I
I
□ R
BOOTS
$150.
ELECTRIC GUITAR
BY KRAMER
$55.
M USIcVo .COfM
To LW PRICES ivory Freofrm 'd«y!
Brand Name Guitars, Basses &. Drums
Page 10 • Friday, December 3,1999
ATI ON
ie Battalion
Risky Mars mission to study climai
MSC
Black Awareness
Committee
Nubian Nominations
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — After
two NASA missions to Mars over
the past six years ended in sudden
failure, the stakes are especially
high today for the Mars Polar Lan
der, and the list of things that can
go wrong is long.
“It’s about as do-or-die an event
as they come,” flight operations
manager Sam Thurman said.
The Polar Lander is set to touch
down this afternoon roughly 500
miles from the Red Planet’s south
pole. Scientists hope to learn about
Mars’ climate by studying layers of
dust and possibly ice during the 90-
day mission.
Instruments will measure va
por in the atmosphere, while a
claw on the spacecraft will collect
samples to be cooked and ana
lyzed for water.
But there are many mission-end
ing scenarios: The spacecraft’s
parachute or descent thrusters
could fail. It could land on a rock
that causes it to tip over. Or it could
touch down into the quicksand-like
permafrost in the never-explored
south polar region.
In September, NASA’s $125 mil
lion Mars Climate Orbiter vanished
as it approached the Red Planet. In
vestigators blamed the loss on sci
entists’ failure to realize that English-
style units of measurement — feet
and inches — had not been con
verted to the metric system.
And in 1993, the Mars Observer,
a $1 billion NASA spacecraft, disap
peared just before going into orbit
around the Red Planet. It is believed
to have exploded as its fuel lines
were being pressurized.
“The tension on the team is up by
several factors because of what hap
pened,” Richard Cook, spacecraft
operations manager at NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, said.
In the weeks since the Mars Cli
mate Orbiter’s failure, controllers for
the $165 million Polar Lander mis
sion have reworked and reviewed
plans to deal with the myriad of
things that could go wrong at the
end of the 157-million-mile voyage.
They have put together hundreds
of contingency plans for nearly every
possible glitch.
“When we’re working on contin- |
gency plans, we’re thinking gory de- i
tails about everything that can go |
wrong,” Thurman said.
Probes to study martian surface
Guidance
system
initialization
Turn to
entry
attitude
NASA's Mars Polar Lander is designed to analyze the tel
planet s south polar region. The lander is equipped wfo2
that will acquire soil samples which will be dumpedn
^ where water and carbon dioxide will be baked a*, |
Here »s a look at the mission:
The Microprobes
Two basketbaU-Kized microprotoas will bo
releasod by the spacecraft before entry
The microprobes Siam mto me pienet’t
surface n\ *00 mph. After impact the probe
will drill into Mta surface to study thu soil
with a primary goal oi finding water ice. The
small scienos station will also measure soil
temperaiuro and monitor local marltan
weather A look at the probe
IT'
Surt.c. ' Sun Motor
Drill motor
l
Temperature j jj
sensors fm
f ass ].
mm
<:
Review Categories
World trade protests become peaceful raffi
Submit Nominations
SEATTLE (AP) — Billed as a “festival of re
sistance,” World Trade Organization (WTO)
protests for the first time seemed more like a par
ty than a pitched battle with police yesterday.
http://bac.tamu.edu
Deadline:
Wednesday, Dec. 22nd
“These people are stand
ing up for a good cause”
JL
‘Celebration of Achievement’
Texas Business Leaders &
Nubian Awards Reception
— Sylvia McDaniel
Market spokesperson
Thursday. Feb. I Oth
3pm
J. Wayne Stark Galleries
After a Pike Place Market rally, at least 1,000
people marched to the King County Jail at the
south end of downtown to express support for
those arrested this week.
Motorcycle police escorted protesters to the
site, which is blocks away from the WTO meet
ings. A huge puppet on wheels, with a gag
across his mouth, also led the throng.
“We’re here because there are over 100 non
violent protesters [inside] who were arrested for
exercising their right to free speech,” one man
said on a bullhorn.
Most of those arrested are being held else
where. “The guards are telling them they have
no support.”
“Free the Seattle 500,” read one sign.
“Let them go! ” chanted the crowd. People in
side the jail waved to the cheering protesters.
Police were acting differently, David Roman,
26, an organizer with the umbrella group Direct
Action Network, said. Where Wednesday some
were “out of control,” they were cooperative
yesterday, he said.
The rally at the market was one of the first
peaceful demonstrations since Tliesday’s van
dalism downtown and police response Wednes
day with tear gas and rubber bullets.
“These people are standing up for a good
cause,” market spokesperson Sylvia McDaniel
of the 2,000 or so who gathered peacefully in
noon sunshine said.
Activists were wary of renewed police efforts
to distinguish between vandals and criminals
and those engaged in peaceful protest and civil
disobedience.
he streets
of Seattle
are crowd-
this week,
but not with
; t|iongs of holi-
y shoppers,
gry protest
’s and police
officers have
c ogged the dow
Photo images ho
and startling: pi
c ouds of tear go
demonstrators a
■cles. It has bet
ling time since 1
pined news abo
lid anarchists.
