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THE BATTALION
|/olume 110 • Issue 6 • 16 pages
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
www.thebattalion.net
Friday, September 5, 2003
tudents gear up for First Yell
By Sarah Szuminski
THE BATTALION
Although last year’s First Yell
Ihow featured nationally famous
Comedian Martin Short as its
fieadliner, it was Texas A&M
nedical student Kamran Hamid’s
)pening act that stood out to
many of the event’s attendees.
‘I still don’t think I’m funny,
jut I guess other people do,”
Hamid said.
Hamid will return as part of
[his year’s lineup of student enter-
jainers at First Yell tonight.
'Hopefully, the common
denominator will be that the audi
ence will be laughing this year
too,” he said.
The event is structured different
ly this year, said Rusty Thompson,
Memorial Student Center assistant
director of student programs.
Rather than a single headlining act,
several student groups and solo acts
will perform, and video segments
chronicling the history of Aggie
football will be shown, along with
appearances by players from those
respective seasons.
“Our student acts are so popu
lar each year,” Thompson said.
“We want to showcase all of the
talent we’ve got here at A&M.”
Performances will be given by
the Singing Cadets, Aggie
Wranglers, Aggie Dance Team,
Freudian Slip, Kappa Pickers,
singer Lindsey Kane, Percussion
Studio and Hamid.
The video, “Aggie Football
Through the Decades,” will play
between acts and will be accom
panied by former Aggie football
players such as Howard Shelton,
Class of 1941, who helped bring
home A&M’s national champi
onship in 1939.
One reason for the change in
this year’s show is the unpopu
larity of Short’s performance last
fall, Thompson said. Many peo
ple who attended the event last
year left early during Short’s act.
“He had a more Broadway
type of style,” Thompson said.
“His style of comedy and our
crowd weren’t a good match.”
Bringing in a headlining act
each year that is better than the
last is difficult, he said, because
First Yell only has one date to
offer to prospective artists. Bill
Cosby and comedian Jeff
Foxworthy are two celebrity acts
See First Yell on page 2A
First Yell Weekend:
11:30 am.- "Weekend Warmup"
1:30 p.m. Free food at Rudder Plaza
8 p.m. - First Yell show at
11 p.m. Reed Arena
12 a m. Midnight Yell Practice
at Kyle Field
Saturday^
2 p.m. - "Cookoff Classic Barbecue"
6 p.m. at Rudder Plaza
7 p.m. TAMU v. Utah football game
at Kyle Field
Andrew Burleson • THE BATTALION
Source: MSC OFFICE OF STUDENT PROGRAMS
SC Open House
osts 250 groups
By Lauren Smith
THE BATTALION
On Sunday, thousands of students will enter the Memorial
student Center between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. and search the
250-plus tables for the best organization for them.
If 2003’s MSC Open House is anything like last year’s,
ihe majority of the students who turn out will be freshmen.
For freshman general studies major Emilie Weissler,
)pen House is something that she has been looking for
ward to since the first day of school.
“It seems like there is just an overwhelming amount of
jrganizations to get involved in, and I think attending
(Sunday’s Open House will help make things a lot more
Hear for me,” Weissler said.
Although it is mostly freshmen who will attend
[Sunday’s event, Open House will also give transfer stu
dents and those who have yet to find their niche at Texas
A&M, a chance at campus involvement.
‘I think that finding a group to get connected with will
See Open House on page 2A
MSCs Fall Open House
2 to 6 p.m,, Sunday, Sept. 7
More than 250 organizations will be " u, '
present.
Thousands of students expected to attend.
Students may win door prizes from local
merchants.
Andrew Burleson • THE BATTALION
Source: AGGIE DAILY AND OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
Lord of the Ring
Brad Goodman, a senior electrical engineering major, surprised Lyndsey
DiAgostina, a senior biomedical engineering major, with an engagement ring
instead of her Aggie Ring Thursday afternoon at the Association of Former
JP Beato III* THE BATTALION
Students headquarters in the Clayton Williams Jr. Alumni center. President
Robert M. Gates and men's basketball coach Melvin Watkins were present to
distribute around 2700 rings. DiAgostina said "Yes."
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Financial farewell
A&M CFO Krumm decides to step down
By Jacquelyn Spruce
THE BATTALION
From a Fish Camp namesake to working with
students,William B. Krumm, Texas A&M Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer, said his
seven and a half years with the University have
been spectacular.
Krumm announced last Tuesday his decision to
step down as vice president beginning Jan. 1, 2004.
However, Krumm said he plans to continue to work
closely with University President Robert M. Gates
for the remainder of the 2004 fiscal year.
“Dr. Gates and I talked about my retirement
and I’m going to work on some special projects
until next September,” he said.
