The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 10, 2000, Image 1
Wednesday, Febna >ur fle FHE Thursday February 10, 20(K) Volume 106 - Issue 88 14 pages * Vl*'i =f:1 * i Vi li gs put an end to eight-game losing streak slSTl I), England (A?) ppeil from the cockpi; icked plane and ran night, fleeing the Al lias been parked for ■gotiators seek the n 150 passengers. ■ darkness shortly bel e men used a rope es about 20 feet totlit airport. Authorities saiili to be hostages, w ere being questioned ledical attention, and; a tiered no serious i Polk arils, an r.ssex stable, negotiations with p. plane continue "said ad on board remainsci r. negotiators wanted! eh gained the releases tiring the day Tuesdav; negotiations ar essional way, m a it j John Broughton, an hi ant chief constable."' :em here is the safeti n board that aircraft' ms of the hi jackers, ns. remained unclear ed from an elaborate asylum to a bid um| smaiI Khan, a forme; in Af ghanistan detain the country's rulin; n of the set on, improving their record BY REECE FLOOD The Battalion Two teams entered Reed Arena last night, each ing to bring an end to their losing streaks. But the Texas A&M women’s basketball team sthe one that left the arena with a smile on its e after defeating Baylor University 76-65. The two teams met earlier in the season, a ne in which A&M managed to squeak by with 2-59 victory, giving them their first Big 12 Con- ence win of the season. Both A&M and Baylor were unable to earn a tory since that meeting. Last night, the Aggies ended an eight-game ing streak and earned their second conference la- 1,2-8 in the Big 12. After losing its 10th game in a row, Baylor fell 5-15,0-10 in the Big 12. The victory did not come easy for the Aggies, ith 2:37 left in the game, A&M was clinging to hree-point lead. Senior forward Prissy Sharpe found junior for- jrd Jaynetta Saunders under the basket for a ick layup, giving A&M some momentum. Sharpe said the pass was exactly the w ay the ohad been practicing it. ‘'It was just how it w as supposed to be,’’ Sharpe id. “We just ran it to perfection.” With 1:21 left on the clock. Baylor women’s sketball coach Sonja Hogg received a technical ul, sending Sharpe to the line. Hogg was not sure w hy she received the tech- Jical, but did not contest it. “I probably should have gotten it earlier.” ■ogg said. about a potential I A&M made six of its last eight free throws and n said: “In talking.:' pne more basket from the field to cap a 10-2 run a are a lot of thing':; po end the game. s elaborate, saying® ■ Leading the way for the Aggies was Sharpe. w ho controlled (hep \irport 25 miles non; f nade no "formal denis| of the negotiatii jghton called hou i as the delivery e Ariana airlinesptae L e done e very thing If ondilions on thearalw J Edwards. ‘'We'relaiIf ! ibout what's ’heeond/* d how arc ibesMta" r who scored more then 20 points for the 19th time in her career. She ended up with 24 points and nine rebounds on the night. Saunders chipped in with 17 points of her own. Baylor’s Danielle Crockrom was a major fac tor in the game, earning 25 points and seven re bounds for the Lady Bears. The first half saw a hard fought battle between two impressive offenses. Both Baylor and A&M were on lire in the first half, shooting 53.1 percent and 56.3 percent, respectively. “I felt like in the first half, we were shoot ing like blazes,” Hogg said. “Of course, they were too.” The Aggies scored the opening basket and managed to hold on to the lead most of the game, never getting behind by more then three points. But at halftime, A&M made adjustments and came out with a more intense defense. “I just told them it's going to come down to de fense,” A&M women’s basketball coach Peggie Gillom said. “I thought it was going to come dmvn to defense and who wanted it more.” A&M managed to hold Baylor to a 26.5 shoot ing percentage in the second half, helping give the Aggies the victory. The w in marks the first Big 12 victory for the Aggies in Reed Arena. clockwise from top left: A&M sophomore forward Celeria Washington, junior guard Tina Jones and freshman center Lynn Classen cel ebrate the win against Baylor. A&M freshman forward Meg Banahan puts up a shot against the bears. A&M junior guard Brandy Jones defends against Baylor guard Nicole Collins. GUY ROGERS/The Battalion Hackers attack LiT Sis program violates federal law popular Websites neing 727 .tii A fghan cits Wa m the At'gliun capital! is seized early Stindayl icandering journey sc! i iet Union, stopping'I akstan and Russia, ling to some of lhe.. „ red before the planet! arly Monday, the hij ng men armed wiitj nd daggers. Edwards! res that authorities li id there were I NEW YORK (AP) Hackers | stepped up a three-day electronic as sault Wednesday against some of the most popular sites on the Web, incon- 'eniencing millions of Internet users land unnerving Wall Street. The apparently coordinated at tacks spread to ETrade, ZDNet and [other major sites Wednesday. All of them were crippled by a bar- Irage of mes- denial-of-service attack.” Microsoft’s MSN.com, another highly visited