The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 20, 2003, Image 7

Texas A&M Newspaper Collection

The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 20, 2003, Image 7

Newspaper Page TextS( 'i-u BATim NATION THE BATTALION 7 A Thursday, November 20, 2003 Wlogy jj ■Lingual >y Offd; he tho»c(; friends oi,! in a i w truly exactly ins. SI1 ini of the AS 2 all the I 14.67 percesj ates. itdroD 17 D, A plug in every outlet College students are taking more appliances and gadgets into their dorm rooms, forcing colleges to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in upgrading electrical systems. Most outlets in the United States are rated for 15 amps. SOURCE: Underwriters Laboratories Inc. Average amount of electricity in amps needed to run appliances: Stereo system less than 1 amp Phone battery charger 3-4 Computer with scanner and printer 3-6 Two plate hot plate 7-8 Coffee maker 7-8 Color 36-inch 1500 watt television space heater Refrigerator Toaster 1-2 s students use more power, olleges must rewire rooms cent, states incls mg anti-s ltd vedthar alence; xmic burs: ce provei :ram mar iy the Federal Is it the iraoting i ing the keswtffll . the nffil ■ould noted j her a year lo I g. Startt'l ny reduce! I bySOffl also public p!^ the tob* and Os avel expf he pc said any retell ment, sue] o pr going N tofar 1 By James Hannah THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OXFORD, Ohio — Steve eslie’s dorm room at Miami Jniversity has 20 plugs sprout- ng from the walls. They power a color TV, Itereo, compact disc and DVD players, video game player, desk top computer and laptop, printer, canner, refrigerator, microwave nd two fans. Then there are chargers for a cell phone, hand- eld computer, camera, electric zor and toothbrush. T just keep adding stuff,” lid Leslie, 20, a junior who [hares the room with another [tudent. “I fill up my car and my ad’s truck. Some of the bigger [tuff, (ike the speakers, have to tvait for the second trip.” Today’s collegians are part of ! generation raised on electron ics, and colleges are having no Ihoice but to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade Ilectrical systems. Often, the [ipgrade costs are getting passed In to parents and students in the |m of higher fees. “It looks like Circuit City in tone of those rooms,” said Dan Bertsos, director of residence tervices at Wright State [Jniversity near Dayton. New and renovated dorms at exas Christian University in Worth are being wired to fandle the increasing load. “Kids used to come to college ith an AM radio and an electric hzor. Now they arrive with every plectronic device there is,” said Roger Fisher, director of residen tial services. “They come to campus in a U-Haul, and Dad follows in a Suburban.” The average freshman at Miami University takes 18 appliances to campus, according to a March survey by the school. As part of a $7 million reno vation of one dorm, Ogden Hall, the university spent $212,548 in 2000 to add building substations, electrical distribution panels and electrical outlets. The 7,000 stu dents who live on campus pay an extra $ 100 a year in housing fees to cover the renovation costs. “These days the students’ lives are quite changed. They need more appliances,” said Takashi Kawai, a 64-year-old Dayton-area man whose son lives in a dorm at Miami. In a renovation a few years ago, Wright State doubled to four the number of electrical out lets in each of the 162 rooms at Hamilton Hall, increased the number of circuit breakers, installed new electrical-switch gear and rewired fuse boxes and dorm rooms. The cost was about $500,000, or $1,000 per student. At Penn State University, electrical consumption in October was 33 million kilowatt hours, up from 27 million in October 1996. The school’s electric bill is about $1 million a month. Paul Ruskin, with the university’s physical-plant office, said power use by the 13,000 student residents con tributed to the increase. Some officials say higher energy costs, campus expan sions, lighting and the addition of computer labs and other ener gy-eating facilities are more to blame for increased power demand than student appliances. And upgrading electrical sys tems in new and renovated dorms is often required by law under newer, more demanding building safety codes. Andrew Matthews, of the Association of College and University Housing Officers- Intemational, said many dorms were built in the 1950s and 1960s and don’t have the elec trical capacity for power- dependent students. The higher amp load has some schools setting limits and conserving. The University of Dayton had to stop installing air condi tioners in the dorm rooms of stu dents who requested them for such things as allergies and asth ma. Craig Schmitt, executive director of residential services, said the school will be able to accommodate those students next fall in a new, air-condi tioned dorm. Miami University has been replacing incandescent lights around campus with more effi cient fluorescent ones. But conservation alone is oftentimes not enough. Maryville College in Maryville, Tenn., decided to tear down one residence hall last year