GOLDEN KEY NHS
General Meeting
3Z
7:00 p.m. Koldus 111 *
! (©> j
Wednesday, February 26
FREE FOOD!!!
* ECHO PRESENTS '
A FULL LENGTH
MCAT
MARCH 1,1997
8:00am - 3:30pm
Blocker 163
Tickets $10 and available at the OPS A office
Room 205 Academic Building
STUDENT LEADERS!
DOES A FREE SEVEN COURSE MEAL SOUND APPETIZING?
THEN JOIN US ATTHE
STUDENT LEADER ETIQUETTE
DINNER
SPONSORED BY
MSC HOSPITALITY
MARCH 4 OR 5, 1997
FROM 5:30 P.M. TO 8:00 P.M. IN THE FACULTY CLUB
This is a FREE seven course meal with instruction in proper dining and
interviewing etiquette. This is only offered to students in leadership po
sitions. If you would like to attend, please R.S.V.P. for one of the two
dates with Cari Pope at 845-1515 by Friday, February 28. Attendance
is first come first serve, so call now!
'WWTT The Battalion
0 R L D
Internet executives see
threat in state, local tax
WASHINGTON (AP) — To hear
Internet and technology executives
talk, new state and local taxes rank
up there with computer vimses and
14-year-old hackers as a threat to
the global computer future.
“It defeats the purpose of seam
less interstate commerce,” argues
Scott Cooper, technol
ogy director at the
American Electronics
Association. A prolifer
ation of state and local
taxes will “degrade and
demean the technolo
gy,” he adds.
The Clinton ad
ministration opposes
federal taxation of the
Internet, where busi
ness dealings could
rise to as much as
$150 billion in the
next few years by some esti
mates. So the battleground is
shifting to the state and local lev
el, and the industry is working
hard to halt piecemeal taxation.
The emerging market for elec
tronic commerce could be crushed,
industry leaders say, if cities and
counties begin approving taxes for
telecommunications, data process
ing services or even sales.
They say Internet service
providers could be driven out of
business if local governments get
the right to tax an electronic trans
action that just happens to be rout
ed through a local computer server
en route to its final destination.
Someone in Atlanta who’s buy
ing clothes from L.L. Bean over the
“It defeats
the purpose
of seamless
interstate
commerce.”
Scott Cooper
Technology executive
Internet might have his connec
tion routed through Maryland
and Connecticut before reaching
Maine. Or the connection could
be routed overseas. Also, Internet
service providers might use mul
tiple computer servers in different
cities so they could stay in busi
ness if one crashed —
again creating confu
sion over when taxes
should be applied.
For the estimated 30
million individual In
ternet users, state and
local taxes would make
it more expensive to
use their home com
puters to buy clothes or
check on stock prices
as Internet service
providers pass these
taxes onto the cus
tomer’s monthly bill.
“Clearly, you are talking about a
potential increase in both the costs
and complexity of Internet transac
tions,” said Kenneth Glueck, a tax
expert for Oracle Corp., a major
database company.
“I just think it’s important for
everybody to take a deep breath
and step back and really think
through the implications of hav
ing ...(thousands of) potential tax
jurisdictions rendering various
charges and fees,” said Sen. Ron
Wyden, D-Ore.
He and Rep. Christopher Cox, R-
Calif., are proposing a temporary
ban on new state and local Internet
taxes until all parties agree on a uni
form way to proceed.
sunceat
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3
Wednesday • Februaiy2:M
Rebel leader flies!
South Africa for tall
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
(AP) — Zairian rebel leader Lau
rent Kabila secretly flew to South
Africa on Tuesday and met with
U.S. officials trying to kick-start
the Zaire peace process.
Back home, government soldiers
looted an eastern town ahead of an
expected advance by Kabila’s fighters
toward Kisangani, Zaire’s third-
largest city.
Aid workers said the town gov
ernor and tens of thousands of
others fled Kindu, one of two re
maining government-held towns
in eastern Zaire with an airport. It
was expected to be the next target
of the rebel Alliance of Democrat
ic Forces for the Liberation of Con-
go-Zaire.
The Kabila-led rebels took up
arms in September after the govern
ment tried to expel ethnic Thtsis from
eastern Zaire. Their rebellion is
aimed at toppling President Mobutu
Sese Seko, whose 31-year dictator
ship has left mineral-rich Zaire
among the world’s poorest countries.
Unpaid Zairian troops have loot
ed nearly every town in eastern Zaire
in advance of the rebel front.
Rebels reportedly were just
miles from Kindu, and residents
panicked after soldiers stripped
the town on Monday, aid workers
said. The town’s governor fled to
the capital, Kinshasa.
The looting came as a senior army
officer said he and eight other officers
had joined the rebels. They defected
because of dissent and chaos within
the army leadership, said the former
colonel, who would give his name
only as Anti.
Kabila flew in a chartered South
African plane on Thesday afternoon
from Kigali, Rwanda, to Lanseria,
about 25 miles north of Johannes
burg. A small air field serviced by
charter companies, Lanseria is
known as a haven for smuggling and
other clandestine activity.
According to an immigration
officer at Lanseria, Kabila lacked a
passport and bypassed normal
customs procedures.
The out-of-the-way destination
and statements by his underlings
DO miles
?00 km
CAR,
Gbadolite
ZAIRE
o
O Brazzaville
O Kinshasa
ANGOLA
Kisangani
Rebels press
toward military
headquarters
Faradjei
Watsal
ZAIRE
Congo
River
Area of rebel
control
0 • Tingi-Tingi f
Lubutu
Walikale* ( r
Shabunda,
• Buko-'.
Troops loot
as rebels
advance
Kalemie*
.. Bit
that Kabila was in the bushr|rve
his troops indicated therebeBhl
wanted his trip to SouthAfejM
kept secret. haP
Kabila met in Pretoria, ipna
north of Johannesburg, uf fco
African and U.S. officialsi
been trying to arrange a mefik at]
tween the rebels and Mob. is sij
ernment, accordingtoalb.fem!
ment official in Wacroipr
contacted by telephone.
The official, who spoke oi lan -
tion of anonymity, saidthegweryi
talks was a cease-fire in easte Per
nan ’
The Chemistry of New Ideas
lyer,
ffet
bti
ne
ne
Congratulations to James Zahler, a junior chemical engineering major
from Edinboro, Pennsylvania who has been selected as Eastmans most re
cent Chemical Engineering Scholar here at Texas A&M University. Al
though most of his time is spent with his studies, James finds time for
other activities. He is involved in intramural sports; soccer, flag football
and table tennis. He enjoys sports of all kinds and playing piano. James
will graduate in May of 1998. James is undecided whether he will enter
into industry doing research or go to graduate school, both options are
open. Eastman Chemical Company
welcomes James into the select group of student scholars. Congratula
tions again to James!
*
Malcolm Baldrige
National
Quality
r Award
1993
Winner'
Eastman Chemical Company
Eastman Chemical Company
Eastman offers challenging cooperative education,
summer internship and career opportunities in chemical,
mechanical, electrical and industrial engineering
as well as accounting, computer science,
information systems, and chemistry.
TEX^S
QUALITY
AWARD
1994 Recijptent
Texas Eastman Division