The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 17, 2004, Image 1

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    volume 111 • Issue 16 • 14 pages
Friday, September 17, 2004
OPINION:
Not to be
UjhF taken literally,
page 5B
\ Texas M I'‘udiiiiii Siiutt B l >B www.thebatt.com
PAGE DESIGN BY: |EFFERSON LOTSPEICH
Thousands expected at funeral of fallen Aggie
By Shawn C. Millender
THE BATTALION
More than 3,000 people are ex
pected to attend the funeral of Lt.
Donald Matocha, Class of 1967, in
Smithville, Texas, this weekend.
Matocha’s remains were discov
ered in Vietnam this spring, nearly
36 years after his death. His body,
returned to Austin, Texas after being
identified in a lab in Hawaii, was es
corted by two of his sisters and his
nephew, who is also a Marine.
“There will be mixed emotions,
butforme, on the most part, it will
be one of happiness,” said Lucille
Bartsch, one of five of Matocha’s
sisters. “We will have a sense of
closure and healing. I hope it will
be one of closure and healing for
all of his friends from college and
Marine buddies.”
The group then traveled to Smith
ville with a Marine honor guard.
Marshall Johnson of Marrs-Jones
Funeral Home in Smithville said
Matocha’s family will receive visi
tors between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. at the
funeral home. Services, which will in
clude full military' honors and a 21 -gun
salute, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday
at the Smithville Recreation Center.
“We have to hold it at the Rec Cen
ter because it’s the biggest place in
town,’’Johnson said. “And even then
it probably won’t be big enough.”
Smithville hotels are mostly full.
but Johnson said a few rooms are
available in nearby Bastrop.
“It’s been a community effort to
help plan for Saturday,” Bartsch said.
“The whole community has come for
ward and helped us (...) make this run
as smoothly as possible. It’s a com
munity homecoming. There’s many
people who are still here that were
here when we lost him. It means a
homecoming for a hometown son.”
Classmates, Marine buddies,
members of Matocha’s 3rd Recon
Company, The Purple Heart Associ
ation, Vietnam Veterans of America,
the Texas Association of Vietnam
Veterans and friends “from Califor
nia to Connecticut,” will all attend,
Johnson said.
Mickey Batsell, agent for the Class
of 1967, said that at least 50 of Mato
cha’s classmates will be at the funeral.
Batsell was in College Station
Thursday picking up flags for the ser
vice. He said the University furnished
flags flowm over campus. The Asso
ciation of Fomier Students donated an
A&M flag, and the Corps of Cadets
donated Texas and U.S. flags.
Batsell was in town to correct a
monument to Aggies who gave their
lives in recent wars on the quadrangle.
It mistakenly listed Matocha as being
a member of the Class of 1966.
At the request of Corps Comman
dant Gen. John Van Alstyne, the Ag
gie Band will send two buglers to
play Echo Taps at the service. One
See Funeral on page 2A
HARRY CABLUCK - The Associated Press
Vietnam veteran Frank Marshall Johnson Jr. pauses
at the flag-draped casket of Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Donald
Matocha at his funeral home on Thursday, Sept. 1 6, 2004,
in Smithville, Texas. Killed in action in 1968, Matocha's
remains have been recovered and transferred back to
Smithville, where he will be buried Saturday. Johnson, the
funeral home manager, served with Matocha.
(Students prepare for
off-campus bonfire
By Sara Foley
THE BATTALION
I With the return of an on-campus Bon
fire in the distant and uncertain future,
Itudents and alumni are preparing for
■he third off-campus Bonfire since the
|999 Aggie Bonfire Collapse.
I First cut, the official beginning of
this fall’s bonfire will be Saturday
liorning as a group heads out to a cut
Jite near Snook. While leaders from
nis year’s student Bonfire group are
■ptimistic about Bonfire, students
ave mixed opinions. Junior political
pence major and member of Corps
IfCadets Company E-2 Jeff Williford
[aid he felt the student bonfire creates
division among students.
“The thing about Bonfire is that it
rought the campus together. All that
lie Unity Project Bonfire does is divide
[tudents on if it should be here or not,”
Williford said.
[ Junior marketing major and student
ionfire worker Kerri Warci said the
Iff-campus bonfire is not necessarily a
■placement for the Bonfire of the past,
but serves the same purpose.
I “We are continuing the spirit of Bon-
lire. This unifies Aggies, as Bonfire al
ways has,” she said.
Paul Harding, a senior animal science
major, is a Bonfire Gray Pot, or leader
who oversees every aspect of Student
Bonfire. The “pot” designation is a Bon
fire tradition that signified leaders in
different organizations, groups, and out
fits. Harding said the off-campus bon
fire gives students an experience close
to that of the on-campus Bonfire despite
its differences.
“It’s the same (as before) to an ex
tent - it’s still people out there with an
axe to cut down a tree and then stack
ing the logs. It’s just on smaller scale,”
Ffarding said.
Harding said he heard stories about
Bonfire from his brother who was Class
of 2002 and that the off-campus bonfire
allowed him to share the same experi
ences. Safety levels, however, are higher
than in the years of the on-campus Bon
fire because the stack has fewer logs and
all touch the ground, Harding said.
The off-campus bonfire will bum
Nov. 20. The group for first cut, which
Harding estimates will be about 150 to
See Bonfire on page 2A
Students urged to register, vote
By Jibran Najmi
THE BATTALION
Recent research shows thatjnterest in the election for.
18- to 29-year-olds is higher this year than it has ever
been since 18- to 20-year-olds were given the right to
vote in 1972.
