Thursday, March 4, 2004
The
Finnic ll» * I SSIIC 105 * 16 P u g es
A Texas A&IVI Tradition Since 1893
Opinion:
Where did the
jobs go?
Page 5B
www.thebatt.com
Sharon Aesbach • THE BATTALION
Attendance for the convention includes 330 vol
unteer firefighters who will learn methods for
extinguishing fires.
PAGE DESIGN BY: EMILY HENDRICKSON
Volunteer firefighters
learn the ropes at A&M
By Kyle Ross
THE BATTALION
With the sound of a beeping pager,
suddenly their lives change.
They are volunteer firefighters,
ordinary individuals who race into
burning infernos to save people they
may have never even met.
This week, many of these volun
teer firefighters, as well as their full
time counterparts, are on the Texas
A&M campus for the 16th annual
spring fire training school.
All week, men and women from
Texas, to the United Kingdom are
reporting to the Texas Engineering
Extension Service (TEEX) training
fields, all trying to learn to save lives.
Deloss Edwards, a training
instructor, said he has seen the fire
training school grow over the years to
what it is today.
“I’ve been training guys here for
28 years, but I’m just a rookie,”
Edwards said. “There’s a couple guys
that have been here a year or two
more than me.”
Edwards said in the early years he
would arrive a few days before class
es and help paint the shelters, mow
the grass and set out the hoses. He
said the school has changed drastical
ly since then.
The 120-acre training site now
boasts 132 life-size training props,
various covered outdoor class
rooms and a $70 million “disaster
city” complex.
From a derailed gas tanker to a
crashed helicopter and a burning
chemical plant, the students are given
hands-on training.
“Coming to this school has been
an asset to me,” said Donny Williams,
a volunteer firefighter from Navasota.
“We do some amount of training in
my hometown, but we can’t actually
go out and practice first hand in the
field like over here. It’s given me
great confidence in
what I do ”
Vernon Rerich, a
volunteer firefighter
from Weimar, Texas,
said the world is con
sistently changing and
one must be prepared.
“We just put out an
enormous fire on this
building,” Rerich said,
“and 1 think after
lunch there’s a pretty
big chemical fire we
are going to get after. ■
With the world changing like it is, you
just never know what might happen,
and I can’t get this kind of training
anywhere else.”
Casey Flinn, from the Texas Forest
Service, said financial obstacles stood
in the way of volunteers until 2001,
when the Texas Forest Service formed
a partnership with TEEX that would
provide tuition grants to people like
Williams and Rerich.
“Volunteers were a bit frowned
upon in the past (by the paid munici
pal firefighters) because of their lack
of training,” Flinn said. “But now
with these grants they’re all being
trained together. We’re getting more
of an equality among the fighters.”
This spring, through the Rural
Volunteer Fire Department
Assistance Program, 130 firefighters
were given full tuition grants. Last
summer 500 trainees were given paid
tuitions, and the number of grants is
estimated to rise for the upcoming
summer sessions.
In addition to
training, the Texas
Forest Service has
also supplied almost
$25 million worth of
equipment to volun
teer fire departments,
Flinn said.
“The most impor
tant thing is making
sure that the volunteers
are trained to use the
equipment,” Flinn said.
"We can supply all the
equipment in the
world, but if they don’t know how to
use it then it’s worthless.”
The trainees take part in various
demonstrations on the correct ways of
handling gear such as hoses, nozzles
and air packs. They learn different
pump operations, how to climb an
assortment of ladders and are even
given lectures on the chemical
makeup of fire itself, said Jason Cook,
communications director for TEEX.
“Tomorrow my group is going to
be doing some hands-on work with
putting out fires,” Williams said.
“That’s the fun stuff.”
I can't get this
kind of training
anywhere else.
— Vernon Rerich
Volunteer firefighter
Virus hits University computer system
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
r A new computer virus wormed its way into the
pas A&M computer system Tuesday morning,
psing users to open what looks like legitimate e-
atiachments.
t The virus, dubbed Beagle.J or Bagle.k, is spread
°ugh a zip attachment that requires a password to
said Jeff McCabe, associate director of
s Computer Infomiation Services.
-. One main thing it does is drags any e-mail
press and replicates it to other people you have e-
N addresses for,” he said.
I'David Sustaita, a senior associate for informa-
jp tec hnology issues management, said the pass
word is given in the body of the e-mail and is usu
ally numerical.
Sustaita said the difference between the
Beagle virus and the MyDoom
virus, which spread around cam
pus in January, is that the Beagle
virus is more aggressive in urging
someone to open the attachment.
“The MyDoom virus tries to trick someone into
opening an infected attachment, but in a less per
suasive way,” Sustaita said.
The new variant to the Beagle virus is that its
elaborate and attempts to lure someone into per
forming an action, and if it is not done, it threatens
to close the e-mail account, Sustaita said.
The subject lines of infected e-mails will try
to fool the receiver into thinking the e-mail is a
legitimate message. The body of the message
may also include “please read the attached for
further details.”
Several departments may have
been hit with the virus, causing e-
mails to be sent out without their
knowledge.
Rob Stewart, promotions and game operations
coordinator for the Athletic Department at A&M,
sent out a campus-wide e-mail Wednesday stating
that e-mails sent from his mailbox to all students
with sports passes did not intentionally go out.
“I assure you that these messages did not
See Virus on page 4A
f Beagle.J 0122?
