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use Irahien, an official
mg strange, usually thes
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We're working 241®
med and to help anyone
Bush, Gore
, from the nearby cot
d her shack Saturday
:n and four other relative!
going to hit hard,”s
ire a residents sleeping
“Thank God we have
face off in
ting remained in effect!
m peninsula’s eastern
e south to Monkey
icane watch was ineffi
coast, west of Cabo Cat
first debate
Vice president, governor display
binesert ttitudes toward national issues
ji II declared sainlft
20 Chinese and fort
ries killed in the chi
ury — and ongoing
in China. Stung, Beij
; martyrs “evildoing!
their canonization
g of the church’s firstC
s threatened to worsen
IT relations with Gi
borne is combatting Vi
BOSTON (AP) — Vice President
\\ Gore and Texas Gov. George W.
3ush clashed over tax cuts, prescrip-
ion drug assistance under Medicare
md abortion Tuesday night in their first
ampaign debate of the fall, a pivot
loint in the closest White House con
est in a generation.
Combative from
the outset, Gore
AN CITY (AP) —fjharged that his rival's tax plan would
‘spend more money on tax cuts for the
ivealthiest 1 percent than all of the new
pending he pro-
coses for educa-
ion, health care,
crescription drugs
nd national de-
ense all com-
cined.”
But Bush, stand-
ng a few feet away
cn a debate stage at
he University of
Everybody
who pays
taxes ought
to get relief.
Roman Catholicisma 4 assac h use tts, said Gore's economic
led spiritual moveineni ^ wou |(j 0 ff er relief only to the mid-
«!? lie class.
atiol
“I’ve been standing up to Big Hol
lywood and Big Trial Lawyers,” he shot
back, mentioning two groups that have
lavished campaign donations on Gore
and Democrats.
The two men argued at length over
prescription drugs for Medicare recipi
ents, a key issue, particularly in the key
battleground states of the Midwest.
Bush blamed Washington for failing to
pass legislation, and touted his own
plan to have states offer benefits.
“You’ve had
your chance, Mr.
Vice President,” the
governor said.
But Gore, who
favors a prescrip
tion drug benefit
available to all
Medicare recipi
ents, said that under
Bush’s plan only
Heather Wilde, a senior elementary education major, hits
the tackling sled during rugby practice Tuesday afternoon.
Bowen proposes Blinn merger
GORE
allenges to its authorit
he of the canonizatio| “Everybody who pays taxes ought to
ing to C hina fallingi^ et re \i e f ” he said. At the same time, he
Rational Day celebviW| a j ( j i would produce “dramatically”
1 communist rule. So\ bigger government with 200 “new or
>en subject: 87 ChiM X p anc j e£ j programs” and 20,000 new
feigners, most kille. bureaucrats.
a still views as then* “p empowers Washington,” added
Boxer Rebellion agaftegovernor, who hastened to tell a im
perialism and religii4fjon a l viewing audience he was from
ui, looking wan andi|west Texas — not the nation's capital,
morning in St. Pefbver and over, he accused Gore of
sted that “the celebtff fuzzy math.”
me to make judgmei
urch only intends to(i three presidential debates over the next
those martyrs areans
>urage and coherence
ad give honor to
J people,” the popes®
il named three otfieftf 1
:11, all nuns
two
man
killed
dots
.LEM (AP) — Palest
. cheered by rock-i
fired on Israeli
3S and abandoned bui
es across the Westftt
trip on Sunday. Se'j
were killed when
ed fire, for a total of
ed Jerusalem shrine,
i border policeman
bounded, trapped
ly Israeli enclaveim 1
>wn of Nablus, as Pat
blocked rescue teat
g the area,
fighting came as
m peace negotiators®
asations instead of fl?
to solve their dispute
nous sign of escalatf
st Bank and Gaza8®
fired anti-tank missile
les and shot from tie
ps. Several Israeli taff
ard the Palestinian-!®
>lus and Ramallah
ire, but did notcrossll 1
iction.
Gore and Bush met for the first of
weeks, each
seeking ad
vantage in a race so
close that poll after
poll shows them
within, a point or
two of one another.
Their vice presi
dential candidates,
Democrat Joseph
Lieberman and Re
publican Dick Ch-
" Eve been
standing up to
Big Hollywood
and Big Trial
Lawyers."
low-income seniors would receive im
mediate help. Everyone else would
have to wait up to four years, he said. In
addition, he added, seniors could be
forced into HMOs to get a prescription
drug benefit.
“I cannot let this go by, the old-style
Washington politics, trying to scare
you with phony numbers,” Bush swift
ly replied. He accused Gore of “Medi-
scare.”
“This is a man who has great num
bers,” he said of the vice president. “I’m
beginning to think not only did he in
vent the Internet, he invented the cal
culator.”
