The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, August 06, 2002, Image 1
Aggieupe: Unusual dates • Page 3 Opinion: USPS shouldn't have supported Armstrong • Page 7 BATTALION Volume 108 • Issue 179-8 pages 108 Years Serving Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Bad luck JOSHUA HOBSON • THE BATTALION A&M student Eli Noel Perez (left) and Texas State Highway Patrol Officer Joey Condon survey Perez' over turned Isuzu Trooper. Perez was heading westbound on Highway 60 when he hit a patch of loose gravel and lost control of the vehicle. At the scene, Perez complained only of a seatbelt bruise and minor scratches. § Tuesday, August 6, 2002 New Main Drive construction may be completed early By Brad Bennett THE BATTALION Much of the campus construction is ahead of schedule despite heavy July rains. The main campus streets and area drainage improvements, which had closed down New Main Drive and part of Bizzell Street this summer, were sched uled to be completed in October, but are now nearly a month ahead of schedule and may be complete before September, said officials at Parking, Traffic and Transportation Services (PTTS). “[Opening New Main and Bizzell before September] depends on the weather,” said Doug Williams, associate director of PTTS. “I can’t say for sure that it will be finished before school starts, but I predict access will be restored if not by then, soon afterward.” Tim Donathan, executive director of facilities and construction for the A&M system, is overseeing the construction in conjunction with PTTS. He has a less optimistic appraisal of progress and said it is doubtful New Main and Bizzell would be open before September. “[The contractors] are going to start to lay concrete this week, but even if all the concrete has been laid we can’t open the road unless the proper signa ture and roadway striping is in place,” he said. Even if New Main and Bizzell are not open before September, the project is still almost a month ahead of sched ule, said Kyle Lewis of Young Contractors, the Bryan-based general contractor in charge of the project. “(The success is due to) good weath er at the beginning of the summer and good use of man power throughout con struction,” Lewis said. Besides improvements to New Main and Bizzell, the improvements include construction of a detention pond on the Polo Fields to aid in flood control dur ing heavy rains. “Planning on the detention pond, which started 5-7 years ago, was a cooperation between the City of College Station and Texas A&M,” Williams said. “Every time we had heavy rains the water of campus would wash into the creek on the Polo Fields and the area around Wolf Pen Creek would flood.” To prevent flooding, the detention pond will trap water and only allow a See Construction on page 2 (PTTS releases budget, total costs of construction By Brad Bennett THE BATTALION According to Parking, Traffic ind Transportation Services TTS), the 12 construction proj- Jcts which began this summer have a combined cost of more ian $50 million dollars. $43 million is funding the new test Campus garage and pedes trian passageway being built iinder Wellborn Road. I Nearly $10 million of the remaining amount is financing the six different parking and traf fic related projects. The amount of parking and affic-related construction during the summer has been higher than >ast years, but Doug Williams, executive director for PTTS, said PTTS is in control and is not stretching the budget too thin. “Though 12 construction proj ects is more than [average], it is not much more,” said Tim Donathan, executive director of facilities and construction for the Texas A&M University System. “This summer it may have seemed like more because of the six traffic related construction projects.” “Something had to be done and although it may seem no one thought how disruptive it would be, we started planning last fall and chose the summer in order to disrupt the least amount of peo ple,” Donathan said. PTTS, A&M System Facilities and the Physical Plant are han dling all the construction efforts currently on campus. Construction on campus is planned, designed and managed by A&M System Facilities in conjunction with whichever department the construction is for. All work is done under the oversight of the Board of Regents, which has the final say in construction matters. PTTS submits the work orders for all construction on campus dealing with Parking, Traffic or Transportation. Second to the $43 million West Campus garage and pedes trian passageway in cost is the Main Campus Streets and Area Drainage Improvements, which cost nearly $6 million. The detention pond being built on the Polo Fields is the main drainage control and prevents flooding by trapping water on campus and only allowing a small amount to flow into area creeks and through College Station. Even though the project bene fits the City of College Station, all construction on campus is funded by A&M. “The University funded all on- campus improvements but has separate projects to compliment what is being done on campus,” Donathan said. PTTS is also spending $67,500 to expand Parking Area (PA) 8 outside the University See PTTS on page 4 PTTS CONSTRUCTION BUDGET MORE THAN 50 MILLION • S43 million for West Campus garage and pedestrian passageway • 6 million for Main Campus Streets & Area Drainage Improvements • $1 32,000 for new parking spaces PTTS sources of revenue • 58% from permits • 23% from visitor parking • 1 5% from fines • 4% from various sources TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION Israel clamps down on Palestinian movement JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel struck back at the Palestinians