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» ■ < -w—^ Wednesday, July 21, 2004
The Battalion
olumc 110 • Issue 173 • 6 pages
A Texas A&1M Tradition Since 1893
\v\\\v. thcbatC.com
PAGE DESIGN BY: RACHEL SMITH
amily donates new Aggie ring to collection
By Andrew Burleson
THE BATTALION
An Aggie ring was added to the Memorial Ring
Collection at The Association of Former Students
biilding on Friday. The ring was donated by the
family of Diana S. Stepan, a senior petroleum en-
gneering major who passed away in March 1995,
tv/o months before her graduation.
I “The Stepan family contacted the Association
this spring about the donation,” said Kelli Hutka,
director of Campus Programs for the Association
of Former Students.
Hutka said there are three ring collections at the
Association. The original collection was started by
J.B. “Josh” Sterns and spans from 1899 to 1964
before the Agricultural and Mechanical College
of Texas became Texas A&M University. Begin
ning with the Class of 1965 is the Memorial Ring
Collection, which contains rings presented by the
families of deceased students. The third collection
is a set of historically significant rings, includ
ing that of the late Gen. James Earl Rudder, who
served as president of A&M from 1959 until his
death in 1970.
“During the ceremony (Stepan’s) family talked a
lot about her love for the University and how much
it meant to her to be at A&M. For them it was very
special for her ring to be returning to A&M,” said
Kathryn Greenwade, assistant executive director
for the Association of Former Students.
Greenwade said the ring was presented by
Stepan’s mother Sue, and her sister Patricia,
Class of 1998.
In addition to her place in the Memorial Ring
Collection, Stepan’s legacy lives on in the pe
troleum engineering department where she was
a student.
Stepan received her degree from the department
posthumously in May 1995. Shortly thereafter her
classmates started a scholarship in her honor.
Larry Piper, assistant head for undergraduate
studies in the Department of Petroleum Engi
neering, said it takes $60,000 to fully fund this
type of scholarship, and that due to the efforts of
Stepan’s family and classmates, the scholarship
is nearly fully funded.
IE BATTIKj
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ert, ploy!
rts committee
|o put sculptures
m A&M campus
By Kirk Ehlig
THE BATTALION
By Sept. 1, the MSC Visual Arts Committee will
five installed two sculptures by artist Rita Blitt on
|e Texas A&M campus — one at Cain Park and one
jO West Campus by the Kleberg Center.
I The installation of the sculptures will begin in Au-
listand the exhibit will officially open in January,
|didTim Novak, interim adviser of the MSC Visual
Ills Committee.
■ Elizabeth Jurewicz, chair of the MSC Visual
Iris Committee and a junior speech communica-
Inn major, said the Visual Arts Committee is a
Indent organization that runs the gallery on the
RISC’s second floor and helps with the Forsyth
enter Gallery. Within the past year the Visual Arts
ommittee has expanded from artwork to outdoor
ulptures, Jurewicz said.
This turned into the organization’s outdoor sculp-
re program, which displays the work of a different
list each year.
The artist the committee first worked with was
Backdraft
on Campus
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See Sculptures on page 2
▼ill
The- MSC Visual Aits Committ** will install
two new sculpture; by artist Rita Blitt
1 One will be in Cain Park and one will be on
West Campus near the Kleberg Center
I The Visual Arts Committee is working to
expand its displays of artwork inside the
MSC to outdoor sculptures
* Blitt draws on influences from Eastern
European and Asian Cultures
1 The goal of the Visual Arts Committee is to
spread art awareness throughout the
campus and the community
Andrew Burleson • THE BATTALION
Source: ELIZABETH JUREWIEZ
M. )t «
BRIAN WILLS • THE BATTALION
An Alcoa-Rockdale firefighter emerges from a smoke-
filled apartment training station after extracting a vic
tim. Alcoa produces the aluminum powder used in the
fuel for NASA space shuttles. Firefighters from around
the world converge on the Brayton Fire Training Field
and this marked the 42nd Industrial School session.
Tofessor appointed to Mitchell Heep chair
By Pammy Ramji
THE BATTALION
Professor of physics at Texas
A&M Peter M. McIntyre has
tions Jbeen appointed to the Mitch-
/Heep Chair in Experimental
gh Energy Physics.
Physics Department Head
ward Fry said he was pleased
th the decision.
“(McIntyre) has a wealth of
ative ideas, and he is a great
ioice for the chair,” Fry said.
MCINTYRE
Joseph Newton, dean of the College of Sci-
ince, said he can’t think of anyone better for
this position.
“McIntyre is an international expert, and he is
well qualified for this position,” Newton said.
McIntyre conducts research in accelerator tech
nology, experimental high-energy physics, super
conductivity and biophysics.
“1 personally enjoy the combination of what I
do,” McIntyre said.
McIntyre has researched and developed many
devices, including one that destroys bacteria such
as anthrax and E. Coli and produces high-energy
electron beams that break down dangerous organic
molecules in water.
“This new approach drops costs (of using the de
vice) by a factor of 10; (the device) had not been
affordable until now,” McIntyre said.
He has also invented a way to produce electric
power from nuclear fission in a reactor that is sta
ble and cannot melt down, he said.