Asked about a recent FDA decision
approving the use
of the abortion pill
RU-486, Bush said,
“I don't think a
president can”
overturn such a de
cision. He then re
stated his willing
ness to sign
legislation banning
so-called “partial
birth abortions,”
By Tamra Russell
The Battalion
Students at Blinn-Bryan campus
will be allowed to coenroll at Blinn
and Texas A&M and take part in
A&M student activities if a new
program introduced by A&M
President Dr. Ray M. Bowen is
approved by the A&M Universi
ty System Board of Regents.
Despite controversy
among some students,
Bowen’s program would
provide Blinn students
an easier avenue for
entering A&M — on
academic and social
levels. The program, if
approved, will begin Fall
2001 and will accept 500
students the first year, 750 stu
dents the second year and 1,000
students the third year.
Of the 3,500 transfer students
A&M receives every year, 1,000
transfer from Blinn.
Blinn Public Information Offi
cer Gena Parsons said this may be
because the students hope to
transfer to A&M when they enroll
at Blinn.
“We get students at our
Bryan campus that
want to transfer to
Reguiremems
tic Admission t
gram, If appi
' Fall 2003
500 stw
750 st
year ar
students
third year.
atic Admission to
from Blinn
have the same programs other
community colleges have,” Par
sons said. “The desire may be
greater for Blinn students than stu
dents from other colleges.”
Bowen said the program will
only be offered to Bryan campus
students because of the proximity
of A&M and Blinn and what he
said is a good relationship
^ between the schools.
“What
- k Complete 45 hours of
k prescribed courses at Blinn
Wk* within four semesters
(fall and spring)
Maintain a 3.0 GPR
at Blinn and A&M
BRANDON HENDERSON/Thk Battalion
A&M, but it’s not easier for them
to transfer from Blinn because we
we re
trying to do is
get more
good trans
fers in this
' University,
and we’ve
got a good re-
r lationship with
F ' Blinn, and we’re
very pleased with the
success of their students when
they come here,” Bowen said.
“This way they’ll be close to the
University, and they can partici
pate in a very limited amount of
activities.”
Parsons said the Blinn students
would have to take 12 to 15 hours
at Blinn and 1 to 4 hours at A&M
and declare a major at A&M. Their
courses would have to correspond
with A&M’s requirements to take
advantage of activities offered to
A&M students. Some activities in
clude use of the Student Recreation
Center and the option of getting an
athletics sports card.
“[Blinn students] must com
plete 45 hours of prescribed cours
es within four long semesters (fall
and spring) with a 3.0 GPA at Blinn
and A&M,” Parsons said. “If they
meet that requirement, they’re au
tomatically admitted to A&M.”
Parsons said the program will
be reviewed by Blinn’s board of di
rectors and will be returned to
A&M for approval.
“Bowen presented the program
See Blinn on Page 10.
BUSH
eney, debate Thursday in Kentucky.
Jim Lehrer of PBS was moderator,
operating under strict rules negotiated
in advance by the Gore and Bush
camps. It was, he said at the outset, the
first of three 90-minute debates be
tween the two major party rivals — a
format that excluded Ralph Nader and
Pat Buchanan, running as minor-party
candidates.
In a reprise of his acceptance speech
of bloodshed overai at this summer’s Democratic National
Convention, Gore said it was important
to stand up to the special interests, phar
maceutical companies among them.
Big drug companies support Gov
ernor Bush’s prescription drug propos-
’ he said. “They oppose mine.”
Bush made a sour face when he
heard that, and in his next breath offered
swift rebuttal.
and said Gore would not.
Gore said he would ban such late-
term procedures, but only if it includ
ed exemptions to protect the life or
health of the woman, the position Clin
ton has taken in vetoing two bills on the
subject from the Republican-controlled
Congress.
Eager to regain the offensive on a
volatile issue, Gore said Bush would
appoint justices to the Supreme Court
who would overturn a 1973 ruling that
legalized a right to abortion.
“I support a woman’s right to choose.
My opponent does not,” he said.
Bush said he was “pro-life,” but dis
puted any suggestion that he would use
the issue as a litmus test for appoint
ments to the high court.
Gore sighed audibly when Bush said
that, as if to register disbelief.
UT allows excess to go to system school
HOUSTON (AP) — Rejected applicants at
the University of Texas-Austin may have to
spend their freshman year at another UT Sys
tem school instead, then reapply for admission
at the crowded Austin campus.
The UT main campus has an enrollment of
50,010 students this year. But UT Austin ad
ministrators say they want to reduce that num
ber to 48,000.
So Larry Faulkner, UT Austin president, pro
posed Monday that high school students reject
ed by the university could earn their way back by
spending their entire freshman year at the Uni
versity of Texas-Arlington starting next fall.
The plan would make it harder for students
rejected at the Central Texas campus to earn
admission through an existing provisional
program. Rejected students may still get in by
enrolling at another UT campus for their
freshman year and earning at least a 3.0 grade-
point average.
