Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 2002)
Sports: Nguyen looking for another ring • Page 3 Opinion: Does A&M need general studies? • Page 5 ATTAT TO XX X X / » t j t oot t m I lUc [olume 108 • Issue 174 • 6 pages egents appropriate money for memorial 108 Years Serving Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Monday, July 29, 2002 By Mariano Castillo THE BATTALION I The Texas A&M University System board of Regents appropriated $550,000 for the design and costs relat ed to the construction of the Bonfire Memorial on Friday. Overland Partners Inc., of San ;ntonio, will design the the Bonfire Memorial and the A&M Physical Plant department will manage the prepara tion of design documents and its con struction. Chuck Sippial, vice president for administration, made the presenta tion to the Board. “What we’re bringing to you is the result of a year-long process,” he said. The approval signifies the final phase of the Bonfire Memorial Construction Project, which began in March 2001 with an international juried design competition for the memorial. The memorial will stretch across the area from where Bizzell Loop meets the Polo Fields, where centerpole stood for the 1999 Aggie Bonfire. The entrance plaza will be called Traditions Plaza, and will have the poem “The Last Corps Trip” engraved on it. The connecting walkway will be comprised of 89 stones to commemo rate the 90 year Bonfire tradition, with the missing stone representing the 1963 Bonfire that was not burned because of former President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. At the circle memorial there will be 12 stone portals, each pointing in the direction of the hometown of one of the victims of the collapse. Each 12-foot- high portal will be lined with etched bronze gateways depicting the lives of each of the Aggies killed. The circle will be made of 27 stone insets for each of the 27 students injured. Plans for the memorial also include the collection of gift funds as necessary, See Regents on page 2 Up in arms RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION Freshman computer programming major Stephen Todd jumps over a set of benches in front of the chemistry building Sunday afternoon as friend Travis Keith, of Conroe, watches on. Todd has been skateboarding for two years and enjoys find ing new areas on campus to do tricks and jumps. CARPOOL spreads safe-ride message By Molly McCullough THE BATTALION CARPOOL recently received a $20,000 donation from local alcohol distributor Kristen Distributing Company and Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Company that will help the safe-ride program expand nationwide. CARPOOL’s founder Jeff Schiefelbein started a nonprofit corporation called Closing Time in the fall of 2000. It travels nationwide to campuses to introduce a safe- ride program modeled after A&M’s CAR- POOL system. The University of Georgia, the University of Missouri, and Southwest Texas State University have started a CAR- POOL-type program. The donation from Kristen and Miller will help cover the start-up costs for new programs, providing office supplies such as printers and laptops. A smaller portion of the donation will also be distributed between CARPOOL and the three new pro grams. “The example that CARPOOL has done here is superb,” said Mark Kristen, president of Kristen Distributing Company. “These are good Aggies that come into the estab lishments to help out.” In the past year, Schiefelbein has been contacted by more than 30 universities that have expressed a desire to begin a program like CARPOOL The next two schools most likely to implement Closing Time’s safe-ride pro gram are Texas Tech University and the University of Maryland, he said. If a college expresses an interest in Closing Time, Schiefelbein and his team travel to the university and evaluate the school, community and any existing alcohol awareness programs. Schiefelbein said if a university passes the evaluation. Closing Time goes through a CAR-POOL Expansion Closing Time Ine. helped expand the safe-ride program to: • The University of Georgia • The University of Missouri •Southwest Texas State University Soon will expand to: •Texas Tech University •The University of Maryland TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION lengthy process to start a safe-ride program. Some of the steps include: meeting with stu dents for leadership abilities and trainitig* considering bar locations versus housing for the most efficient routes, finding sponsors* establishing a base-camp and filing piles Of paperwork. Once a program becomes fully functional, Schiefelbein’s team leaves and the students of the university take over operations. Schiefelbein is looking forward to a pos sible large donation from Coca-Cola to pay for most of Closing Time’s costs this year. “This donation is what will make or break us this next year,” Schiefelbein said. Other companies that have helped Closing Time include Enterprise, a car- rental company that donates the vans for the program, and College Park Communities, a nationwide apartment complex chain. College Park will donate space in an apart ment complex to set up headquarters any time a new Closing Time program begins in a community with an apartment complex owned by College Park. Groundbreaking ceremony to be held By Diane Xavier THE BATTALION A groundbreaking ceremoi [or the new Jack E. Brov ngineering Building at Tex ‘&M will take place at 2 p.i ’day on the lawn adjacent to t I'Uedecke Building on Spen Street. I Construction of this ne piilding is scheduled to beg ply in Fall 2002. The buildii XiH be named after Jack frown, Class of 1946, who, wi Ids wife Frances, donated ' pillion dollars for constructioi I Brown, a pioneer in the fie of oil and gas, is a