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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 2004)
Tuesday, September 14, 2004 ilume 111 Issue 13 • 10 puges A Icxas AA:!M Tradition Since 18*)3 SPORTS: If they only had a heart page 5 www.ihebiilt.coin PAGE DESIGN BY: LAUREN ROUSE j Fish for a day /\&M staffer tastes a slice of Corps life Hy Emily Guevara THE BATTALION (Freshmen in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets have a |on their plate. Morning formation at 6:45, eating while ting at 90-degree angles and afternoon physical train- ing are Corps activities those on the outside see. Under- Bnding the Corps, however, comes from experience. ■For 30-year-old Dale Tracht, a Kansas State Uni- ■•sity graduate, Monday was a once-in-a-lifetime ■perience to get an idea of what the Corps is like ■r a freshman. ■Tracht, assistant director of experi- ■tial education for the A&M Career ■nter and Squadron 2 academic vol- ■teer, became a fish for a day after ■iking a promise to the Squadron 2 ■shmen of 2000 as a motivation to ■prove their academics. ■The outfits are ranked for academ- leach semester, Tracht said. I U 1 promised them if they got first in ■ides for a semester (...) I would be a ■h for a day,” Tracht said. “It was for ■rtivation.” ■As an academic volunteer for the ■st four years, Tracht was responsible ■ helping Squadron 2 Corps mem- ■rs with their academics by provid- in;;thcm w ith the necessary resources Ky needed to succeed at A&M. ■“1 made sure to meet with the fish ■d eat with them every other week, go to football ■mes with them, (hold) workshops and get them to Ic right resources to help them succeed on campus,” ■acht said. ■ Academics were not a priority when he began ■lunteering in 2()()0, Tracht said, and he wanted to ■ange that. ■ Jordan Wiersch, 1st Sgt. of Squadron 2 and a ju nior agricultural development major, said that when he was a freshman. Tracht gave him a binder filled with supplemental help such as free tickets for A- Many people thought I was an actual fish. Some (co-workers) knew in advance, but not many. — Dale Tracht xperiential education assistant director Plus tutoring and study group information. “We had every facet of academic help right at our fingertips,” Wiersch said. Four years later the fish of 2000 became first in academics in the Corps as seniors in 2004. “The first few years, they fluctuated,” Tracht said. “The last few they were in the top 10. It was gradual increases.” Linda Powell, graduate teaching assistant in agricul tural development and a Squadron 2 academic volunteer, said Tracht went above and beyond the call of duty. “This shows his commitment to the squadron itself and the loyalty he has formed with all the cadets and his larger commitment to excellence in the Corps,” she said. Tracht said he did not sleep well Sunday night because he was nervous. He participated in morning forma tion with the squadron and ate break fast in Duncan Dining Center. Freshman economics major and Squadron 2 member Joseph Stryhal was assigned the task of showing Tracht around Duncan. “Everybody thought it was a great morale booster,” Stryhal said. “It was a relief trying to see one of our advis ers going through our daily routine with us. It showed us how much he cared about us.” After breakfast, Tracht went to his regular job, where he got more than a few stares. “Many people thought I was an actual fish,” Tracht said. “Some (co-workers) knew in advance, but not many. Most were in total shock and surprise. They were very accepting and excited.” Tracht said he tried to whip out as he walked around campus, but most Corps members knew something was up. After work, Tracht returned to the Quadrangle where See Fish on page 2 Dale Pracht, assistant director of experiential educa tion at the Career Center, has his head shaved by senior marketing major Tyler Smith Monday evening in White Hall. Pracht was the Gator Company academic coordinator for the past four years and challenged the company to obtain the highest GPR in the Corps. They acheived their goal so Pracht shaved his head and joined the fish for drills and formations Tuesday. Bonfire Memorial nears completion By Sara Foley THE BATTALION Iks the fifth anniversary of the 1999 Bonfire Collapse approaches, he construction of the Bonfire Memorial has reached its final stages H is slated for completion in late October or early November. ■The construction is ahead of schedule, but not ready for pub ic viewing, said Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs ■nn Rosser. fit is still an active construction site, so we ask that students don’t opok at it yet,” Rosser said. ■ he dedication of the memorial is scheduled for Nov. 18 at 2:30 .m. and will feature University choral groups and speakers who will announced as the date approaches. A private memorial service will be held for the families of the 12 udents who died in the collapse on the evening of Nov. 17. Student Advocate for Bonfire Legacy and Continuance Abby iowell said students should visit the Bonfire Memorial Web te to learn about the significance behind the memorial before £ dedication. (The architects have put a lot of thought into it. Everything (on the lemorial) has significance behind it,” Howell said, irhe memorial’s architects will give a presentation describing the ■holism of the memorial on Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. in Rudder. In addition to the dedication service, MSC Hospitality, the host tonmittee for the Bonfire Memorial, will distribute 40,000 maroon bbons in Rudder plaza for students to show their support for Bon- re. said Vice Chair of MSC Hospitality Charles Glover. ■Hover said the event is being planned with the expectation that up 140,000 people could be in attendance. ||enior history and political science major Kris Plummer, who orked on Bonfire during the 1999 collapse and has