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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2002)
2 Tuesday, July 16, 2002 the BATTAIi f>v) R.DeL Ft3«, ou t Lood , STEVE... l>!b ioo Keallv th<^^ X UjouLT>A! ‘f f<AJT> OUT/? HoW Vau Thia/k it ^ai>e /me Feel Seeia)^ -fa at SajAKE CXlkET , Vou K^otsi Voo'RE r »£ OAJLy GAL Forz ME/ Totally UHat FT. TZoAA Beernuts by Rob Appling Train derails in Wisconsin ALLENTON, Wis. (AP) — A freight train derailed Monday and at least three cars carrying lumber, waxes and plastics caught fire, officials said. One of the 34 cars that derailed was carrying potash, a moderately hazardous chemical, said Allenton Assistant Fire Chief Ron Naab. Crews kept the chemical from spilling into a nearby creek, he said. No injuries were reported; only they conductor and engineer were aboard the train. The 107-car Canadian National freight derailed in rural Washington County in eastern Wisconsin, about 40 miles northwest of Milwaukee and at least a half mile from any homes. Online Continued from page 1 “By offering the program online, we are able to provide outreach to non-traditional students who will benefit from the program, and also we are able to enrich our certificate students’ experiences by attracting a great variety of students through the online option,” Small said. The online certificate requirements are identi cal to the traditionally offered certificate, and online credits are transferable toward an appropri ate master’s degree, she said. Students will be awarded the certificate after completing four courses, two in the fall and two in the spring. “Our professors are noted experts in the fields of international economics, international politics, world culture and international affairs,” Small said. “Allowing distance students access not only to these outstanding faculty but also to a diverse student population makes the certificate program a rich learning experience.” During the fall. Professor Jim Olson will teach the “Role of Intelligence in Security Affairs,” and Professor Kishore Gawande will teach “Fundamentals of the Global Economy.” In the spring, Professor Charles Hermann will teach “International Politics in Theory and Practice,” and Professor Peter Hugil will teach “World Cultural Geography.” In-state costs for the program is $1,300 and out-of-state students pay $2,050, Small said. Although the individual courses follow the University’s semester timeline, distance education students may take more than two semesters if needed to accumulate the hours for certificate completion, she said. “This program will help any student enrich their background with a global perspective,” Small said. 1 l ’'* . ■ MBA Continued from page 1 question the cost of getting an MBA.” Since the MBA program length has been changed to a 16 months, this shortens the length of the program and also decreas es total living expenses and tuition. “They will be gaining a half a year’s salary,” Robertson said. Robertson admits a decision for a graduate education is an investment of time and money. The Lowry Mays College and Graduate School of Business costs students approxi mately $10,000 for resident tuition to $20,000 for out-of- state tuition. At a top ranked institution, like the example fea tured in the Business 2.0 article, paying six figures for an MBA is not unrealistic, Robertson said. “[Here at A&M] the return to students on investing in an MBA is outstanding,” Robertson said. “Many people generalize from articles; they may assume an MBA will cost $100,000 wher ever they go.” Another main issue in the article was the lack of communi cation skills taught by business schools. “We (at the Lowry Mays College and Graduate School of Business) have a required busi ness communication course that stresses written and oral com munication skills,” Robertson said. “No student can waiver this course. There is a tremendous increase in reception in the mar ket place after having taken this course.” During the students last semester in the MBA program they do hands-on consulting with an accredited company. “This is an actual business problem and the decision reached will be implemented,” Robertson said. Credit Cards Continued from page 1 and students find the long term loans more con venient to fund their education. According to the study, credit card interest rates vary around 13 percent, while student loan interest rates are at historic lows. In July 2002, interest rates on Federal Stafford loans fell to an all-time low at 3.46 percent for stu dents who will be enrolled during the upcoming academic year. Piwonka said credit cards are so easy to get for students, it may be a factor in the high number of students who apply for them. “Credit cards and college seem to go hand in hand. Nellie Mae’s goal in publishing this infor mation is to underscore the importance of edu cating college students about using their credit cards effectively, weighing their spending deci sions and considering their source of borrowing,” Prikazsky said. Piwonka said MBNA, Wells Fargo and Aggieland Credit Union have been good partners, and MBNA America Bank has started offering debt management seminars at A&M. The first seminar was last fall and A&M is planning to have these seminars at least once each semester to inform students about managing finances and credit card debt and how it effects future credit ratings. Stroustrup explains hi programming languag By Mariano Castillo THE BATTALION Bjarne Stroustrup is as passionate about com puter programming as a poet is about writing. He admits it is a pain to explain C++, the pro gramming language he is famous tor, to non programmers, but he does not shy away from the challenge. “It’s so abstract and of course, invisible, Stroustrup said. “And even if you succeed in con veying the idea of software, how do you explain software tools for building software? Worse yet, how do you explain a language for expressing software, such as C++? I have always been envi ous of people who build things that you can see, touch, play with, et cetera.” It is very likely that most students use C++ pro grams in their daily routine without being aware of it. Internet