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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 2000)
Celebpdfee iSesponsxbl^ Grupo Ka-Che , zt/lo"***** ?>$■<> St* ., - C»v . • • ■_.: u FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18f H nGTROLUE WHITE COLISEUM DANCE LESSONS 8PM - 9PM LIVE CONCERT & DANCING 9PM - 1PM Tickets only $5 at MSC Box Office or call 845-1234 Sponsored by MSC L.T. Jordan Institute and MSC Town Hall Persons with disabilities requiring special assistance are requested to call 845-8770 to communicate special needs. HE*** AGS! Did you know. THE MAJORITY OF ACCIE* RO IT f ODER! *99 HAPPY VALENTINE'S PAY!!! 'ENT FE Data from June, 1998 CORE survey on a random sample of 861 students I . « V.xm ICmi * . lit Cp:/A tullfc.tainu.edu/aclcp WORLD Page 12 THE BATTALION Monday. Februar. Indians and police clasli over drilling in Columb LAS CANOAS, Colombia (AP) - Leaders of a Colombian indigenous tribe said they will not give in to a U.S. company’s plans to drill for oil in their traditional lands, even after riot po lice clashed with Indian protesters blocking a road-to the area. “This is our land. We will not leave it,” Roberto Perez, head of the U’wa nation’s council of leaders, said on Saturday. There were reports from tribal lead- ers that as many as five children fell into a fast-flowing river and may have drowned in the confusion after a clash. But the reports could not be confirmed. No bodies have been found, and police have denied reports of deaths in Fri day’s violence. Reporters visiting the remote area in northeastern Colombia during the week end heard conflicting versions of what happened when police broke up the protest, which highlights the intensity of a long-running dispute over the U’wa tribe’s claim to land it considers sacred. "I'm not moving. This is my land, and nobody is taking it from me. The highway was reopened in the mountainous re. the Venezuelan border, and on Saturday construct^ rolled past the scene of the previous day’s violence, for the site where Los Angeles-based Occidental hi up to 2 billion barrels of crude. The company coi diately be reached for comment. Protesters lined the edgeol facing a picket of riot police “I’m not moving. This is and n< >bod> is taking it frotsa tor Bocota, who said hisfotti- old daughter died after riot poll up the protest, said. Communication with the sometimes difficult because them don’t speak Spanish dian girl, ^-year-old Kesiott- ta, told reporters through ai preter that she had lost Pastor babv w hile trying to crosstl •luted to the man or the baht IERT HYNECI Pastor Bocota Protester For weeks, members of the tribe have occupied land just outside their reservation on which the U.S. oil company Occi dental Petroleum wants to begin exploratory drilling. Although the drilling site lies outside tribal lands, the U’wa said they believe oil exploration would bring violence and de stroy their culture. About 150 riot police on Friday flew by helicopter to Las Canoas, 210 miles northeast of Bogota, to disperse the hun dreds of Indians who had blocked the dusty road leading to the Occidental drilling site. The police fired tear gas at the protesters, who w ere armed with wooden clubs and bows and arrows. Six Indians suffered cuts and bruises, while two police agents suffered minor wounds from the tribe’s metal-tipped arrows. The girl, who is not rel infant slipped from her arms. Activists from the U.S.-based groups Amazon W Rainforest Action Network previously told reportersil children had died during the clash. Regional police commander Col. Raul C opeda.x the incident would be investigated, but U’wa leader unimpressed. “They can say what they like, but it’s their fault.I: have to pay for these lives.” I baristo Cobaria,theinb adviser, said. The clash pits the 8,000-member tribe against tk; needs of an oil-rich country of 40 million people wk ers say Colombia will have to import oil within theno. if it can’t exploit its own reserve Wahid backs down on IMF demand for resignation JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — In a surprise reversal. President Abdurrah man Wahid suspended his powerful se curity minister, Gen. Wiranto, from the Cabinet over his alleged role in last year’s bloodshed in East Timor, new spa pers reported Monday. Upon his return home Sunday follow ing a 16-day overseas tour, Wahid met with Wiranto and announced that the min ister would remain part of the government while the attorney general’s office con ducted a new formal inquiry into the vio lence that fol- announce that he was keeping