since been in- alved in the off-campus Bonfire, said the importance of the memo- al transcends the animosity between students who are for or against ie return of an on-campus Bonfire. | “A lot of people think that the administration has set up this day )r political reasons, but their reason isn’t what is important. What is nportant is honoring those who died,” Plummer said. BLOODY COOP JOBJ I- -ast week's Red Cross blood drive sponsored by Alpha Phi^ Dmega met 98 percent of its goal. 1,075 pints of blood were donated in five days More than 4,500 lives can be affected by the week's worth of blood donations 6,077 pints of blood have been donated since April 2003 WILL LLOYD • THE BATTALION SOURCE : JAN HALE Gates aims to enhance undergrad programs By Sara Foley THE BATTALION University President Robert M. Gates said at the Faculty Senate meeting Monday night that the enhancement of undergradu ate programs is the principle goal for this school year, targeting enrollment manage ment, the honors program, summer school and electronic courses as the principle ar eas for improvement to the Faculty Senate Monday afternoon. “We will review, adapt and adopt the best practices identified from peer institutions that serve to enhance the quality of under graduate education here,” Gates said. In other action, the Faculty Senate out lined a plan to assess the effectiveness of the core curriculum requirements and is sued a new requirement for faculty mem bers to clearly outline learning objectives for each course in the core curriculum. Gates said that by next year, 245 new fac ulty members will have been hired under the faculty reinvestment program, and that 145 new faculty members have already been hired. English associate professor David My ers said he worried that the hiring of new faculty could have unfavorable effects on undergraduate education. “Those of us in the liberal arts caucus are worried that new hiring decisions under the faculty reinvestment program are being driv en by nairow research agendas to raise the profile of a department,” Myers said. Gates said the Faculty Reinvestment Program has multiple purposes, only one of which is teaching, but that every new fac ulty member would be required to teach. “This is being financed by students,” Gates said. “Every new faculty member should be told from the outset partly where their new salary is coming from and that’s See Gates on page 2 Open house opens doors for women By Erin Price THE BATTALION There are many more oppor tunities for women today, and Women’s Open House, which kicks off today, could shed some light on how Aggie women can reach their full potential, said Sara Bendoraitis, a graduate as sistant in Gender Issues Educa tion Services (G1ES). Texas A&M still has a male- dominant attitude, Bendoraitis said, and events such as the Women’s Open House, which is sponsored by GIES, help raise awareness for women’s issues. The campus is still traditional, with most upper administrative positions and tenured professors being male, she said. “Our campus has been mak ing small steps each year to pro vide more avenues for women,” Bendoraitis said. “The Women’s Open House gives everyone, not just women, the chance to see what A&M has to offer them.” The open house will be held Tuesday in the MSC Flag Room from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. About 25 tables, sponsored by the Wom en’s Center, Recreational Sports, University Police and the Health Center, will offer information, prizes and resources pertaining to women’s issues, she said. Bendoraitis said that after a mass e-mail was sent to See Women on page 8 Qpp.n Hnufift The Womert Open House, sponsored by (render Issues Education Services, kicks off Tuesday. O 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the MSC Flag Room. O Tables from Women's Center, Recreational Sports, University Police, the Health Center and others. 0 Will focus on issues pertaining to Aggie women. ANDREW BURLESON • THE BATTALION SOURCE : SARA BENDORAITIS Red Cross blood drive achieves 98 percent of goal By Stacy Thompson THE BATTALION Last week’s Red Cross blood drive took in 1,075 pints of blood in five days, achiev ing approximately 98 percent of its goal. “It was an amazing blood drive. Texas A&M University is always our No. 1 provider of blood. We affected over 4,500 lives in one week,” said Jan Hale, marketing and commu nity relations manager of the Southwest divi sion of Red Cross Blood Services. The service organization Alpha Phi Omega (APO) sponsored the drive to en gage students in the service of their com munity. APO holds five blood drives a year with various blood donation organizations. There are two in the fall, two in the spring and one in the summer. The primary adviser to APO Darby Roberts said the blood drives are spaced out according to the statistic that an average human can donate every 56 days, roughly five times a year, or approximately every two months. “It’s a tradition — blood drives are here five times a year (so that) students can plan for it,” Roberts said. “It is a quick, easy and fun thing to do that students can get involved in the community.” There is enormous pressure for college stu dents to donate blood because of the constant necessity for blood in hospitals. Some students, for health reasons, cannot donate blood for health reasons. Sophomore business administration major Kellie Logan cannot donate because she does not meet the weight requirements. “Well there’s nothing I can do about it,” Logan said. “I’d love to, but I don’t want anything harmful to happen to my body. There are regulations for a reason.” Theresa Evangelista, territory manager for the Bryan-College Station Red Cross Center, said there is no substitute for blood and that blood is crucial in saving lives. “We hope that if they (college students) start as donors in college that they See Blood on page 8