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Sports: Williams was MLB's greatest • Page 3
Opinion: Pledge of Allegiance ruling correct • Page 5
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Volume 108 • Issue 162 • 6 pages
108 Years Serving Texas A&M University
www.thebatt.com
Monday, July 8, 2002
I Nueco
15-IT.;
la toi
Rockets red glare
Donnie Kubena and his daughter enjoy the fireworks
display from the intersection of University Drive and
JOSHUA HOBSON • THE BATTALION
FM 2818. The fireworks were the finale to the Fourth
of July celebration at the George Bush Library.
Student killed in
holiday car crash
By Mariano Castillo
THE BATTALION
Will Ferrell, a 24-year-old graduate
student in mathematics at A&M, was
killed July 4 when his car collided with
an 18-wheeler on Highway 79 on the
west side of Palestine. More than 900
people attended funeral services Sunday
in his hometown of Gilmer, Texas.
The Palestine Herald-Press reported
that Ferrell’s 1994 Ford F-250 crossed
the highway into oncoming traffic and
into the path of a Volvo truck hauling
7,000 pounds of freight. According to
the Herald-Press, the driver of the 18-
wheeler swerved to the left but could
not avoid a collision.
Family members said Ferrell appar
ently fell asleep and was killed instantly.
Anderson County Precinct 3 Justice
of the Peace James Todd ordered an
autopsy to be performed, as with every
automobile accident to find out more
information about what may have
caused the accident.
Kathy Ferrell, Will’s mother, said
he was heading home to Gilmer to
spend the day with his family before
flying to Washington, where he was to
spend the next month training at Army
Airborne School.
Kathy Ferrell said it was incredible to
see so many friends attend the services.
“I always knew Will was special, but
I didn’t realize until today the great
impact he had on others’ lives,” she said.
Ferrell earned his degree in math at
A&M in December 2001 before
enrolling in graduate school. He was set
to begin his teaching career at Mumford
High School for one year before taking
a commission in the Army.
Family and friends remembered
Ferrell as a dedicated Christian and
strong leader.
“By the way he lived and the way he
acted you could tell where he put his
trust,” said former yell leader Bubba
Moser, who roomed with Ferrell for
three years in the Corps.
Ferrell’s sister, Kristen, a senior
accounting major, said his leadership
and faith defined his character.
“He was a great Christian guy,” she
said. “He loved everybody and I think
everyone loved him.”
In his time at A&M, Ferrell was very
involved at Central Baptist Church and
the Corps of Cadets, where he was a
member of Company F-2. His senior year,
Ferrell served as Commander of F-2 and
Commander of the Ross Volunteers, an
elite group made of the top 72 junior and
senior cadets in the Corps.
On November 21, 2000, another stu
dent, Kimbra Leigh Cates, was killed in a
collision with an 18-wheeler in the same
area on Highway 79. There have been
several fatalities on this particular section
of the highway. It is considered especial
ly dangerous by the police department.
Oho.'
til f
Flooding forces more evacuations in southern Texas
1
NEW BRAUNFELS (AP) — From the air
Sunday, Gov. Rick Perry saw firsthand the dev
astation days of torrential rain have brought to
central and southern Texas: houses surrounded
by a sea of roiling, muddy water, uprooted
trees and overturned vehicles.
And the bad news just kept coming.
Floodwater that devastated the San Antonio
area spilled into even more houses Sunday as it
flowed toward the Gulf of Mexico.
“The devastation is extensive,” said the gover
nor after his helicopter tour. “Obviously when the
water goes down we’re going to see the impact
on residential property is going to be substantial."
About 160 miles to the north, residents of
Brown wood frantically piled sandbags around
homes and businesses as water rushed through
downtown. Lake Brownwood was 7.65 feet
above its spillway Sunday and was expected to
crest overnight a foot or more higher.
The governor said Sunday the death toll from
the week of flooding had risen to 1 2, up from
eight. The flooding has been blamed for tens of
millions of dollars in property damage. In some
places, rivers have crested as high as 28 feet
above flood stage.
Perry said he would seek federal aid for 17
counties. President Bush has already declared 13
Texas counties federal disaster areas.
Also Sunday, forecasters said the first tropical
depression of the season could be forming in the
Gulf of Mexico with the potential for additional
rain in Texas.
Severe flooding hit the Abilene area follow
ing an unexpected storm that dumped a foot of
rain Saturday. Most evacuees began returning
to waterlogged homes Sunday.
Meanwhile in Brownwood, about 75 miles
southeast of Abilene, about 3 feet of water
lapped up against dozens of motels, restaurants.
drugstores and shopping centers.
“It’ll hurt this area because it’ll take several
days for the water to recede,” said City
Manager Gary Butts.
In south-central Texas, where more than 30
inches of rain fell in places last week, water
levels were dropping in the Hill Country and
San Antonio.
In areas where evacuees were returning, the
overflowing rivers were still a threat, said
William Ayres, a spokesman for the Texas
Division of Emergency Management in Austin.
“It’s still a very dangerous situation,”Ayres
said Sunday.
Residents of New Braunfels found varying
degrees of water and mud in their houses. Some
used kayak paddles to scrap the mud away, oth
ers carted it off in wheelbarrows. Ripped out car
pets rested in mounds on driveways along the
Guadalupe River.
Devastation
spreads
Texas Governor, Rick
Perry, asked for
federal aid for 17
more flood-ravaged
counties Sunday.
ed*:
Abilene
Severe flooding after a foot of
rain on Saturday.
