s in Brief
r crashes
di Arabia
Bahrain (AP)—A
iter jet crashed
i the Saudi Arabi-
ring a routine train-
the Bahrain-based
t said in a state-
md a navy flight of-
to safety from the
14 Tomcat, the
iid. It did not name
ive the precise lo-
crash.
were recovered in
md have been
>y helicopter to the
in western Saudi
atement said,
d taken off from
arrier USS Dwight
f, which is current
a the Red Sea.
nt is under investi-
atement said.
president
e-election
an (AP) — Iran's
hammad Khatami
esday he will seek
xt year in a dial-
liners trying fosfi-
3.
Section in May
ni has introduced
enness to theout-
d granted greater
litical freedoms,
cipate in the presi-
>ns and will put my
and will respect
ihoice,” the official
alic News Agency
mi as saying in a
officials of the Min-
:e and Technology,
as elected with
percent of the
i no date has been
<t election, it
yiay 2001.
campus bonfire plans progressing rapidly
COLLEGE STATION (AP) — Students in-
olved in a group working to keep the Texas
t&M University Bonfire alive say plans are
apidly progressing to build a log stack off
ampus this fall, in spite of a two-year mora-
orium on the annual tradition after last
rear's deadly collapse.
Texas A&M officials are critical of the stu-
ients' plans for an alternative bonfire and said
hey will not support their efforts, the Bn/an-Col-
lege Station Eagle reported in Sunday editions.
The 2-million-pound bonfire stack collapsed
during construction on Nov. 18. It killed 12 Ag
gies and injured 27 others, some severely.
In May, a five-member commission appoint
ed and funded by Texas A&M to investigate the
deaths blamed flawed construction techniques
and a lack of adequate supervision of students
assembling the stack. In June, A&M President
Dr. Ray M. Bowen announced the 90-year bon
fire tradition would continue, but not until at
least 2002 and not without major changes, in
cluding far greater University supervision and
a professionally engineered design.
Will Clark, one of the board members of
Keep the Fire Burning, said students, former
students and community members need to see
a bonfire burn in order to heal and to move on.
"That's what is prompting us to do this:
The Aggie spirit and love for bonfire can't be
turned off," he said. "When Dr. Bowen re
leased his findings, that was a challenge for
us to come up with a safe plan. We still have
much to do, but we think it can get done. If
the engineers tell us there are problems
though, we will pull back and plan for 2001."
Members of Keep the Fire Burning say
they have been meeting with professional
engineers, lawyers, fire safety officials and
security companies.
“We will not sup
port any bonfire off
campus now or in
the future/'
— J. Malon Southerland
Texas A&M vice president for
student affairs
The group has chosen Nov. 22 as the
event date.
Joe Dyson, one of the group's board mem
bers, said a professional engineer has been do
nating his time to design several options for a
safe bonfire, basing his models on standards set
by Bowen. He would not identify the engineer.
Students would cut their own logs, which
would be contrary to Bowen's plan that no stu
dents be involved in chopping down trees, and
the bonfire stack would be smaller, Dyson said.
The group hopes to finance the project
through donations. Past bonfires have cost
as much as $70,000.
Dyson and other board members de
clined to release details about the exact de
signs under consideration or the location,
saying only that several Brazos County
landowners have offered their property.
They said an announcement will be made
once those details are finalized.
Dyson said his group understands the ad
ministration's concerns and reasoning be
hind waiting for two years before continuing
bonfire, but believes the tradition can be re
built in the meantime.
But the student group does not have an
ally in the University's administration.
"We will not support any bonfire off cam
pus now or in the future," said A&M Vice
President for Student Affairs J. Malon
Southerland. "We will not condone it. A bon
fire off campus is not bonfire. I would hope
anyone giving this consideration would
think about all the people this would affect
and think of the consequences."
Regents approve
new curriculum
Diversity classes required
>!
Anna Bishop
The Battalion
Freshmen entering Texas
A&M in Fall 2001 will be re
quired to take six hours of in
ternational or cultural diversi
ty courses. The Texas A&M
System Board of Regents and
the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board approved
the new curriculum require
ment proposal.
“I think it is
very important
for all college
graduates ...to
have a sense of
cultural
diversity."
— Ronald Douglas
Texas A&M executive vice
president and provost
Texas A&M Executive
■’ Vice President and Provost
) Ronald Douglas said the ap
proval came about a year af
ter a study found many
Texas employers view A&M
graduates as "lacking the
sort of broad outlook neces
sary to compete in the glob
al economy."
"I think it is very important
for all college graduates, no
matter what their major is or
what job they are looking for,
to have a sense of cultural di
versity," Douglas said. "Since
all students today will be
working abroad or interacting
with other people, I think this
will be useful."
The current 48-hour core
curriculum will be changed to
43 hours by reducing the
number of physical education
and social sciences courses.
Douglas said that, in ad
dition to taking a minimum
of six hours of international
or cultural diversity classes,
students would take two in
tensive writing classes in
their majors and one foreign
language class.
Junior elementary educa
tion major Lindsey Ruthart
said while the cultural di
versity courses may benefit
students in a competitive job
market, the classes may not
be received well by every
student.
"Since these courses are
mandatory, there is not much
the student body can do, re
garding likes and dislikes,"
she said. "However, I believe
these courses are a good idea,
because so many jobs today,
especially business majors, re
quire a knowledge of culture
and international diversity."
