Aggielife: Turning in, dropping out • Page 3
Forum: Expanding horizons • Page 8
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Volume 110 • Issue 51 • 10 pages
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
www.thebattalion.net
Friday, November 7, 2003
Half century
Krueger devotes career to A&M poultry science
By Dan Orth
THE BATTALION
Randal Ford • THE BATTALION
Poultry science professor Wille F. Krueger sits in front of a collection of paintings of various breeds and
varieties of chickens. The paintings are appraised at more than $75, 000. The collection was donated
iy Ideal PoultryiSreeding Farms out of Cameron, Texas.
Willie F. Krueger, an endowed pro
fessor of poultry science, has achieved a
rare milestone by teaching at Texas
A&M for 50 years.
Krueger has dedicated his life to
poultry science and the students he
teaches.
Krueger said he is an Aggie at heart
who has remained at A&M despite
opportunities to take positions at other
universities and in the private sector.
He said students have made it pos
sible for him to continue teaching for
so long.
“1 enjoy students, being around them
and motivating them,” Krueger said. “I
like public service and research, and
A&M was a perfect fit because it allows
me to do both.”
Krueger has been actively involved in
poultry science judging for the past 20
years. In the 40 competitions he has
taken teams to, the teams have brought
home 16 national championships and
eight second place awards.
Cheyenne Campbell, a senior poultry
science major and member of this year’s
judging team, has worked with Krueger
on the team for the past seven semesters.
“Dr. Krueger is a great motivator and
gets us excited for competition,”
Campbell said. “It is amazing how Dr.
Krueger hasn’t lost his edge at all and
still has a passion forjudging.”
Campbell said she and other mem
bers of the poultry science team think of
Krueger as their grandfather.
Krueger said he is motivated by the
change he sees developing in students
during their time at A&M.
See Krueger on page 2
Dove’s poetry
unites people
By Lauren Smith
THE BATTALION
In former U.S. Poet Laureate
and Pulitzer Prize-winner Rita
Dove’s poem “Thomas and
Beulah” (1986), her character
Beulah “wants to taste change.”
Dove shares this desire as she
writes poetry that transcends bor
ders separating groups of people.
Dove began the 2003-04 sea
son of Texas A&M‘s
Distinguished Lecture Series
Thursday in Rudder Theater,
where she read several of her
poems and answered questions
from the audience.
Serving as the U.S. poet laure
ate and consultant to the Library
of Congress from 1993 to 1995,
Dove also received the 1987
Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.
The poet laureate is the offi
cial poet of the country and seeks
to raise the national conscious
ness to a greater appreciation of
the reading and writing of poetry.
The appointment to the position
is made annually by the Librarian
of Congress.
Dove was the nation’s
youngest poet laureate and is the
only African-American to hold
the nation’s highest official liter
ary honor.
Dove said she started reading
Shakespeare when she was 10 or
11 years old and felt lucky to
have parents who encouraged her
to read everything.
“When I was 11,1 headed to
the adult section of the library
and when they wouldn’t let me
check books out from there, my
mom sent a letter to school the
next day saying that I could,”
she said.
See Dove on page 2
JP Beato III • THE BATTALION
Rita Dove speaks at Rudder Theater Thursday night. Dove is a former U.S.
poet laureate and consultant to the Library of Congress.
Campus Master Plan committee finalizing draft
Campus Master Plan
Details of the University's Campus Master Plan were
presented to the Student Senate at its meeting Wednesday.
Hie plan outlines all future construction at Texas A&M.
►►The total cost of all proposed construction is between
$1.8 billion and $2.5 billion.
►►The University aims to build affordable, attractive and
modem buildings with attached garages for parking.
►►Several Northside residence halls may be demolished
and replaced with apartment-looking style rooms or suites.
Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION
Source : TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
By Sarah Walch
THE BATTALION
The Campus Master Plan committee is
finalizing its draft for a presentation to the
Texas A&M Board of Regents in January,
Associate Vice President for Administration
Mary Miller told the Student Senate
Wednesday night.
Miller was candid with senators about the
process leading up to the plan as it currently
stands. She said the quality of A&M’s stu
dents and faculty far outdistance the quality of
the surrounding visual environment.
“We’re a much better place than we look to
be on this campus,” Miller said.
She listed several buildings on the Campus
Master Plan’s demolition “hit list,” including
some Northside residence halls, the
Biological Science Building East, Bizzell
Hall and Cain Hall.
Miller said cost is a major factor in
determining how quickly new buildings are
added. The total cost of all proposed
changes is between $ 1.8 billion and $2.5 bil
lion, she said.
