Tuesday, May 30,!)
>osa
[Lights, camera, CGl
j&M's visual science program
iffers balance of art and science
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on the Grimes County sheriff nominee's arrest.
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battalion.tamu.edu.
Weather:
Partly cloudy with a high
of 93 and a low 70.
&M efforts aid in Census 2000 completion
:ers, Cohen said:
be a "national momentol
3 p.m. on Memorial Dar
member and "comment
died on onr behalf."
cesperson, Kenneth Baa
•take" when he released ini
ida Tripp's personnel filel
. Tripp, who secretly record
ith former White House ini
ky, worked for Bacon in|
ic affairs office,
a fired him, but I took in
ervice to the public," said( I KlM TrIFILIO
is aide a letter "to express: I The Battalion
" in his judgment. [The Census 2000 operation is nearing completion, and
lismissed talk of a conspire July 7, evaluations will begin on the results collected in
:h the White House orexet EBrazos Area.
lis was done spontaneous! College Station Census 2000 manager Danny Stone said
IheTexas A&M University administration and staff were
: to return to private life a: verv helpful in the operation to account for all students liv
'd what he would doifG' n B on cam P us - However, the operation was thwarted by
his runnim’ mate Cohensi| f ^ 0 ^P art * c 'P at ' on ^ rorn st:u dents themselves,
ict of irrational exuberant J " The Universit y cooperated magnificently. The participa-
of mv friends." He said hf i n in dorms was about 30 P ercent ' which vvasrVt ver Y g ood '"
o private lite after Decenwii
WEDNESDAY
May 31,2000
Volume 106-Issue 144
6 pages
y l.y A (l<i:i k’J A i ft'
said Stone.*"The work we had to do to get a 100-percent count
was to fill out those forms with the information we had, which
was only basic information like the name of the student."
Despite the lack of participation, the census was able to get
a full count of A&M students living on campus. Stone said.
Jane Khoury, Rudder Hall resident last spring and a ju
nior industrial engineering major, said turning in the cen
sus form was not an inconvenience and it was easy to do.
"I saw the commercials on television, and since I work in
the residence life department, 1 knew how important it was
to turn in the form," Khoury said. "There were signs posted
in the dorm to help prompt students to turn in their form."
The census forms were handed out to all students living
in dorms. Once students completed the forms, they were re
sponsible for giving the forms to tlieir residential advisers.
Nearly 87 percent of all households in Brazos County
have been accounted for, said Stone.
"We are just a little below the national average, but right
now we are completing those forms from people who did
not respond, and we anticipate to finish that this week,"
Stone said. "We will also make one more attempt to verify
those houses which are counted as vacant or destroyed."
The results for the College Station area will be conclud
ed between the end of July and the middle of August. Cen
sus 2000 workers will continue knocking on doors until July
7, according to Margaret Sutton, Census 2000 partnership
specialist for seven counties.
"After July 7, there will be two independent evaluations.
One is with the Census 2000 operation, and the other is the
Accuracy Coverage Evaluation Team," Sutton said. "They
Will continue to go door to door to verify the information
we have already collected."
A nationwide census is conducted once every 10 years.
Results from census information are used to determine
money amounts allocated to counties for support of schools,
public roads and public welfare programs.
te on Monday saying Wu
ssary and illegal
ggies look to future
Feed me
violates n<4ii^ u ^ nf5 pi an to re ^ re earlier than parents
e agreement
Joseph Pleasant
The Battalion
ARA, Turkey (AP) — U.SW A recent online poll reported
trolling a no-fly zoneotf||at63 percent of surveyed col-
n Iraq today bombetfirpe students believe they will be
?S after being fired upon! able to retire younger than their
ti-aircraft artillery, theUippents. "1 am going to start off
said. iN < ' n g wba,: m y parents make
sites were near Bashiqahpw/' s a' d Jennifer Watson, a se-
les north of Baghdad,te n i 0 >'accounting major.
ty-based U.S. Europear
ind said.
jets safely returned to In-
r force base in souther
Watson's opinion is shared by
[any college students as they start
jeir career.
| Renee Edmiston, a junior envi-
, to college, they will make more
money and be able to retire earli
er," Edmiston said.