distinguished Honor Alumnus of the Dwight Look College of Engineering. The new building will house the Department of Chemical Engineering, laboratories for the Department of Electrical Engineering, several classrooms and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station's Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center. Dr. C. Roland Haden, dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering and Texas A&M University vice chancellor, said the building is a needed addition for several reasons. “One, is the severe shortage of space throughout the engi neering department and particu larly the chemical engineering department,” Haden said. “Another reason for the new building is because the current space that the chemical engi neering department was using in the Zachry building, was not originally intended to house chemical engineering and was not well designed for it.” He said approximately $39 million will be needed to con struct the building and about $8 million was donated. Brown is the major contribu tor; other donors are Dow Chemical, T. Michael and Olive E. O’Connor, Fluor, BASF, Ernest A. Baetz Jr., Class of 1947; Ray B. Nesbitt, Class of 1955; Gene L. Tromblee, Class of 1970; and Rohm and Haas Company. “The primary interests of these donors are to get the best chemical engineering graduates possible and to advance chemi cal technology in this facility,” Haden said. Haden said the department estimates construction will be completed in two years. A&M’s stake in golf course remains minimal By Mariano Castillo THE BATTALION L Respite the continued stalling of the I editions golf course, a joint public/private pelopment in Bryan, Texas A&M’s stake FHhe project remains minimal. I . .he golf course and residential area, P'ginally slated to open in September, has L 16 ! °hstacles and opposition that have vir- I Ua hy ground progress to a halt. I Although Traditions will be the home c °urse for the A&M men’s and women’s 8°lf teams, the University has not invested I ln ancially in the project. Ill • ne Stephenson, spokesman for the university, said financial contribution was I ev £r part of the proposal with A&M. th s involvement includes the use of I e . T exa s A&M name, logo and certain | ailing lists, primarily through the 12th Man Foundation,” Stephenson said. The University also gives support to the project through spots and commercials on the Jumbotron during events at Kyle Field. Construction at Traditions has been at a standstill since the lead developer, ClubCorp USA, pulled out of the project in October. ClubCorp brought in The Melrose Co., to resume construction, but negotiations have been slow. At a Bryan City Council luncheon Thursday, Melrose Vice President for Acquisitions, Ed Spears said the financial backing to resume construction is hampered by the slow economy, but assured council members his company should be ready to work in October. According to the contract with Traditions, Melrose has a Sept. 6 deadline to find investors to fund the continuation of the project. As development drags on, there are signs that negotiations surrounding the progress of Traditions are causing tension. Last week, Dave Elmendorf, a former A&M football All-American, said he was fired as the color analyst of the Aggie radio network because of his involvement in the competing golf course development of Miramont. Elmendorf has been on the air for A&M for the last 13 years, and for the past two years has worked as the managing director of the Miramont course. “I don’t think there’s any discussion about why I was fired,” he said. “My employment at Miramont was judged a con flict of interest with Traditions.” While progress on Traditions slowed down after ClubCorp pulled out, Miramont is close to completion. Construction of the course is complete and the last of the See Traditions on page 2 Local A&M Club gives endowment By Lecia Baker THE BATTALION The Brazos County A&M Club is donating $25,000 to the Texas A&M Foundation in support of Texas A&M University’s Division of Student Affairs. The donation is an endowment that will eventu ally fund the “Aggie Leader Scholarship” for A&M stu dents through interest earned. The endowment is only in its beginning stages, but the Brazos County A&M club has made the commitment of donating the $25,000, said club president Eric Wylie, Class of 1993. In five years, the club will use the endow ment’s interest to award one student a scholarship. The amount will depend on the economy during the next five years, he said. Although the scholarship will initially provide for only one student, the future of the scholarship is unknown, Wylie said. It could eventually cater to multiple recipients. The funding for the schol arship will begin in December 2002 and grow for five years, and will then be available to incoming fresh men who will be able to apply through the Office of Financial Aid. The scholarship will pro vide assistance to students with leadership experience from high school and exhibit an interest in leadership organizations at A&M, Wylie said. “We want to use this scholarship to cultivate good students who will get involved in University activi ties,” he said. “Their leader ship skills will help them as well as the University.” To qualify for the scholar ship, the student must be from Brazos County and attend A&M. The Brazos County A&M Club is the sixth largest A&M club in the world with 533 members. Its mission is to establish and maintain scholarships for worthy students in need of assistance. The organization takes a role in assisting the community, the University and the Association of Former Students. Wylie said he is very proud the club is located in College Station so it can have such a direct effect on the University and the community.
