^ m ■-# "mt" ^ Thursday, June 3,2004
The Battalion
AGGIELIFE:
Take this job
and shove it!
Page 3
www.thebaU.coin
PAGE DESIGN BY: RACHEL VALENCIA
UPD director ends 53-year career
By Pammy Ramji Director of University Relations Lane Charles A. Sippial Sr.
THE BATTALION Stephenson. “He is totally dedicated to law enforcement,
Now at 77, Wiatt is known as the oldest and he is a man who follows through; many
After a long and legendary 53 _ year career in active person in law enforcement. He attended people look up to him, Sippial said,
aw enforcement. Bob Wiatt officially stepped t ^ ie University of Cincinnati and Chase Law Health issues prevented Wiatt from being
lown as director of the University Police School and became an attorney. the kind of officer/director that he would have
)epartment at Texas A&M on Tuesday. Wiatt began his 30-year career as an FBI liked to have been, Sippial said.
The University Police Department’s a g ent in 1951. In 1958, the FBI transferred “We will miss him; he was a great boss,”
)ivision of Administration is hosting a retire- Wiatt to a position in Bryan, and he retired said Wiatt’s secretary, Karin Towner,
nent reception at the Annenberg Presidential from FBI service in 1980. The reception is from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and a
Conference Center on June 4 in honor of Wiatt has encountered some dangerous situ- presentation by University President Robert M.
iViatt. Wiatt started his career 50 years ago and ations throughout his career, as in one instance,
erved21 years at A&M. when he shot and killed a kidnapper, said
“He is a legend here at A&M,” said Deputy University Vice President for Administration See Wiatt on page 2
BOB WIATT RETIRES
The legendary lawman Bob Wiatt will conclude his
53 years of service at a retirement party on June 4.
0 Served in the Navy during WWII
0 Started FBI career in 1951
~ Played pivotal role in 1974
^ Huntsville Prison siege
Served two years as Chief
© Investigator for Brazos County
District Office
Served as Texas A&M's LIPD
(Hi director of security for 21
years
WILL LLOYD • THE BATTALION
SOURCE • OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
The doctor’s in
BRIAN WILLS • THE BATTALION
Paulus Fong, a soils and crop sciences Ph.D. student, injects an enzyme into
sample of DNA while testing restriction digestion on the sixth floor of the
Heep Center. Students are constantly testing proteins with various enzymes
to determine their effectiveness for use in pesticides.
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By Carrie Pierce
THE BATTALION
Col. Thelma Roman-Hales was one of
fie first women in the Corps of Cadets to
r ear senior boots and, on Thursday, will
lecome the commander of the 37th
issions Support Group at Lackland Air
dree Base in San Antonio.
Women in the military have come very
ir,” Roman-Hales said.
Today Roman-Hales will be assuming a
position that places her in charge of 4,900
military personnel.
Roman-Hales said the Missions Support
Group is the largest in the Air Force, sup
porting 35,000 people on the base.
“We take care of Lackland families,
housing, communications, contracting, sup
ply, personnel and air field operations,”
Roman-Hales said.
Roman-Hales said that when she entered
A&M as a freshman in 1976, women had
only been in the Corps for two years. All
women were in Company W-l until it
became too large. The Corps then created
Squadron 14 and Roman-Hales served as
commanding officer of that outfit. Roman-
Hales graduated from A&M with a horticul
ture degree in 1980.
“We were the first class that wore senior
boots,” Roman-Hales said. “At the time, that
was rebellious and a huge change. We were
certainly paving the way.”
See Commander on page 2
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By Sheila Flynn
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS — It could be sev-
al days before electricity is
lly restored to hundreds of
ousands of people left in the
ark after powerful thunder
arms toppled power lines and
owned trees, officials said
ednesday.
About 280,000 homes and
usinesses across the Dallas-
Fort Worth area remained
without power Wednesday
afternoon, TXU Electric
’ ,vig eliver y spokesman Drew
jU™|)ouglas said.
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The Southwestern Insurance
iformation Service, an industry
jroup, gave a preliminary dam
age estimate of about $ 100 miI-
lon. Most of the damage was
lue to wind, spokeswoman
|andra Ray said.
Last year, a springtime hail-
Itorm in North Texas caused
more than $800 million in loss
es, according to the Insurance
Council of Texas.