Michael Larson, Class of '98,
after the bombing, the u. : ronmenta ^ design major, said it
makes sense that college students
-tailed States hasbeen( T" rarlierthan their , parenfe ‘'.
the northern no-fly *>J Since more people are going
q since the end of the Per,
ilf War in 1991.
warplanes have bombC
the northern "0-% ml d ^
s since January. Pnscious of money matters and
d forces also impose | w j affect thenv and the
no-ily zone over the SOI | 1 .i. v y ed g0Q, i nV espng is moreeas-
ily accessible than in past years,
considers the zones viti L arson sgjd young people are
of its territorial sove(K w exposed to investments and
t has been challengingt^savings know how they work,
since December 1998. ^ "My knowledge of investing
——-*!s allowed me to start saving for
■etirement at an early age, whereas
ny parents did not," Larson said.
But not all students are pes-
Inistic about their retirement.
I "College students as a whole
Ink that with theip degree they
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will be able to make a lot of money
in which to retire on," said Kim Go-
erlitz, a senior geography major.
Carol Theriot, a junior biology
major, said the amount of money
needed to retire is more than many
of people realize.
"Most college students do not
realize how much money it takes
“Since more peo
ple are going to
college, they will
make more mon
ey and be able to
retire earlier”
— Renee Edmiston
junior environmental design major
to retire and maintain their stan
dard of living," Theriot said.
Cindy Knudson, investment
representative for Edward Jones
Investments and Class of '87, said
when thinking about retirement,
students should consider the type
of lifestyle they want to maintain.
Knudson said people should keep
in mind that, with the rate of infla
tion increasing, things will cost
more later when people retire than
they do now.
Knudson also said if people
want to travel, buy a home or just
live comfortably, they should start
saving now.
Knudson said at-work retire
ment benefits are also on the rise.
"Corporations are offering
more incentives to attract employ
ees," Knudson said. There are dif
ferent ways to save for retirement,
which include saving by deduct
ing a set amount from each pay-
check and buying bonds.
Knudson said, in order to get
the most from an investment plan,
people should gear their invest
ments toward growth, as with
stock or mutual funds.
"The best way to save for re
tirement is a 401K, which more
companies are starting to offer,"
Knudson said.
A 401K plan allows employees
to deposit a portion of their salary
into the plan with the choice of in
vesting in different mutual funds.
Knudson said the company
usually matches what employees
put in, and the money taken out
is tax-deferred, meaning that tax
es are not paid until the money is
collected. Another benefit of the
401K is it diversifies the investor,
Knudson said.
"The more diversified [investors j
are, the less risk and the more return
they get," Knudson said.
Senior biomedical science major Heather Wynne offers a tasty treat to Little Bit, a three-year-old llama, at the
Wildlife and Exotic Animals Center on campus Tuesday. Little Bit is one of many llamas at the center participating
in a drug research study.
A&M track to go to NCAA meet
Tuesday:
loke Night $ 3 cover
Thursday:
Hlop Dance Night
lasters DJ $ 3 cover
sic'uns play/
owntown Bryan
35
Mike Moran
The Battalion
The 2000 NCAA Outdoor Track and
lield Championships at Wallace Wade
wdium in North Carolina will feature
II members of the 17th-ranked Texas
men's team and 5 members of
|e Texas A&M women's team. From
y 21 through Saturday, June 3,
-each Ted Nelson will lead these ath-
etes against the best track and field
^thletes in the nation.
Nelson sees this meet as a chance to re
wound from a third-place finish at the Big
2 Championships.
am very anxious to see how we per-
oi m on the national stage in Durham this
veek. This team has the capability to fin-
in the top 10," said Nelson.
Junior Bashir Ramzy, the most prolif-
c point scorer in Big 12 history and the
deference's Outstanding Male Per-
ffjrmer, anchors the overall team's
hances. Ramzy runs the first leg of the
100-meter relay and holds the seventh-
>est qualifying mark in both the triple
Urnp and 110-meter hurdles. Ramzy's
astest time in the hurdles came at the Big
2 Championships, but he believes he
post a faster time.