site, said it was indi rectly affected because of disruptions to several Internet service providers carrying its traffic. A small proportion of users were unable to reach Web pages and others may have been unable to log on, said Microsoft spokesperson Tom Pi I la. Major between! W' FLORIDA! "We are committed to in every way possible to tracking those who are responsible. ,1 80 0 648-! uyci.lunI , IC , g§ <£* Coll today! Spoffi; *■ Earn Tn| £5.r fKKS Go H [sages generat- |ed by hackers. The grow ing anxiety [about the In- Itemet’s vul nerability con- [tributed to a |258.44 point- Islide in the [Dow Jones [average and [halted three [straight [record-high [closings for the Nasdaq Composite [index, which is heavy w ith high-tech [stocks. The attacks also prompted top [federal officials to reassure Ameri- [cans that authorities are doing every- jthing they can to fight the online [vandalism. “We are committed to in every [way possible to tracking those who [are responsible,” Attorney General [Janet Reno said in Washington. She said the motives of the van- [dals are not known, “but they ap pear to be intended to interfere with [and disrupt legitimate electronic [commerce.” The hacker technique, called a [“denial of service attack,” involves di recting a flood of messages to com- [puters that run Web sites. The effect is comparable to erect- ling human barricades to block shop- [pers from entering a mall or unleash- [ing a wave of calls to tie up a city’s [phone lines. In the latest attacks, the ETrade ori- jline brokerage’s Web site was hit, but “customer accounts were never com- jpromised,” spokesperson Patrick Di [Chiro said. Less than one-fifth of its cus- Itomers were affected by the clogged traffic for about 90 min iates before the company blunted [the attack, he said. ZDNet.Com, a popular news site [that covers technology, said its Web site was shut down for two hours and “appeared to have been the target of a RENO sites that came under attack Tues day included eBay, Ama zon, CNN and Buy.Com, all in unusually aggressive assaults simi lar to one that overwhelmed Yahoo! a day earlier. Some security experts noted that the attacks occurred around a three- day meeting of Internet service providers in San Jose, Calif., that end ed Tuesday. The keynote speech at the meeting focused on denial of service attacks and was given Monday. I lackers sometimes try to get pub licity by timing attacks around certain events. Federal officials urged businesses to install protective software and take other security precautions. Sensitive government systems were being secured against attacks. “Right now there is no surefire de fense, but we are trying to take some steps,” Commerce Secretary William Daley said. “First we are taking special action to ensure that all federal systems, in cluding civilian agency systems, and those of the Defense Department, are clean of these infections, which make some systems th unwitting partner in these attacks.” Some security experts said the publicity could merely encourage pranksters. “It’s what these guys go after—to be known as the person or group of people who’ve pulled these attacks off,” said Simon Perry, security busi ness manager at Computer Associates International, a maker of business software. “Instead of graffiti on the subway wall, they’ve climbed up to the 40th floor of the Empire State Building and put their messages there.” BY MAUREEN KANE The Battalion Being a “LiT Sis” — a college woman who can par- ticipate in- a-Hratemity’s activities may be one way to get involved in Greek Life at Texas A&M. I lowever, that does not mean it is a legal way to get involved. An exemption in federal legislation allows fraternities and sororities to remain single sex organizations without being subject to anti-discrimination laws. I lowever, “LiF Sis” programs were abolished in 1990 by the national Interfratemity Council (IFC) because the program violates the exemption by allowing women to participate in Rush activities for pledges. Rush is an event held by IFC fraternities every se mester to recruit new members; helping with Rush and recruiting men for fraternities is part of the job for a “LiF Sis”. According to an anonymous source, a “LiF Sis” ap plicant cannot currently be dating a fraternity member, be cause they are expected to date multiple members of the fraternity they are associated with. The source also said “Lil Sis’s” are essentially “PR for frat guys” and “groupies.” After the applications are reviewed, the source said, the active members (actives) of the fraternity and the “LiF Sis’s” vote on the applicant. The source said it is fun to be a ”LiF Sis” because it provides a “family environment where we grow close, guys talk to us about [their] girlfriends and get girls' per spectives and opinions. My real brother is part of the or ganization and I get to spend time w ith him and his friends in a social scene.” Besides the social aspect, the program also serves as a test of how rushees act around women. “The actives want to set standards to respect wpmen See Lil’ sis on Page 2. Replant registration open