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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 2004)
The Battalion Opinion: Q-Drop policy needs to be revamped. Page 9 Volume 110* Issue 99 • 10 pages A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1S93 www.thebatt.com PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL BANKS fisli Drill Team member Brion Nielsen tosses his rifle dur- place honors in the individual category and Fish Drill Team ngiRe individual exhibition event at Tulane University's finished with four trophies, including first place overall mnl Mardi Gras Drill Meet Friday. Nielsen took first among 55 schools nationwide. PACE DESIGN BY : LAUREN ROUSE A&M Fish Drill Team wins national title By Aerin Toussaint THE BATTALION Andrew Hietpas had never spun a rifle before coming to Texas A&M. Hietpas, a junior history major, said he joined Fish Drill Team in 2002 as a way to test himself in a harsh environment and challenge himself to do something he had never experi enced before. On Feb. 20, Hietpas and other upperclassmen advisers led A&M’s Fish Drill Team to a national cham pionship win at the 32nd annual Mardi Gras Drill Meet at Tulane University in New Orleans, La. “Our goal out there is for per fection and to do our personal best,” Hietpas said. “Winning is just an extra bonus.” The Aggies won three out of five events at the meet and took first place overall, defeating about 50 other schools, including military academies such as North Georgia, the Naval Academy, the Citadel and West Point. The Tulane meet is the largest collegiate drill competition in the nation. Last year, the A&M team placed second at the meet, losing to North Georgia. “We just did what we were taught,” said Ryan Geyer, a freshman aerospace engineering major and Fish Drill Team commander. “We had a lot less practice time than they did last year, and we won. That’s a tribute to our upper classmen.” Connor Zier, a sophomore history major and Fish Drill Team drill instructor , said the team has come a long way over the past year. “Winning first place was a major feat,” Zier said. Fish Drill Team is comprised of 41 freshmen in the Corps of Cadets and is open to any freshman in the Corps who is willing to work hard and accept the challenges of being on the team. Team members practice four times a week during the fall semester, but this semes ter the team added two extra weekend practices in prepa ration for the Tulane meet, Zier said. .“This group of freshmen is the best at what they do,” said Michael Tillis, a senior agricultural development major and Fish Drill Team senior adviser. “I don’t think anyone can beat them. No one works as hard as this group does.” Tillis said the team works extremely hard, and it was easy to expect a win. “Tulane, for the freshmen, is a culmination of hours upon hours of practice in the cold, rain and heat,” Hietpas said. “There is no greater feeling than hard work paying off.” This group of freshmen is the best at what they do. — Michael Tillis Fish Drill Team senior adviser A&M aims to increase energy conservation U/.\atalie Younts THE BATTALION The Texas A&M Energy Conservation Committee began a campaign Tuesday to increase awareness in the importance of energy conserva tion and ask the campus com munity to become more “Reaching students in this campaign is going to be a high priority,” he said. To kick off the campaign, the ECC also announced Tuesday a campus-wide contest for creat ing a mascot, logo and slogan to be used in the campaign. A&M faculty, staff and stu dents are eligible to submit A&M spends $30 million peryear on electricity and natu ral gas alone, said Jim Riley. A&M Utilities 111 1 and K www.ttiebati.com ideas for the contest. The reward for creating the winning mascot or logo is $500. The reward for ECC chair. “If we could just make a 1 percent difference in that 30 million," Riley said, “that would he pretty significant savings.” Riley said the A&M Physical Plant is working behind the scenes to run more efficiently by improving equip ment and making modifications to buildings. 'But we want to make sure we include the whole campus community, whether it's turning lights off, turning equipment off or turning off space heaters that people run under their desks,” Riley said. Lane Stephenson, deputy director of University Relations and member of the ECC, said he was involved in two previous energy conservation commit tees, but this is the first one to target individual members of the campus community. Broughton, creating the winning slo gan is $250. June Transportation Services communications coor dinator and member of the ECC, said the contest is a way to build excitement and generate interest in conserving energy. “We needed an eye-catching way to get people's attention and to get them interested and involved in energy conserva tion,” Broughton said. “It saves money, it saves energy and it's just the right thing to do.” The ECC also created a Web site and a hot line as part of the campaign. If a person sees energy being wasted, they can call the hot line at 458-4150. “A lot of times, the building controls are keeping it too cold, and so people have a space See Energy on page 2 New law, machines make voting easier By Sonia Moghe THE BATTALION With the March 9 primaries approach ing, student voters now have the benefit of new provisional voting laws and new voting machines. The Texas provisional voting law went into effect Jan. 1 and allows all eligible voters to vote in elections, regardless