Monday, July 26, 2004
THE BATTAll
OUST TO U£T you tfNOW, y^SO ITS feASXy TO
i HAve emoush mace / point out that
Br:Mu.umr Husband-wife soldiers
killed in murder-suicitf
Hydrilla returning to Lake Bastrop
KILLEEN, Texas — Police were inves
tigating the shooting deaths of two Fort
Hood soldiers this week as a murder-suicide,
authorities said.
Fort Hood officials on Saturday identified
the victims as Sgt. Erin Elizabeth Edwards,
officials said.
The couple had a violent domesiij
lory, according to court records rei|
by the Killeen Daily Herald,
said police were constantly at theresij
because of domestic problems.
BASTROP, Texas —After almost
vanishing from Lake Bastrop, the
hydrilla water weed is back.
The invasive plant had covered
more than half of 900-acre Lake
Bastrop before inexplicably begin
ning to retreat in 1999 and then
nearly vanishing.
Now, the aquatic weed’s long, ropy
strands are matting together to almost
fill some coves and threatening to
clog the cooling water intake vents at
the Lower Colorado River Authority’s
Sim Gideon Power Plant.
A recent survey by river author
ity scientists found hydrilla covering
256 acres, or about 28 percent, of
the lake, built in the 1960s as a water
source for the natural gas-fired plant
on its east shore. The lake is about
30 miles southeast of Austin.
The survey showed that the weed
is continuing to spread, adding 36
acres since another survey earlier
this month.
“This is the most hydrilla we’ve
seen since 1998,” river authority
aquatic scientist John Wedig told
the Austin-American Statesman
for its Sunday editions. “We have
found hydrilla growing in up to 14
feet of water in five general areas,
including an area at the North
Shore Park and coves leading to
the power plant intakes.”
The weed, which snags boat pro
pellers, impedes skiers and was
blamed for one drowning on Lake
Austin in 2001, is found in about
100 public bodies of water in Texas.
Officials believe that it got into
the state’s lakes from a dumped
aquarium years ago and has been
spreading on boat trailers.
In 1998, Lake Bastrop’s problem
gave then-Gov. George W. Bush
a photo opportunity as he happily
straddled the controls of a $200,000
mechanical harvester eating its way
through the hydrilla.
Bush had arranged for the
Tennessee Valley Authority to
loan the floating combine to the
river authority. The river authority
liked the harvester so much that it
bought it and now is revving up its
big paddlewheels almost daily on
Lake Bastrop.
Lake Austin’s thousands of
Asian grass carp, which were first
authorized by the state in May
2002, have kept the hydrilla there
to fewer than 200 acres. But Wedig
said the river authority would prefer
to use the harvester rather than the
carp because, unlike Lake Austin,
Lake Bastrop has a rich diversity of
aquatic plant life that the carp might
prefer to eat instead of hydrilla.
24, and her estranged husband, Sgt. William
McKinley Edwards, also 24.
Both served with the 4th Infantry Division
in Iraq before returning to Fort Hood in
recent months.
In June, William Edwards wasartil
on a charge of assault with bodily injij
hurting his wife. That day, ajusticei
peace issued a 60-day emergency)
lion order ordering William Edwards:!
Police found Erin Edwards’ body
Thursday morning on the front porch of her
home in this military community 75 miles
north of Austin. She had been shot in the
head, Capt. Jackie Dunn said.
William Edwards’ body was found a
short time later in an apartment complex
parking lot across the street. He suffered
what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot
wound, and a gun was recovered at the
scene, Dunn said.
The official causes of death were pending a
medical examiner’s confirmation, police said.
The couple’s 4-year-old son and 20-
month-old daughter were not home at the
time of the shootings and were believed to be
with Erin Edwards’ family in Pennsylvania,
away from his wife. A two-year prc-j
order was issued on Wednesday.
Fort Hood spokesman Cecil Greci|
both soldiers were light vehicle mei
although Erin Edwards had been tj
as an administrative assistant inthed
headquarters.
Erin Edwards listed Shawville.
her home of record. She joined the/
1999 and arrived at Fort Hood in 2
deployed to Iraq in March 2003 ar
there for a year.
William Edwards listed Silver
his home of record. He joined the/
1998 and arrived at Fort Hood lateil
m
year. He was sent to Iraq earlier thisyei|
served four months there.
