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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2004)
ni The Battalion olume 110* Issue 182 • 8 pages A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893 OPINION: Promiscuous publicity % Page? www.thebatt.com PAGE DESIGN BY: RACHEL SMITH SeeiiT the Aegean lesearchers discover ancient fleet in expedition i By Andrew Burleson THE BATTALION I In June, a multinational expedition, led in part by She lley Wachsmann of the Institute of Nautical |rchaeology at Texas A&M, finished a two-week sirvey of the seas near the Mount Athos Peninsula in Greece. The expedition conducts surveys in the Aegean Sea annually. I The researchers were searching for the wreckage of an ancient Persian fleet, which sank in that area a)out 429 B.C. According to the writings of Herodo tus, nearly 300 ships and 20,000 soldiers perished in a storm. I Wachsmann said the goal of the Persian War Ship- I reck Survey is to locate remains of ships that sank in Greek waters during the period of conflict between the Persian Empire and the city-states of Greece in the fifth century B.C. Among the naval disasters that occurred during this war were losses of fleets due to s orms and battles at sea. 1 “We are taking Herodotus at his word and are trying to locate remains of fleets of great historical and archaeo- ligical significance. Ideally, we would like to find re- Siains of one, or more, triremes (oared ships with three lanks of rowers on each side). No triremes have ever leen found to date,” Wachsmann said. The 2004 expedition was conducted from May 28 to June 10th. During this time the researchers traveled into the sea aboard the R/V Aegeo of the Hellenic Center for Marine Research, and deployed its Thetis submarine and Max Rover. The Max Rover covered approximately 150 kilometers of seabed down to 600 meters depth using video imaging and sonar, while the Thetis submarine conducted daily dives to examine targets and raise arti facts, Wachsmann said. The expedition made several discoveries, locating ce ramic containers dating back to the Greek classical pe riod and to the Byzantine Empire. The researchers also uncovered more recent cargo, including a collection of salt-glazed pottery that likely dates back to the eigh teenth or nineteenth century, Wachsmann said. “The most interesting artifact was a ‘sauroter,’ which is a pyramidal-shaped bronze butt-spike of a Greek infantryman’s (hoplite’s) spear. This was made of bronze so that when stuck in the ground it would not rust. The spearhead was made of iron and leaf shaped. We found the suaroter inside ajar at a depth of about 100 meters, in an area where previously local fisher men had brought up two Classical period bronze hel mets,” Wachsmann said. Wachsmann’s study is one of many conducted by See Expedition on page 2 fhe Max Rover is being lowered into the Aegean Sea from the R/V ■n*egeo of the Hellenic Center for Marine Research. The rover cov- PHOTO COURTESY OF SHELLEY WACHSMANN ered 150 kilometers of seabed to a depth of 600 meters during the research expedition. During the expedition, the Thetis submarine conducted daily dives to examine targets and raise artifacts. The expe- PHOTO COURTESY OF'SHELLEY WACHSMANN dition made several discoveries, including artifacts dating from the Greek classical period to the Byzantine Empire. s National figures address ; A&M summer graduates taoi eed. By Lacy Ledford THE BATTALION Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armit- ge and former U.S. Rep. Gregory H. Laugh- in will deliver commencement addresses to exas A&M summer graduates Aug. 13. Armitage said, “I accepted the role as com- nencement speaker for my Triends Bob Gates nd Lieutenant Richard Chilcoat.” Sheran Riley, assistant to President Gates, e | er P; aid the presence of these national figures odes well with A&M. “It has been my experience that A&M com- nencement speakers take their speaker roles |uite seriously,” Riley said. “I think they real- ze that commencement is the beginning of a ^ lew life for students.” Armitage said he will deliver a short, uplifting nessage for the graduates’ future endeavors. “As students graduate, they stand poised on le edge of a vast experience, with many ad- entures lying ahead,” Armitage said. Armitage, who will speak at the 2 p.m. com- nencement, has held the State Department’s econd-highest position since March 2001 nd previously served as Assistant Secretary f Defense for National Security. Armitage’s Staff Special Assistant RaMell loss said Armitage has also served in the tovy and ha^achieved a long line of experi- nce in government. “He’s in a position that holds so much 'Ower, and may be an inspiration to students vho also want to hold positions of influence,” 7 W 2004 SUMMER ( OMMENCEMENT Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and former U.S. Rep. Gregory Laughlin will deliver commencement addresses to A&M summer graduates. Commencement will be Reed Arena on August 13th Laughlin will speak at the 9 a.m. ceremony Armitage will speak at the 2 p.m. ceremony LAUGHLIN ARMITAGE Will Lloyd • THE BATTALION Source: SHERAN RILEY, ASSISTANT TO PRES. GATES Ross said. Laughlin, who will speak at the 9 a.m. ceremony, represented the 14th Texas Con gressional District from 1989 until 1997, and then joined the Patton Boggs law firm after his time in