Sports. Aggies prepare for annual showdown • Page 4 Opinion: False sense of security • Page 7
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Issue 64 • 8 pages
www.thebatt.com
Wednesday, November 27, 200:
down there,
Manny Diaz.
ff-campus bonfire burns after memorial
■1
By C.E. Walters
THE BATTALION
Standing 35 feet tall on a driv-
g range in Magnolia,TX, an
Iff-campus bonfire was lighted
fuesday night under a starless
Icy to a crowd of more than
!,500 Texas A&M students,
[lumni and Magnolia residents.
The ceremony, which com-
eted with the cold and rainy
Leather, began with a Silver
Taps honoring the victims of the
J999 Aggie Bonfire Collapse
followed by a hushed rendition
[if “The Spirit of Aggieland.”
The fire was lighted during a
nore enthusiastic perfonnance
[f "The Aggie War Hymn.” The
wind quickly picked up a com
bination of smoke, dirt, ash and
tire which began to land on
observers and tents at the High
Meadow Ranch Golf Club.
Michael W. Nolen, Class of
1990 and a resident of Magnolia,
brought his young son, Clayton
,with him to see the bonfire.
Nolen, who said he was disap
pointed with the University’s
actions regarding Bonfire, said it
was important to come out with
his son to see the tradition.
“It's (bonfire) about cama
raderie and working together,”
he said.
Members of the off-campus
Bonfire Coalition were there to
help with the perimeter guard.
The organization, which seeks
to return Bonfire to campus, was
there to help in any way possi
ble, said Charles Teel, Bonfire
Coalition co-chair and junior
political science major.
In response to comments that
the best way to honor the mem
ories of the victims of the
Collapse would be to cancel
Bonfire permanently, Teel said
the memories of the dead and
the injured influence every deci
sion made by the group.
“(The victims) are at the
forefront of our minds,” he said.
Bonfire Coalition supports
the University in the creation of
a permanent monument, Teel
said. The organization, he said.
has several family members of
victims on their board, but Teel
does not know of any who do
not support the group’s actions.
“I’m sure (there are) some
who view (us) differently,” he
said.
David Goff, general manager
of the club and Class of 1980,
said the cost of the bonfire
would be covered by a golf tour
nament fund raiser.
Goff said there was less con
cern regarding safety issues
because the bonfire builders
were members of the mainte
nance crew at the club. These
workers were experienced
See Magnolia on page 2
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lies from clot
Staff & Wire
THE BATTALION
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas
&M football player Brandon Fails died from a
lood clot in his lungs that resulted from a leg
injury, the Travis County Medical Examiner’s
ffice said Tuesday.
Fails was on his way to breakfast Monday
morning when he told his roommate, tight end
[Patrick Fleming, he was having a hard time
^breathing, head coach R.C. Slocum said. Fails col
lapsed moments later, and was rushed to St.
Joseph Medical Center and was pronounced dead
at9'.03 a.m.
The 6-foot-1, 307-pound Fails hurt his right
knee in practice and had knee surgery Oct. 22.
The Travis County Medical Examiner’s' office,
which contracts with Brazos County, made the ini
tial ruling about the massive pulmonary throm
boembolism after conducting an autopsy Tuesday.
“It’s a condition you can anticipate (after) sur
geries that requires you to be immobilized for
^ extended periods of time,” team physician Jesse
Parr told the Bryan-College Station Eagle. “But
he was not immobilized. He was up and able and
on crutches pretty quickly.”
Parr said there would be no warning signs for
S s uch a clot.
“What happens is just what we saw — a cata
strophic, sudden event,” he said. “Life can be so
good on Sunday night visiting with his parents,
but then things can suddenly deteriorate.
“It’s one of these things that you don’t have
any control over.”
Pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood
dot, or a portion of it, breaks free and circulates
through the bloodstream to the lungs. It can
become trapped in the arteries there. If the clot
restricts blood flow to a large section of the lungs,
sudden death can result.
See Fails on page 2
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a secure hold as he checks his foot- Tait was visiting from New Zealand.
JOHN C. LIVAS • THE BATTALION
Senior agricultural development major Daniel Loggins stands as a
bonfire perimeter guard Tuesday.
Poultry disease has
no holiday effect
By Kim Weatherley
THE BATTALION
A recent outbreak of a dis
ease that infects birds, including
turkeys, may have worried peo
ple who are planning their
Thanksgiving dinners, but
experts say there is no need for
concern.
Southern Californians have
recently witnessed the second
outbreak of Exotic Newcastle
Disease (END) in more than 30
years. END marks the death of
almost 100 percent of affected
poultry. According to the USDA
Web site, the last recorded epi
demic took place in 1971, also
in Southern California.
According to the USDA, the
effects were so intense that it
took the California Department
of Food and Agriculture
(CDFA) more than three years
to completely eradicate the out
break. Almost 12 million birds
were destroyed and the whole
incident cost taxpayers more
than $56 million. In turn, the
price of poultry items increased
dramatically.
If you’re planning on eating
turkey this Thanksgiving, this
outbreak might make you think
twice. However, Bill Mattos of
the California Poultry Foundation
is quick to point out that there’s
no risk in enjoying a succulent
bird this holiday season.
“It’s perfectly safe, “ Mattos
said. “The disease has not and
hopefully will not spread to com
mercial poultry. It has only been
found in backyard flocks thus far.”
Even if commercial poultry
was affected, as was the case 30
years ago in California, Mattos
said, digesting the infected tis
sue of a chicken or turkey can
not harm the individual eating it.
END is strictly a bird disease
that cannot be contracted by
humans, he said.