“Being appointed to this position gives me
a margin of funds that enables me to follow my
ideas,” McIntyre said.
In 1973, McIntyre received his doctorate
from the University of Chicago. Before coming
to A&M he was an instructor at the University
of Chicago and an assistant professor at Har
vard University.
“I thoroughly enjoy teaching,” McIntyre said.
McIntyre came to A&M in 1980 and has been a
physics professor for the past 22 years. He has held
See Professor on page 2
McDonald’s
supersizes
old facility
By Erin Price
THE BATTALION
Jake Merrick, a senior marketing major,
drove down Southwest Parkway last week to
get his usual dollar-menu double cheeseburger
and “McValue Fry.” To Merrick’s surprise,
his McDonald’s was a leveled mass of con
crete and he was forced to go somewhere else
to satisfy his hunger.
“I was very upset and wondered where my
McDonald’s went,” Merrick said. “I admit, I
eat there at least four times a week, and this was
a huge shock for me.”
Bill Leonard, president of Be & De Con
struction, is heading up the project on South
west Parkway and Texas Avenue. He said
maintenance and air-conditioning costs were
high, and rebuilding was the restaurant’s best
choice. The demolition occurred on July 7, and
the company is hoping for an 80-day project
completion, Leonard said.
The company is planning to feature Col
lege Station’s first wireless Internet (Wi-Fi)
McDonald’s, where customers can use laptops
or hand-held devices to surf the Web, Leonard
said. Starbucks and Border’s Bookstores have
similar systems for their customers, he said.
Jack Hoover, project manager of restraint
and development for the McDonald’s Corpo
ration, said the new building will have a “Hill
Country” feel to it. Every 20 years the company
likes to redo its old buildings and this one was
outdated, he said.
“The new building will be very unique with
an aluminum roof, rose siding and limestone
See McDonald's on page 2
McRubble
The McDonald's at Texas Avenue and Southwest
Parkway has been tom down to be rebuilt as one
of the country's new high-tech Mickey D's.
McDonald's Corporation felt the building had
become outdated
The new McDonald's will be equipped with
wireless Internet so that customers can surf
the Web while enjoying their food
The improved building will have a game room
with arcades targeted at older age groups
Jack Hoover of the McDonald's Corporation
said the new building will have a distinct "Hill
Country” look
Andrew Burleson • THE BATTALION
Photo Courtesy of: DAVE MORRIS
Source: |ACK HOONER, MCDONALD'S CORP.
erger quits Kerry campaign as parties seek edge in probe
ties
rg!
ns.
By Curt Anderson
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Former national security
viser Sandy Berger quit Tuesday as an informal
viser to Democrat John Kerry’s presidential
Ci mpaign after disclosure of a criminal investiga-
ii n into whether he mishandled classified terror
s'n documents.
■Berger’s decision came as both parties sought to
up the investigation to gain political advantage or
to control damage.
Republicans said the probe raises questions
out whether the former Clinton administra-
n official was trying to hide embarrassing
terials from the public. Democrats ques-
ned why disclosure of a months-old inves-
ation came just before Thursday’s release of
tlfc final report by the commission investigat
ing the Sept. 11 attacks.
The report is expected to be highly critical of
the government’s handling of the pre-Sept. 11 ter
ror threat.
“So is this about Sandy Berger, or is this about
politics?” asked Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.
Former President Clinton also weighed in, tell
ing reporters at a Denver autograph session for his
book “My Life” that “it’s interesting timing.”
Berger served as national security adviser for
all of Clinton’s second term. “I know him. He’s a
good man. He worked his heart out for this coun
try,” Clinton said.
The Justice Department is investigating
whether Berger committed a crime by removing
from the National Archives documents about the
government’s anti-terror efforts and notes that
he took on those documents. Berger was review
ing the materials to help determine which Clin
ton administration documents to provide to the
Sept. 11 commission.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas,
told reporters the case was about theft and ques
tioned Berger’s statement attributing the removal
of the documents and notes to sloppiness. Along
with putting documents in his coat and pants,
Berger acknowledged removing some documents
in a portfolio. He returned most of the documents,
but some still are missing.
“That’s not sloppy,” DeLay said. “I think its
gravely, gravely serious what he did, if he did it. It
could be a national security crisis.”
House Speaker Dennis Hasten, R-Ill., said he
was “profoundly troubled” by the allegations, add
ing that Berger “has a lot of explaining to do.”
Lanny Breuer, Berger’s attorney, said his client
has offered to cooperate with investigators. He said
the decision to step aside from the Kerry campaign
was done because “Mr. Berger does not want any
issue surrounding the 9/11 commission to be used
for partisan purposes.”
Deputy Attorney General James Comey would
not comment on the investigation other than that
in general the Justice Department regards takes
“very, very seriously” allegations of mishandled
classified materials.
“It’s our lifeblood, those secrets,” Comey said.
The documents involved have been a key point
of contention between the Clinton and Bush ad
ministrations on the question of who responded
more forcefully to the threat of al-Qaida terror
ism. Written by former National Security Coun
cil aide Richard Clarke, they discuss the 1999
plot to attack U.S. millennium celebrations and
offer more than two dozen recommendations for
improving the response to Osama bin Laden’s
al-Qaida network.