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In me 109 • I ssue 15 • 16 pages
wwvv.thebatt.com
Thursday, September 19, 2002
A &M enrollment reaches record high growth
Student enrollment at Texas A&M
39288
44618
» 2001 2002
Master’s
2901 -OT)
2000 2001 2002
2000 2001 2002
Total Students
So -rce: Office of Institutional Studies and Planning,
Assistant Provost for Enrollment
I KAVIS SWENSON* THE BATTALION
By Sommer Bunce
THE BATTALION
Enrollment at Texas A&M broke the
45,000 mark this fall, with graduate student
growth higher than it has ever been, accord
ing to preliminary 12th day class figures.
A&M’s student population has grown to
a record 45,153 this semester and will likely
retain its fifth-ranked status among universi
ties nationwide, said Joe Estrada, A&M's
assistant provost for enrollment. But A&M
is still not growing as quickly as its flagship
Texas counterpart, the University of Texas.
UT’s record-breaking 52,273 students this
year keeps it the largest school in the nation. In
the same year that UT grew by 1,657 students,
A&M added only 535, a third of UT’s total.
Estrada said A&M may not want num
bers as high as UT’s.
“We need to make sure we’ve got the cor
rect balance in graduate and undergradu
ates,” Estrada said. “We want growth in our
graduate population. (But) we don’t want to
grow at the pace the University of Texas is
growing. They’re ballooning at UT.”
The economy is an important factor in the
growth of A&M's graduate programs, which
added 344 students this year, said Michael
Nelson, an economics lecturer. Though grad
uate programs have traditionally kept low
numbers at A&M. the economic downturn
that hit last fall brought people out of the
work force and undergraduate programs and
into graduate school. Nelson said.
The economic forecast has brightened
since then. Nelson said, but unemployment
is still high, meaning more people will head
back to school until the bad weather passes.
“Economic downturns always make it a
good time for going back to school,” he said.
The University wants to add more stu
dents to its graduate programs, but at the
same time strict controls need to be placed
on undergraduate growth, Estrada said.
“The academic departments are attract
ing (graduate) students, so they're the
answer,” he said. “We’ve grown in the pop
ulations that the University wants to be
growing in.”
The freshman class this year totals 6,980,
an increase of 191 students from last fall:
Included in that count are 315 students
See Growth on page 10A
H Dean appointment
fhat \ ii. He
else.”
np a week re
causes controversy
■By Sara Szuminski from the University of Illinois at
THE BATTALION Urbana-Champaign, in favor of
Bennett.
the Afghan... |
m but it wi. ■'he recent appointment of
\ through r, K e ni Bennett as A&M’s new
jp and The ft d eai1 lIU * v ' ce chancellor for engi-
t wa\ a iof'». neering by administrators has
mess other* frustrated faculty members in the
could not engineering department along
Tuesday nsr w ith members of the search advi-
Mled the ir. sor > committee, said a member of
a possible the search committee who asked
it report. to remain unidentified,
ere detainee Despite the committee’s
decision not to recommend
n.unitcwe- Bennett to the Board of Regents
ithafoseai: ant * the engineering faculty’s
overwhelming lack of support
for him. Chancellor Howard D.
Graves and University President
Dr| Robert M. Gates bypassed
the, input they received from the
committee and a faculty vote
and listed Bennett as one of the
three finalists for the position,
the source said. The regents then
selected Bennett from among a
listmf three candidates including
John Junkins from A&M and
Daniel Reed from the University
of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign.
■Graves and Gates dropped
the committee’s recommenda
tion for Mark Kushner, also
“They (Graves and Gates)
didn’t listen to us or respect our
opinions,” the source said.
“They decided on their own that
they knew better.”
Usually, the appointment of a
dean requires the approval of the
search committee before a can
didate can be hired, according to
University rules. But because
the position of engineering dean
includes administrative posts
within the A&M System, it is
exempt from the University
rules.
“We all want A&M to be a
great University,” the source
said. “That happens by doing
the right things, one of which is
is to have more democracy — to
listen to the people that care.”
Graves and Gates asked for
the committee’s involvement
because they were interested in
their thoughts on the candidates’
strengths and weaknesses. Graves
said. Choosing the three candi
dates to recommend to the Board
of Regents was the responsibility
of Gates and himself, not the
committee. Graves said.
See Dean, on page 6B
Blown away
RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION
Junior general studies major and Aggie Band member Jim Band at the volleyball game Tuesday night at G. Rollie
Chesier (right) plays the tuba with the rest of the Aggie White Stadium.
Student loan rates
at record low point
Giacomo
captivating
By Ruth Ihde
THE BATTALION
aably neve(
>er jjg story ■Students at Texas A&M are taking advantage of the low inter-
• pntec est rates on student and parent loans which are at their lowest
remv pc* n t in history, said Jack Falks, director of Financial Aid for
, y compos T x as A&M
fs precisely a rate 3 4^ percent interest for students still attending
T. school and 4.06 percent during repayment, many options are avail
able to students and parents who would normally not be able to
^vo breath- cover the cost of attending a university.
this iThe U.S. Department of Education predicts 15.5 million students
U? 5 ^ fa wil1 be enrolled in universities this fall, according to Erin Love of
rhanceo the Sallie Mae Company.
the same J| 'There will be about a 10 percent increase in enrollment this year
. at [Texas A&M and nationally,” Falks said.