on Monday following a day of deadly attacks, fir ing missiles at a suspected weapons factory in the Gaza Strip and announc ing a ban on Palestinian travel in the northern West Bank. At the same time, however, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben- Eliezer met with the Palestinian interi- or minister, Abdel Razak Yehiyeh, to discuss plans for a cease-fire that would allow for Israeli troops to leave Palestinian areas, Palestinian officials and Israel Army Radio said. In the missile strike late Monday, four people were lightly injured when Israeli helicopters fired three missiles at a spare car parts factory in Gaza City’s Zeitouni neighborhood, which is known as a hub for the militant group Hamas, witnesses said. Israel Army Radio said the building targeted was a suspected weapons fac tory. Three buildings, located near a tnosque, were damaged, and one of the oiissiles didn’t explode, witnesses said. Firefighters doused a small blaze that •gnited at the scene. Salim Bahtiti, 25, son of the factory owner, angrily denied the shop was nsed to make weapons. I challenge all the experts of this world to come and to see if our metal ^ork shop can be used to produce any kind of weapons,” he said, pointing to 0 20 mi 0 20 km Afet/i terra nean Sea Tel-Aviv- f 1 West Bank Gaza Strip EG ISRAEL J Jerusalem^ Gaza Dead Sea Rafah Israeli helicopters strike metal works factory in Gaza SOURCES: Associated Press; ESRI AP the charred remains of his spare car parts machines. “This is a war against the Palestinian economy. The Israelis are now targeting the national industry, he said. “It’s another part of the brutal war.” The strike was the first on Gaza since an Israeli F-16 dropped a one-ton bomb on a Gaza City block July 22, killing the military leader of the mili tant group Hamas, Salah Shehadeh, and 14 other people, nine of them chil dren. The bombing prompted internation al condemnation — as well as a rare rebuke from the White House — See Israel on page 2 Warnings issued for mosquitoes By Diane Xavier THE BATTALION Bryan-College Station is warning residents to take precautions to avoid mosquito-bome diseases, according to entomologists with the agricultural program at Texas A&M University. Dr. Jim Olson, an entomologist at A&M, said people should be more aware of the local mosquito situation and take precautions against the insects. He said the entomology depart ment is currently conducting local mosquito surveys in the area and sending mosquitoes they catch to the Texas Department of Health in Austin where they are analyzed for the pres ence of viruses. In addition, the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory at A&M is aid ing in the analysis of dead and sick birds for the presence of virus in the organs and tissues. Olson said this information is being used to monitor the local situation concerning the West Nile Virus and other bird-borne viruses. This will aid in deciding if, when and where mosquito control activities should be implemented in the local area. “Our mosquito surveys run thus far in the Bryan-College Station area indi cate that the species of mosquitoes most commonly involved in the vector ing of the viruses causing West Nile and St. Louis Encephalitis are in ample numbers and widely enough distrib uted in the local area to spread either or both of/these bird-carried viruses,” Olson said. “To date however, no such virus activity has been detected in the Brazos Valley region of Texas. “People should always practice caution when it comes to mosquitoes and the diseases these insects can sometimes bear. This is particularly true here in Texas during the hot, dry summer months, since such weather conditions are conductive to the build up of mosquito species.” See Warnings on page 4 Institute for Applied Creativity proposed By Cara Garcia THE BATTALION Texas A&M is aiming to emphasiz ing the “Ag” in imagination with a pro posal for the Institute for Applied Creativity. According to the proposal, “Creativity and the production of knowl edge are the currency of the new millen nia ... With the establishment of the Institute for Applied Creativity, Texas A&M University will take the lead in developing individuals capable of creat ing and producing new knowledge.” The institute will be housed in the College of Education, spanning across the University and involving students and faculty from a range of colleges and departments. It could potentially involve at least eight colleges and departments including the Dwight Look College of Engineering, the Department of Psychology, and the George Bush School of Government and Public Service, as well as support from deans of the colleges of education, architecture and the Lowry Mays College and Graduate School of Business. “With the Institute, engineering stu dents can leam from architecture stu dents, and architecture students can leam from psychology students; all these dif ferent perspectives from different back grounds will come together,” said Amy Klinkovsky, communications specialist for the College of Education. “Everyone benefits from this exchange and can take how to apply these perspectives to any situation.” The institute will focus on research, education and outreach. The research branch will explore the ories and applications of creativity in an individual and also in a community. According to the enabling document, studies include the role of creativity in mental health and resiliency, and the building of sustainable advantages for agencies in medical, agricultural or gov ernmental fields, among others. The education branch will bring together the existing courses located in different colleges and departments, then See Institute on page 2