The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, June 09, 2004, Image 1

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    «« Wednesday, June 9,2004
The Battalion
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4 IT\;is V4 NI iraditioli Siiict? 1893
Day of Mourning
Texas A&M has canceled classes on Friday
in honor of former President Ronald
Reagan. The closing will allow students and
employees to participate in the public
expression of grief and remembrance.
m u n llw butt « ‘un
PACE DESIGN BY: RACHEL VALENCIA
CS task force deals with residential complaints
By James Twine
THE BATTALION
A College Station community task force has
resented a report to the College Station City
ouncil for possible solutions regarding noise and
arking problems caused by students living in sin-
le family homes.
The 28-member task force consisting of stu-
lents, community members and community lead-
Irs recommended to the City Council on May 27
that established codes and regulations be enforced
nther than making drastic changes because of a
jw complaints.
Glenn Brown, assistant city manager and the
ferson in charge of establishing the task force,
| aid the task force is comprised of realtors, stu-
ents, members of the community and representa-
ves from homeowners associations.
Brown said there have been a few occurrences
liat have created some specific problems in a few
leighborhoods.
“Sometimes there will be a group of students
living together that creates noise from parties and
creates problems for families living in those resi
dential areas,” Brown said.
Brown said he hoped that the recommenda
tions made to the City Council will present a solu
tion to these problems.
“Bottom line is we hope to change some ordi
nances to get a balance between all the members
of the community,” Brown said. “We tried to come
up with a solution so that neither group was taken
advantage of and made sure that everyone’s inter
ests are being heard.”
Some of the recommendations, according to
the executive summary presented by the task
force to the City Council, were to limit parking
to one side of a street to limit congestion, pro
vide more personnel and resources for code
enforcement, to make current police and code
enforcement more stringent, to increase noise
violation fines and to fine landlords when viola
tions occur.
The task force also voted for implementing a
rental registration program, as well as for the con
tinued limit of no more than four unrelated peo
ple living in a single family home.
College Station Mayor Ron Silvia said he
would like to see a compromise worked out and
that there will be workshops that will evaluate the
report from the task force before any major action
will take place.
“I would like to see an outcome that is
acceptable and beneficial to the community,”
Silvia said.
Chris Diem, a member of the student represen
tation among the task force, said he thought it was
inappropriate to limit the number of unrelated
people in a single family house because of a few
isolated incidents.
“It is ridiculous to punish all students for a cou
ple of incidents, and I think the number of unre
lated persons living in a home is not the problem,”
Diem said.
See Council on page 2
TASK FORCE REC OMMENDATIONS IX)
CITY COUNCIL.
For the first three issues, potential actions were
ranked in order of preference, with the first action
being preferred for dealing with each issue:
PARKING
1. Parking limited to one side of the street
(opposite fire hydrants)
2. Change requirement to one off-street space per
bedroom
3. Limit on-street parking hours
4. Investigate an on-street parking permit system
CODE ENFORCEMENT POWER
1. Provide more personnel and resources
2. Provide education (informing and involving the
public)
3. Work to speed up the process
NOISE
1. Increase fines for violations
2. More stringent police and code enforcement
3. Fine landlords where violations occur
4. Police response / TABC / Code Enforcement
WILL LLOYD • THE BATTALION
SOURCE • CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY TASK FORCE
King pin
Student Life to occupy Cain
SHARON AESCHBACH • THE BATTALION
rew Rhea, a 4-H Club roundup contestant from 4-H roundup competition held at Reed Arena. The
lartland, Texas, bowls in the Memorial Student weeklong competition includes a fashion show,
Center Tuesday evening. Rhea spent the day at the photo exhibit and rifle contest.
By Chelsea Sledge
THE BATTALION
By late July, the Department
of Student Life will be housed in
one building for the first time.
These plans are part of the con
version of Cain Hall from a res
idence hall to an administrative
office building.
Currently, Student Life is
located in Grove modulars, Hart
Hall, Sbisa and Koldus.
“This project will bring the
Department of Student Life
together in one place which is
something they have been want
ing for a long time,” said Bill
Perry, vice provost and chairman
on the Council of Built
Environment.
When Cain Hall is finished in
July, Student Life will be joined
by Computing and Information
Services Operations and
Measurement and Research
Services. CIS and MARS will
be moving temporarily until the
General Service Complex is fin
ished, said James Massey, direc
tor of Facilities Coordination.
The General Service
Complex is a new building to be
completed in the summer of
2006. It will be located on the
corner of F&B Road and
Agronomy Boulevard.
Over the next four years, the
University has planned to hire
447 new faculty members.
Renovations, such as those of
Cain Hall, provide room to
accommodate such growth,
Perry said.
“With the investment of hir
ing new faculty that will arrive
this fall, we had to find space,”
Perry said. “We (the Council on
the Built Environment) looked at
a lot of options. One was to
work with the Athletic
Department which was using
See Cain on page 2
CAIN’S CONVERSION
Cain Hall is currently being renovated
from a residence hall to an administrative
office building.