Before Krumm was recruited to his current
position at A&M, he was associate vice president
for business operations at the University of
Michigan, his alma mater. He received his degree
in business and also attended the Institute of
Education Management at Harvard University.
Some of Krumm’s accomplishments include
membership on the A&M University System
Investment Advisory Committee and the Texas
A&M Foundation Investment Advisory Committee.
He also had a leadership role with the budget and
financial management at A&M-Galveston.
Krumm is credited with enhancing several
electronic-based initiatives created to benefit stu
dents, including “Aggie Bucks.”
“I’m a financial guy, but I am a technology
guy too, and I’ve pushed that my entire career,”
Krumm said. “I’ve built computers from the chip
level. That’s more of a hobby of mine.”
Although Krumm has received an exceptional
amount of awards and honors, he said one of his
favorite things was the 1999 Fish Camp named in
his honor.
“We still see the counselors and some of the
campers,” he said. “In June, my wife and I went
to another one of the counselors’ weddings. The
great privilege of working at a University is that
Joshua Hobson* THE BATTALION
William B. Krumm, VP and CFO of the Finance, will
leave office Jan. 1, 2004.
you get to work with the students.”
Krumm’s original career intentions were to go
into manufacturing, but after working for
Michigan, he learned that working with students
made his job rewarding.
“Both my wife and l have had a wonderful
time here at A&M. We really enjoy working with
the faculty and staff but most importantly, the stu
dents,” he said.
Gates said Krumm will be missed after his retire
ment and that it has been an honor to work with him.
“Bill has given many years of distinguished serv
ice to higher education,” Gates said. “Bill was a
tremendous help to me during my first year here, and
a delightful colleague. He will be greatly missed.”
Krumm said he plans to stay in College Station
after his retirement with his wife, Martha, and his
two dogs, Maggie and Wags.
He said having good luck and big breaks are
not the only things students should count on for
the future. Some of the most important things are
to have good mentors and to always look for a
number of opportunities.
Head of English department resigns
By Bart Shirley
THE BATTALION
After 14 years in the position,
Dr. J. Lawrence Mitchell, head of
the English department, announced
Wednesday that he is stepping down
at the end of the semester.
Citing the recent awarding of
five new faculty positions as one
of the reasons, Mitchell has
elected to take a semester-long
leave of absence.
“Given this happy outcome
of our collective efforts, it seems
an appropriate time for me to
announce that I am stepping
down as head effective January
15, 2004,” Mitchell said in a
Sept. 3 letter to the department
heads of the College of Liberal
Arts. “Now it is time for a
change, and I believe that it is a
marker of a successful adminis
tration that the transition be
effected smoothly.”
Charles A. Johnson, dean of
the College of Liberal Arts,
expressed his gratitude to
Mitchell in a memorandum to
the Department of English
dated Sept 3.
“During his term as head,
Dr. Mitchell contributed
greatly to the department and
to the College of Liberal
Arts,” he said.
Johnson praised Mitchell
for his work on the
Interdisciplinary Group for
Historical Literary Study, the
University Writing Center, the
Modern Language Association
and the Association of
Departments of English.
Johnson has called a meet
ing on Sept 12 to discuss the
search process which will move
“expediously” because the res
ignation is effective in January.
The search will be con
ducted internally due to the
current funding situation.
Texas Democrats turn redistricting fight
into attack on Bush, GOP power grab
By Suzanne Gamboa
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Texas state Democrats
turned their redistricting fight into an attack on
President George Bush Thursday, accusing him
of trampling on minority voting rights and being
part of a Republican national
power grab.
Three of the remaining 10
Democratic state senators who fled
Texas over the redistricting dispute
were in Washington to promote new
radio and TV ads that will run in
swing presidential states including
Florid^, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio,
Arizona, New York, Nevada and Texas, along with
the District of Columbia.
The Democrats said Thursday they are trying to
expose involvement of Bush, presidential adviser
Karl Rove and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
in the Texas redistricting effort and the last-minute
redrawing of a congressional map in Colorado.
“We’re here today because our story is true.
What happened in Texas is real. There is only
one person who can stop it. He could stop it with
a phone call and that’s President Bush,” said
Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio.
The news conference came a day after state Sen.
John Whitmire left his 10 Democratic
colleagues who have been in self-
imposed exile in New Mexico and
returned to Texas. His return could
possibly give Republicans the quorum
they need to pass a congressional
redistricting plan. Texas Gov. Rick
Perry has to call a third special session
to take up the measure.
“We are not conceding defeat,”
said Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston.
Democrats hold 17 of Texas’ 32 House seats
in Congress. Republicans say they should have a
See Redistricting on page 2A
a
We are not
conceding defeat.
Senator Rodney Ellis