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Sports: Right choice, wrong way • Page 5 Opinion: Driving the divine • Page 9 THE R ATT AT IfT i j-iXi r>y\ j i /\ i,i i f Volume 109 • Issue 66 • 10 pages www.thebatt.com Tuesday, December 3, 2002 Texas A&M President Dr. Robert M. Gates asked R.C. Slocum to step down as head football coach on Monday, end ing speculation about the future of the coach who suffered through only the second season in his 14-year tenure without a winning record. The Aggies finished the regu lar season Friday with a 50-20 loss to the University of Texas in Austin, ending the season with a 6-6 record. Slocum reportedly asked about his status in the program Monday in a conversation with Gates and was told of the presi dent’s decision. “I think (Gates) simply got into a conversation with the coach today and I think R.C. wanted to know where he stood,” Texas A&M Board of Regents Chairman Earl Nye told The Associated Press (AP). “Bob Gates is too honorable a person not to tell the truth.” Gates released a statement Nov. 6 saying he supported Slocum, and that a new athletic director who is yet to be hired “will make decisions with respect to the programs and coaches under his or her purview.” The athletic director position remains unfilled after outgoing director Wally Groff announced his resignation, effective Dec. 31. Groff said he had no informa tion regarding Slocum’s dis missal. “I am not in the loop on this,” Groff said in a phone conversa tion from his home late Monday. An athletic director search committee consisting of A&M faculty and coaches, including head volleyball coach Laurie Corbelli, was formed and mem bers have yet to make a recom mendation to Gates regarding the position. “I really respect Dr. Gates for taking that off the hands of the new AD,” Corbelli said. “Hopefully the changes going on right now will help the pro gram to flourish.” Slocum has coached at A&M for all but one year since 1972, when he was named the offen sive ends coach under head See Slocum on page 2 Slocum’s reassignment draws reactions from students, staff S@pt.1: Athletic Director Wally Groff announces his retirement, effective Dec. 31 Dec, 2; Gates asks Slocum to step down m head coach By Kevin Espenlaub THE BATTALION The biggest sports question on campus was answered Monday afternoon when Texas A&M President Dr. Robert M. Gates dismissed head football coach R.C. Slocum. The decision was met with the mixed reviews Slocum has heard all season: some Aggies applauded the move; others mourned the end of a 30-season career that carried A&M to a Big 12 Championship and back. The announcement came after A&M finished its regular season with a 6-6 record and on the heels of a 50-20 defeat at the hands of the University of Texas on Friday. “I will be sorry to see him go,” said history professor Harold Livesay. “It was proba bly inevitable when the team continues to lose to Texas, but it will be difficult to replace him with a new coach that can do as much for the academics of his players and this University as Slocum has done.” Slocum was also popular with his fellow coaches on campus. “I really respect Coach Slocum,” said A&M head volley ball coach Laurie Corbelli. “When I had recruits in, he was always the first one to talk to them and introduce himself and let them know that they are See Reaction on page 2 R.C. Slocum congratulates University of Texas head coach Mack Brown after the Longhorns’ 50-20 win over the Aggies (top). Slocum and the Aggie football team wait to take the field prior to the first quarter at Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin (middle). Aggie fans hold up a sign on third deck at Kyle Field during the Oklahoma Sooners game (bottom). PHOTOS BY JOHN C. LIVAS, GRAPHICS BY RUBEN DEI.UN A AND TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION &M architecture students Supreme Court hears race case reveal nursing home design By Esther Robards-Forbes THE BATTALION third their Students in professor George Mann’s lyear architectural design studio unveiled r e as Monday for a five-acre park and apartment addition to a Brenham nursing home, j The Kruse Memorial Lutheran Village is one j 0 ' the largest continuous care facilities in the st ate. With little more than a month to design and atodel their plans, Mann’s 17 students analyzed Jnat was missing from the community and used es igns that maximized Kruse’s available five acres. , We wanted to create a living environment for ae citizens of the Brenham area that eases the ansition into a retirement living situation while Maintaining the celebration of life,” Mann said. Among the models on display Monday night. Miniature trees were placed between auditoriums, •TV . • • COURTESY OF THE COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE general stores, covered parking and cottage-style homes. The project, titled the “Independent Living Addition,” focused on providing living space for newly retired residents. “We wanted to remind (the residents) of their old neighborhood but give them the security of the retirement community, ’ said junior architec ture major Laura Langford. Though the Kruse community has no current plans to develop the five-acre tract, Mann said the project’s object was to give students experience and offer development plans to the Brenham facility. Students submitted floor plans, three dimensional models and cost estimates, researched the needs of the elderly and intei - viewed nursing home residents. “I drove the class very hard, but they learned teamwork and communication,” Mann said. “This is what architects do. If they can do this, they can do the real thing.” Ken Johnson, a junior architecture major, said he found that interaction between residents in a retirement community is an important factor most senior citizens. “Studies have shown that the more active (the residents) are physically and socially the healthi er they stay,” Johnson said. DyAnn Lauzon, executive director for the Memorial Village, asked students to consider the options for the community’s five acres in mid- October. , i “Each group treated us like we were their real clients. If this is the caliber of students that A&M is producing, then we are in good shape. We are in good hands for the future,” Lauzon said. See Design on page 2 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court re-entered the debate over affirmative action Monday, agreeing to decide if minorities can be given a boost to get into universities. The court will decide by next June if race can be used in col lege admissions, an issue that the justices have dealt with only once before, in a cloudy 1978 ruling that led to more confusion. The justices will consider whether white applicants to the University of Michigan and its law school were unconstitu tionally turned down because of their race. The cases give the court an opportunity to ban affirmative action in higher education or say how much weight universities may assign to an applicant’s race. The stakes are high because many public and private colleges have race-conscious admissions policies. In other action Monday the court: — Said it will consider a Texas case over whether states can punish homosexuals for having sex, a case that tests the constitutionality of sodomy laws in 13 states. — Agreed to decide if inmates have constitutional rights to jailhouse visits from young relatives and others, in a case that could have far-reach ing implications for prisons around the country. — Turned down an effort to block specialty car license plates in Louisiana with the slogan See Race on page 2 Poultry Science degree online By Melissa Sullivan THE BATTALION The poultry science department will accept applications this spring for the world’s first online master of poultry science, set to begin Fall 2003. The degree was designed for students with other commitments, such as a career or a family, or live too far away from campus to attend tradi tional classes, said Dr. Alan Sams, head of the poultry science department. “Poultry science is a very large industry across the whole country and the world,” Sams said. “People want to further their education and improve their job qualifications.” The program offers courses such as nutrition, food safety, physiology, and animal waste manage ment, he said. Though its hard to estimate how many people are interested in the program, he said 20 to 30 students by the fall would be a good first year. “It is not the size of a business MBA program. but we expect a mixture of students who want to further their education,” Sams said. Four courses will be offered next fall, said See Degree on page 2 TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION