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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
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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
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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
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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.”