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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2004)
Sports: Aggie basketball still winless. Page 7 ropfr p. He; CAPE CANAVERAL. Fla. — ine year after Columbia broke art and fell in flaming streaks om the Texas sky, NASA work- ■rs who launched the shuttle and Is seven astronauts and then gath- Jred up the remains stood united in theii'Mjrrow Sunday at the precise ^toment of destruction. The first anniversary of the tastrophe was a time for every- ne — rocket engineers, debris archers, school children, space (nthusiasts, even football fans — I) pause and remember. I “One year ago, at this very lour, the unthinkable occurred,” Kennedy Space Center’s director, lim Kennedy, told the crowd of lew hundred who gathered on a Iray, drizzly morning at NASA’s |stronauts memorial. Kennedy quietly recited the antes of the Columbia astronauts, arved into the black granite mon- iment behind him: Commander ick Husband, co-pilot William IcCool, Michael Anderson, avid Brown, Kalpana Chawla, aurel Clark and Israel’s first stronaut, Ilan Ramon. “They were our friends. They re our heroes. Their loss will not e in vain. We will come back big- er, better and stronger than ever fore, and I can assure you that rew and their beloved families never, ever be forgotten,” ennedy said. Almost all of the mourners held long-stemmed rose. After the rief outdoor ceremony, they ucked the red. yellow, peach and ivory-colored roses into the white fence surrounding the memorial. Many wiped away tears. The ceremony began at 9 a.m. EST, the instant NASA lost com munication with Columbia over Texas on Feb. 1,2003. It ended at 9:16 a.m., the time the spacecraft should have landed on the Kennedy Space Center run way. By then, Columbia had shat tered into tens of thousands of pieces that crashed down on Texas and Louisiana. A piece of fuel-tank foam insu lation had torn a hole in Columbia’s left wing during the mid-January liftoff and allowed hot atmospheric gases to enter dur ing atmospheric re-entry. Knowing the astronauts well made the anniversary all the more painful for Arthur Willett, a shuttle recovery worker who spent three weeks in Texas picking up the pieces. "Even though working in this program day to day, you realize those things can happen — until they do, it’s hard to take that burden on.” he said, gripping a rose. Tributes also were held in many of the East Texas towns where the wreckage fell. The husbands of the two women who died aboard Columbia attended a memorial in Hemphill, in a packed Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The memorial ended more than an hour later with a 21-gun salute. Jean-Pierre Harrison said he wanted to thank the people who recovered the remains of his wife, Kalpana Chawla. "You are among the best America has to See Workers on page 2 RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION Seven flowers and mementos lie next to the crash site of the Columbia space shuttle in Nacogdoches last February. Effects of tragedy still influence A&M campus By Rhiannon Meyers THE BATTALION Sunday marked the one-year anniver sary of the Columbia space shuttle explo sion that killed seven astronauts. NASA spokeswoman Julie Burt said she lost seven members of her family in the Columbia tragedy. "I had met the whole crew before they went up,'’ Burl said. "They were very excited about the mission and they all loved each other. It was really an amaz ing crew and we lost them." Columbia disintegrated over Texas on Feb. 1, 2(X)3, upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere killing seven astronauts: Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, William McCool. Rick Husband, Laurel Clark. David Brown and Ilan Ramon. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board determined the cause of the accident to be wing damage caused from a piece of bro ken foam insulation. "The accident has made us very reflective on everything we do now,” Burt said. "We had a lot to swallow after the board findings. Every thing was mov ing so fast, and this horrible thing caused us to stop and think.” Burt said the accident was not the fault of just one person, but of many NASA workers. "It was hard for everyone to realize they had a part in this,” Burt said. Dr. John Valasek, associate professor of aerospace engineering, said the most tragic aspect about the Columbia tragedy was that it was preventable. "It was unfortunate that we had in essence repeated what happened in the Challenger in 1986,” Valasek said. | "Astronauts know the risks involved every time they go on a mission, but as engineers we must take as many meas ures as possible to make sure it is a safe See A&M on page 10 Jjew England Patriots win Super Bowl 2004 Uil-liMJL “JBy Dave Goldberg ■THE ASSOCIATED PRESS aiowrl ;omp4 HOUSTON ~ Houston, we 'icaflasc a champion. And once I a || Ain, the New England Patriots remit I® e Adam Vinatieri’s foot to jontl tlia ik for a Super Bowl victory. ■Vinatieri gave New England s, c its second NFL championship 5 n at in three seasons with a 41 -yard the S'field goal with 4 seconds left are for a thrilling 32-29 victory tion over the Carolina Panthers on ve. Sunday night. indAvinatieri earlier missed a iging field goal and had another one )erce r blocked. But as he did in 2002 t ft®Ben he kicked the winning field goal to beat St. Louis on ^B final play of the Super dy wfC lwl, he proved he is perhaps ''th| NFL’s best dutch kicker. |For a con- that was reless for a lord 27 minutes, this game B one of the all-time offen sive shows between two of the As best defenses, n (/iPlBThere were 37 points scored .ji-g" in