Sports: Aggies escape with win • Page 1 B
Opinion: Ashcroft chooses life • Page 5B
THE BATTALION
olume 110 • Issue 7 • 16 pages
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
www.thebattalion.net
By Justin Smith
THE BATTALION
I The Texas Legislature approved
Btion deregulation this summer,
Bening the door for universities
Bthin the state to exceed the previ-
oi sly set state caps and raise tuition
■ fit their needs. With this in mind,
Texas A&M is proposing to raise
turnon an additional $9 per credit
hour for the spring semester.
I In a presentation he gave in July
Bout the school’s financial situation.
A&M President Robert M. Gates said
it is unlikely that the recent trend in
tuition increases will change.
“Students will share an increasing
portion of the burden of cost of their
education as they have for the last
decade,” he said.
A nationwide economic downturn
has forced Texas to reduce funding
for public institutions, therefore
requiring those institutions to raise
tuition rates. This is not a problem
that has been localized to Texas,
however. Gates said.
“Texas hasn’t taken as big a cut
out of its education budget as many
other states have,” he said last week.
In 1992, state funding paid for
nearly half of A&M’s expenditures
but now does not even cover a third.
Tuition and fees in 1992 only fund
ed about a fifth of University
expenditures, but are now responsi
ble for more than a quarter of A&M
expenses.
Gates said even with recent
increases, A&M is still one of the
best bargains in the country com
pared to similar institutions.
With tuition costs at four-year
universities rising across the state,
many potential students who cannot
afford to attend these schools are
seeking out alternatives such as jun
ior colleges and community col
leges. Locally, Blinn College has
seen an increase in enrollment over
the past few years.
“Enrollment has been rising
exponentially over the last three
years,” said Juan B. Garcia, director
of admissions at Blinn.
Garcia said that not all of the
See Tuition on page 2A
Monday, September 8, 2003
ates: Tuition may continue to rise .
Tuition
Increase
Overview
Tuition was raised
$4 per credit
hour this fall
A&M is
proposing to
raise tuition
$9 more in the spring
The University has cut nearly
$20.5 million from the budget
to reduce the need for tuition
increases
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
SOURCE : TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
What are you looking at?
JOSHUA HOBSON • THE BATTALION
Senior environmental design majors Sophia Razzaque (left) and Maori formed hats out of 10,000 white paper sacks for their architecture, land-
Chrastante compare hat designs from among 120 other students after a scape architecture and visualization science classes as a warm-up for
parade in the Langford Architecture building Friday afternoon. Students the semester.
USDA grant seeks
fresher, safer food
By Justin Smith
THE BATTALION
The United States Department of Agriculture awarded Texas
A&M a grant to open a national research center for irradiation
research to help combat the growing problem of unsafe food that
claims more than 5,000 lives per year.
The grant, given to A&M’s Institute of Food Science and
Engineering, is worth $185,000 for the first year and is likely to be
renewed in future years, said Andy Vestal, assistant director for the
IFSE and extension specialist for the Texas Co-op Extension.
The University’s IFSE was selected because it already has the
largest non-commercial, research-only irradiation plant in the
world. Also, A&M has been a forerunner in research of this tech
nology for years.
“In ’99, A&M food scientists got together to see what technolo
gy could be used in the future, and irradiation was right at the top,”
Vestal said.
In 2000, A&M teamed up with SureBeam, a subsidiary of the
Titan Corporation, for a 10-year, $ 10-million project on electron
beam research. , - * -
IFSE will use the USDA grant to hire a post-doctoral researcher
and a communications specialist to promote the ongoing research. It
will also cover the operating costs of the center.
Irradiation affects the safety of food by using microwaves to
speed up electrons to the speed of light so they can penetrate meat.
They then smash into the DNA of harmful microbes and other bio
logical contaminants and destroy them.
“This technology has been around since 1903, but they used
nuclear energy then,” Vestal said. “Now we can just use normal com
mercial electricity.”
In the past, electron beams have been used to sterilize products
such as surgery equipment and feminine products. In 2000, it was
See Research on page 2A
Professor receives Golden honor
By Rebekah Kratochvil
THE BATTALION
I As a professor for 300 students in an introductory biol-
igy class, Susan Golden said it can be frustrating because
of the difficulty that comes from teaching a subject that
many students have trouble understanding.
