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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2000)
mllback. reign Minister Davidij hdrawal decision^ ue intentions, s serious about m, sraeli withdrawal ^ I expedite a treaty,hes; s not serious, and its 3ar us down and kee) south Lebanon], wenj iges to its continued) Levy said. WEDNESDAY March 8, 2000 Volume 106 ~ Issue 107 10 pages IW4 =f:l * i 1 rw I Vi Bush, Gore win big in primaries 'Super Tuesday’ gives front-runners large lead over rival candidates ELECTION 200 SUPER TUESDAY DEMOCRATIC PARTY i] (AP)—A1 Gore swept past Bill Bradley in Su- ierTuesday primaries from Maine to California, ushing his rival to the brink of withdrawal in the emocratic presidential campaign. “We need to jildon our record of prosperity,” the vice presi- lentsaid, turning his focus toward November. “He won, 1 lost,” said Bradley, all but conced- ig his challenge was over. Gore won from New England to Georgia to Ohio California and at several stops in between, regu- iy gaining 60 percent of the vote or more. Mis- iri, where Bradley wus bom; New York, where he Jayed pro basketball — they, too, went for Gore. A Bush candidacy would set up a general elec- i matchup between two 50-something scions fpolitical families. Gore’s father served as sen ior from Tennessee before him; Bush’s father nas president and his grandfather represented Connecticut in the Senate. T' Blacks preferred Gore over Bradley by a mar gin of 6-1; and Hispanics by 8-1. The margin among union members was smaller, but a healthy 3-1. Gore also won the vote of independents, a key element of Bradley’s electoral strategy, and a group that the Democratic nominee will need in the gen eral election race. The exit polling was conducted by Voter News Service, a consortium of the Asso ciated Press (AP) and television networks. To voters concerned about education, abortion rights, environmental protection and other issues, he insisted, “our campaign is your cause.” (ieorge W. Bush accelerated his drive to the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday, winning California, New York and live other primaries as he rose to vanquish John McCain. Praising his insurgent challenger. Bush said, “Soon our party will unite and turn to the main task at hand —ending the era of Clinton-Gore.” McCain was considering whether to drop out of the race and an aide said he expected the Arizona senator to pull the plug as early as Thursday. The Arizona senator won four states Tuesday but none beyond independent-minded New England. Retold supporters that he and Bush “may meet again,” leaving plenty of room for doubt. “We’re very pleased with the victories we won and disappointed with the ones we lost,” McCain told AP. lie said he’ll meet with his aides Wednes day “and talk about our future.” In a reflective mood, McCain said, “We’ve changed the face of politics mid put refonn on the agenda. We’re proud of what we’ve done.” Forging familiar coalitions, Bush relied on par ty faithful while McCain drew from independents and moderate Republicans. McCain’s gamble of criticizing conservative Christian leaders may have backfired in key states, while Bush’s visit to a South Carolina university with a history of anti-Catholic views seemed to be a beneficial campaign issue for McCain in some states. In a late-night rally, Bush enthused, “We have a national victory. Republicans and conservatives across American have said they want me to lead the Republican Party to victory come November, and 1 am ready and eager to do so.” The governor won California, Ohio, Georgia, Missouri and Maryland by double-digit margins — and broke McCain’s hold in the Northeast with nar rower victories in New York and in Maine. I le won the Minnesota caucuses as well. McCain took Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Ver mont as voters in 13 states participated in the year’s largest night of Republican presidential contests. See Primaries on Page 2. ttelegdtefe won W BtfsH 1 A~7 McCaUrt- 117 ★ ★ ' W w RUBEN DELUNA/Thk Battalion 1. If' “vT Cajun treat f? a f’0'1 PATRIC SCHNEIDER/1 in BAITALION Amanda Cooper, a junior animal science major, and Lindsay Maberry, a sophomore management major, eat crawfish at Alicia’s restaurant to celebrate Fat Tuesday. Pradhan jailed for breaking parole, theft PRADHAN BY STUART HUTSON The Battalion Dhiraj Pradhan, formerly A&M’s top-paid computer sci ence professor, was sentenced to 60 days in jail and ordered to im mediately pay $38,(XX) in restitu tion to the Texas A&M Universi ty System Tuesday for 26 charges of theii and violation of probation. Pradhan’s probation stemmed from a Nov. 24, 1998, plea