Kerry
Continued from page 1
Hiler
Continued from page 1
Landry said one example of this
can be seen through his efforts in
the Agriculture Program.
“He has made a big impact on
the Agriculture Program through
combining the efforts of the Texas
Agriculture Experiment Station
and Texas Cooperative Extension
with those of the University,”
Landry said.
College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences Executive Associate Dean
Fuller Bazer said Hiler is also pro
active about increasing diversity
awareness through programs such
as minorities in agriculture, natural
resources and related sciences.
MANNRS adviser Edward
Romero said Hiler gets to know
the officers on a personal basis and
remains updated on activities and
progress within the organization.
“It gives the students confidence
to know that a dean and vice chan
cellor has such an open-door policy
to students and that he is so easily
accessible,” Romero said.
Bazer adds that Hiler also works
toward helping students get schol
arships and has made progress in
gaining funding for these as well.
Hiler said when he came to
A&M, it was a great joy for him to
work with students, and that it still
is today.
“I hope to have made some
positive impact through the help
I’ve provided, and that students
I’ve worked with go on to make
a difference and succeed in their
careers,” Hiler said. “The message
I have for students is to dream big
dreams and be the best you can be
— always strive to be better.”
Science
Continued from page 1
the Department of Energy prompted
by alarming security issues.
The lab came under scrutiny
after allegations by a group called
Project on Government Oversight
that employees sent classified
information over non-secure
lines. Classified material on stor
age disks has also been reported
missing several times over the
past year.
Peddicord said while plans to
bid on the contract are not yet
definite, the system has already
placed a bid to work at the
Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory.
“It’s not definite yet,” Peddicord
said. “Ultimately it will be up to the
system and the Board of Regents.”
noisily just outside a
seven-foot-tall temporary
security fence that ringed
the convention hall com
plex. The two _ one pro
testing the war in Iraq, the
other opposed to abortion _
crossed paths at one point
and a brief scuffle ensued.
Whatever the street
scene, there was no evi
dence of dissension among
the Democrats gathering to
nominate Kerry _ no plat
form fight, no battle over
floor credentials, not even a
sour note from Kerry’s rivals
in last winter’s primaries.
“It’s not normally
how this party operates,”
laughed Terence McAuliffe,
the party chairman.
“1 think it’s one of the
most unified parties we’ve
had in recent history,”
added New Jersey Rep. Bob
Menendez, who will speak
to the delegates on Monday
night. “It's a coalescence
both against the president's
policies ... and it’s also a
very strong sense of purpose
of taking the country in a
new direction.”
(me convention
is) a coalescence
both against the
president's policies
... (and) taking the
country in a new
direction.
— Rep. Bob Menendez
New Jersey
It was the latter that
Kerry’s convention script
writers wanted to accentu
ate. If Bush-bashing»i
exactly banned in
for the week, convet
officials said it
relegated to the
margins.
It was a strategy it
in part by pollsshowj
Kerry's Democratic
already solidly belli
and that the relative^
portion of the electom
remains undecided w
hear more about him
plans for the future.
It was coincidenci
brought the Democi
convention to a
liberal state thatKem
represented in the Hit
for more than twodi
Republicans viewiu
opportunity, thong!,
have sought to usetkf
la posit ion to their aid
tage. They issnei V
own poll as part
attempt to show If
more liberal than wet!
own constituents
Lanc^
hamp=
himmt=
olden
Earlzi
ip son*
est foi—
Arm.
record
lace a^
Nevd
inner ■
iven le=
testicul^
His
einvigd
nto the
if Fren ^
ose, in
Taki j
Inal st^
eld uj>
and an
“It n
;unk in
he pod
pedal, - *
The
oulevac
ith the
dversa i
NEWS IN BRIEF
Shell
Continued from page 1
A&M to hire consultant for
chancellor search
help strengthen students’ interest and proficiency in
this field.”
Lillehaugen said the new building provides students
with the opportunity to meet educational goals in a safe
research environment designed for chemical engineers.
“The chemical engineering department is currently
housed in three different buildings, none of which were
designed to modern safety standards or with chemical
engineering specifically in mind,” Lillehaugen said.
The primary location of the Chemical Engineering
Department, which is on the third floor of Zachry, will be
relocated to the new building in September. The building
is to be completed in August.