■ Options for students or parents include long-term loans through the
icket and university, state or private institutions such as a bank or lender. Usually,
IE To take lojig-tenu loans can be paid off in seven to 10 years, and most students
choose to repay the loans after graduation, Falks said.
I “This is usually because of two reasons,” he said. “Some people
take out a very little amount, and others choose to prepay early in
order to shorten (he repayment time.”
|| A popular loan among students is the Federal Stafford loan.
There are two types of long-term loans offered by the Stafford loan.
A | subsidized loan, which is need-based and must be applied for,
Just bring
PICE today,
ted on the
r Tower.
e possible
See Loans on page 2A
—Xoan Rates.
ling Art*
* Stafford loan for students
attending school
* Kiraa) Stafford loan rate during
repayment period
Sallie Mae pa r « nt l 0iU1
TRAVIS SWENSEN • THE BATTALION
Aggie R-r-ring surveys students
By Sarah Darr
THE BATTALION
Aggie R-r-ring, the new pro
gram on campus that will survey
students over the phone, began
Wednesday with a campus cli
mate survey, said Assessment
Coordinator of Student Life
Studies Peggy Holzweiss.
The Campus Climate Survey
will be a follow-up survey to
one taken at A&M five years
ago by a group from the
University of Michigan,
Holzweiss said. It will be a con
densed version of the one taken
in 1998, with approximately 13
questions, and will cover topics
such as students’ feelings about
faculty and campus life. The
updated survey will then be
compared to the one taken pre
viously, and the progress on
these topics can be evaluated,
Holzweiss said.
“We want the surveys to
reflect and represent the whole
student body,” Holzweiss said.
Students will be randomly
selected through MARS
(Measurement and Research
Services) and contacted by
telephone to participate in the
five- to 10-minute surveys.
Associate Director of MARS,
Mark Troy said.
MARS receives a list of
demographics needed for each
survey including gender, race
and ethnic background, Troy
said. From there a random sam
ple of students is drawn, so that
a non-biased group of students
gets surveyed, Troy said.
A new survey will be taken
around the middle of each
month, and will take about four
weeks to complete, Holzweiss
said. The first three topics for
surveys have already been
selected, and the rest will be
decided on by an advisory team
See R-r-ring on page 6B
Former A&M student executed
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A former
Texas A&M student who had been consider
ing pharmacy school or a Baptist seminary
after graduation was executed Wednesday
for gunning down another Aggie during a
burglary at her home eight years ago.
Ron Shamburger. confessed to the fatal
shooting of Lori Baker, 20, within hours of
the attack, which climaxed a series of bur
glaries he’d been committing in College
Station, many of them at homes he’d broken
into numerous times.
As Shamburger was strapped to the gur
ney, he uttered several quotes from the
Bible. He then looked at the victim’s family
and said, “I am really sorry for the pain and
sorrow I caused you. I really do not know
what to say, but I am sorry ... forgive me.”
He sang an old religious hymn as the
lethal drugs were administered.
He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m.
CDT, six minutes after receiving the lethal
injection.
Evidence showed Shamburger used a
credit card stolen from Baker’s home a few
days before the fatal attack to buy the mur
der weapon, a 9 mm pistol.
Shamburger’s lawyers went to the U.S.
Supreme Court to try to halt the punishment,
but the court denied his petition and appli
cation for stay of execution. Similar efforts
failed Tuesday in the state courts.
Shamburger, from Longview, was a 22-
year-old fifth-year senior nearing a degree in
biomedical science when authorities say he
became obsessed with burglaries in whicli
See Execution on page 2A
Bush library to display Ground Zero flag
By Lauren Bauml
THE BATTALION
The lone American flag that
was buried under rubble and
debris for three days following
the Sept. 1 i attacks at the
World Trade Center, common
ly known as the Ground Zero
flag, will make its way to
College Station next month.
The George Bush Presidential
Library and Museum will house
the flag Oct. 4-14 before its
departure from the state of Texas.
The flag will be displayed in
conjunction with the “Freedom's
Journey” exhibit, which will
remain at the museum through
the end of December.
The “Freedom's Journey”
exhibit includes copies of
instrumental historical docu
ments, such as the Declaration
of Independence, as well as
original artwork by artists from
various areas throughout the
United States.
The Ground Zero flag, which
spans 8 feet by 12 feet, was the
only flag flying in the World
Trade Center Plaza the morning
of Sept. 11, 2001. It was buried
under piles of rubble and fallen
debris for three days following
the collapse of the towers. Once
removed, two clearly visible
tears along the flag’s stripes
caused many to push for a cere
monial destruction by Ihe
National Guard.
See Flag on page 10A