public office. See Graduates on page 2 Foundation honors Dr. Holditch By Kirk Ehlig THE BATTALION Dr. Steve Holditch, Samuel Rob erts Noble Foundation Chair and head of the Harold Vance Depart ment of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M, will receive the 2005 Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME). Dr. John Lee, professor of petroleum engineering at A&M and L.F. Peterson Endowed Chair, said Holditch is being recognized for his contributions to hydraulic fracturing and low permeability gas reservoirs. “Hydraulic fracturing is a process for stimulating oil and gas wells to get more oil and gas out of the HOLDITCH ground more rapidly,” Holditch said. “It improves the economics of producing oil and gas fields to help sup ply the petroleum that the world is demanding.” The SPE, which Holditch was president of from 2001 to 2003, is a 60,000 member organization for petroleum engineers and other professionals in the oil and gas business. It is a worldwide organization, and is one of several other organizations under AIME, Holditch said. “He is perhaps the top engineer in the United States in his field-knowledge of hydraulic fracturing,” said Dr. Michael J. Economides, professor of engineering at the University of Houston and a former colleague of Holditch at A&M. “He is one of the few individu als who combine an outstanding exposure to both the theory and practice of well stimulation. He has a great ability to articulate the technical and practical issues in See Foundation on page 2 Parents charged in son’s death in fire ABILENE (AP) — The parents and grandparents of a 6-year-old boy killed in a mobile home fire started by a methamphetamine lab were indicted on charges of capital murder. A grand jury issued indict ments Monday against Russell Lee Dentler, 35; Amy Camille Dentler, 33; the child’s maternal grandmother Patsy Carol Teague, 50; and her husband Lonnie Evert Teague, 51, said Jones County Sheriff Larry Moore. Texas law states that an unin tended death in the commission of another felony may result in a murder charge. “They were cooking dope in their house; it caught fire and killed their son, and I’m supposed to feel sorry for them?” Moore told the Abilene Reporter-News for a story in Wednesday editions. “I’m sorry they lost their son, but they were committing a felony, and you don’t do that to your kids.” A capital murder charge allows prosecutors to seek the death pen alty, but Jones County District Attorney Britt Thurman said he probably will seek a life prison sentence. The four adults and six chil dren were asleep March 3 when the blaze started in their mobile home near Anson, about 20 miles See Fire on page 2 Analysts say $50-a-barrel oil is definite possibility By Brad Foss THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Oil prices could rise as high is $50 per barrel before the year is up, analysts say, is the world’s growing thirst for crude stretches sup- )lies thin and uncertainty abounds in petroleum-pro- lucing nations. “The fundamental fact is that oil is tight,” says -eo Drollas, chief economist for the London-based enter for Global Energy Studies. Drollas believes 40 is a more likely price in the next month or two, ilthough if demand is strong and the weather is cold this winter prices could reach $50. Prices might leap even higher if there was a major supply disruption, analysts said. Even at $50 per barrel, prices would be about 12 percent less expensive than they were leading up to the first Gulf War, and more than 40 percent below the levels reached during the oil crisis of the early 1980s,*when inflation is taken into account. Of course, current high prices could begin to sap demand for gasoline and weaken the broader econ omy — both of which would cool today’s red-hot oil markets. And while a terrorist attack in the United States would cause a brief run-up in the cost of oil, analysts said that would likely be followed by a longer-term decline in prices because of the negative impact such an event would have on the economy. On Wednesday, oil futures retreated from record- highs set the day before as concerns about Russian supplies abated and government data showed U.S. gasoline supplies rising. That still left oil for Sep tember delivery at $42.83 per barrel, or about 35 per cent higher than a year ago. See Oil on page 2 Oil prices driven by rising demand Ttvaiw «r« swvwrat foroees bwtointl lh« r«c«wn tturej** in world Oii priowe, from concerns about ihe emberttlecJ Russian oil pwant Yukos »o tears abend attacks on intrastjucturo in Iraq Most aim ply, ttte» currant situation cart be exptairred In basic economic terms — demand is outstripping supply. Tit© problem of ever-growing demand World petroleum consumption and production In recoct years, worid has been Increasing at a taster pace than production. Demand growth has been very sharp in China and other developing countries. 1 The worid's fcwggest consumer of oil, the United States, continues to import increasing amounts, t&oemlty sotting an afl-tiroe weekly high of 11.3 million barrels por day. Boosting production as a solution has its limitations OPEC production quota The Organization of Petroieum Exporbng Countries recently increased its production, but warned rt does not have the capacity to boost output any higher. sources i i. Dwpaemant of Enwqjy: Of*EC