bargain in which he plead guilty to the charge of Abuse of Official Capacity for misusing $38,000 of Texas A&M University System money in return for a sentence of five years probation during which he could repay the amount in monthly installments. Upon a secondary investigation at Pradhan’s request after the plea bargain, the District Attor ney’s office discovered that Pradhan had contin ued to use $8,000 ofTexas A&M University Sys tem money after his probation had started. “We ended up talking with the A&M Gener al Council who led us to these instances. After some investigation, we felt these violated the terms of [Pradhan’s probation],” Brazos County District Attorney Bill Turner said. “[This ruling] is just a revocation of his probation.” The charges of the $8,000 theft consist of copying and mailing over 130,000 pages of ma terial and use of a phone card for personal gain at the University’s expense. “Pradhan said that he is being persecuted for just making a few copies,” Turner said. “But I think that it is significant to realize that this amounts to $8,000 of state money that he took while not even an employee.” Turner said the $8,000 was added to the $30,000 left unpaid from the original plea bargain and was ordered to be paid immediately. He also said Prad- han was ordered to turn himself over to police cus tody at Brazos County Jail by 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Pradhan said he had permission from his former supervisor Wei Zhao, a computer science professor, to use the University’s facilities to make 2,000 copies of a paper which he intended to submit to various scientific publications. As proof, Pradhan said he presented payment authorization forms tor the expenditures bearing Wei Zhao’s signature. “A few of the forms were properly filled out, but we have determined that the remainder ap pear to be falsified duplications,” Turner said. Pradhan said he feels as though Zhao was See Pradhan on Page 2. t I Prairie View’s program funding inadequate, under question -lot nt. .-9 p.m.), 10 p.m.) Cash 7 3.) rly. cp oi7, c 0017 1 BY APRIL YOUNG The Battalion The Feb. II Prairie View A&M University’s len’s track team car accident, which killed four Jstudents, has raised questions on whether Prairie [Viewreceives adequate funding for its programs. The driver of the van en route to Pine Bluff, |Ark., for an indoor track meet was a 21 -year-old pdent athlete at Prairie View. Students and spec- Jlators are now questioning why this state-funded lool could not afford a charter vehicle for its t-of-state trip. “We do not have pockets as deep as College Station, therefore one has to par ticipate in athletics using transportation as safe as possible but also as economical as possible — and that entails the lease of vans,” said Larry Raab, vice president of finance at Prairie View A&M University. Since state money cannot be used for athletics, money used for athletics must be raised or donated by alumni or private companies. “Football programs pay for the ma jority of all other athletic programs at any “We do not have pockets as deep as College Station, therefore one has to participate in athletics us ing transportation as safe as possible but also as economical as possible ...” — Larry Raab vice president of finance at Prairie View A&M University university, so if you have a viable, large, well-funded football program, those monies normally cover all other sports at the university,” Raab said. “We, like all the other schools in the A&M System, have to rely heavily on gate revenue and fund raising activities from alumni, the corporate world and others.” B.J. Crain, associate vice chancellor for budgets and accounting for the Texas A&M University System, said the A&M System does not have a say in distribu tion of money contributed to the univer sities by the state ofTexas. “Money in the system is distributed by the Legislature, and it never comes to the Texas A&M University System,” he said. Crain said the formula used by the Legislature is based on detailed calculations, but can be over simplified to three basic building blocks: semes ter credit hours, whether it is undergraduate, grad uate or a doctoral program; the type of institution, such as liberal arts, engineering or agriculture; and square footage. See Prairie View on Page 2. 3xperiment dance tation lignment )3-8575 Pope to apologize for church’s sins tch ■s lips) spted. 