While the beauty in the trim of the old
buildings will be preserved as much as possi
ble in buildings such as the Academic
Building, Sbisa Dining Hall and the YMCA
building, the University will not be able to
afford such intricate architecture in the future,
she said. Instead, the University will try to
build affordable, attractive and modern build
ings with parking garages attached on the
back side, much like the Koldus building.
Ross Street construction will begin in the
spring of 2004, after the Chemistry
Engineering Building on the corner of
University and Ireland Streets is completed,
so that vehicles unable to travel on Ross Street
will have an alternate route.
Once the road work on Ross is completed,
within about two years, the University plans
to shut down Ross Street except for buses dur
ing the day, and open it up to all vehicles at
night. Miller said.
The cost of the recent construction on Old
Main, Street was around $5 million, she said.
Due to the high cost and current lack of funds,
other roads that need repaving will be patched
until money becomes available or the more
expensive road work becomes more urgent.
Miller said the Department of Residence
Life submitted a demolition list of Northside
dorms to the committee. The department has
a plan to build more apartment-looking style
rooms or suites that will be more in line with
See Plan on page 2
Texas Forest
By Jacquelyn Spruce
THE BATTALION
Being a firefighter can be a difficult job, but for
some, it is a rewarding experience.
Ronnie Perry, fire mitigation and suppression
specialist for the Texas Forest Service, said he
was honored to be asked to help fight the
California wildfires.
“We’re always ready to go help,” he said. “It’s
basically like helping a neighbor. It makes us
feel good.”
Marilynn Grossman, communications manager
for Texas Forest Service, which is part of the
Texas A&M System, said about 10 Texas Forest
Service personnel were released on Oct. 29 to
Service dispatched to California fires
fight the raging wildfires in California. Along
with them on a transport trailer went a Type III
fire engine, built to operate in both urban areas
and wild land. Among many other amenities, the
engine contains its own water to be used in case a
fireplug isn’t available.
Perry, whose job included operating the
engine, said that although he has worked as sup
pression specialist for the past three and a half
years, this was his first out-of-state assignment.
He said when the group arrived in California, the
first thing they did was go to the base camp to go
through a check-in process in which the engine
was checked. Next they were sent to a staging area
where they waited for their assignment.
“You must be ready to respond to what is nec
essary within three minutes when you are in the
staging area,” he said.
Although the personnel were prepared to take
action and help, the weather took a twist and rain
began to fall, helping the wildfires die down.
Grossman said the rain was the greatest help
for the firefighters and residents of the area.
“It really took a weather event to change
things,” she said. “At one point there were about
14,000 firefighters working with the fires.”
Perry said even though their resources weren’t
used, his trip to California was a learning experi
ence and he was proud to offer a hand to those in
another state.
“We were welcomed, as far as being there,” he
said. “There were a lot of firefighters that were
surprised to see us. They kept asking, ‘Are you all
really from Texas?”’
Dan Horton, Class of 1999 and a San Diego
resident, said the wildfires affected everyone
around him.
“They closed all the schools and even the free
ways. At one point, the fires were just a couple
miles away from our home,” he said. “Everyone
was wearing masks, and it was very hard to
breathe.”
Horton said it’s nice to be able to go outside
without walking through clouds of smoke.
Along with the individuals from the Texas
Forest Service, the Texas Interagency
Coordination Center also dispatched personnel
from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and per
sonnel from the U.S. Forest Service. Personnel
from the National Park Service were sent to help
out as well.
Trial under way of Parsons Cavalry suit against Texas A&M
By Carrie Pierce
THE BATTALION
Members of the Texas A&M Parsons Mounted Cavalry, who were
reprimanded in April for alleged hazing violations, are currently pur
suing a civil suit against Texas A&M.
Opening arguments began Wednesday in the Brazos County
Courthouse. The Cavalry filed a civil suit against A&M after being
suspended in October 2002 by Lt. Gen. John Van Alstyne, the Corps
of Cadets commandant. According to KBTX-TV, the reprimanded
Cavalry members claim the disciplinary proceedings against them
were unfair and illegal, the students’ attorneys said.
The suspension occurred after the unit’s student commander, Ty
Keeling, reported hazing incidents to Van Alstyne in the fall of 2002.
The University Police Department and a Brazos grand jury ended
their investigations of the alleged hazing by the end of October 2002.
Rodney McClendon, A&M President Robert M. Gates’ chief of
staff and a witness in the case, declined to comment.
“It is University policy for litigation in any case that a witness
cannot comment,” McClendon said. “The judge has instructed me
not to talk.”
The case will resume at 9 a.m. on Friday in the 272nd District
Courtroom at the Brazos County Courthouse, 300 E. 26th St.