and build a new dorm at a cost of $7 million. “If too many women turned on their hair dryers in the morn ing, the circuit breakers would blow. That was happening daily,” said Bill Seymour, vice president and dean of students. ass. endorses gay marriages and 111 ld ' [anceand] ;ment cos By Justin Pope THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON — The Massachusetts high court iecision endorsing gay marriage raises a host of oomplex legal questions, and one of the biggest is jhis: If one state allows same-sex marriages, must ither states recognize them? Experts say it could take years for lawsuits challenging gay marriage to wend their way irough state and federal courts before ultimately [ending up at the U.S. Supreme Court. Much of the litigation probably will center on : “full faith and credit” clause of the U.S. ^Constitution, which says states must accept other |states’judicial proceedings. “People in very short order will move back to lAlabama and Tennessee and demand that marriages will be recognized,” said Gary Bauer, president of American Values, a conservative group. “At that point, you have got a constitutional crisis.” Experts, however, generally believe the “full th and credit” argument favors opponents of y marriage. What little interpretation the U.S. Supreme Court has given indicates the clause applies to legal judgments in “adversarial pro ceedings” such as lawsuits, and not such things as I a marriage license. Strangely, since divorce is an adversarial pro ceeding, the Massachusetts divorce of a gay cou ple could be recognized in other states more easi ly than their marriage. In the hours after the Massachusetts decision was released, Gov. Mitt Romney and several other opponents of gay marriage focused on a state con stitutional amendment as the best tool to reclaim marriage as a heterosexual-only institution. That option, however, raises even more legal questions, because the earliest voters can amend the state’s constitution is 2006, two years or more after the time the high court has ordered a gay marriage law to be on the books. What will happen to gay married couples if voters later decide to revoke the right to wed? Some legal experts and gay-rights activists say that Tuesday’s ruling appears to suggest that gay couples should get nothing less than marriage. Other experts and Romney say the ruling is ambiguous enough that legislators could satisfy the court by approving a rough equivalent to marriage, such as the “civil unions” that Vermont offers. “I believe their decision indicates that a provi sion which provides that benefits, obligations, rights and responsibilities which are consistent with marriage but perhaps could be called by a different name would be in conformity with their decision,” Romney said. “Under that opinion, I believe a civil union-type provision would be sufficient.” ARE YOU LOST? Find yourself at the Library You never knew you could have such great drinks at such great prices! FREE ENTRANCE TILL 11 PM THURSDAY NIGHTS "DEVILS MARTINI" Featuring the all new devils martini $ 1 Wells f $ 2 Martinis till midnight Tuesday-Saturday THE Librar Meet • Drink • Lounge 9p.m. - 2a.m. Available for private parties contact: Jimmie Hammond @ 979-739-1967 The Best in Adult Entertainment -■ Happy Hour Daily until 7pm - $ 2.00 Well / s 2.00 Drafts Sun.: $ 2.00 Wells Mon.: 5 1.00 Drafts Tues.: $ 3.00 Longnecks Wed.: $ 2.00 Wells Thurs.: $ 1.00 Drafts 2 for 1 Cover with Student ID Thurs. - Fri. 2pm-2am Sat. - Wed. 5pm-2am (979) 690-1478 4075 S Highway 6 ■ take Rock Prairie Road exit Prepare with the ultimate MCAT readiness package and save! Get the high MCAT score you need with the best classroom course and targeted extra practice. Enroll in Kaplan’s MCAT Classroom Course and MCAT Qbank during the month of November and save $ 100. Call today to enioll! KAPLAN Test Prep and Admissions 1-800-KAP-TEST kaptest.com This offer is only valid for purchases made between November 1”, 2003 & November 30’ h , 2003 and cannot be combined with any other offer. ♦MCAT is a registered trademark of the Association of American Medical Colleges. THE KIDS KLUB afterschool program is NOW HIRING for the Spring ‘03 semester!!! Are you the kind of person we are looking for? Check yes or no to the following questions and see bottom of page for the final results... YES NO □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Do you enjoy working with children? Would you be willing to take holidays off? Do you like to work with fun people? Are you available Monday-Friday from 2:45-6:15pm? Do you refuse to work weekends? Can you begin work January 6^? If you answered yes to all of the questions above then you may want to apply to work with Kids Klub. Applications are available at the College Station Conference Center on George Bush across from the golf course. Application deadline is December 2 nd . College Station ISD is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Texas A&M Newspaper Collection

Texas A&M Newspaper Collection

The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 20, 2003, Image 7

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