Wiranto — who has refused numerous public and private appeals from Wahid to re sign — in the government until the at torney general finalized the new inves tigation of Wiranto’s responsibility for the events in liast Timor. On Monday morning, presidential spokesperson Dharmawan Ronodipuro declined to comment about the Kompas report but said that Cabinet secretary Mar- si lam Simanjuntak would make a formal announcement later in the day. Wiranto has gets pit in face Ca i IS lowed East Timor’s vote for independence. But late Sun day night, the president, who lias been known to frequently make strong state ments on issues only to ignore them later or change his stance, told Indonesian reporters that "I asked [Wiranto] to resign, but he said be preffered to be in vestigated by law, and I said 'Okay.'" — President Abdurrahman Wahid Wahid would be suspended from the Cab inet during the new probe. “While waiting for the attorney gen eral’s special team to investigate Gen. Wiranto, 1 have taken a decision to deac tivate him from duty, and [appoint] inte rior minister Surjadi Sudirdja as interim coordinating minister for security and political affairs,” Wahid said, as quoted by the Kompas newspaper. Other Jakarta newspapers carried similar reports. Wahid gave no explanation for his unexpected decision. The announcement was made to reporters from the Indone sian media who had been called to the palace around midnight Sunday, re porters said. Several hours earlier, Wahid had e c an im P r °mptu news conference to been accused by separate Indone sian and U.N. hu man rights panels of failing to pre vent the East Timor violence in September as commander of the country’s armed forces. Hundreds of people were killed and much of the province devastated in attacks by anti-independence militants following East Timor’s vote for independence on Aug. 30. Indonesian sol diers have been accused of taking part in some attacks and stepping back and al lowing many others. On Sunday afternoon, after meeting privately with Wiranto, Wahid told re porters: “I asked | Wiranto] to resign, but he said he preferred to be investigated by law, and I said ‘Okay’.” “I have... the right to change my min isters,” he said. “After he is inspected by law, then I will exercise my prerogative.” Wahid’s trip abroad was to focus on encouraging investment in Indonesia’s moribund economy. But that goal was largely forgotten as the media focused on the political duel, which sparked fears of a possible military coup in Jakarta. BANGKOK, Thailand (A? Government officials argue:: testers marched and a denv. threw a pie at the chief ol ttfj national Monetary fund 0 j Sunday during a tradesawm had been touted is & peacefci nw ing of rich and poor vm\s. One chapter of the cwenlecon ic order came to an end as Mi Camdessus, the IMF’s managing tor. made a final speech to the Conference on Trade ;uid Dcvelof before his retirement Monday. He said economic global:: does not threaten poor nations 1» foreign investment w gaps in wealth. “Globalization can now be? a positive light," he said, “astlii means ol' improving the hum dition throughout the world.” But many developing coun gue they are being left behind . benefits of economic globalizaw spread unequally among the w people, creating bigger divides^ [ the haves and the have-nots. Ninety- Rudder Station A secoi ed ano change Texas A&IV The developing ®unlri««4 ySenateha that debts owed to rich nationsaK« -ri P pling their ability to — aculu piiiiy lih.ii aumiy iu grOW, Sjiu™ complain trade barriers keeping® m ^ iac products out of some markets afiB/J 10 ^ ra( ^ e ( posed unfairly. M fcaverag, Critics ofTMF bailout pacb'f eic m 't'ally n Asian countries during the recenlR urse selectio noinic crisis claim the fund’s #GPAof6ne tence on high interest rates torej financial stability deepenedreceff leading to heavy job losses. Social Justice in Islam & Nte& sV ° An Inter-faith Dialogue Presented by the \ Muslim Students’ Association /> Thursday, Feb. 17th MSC 224-225 @ 7pm Dr. IhsanBagby (Shaw University, North CaroU^' 1 Dr. Bob Mayfield (Dir. of Baptist Student Minf s,r ^’ For more info, email islaml01@iamu.edu or call 693-5463 ^isit our table in MSC hallway Thurs, Mon, Wed between 1 lam and 2p' n Parking, Tr |tudent Gove: ertl like strar 1 reputation Rachel Hov | en t is workir jhadministra |P 0 f employe! I The new bo the two groups “The studer If *s on camp A sophomc ! lai t said the l em to randor 1 hey enfoi Vfey.ps more on ' | e wrong spol /er yone who Tom Willia 'oblems with a t PTTSoffi Idon’tknc Pilose who ch
