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november 12, 2009
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Heart of
Red light cameras stay 9 more days
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Julie Rambin The Battalion The red light cameras in College Station are staying put for now. A temporary restraining order issued Wednesday by 85th District Court Judge Suzanne Stovall prevents the city from turning off the cameras for at least nine more days. The restraining order was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by former Keep College Station Safe attorney Roger Gordon, alleging that the wording of the red light camera petition rendered the election invalid. “We respect Judge Stovall’s decision to grant the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order and will look to her for a decision about the validity of the Nov. 3 election results,” said College Station City Manager Glenn Brown in a statement. “However, should the judge rule that the election is invalid and that the redlight cameras should stay, I will recommend to the College Station City Council that we immediately inform American Traffic Solutions that we are giving them the required 60-day notice that we are canceling our contract and the cameras will be turned off.” The resolution to cease red light camera enforcement passed by a margin of 272 votes, a 52 percent majority. The red light camera controversy started in summer 2009, when a petition circulated by College Station resident Jim Ash and his political action committee Take Back Your City was signed by 964 registered College Station voters. The city accepted Ash’s petition and scheduled a special election on the issue. The political action committee Keep College Station Safe was founded in response to the petition, and received funding principally from American Traffic Solutions and several Houston companies with contracts with American Traffic Solutions. An ethics complaint against Ash was previously filed by Gordon on behalf of Keep College Station Safe, saying that Ash violated Texas election code by accepting and spending money for the campaign without appointing a treasurer for Take Back Your City. Ash filed an ethics complaint against Brown, alleging that Brown improperly spent public funds on a voter education brochure for the election, which Ash said was biased. “I firmly believe that there are College Station residents that support the idea of having a red light camera,” Ash said. “The majority of the citizens of College Station do not approve of photo enforcement.”
Sorority president leads and serves Jaclyn Sokol
J.D. Swiger — THE BATTALION
Junior genetics major Adriana Mariscal is the president of her sorority Kappa Delta Chi.
Student leader profile series Every other week, The Battalion will be profiling a student leader to gain insight into their lives and what it takes to do their job.
Special to The Battalion For junior genetics major Adriana Mariscal, the transition from San Antonio to Texas A&M was a culture shock. To embrace this change, Mariscal joined Kappa Delta Chi a “Latina-founded but multicultural grounded” sorority overseen by the Multicultural Greek Council. Mariscal joined Kappa Delta Chi because it supported multiculturalism and service, she said. Three years later, she is president of the sorority. As president, Mariscal is responsible for conducting general and executive body meetings in addition to overseeing all executive bodies and committee chairwomen underneath her. She also dedicates at least 50 to 60 hours per semester to service. These hours are spent in projects including highway cleanup, trips to retirement centers and fundraisers that benefit the American Cancer Society. Service to others is at the heart of the sorority, said Kappa Delta Chi adviser Margarita Alvarado. “[Mariscal] has the heart and passion to be a successful student as well as an effective leader,” Alvarado said. “She listens to her own heart by making decisions she sees fit to better the sorority and takes the heart of others into consideration by being open to their ideas.” As president, Mariscal serves as an open ear at all times. Crystal Nicholas, member of Kappa Delta Chi, said she is “the go-to person for anyone, whether it be a matter concerning the sorority or a personal matter.” See Mariscal on page 5
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See Red light on page 5
Kyle Field in widescreen
Senior visualization production specialist Glen Vigus looks at an extremely highresolution photo he produced from a recent football game. Numerous photos were stitched together to produce a final image 1.4 GB in size.
Carrie Johnson
Jeremy Northum — THE BATTALION
Special to The Battalion Beginning this football season, the A&M Department of Visualization in partnership with aggieatheletics.com have given football fans a new way to see the game. The Kyle Field Panoramic Project, created by Glen Vigus, senior visualization production specialist for the Department of Visualization, creates a panoramic photo that is posted each week on the Aggie Athletics Web site. Vigus developed the idea after seeing a photo from President Barack Obama’s inauguration that used the panoramic technique. “I thought it was really cool to zoom in and
see who was there,” Vigus said, “so in February I began pitching ideas about getting it off the ground in November.” It takes a few minutes for the photos, more than 100, to be taken. “It takes 5 minutes to shoot, but over an hour to process and put all of the photos together,” Vigus said. “There are over 144 photos just for the alumni side alone.” Vigus uses the Visualization Laboratory (VizLab) to compile the images into one photo that allows people to zoom in and find individuals in the crowd. See Panoramic on page 5
A&M scientist predicts weather on Mars Vicky Flores The Battalion
In preparation for the day when humans will travel to the planet Mars, Istvan Szunyogh is heading up the challenge of being able to predict weather on Mars. Szunyogh was awarded a grant from NASA to analyze Mars weather patterns. Szunyogh, an associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, said he is interested in using past weather patterns to predict future patterns. “What we are trying to do is see whether it would be possible to make forecasts for Mars,” Szunyogh said. “It would help with predicting when we would send robotic probes and one day
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possibly humans.” The project started at the University of Maryland and when Szunyogh left to work at A&M the grant and half of the project went with him. Szunyogh focuses on computer models and simulation to determine the predictability of Mars weather through observations and data collected from satellites orbiting the planet. The main goal is to learn how far in advance it is possible to make accurate predictions of Mars weather. Weather on Mars varies drastically from weather on Earth; scientists who study with weather on Earth deal with humidity from the water whereas scientists studying the atmosphere on Mars look for dust storms. Szunyogh is working with
data collected from observations from the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter using an instrument called the thermal emission spectrometer, which uses a form of infrared energy to determine conditions and temperatures at spots of the Mars surface. Ross Hoffman, vice president of the research and development division for Atmospheric and Environmental Research Inc., describes himself as being an adviser to both parts of the project in Maryland and College Station. Hoffman was responsible for writing proposals to NASA to receive the grants that both schools now have. “Mars has always been the most interesting planet to study for astronomy,” Hoffman said. “It is the most similar to Earth.
We can even imagine people living there one day so we have sent many space explorers to mars and satellites that orbit its atmosphere that measure temperature and pressure.” The thermal emission spectrometer looks down with cameras that see in a type of infrared light that can be cut into frequency bands which can then be used to measure temperatures, Hoffman said. The project uses data that has been collected more than a year ago to make the data a practicing realm for scientists such as Szunyogh, who can test computer simulations against the data that has already been formed, Hoffman said. See Mars on page 5
Stephen Fogg — THE BATTALION
Istvan Szunyogh, an associate professor in the atmospheric sciences department is carrying out a NASA grant researching weather patterns on Mars.
A&M Prairie View student files lawsuit A lawsuit has been filed against Prairie View A&M University and Phi Beta Sigma fraternity over alleged hazing charges. Kevin Kelley, a Dallas lawyer, filed the lawsuit Friday in district court on behalf of the parents of 20-yearold Donnie Wade Jr., died in October after becoming ill on a run with his fraternity. “The lawsuit was filed against the fraternity as well as Prairie View,” said Andrew Strong, chief legal officer of the Texas A&M University System. “In terms of investigations, that is something that is being looked into by the D.A. and the University.” In accordance with the University investigation they requested to meet with Wade’s parents, but the interview was denied, Strong said. Prairie View A&M and Phi Beta Sigma would not comment on the lawsuit. Vicky Flores, staff writer
11/11/09 9:35 PM