until Feb. 18 BY BRADY CREEL The Battalion Each year, hundreds of Texas A&M students, parents, and youth in the Bryan-College Station community unite to plant hundreds of trees at Replant. “Thousands of students have the opportunity to help the environment. They can get out there and make a dif- ference,” said Dana Arriens, Replant Committee publicity chair and a senior civil engineering major. “Our goal was to increase participation and give back more to the Bryan-College Station community.” Replant participants will plant 214 trees at the Bryan Regional Athletic Complex (BRAC) and pot 500 seedlings at Lake Somerville at the ninth annual Replant March 4. The Replant Committee plants seedlings in pots so they can grow in a protected nursery for five years be fore being plant ed permanently. The Replant KMPIANT 2000 FEB. IB- cco n INF©HMATI§NAt.MIITIN§§ rcn. zq, 4* (N gft1 by the Replant Committee, with the help of the Army Corps of Engineers in Somerville. The survival rate of those trees is 95 percent. In the past, the Replant Committee used 15-gal Ion trees that were only two years old. However, Re plant Committee began potting seedlings in H 4 * 314 MVi @AK§ WILL il PLANTiB , 600 §iiBLIN6i WILL il B0TTIP REGISTRATION FORMS DUE F8§M§ ARL AVAIl-ABtL IN M86, BtQpsffB ANRWLHN8H ANO PAN 8L A96i§8!B 6MMNL AT • www.neriANT.TANiu.eDu JEFF SMITH/The Battalion Committee planted 300 five-year-old trees in 1999, all of which were grown News in Brief 1993 because of a better survival rate for planting older trees. They now plant 25- gallon five-year-old trees — all of which have been grown from seedlings in Re plant’s nursery. If the trees planted this year get off to a good start and are properly cared for, their lifespan could range between 300 and 500 years, said Lanny Driesen, an associate head of the Forestry Sci ence Department and a forestry science specialist for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Arriens said the committee wanted to bring the trees to Bryan-College Station so the community could see their efforts. They planted the trees in various public See Replant on Page 2. Student Research Week deadline approaches The third annual Student Research Week is scheduled for March 20-24 at the Rudder Tower ex hibit hall. Students will present their research to judges and compete for scholarship money. Criteria for judgement includes: the ability to com municate ideas in verbal and/or graphic form through lay language, clear, concise, well-written summaries and presentation, the ability to.field questions from within the discipline and the gener al public and demonstration of the research’s con tribution to the body of knowledge in that field. First, second and third place winners will be cho sen by Tuesday, March 2. The amount awarded to winners this year has not been decided, but more than $11,000 was awarded last year. Roughly 200 students participated in Research Week in 1999. Undergraduate and graduate students interested in registering can fill out a form and submit an ab stract of the research at www.tamu.edu/re- searchandgradstudies/GraduateStudies/RESWEEK /resweek. The deadline is Monday, Feb. 14 at 5:00 p.m. Silent auction to raise money for Film Festival Film Society will sponso" a silent auction today from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the MSC Flag Roomto benefit the 7th Annual Texas Film Festival. Items being auctioned include the “Ally McBeal” pilot script (with original signatures from the cast) and autographed pictures and memorabilia from celebrities like Troy Aikman, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Bill Cosby. Gift certificates to local stores and restaurants will also be auctioned. Cash and checks will be accepted at the auction. The film festival will run Feb. 15-19 and will fea ture workshops, screenings and guest speaker Robert Rodriguez, director of From Dusk till Dawn. The film festival is the largest-run student film fes tival in the world. Sandra Bullock will not be in attendance, as pre viously reported in The Bryan-College Station Eagle. Nubian Awards honor local African-Americans The achievements of local African-American stu dents and businessmen will be recognized by Texas A&M’s Black Awareness Committee (BAG) today. The “Nubian Awards” will be held from 3-5 p.m. at the J. Wayne Stark University Center Galleries. The African-American businesspeople to be hon ored are chosen for their dedication to the Bryan-Coi- lege Station community. African-American student recipients of the award are selected on the basis of leadership, community service academic and/ or athletic achievements. The BAG’S mission is “Uplift the lives of African- Americans, enrich the minds of all.” INSIDE •Senior Residnet Discount Upperclassmen reap on-cam pus benefits* Page 13 •AroundThe World Students choose summer destinations . Page 3 •Scents & Sen sibility Do pheremones have an affect upon humans Page 7 W •Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9 at 1:57 p.m. for details about a San Francisco artist. •Check out The Battalion online at battalion.tamu.edu