The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, August 05, 2004, Image 1

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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