list of all students killed or seri ously injured in the construction of all Bonfires will be compiled for the memorial. The resolution was delayed when University President Dr. Ray M. Bowen mistakenly approved the proposed resolu tion when it was placed in a stack of papers on his desk. The resolution should have gone directly to the Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. J. Malon Southerland. “[The resolution] was in a stack of papers I didn’t read from the provost,” Bowen said. “It got diverted to my office.” Bowen said he had no dis agreements on the proposed res olution when it was mistakenly put on his desk. He felt Southerland should look at and make a decision on the resolu tion because he is the head of the Bonfire Memorial Committee. “It was a process issue, not a content issue,” Bowen said Southerland said the Bonfire Memorial Committee has to meet with the selected design firm to discuss how the memori al will incorporate all the stu dents that will be remembered. Currently, there are 27 names on a list of those who were injured in the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse. “Some people may not have gone to the hospital recording their injuries. There may be hundreds more who felt (men tal) pain,” Southerland said. The Bonfire Memorial Committee is about to go through some changes as well in order to get the plans for the See Resolution on page 2 e Sept policies hey rai« 5 could College of Engineering dds new department By Dallas Shipp THE BATTALION |jj The Dwight Look College of Engineering will expand to 12 departments this year after adding the J biomedical engineering department on June 1. fj|: j The biomedical engineering ^wegree has been available for nearly e w i' 30 years under the Department of t 0 (|i: Industrial Engineering and will now )selvf: become an independent department. The degree offered at Texas A&M , ^ E the only accredited program in jvati<W exas an 0 those pursuing it are hop- ■ JjJBhg the new department will enhance ; the national ranking of the degree as 1M’ said Dr William Hyman, inter- n ini biomedical engineering depart- nient head. 1 ftlJP H y man wil1 serve as the interim ’ 0 .jffiepartment head for two years. He iJi id ^ a ve, y editing oppor- er .. timity for those in the department to BCtlO s)e p out on t ] le j r own ’ W |; The department, which currently ie 1 enrolls 300 undergraduate and 75 Wmduate students, is the fourth small- >ac|J|st department in the College of r 8 et ‘‘ Engineering, but Dr. Hyman said the in 0 increased growth in the industry will ane cause increased demand for the of ® degree. ii Ey getting out from underneath te 1 the industrial engineering depart- t $y ment, the biomedical engineering fron 1 department will be able to better s eve ! : serve those students trying to obtain id * the degree, he said, cons' “We are excited about the chal- efto v ' lenges and the opportunities this jres presents and the value it presents to ntag® both our current and future students, By man said. “We have always been ^mi-autonomous. We have had sep- _-''iarate facilities, separate students and fjFparate degrees so we were never industrial engineers doing biomed ical engineering.” The decision to move the biomed ical engineering degree to depart ment status has been in the planning stages for two years and was finally approved by the Texas Coordinating Board in Jan. 2002. Dr. C. Roland Haden, dean of the College of Engineering, decided June 1 would be the official launch date. Increased awareness is one of the major reasons the faculty applied for the degree plan to become its own department. “Visibility is very important in terms of grants, interaction with the industry and interaction with former students,” Hyman said. “Even on the college (of engineering) website, it was hard to find us due to the way we were structured under industrial engineering.” Senior biomedical engineering major Emily Jetton said the increased awareness of the department will also help her as she searches for a job. “It will help now that companies can come straight to our department instead of having to go through the industrial distribution,” Jetton said. “The increased visibility should attract a lot more companies to our program.” The departmentalization of bio medical engineering will also allow greater flexibility for the faculty and staff than they had under the industri al engineering department. “We are going to double the fac ulty size,” Hyman said. “It will give our students a more diverse faculty to interact with and allow more diverse course options. In the past many of our required courses were only avail able once a year which caused many scheduling conflicts.” Summer enrollment increases By Courtney McDonald THE BATTALION Summer enrollment is up by nearly four percent, according to unofficial pre liminary figures collected after the fourth day of sum mer classes. Joseph Estrada, assistant provost for enrollment, does not anticipate the numbers will change dramatically, but they have yet to be certified by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. “(The University is) very, very pleased by the higher enrollment numbers,” Estrada said. The enrollment numbers include undergraduate, grad uate, professional, special programs and those attending summer school at Texas A&M University at Galveston. Estrada attributed the increase in student enroll ment to the increase in course offerings, the University’s encouragement of summer session attendance and the affordable financial nature of summer school. The highest increase was enrollment by juniors, sen iors and doctoral students. Estrada credited the increase to their hurried preparation See Summer on page 2 TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION Former Corps members give scholarship money By Jessi Watkins THE BATTALION Two former Corps of Cadets members have given gifts and pledges to the Texas A&M Foundation in support of the Corps. Jean and Bernard Richardson of Houston made a $50,000 donation for A&M to endow a self-named General Rudder Corps Scholarship. Roxie and O.C. “Putter” Jarvis of Brown wood have given $25,000 to fund a self-named Sul Ross Scholarship and pledged an additional $25,000 for a sec ond Sul Ross Scholarship. Both the Richardson and the Jarvis’ gifts qualify for matching funds provided by H.R. “Bum” Bright, a 1943 graduate of A&M from Dallas. Will Shrank, director of recruiting for the Corps, said these scholarships help the Corps with recruiting. “They are very important. They are not the only reason people choose to join. But other service academies are also recruiting the same students and offering scholarships so it helps to make us com petitive,” Shrank said. Richardson graduated from A&M in 1941 with a degree in petroleum engi neering. He said he funded the scholar ship because he believes in the Corps and its values. “I think the Corps is the backbone of the University,” Richardson said. Jarvis graduated from A&M in 1953 with a degree in animal husbandry. He said the scholarship should be a passport to new horizons. “If it can cause one person to think, to dream, to set goals, then they may have one idea that will make this world more secure, more enjoyable and more interest ing,” Jarvis said. Jarvis said he made this gift because aging brings memories of the people and places that have molded you into the per son you have become. “A&M and the Corps were, and I hope continue to be, nothing more than people driven by an idea for excellence,” Jarvis said. “The people of A&M helped devel op me and this is payback time. “Life is divided into four parts: identi fication and definition; education and development; utilization; and giving and sharing. I am in phase four of life and it is the most rewarding.” Tom Darling, executive director of development for the Corps, said the Corps has had Sul Ross Scholarships for 20 years, but two years ago General Rudder Scholarships were started to ful fill the need for larger scholarships. “The Sul Ross is the basic scholar ship for cadets,” Darling said. “There are 700-plus of those now. The General Rudder Scholarship is our top-of-the- line scholarship.”