1 didn't feel like the Big 12 was a
?ood race," Ramzy said. "I got a slow
start and was in back after the first three
turdles. I can run faster."
Ramzy's toughest competition in the
110-meter hurdles may come from his
roommate, junior Kris Allen, whose qual
ifying time of 13.67 seconds equals
Ramzy's at seventh-best. Allen finished
eighth at last year's NCAA Champi
onships to receive All-American honors
and hopes to equal that effort this year.
"My main goal is to repeat as an All-
American (in the 110 hurdles). I just want
to do the best that 1 can and let everyone
know that Texas A&M has some great
hurdlers," said Allen.
Sophomore Brandon Evans posts the
fourth-fastest time in the 200-meter dash
and competes in tlie mile relay.
Seniors Johan Lannefors and Keith
Bender (alternate) are the final two mem
bers of the 400-meter relay team, seeking
to improve on their fourth-place finish at
the indoor championships.
Two seniors coming off impressive
showings at the Big 12 Championship are
Travis McAshan and Travis Grasha.
Grasha took second place at the meet in
the hammer throw with a provisional-
qualifying throw of 228-10. McAshan, re
cently named to the second-team Acade
mic All-Big 12 for the fourth time, ran his
See Track on Page 3.
Junior Cristina Ohaeri is one of 16 Aggies competing in the NCAA Champi
onships. Ohaeri will compete in the 100-meter hurdles.
Adoption records law to proceed
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor today rejected an emergency
request to delay an adoption records law from going
into effect, allowing adoptees age 21 and older access
to their birth certificates beginning later today.
More than 2,200 adoptees already have paid $15
and filed applications with the state Health Division
to get their original birth certificates. Most are eager
to know their parents' identities, and many want to
know more about their medical histories.
Tlie Health Division has said it will begin mail
ing birth documents as soon as Wednesday.
. "I have a wonderful family, but there's still that
piece that's missing," said adoptee Geena Stonum,
41, of Portland. "When you see people who maybe
look like you, you wonder if they're maybe related
to you." She's been searching for her birth parents
on and off for 20 years.
But Frank Hunsaker, attorney for a group of six
anonymous birth mothers who had fought the law
in court over the past two years, was not pleased.
"My clients are extremely disappointed and
scared and even angry that their rights have been
ignored by Oregon's voters and Oregon's courts,"
Hunsaker told KXL-AM radio in Portland.
The law approved by voters in 1998 allows
adopted Oregonians age 21 and older access to their
original birth certificates, which can include the
names of their biological mothers.
The six women claimed the law violates the
privacy of people who give their children up for
adoption.
Tlie Oregon Court of Appeals in December re
jected their constitutional challenges to the adop
tion records law, and the Oregon Supreme Court
has twice refused to review that ruling.
Last Tuesday, the Oregon Court of Appeals re
fused to extend a stay blocking the law from taking
effect, leaving the U.S. Supreme Court as the only
option for opponents.
O'Connor, who fields emergency matters from
Oregon for the nation's highest court, rejected their
emergency request to stay the law.
Her action means it goes into effect at 5:01 p.m.
Tuesday, the deadline set earlier by tlie state
Supreme Court.
In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to re
view a similar open adoption records law from
Tennessee.
Tennessee and just three other states — Alaska,
Delaware and Kansas — allow adult adoptees ac
cess to original birth certificates, which often have
birth parents' names. An adoption records bill in Al
abama is awaiting the governor's signature.
Unlike the other states, the Oregon adoption
law was approved by voters, rather than by state
legislators.
Thomas McDermott, lawyer for the law's back
ers and himself the adoptive father of a 16-year-old
boy, was jubilant.
"What I've seen with my son is that he really
yearns for a more complete picture of himself,"
he said. "It's a basic human right to know your
heritage."
Stonum, among the first adoptees to apply, said
she is trying to keep her expectations realistic.
"If they don't want a relationship, that's fine. I
have a family. If a relationship or something more
came out of it, that'd be great too....
"I still might not find her," Stonum said of her
birth mother. "There's still so many things here that
could be dead ends, but Tm just really excited."