Explorer and Adobe Photoshop are C++ programs, as is Quicken, other financial soft ware and most computer games. According to Stroustrup’s personal website, all Microsoft programs are built on variations of C++. Even those who do not use a computer directly are likely to use C++ programs, Stroustrup said. Every 800 call served by AT&T is connected by a C++ program. Many cell phones are connected in the same way. Telephone systems that use AT&T, Alcatel, Siemens and Ericsson components all use programming language. “It is not a complete accident that my wort been in the telecommunications indus: Stroustrup said. “This is a field where the fieri ity and efficiency of C++ can really be exploit In addition, Stroustrup said he has foundC programs in PDAs, cameras, and even in a cooker. “Another source of my pleasure may beh; for non-programmers to appreciate,” he “Code - the programs - can be beautiful. Writ good code can be like writing poetry, except the code can have an immediate impact physical world.” Stroustrup’s success definitely qualifies! as a bard of code, and it is not surprising students and faculty are excited about accepting the Endowed Chair in Comp® Science at Texas A&M. His work with C++, Stroustrup said, isfocih on expressing ideas more directly in code with: losing efficiency. “There are languages that allow youtom € Nev\ more elegant code than C++ does for some pn i been able lems and there are languages that allow you write code that matches C++’s efficiency for so problems,” he said. “However, there isnol; guage that can do both over the astonishing rai of areas where C++ is used.” Friends, fishing buddies grieve for anglers killed in Alaska plane crasl 1 KENT, Wash. (AP) — It was like many afternoons at the Kent Senior Activity Center. A group of men, some World War II vet erans, sat at a small table talking about fly fishing. But the discussion this day was somber — the men had just learned three friends and fishing buddies had been killed in a plane crash in Alaska. “They were all three jolly good fellows and good fly fish- ennen,” Don Green, 72, said Monday. “We’re going to miss bond them. There’s a special between fishermen.” Melvin Daniel, 79, Daniel Maret, 70, and Harold Mamey, 65, were pursuing sockeye salmon on a trip organized by the senior center when the plane disappeared Friday. Searchers discovered the wreckage of the float plane, a single-engine deHavilland, Sunday night in the Chigmit Mountains west of Anchorage. The pilot, Matt Hipkiss, 35, also died. Crews were workic; Monday to recover the t The cause of the Crash h been detennined. Another plane carryingsw.' members of the expeditionmaif the trip safely from Anchor; to Lake Iliamna in scuta Alaska. At the senior center ban Seattle, friends | Daniel as a fly fishfflta r i more than 50 years.id ^ jt World War II veteran#^! taken prisoner in Europe. They ai town, inv campus ar A&M. WI June bugs newest ch their New Many s own NSC fellow fre: sors from for the cai ence has b | lies and pi Sarah Aggie Ori purpose ol and their need to su What e expect to and how Besides r freshmen ships, fres of activitii the three c To set the freshmen testing are Cynthit ences, sak students g student a< should be Incomii ing was n class ex an Garcia sa afternoon Chair Continued from page 1 correct.” Computer science experts consider Stroustrup one of the most influential people in the comput ing industry. His book The C++ Programming Language has become one of the most widely read books in the computer science field and has been translated into 14 languages. Nancy Amato, chair of the search committee for the College of Engineering Endowed Chair in Computer Science, said Stroustrup is essentially the perfect person for this position. “He is well known inside the technical com munity and outside,” she said. “We are extremely excited to have him join our department.” Stroustrup will visit College Station once a month while he wraps up his work at AT&T Lab- Research and plans on settling in permanently by January. Beyond the opportunities available to him at the University, Stroustrup said he looks forward to living in College Station. “I’m familiar with some Aggie traditions and know that there are many more that I’ll encounter and hope to enjoy,” he said. “I have received email messages from perfect strangers kindly offering to introduce me to true Aggie ways.” Stroustrup’s arrival is exciting news for the computer science department and its students. His research will be very student-centered. One of his reasons for coming to A&M is his desire to teach. The computer science department inaugurated a redesign of their web page to coincide with Stroustrup’s naming. Amato said A&M was competing schools with higher ranked institutions and op research centers. “It’s wonderful for the computer sciein department, for the College of Engineering®- the entire University,” Amato said. “It’s increasif the visibility of our department.” Stroustrup said his research will direct include graduate students and he expects teach undergraduate classes some years . In add tion, he will have much collaboration with pi*, lessors in the computer science department®, other departments. Stroustrup also will maintain strong ties vt| the computer industry. Particularly, he will re official ties with AT&T Lab-Research andvffl the International Standards Organization committee. 1 “Even those industrial contacts are rneanj benefit students,” Stroustrup said. “I WI ^ ; direct access to industrial problems and ideas, maybe my colleagues in the industry will show, interest in my students’ and our work.” J In the long term, Stroustrup said he w0U , to help bring the discussion on programming 1 guages and programming techniques to a m j objective basis. J Stroustrup was born in Aarhus, Denmark,? received a degree in mathematics and cornp,| science in 1975 from the University of Aarhus-j 1979 he earned his doctorate in computer scie from Cambridge University in England. His honors include recognition as an Bell Laboratories Fellow and an AT&T e He is also an Association for Comp u Machinery Fellow. 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