TT17
oil
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Battalion
OPINION:
9-11 Commission
must avoid instituting
domestic intelligence
agency.
Page 11
olume 110 • Issue \M • 12 pages
A Texas A&M Tnulilion Since 1893
www.lheball.com
PAGE DESIGN BY: LAUREN ROUSE
SHARON AESCHBACH • THE BATTALION
Ton Croxell, from Dallas, listens as senior environmental design
itji|or Jeryl B. Hamilton explains his Save Our Streets (SOS) final
phject for his architecture design studio. The SOS project is a model
■ a proposed 24 hours, 7 days a week Ministry Center and
Campus built for youth and their families in crises who are involved
in gang activities, drugs, abusive home situations, sexual exploita
tion, abandonment, violence and poverty. The class has been work
ing on the projects since last February.
tudents help ‘Save Our Streets’
By Jibran Najmi
THE BATTALION
Blhis semester, 28 Texas A&M architecture students
developed preliminary site plans for a 19.6-acre campus for
Save Our Streets (SOS) Ministries, an inner-city Christian
Kial outreach program in the Bryan-College Station area.
■ J.J. Ramirez, a reformed drug addict and former gang mem
ber. founded the organization in 1993 to create a center for trou
ble youth that was accessible on a 24-hour-a-day basis.
■ “It’s always nice to do a project where you know that
\\ju re helping and making a difference,” said junior envi-
mental design major Heidi Sanders.
Ramirez said he turned his life around when a friend
ided him a Bible. He said there was one thing that helped
break out of the drug lifestyle.
“Desperation,” he said. “I looked up and said ‘God if
Bn're for real, help me now.’”
'■Ramirez said he had no one to turn to for support as he
brjrke his $150 to $200 drug habit.
■ “I didn’t have anyone to encourage me and tell me that I
w< uld make it. I want to be that person,” he said. “Everyone
tol I me that I was a drug addict and that I would be a drug
addict for life.”
jBRamirez turned to George Mann, the Ronald L. Skaggs
Htfessor for health facilities design, for assistance in
developing his dream.
I
Students in Mann's undergraduate design studio were
assigned the task of creating preliminary site plans and
designs in pairs.
“The students have gone the extra mile in researching
the best alternatives for developing the site in different
phases,” Mann said.
The proposed campus will be built on Groesbeck Road in
Bryan on recently purchased land and will feature adminis
trative offices, gyms, classrooms, workshops, nurseries, out
door sports facilities, picnic areas and swimming pools.
Mann said students were required to complete two mod
els: one of the overall site and one detailed model of the main
building and surrounding areas. Students were also required
to make decisions regarding spatial allocation and cost esti
mates, among other things.
“The hardest thing about this project was to translate the
specific needs of this organization into something that was
feasible and that could become a reality,” said Niki Manning,
a senior environmental design major.
Although the final site design will not be one of the
designs created by the 14 student pairs, each design will con
tribute specific ideas toward the final center. Each design
had specific focuses, ranging from minimizing construction
costs to making the building more appealing and drawing
people to the site.
“It’s a project that hit really close to home for them,” Mann
said. It deals with a real social problem that affects every town
in the United States regardless of income, class or race.”
hree Marines injured in Afghan ambush
By Paul Haven
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JKABUL, Afghanistan — Suspected
insurgents ambushed an American mili-
Hy convoy on a road in southern
■ghanistan, setting off an explosion that
wounded three Marines — one of them
Seriously, the U.S. military said Monday.
■The attack occurred Saturday near
the village of Dailanor, in restive
Kandahar province, said Lt. Col.
■cker Mansager, a military
Bkesman. The wounded men were
taken to a military hospital at the U.S.
Biv in Kandahar, the main coalition
headquarters in southern Afghanistan.
■Kandahar and other southern and
«tern Afghan provinces have seen a
considerable increase in violence in
lent weeks.
(“Historically, over the past two
y|irs, as the weather improves in
dianistan ... there has been an
uptick in enemy operations, particu
larly in the south and east,” Mansagar
said. “We seem-
to have seen an
increase in the
number of
attacks in the last
two weeks.”
But Mansager
said U.S. forces
have more than
enough military
muscle to deal
with the threat.
As the bloodshed
has increased,
military spokes
men have routine
ly described it as
an act of “des-
peration” by
insurgents on their last legs, echoing a
line they have pushed for more than
two years.
Historically, over the
past two years, as the
weather improves in
Afghanistan... there has
been an uptick in enemy
operations, particularly in
the south and east.
Lt. Col. Tucker Mansager
military spokesman
Some 2,000 Marines have arrived in
Afghanistan in recent weeks, bringing the
total size of the U.S.-
led coalition to about
15,500 soldiers. It was
not clear if the men
wounded in Saturday’s
attack were part of the
new contingent.
Spc. Pat Tillman, a
former NFL player
with the Arizona
Cardinals, became the
latest U.S. casualty
when he was killed in
an ambush Thursday
by suspected Taliban
militants in the eastern
province of Khost.
Several bombings
have been reported in
Kandahar in recent weeks, one outside
a building where the governor was
holding a meeting.