“It (the Jack E. Brown building) will help usher
Chemical Engineering to a whole new level of research
and education excellence,” Lillehaugen said.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M
University System Board of Regents on Friday
approved spending up to $24,999 to hire a consul
tant to help in its search for a new chancellor.
The A&M University System is searching for a new
chancellor after Howard Graves, who had held the
position since 1999, resigned in August due to his bat
tle with cancer. Graves died just over a month later.
The consultant to be hired by the Board of
Regents will help check the backgrounds and refer
ences of a small, select group of candidates, said
Vice Chairman Erie Nye.
The plan is for the chancellor’s position to be
filled as soon as possible, with a finalist or finalists
named possibly as early as September.
A. Benton Cocanougher, a marketing professor
serving as special assistant to the president of Texas
A&M University, is serving as interim chancellor.
The A&M System is made up of nine universi
ties, a comprehensive health science center and
educates nearly 100,000 students.
Texas Tech chancellor gets
extension, pay raise
sity didn’t announce the dollar amount,
has authority to act for the full board.
Smith had been scheduled to interviewTta
for the position of president of the Ur
Wisconsin System president before removi^'
self from consideration.
Smith has led Texas Tech since 2002. Hd
been reported to earn $375,000 ayeatiiu
tract that was set to expire in August 2006.
Abo u
Me pa
roads h<
Smotek
isimmeri
As c
A&M g
|this Ain
ng, a
fom bi
'oot-6-i
wo tall
ealize i
y appi
ho, in
Uh pii
ninfori
keel sli
LUBBOCK, Texas — The chancellor of the Texas
Tech University System, who withdrew this week
as a finalist for a similar position in Wisconsin, has
received a contract extension and a raise.
The executive committee of the Tech regents
board voted unanimously Friday to extend
Chancellor David Smith’s contract through 2007
and grant him a 1.5 percent pay raise. The univer-
Energy Department halts
nuclear weapons researcli
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. _ While teams c'.| r .
Alamos National Laboratory searched for
ing disks, the Energy Department halted classf
research at facilities around the country that
disks like those missing from the New Mexico^ u
'ecogni?
compete
n Italy!
ctivity
everge
People
Qateumy Villas
3-br/3-ba, 4-br/4'ba FOR LEASE
~ Located behind Cheddar’s ~
~ 4 Floor Plans ~
Call Ashford Square Realty, LLC at
979^4503031
for more information!
I Bedroom f489
2 Bedroom $539
Witness Center *0utside Storage Walk-In Closets
^Sparkling Pool ^Shuttle Route 24 Hour Maintenance
(979) 693-3701
Free Rent Or Special Rah 1
Visit Our
pnng
eights
FOURPLEXES
LARGE 2 BEDROOM
APARTMENTS
or
1 BEDROOM STUDIOS
with washer/dryer connection
Visit us & check for youmt
springheights.cofli
409 Summer Court, C.S.
1700 Southwest Parkway
846-35ti
startii
W
P
Free Rent I BRAZO s valley
Or Special Rates
1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments, Internet Available
Starting at $395
lincolnsquareapts.com
313 Lincoln, College Station
LINCOLN SQUARE
693-2720
YOU COULD HAVE AN STD
AND NOT KNOW IT!
IF YOU'RE SEXUALLY ACTIVE YOU ARE
AT RISK - EVEN IF YOU ARE USING CONDOMS.
STD Testing - Free & Confidential
Call our Registered Nurse to make an appointment
695-9193
205 Brentwood, College Station
s«
The Battalio;
Joshua Hobson, Editor in Chief
The Battalion (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spif* 1
ters and Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exan# ;
Texas A&M University. Periodicals Postage Paid at College Station, TX 77840. POSTMASTER: Se# 1
changes to The Battalion, Texas A&M University, 1111TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-1111.
News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Divisioi#
Media. News offices are in 014 Reed McDonald Building. Newsroom phone: 845-3313; Fax: 845-2M1;' 1
news@thebattalion.net; Web site: http://www.thebatt.com
Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement t
pus, local, and national display advertising, call 845-2696. For classified advertising, call 845-0569#;
offices are in 015 Reed McDonald, and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.fax#
Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up as
The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies 254. Mail subscriptions are $60 per school year, $30^
or spring semester, $17.50 for the summer or $10 a month. To charge by Visa, MasterCard, 06$
American Express, call 845-2611.