Douglas said an initial
core curriculum proposal re
quiring students to take a
certain number of cultural
diversity classes, such as
African-American history,
died after igniting a debate
about whether it was politi
cally correct.
See Courses on Page 4.
Forest fire
A fire broke out Thursday afternoon on former NFL official Red Cashion's farmland. What started as a grass
fire soon grew into a forest fire around 1:45 p.m. David Abernathy, regional fire coordinator of the Texas
Forest Service, said that the fire was started by hay bailing equipment. The combination of weather, dry
conditions and lack of rain made the environment ideal for a fire. Abernathy estimated that 50 or more
acres were burned in the fire.
Napster Inc. granted reprieve
Two federal judges allow music-sharing service to remain online
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Shawn
Fanning emerged from Napster head
quarters with his hands stuffed deep in his
pockets, baseball cap pulled down tight,
and the wide grin of an Internet wun-
derkind who just dodged a legal bullet.
The llth-hour victory for Fanning's
wildly popular music-sharing service
came Friday when two federal judges
granted Napster Inc. a stay, allowing it
to remain online — at least temporarily.
Napster had faced a midnight deadline
for shutting down the trading of copy
righted music on its computer servers after
a judge sided with the recording industry,
which claimed Napster's sole purpose is to
foster an illegal Internet giveaway.
"I am happy and grateful that we do
not have to turn away our 20 million users
and that we can continue to help arbsts.
We'll keep working and hoping for the
best," Fanning said Friday as he peeked
out from under his cap at reporters
camped in front Napster's two-story office.
The Recording Industry Association
of America (RIAA) sued Napster in De
cember for copyright infringement. The
record labels claim they lost millions in
profits because of music piracy made
possible by the company's software.
"It is frustrating, of course, that the
tens of millions of daily infringements
occurring on Napster will be able to
continue, at least temporarily," said Hi
lary Rosen, president of the RIAA.
A judge hearing the lawsuit had
See Napster on Page 4.
NNO aims
to aware,
fight crime
Joseph Pleasant
The Battalion
National Night Out (NNO), a 10-
year-old program that aims to foster
neigliborhood watch programs and in
crease crime awareness, will be held
Tuesday from approximately 7 p.m. to
10 p.m. in College Station.
Sgt. Alan Baron, of the University
Police Department, said NNO is based
on the neighborhood watch program,
which encourages neighborhoods to
work together to prevent crime in their
community.
"National Night Out is to let peo
ple know who their neighbors are so
they can watch out for each other,"
Baron said.
Neighborhoods participate by or
ganizing block parties or other activi
ties that encourage interaction be
tween neighbors.
Baron said officers who patrol the
areas may participate in activities and
visit with residents about crime-pre
vention programs.
Kristina Humphreys, a senior ac
counting major, said she likes the idea
of NNO because it encourages people
to get to know their neighbors.
"I think it's a good way of people
finding out who they live close to and
also to know someone is watching out
for them," Humphreys said. "I would
get involved in it if I lived in an active
neighborhood."
LaKendreia Johnson, Drug Abuse Re
sistance Education (DARE) instructor
and crime prevention coordinator for the
See Night Out on Page 4.
Texas schools lack standardized sexual abuse programs
Anna Bishop
The Battalion
About one in four school-age
girls and one in 10 boys in Texas
have been sexually abused, ac
cording to a recent Texas A&M re
search study conducted by Dr.
Danny Ballard, an A&M health
professor, and Dr. Beth Lanning of
Baylor University. The study sur
veyed 89 of the biggest school dis
tricts in the state — those with at
least 5,000 students.
Ballard said the survey showed
that Texas lacks a standardized sex
ual abuse prevention program and
that districts' budgets and training
time vary greatly.
"There appears to be little con
sistency among districts about how
they approach these problems,"
Ballard said. "Some districts regard
the program as an important func
tion and others give it little time or
money. As for a standard preven
tion program for all Texas schools to
follow, there is none."
Ballard said only half of the
state school districts surveyed re
ceived funding for abuse preven
tion programs.
"I feel funding had the greatest
variability of all the areas we sur
veyed," Ballard said.
“School districts
of all sizes
should offer sex
ual abuse pro
grams in their
schools."
— Suelma Contreras
chairperson of Chilifest, Inc.
By law, each district must have
methods to report sexual abuse of
children, Ballard said. Most school
districts' faculties are informed of re
porting procedures during in-service,
conducted by counselors, police offi
cers or psychologists.
The Goose Creek Consolidated In
dependent School District (GCCISD)
in Baytown, Texas, has made an at
tempt to prevent sexual abuse of chil
dren by hiring family involvement
coordinators (FICs).
FIC Suelma Contreras said the 13
involvement coordinators in GCCISD
work with the parents of school-age
children to meet the physical needs
such as food, clothing and shelter, and
emotional needs, such as sexual abuse
prevention.
"School districts of all sizes
should offer sexual abuse programs
in their schools," Contreras said.
"Prevention efforts are the most ef
fective way to reduce this devastat
ing behavior."
Ballard said smaller districts lack
the funds to support preventive
programs such as GCCISD's FICs.
"In rural school districts, there are
often not many resources available to
deal with the problem," Ballard said.
Officer Russell, of the Bryan Police
Department, is participating in Na
tional Night Out. This program is be
ing coordinated by local police and
neighborhoods, and it is designed
to deter crime by allowing residents
to get acquainted with each other.