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