Leticia Rico, a spokeswoman
for the CDFA, said in the most
rare cases, lab technicians and
poultry workers came down
with conjunctivitis, or pink eye,
when introduced to grossly high
levels of the disease.
END has not spread to
Texas, she said. In the unlikely
case of a Texas epidemic, offi
cials said they would like the
general public to be informed so
they can prevent its spread.
Rico said symptoms of
infected birds include sneezing
and coughing, nasal discharge
and greenish diarrhea. END also
affects the reproductive process.
If the bird can reproduce at all, it
will generate thin-shelled eggs.
She said the virus can be
spread through contact with
bodily discharges of infected
birds. These include droppings
and nose, mouth and eye secre
tions. It is proven to spread
more quickly among birds held
in confinement, such as those on
commercial farms.
Rico said a quarantine is
already in place to prevent the
spread of the disease. She also
states that biosecurity, a form of
extreme cleanliness has been
See Disease on page 2
Holiday travel expected to rise, despite disadvantages
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I (AP)—Despite the threat of long
I mes at airports, higher gas prices and
jjjJgly weather marching toward the
portheast, more Americans are
[ ex Pected to travel this Thanksgiving
I than last year.
The AAA travel group predicted air
travel nationwide will climb 6 percent
| 0ve i' Thanksgiving 2001, which came
Just 10 weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The increase in air travel shows
at a lot of people think the (security)
! s ystem today is a little easier to maneu-
r er and is still effective,” said Tom
a ‘cagni, a spokesman for AAA.
By Tuesday evening, early birds
w ho hoped to beat the holiday crunch
began taking to the nation’s roads, rails
and skies. AAA predicted 35.9 million
Americans will travel at least 50 miles
from home by Sunday, a 1.7 percent
increase from last year.
At a relatively calm Dallas-Fort
Worth International Airport, extra secu
rity screeners stood ready, though pas
sengers merely trickled through.
“Tomorrow will be the nutty day.”
airport spokesman Ken Capps said.
Some of the lowest air fares since
the late 1980s could boost air travel,
according to the Air Transport
Association, which represents the
major U.S. carriers.
And wait times at security check
points nationwide averaged only nine
minutes Tuesday afternoon, said Brian
Turmail, a spokesman for the
Transportation Security Administration,
which finalized its takeover of the
nation’s airport security last week.
Still, 30.8 million Americans were
expected to choose the highway over
the runway, a 1 percent increase over
last year, AAA said. Some cited the
lower cost of car travel; others feared
crowd delays at airports.
“I’m not as concerned about flying
as in the last year,” said Joe Koch, a 38-
year-old salesman who planned to drive
from Washington, D.C., to Albany,
N.Y. “It’s the challenges of the airport.
all that waiting on long lines, that make
driving easier.”
However, bad weather was expected
to complicate travel in the Northeast,
where up to 6 inches of snow were
forecast in some places. Snow fell
Tuesday across Illinois, Indiana and
Ohio, and a mix of rain and snow hit
Kentucky and West Virginia.
“It is New England, so it’s not the
first time we’re going to see snow,” said
Maj. John Leyden Jr. of the Rhode
Island State Police. “But it’s the first
time we’ve seen it this season. We rec
ommend that drivers leave more time to
reach their destinations.”
Drivers are also contending with gas
prices that are up about 25 cents, to
$1.45 a gallon, from last Thanksgiving.
Amtrak expects to sell more tickets
as the weather deteriorates. Spokesman
Dan Stqssel said the commuter railroad
added 58 trains in the Northeast and
some have already sold out.
As Chicago’s Union Station filled
with rail travelers, Deb Desmond was
on the floor near her husband and 10-
year-old daughter. They had been wait
ing for nine hours to transfer to a train
that would take them to La Crosse, Wis.
“All three of us, it cost $467,” she
said, explaining they chose the rails.
“To fly, it would have been $250 to
$300 each.”
Professor believes monkeys’ preferences show genetic predisposition
VfflYfl MONKEY'S TOY PREFERENCES
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
The widely held belief that human pref
erences are learned is being challenged by
e xas A&M assistant professor of psycholo
gy Dr. Gerainne Alexander’s research,
'rich appears in the Journal of Evolution
n Human Behavior.
Alexander’s research showed that when
6 ,v en masculine and feminine human toys,
erve t monkeys, who have no learned
^nowledge of what the toys are for, pre-
t0 ^ S accorc B n g to their gender.
Alexander said her research shows that
onkeys anc ^ therefore, humans may have a
S netlc Predisposition in personal preferences.
“Clearly socialization is important, I am
not dismissing that, but this shows that there
are clear differences between the sexes,”
Alexander said.
Dr. Heather Bortfeld, assistant professor in
cognitive physics at A&M, said in her research
with infants and language, input is the most
important factor in human development.
“(Humans) are biased to learn, input is
key,” Bortfeld said.
Bortfeld said using nonhuman species is
the only way to test theories in genetic pref
erences, because human learning starts soon
after birth.
“Socialization manifests early, so we
can’t tell (in humans) what’s socialized,
Bortfeld said.
Bortfeld said Alexander’s study can’t be
used to make conclusions about human
behavior or even the behavior of monkeys,
but is a good place to start.
“This study did a great job observing a
phenomenon,” Bortfeld said. “Now her job
is to see what’s behind it.”
Dr. Susanna Priest, associate professor
and professor of research methods, said she
agrees that more research needs to be done.
“This is a good pilot study and hopefully
it will lead to other research,” she said.
Priest said the main shortcoming of the
study seemed to be a problem controlling
outside variables.
See Monkeys on page 2
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souRcc: journal of evolution and human behavior
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION