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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 2002)
TL _— NA W pORTS: Big Hokies' play spoils A&M defense • Page 7 THE BATI. T ^ Opinion: Students should support Microsoft deal • Page 11 iisioi NMe TRF RATTAT TONT ive had a stroke, lost people who v, ted with the vims J heels at all; other-’ Hu-like symptom^ t searchers also oj’ fi‘»t all patients •d WihkI willbecoa -ith West Ni| e Th led a July casein, ear-old woman •; mnnated blood r- •pedic procedure h. I positive for the , -. Ink* repeatingthi- of bUnxi tnmsfii eigh the risks of M Nile. Goodoi- nts seeking dectm J want to talk with& about delaying th or donating their e. used later on ther jWoliime 109 • Issue 17 • 12 pages www.thebatt.com Faculty salaries comparatively low By Jeremy Osborne THE BATTALION I Administrators across the state are teaming more than their fair share of the state’s private and public salary finds, a new report from the Texas Fliculty Association (TFA) says. I The gap between top administrator afi J faculty earnings has widened over tie last decade, the group reports, and Texas A&M officials say they know that faculty needs to see more pay. I According to a study conducted by tie TFA, faculty salaries in Texas ■creased an average of 46.92 percent in the last decade, while presidents’ salaries grew 71.77 percent and chancel lors’ salaries increased 97.88 percent. University President Dr. Robert M. Gates will make an annual salary of $300,000 according to his employment contract. The study details that in 2001, A&M System Chancellor Howard D. Graves earned $386,880. Assistant professors at A&M earned $56,711 in 2001, associate pro fessors were paid $61,144, and profes sors earned an average of $85,000, according to the Office of Institutional Studies and Planning. The TFA study calculates that pro fessors would be paid $96,701 if their salaries grew equally with those of presidents, and they would earn $111,401 if their salaries increased equally with chancellors’ salaries. “The gap growing so rapidly is galling to faculty members who have been working so hard,” said Dr. Charles Zucker, executive director of the TFA. A&M administrators agree with TFA’s conclusion that faculty should be better rewarded financially. Director of University Relations Cynthia Lawson said Friday in a statement. “President Gates has made it abun dantly clear that one of his top priori ties is to elevate the faculty and that certainly includes better financial compensation,” Lawson said. “We are well aware of the problem and are con stantly monitoring our faculty salaries in relation to those of our peers.” A&M’s salaries are above the state average, but below that of the University of Texas at Austin (UT). Professors at UT were earning $94,100 in 2001. “Faculty salaries are always the high est priority,” said William B. Krumm, See Salaries on page 2 Monday, September 23, 2002 SALARY nAP IN TEXAS In 2001: r S 386,880 Texas A&M’s Chancellor Over the last decade in Texas; 97% 46% Average UT Professor F >$94,100 >$85,000 Average A&M Professor SOURCE: TEXAS FACULTY ASSOCIATION RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION c H n n c e L L O R 71% p R E S D E n T Salary Increases bee N W use »r ike other 4 ml of the tix ue thine. % dcr to Jeiec j .in HIV heoi el> vmall m v ini5 in lata: (her complicate e West Nik . 'vcvera! da\$.is® symptoms sfa I people may k produce JiUifo: u Nile. That: teM would 6 t t or the aiffihc -woman jury tar .t degree murdc; ith, and torture ;e Barry A. Tayte m Nov. 1. CruP arisen. stified agamstO vn Red, white and blue again ALISSA HOLLIMON • THE BATTALION Approximately 300 members of the flag crew held the American flag Saturday afternoon on Kyle Field during the game. The flag weighed 850 pounds and covered the entire football field. The presentation included a choral perform ance by the Singing Cadets and recognition of two New York firefighters and a police officer who were at ground zero. Toughman contestant dies Staff Report THE BATTALION Michael Kuhn, the 26-year- old Bryan resident who suffered head injuries this month at the Toughman Contest in Reed Arena, died Friday morning. Kuhn was pronounced dead at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Joseph's Regional Health Center in Bryan. The amateur boxer told his coach he was ill Sept. 14 after he fought the second of three rounds, then he passed out. He was taken to St. Joseph’s within 10 minutes of collapsing. He is survived by his wife and two children. Kuhn’s is the first reported death in Texas from a Toughman fight. At least eight deaths have been linked to Toughman contests since they began in 1979, the Associated Press reported. In Boise, Idaho, a 44-year-old fighter. Art Liggins died from head injuries suffered during a Toughman fight on the same night Kuhn was injured. Fighters undergo pre-fight physicals, and doctors and emergency medical technicians are stationed ringside during the event. Boxers wear 16- ounce gloves, head gear, groin protection and mouthpieces. AdoreAble Promotions did not comment about Kuhn’s death. However, three days before his death, company president Wendy Dore defend ed Toughman’s commitment to safety, the Bryan-College Station Eagle reported Sunday. “Knowing we have the best safety record, and knowing that the state of Texas does all it can doesn’t address the concern, we feel for Mike Kuhn,” Dore said in a statement. Kuhn worked for Bay Limited, a company that does contract work for A&M’s Physical Plant. He fought in a match on Sept. 13 and was competing for the competi tion’s $1,000 grand prize. This was the first time Toughman was held at A&M. The contest is not a