of whether their names appear on the regis tered voters list. This will give the Brazos County clerk’s office three days to decide whether the voter is registered and if the vote should be counted. Many times, students register to vote in a county, but their names do not show up, said Jaime Kelley, elections clerk for Brazos County. Voters will also get-to uV the new eSlate voting system that cost Brazos County approximately $1 million. The system uses an electronic machine to count votes — replacing the problem-ridden punch card system that caused a controversy in the 2000 presi dential election. “We’ve had punch cards for the past 40 years,” Kelley said. “(The new eSlates are) not computers; they’re not linked to the Internet or a modem. They're just a computerized version of a voting system.” All Texas counties will be required to switch to electronic voting systems by 2006, Kelley said. “The voting system is now owned by the county,” Kelley said. “We’re going to See Voting on page 2 you Student voters now have benefit of new provisional voting laws and new voting machines for the 2004 elections. VOTERS MUST Register at least 30 days prior to the election Bring a driver license Bring a voter registration card POLL HOURS Feb. 23 - 27 Feb. 28 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Feb.29 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 1-5 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION SOURCE : JAMIE KELLY, ELECTIONS CLERK FOR BRAZOS VALLEY Visiting artists share ideas with students By Pammy Ramji THE BATTALION Six internationally-acclaimed experi mental multimedia artists are slated to make weeklong visits to Texas A&M this semester as part of the College of Architecture’s spring 2004 artists in resi dence program, RE+VISIONS, Communication Director for the College of Architecture Phillip Rollfing said. This week Marcia Lyons, head of Digital Media Fine Arts at Cornell University, will be the guest artist. Participants will combine the images and sound with software and video nota tions in her workshop, “Feeling a Space: Future Inhabitable Walls.” Her lecture, titled, “Doing the Math: Skinning a Space,” will explore multime dia video animation and motion graphics to develop “vibe interiors,” Rollfing said. “Marcia Lyons is an experimental media-maker interested in developing a synthesis between traditional media and digital processes,” Rollfing said Lyons uses computer programming to create DVD paintings that are shown on plasma screens, Rollfing said. “It really is a great opportunity for everyone,” Rollfing said. The artists’ visits are funded by a grant from the A&M Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts, Rollfing said. Each artist will conduct workshops and lectures introducing participants to the vanguard of the multimedia world. Rollfing said the artists were chosen based on faculty recommendations and a group of faculty members got together and picked the artists. He said that there would hopefully be a panel set up next year to decide which artists will lecture next spring. See Artists on page 7 Shakespeare festival encourages cultural education By James Twine THE BATTALION Mary Floyd Wilson said William ilakespeare’s plays have the capaci- tomove modern audiences while oviding a window to culture that iy seem strange to us. “We return to plays because they Resent familiar emotions,” Wilson H “We-' also return because ipeare grapples with ideas and Juicems that have almost faded fom our view.” son and other Shakespeare fr&is will be on campus March l -4 e 7th annual Shakespeare festival, hosted by the Memorial Student Center Literary Arts Committee to celebrate the life of Shakespeare. Wilson will be giving the opening lecture, and she will discuss her book “English Ethnicity and Race in Early Modern Drama,” with a specific concentra tion on how the argument plays out in Shakespeare’s dramas. Wilson said she was inspired to write about Shakespeare and ethnic ity after lecturing about his play “Othello.” She said she found the depiction of the Moor race in the play closely resembled the common thoughts about race today. “I wanted to discover what were the unfamiliar or undiscovered ideas about racial and ethnological differ ence in the 16th century that would help us read this play in a new light,” she said. Jim Harner, pro fessor of English at A&M, said reading Shakespeare’s works invites peo ple to think. “That is why there are so many competing interpretations of the plays,” he said. “Shakespeare has the ability to appeal to a broad range of audiences.” The correct interpretations and meanings of Shakespeare’s plays have been debated for many years, Harner said. Douglas Brooks, faculty adviser for the MSC Literary Arts and profes sor of English, said it is important to learn about Shakespeare and read his works because it represents intellec tual accomplishments in our society. “You can’t be culturally educated without being educated in Shakespeare,” he said. The Shakespeare Festival’s fea tured play this year is “Not Without Right: The Story of William Shakespeare,” performed by Will & Company. See Shakespeare on page 4 7TH ANNUXL SHXKFSPeX&F FF&IIVXL K^ONDXy, K^tXFLCH 1: - MXKV FLOYD WILSON LECTUFkt J.WXVNE SIX PMC CXLLEKIES, 4:30 P.M. TU£SDXY, X4XFLCH 2: • THE JLENXIS5XNCE CXELNIVXL II X.M. TO 3 P.M. THUfLSDXy, X4XfLCH 4: ■ THE 7-F PLXVEKS WILL PEfLFOFLM IN MSC 201, 7 P.M. FOIL XxOILE INFO, LOG ON TO WWW.THEBXTT.COM CRACIE ARENAS • THE BATTALION SOURCE : MSC LITERARY ARTS COMMITTEE