“In these situations, it’s
going to take days — up to a
week — to get more concrete
numbers,” Ray said.
TXU spokeswoman Carol
Peters said all available TXU
crews, as well as crews from up
to 750 miles away, were work
ing to restore power. In all,
.about 2,500 people were work
ing, she said.
Tuesday night’s storms
packed winds of more than 80
mph, as much as 2 1/4 inches of
rain, damaging hail and prolific
lightning. A tornado was spotted
in Arlington, and roofs and
buildings were damaged across
Dallas, Johnson and Tarrant
counties, forcing some residents
from their homes.
“This particular storm was in
another realm,” Peters said. She
said the company “could not
This particular
storm was in
another realm.
(The company)
could not have
begun to
predict the extent
of the damage.
— Carol Peters
TXU spokeswoman
have begun to predict the extent
of the damage.”
Crews were targeting what
she called “key infrastruc
tures” to restore power to the
most homes and businesses.
But she warned that it could be
several days before electricity
is fully restored.
Few injuries were reported,
but Fort Worth police con
firmed one storm-related death
Wednesday. Police said it
appeared a man died when he
slid his vehicle into a muddy
creek.
Meanwhile, TXU was work
ing with officials in Dallas and
Fort Worth to set up shelters for
senior citizens and others affect
ed by the outage.
Many residents, including
Joy Nguyen of Dallas, were
dealing with the lingering out
age.
The family refrigerator shut
off about 9 p.m., and she was
trying to preserve food by pack
ing it with dry ice.
“My husband, who works at
home and uses his computer to
do most of his work, is pulling
his hair out because he can’t get
anything done,” she said.
“Today is such a bad day.”
A&M student makes
virus tracking map
By Chelsea Sledge
THE BATTALION
Catherine Zindler has
developed a map that desig
nates at-risk areas in Bryan
and College Station for the
West Nile virus.
Zindler, a graduate student
in the entomology department,
developed the West Nile risk
area map for the Brazos Valley
as a project for two of her grad
uate classes.
“My map points out areas
that are at risk so we can sur
vey them before anything starts
dying,” Zindler said.
In 2003 there were five
cases of West Nile reported in
Brazos County and none so
far in 2004.
Zindler said the type of
mosquito which carries West
Nile, the southern house mos
quito or Culex quinquefascia-
tus, does not prefer to feed on
humans.
“The mosquito is more like
ly to bite you because it’s hun
gry,” Zindler said.
Zindler said mosquitoes
become a problem for humans
when they are enclosed in a
person’s home.
“The southern house mos
quito actually feeds on birds,
and the problem occurs when
the mosquito gets trapped in
your house,” Zindler said.
Liz Adams, a senior psy
chology major, said she could
n’t help but worry about con
tracting West Nile virus this
past summer.
“I am outside all the time
and from what you heard on
TV, West Nile seemed to be
catching like the common
cold,” Adams said.
All five human cases in the
Brazos Valley contracted the
virus in zones designated as
high risk and very high risk on
See Virus on page 2
WEST NILE IN TEXAS
Five human cases of the West Nile Virus were
reported in the Brazos Valley in the past 12
months. The virus has been identified in the
following counties in 2004:
1. Lubbock
2. Robertson
3. Leon
4. Brazos
5. Montgomery
6. Fort Bend
7. Harris
8. Brazoria
9. LaSalle
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
SOURCE • TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Saudi plan makes effort
to stop terrorist funds
By Jeannine Aversa
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The Saudi government, in an effort to
prevent charitable donations from bankrolling terrorism, is cre
ating a commission to filter contributions raised inside the
kingdom to support causes abroad.
As part of the plan, announced Wednesday at the Saudi
Embassy, the government is dissolving a large Riyadh-based
Muslim charity, Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, along with
other Saudi charities and is folding their financial assets into
the new Saudi National Commission for Relief and Charity
Work Abroad, officials said.
Adel Al-Jubeir, foreign policy adviser to Crown Prince
Abdullah, estimated that about $100 million a year might flow
through the commission.
The action, which comes in the aftermath of terror attacks
in the kingdom over the weekend that left 22 dead, was wel
comed by the Bush administration.
“I think it is an important step,” said Fran Townsend, the
White House’s homeland security adviser. “I think what we’ve
got to do is work with the Saudi government and see how they
implement this announcement today,” she added. “I think
See Saudi on page 2