University- See Death on page 2 Desired homeland security funds f may come to A&M for research By Rolando Garcia THE BATTALION Texas A&M's extensive research in animal diseases put it on the front line of homeland security efforts. Sen. Phil Gramm said Saturday. Gramm was given a tour of the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, part of the A&M System, and dis cussed the role the University will play in protecting America from bio-terrorism. “In the development of bio logical weapons, you see the use of diseases that are trans- ferrable from animals to humans, like anthrax and bubonic plague,” Gramm said. “A&M has already been doing research on these types of dis eases, and so it's a logical place to make more investments.” A hill currently pending in Congress that would create a federal department of homeland security is also expected to ear mark substantial funds for homeland security research, and A&M is among the many universities jockeying for research dollars. Gramm said A&M would be one of the largest beneficiaries of those funds because it already boasts a world class veterinary diagnostic lab and expertise on certain infectious diseases. “Everybody wants their state to be involvetl, but (A&M) has always been focused on the practical aspects of research, and will give taxpayers the highest return for their money,” Gramm said. However, Gramm said it was unlikely that a single university would become a national center See Funds on page 2 ALISSA HOLLIMON • THE BATTALION Dr. Konrad Eugster (right) shows Sen. Phil Gramm (left) a seed sample while taking a tour at the Texas Diagnostic Lab. Gramm spoke about homeland security, then toured the lab. ec Sports offers fantasy football online By Brad Bennett THE BATTALION To combat dropping numbers due to Hpnline competition, Rec Sports is now offering Fantasy Football Intramurals (over the Internet. Participation in Rec Sports Fantasy football Intramural has declined from t 00 entries per year seven years ago, 'hen the intramural was first offered, fo 40 this year. This decline coincided /ith the rise of nationwide fantasy football participation, which is estimat ed at over 10 million. James Meyer, intramural coordina tor and commissioner for all four intra mural fantasy football leagues for the past three years, cites competition from Web sites such as espn.com and Yahoo! as the reason for the decline. “Because ESPN and other Internet sites were easier to use and had more features than our old system, more stu dents joined those,” Meyer said. Before fantasy football was popular DAY »ck r credit pted and rse... UJCKS! PARTICIPATION At A&M in 1995: 100 At A&M in 2002: 40 FOOTBALL CO$T $5 per team Nationally: approximately 10 million Sign up at the Rec Center View team statistics at myfantasyleague.com MANDY ROUQUETTE • THE BATTALION online, Rec Sports had participants e- mail their lineups to the intramural coordinator and, after the weekend, he and his assistant would manually com pile the statistics from the newspaper to score each league. Three years ago, Rec Sports purchased Fantasy League Manager, a computer program, to aid in the scoring process, which took 15 hours to do by hand. Fantasy League Manager did not allow access over the Internet and the league lacked many features such as trading and picking up unused players, available now online. The new Internet-based intramural league is coordinated by Meyer but run through the Web site myfanta- syleague.com. The site compiles data, scores the league, and also allows play ers the features previously unavailable. Meyer chose to use myfanta- syleague.com after it was bought by the company that produced Fantasy League Manager. “(This site) gives us a lot of person al attention that I don’t think a bigger sites like ESPN or Yahoo! would give us,” he said. Unlike free Web sites, a $5 per-team See Fantasy on page 2 Library purchases new entomology journals By Sarah Walch THE BATTALION The Texas A&M University Libraries recently purchased a collec tion of 47 entomological journals and seven back runs, which complement the libraries’ current holdings. The set includes mostly European journals from the late 19th and early 20th cen turies, as well as some insect mono graphs or detailed drawings. “It is by far the largest single special purchase of entomological materials in the history of TAMU libraries,” said John Oswald, Department of Entomology Library Representative. Oswald said a graduate student approached him with a catalogue advertising a few of the rare journals. Oswald then contacted antiquarian book dealer E.W. Classey. “Classey was contracted to dispose of material from an old library in England that was basically being bro ken apart and sold off,” he said. “When we contacted him directly, we discov ered there were quite a few journals not yet on the market... many of those which are no longer published.” The purchase was prompted by the closure of Silwood Park Bioscience Library in Faringdon, England by the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau, said Rob McGeachin, Director of West Campus Library. “It is almost like the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) deciding to close down and clean out one of its major reserves of agricul tural research,” McGeachin said. “It is extremely rare for such a promi nent and large collection to be on the market.” “This sort of opportunity only comes along only once or twice in a lifetime,” Oswald said. “Large research libraries are usually associat ed with a university and rarely are bro ken up.” McGeachin was contacted by Oswald through the entomology departmental liaison Nancy Duran. McGeachin met with Dr. Stephen See Library on page 2