I “I like to continuously improve my ability to help
thorn learn and appreciate biology,” Golden said.
1 Golden was named distinguished professor at Texas
A&M on Sept. I. She is the 49th professor and second
Woman at A&M to receive this honor.
I She said students and professors should focus on
important concepts and avoid getting bogged down in
details, because students are overloaded with details
as it is.
J Golden said it is especially important to connect
with those students who will not continue in biology,
because they are the ones who will make decisions
about science in political circles and determine the
advancement of different areas of science based upon
future fund allocations.
( In addition to her role as a professor at A&M,
Golden managed a research program as part of a col
laboration with many scientists, including a group in
Japan. Their research confirmed the existence of a
circadian (meaning “daily” in Latin) clock cycle in
cyanobacteria, more commonly known as blue-
green algae. This pond scum is responsible for pro
ducing approximately half of the oxygen on earth,
Golden said.
“Professors at the university level wear a lot of
hats,” she said.
They perform the roles of teacher, scientist and man
ager of their research programs, she said.
“Most of them do it because it is incredibly fun. It is
also incredibly rewarding,” Golden said.
Being an academic scientist is special in that it is more
a lifestyle than a job. Golden said. The job cannot be done
well in less than 40 hours a week, she said.
Despite this, Golden still manages to take time out
for recreation. She has been warm coral reef diving
more than 110 times in different locations all over the
world. Golden said that her job, while demanding,
has many rewards, including creative freedom in run
ning her own research programs and in seeing new
scientists develop.
“(She) is a role model for women in science and for
the students at Texas A&M,” said Vincent Cassone,
head of the Department of Biology.
A&M received 16 letters of recommendation from
Golden’s colleagues, both locally and internationally.
“The best part (of my job) is that I never have to say
in the morning T wish I didn’t have to go to work
today,”’ Golden said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF • SUSAN GOLDEN
Texas A&M biology professor Susan Golden, recently
named a distinguished professor, hugs a koala while on a
trip to Australia in August of 2001.
THE BATTALION
The Battalion invites
|p yon to submit personal
|| remembrances and
s thoughts as the nation
jj approaches the second
ll anniversary of the
§| Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Please submit your
250-word letters to
mailcall@thebattalion.net
or stop by 014 Heed
McDonald.
September 11, 2003
Bush seeks $87 billion to fight terrorism
By Deb Riechmann
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Four
days before the anniversary of
the Sept. 11 attacks, President
George W. Bush said Sunday
night he will seek $87 billion
to fight terrorism in Iraq and
Afghanistan and “engage the
enemy where he lives.”
In an 18-minute address
Bush said, “We are fighting
that enemy in Iraq and
Afghanistan today so that we
do not meet
him again on
our own
streets, in our
own cities.”
Bush
appealed for
troops and
money for BUSH
security and
reconstruction from other coun
tries, even those who opposed
the U.S.-led war.
Bush, speaking from the
Cabinet Room in a nationally
broadcast speech, said the United
States would not be intimidated
into retreat by violence.
“The terrorists have cited the
examples of Beirut and
Somalia, claiming that if you
inflict harm on Americans we
will run from a challenge,”
Bush said, referring to U.S.
withdrawals after the loss of
American lives. “In this they
are mistaken.”
It was Bush’s first major
speech on Iraq since May 1
See Bush on page 2A
Library site
adds feature
By Joaquin Salcedo
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M Libraries have added
a new feature to their Web site called
MyPortal, which will allow students,
faculty and staff to personalize their
library work space and gain quick
access to library materials.
MyPortal will allow all Aggies
with a Neo account to receive and
request information from any of
the five University libraries. Book
checkouts, renewals and requests
can be performed on the My
Library Records option of
MyPortal.
MyPortal users will be able to
use the My Journals and Database
option to save library resources on
a personalized list, allowing users
to save time in their research.
Users will also be able to type in
basic personal information that
will automatically be inserted into
necessary forms.
A MyPortal account can be
obtained through the library’s Web
site at http:// library.tamu.edu.
GRACIE ARENAS • THE BATTALION
SOURCE : TEXAS A&M LIBRARIES
PHOTO COURTESY OF: WWW.TAMU.EDU