Brownwood
Lake Brownwood was 7.65
feet above its spillway Sunday.
Hill Country Village and San Antonio
More than 30 inches of rain felt in some
areas.
Declared federal dlstaster area
MM Requested federal disaster aid
SOURCES: Associated Press; FEMA; ESRi
Aggies recognized at SIGGRAPH conference
By Ruth Ihde
THE BATTALION
Four Texas A&M University faculty
members will have their artwork on display
at this year’s SIGGRAPH Computer
Graphics Conference,
The four team members are from the
Visualization Laboratory in A&M’s College
of Architecture. The team members are visu
alization sciences professors William Jenks,
Karen Hillier and Carol LaFayette, and
Mary Ciani Saslow, a senior visualization
and sciences lecturer and painting instructor.
SIGGRAPH is the world’s largest and
most important organization in the scientific
community and the premier computer
graphics conference and marketplace of
interactivity, Jenks said.
The international organization is well
known for the annual conferences it holds
each year to recognize computer graphics
and interactive techniques, he said.
Their innovation is titled “After the
Hunt.” It is an interactive multimedia instal
lation, which takes the user through a 3-D
environment that uses sensors to trigger the
projection of sounds and images.
Hidden projectors will then display dif
ferent images across the participant’s path as
they walk through the environment.
Jenks said participants move beneath a
clothesline with translucent garments, such
as a baby’s blanket, an apron, and little girls’
dresses, which act as computer screens dis
playing images. The participant influences
the images playing across the clothesline.
There is also a soundtrack in the back
ground of indiscernible prose. This was cre
ated to evoke certain memories from the
participants through seeing the clothing that
is displayed, Jenks said.
“You really have to experience it to be
able to understand,” he said.
The 29th SIGGRAPH conference is
scheduled from July 21-26 at the Henry B.
Gonzalez Convention Center in San
Antonio, Texas.
Goode scholarship honors A&M engineer
By Melissa McKeon
THE BATTALION
The memory and contribu
tions of Joy Carlene Goode, a
former student at Texas A&M,
$25,000 Scholarship in honor of
•—Joy Carlene Goode mmmmm®
* Endowed by Go o de’s has b a n <-! artel m o t her)
•Given to a female student in the
Dwight L oo k C o 11 e ge of Engineering
to encourage m o re f e m a 1 e engineers
to st u d y at A & M —*
have been honored by her hus
band and mother with a scholar
ship for female engineers in
Texas A&M’s Dwight Look
College of Engineering.
Female engineering students
• Counts towards A&M’s
“ One Spirit One Vision C a _m £ aj £n j
• Begins Fall 2 0 0 2
I
TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION
are required to be United States
citizens to apply for the schol
arship.
Jerome J. Davis of Benbrook
and Bertha B. Goode of Sugar
Land have endowed the Joy C.
Goode Scholarship in
Engineering.
Exa York, development rela
tions coordinator for the Dwight
Look College of Engineering,
said the scholarship endowment
is in the amount of $25,000, and
the first recipient of the scholar
ship will be named in the fall.
Goode passed away in March
2000. She was a nuclear engi
neering major at A&M and a
TXU Electric senior engineer
with specialties in licensing and
quality assurance.
“We are honored to have this
scholarship in memory of Joy
Goode, who represented all that
is good about our institution and
the engineering profession,” said
Dr. C. Roland Haden, vice chan
cellor and dean of engineering.
“Over the years it will help many
deserving young people.”
Goode helped build the Wolf
Creek, Calloway, Waterford and
Comanche Peak nuclear plants.
She is also known for presenting
TXU case studies as part of the
curriculum in many engineering
classes at A&M.
Goode came back to A&M
after she graduated and her hus
band knew A&M was an impor
tant part of her life, York said.
See Goode on page 2
Ministry group
receives award
By Courtney McDonald
THE BATTALION
A volunteer group comprised of nearly 50 Aggies was chosen
as the Outstanding Volunteer Group of 2002 by the Texas Youth
Commission for their work at Hamilton State School in Bryan.
The New Life Aggies were one of 13 groups across Texas
nominated for the Outstanding Volunteer Group award.
New Life Aggies is a student-led ministry group based out
of Central Baptist Church in Bryan that has been sending its
volunteers to Hamilton State School for about four years.
Hamilton is an all male facility for juvenile offenders between
the ages of 10 and 21 that have been sentenced by a judge to
serve out a term of rehabilitation.
“Students are committed for at least nine months, but some
stay as long as five years due to their behavioral choices,” said
Nancy Jo Kudder, the volunteer coordinator during a recent vol
unteer training session. “They are the results of their environ
ments ... but volunteers are positive role models, self-esteem
builders, and can be the only family they’ve ever had before.”
The juvenile offenders are on a strict schedule that does not
leave room for glimpses of the world outside their security-
fenced facility, but regular visits from volunteers give the stu
dents something to look forward to.
“We hope to form a relationship with these guys to share
with them the truth and love of Jesus Christ,” said Emily
Nguyen, a junior English major.
By law, the students are required to attend class regularly.
Members of the ministry team tutor in classrooms and work
one-on-one with the youth in a variety of subjects.
The New Life Aggies also have worship services every
Saturday at the Hamilton unit, as well as weekly Bible studies
in the dorms.
“Church services are good for [the students] because they
need to be ministered to,” said Jim Petty, principal at Hamilton
State School. “I am continually amazed at how much time [the
New Life Aggies] spend with the kids.”
See Volunteers on page 2