• The process will be complete in late July
• This conversion will allow the entire
Department of Student Life to be housed
in one building
• The building will also house CIS Operations
offices as well as Measurement and Research
Services (MARS)
• A&M athletes formerly living in Cain Hall will
be moved to off-campus residence halls
WILL LLOYD • THE BATTALION
PHOTO BY BRIAN WILLS • THE BATTALION
SOURCE • VICE PROVOST AND CHAIRMAN OF
THE COUNCIL OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Center appoints new leaders
By Shawn Millender
THE BATTALION
The Center for New Ventures
and Entrepreneurship at Texas
A&M has appointed Richard
Scruggs and Dan Daniels to leader
ship positions in the center.
According to the organization,
The Center for New Ventures and
Entrepreneurship supports entre
preneurship education on campus.
Founded in 1999, the center is in
the Department of Management in the Mays
Business School.
Scruggs will succeed Bert Cannella as director of
SCRUGGS
the center. Cannella left to assume a teaching position
at Arizona State University.
Daniels, who served for two years on the center’s
executive committee, will take over as committee
chairman. His predecessor, Jack Matz, will stay
involved with the committee.
Scruggs, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree
in chemical engineering from A&M in 1977 and a
Master of Business Administration in 1979, will face
the challenge of filling Cannella’s shoes.
“Dr. Cannella was the one who really brought the
Center to the limelight,” said Assistant Director
Lenae Huebner.
“Richard Scruggs has a long track record of
See Scruggs on page 2
B KBTX cameraman dies
Big-power summit opens on upbeat note
By Brian D. Cain
THE BATTALION
Matt
Moore, a
i v e - f e e d
photojournal
ist at KBTX-
FV, died yes
terday while
covering a
gas well
explosion in
Robertson County, Texas.
Moore, 23, graduated from
Texas A&M in May 2003 with a
degree in journalism.
Mike Wright, general man
ager of KBTX-TV, said Moore
and three other journalists were
setting up for a live news report
next to Wood Field in Hearne
around 6 p.m. when the 15-foot
mast on the live-news van came
into contact with high voltage
wiring. The van was parked at
the time of the accident.
Wright said the accident is
still under investigation.
Moore, who is from Temple,
had been working for KBTX-
since September 2003,
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Wright said.
Michelle Peltier, a news
anchor at KBTX-TV, said the
van’s mast is raised to ensure
better reception during live
news reports from the field.
“Matt was very hard-work
ing and passionate about his
job,” Peltier said. “He had a
quick wit and a great sense of
humor — he was really a guy
you hoped they would send on
assignment with you.”
Peltier said Moore’s death is
particularly hard because of the
family environment at KBTX-TV.
Charlie Haldeman, a former
KBTX-TV anchorman who is
now a broadcast media special
ist for the City of College
Station, went to the KBTX-TV
studio to help out his colleagues
when he heard of the tragedy.
“I remember Matt as an
easygoing guy who had an awe
some sense of humor. If you
weren’t paying attention, you
wouldn’t catch his wit,”
Haldeman said.
KBTX-TV is a CBS affiliate
serving the Bryan-College
Station area.
Issues remain over plan to promote democracy in Iraq
By Tom Raum
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEA ISLAND, Ga. —
President Bush and other world
leaders showcased a new har
mony on Iraq on Tuesday as
they met at their annual summit,
but prickly issues remained over
both Iraq and Bush’s plan to
promote democracy across the
wider Middle East.
Bush hailed the passage of a
new U.N. Security Council res
olution on Iraq as “a great vic
tory for the Iraqi people” and
thanked President Vladimir
Putin for Russia’s help in win
ning the vote.
Putin, who had opposed the
U.S.-led war in Iraq, called the
U.N. vote “a major step forward.”
Despite the vote, Bush low
ered expectations of gaining
other countries’ military support
in Iraq — one of the original
hopes behind the resolution.
“I expect nations to contribute
as they see fit,” Bush said as he
met with Japanese Prime
Minister
Junichiro
Koizumi on the
opening day of
the Group of
Eight summit.
Of the power
ful countries
attending the
summit on this
secluded coastal
resort island,
only the United
States, Britain,
Italy and Japan
have troops in
Iraq. Japan’s
noncombat
troops perfonn
humanitarian
missions.
Germany, France, Canada
and Russia do not have troops in
Iraq, and have said they will not
send forces.
A social dinner Tuesday
evening marked the formal open
ing of the summit, but Bush first
had one-on-one
meetings with
Koizumi and the
leaders of Canada,
Germany and
Russia.
Police and jour
nalists far outnum
bered protesters,
disappointing
activists who said
heavy security
scared away many
others. Protest
marches in
Brunswick, the
nearest coastal city,
and Savannah, 80
miles to the north,
drew around 100
activists each Tuesday.
The Security Council agree
ment on Iraq, approved by a
15-0 vote Tuesday, was an
important victory for Bush, tak
ing the sting out of recent dis
agreements with Europe.
British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, Bush’s key ally in the
war, called it “an important
milestone.” And German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder,
a leading opponent of the war,
called it “a good foundation for
enhancing stability.”
But Bush’s proposal to pro
mote democracy across the
Muslim world has run into
resistance from Arab and
European governments that see
it as heavy-handed and
American interference.
Turkey’s prime minister told
reporters the plan’s success
depends on first resolving con
flicts in Iraq and between Israel
and the Palestinians.
“Solving the Israeli-
Palestinian problem is an
urgent matter above everything
else,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said in Ankara before leaving
for the summit.
Solving the
Israeli-Palestinian
problem is an
urgent matter
above everything
else.
— Recep Tayyip Erdogan
prime minister of Turkey