thebattalion ● thursday,
september 9, 2010
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2010 student media
Photos by Matt Woolbright, April Baltensperger, Christina Fuentes, Stephanie Leichtle — THE BATTALION
Freshman leadership organizations help new students connect Matt Woolbright The Battalion Every year thousands of freshmen attend Fish Camp, stand on the third deck of Kyle Field, move into their first home away from home and, at Texas A&M at least, apply for a freshman leadership organization – FLO for short. FLOs exist to bring freshmen together, connect them with upperclassmen and develop them into Aggieland’s future leaders. All while having a good time. “Being in a FLO really helped me grow and step out of my comfort zone,” said Hannah Nail, a junior nutritional sciences major. “My freshman year defi-
nitely would not have been the same if I hadn’t joined a FLO.” A few FLOs specialize in majors, while others are connected to larger organizations and many are focused on specific causes. Freshman Liberal Arts Reaching Excellence (FLARE), Progressively Reaching Excellence in Professionalism (PREP) and Leaders in Freshman Engineering (LIFE) are the FLOs that focus on building relationships and connections based on similar academic interests. “LIFE is the second-best opportunity freshmen engineers will get from A&M, right behind Freshmen Grade Exclusions,” said Austin Friday, a sophomore
nuclear engineering major and member of LIFE. PREP focuses on networking and developing business leaders, and FLARE works with Aggies in the College of Liberal Arts. “We aim to create a welcoming environment for freshmen to gain exposure to the College of Liberal Arts,” said Jessica Chavolla, a junior psychology major and director of FLARE. “To promote unity among liberal arts majors and represent the College of Liberal Arts through community service projects.” Three FLOs operate under the umbrella of the Memorial Student Center,
June 19, 1921 — Sept. 5, 2010 Lt. Col. Fred W. Dollar
Aggie dining legend dies Katie White The Battalion Lt. Col. Fred W. Dollar, the former director of the Department of Dining Services at Texas A&M University and Army veteran, died Sept. 5 in his home in College Station. He was 89. Dollar, a graduate of the A&M class of 1944, worked his way through school as a waiter in Sbisa Dining Center. “He used to mop the whole floor for 50 cents,” said Jim Moore, a friend of Dollar’s from the Army. After he graduated, he fought in World War II as part of the Utah Beach landing where he delivered food and supplies to American soldiers. Dollar stayed in the Army through the Korean War and then retired in 1965 after 22 years to take the position as director of Dining Services at A&M. During his post at A&M, Dollar “developed many revolutionary things,” said his friend and assistant director of Dining Services Lloyd Smith. “Fred was an extremely hard-working man, driven to make things happen,” Smith said. Dollar transformed inefficient familystyle dining, where each person sitting in a cafeteria would receive the same meal from a single line, to the modern food court style.
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“He set the pace for the whole United States on how to treat and feed college students,” said Smith, who worked for Dollar when he developed the first food court seen on any college campus. Dollar “Fred was a man of integrity and a hard worker,” Moore said. “He inspired me to be the same. I wanted to be just like him.” Dollar was a founding member of the Society for Advancement in Food Service Research, former president of the Texas Restaurant Association, member of the National Restaurant Association and the National Association of College and University Food Service. Dollar was involved in many other organizations, including the Rotary Club of Aggieland, Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite Freemasonry and The American Legion. He also served as a deacon in The Bryan Fellowship Free Will Baptist Church. “Colonel Dollar was one of the most generous and caring individuals I have ever known,” said Jarrod Hix, the Aggieland Rotarian president. “He really believed in the ideals of Rotary’s motto, service above self,” Hix See Dollar on page 6
See FLOs on page 5
FLO members recruit freshmen to join their organizations.
A&M gets grant for new energy systems Ryan Seybold The Battalion Electrical power is essential to learning and research around the globe, and soon, Texas A&M will be home to a new, cutting-edge source of that power. In June 2009, Texas A&M submitted a request for funding to the U.S. Department of Energy to build a combined heating and power generation system to meet the campus’s growing energy needs. Over 400 institutions applied for this type of grant, and A&M was one of only nine institutions selected to receive the funds. The grant awarded $10 million to A&M to help pay for the construction of the CHP system, including a $70 million project approved in 2009 to remove outdated power and steam generation equipment and replace them with new equipment to be operational by August 2011. “Texas A&M was able to successfully demonstrate a high degree of energy efficiency gain and environmental benefit as a result of project implementation.” said Lallah Howard, associate vice president for operations. Construction of the CHP system is already underway at the Central Utility Plant. In October 2010, the new gas turbine generator and the new steam turbine generator will arrive and a crane will hoist them into place.
“As a matter of fact, there is a large crane at the Central Utility Plant that can be seen right now next to the big water tower. If students were to look near the water tower, they will also see a 200 feet high boiler exhaust stack,” Riley said. “In this same area where they will see the large crane moving equipment into place and erecting the new CHP generation equipment.” The new CHP system will use natural gas to generate electricity and heat. Jim Riley, who manages the University Utilities & Energy Management Department, said the plans include installation of several turbines and a heat recovery steam generator to extract all usable energy from waste heat. “The result of this process will be a system that operates at 80% efficiency, meaning that 80% of the energy in the natural gas will be put to good use,” Riley said. “In comparison, an off-site power plant may operate between 30 and 35% efficiency. Higher efficiency means we will burn less fuel per unit of power, which lessens our impact on the environment. For the University, a more efficient power supply means a lower energy bill. Thus, more money may be allocated to other things such as research, teaching, or student services.” See Grant on page 4
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