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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 2004)
Ill* Issue 21 • 10 pages University assures residents’ safety ept. 23, 2004 ity d from page] the climax oftt; movement, \vr breaking do»i ports broke donj so worked cli er President B, ion in the mibat the drug icr cities, me from coai to coacl iclps said, aid his upbn: rtaker’s son in i lasting imprtfcjversity officials assured more than 60 Uni- B,' Apartments residents in a conference ated everyontiday that gas leaks would be taken very seri- her their loss;lfrom now on. by or a 90-yei:le didn’t recognize (gas leaks) as the hazard knowing the fit was,” said Chris Meyer, director of environ- ife and what fill health and safety said. "Now that we have, ■ trying to correct it.” men’s baskwer said the Texas State Fire Marshal’s Of- ly Giliispie (SFMO) called agencies across Texas to hear ps. He said li.:IP ro P osa l s f or 8 as line inspection require- ik was a grea l- t l iat while there is currently no playe Friday, September 24, 2004 Battalion A I'exas A&IM Tradition Since IS 1 ).! OPINION: No more Gore page 9 wwvv. thebatt.com PAGE BY: JEFFERSON LOTSPEICH By Sonia Moghe THE BATTALION ather, son share Aggie Ring Day experience By Sara Foley THE BATTALION ien senior history and economics major Wyatt Jaenes was ted into A&M, his father made him a promise: When [t got his senior ring, his father would get his, too. Four later, both Wyatt Jaenes and his father, Frank Jaenes, jof 1967, were among the 3,097 Aggies to get their Aggie Thursday. s actually the largest order (of rings),” said Rorey Walsh, an sevjide gas line testing program, the SFMO is : in attendanctl ant a great deal ing the samet d. “Using basl . It was a great i come here an ampus. It sheds it on AAM." gricultural dev r Jeffrey Jan tided Phelps’s reasons, g NCAA basi hs was a on opportunity t ps,” said Ja of Corps G s a future oil itecritv is a ion d from page! ard student: is a single n Balch, the YCT. “Wei pie will see a orial staff re hearts around: m i ig cleanaMfliJ this at 12list4 re MSC ua "But at tivtusj ng they! am up. Wet :ampus coverall emocrats Presii itikas said s:j nought the sive and made!] en that the pro! on women, cutive DirectorII the campaign | somewhat offer; offend people, ary,” Barnetts of abortion))!: into light.’’ Bo Stewart,' for Coalition Coalition for end to be offer tipaign. our objectivt pie,” Stewart to get the mes mt to raise a* the Planned Pa attempting to implement mandatory testing every two years, similar to what A&M is doing now. “We’re ahead of where the other agencies are simply because of our tragic circumstance,” Meyer said. Meyer also assured residents that the gas leak found on Tuesday morning was neither near any apartments nor the result of inadequate repairs and was properly taken care of. “While before we might not have been in a hur ry to repair (the leak), we decided to do it right away,” Meyer said. “(The leak) was not in an apartment, not close to an apartment. You can feel safe in your apartments.” Suzanne Droleskey, executive director of inter national programs, cited the District Attorney’s ongoing investigation of the fatal July 31 explo sion at University Apartments that took the lives of 4-year-old, Lamiya Zahin, and her grandmoth er, Rabeya Chaudhury as the reason for delays in moving forward with task force investigations. Two task forces have been created; one will re view management, organization and communica tion issues dealing with the incident, the other will look at problem-response mechanisms in place and assessing customer service, Droleskey said. “1 don’t think (President Gates) would have set up a task force if he didn’t want everyone to know that he was taking this very, very seriously,” Droleskey said. “I believe the accountability will be there.” See Safety on page 2 WHITNEY MARTIN - The Battalion Department of Residence Life director Ron E. Sasse addresses community residents Thursday night about the precautions that have been made after the apart ment fire in July. employee of the Ring Office at the Association of Former Students. Frank’s first Aggie ring was his only valuable possession when he graduated in 1967. One day in 1980, Frank returned home from working outdoors on a ranch and found the door of his house kicked in and his Aggie ring stolen. “You feel violated enough when your house is broken into, but to take your A&M ring on top of it, it’s a real negative thing,” Frank said. Frank said he never got around to replacing his Aggie ring until now, but sharing the experience with his son adds a special significance. “It’s an exciting moment. With my son reaching his senior year. being able to share this with him is very special,” Frank said. Wyatt said that when he learned about the tradition of the Aggie rings, he knew he wanted to share the experience with his father. “I can’t wait to go home and shake my dad’s hand. We’re both going to have the ring on our hand, and it’s going to be exciting,” Wyatt said. Wyatt said now that he has his Aggie ring, he feels like an official part of the Aggie family. “I always felt included in the history of A&M, but this is the criti cal part — I feel like I’m now part of the history more than any time else,” Wyatt said. Frank said the Aggie ring is more significant than other college rings because of the connection it builds with other Aggies. “I think the A&M ring is above of all college rings. In my work career, I work with a lot of A&M graduates, and we always know each other by our rings. Now I will have mine again,” Frank said. Wyatt said his father is the reason that he chose to attend A&M and is an inspiration for him. “I didn’t even know what an Aggie was, but my dad went here and so I was going to go here,” he said. “He is the most selfless man I’ve ever met and everything I’d like to be.” • Eligible students picked up their Aggie Rings from the Clayton Williams Jr. Alumni Center on Thursday • 3,097 students ordered their rings with 2,881 students picking their rings up on Tuesday • Students must have completed 95 cumula tive hours or 45 resident hours and have at least a 2.0 • The next Aggie Ring delivery will be on November 4,2004 Ireds of students set up tents outside the alumni center Thursday ling to get tickets for senior ring pick-up from 3 