[ But perhaps r
an the activity
e object of all
Thousands of
lome to fight fre
mpting and dela
Spublicized meeti
Trade Organizati
Iternational bo<
Ishes rules aboc
I What? Never
“It’s never too late to say you’resoitv.’MtO? Neither h,
Lofton, 25, of Portland, Ore., said, wafelntil this week. 1
about 300 other demonstrators asthemone, the proles
crowd dispersed into smaller groups, lave done much
But then she added of police: “Manyolfl They have arr
should be punished. An apology isliorld’s attentior
enough.” lonsider the pot<
For activists concerned about WTO: tpf free trade,
to override national laws protectingthetl The demonstr
ronment and workers, this week’s irolodgepodge of e
was supposed to be a historic showdov f labor and humar
tween civil society and the forces ofcorpuB- have denounc
globalization. hoppling trade ba
Instead, the battle has been betweecfiense of importa
testers and police, with concerns abouttp Unfortunately
rights, labor and the environment takingili gnedia has hurrie
seat to allegations of police brutality.
More than 570 people have beenae
since Tuesday, when tens of thousands?
testers took over the city’s core
smashed entire blocks of storefront
spray-painted buildings and slashedpoto
tires causing an estimated $2 million in pit
ty damage.
dissenting voices
able, or worse.
| On Tuesday, fc
waves were fillec
Micr<
Round Cut
Pear Shape
Carat
Color
Clarity
Price
Carat
Color
Clarity
Price
1.77
G
SI3
$5750 00
.92
K
VS2
$2550°"
1.08
I
VS2
$3750"°
.79
K
SI1
$1850"°
1.03'
H
11
$1995 00
.89
F
SI2
$3100°°
.76
G
SI2
$2700""
.70
H
SI2
$1850"°
Oval
.57
I
SI2
$1175°°
.52
E
VS2
$1250"°
.50
G
VS1
$1450""
Carat
Color
Clarity
Price
.33
H
VVS2
$790°°
.66
K
VVS2
$1439°"
.31
H
VVS2
$790°°
.54
H
SI2
$1050 l, °
.26
G
SI1
$275°"
.32
H
SI1
$ 550°°
Marquise Cut
Carat
Color
Clarity
Price
Princess Cut
1.21
K
SI2
$3950°"
.94
K
SI1
$3150°"
Carat
Color
Clarity
Price
70
G
SI1
$2650°"
.73
F
SI1/VS2
$2875°°
49
F
SI1
$1736°°
.72
E
VS2
$3700 00 EGL Cert
.27
G
SI2
$275°°
All Tag Heuer Watches
except Ag Tag 20% OFF.
Selected Tag’s 50% OFF
Emerald Cut
SORRY, NO MAIL ORDERS
(While supplies last or until Dec. 18, 1999)
Color
I
F
Clarity
VS2
SI1
Price
$690<r
$2150 ni
Diamonds for Aggie Rings!
.25 s 300
.20 $ 195 .15 $ 125 .13 *105
FREE MOUNTING WHILE SUPPLIES LAST
.05
*45
Citizen Watches with
Official A&M Seal
*99.00 YOUR CHOICE!
Gold-Tone *17/95 NOW *99.00
Two-Tone S T59>95 NOW *99.00
Quartz Movement, 3-yr. warranty.
Water Resistant. *Call for Quantity Prices.
Texas A&M
Watches, Jewelry and Charms
CLofin <cJ~fun£fsLf line.
Ns /r /Q L-T
Class of '79
"Very Personal Investments 7
Rare Coins, Loose Diamonds, Precious Metal, Fine Jewelry, Watches, Tennis Bracelets,
Cocktail Rings & Colored Gemstones
313B South College Ave. (Albertson's Center) • 846-8916
n-
Saifw
fceAtauMMt
Vietnamese Specialties atai ieso much is th<
prices - all entrees i
(U-WIRE) NOF
he federal g
case against
a lot of new
lat probably sho
T
lists have been crit
i , i, r rL « lent s action aga
In Lack s Furniture ShoppiojHgppjy miwarr
off Southwest Parkway & Teflfinterference in inc
It’s funny that
Jreaks up a monc
Ition, that’s what
Delivery Available
268-0354 • Phone Orders#
"ujits call governme
hen a single cor
bmpetition by co
nth tyrannical ar
at’s called the “
After all, they a
ult that it’s a me
ates be punishec
is products?
If the monopol
Tftiult, the situatior
TOYSTom ,:[t s not mere marl
11:30 2:054:45W-B , .
1035ioo3«#ionopoly illegal,
world is note® er a monopoly aff
But it is Micros
the bonecou'tjjgdy that reason,
percent share of tl
IF YOU ordered a ii l
Aggieland and will (td
on campus next fall to
it up, you can W
mailed. To have your 1
book for the
school year mate
by 015 Reed fid
Building or tele
845-2613 (credit
only) between 8:3
and 4:30 p.m, M
through Friday artf
a $6.50 mailing and 1
dling fee.
Cash, Check Visa, Matt-
Discover and American M
accepted.
perating system i
ense its operating
anufacturers uni
ows with every F
This is only oni
nti-trust case.
It isn’t just detr
rs; it hurts const
If you buy a PC
omputer retailer,
license for Micro
:ame time. This “I
en, but included
ind that you mig
ense for Window
pgrade your hard
It doesn’t matte
o erase the hard i
lon-Microsoft ope
inux. You have n
Microsoft’s produc
Free-market ca
his as a problem,
ve’d just repeal al
aws and bleeding
ions, and get the j
he business of go 1
hen the market w
n our best interest
The problem w:
oning is this: the
abor laws for whh
ictly where we sta