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.