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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2002)
iCGiEUFE: Ags take school spirit to away games • Page 3A Opinion: Eating disorders need more publicity • Page 5B THF RATTAT TON Jmmmtdi JtkmJF Jtm rnJKLm Jim. Jm JtbmmmJ JLm JLm lume 109 • Issue 19*14 pages www.thebatt.com Wednesday, September 25, 2002 A&M drops to second tier public university |h-<Hot ‘ diHounl. <6 p.m.*9pj8 Mil.) U.S. News and World Report Texas A&M »fa tof Top 50 Universities to the second tier of all jf universities ■lls from number 15 to 24 in ranking of top public universities T BEAC Ave.. Suh: •Eollege of Engineering rose from number 17 to 15HHHI Kl B1 N 1)1 l.l NA • T HE BAT TALIGN By Brad Bennett THE BATTALION Texas A&M dropped from No. 48 to the second tier of national universities in the US News ami Work! Report 2003 rankings of America’s Best Universities. A&M dropped out of the first tier, in which universities are given a specific ranking of 1 through 50, to the second out of four tiers, which is a list of 78 schools in alphabetical order. A&M dropped from 15 to 24 in the US News ranking of top public universities. Executive Associate Provost Bill Perry said A&M’s drop in the ranking was due to a change in how the data was reported. He said that last year large classes with several labs were counted as one large class and several small classes. This year the labs aren’t given as much consideration, which put A&M at a comparative disadvantage. Perry said. Not counting the labs shifted average class size in the wrong direc tion and was enough to move A&M down at least two spots to the second tier, he said. Perry said money from Proposition 17, which was passed in 1999, will be used to hire 60 more faculty members to respond to the problem of class size. Rob Robideau, director of commu nications for the College of Engineering, said he is not concerned with the survey results, but is still sur prised at the drop in ranking. Robideau said the College of Engineering recently rose in the US News rankings from 17 to 15. “These rankings can be useful as long as we don’t put too much empha sis on them because they are based on both subjective and quantitative infor mation,” Robideau said. Rankings are based on 16 criteria which consist of several factors; 25 percent of the ranking is based solely on subjective information, he said. Dr. Edward Hiler, dean of the College of Agriculture, said too much emphasis is put on rankings by private commercial sources, but added that the results reflect on the University. “If rankings are done, whether it be sports or academics, you want to be number one,” he said. Hiler said he was surprised when University President Dr. Robert M. Gates announced the results at a devel opment meeting. He said that it was not because of agriculture, which is at least number three in the nation, if not num ber one. Both Robideau and Perry pointed out A&M’s advancement in several areas including graduation rate and individual departmental rankings. Nancy Boyd, head of advising and counseling for the Plano independent school district, which has more than 2,300 seniors this year, said the rank ing isn’t important to seniors applying for college. “Texas A&M has a very strong rep utation with Plano students and it will take more than one issue of US News and World Report to change that. We have one of the largest representations in [A&M’s] freshman class and plan on sending all the students that will get accepted,” Boyd said. <ry gc StAtion 94-1103 y Manageror 5% )FF Dttle of loo: upott 4 1* m* 10 06/02 Ewing urges research development at A&M I By Lauren Smith THE BATTALION arben mpon FF e visi' C d. not the service. fire Rot3ti& <e Inspect' Alignment ieel s 59.“ to s 49.® savings )r. Richard Ewing, Texas A&M University vice president for Research, said he hopes the University will develop one of the best perform ing research programs in the nation. |||Ewing presented his strategy for attaining his research goals at the Brazos Valley Technological Alliance meeting Tuesday. “We are in a new era due to funding challenges,” Ewing said. “The eco nomics of the nation are not high, and we have Vision 2020 goals that need to be knet. We must develop another mechanism to attain our goals.” Ewing initially outlined his plan by presenting his composite approach to the technology transfer initiative with in the A&M System. K*‘We want the commercial sector, the commercialization process, and technology development all working together in a holistic unit,” Ewing said. ■The holistic approach to technolo gy! transfer will entail the University working closely with industry as tech nology is developed, he said. Bln order to increase the amount of research undertaken at the University, funds are an essential requirement. ■ Former students have expressed interest in endowments for research, as [ well as some venture capitalists, Ew ing said. ■ “Value added technology is one of the core drivers of this initiative,” he said. “We need to develop a mecha nism to add value to all aspects of technological growth, which will reduce risks for investors.” The core drivers that will be kept in front of this initiative are the holistic group, entrepreneurial culture and value added technology. Research Park is the location for the future