ihe fourth quarter alone and gdenfom Brady, who led New land on its winning drive, as 32-of-48 for 354 yards and e touchdowns, rady was voted the game’s P for the second time in e seasons, although he did gsr^'Bnv an interception that pre- preMented New England from in L winning more easily. readiA'There have been some 11 lean attacks, but they’ve come )ut on top,” said coach Bill . Jichick. whose team won its 15th straight game. K^BCarolitia had tied the game * with its third fourth-quar- ft aC BtO on a 12-yard pass from ^ lf1 jBe Delhomme to Ricky ^ ie B>ehl. Then John Kasay ,ere kicked the ball out of bounds <jet I to give New England field position at its own 40. Brady then moved the Patriots 37 yards in six plays, hitting Deion Branch to set up Vinatieri’s winning kick. “I looked up and it was going right down the middle,” he said. The kick prevented the Super Bowl from going into overtime for the first time ever. The Patriots led 14-10 at the half, and after a scoreless third quarter, they made it 21-10 on the second play of the fourth on a 2-yard run by Antowain Smith. It capped an eight-play, 71-yard drive featuring a 33- yard pass from Brady to tight end Daniel Graham. Carolina wasn't about to give up, though, scoring on DeShaun Foster’s 33-yard run on a six- play, 81- yard drive. But the 2- point con version pass was behind Muhsin Muhammad and it was 21- 16. The decision to go for 2 would come back to haunt coach John Fox. The Patriots seemed ready to put the game away when they got the ball back, but Brady made a rare mistake — throwing an off-balance pass that Reggie Howard intercept ed in the end zone. Two plays later, Delhomme found Muhammad behind the New England defense for an 85-yard score, the longest play from scrimmage in Super Bowl history, to give the Panthers a 22- 21 lead with 6:53 left. Fox again went for the 2-point con version and failed. Brady came back with the TD pass to linebacker Mike Vrabel with 2:51 remaining, and Kevin Faulk ran in for the 2-point conversion to give New England a 29-22 lead. Student Health Services is making changes to improve facilities at Beutel Health Center ■ Students can check appointment availability by going to shs.tamu.edu I Addition of new pharmacy at front entrance of Beutel i New ramp and automatic doors have already been installed RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION SOURCE : STUDENT HEALTH SERVICES Student Health Services improving Beutel facility By Jason Hanselka THE BATTALION Student Health Services are making changes to improve access and appointment availability at A.P. Beutel Health Center. A new ramp, steps and automatic doors along with the ability to check appointment times online are some changes that have already been implemented at the center. Russell Klinkenberg, senior associate direc tor for Student Health Services, said the improvements were necessary to accommodate the increased student population. "The center was built to service 18,000 stu dents,” he said. “Now there are about 45,000 students to serve.” Klinkenberg said the online clinic availabil ity checking system is a wonderful new tool for students. “It’s so easy for students to log in and check to see what times are available and convenient for them,” he said. Students can check for clinic availability by going to the Student Health Services Web site (http://shs.tamu.edu). Students must then call the health center appointment line to reserve a See Beutel on page 2 Brazos Valley museum features Bigfoot exhibit By Elizabeth Knapp THE BATTALION The Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History will feature a Bigfoot exhibit until August. “It is a fun, new exhibit,” said Graham Criglow, the facilities man ager. “It is so controversial and I think that it is a fun way to get new people into the museum.” The exhibit includes a life-size replica of Bigfoot, photographs, foot print casts, films, books and newspa per articles. The stories of Bigfoot have been around for years, and there have been reported sightings in all states of the union except Delaware and Hawaii. “Everybody has a story, some one you know has a story,” Criglow said. “I think that is what gets peo ple in here.” The museum, despite the contro versial topic, has circumstantial evi dence that will make everyone think twice, Criglow said. “At first, I was extremely skepti cal, but after evaluating all the evi dence, I realized that it is quite possible that it can exist,” said jun ior biology major Ganiva Reyes. “After seeing the research they dis played, I began to think that it could be true.” Stories and possible sightings that have accumulated all over the world have sparked the interest of many people. “Everything deserves time to be researched,” Criglow said. "It is wrong of science to write something off, even if it is folklore.” The answer to the question of whether it is fact or fiction still remains to be found. “Students need to learn not to believe everything they read or hear,” said Tom Lynch, executive director of the museum. “They need to know how to judge what is true and what is false.” Information and evidence has been provided to the museum on loan by the Texas Bigfoot Research Center. The life-size Bigfoot mount is on loan from the Milam County Crime Stoppers. The museum is open for admis sion Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.bvmuse- um.myriad.net. EVAN O'CONNELL • THE BATTALION "Bigfoot" is displayed at his temporary home at the Museum of Natural History in Bryan. The exhibit will be at the museum for the next six months along with footprints and other information about the larger-than-life creature.