“In general, college students are very passionate and
have some very strong opinions,” said Joe Licata, a
sophomore economics major. “However, they generally
don’t get involved in the political process to make their
voices heard.”
As part of Legislative Affairs Week, the Student Gov
ernment Association’s Legislative Relations Committee
(SGA-LR) is holding a voter registration drive beginning
next week.
An article in The New York Times Wednesday said
the pool of potential youth voters is 40.6 million, accord
ing to the Center for Information and Research on Civil
Learning and Engagement. The article also reported that
the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
and MTV found that young people plan to vote at a much
higher rate than they did in the 2000 election.
“1 think what’s important to focus on is that young peo
ple are becoming engaged and are being affected directly
by current events in the world,” said Jay Strell, commu
nications director for MTV’s Rock the Vote. “The war in
Iraq, rising tuition and trying to find a job in horrible eco
nomic times, are all issues that make young people more
likely to be engaged in this presidential election.”
The Pew Center also found that 21 percent of 18-
to 29-year-olds said “The Daily Show” and “Saturday
Night Live” were where they got their news on the presi
dential race. Only slightly more — 23 percent — said
'-WW OR D|E
To be eligtble to vote, student5*must register 30 days
before the Nov. 2 election.
Sept. 20
• Voter registration drive
Rudder Fountain
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sept. 21
• Debate with College Republicans and Aggie Democrats
MSC Flag Room
12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
• Voter registration drive
Rudder Fountain
11 a.m. to 3 pm.
BRANDI DUNN • THE BATTALION
SOURCE: ERIN FRAZIER, SGA EXECUTIVE VP FOR LEGISLATIVE RELATIONS
they got their news from traditional network nightly
news programs.
Legislative Affairs Week will feature events, in
cluding voter registration drives on all three days at
Rudder Fountain.
“We have a lot of exciting events planned,” said Erin
Frazier, SGA executive vice president for Legislative
Relations. “On Tuesday, we’re hosting a debate between
the College Republicans and the Aggie Democrats, and it
should be quite interesting.”
On Wednesday, two national reporters from The New
York Times and USA Today will speak in the Stark Gal-
See Vote on page 2A
Reslife invites student input
on new residence hall furniture
Chemical engineering gives
grad students study room
Students are encouraged to stop by rooms 225 and 226 in the MSC
to look at furniture that might be used in residence halls next year.
• Sept. 20
• Sept. 21
• Sept. 22
1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
f
BRANDI DUNN • THE BATTALION
SOURCE: DEPARTMENT OF RESIDENCE LIFE
By Ji Ma
THE BATTALION
I An exhibit illustrating Residence
life’s decision to purchase new fur-
lishings for the residence halls will
le held next week in the Memorial
Itudent Center. Students will be able
o voice their opinions on the next
[eneration of residence hall decor.
This exhibit, sponsored by the Resi-
lential Hall Association (RHA) under
he Department of Residence Life, will
)e held from Sept. 20 to Sept. 22 in
oom 225 and 226 of the MSC.
“Some of the furnishings have been
here (since) the halls were built,” said
dichael P. Vargo, president of RHA
pd junior business management ma-
or. “They are older than we are. They
ire heavy and bulky.”
Students will be able to provide
feedback on their furniture preferenc-
!S after walking through the exhibit.
“The department considered this
bra while and decided that students
should decide on what they want,
and (an exhibit) in MSC seemed to
be the best way,” said Dan Mizer, as
sistant director of facility and opera
tions of Reslife.
In an expo style, vendors will set
up shop in MSC and display their se
lections of dorm furnishings, which
will include beds, chests of drawers,
desks, bookcases and lockable fur
nishings. Students are encouraged to
vote for their favorites afterward.
“We invited seven furniture com
panies to be represented,” Mizer said.
“Students will walk through and de
cide for themselves.”
Vargo said the exhibit will re
semble a gallery and that a big turn
out is expected.
See Furniture on page 2A
By Liang Liang
THE BATTALION
Graduate students in chemical en
gineering will have a code-accessed
study room specifically for them.
The room will be on the first floor
of the Jack E. Brown Engineering
Building, which is scheduled to open
in late October.
The study room is named for Gene
L. Tromblee, who received his mas
ter’s degree from the Department of
Chemical Engineering of Texas A&M
in 1970, is a retired executive of Ster
ling Chemicals and donated $103,000
when the A&M Foundation, one of
A&M’s three nonprofit fund-raising
organizations, went around to raise
funds by offering room-naming oppor
tunities in the Jack E. Brown Building.
“We are very grateful to Mr. Trom
blee for the donation,” said Mahmoud
EI-Halwagi, associate head for gradu
ate program of chemical engineering.
“Our graduate students have a lot of
non-research projects that require them
to get together in groups of two to four
outside the lab or classroom. The study
room provides a place for them to do
the projects.”
A project for one class in chemical
engineering usually requires graduate
students to meet three times a week,
and the study room will give them a
quiet, convenient place to meet, said
Ming-Qing Lu, a doctoral student in
the department
“The study room is also very use
ful to the first-year graduate students
who do not have their own offices
because they have not selected their
advisers,” said Turkon Aydogmus,
president of graduate student council
of chemical engineering.
Kenneth R. Hall, head of Texas
Engineering Extension Services, said
Tromblee has donated money to A&M
many times throughout his career.
“In addition to the donation to the
graduate study, he has given $66,000
to our department’s Lindsay Schol-
See Grad Study on page 2A