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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2002)
\ battai Sports: Germany advances in World Cup • Page 3 Opinion: Is the Corps in need of change? • Page 5 ATT ALIGN IVoIume 108 • Issue 157 • 6 pages 108 Years Serving Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Wednesday, June 26, 2002 Professor builds anthrax killing machine nisseds &M has:] be bond pt. 10. By Sarah Walch THE BATTALION Dr. Peter McIntyre, a professor of 3hysics at Texas A&M, recently Ideveloped a high-powered electron Imachine capable of breaking down [toxic organic chemicals, including lanthrax. In a revolutionary new use of old [technology, McIntyre, his co-work- [ers and student workers have pro- |duced what McIntyre believes to be [the most power-dense and efficient way of producing the necessary energy in the electron beam. According to McIntyre, the cost is down and the power is up, which is great news for petrochemical plants looking for more efficient ways to clean toxic wastewater. McIntyre is in the midst of build ing the machine in order to treat industrial wastewater for a Deer Park petrochemical plant. Global Octanes. Unfortunately for McIntyre, the much publicized focus that the U.S. Post Office has forced on such tech nology does not take into account new innovations. “The government generally looks for previously tested equipment,” he said. “In a year, we will have the operating number and we will be able to compete with present tech nology. “ The cost is a factor of about 10 percent less than the present available See Physics on page 2 Crazy Carascas NPOgfr 4, Ip? m & ft "'“ V A# RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION Fourth year veterinary student Teri Shultz takes mother of Carascas, right, and both are staying at two Alpacas on a walk outside of the Veterinary the Large Animal Clinic, which houses many rare Medical Teaching Hospital. Amber, left, is the and exotic animals. ofltf 33. YOU xas to proviu ndationf i se Ml ion r By Lauren Bauml THE BATTALION The Fall Activities Council (FAC), under the leadership of Student Body President Zac Coventry, is currently working to create a unified activity among the students of Texas A&M. The FAC committee, created by previous Student Body President Schuyler Houser, is comprised of various student leaders from all aspects of Student Activities. “Yell leaders. Corps, Memorial Student Center, Greek Life, Residence Hall, Residence Life, Student Government, and various other committee heads all have con tributed to the chosen activity for the fall semester,” Coventry, a senior agricultural development major, said. The survey, conducted last spring, generated 1,068 responses and has helped steer the committee to finding an activity that can benefit the student body and surrounding community. The committee is considering an OF Army Bonfire Leadership Challenge, an All-University Fall Formal, a revised All-U league, a single large concert held the same night as the University of Texas Yell Practice, a Bonfire Remembrance or a community service activity. “A huge response to the survey was not expected because there was a small amount of funding and hard ly any advertising, unlike that of the Bonfire survey (which was conduct ed shortly before the FAC survey),” said Trevor Voelkel, a senior finance See FAC on page 2 UCIC seeks to improve community By Melissa McKeon THE BATTALION The University Community Initiative Committee (UCIC) is seeking community partners for joint projects that will enhance collaboration among diverse gituips between the Bryan-College Station and Texas A&M University communities. The long-term goal of the organization is to make the surrounding area a more welcoming place tor all P eo P e - The UCIC is an effort of the Minority Conditions Subcommittee of the Faculty Senate at A&M. The mitia objective of the UCIC was to establish regular, informal communication between diverse ethnic and social groups w ithin the surrounding community and A&M. “There is a perception by some that A&V nnc tie Bryan-College Station area are not welcoming to diverse ethnic and social groups,” said Deborah Kochevar, asso ciate professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and former member of the Minority Conditions Subcommittee. “Our goal is to enhance coop eration as it relates to minority and ethnic issues.” The University hosted the first meeting of the pilot UCIC group in Sept. 2001. Some attendees of this first meeting included leaders from the community including members of the Bryan Independent School District, the College Station Independent School District, both City Councils and the University. UCIC hopes that additional groups will eventu ally participate in the initiative. “We believe that quality of life in our community can See UCIC on page 2 Delivers 75,000 volts of energy to break down toxic chemicals Including anthrax Source: Or, Peter McIntyre, Texas A&M Department ot pnyeies TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION Council lobbies for transportation funds By Ruth Ihde THE BATTALION Mayor Ron Silvia and