growth. Super centers will be built around Research Park with an international scope. The super centers will get input from industries and can generate a large amount of technology in places that industry supports, Ewing said. The super centers would generate 60 to 70 new high-tech jobs which, Ewing said, would attract faculty members’ spouses. Ewing said he hopes the University will gain recognition for the addition al research. A media group in the park that would allow CNN, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today to have a presence on campus could show the world the exciting research at the University, Ewing said. “People hear about the football team and not the wonderful technolog ical advances and research findings going on here,” he said. Ewing said that University President Dr. Robert M. Gates is inter ested in arranging technology transfer and connecting industry with A&M. “Chancellors have embraced this concept that could lead to enormous growth, yet there are still details to be worked out. These can be solved by getting feedback from the public about what works and what fails,” he said. Blazin’ hot RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION Valero Houston firefighter Ron Cranberry suits up Training Center Tuesday afternoon. The Valero firefight- before putting out a fire with his crew at the Brayton Fire ers were participating in a three-day training session. 93-8575 New offensive coach named By Troy Miller THE BATTALION Dino Babers was relieved of his position as offensive coordinator on Tuesday by Head Coach R.C. Slocum following Saturday’s 13-3 loss to No. 5 Virginia Tech. “I have relieved Dino Babers of his respon sibility for play calling and overall direction of the offense,” Slocum said in a press release distributed by the A&M Athletic Department. “Coach Babers will continue to devote his time to developing the quarterbacks.” Babers has been replaced as offensive coor dinator by assistant head coach Kevin Sumlin. Sumlin will continue his wide receiver coach ing duties. The Aggie offense is ranked 106 in the nation out of 117 division one schools. It has averaged 286.7 yards per game and 16 points per game this season. Five touchdowns this season have come from the Aggie offense, all from the running back corps. The Aggie performance has been different from the University of Arizona offense which Babers coordinated from 1998-2000. Babers’ 1999 Arizona offense set a Pac-10 record, averaging 472 yards per game. See Babers on page 2 J.P. BEATO in • THE BATTALION Head football coach R.C. Slocum announced Tuesday evening. This announcement comes Assistant Head Coach Kevin Sumlin will after the Aggies' 13-3 loss to No. 5 Virginia replace Offensive Coach Dino Babers on Tech Saturday afternoon. Recruiter numbers rise at business career fair By Jeremy Osborne THE BATTALION Despite last year’s subpar turn out at the Student Business Council’s Fall Career Fair, the numbers of companies present have drastically enlarged for this year’s event. “We’ve increased the fair by 45 companies this year,” said SloanSmalley, the event’s organizer. “Last year we had to cancel Thursday. This year we have a complete schedule.” Smalley said this year’s fair will include over 120 compa nies. He said the Aggie network and work ethic attracts potential employers. “A&M produces a different kind of student. They are really good workers,” said student busi ness council member Rob Clow. Student turnout for the event is also high. The halls of the Wehner building have been filled with job seekers. Tt looks pretty good. I could n’t even get to class this morn ing,” said Corey Frickes, a sen ior finance major. Smalley said the business stu dent council has received posi tive feedback from recruiters. “We did not hire or recruit last year,” said Paige Lackey, an recruiter from Accenture, a management and technology services organization. “[This year] we’ve been busy, and we’re excited to be hiring and recruiting again.” Standard and Poor’s, Halliburton, and JC Penny are a few of the organizations See Fair on page 2A Cannon tradition will stand By Rolando Garcia THE BATTALION Despite safety and liability concerns, University officials decided Tuesday to continue the longstanding tradition of firing a cannon at football games and yell practices. The cannon, operated by the Parson’s Mounted Cavalry unit of the Corps of Cadets, does not have any insurance policy to cover potential damage the cannon might cause, said Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. J. Malon Southerland. The University recently looked into buying an insurance policy for the cannon, but no bids were offered, Southerland said. After examining the safety concerns,^ Southerland said he decided to allow the tradition of firing the cannon to proceed. “We just decided to hold off on firing the can non until we got we got some questions answered, and we were able to work through those ques tions,” Southerland said. “We always had the intent of finding a solution.” Southerland said every precaution is being taken to ensure the cannon is fired safely. The can non has been inspected by U.S. Army personnel, and the rounds are supplied by the Army. Southerland said the rounds are sealed until they are used. Until 1996, the cavalry unit provided See Cannon on page 2A
