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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2015)
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TWO LOCATIONS TO DONATE AT! 1979) 315-4101 (979) 314*3672 4223 Wellborn Rd 700 University Dr E., Ste 111 Bryan, TX 77801 College Station,TX 77840 The Battalion I 1.27.15 2 Initiative to accommodate students with visual impairments moves forward | CAMPUS I Allison Bradshaw — THE BATTALION Domed bricks have been placed at the north end of Military Walk to signal the end of the walkway to students with visual impairments. Wind chime project to reach completion by semester's end By Sam Scott With some financial backing and infrastructure in place, the initiative to place wind chimes around campus to better accommodate students with visual impairments is expected to be completed by the end of the semester. Domed bricks were installed on Mil itary Walk over winter break to signal the end of the walkway, and braille plates, which will be placed outside cer tain buildings including the Liberal Arts and Humanities Building, Wehner, Koldus and other buildings across cam pus, have been ordered and are slated to be implemented in the near future. So far nine of the 10 chimes have been sponsored, with the Aggie Honor System Office sponsoring eight chimes and Cengage, a textbook provider, sponsoring the other. Kaitlyn Kellermeyer, the interna tional studies junior who came up with the idea, said student organizations will be able to adopt a wind chime for a flat fee in the near future through an Adopt-A-Wind-Chime program, in volving the opportunity to decorate the chimes as well as the responsibility to maintain them in the future. “That fee will go toward the Brazos Valley Center for Independent Liv ing,” Kellermeyer said. “We’ll donate it there because they do a lot of work around the community for people with disabilities.” Kellermeyer and other students be hind the project met with Merna Jacob son, University Risk and Compliance vice president, on Friday to talk about the implementation and maintenance of the wind chimes. Kellermeyer said issues such as the height of the windchime placement as well as Silver Taps considerations were discussed. “We’re planning to put a wind chime in Academic Plaza, and we actu ally came up with this idea to get some sort of fabric cover for the chimes dur ing Silver Taps so that we’re respecting that tradition,” Kellermeyer said. Collin Kruger, accounting junior and SGA vice president of student ser vices, created a detailed memorandum to give to the Council for the Built Environment, which is in charge of campus changes. Joseph Hood, student senator and political science junior said they expect the council to approve the project. “And then when that goes through they’re going to want more plans from us as far as maintenance, who’s going to be in charge of that within SGA, all that kind of stuff,” Hood said. Kruger said a portion of the visual impairment bill, which was passed by Student Senate last semester, has already been implemented. “The visual impairment bill consists of two parts: The wind chimes, and the places of truncated domes and braille plates on campus,” Kruger said. “The domes have been installed on the north end of Military Walk, and the work orders for the braille plates has been submitted. ” Hood said the Americans with Dis abilities Act and administration has been helpful in facilitating the eventual implementation of the wind chimes. “They listened to what we had to say and they had legitimate concerns that they brought forward that we really ap preciate,” Hood said. “They were mak ing sure that our project was going to work. They weren’t blocking it in any way, they were there to make sure that what we had to put forward was the best project possible.” TECHNOLOGY Dean joins deck of fame Grade Mock, The Battalion news reporter, sits down with senior associate dean for academic affairs Valerie Taylor to talk about her recent inclusion in a Kickstarter project funding a “Notable Women in Computing” card deck. THE BATTALION: How did you get started in computing? TAYLOR: I got started in computing when I was in high school. I took my first programming class when I was a sophomore. We learned Fortran at that time. I was excited by the things that you could do with wiring software. I recall one of our main projects was focused on developing a very simple reservation system. Now my research is focused on efficient use of multiple computers simul taneously — or parallel processing — to solve complicated problems. THE BATTALION: How were you ap proached to be featured in this project? TAYLOR: I was approached by Susan Rodger at Duke University, and Kathy Dickinson with Everwise approached me in September about being including with the Notable Women in Comput ing deck of cards. I was honored to be included and thought the deck of cards was an innovative way to engage young children. THE BATTALION: Were you influenced by any of the women featured in the deck? If so, who and how? TAYLOR: I was greatly influenced by Anita Borg, who along with Telle Whitney started the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference. Anita was a phenomenal woman who was an excel lent researcher and had great passion and dedica tion to advancing women in technology. I met Anita when I was a graduate student at UC, Berkeley. She helped me with my research as an assistant profes sor at Northwestern University. Because of Anita, I attended the first Grace Hopper Conference in 1994 in Washington, D.C. Anita was very supportive of the start of a group focused on women of color and computing. One of Anita's famous quotes is, "Well behaved women rarely change the world." I also know Fran Allen, who was the first woman IBM Fellow and the first woman to receive the pres tigious ACM Turing Award for her work with optimiz ing compliers. She also had a role in intel ligence work on programming languages and security codes for the NSA. Fran is an excellent role model who is recognized for her research excellence and her passion for helping other women. THE BATTALION: What is your proud est moment as a woman in computer science and engineering? TAYLOR: In 2013, when I received the recognition as a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for my research in high performance computing. IEEE Fellow is a distinction reserved for select IEEE members with extraordinary accomplishments in fields related to IEEE. THE BATTALION: What kind of impact could this project have on young women trying to find a career path? TAYLOR: Having the deck of cards allows young children to learn about the contributions of women in computing while engaged in the games that they play regularly. As is well known, when you combine knowledge with everyday play you can have a sig nificant impact on young children. In this way, young children will have the correct information about the significant impact of women in computing and know that for young girls, they have many excellent role models. Valerie Taylor _MKscx>veiJfi|EosoaixTi inc. FLU BUG GOT YOU! <a *Q> * c i: ■ Individuals, 13-65 years ofiage ■ Fever, Chills, HeadacHf vc , r C Body Aches, Cough, Cong&WrT Z 'vffC * Up to $540 for time & travel (979)731-1212 wwv.DiscoveResearoh.com fi -y yriifc i c jg. f- 'jS y /-Y-r <:■-' YSjiv jl .v.^ -vs As- if "i'sCc ' s ftana: y s ^ % > ' < BAT1 Mark Dore, Editor in Chief Aimee Breaux, Managing Editor Brandon Wheeland, Sports Editor Jennifer Reiley, Asst. Managing Editor Carter Karels, Asst. Sports Editor Lindsey Gawlik, News Editor Shelby Knowles, Photo Editor Samantha King, Asst. News Editor Allison Bradshaw, Asst. Photo Editor Katy Stapp, Asst. News Editor Meredith Collier, Page Designer John Rangel, SciTech Editor Claire Shepherd, Page Designer Katie Canales, Life & Arts Editor THE BATTALION is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center. News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in Student Media, a unit of the Division of Student Affairs. Newsroom phone: 979-845-3315; E-mail: editor@thebatt.com; website: http:// www.thebatt.com. Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and national display advertising, call 979- 845-2687. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Office hours are 8 a m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Email: battads@thebatt.com. Subscriptions: A part of the University Advancement Fee entitles eachTexasA&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies $1. i i