Also known as the “Beagle.K,” “Bagle.j”
and “Bagle.k” virus. It began infecting
TAMU computers Tuesday morning.
4) Seeks e-mail addresses on one’s computer
and uses own e-mail client to send itself to
other computers
4) Subject line may vary, but it will attempt to
fool the receiver into believing that the
e-mail is legitimate
4) Body of message may include “please read
the attached for further details”
Visit http:// problem.tamu.edu
for status updates
Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION
Source: DAVID SUSTAITA, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
ISSUES MANAGEMENT
Computer access fee may increase
By Natalie Younts
THE BATTALION
wBoard of Regents will consider a
Proposal to increase the student computer
| c «ssand instructional technology fee by
^75 per semester credit hour.
( Will generate an estimated
$3.7 million per year in additional
income
i* $2.3 million will be used to replace
the student information
management system.
> $475,000 per year would be spent
%■ 011 network operations, internet
access, network security and a
L^network engineer.
$ ou Andrew Burleson • THE BATTALION
ERCE CANTRELL, ASSOCIATE PROVOST
FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The Texas A&M System Board of Regents
will consider a proposed $3.25 per semester
credit hour increase in the student Computer
Access/Instructional Technology fee (CA/IT)
during its meeting March 25 and 26.
The fee for a student taking 12 credit hours
would increase $39 per semester.
The CA/IT fee pays for equipment and
services for student access to computing, net
working and instructional technology. It also
buys classroom instructional multimedia
equipment and supports faculty in using
instructional technology.
The fee increase would generate an esti
mated $3.7 million per year in additional
income, according to the proposal by Pierce
Cantrell, A&M associate provost for infor
mation technology. The proposal said $2.3
million per year would be used to replace
the Student Information Management
System (SIMS).
Cantrell said SIMS is the key to running
the University. SIMS incorporates admis
sions, registration, financial aid and other stu
dent records.
Cantrell said A&M has used the old sys
tem since 1985 and the outdated technolo
gy needs to be replaced. The University
has saved 40 percent to 50 percent of the
estimated total cost for a new system in the
past five to six years.
“SIMS is really not in any imminent dan
ger, but it’s going to take us three years to
replace it from the day we start,” he said. “We
are worried that five years from now SIMS
will not be viable.”
Scott Smith, a student senator and senior
See Fee on page 2A
%ie represents region for fraternities
B y Carrie Pierce
t he battalion
“•"thern 8 ^!.:" 3 * elected as
nern
Nation
Wrinl l 8,on Director of The Mi
lerican r \ ^"ccior or me Mi
(MOCA) *i ree ~ Council Associate
I'Chica"- 16 f ,rst time at i ts conferen
Gr Cag °-
^inistrat^ 61 ^ 8, a so Phornore busim
*crwT randameniber ° fsi s'
le,(as : Arkane re P r esent 150 schools
MGCa^ and0klah onia.
v ersees all Greek systems in i
nation, said Julian Methony, a senior industri
al distribution major and Interfraternity
Council president.
“It represents schools from Michigan to
Texas to Kansas to North Carolina,’
Methony said.
To be elected this position, Soderberg said
he had to be on the Interfratemity Council and
a good candidate.
Soderberg said he ran for this position
because he saw it as an opportunity to meet
new people, participate in activities he would
n’t normally get to do and to represent Texas
A&M Greeks.
“I felt that it would help bring A&M’s
Greek system to the forefront of the national
stage,” Soderberg said. “It helps us to increase
our acknowledgement of Greek systems.”
The position will make Soderberg the face
and communicator of Greek systems for the
region, he said.
A&M, which is usually not thought of as a
“Greek school,” could now attract students
that usually seek out those types of
See Aggie on page 2A
ADEP urges caution
during spring break
By James Twine
THE BATTALION
Stephanie Miller, a sopho
more human resources major,
is planning to go to South
Padre Island for spring break.
Miller and her friends are
preparing for a fun-filled week
of relaxing in the sun, going
to parties and enjoying the
night life.
While they look
forward to having
fun, Miller said that
she and her friends
realize they need to
be cautious of the potential dan
gers they face while in Padre.
“When we go out any
where we always look out for
one another,” Miller said.
“And while in Padre we will
especially make an effort to
stay together, so nothing bad
might happen.”
The Alcohol and Drug
Education Program (ADEP) at
Texas A&M will promote safe
ty and alcohol awareness dur
ing its spring break safety
informational with the “Watch
Your Booty” events Thursday
through Tuesday at locations
around campus.
“We want everyone to look
out for their personal safety,”
said Jennifer Ford, program
ming coordinator of ADEP.
Tonight the “Watch Your
Booty” events kick off at the
Student Recreation Center at
9 with information available on
spring break safety, prize give
aways and free pizza.
“We want students to be
aware of their surroundings,
protecting themselves and their
personal belongings while hav
ing fun and relaxing on their
week off,” Ford said.
Rodney
Shields,
vice presi
dent of
collegesafe.com, warns stu
dents about the repercussions of
their actions or accidents that
may occur while on spring
break.
Drinking excessively, get
ting robbed, date rape drugs,
sexual assault, violence, a hos
pital visit, jail time in a foreign
country and even death are all
common problems during
spring break, Shields said.
“There is a perception that
what happens at spring break
stays at spring break, and that is
just not true,” Shields said.
Shields said there is always
a risk of physical harm or
property theft while trying to
See Caution on page 2A