The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 24, 2004, Image 1

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    Ill* Issue 21 • 10 pages
University assures residents’ safety
ept. 23, 2004
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i lasting imprtfcjversity officials assured more than 60 Uni-
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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
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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
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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