707 Texas Ave. Bryan 822-2141 VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope John Paul II plans to deliver a his toric, sweeping apology for the sins of Roman Catholics over the cen turies, Vatican officials said today. The pope’s homily for the Day of Pardon Mass in St. Pe ter’s Basilica on Sunday is ap parently still being written. The officials, briefing reporters on Ike event, also appeared to be setting limits on how such an apology should be viewed. No pope has ever gone to such lengths to seek forgiveness for past sins, Vatican spokesperson Joaquin varro-Vails said. A document prepared by an in ternational group of theologians, which was released in Paris last 'veek, and statements by officials May suggested the pope will at least allude to responsibility by the Catholics in the Holocaust, the In quisition, the Crusades and for acts against other Christians in wars of teligions. The theological document re- sed last week broke little new ground and was instead intended to provide the context for the pope’s for a “purification” of the church. POPE JOHN PAUL On the I lolocaust, the docu ment said it was important to keep a “moral and religious memory” on the injury inflicted on Jews. “In this area, much has already been done, but this should be confirmed and deep ened,” the document said. Some Jews were up set that the Vatican’s landmark 1998 document on the Holocaust did not condemn the church hierarchy for any fail ures to save Jews. The Vatican has consistently defended Pope Pius XII, who served during World War II and is a candidate for beatification. Israeli Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau said the latest Vatican docu ment on the Holocaust was “quite disappointing.” “It is impossible to correct a crime of the past without any men tion, for example, of Pius XII when he stood on the blood of the victims and did not say a word,” he said. Ross St. renovation in need of funds INSIDE BY RICHARD BRAY The Battalion Students who have been waiting for years to use both sides of Ross Street between Ireland and Spence Streets will be waiting a while longer. Mary Miller, the associate vice president for administration, said Ross Street has been blocked off from vehicle use because of faults in the street’s foundation. “It’s been blocked off for a few years, and that’s because the sub structure of the street is caving in and it wasn’t safe for vehicles to drive on it,” she said. David Godbey, associate director for engineering and design services, said “the supporting soil underneath it was not com pacted properly.” Godbey said Ross Street is just part of a larger project being planned. “It is under consideration now to be part of a large project that would include re building New Main Drive and upgrading all the storm water drainage between Uni versity Boulevard and George Bush Dri ve,” he said. Miller said the tentative schedule calls for construction beginning in fall 2001. Due to the project’s size, it will not be completed until May 2003. “The timing is very long because we have a lot of issues that are being addressed at one time,” she said. Miller said the estimated cost is about $4.5 million for the entire renovation pro ject, which would be paid for with state bonds. “It is a very expensive repair because it is a major street renovation,” She said. Godbey said the orange cylinders blocking off one side of Ross Street are “not a sign that construction is starting because first we would have to hire engineers and do plans of specifications in de tail. All we’ve done so far is have a preliminary study on it.” Godbey said New Main Drive will be rebuilt in concrete to im prove its appearance. “New Main has deteriorated and is really not suitable to the main entrance of a major university,” he said. “It is a blacktop street and our intentions are to rebuild it in concrete so it is a first-class street.” Godbey said the storm drains are to blame for the flooding that occurs on Bizzell Strect,following heavy rains. Godbey said the stonn drains must be improved in order to meet the requirements of an agreement with College Station. “We have an agreement with the City of College Station to re duce our runoff to their system on George Bush Drive by 20 per cent,” he said. JP BEATO/The Battalion Ross Street, between the Reed McDonald Building and the Chemistry Building has been closed off to two-way traffic for several years due to its faulty foundation. The misconceptions of spring break Media paints false picture of stu dents on break Page 3 •Political parties on the beach Spring break offers students opportunity to get to the elec tion polls. Page 9 • A&M baseball rebounds vs. No.5 Cougars Aggies hang on for a 9-5 le against Cougars Page 7 Page 7 M, ^ JHP (EUUKtBm • Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9 at 1:57 p.m. for details on Internet taxation. • Check out The Battalion online at battalion.tamu.edu