other College Station city council members recently returned after visiting Washington D.C. last week to discuss transportation funds for the city. The two-and-a-half day trip consisted of 40 meetings to discuss future plans to con nect the major cities in Texas, including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, with a high speed railway. The City of College Station proposed an addition to the Trans Texas Corridor plan called the Brazos Express Corridor, which would include College Station and Bryan in the areas connected with the high speed railway. Initially, the cities of College Station and Bryan were not included in the plans for the Trans Texas Corridor. According to City Manager Tom Brymer, the meeting in Washington was to make sure Brazos County will be involved when the Transportation Enhancement Act is opened up for discussion next year and to make key contacts. “They don’t realize how under served this area is,” Brymer said. The Texas Transportation Act for the 21st century, named the T21 project, is an act to create safe highways and more effi cient modes of transportation for the state of Texas. James Massey, mayor protem for College Station, said the council members discussed the fact that A&M is one of the top four largest universities in the nation, and is the only city without access to major highways connecting to the major cities in Texas. The Transportation Enhancement Act is up for reauthorization and is the key oppor tunity to make them aware of this. The council members who went to Washington last week were excited about making con nections with other state representatives and about putting College Station on the map with regards to the issues that were discussed, Brymer said. Although some parts of the country are already beginning construction of their own high speed railways, Texas is mostly a sur face transportation state, meaning the main mode of transportation is by individual vehicles, and it was discussed whether this would be a good idea for Texas, Sylvia said. Another major issue discussed at the meeting was turning Highway 6 into a four See Funds on page 2 Death penalty protesters stand against executions Fall Activities Council works to find unifying replacement for Bonfire By Sarah Walch THE BATTALION The Bryan-College Station chapter of the Texas Coalition Against the Death Penalty (TCADP) protests at the corner of William J. Bryan Parkway and Texas Avenue each time there is an execution in Texas, during the scheduled execution time from 5:30 to 6 p.m. This week, there are parallel protests scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Bryan-College Station is only an hour from Huntsville, where Texas puts more prisoners to death than any other state. According to Karen Hall, a protester and a retired lab technician at Texas A&M, the members who show up to protest tend to be quite diverse. “The people are here because they have decided to voice their opinion in a nonvio lent way,” Hall said. Rosemary Vollmar, histology lab super- BRIAN RUFF • THE BATTALION College Station resident Bill Bancroft holds up a banner in protest of the use of the death penalty on the corner of William J. Bryan and Texas Avenue on Tuesday. visor in the Department of Pathology at the College of Veterinary Medicine, said the protesters are predominantly faculty and graduate students from A&M. “We worked with some high school stu dents when they were doing a project for their civics class, but I am not aware of any undergraduates participating,” Vollmar said. “Younger people, however, really are the future. They will be the ones making legal changes in the years to come.” Hall, an active member in the communi ty, recently decided to join the protests. “I decided to come out here because of a talk by Helen Prejean (the nun depicted by Susan Sarandon in the movie Dead Man Walking),” she said. “The argument she gave made me decide that I wasn’t going to sit back and think about it any longer.” Last year. Prejean gave a speech at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. After the lecture, there was a chance for attendees to add their name to a petition for a moratorium on the death penalty. Prejean argued that a moratorium would not necessarily signal the end of its use, but give an opportunity for lawmakers to reevaluate its use and ensure that the new DNA technology be used in every possible case. Hall said. On June 18, the U.S. House and Senate held hearings on the bipartisan Innocence Protection Act, which would guarantee fed eral and state death row inmates access to DNA testing and ensure quality legal repre sentation for indigent capital defendants. The act, introduced to the Senate in March 2001, recently gained attention as a result of the Supreme Court’s landmark death penalty decisions. For TCADP, the time for voicing dissenting opinions is politically ripe, protesters said. “Every time someone goes by, they have to think about the fact that this state is exe cuting a person,” Hall said. “I am not trying to play down how horrible the crimes are that these prisoners may commit. Europe See Protests on page 2