thebattalion ! tuesday,
april 3, 2012
! serving
texas a&m since 1893
!"first paper free – additional copies $1 !"© 2012 student media
silver taps Aug. 11, 1989 - Jan. 26, 2012 Nicholas James Garbarino
Respected friend, loving husband “A man who made an impact on lives and the world around him.”
Trevor Stevens
The Battalion An adventurer at heart, Nick Garbarino could make the dullest moment fun and entertaining. More than once he and a buddy took a couple of canoes down to the Brazos River with nothing more than a water filter and military rations. Nicholas James Garbarino died January 26 after a battle with cancer. Before he died, Nick was married for a little more than a year-and-a-half to Andi Garbarino. Andi said she thought of Nick as the most intelligent and imaginative man she has ever known, but also one of the most humble. “It didn’t matter if you weren’t even half as intelligent as him, you still felt like you were important and could totally be yourself around him,” Andi said. Nick was the kind of person who
Nicholas James Garbarino, senior mechanical engineering major
saw people for who they are, loved them and listened to them. “He was the most wonderful husband a girl could ask for — he took good care of me and loved me well,” Andi said. Nick and Andi were camp counselors when they met at Camp Peniel, where Nick was a favorite to all the campers and known as “The Captain.” Nick loved everything about camp. He wanted to work at Camp Peniel full-time, though he would have been a shoe-in at FMC Engineering, where
Lab ranchers Kelly Tucker The Battalion
When Dolly the sheep was cloned from an adult cell and born in 1996, a new world of biological research was lifted from the pages of science fiction. More than 15 years later, cloning has reentered the public eye in the form of cloned animals used to produce food for human consumption. The Food and Drug Administration, FDA, announced controversially in 2008 that meat and milk from cloned cattle, sheep, swine, goats and their offspring were determined to be safe to eat. More recently, the FDA has indicated that products made from cloned animals are not likely to need special labels, though no official decision has been made public. Both announcements raised concerns among some consumers about the safety of such products and possible side effects of eating cloned food animal products. Mark Westhusin, veterinary physicology and pharmacology professor, said these fears are unfounded. “Based on what has been studied,
See Garbarino on page 2
If you go #"10:30 p.m.
Tuesday in Academic Plaza
#"The campus will be darkened at 10:20 p.m.
# All campus flags fly at half-mast # The Ross Volunteer Co. will fire three rifle volleys to honor the memory of these students # Buglers from the Aggie Band will play a special arrangement of “Taps” # These and all students who died in the past year will be honored during the Campus Muster Ceremony on April 21
May 26, 1990 - March 13, 2012 Michael Chris Kaitson
Infectious smile, caring spirit “He could bring a room alive.”
Kevin Smith
The Battalion Michael Kaitson, junior business major, is remembered as a loyal friend, protector and caring member of the Aggie family. He played the role of protector for his younger siblings, was a valued friend as a fraternity brother in Sigma Alpha Epsilon and exuded life to those he met. Among Kaitson’s talents and pleasures, friends said he was a standout basketball player. “One of my favorite things about Michael was his smile,” said Angie Kaitson, Michael’s mother. “He was always bouncing into the kitchen trying to make me laugh. He used to pick me up and swing me around — which was really funny because I’m 5’4” and he’s about 6’3” — and he would do the same thing with his younger siblings. He could bring a room alive, for sure.”
Michael Chris Kaitson, junior business major
Along with his ability to cheer everyone up, Michael was also said to have been a friend to everyone. “He was a very social and lovable person,” said Chris Kaitson, Michael’s father. “He had so many diverse interests. He could do anything and enjoy it. Michael was like the United Nations: he got along with everybody. He never did meet a stranger.” Two things Michael loved most were sports and music. If he wasn’t playing sports, Michael was learning the latest riff on the guitar or improving his skills See Kaitson on page 2
Researchers consider ethics, safety, cost of consuming cloned meats there’s no evidence that there are any safety issues with the milk or meat from clones when compared to other animals,” Westhusin said. Although Westhusin was not aware of any continuing cloning projects at the University, Texas A&M has strong scientific ties to cloning advancements. Researchers at A&M have cloned more species of animals than those at any other institution in the world. Successful clones include the first cloned bull, “Second Chance,” several piglet litters, the first cloned domestic cat, “Copy Cat,” and the first cloned horse in North America, “Paris Texas.” Advocates of animal cloning for commercial purposes say fears about the safety of cloned meats comes from a misunderstanding of the cloning process. See Cloning on page 3
Jorge Montalvo — THE BATTALION
international
Chilean telescope, Magellan, explores next frontier Michal Ann Morrison
COURTESY
This graphic depiction of the Giant Magellan Telescope has a human figure in the lower left corner to illustrate the scale of the project.
Pg. 1-04.03.12.indd 1
The Battalion The groundbreaking for the construction of a telescope several days ago in Chile marked the beginning of Texas A&M University’s involvement in an international scientific undertaking. The Giant Magellan Telescope is anticipated to be significantly more powerful than the Hubble Telescope and will have the capability to provide information about undiscovered planets and other forms of life in space. Located on a peak of the Las Campanas Mountain in the Andes Mountains at a height of 8,500 feet, the telescope will gather precise data through infrared light at an extremely high resolution. Nicholas Suntzeff, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, said A&M is part of a group of universities and countries raising money to fund
the enormous project. “Texas A&M has a 10 percent share of the cost, and we’ve raised about a third of the money at this point,” Suntzeff said. “As we raise money, we have to plan to build instruments for the telescope, which will be built by various partners. A&M is hoping to receive a contract to build one of these instruments.” In order to receive a contract to contribute an instrument to the telescope, Texas A&M began work on the construction of a specialized instrument, a GMAC. Jennifer Marshall, a research scientist, is guiding these efforts through the Munnerlyn Astronomical Instrumentation Lab in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “A GMAC is a wide field, multiobject optical spectrograph that will be
High tech # GMAC is a wide-field, multiobject, moderateresolution, optical spectrograph designed for the Giant Magellan Telescope by partners at Texas A&M, Johns Hopkins University, and Carnegie Observatories. # The device detects the faintest possible targets in space.
See Telescope on page 6
4/3/12 12:13 AM