to 6 p.m. Tickets DAVE MORRIS - The Battalion were handed out in numerical order starting at 7 a.m. Rings were distrib uted in groups of 250 every 15 minutes. GRAPHIC: BRANDI DUNN - The Battalion PHOTO: WHITNEY MARTIN - The Battalion SOURCE: ASSOCIATION OF FORMER STUDENTS ew chemical engineering building increases custodial work By Erin Price THE BATTALION ft new Jack E. Brown Chemical Engineer- |uilding is scheduled to open later this fall, rburdening the Texas A&M custodial staff, B is already spread thin due to budget cuts, hai goes on wR-y vhii er) associate vice president of admin- a]d the tablea&M’s janitorial staff had to cut nsive to her. Son ti ie intensity of cleaning in many areas id as a woman jiise of the time constraints, as highly offiff places where they would vacuum twice a jority of the pB now it is once,” Miller said. “Trash cans are table were me .emptied less frequently.” iny that these filler said cleaning public restrooms was never these huge ii irtion standi™ men,” Pitikasl -choice is a pij atic platform, d as a woman, id she found ic because tlie ble was domii cut back, but the limits on the quality of other work make many custodians upset. “The custodians take great pride in their work,” Miller said. “It bothers them that they can’t do the quality work they are used to doing or meet their own expectations.” Rosa Felipe, an A&M custodian of six years, said the Reed McDonald Building used to have more people, and the decrease in help has left her with added stress. “1 used to have just one floor to clean,” Felipe said. “Now I am in charge of floors one and three, and when I have time I go up to the fourth floor because there is no one up there.” Felipe said she works extra hard because her floors contain classrooms, which tend to be the hardest to keep clean. There are only two full-time janitors in the whole building and an occasional third, she said. “We still do not have enough people, but we have to keep doing our best,” Felipe said. “We want the classrooms to be clean for the students.” Miller said the Physical Plant’s funding started to decrease a couple of years ago, and priorities have shifted to the overall maintenance of build ings rather than cleaning. “Newer buildings, like the Brown Building, are easier to clean, but we still are short staff,” Miller said. “It looks like we will have to work with the number of custodians we already have because of limited funding.” A&M custodians begin their workdays at 6 a.m. daily and clean about 6,000 more square feet per per son than workers at other institutions, Miller said. There are different levels of custodians, and the pay ranges from $6.57 to $8.03 per hour, according to the Department of Human Re sources Web site. Pay is negotiable depending on experience. Ben Hansen, a senior mechanical engineering major, has seen the same custodial staff through out his college career and said it could use some help from the administration. See Custodians on page 2 acuity search committees ay allow seats for students By Jibran Najmi THE BATTALION and there Pitikas sail tter what thel for. Theyshotast spring, Texas A&M President Robert M. harassed for Js announced a $19.50 per credit hour increase nsive that otijion so 447 new faculty members could be irs they were:?lover the next five years. In an unexpected oman showed’el student leaders have proposed the idea of id that as a Owing undergraduate students to serve on vari- ea of pro-chofaculty search committees with full voting and an has the rising privileges. t is best for lA } s unprecedented nationally, to hire this many 'eminent is H 1 ^ > n suc h a short period of time,” said Dean [1 women whai|| an h vice president for student affairs. “I am ould do witli Vare °f an Y other university in the nation at- ikas said. B n g anything of this magnitude.” Bsciani said the idea was worth consider- But that the decision will ultimately rest Bach department. “Students should definitely have a say in which faculty are hired,” Bresciani said. “The faculty re-investment program is being paid for primarily by students.” Of the $22.81 million raised by this past spring’s tuition increase, $12 million will be spent on at tracting tenured faculty to A&M. “The benefit for students is that tenured profes sors do a lot of research, and the research is what puts A&M on the map,” said Jerri Ann Henry, aca demic affairs chair for the Student Senate. “As a result, our reputation as a university is enhanced and even more research grants and opportunities arise for students attending A&M.” Among the many concerns expressed by faculty in giving undergraduates seats on a search com mittee were the discussions of the pros and cons See Faculty on page 2 Sippial calls for meeting over increased train speeds in CS By Lacy Ledford THE BATTALION In light of a recent increase in Union Pacific train speeds through College Station, Texas A&M Vice President for Administration Chuck Sippial has called for a meeting between Univer sity officials, Union Pacific officials and City of College Station managers. The speed of the Union Pacific trains has reached 50 mph, which is in violation of College Station Ordinance No. 2621, where the current maximum speed for the area between FM 2818 and Holleman Drive is set at 40 mph. Bromley said the federal government has jurisdiction over regulation of railroads and that it supersedes lo cal law. The College Station train speed increase was implemented in June. “The speeds of trains are determined on the level of maintenance we put on the track,” Brom ley said. “We increase the speed by five mph each week until we get it to where we want it.” Sippial said Memorial Student Center director James Reynolds talked with a Union Pacific of ficial last week, and in a casual statement, the official indicated the trains were now operating at 50 mph through College Station. Sippial said that prior to this, A&M had not been notified of the speed increase. “I’ve been told that we’ve been notified of the speed increase by letter from the railroad, but I have not been able to find that letter, nor has my staff,” College Station City Manager Tom Bry- mer said. “I’ve had no conversations with any representatives from Union Pacific.” Sippial said Charles Malone, the Vice Presi dent of the southern region of Union Pacific, See Trains on page 2