VPSA announced
BRESCIANI
By Sonia Moghe
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M
President Robert
M. Gates
announced
Monday that Dean
L. Bresciani will
be the next vice
president of stu
dent affairs for the
University begin
ning this summer.
Bill Kibler, who has served as the
interim vice president for student
affairs for the past year, will become
the vice president of student affairs
at Mississippi State University. He
and his family will leave for
Mississippi at the end of May.
“It’ll be hard to leave,” Kibler
said. “Eve been working at Texas
A&M for 24 years.”
Kibler said he is confident that
Bresciani will fill the position well.
“Some of our students that inter
viewed him on campus felt good
about (him),” Kibler said. “They con
nected with him (and think) that he’ll
be a strong advocate for students.”
The search was conducted dur
ing the past six months by a com
mittee that included three students,
one of whom was Student Body
President Matt Josefy, a senior
accounting major.
“I think what Bresciani will
bring to the position is an extensive
knowledge of student affairs and a
very strong national reputation in
this field,” he said.
Josh Peschel, graduate student
council president, and Pablo
Rodriguez, vice president of diversi
ty for student government, were the
other two student members on the
search committee.
“(Bresciani will create a) rela
tionship between student affairs and
academic affairs,” Rodriguez said.
“He values and appreciates the
unique A&M culture and that was
apparent during his interview.”
Kibler said Bresciani will take
over the position sometime in June.
Jan Winniford, the associate vice
president of student affairs, will
serve as the interim VPSA in
between Kibler and Bresciani’s
terms. She has been working at
A&M for 25 years, Kibler said.
Josefy said the search for a
VPSA was difficult because of the
number of qualified candidates.
“We were fortunate that there
were many choices this time
around,” Josefy said. “There were
multiple candidates that would
have done a good job.”
Campus Master Plan
to urbanize A&M
By Jeremy Osborne
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M campus will become more pedestrian friendly, accord
ing to the new Campus Master Plan, presented by the Campus Master Plan
Steering Committee Monday at Rudder Theater.
The plan, to be implemented over the next 50 years, will make the cam
pus a more urban, uniform place.
Mary Miller, Campus Master Plan chair, said the primary concern is
making the campus accessible for pedestrians.
“The first concern is pedestrians, then bicycles, buses and then private
vehicles,” Miller said.
To achieve this goal, parking will be moved to garages on the periphery
of campus, said Carl Gromatzky, a consultant with Barnes Gromatzky
Kosarek Architects.
“Eventually you have to replace surface parking with garages,”
See Plan on page 2
CAMPUS MASTER PL AIM
The Texas A&M Campus Master Plan will
make the campus more accessible to
pedestrians over the next 50 years.
Plans include:
^ Moving parking to garages on the edge
of campus
^ Constructing buildings on West Campus
closer together
► Creating more open spaces and walkways
for pedestrians
Proposed aerial view of campus
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
SOURCE : TAMU.EDU/CAMPUSPLAN
armHouse Fraternity finds its newest niche at Texas A&M
By Jason Hanselka
THE BATTALION
After years of unsuccessful attempts to estab-
,wsh a presence at Texas A&M, FarmHouse
fraternity officially chartered its A&M chapter
“pril 17.
Cody Gladney, a sophomore animal science
tajor and president of A&M FarmHouse
[raternity, said the University’s traditional lack
|f Greek interest was the main reason the frater-
Jity had previously failed at establishing a chap
ter at A&M.
“We like to consider ourselves the uncommon
paternity,” Gladney said.
FarmHouse Fraternity was established in
Columbia, Mo., in 1905. It was originally started
by University of Missouri students, most of
whom came from agricultural backgrounds, who
wanted to form an agricultural club. It comprises
29 active chapters throughout the United States
and Canada.
“FarmHouse has always had a strong base in
ag, but we want diversity,” Gladney said. “We are
open to all majors.”
A&M is the seventh Big 12 school where
FarmHouse has issued a charter. Other Big 12
schools include The University of Missouri,
Kansas State University, The University of
Nebraska, Oklahoma State University, Iowa State
University and Texas Tech University.
Jonathan Hawley, director of chapter services
for FarmHouse International Fraternity, said
FarmHouse has always strived to be a part of the
world's most reputable agricultural schools.
“The ideals that (FarmHouse) have would go
together quite well with the ideals that Aggies
have,” he said.
Hawley said the goal of FarmHouse is to build
men intellectually, spiritually, socially, morally
and physically.
Hawley and Gladney said FarmHouse’s most
notable alumnus is Texas country music
singer/songwriter Pat Green, who was a member
of the Texas Tech chapter.
Dale Pracht, adviser to the A&M FarmHouse
chapter and assistant director for experiential
education at the A&M Career Center, said
FarmHouse and A&M are a good match because
of the traditions the University has and the strong
values that the students possess.
Pracht, a graduate of Kansas State and
FarmHouse alumnus, said the fraternity con
tributed a lot to his education and the develop
ment of his leadership skills.
“FarmHouse has been an integral pan of my
life,” Pracht said. “Helping establish the A&M
chapter has been a rewarding opportunity to give
back to the fraternity.”
Shannon Redwine, a sophomore agricultural
development major and recruiting co-chair for
A&M FarmHouse, said most current members of
See FarmHouse on page 2