Any Texas high school graduate rejected
by UT Austin can still get into the school now
by taking 12 credit hours of required basic
courses during the summer semester and earn
ing at least a 2.25 GPA.
UT Arlington has agreed to serve as the
“template” for the program, Faulkner told the
Houston Chronicle in Tuesday’s editions,
adding that other UT system campuses may par
ticipate in the future. He said he wants the pro
gram in place by the next academic year.
Members of the academic affairs committee
voted Monday to support the proposal. But
Faulkner said UT Austin’s faculty council still
must approve it in October before a possible
vote by the Board of Regents in November.
It is part of a plan to curb UT Austin’s grow
ing enrollment while also admitting more qual
ified students who have been rejected in recent
years from the state-supported university.
Moving the provisional program to other
schools would allow UT Austin to offer admis
sion to 600 more freshmen every year, in addi
tion to the 6,500 normally admitted, Faulkner
said. He said the additional students would in
clude many with high grades and test scores
who likely would have been rejected in recent
years because there was not enough space.
Faulkner disagreed with claims that a 1997
Texas law guaranteeing admission to any state
college for the top 10 percent of graduating se
niors is responsible for keeping so many qualified
students from gaining admission to UT Austin.
Administrators have acknowledged that the
10 percent law has helped fuel the rise in appli
cations. This fall, 47 percent of the freshman
class is composed of students who graduated in
the top 10 percent of their class, compared with
38 percent in the fall of 1997.
Faulkner said the number of applications to
UT Austin has increased by 46 percent in the
past three years, creating more need for the plan.
False alarms plague dorms
Mew linoleum floors possible link to dust in detectors
■pp*’
Fire Figures
) , % PyRifUment for
tamhArind with a
PTTS to hand ticket book
By Brian Ruff
The Battalion
Many residence halls have been over
whelmed by false fire alarms and damages this
iWHTillilMdli;ML!'»'i''tii7iii Sem ester. The latest alarm occurred Friday night
Crocker Hall, when a pull station was acti-
r\/\ 1%-M Vatec * by an unknown individual.
\Jf) . rn ' r , lV “The alarms have been a little annoying,”
81 said Bonnie Wright, an Underwood Hall resi-
ici ^ ent anc * a sophomore general studies major.
“We never know if it is a real fire or just a
drill. Most of them have not been our fault.”
Of the five false alarms that occurred at Un-.
derwood this semester, only one was activated
at a pullstation, said Dan Mizer, associate di
rector of Residence Life.
Tampering with fire detection and alarm sys-
IRENT SCHEDULE
IP Iff MON
MO PM Hi PM NON!
5:10PM MS PM ilOOPM
SfflPM MS PM MOPM
SflOPM 7:15PM MOPM
5:110PM 6:15 PM MOPM
tOO PM fcWPM MOPM
■ Gieal Food • Security. Pull Tits Jid Miri ^
tem equipment is a Class A misdemeanor, which
is punishable by a fine not to exceed $4,000,
confinement in jail or both.
Mizer said the Physical Plant has replaced a
faulty alarm system motherboard, which caused
one of the false alarms at Underwood.
“The majority of the alarms have been
caused by system malfunctions,” said Bart
Humphreys, public information officer for the
College Station Fire Department. “If dorms
have an unusual number of system malfunctions
that cause the false alarms, then the Physical
Plant usually assigns a technician that finds out
how to fix the problem.”
Mizer said linoleum floors were replaced in
some of the residence halls, causing smoke de
tectors to collect dust. The Physical Plant
cleaned or replaced all the faulty smoke detec
tors, Mizer said.
tampering with a
fire alarm system:
Up to $4,000 fine
Up to 1 year in jail
to student leaders for day
NufnJber of alarms activated
ilKst;l^cif :; piir:: 261
By Richard Bray
The Battalion
Highest number of alarms
activated in a year: near 500
Starting date for fire
inspections: Oct. 10
The College Station Fire Department’s fis
cal year (Oct. 1,1999 to Sept. 30,2000) saw 261
reported alarms on the A&M campus, a number
Humphreys said is typical of the early ’90s.
“The University has made some substantial
The ongoing relationship between students and Parking, Traffic and Trans
portation Services (PTTS) will take another next step today.
In an effort to better understand the role of PTTS, student senators and Student
Government Association (SGA) leaders will take on the duties of PTTS adminis
trators today and Thursday.
Angela Newman, a communications specialist for PTTS, said the program is
meant to help the Student Senate gain a better understanding of what PTTS does.
“Each year our administration goes on a management retreat, so they will all be
out of the office,” she said. “They just wanted students to empathize with us and
understand the daily function of what PTTS goes through and some of the phone
calls and some of the issues that are involved in day-to-day activities here at PTTS.”
The experience will give students a taste of what PTTS does. Student senators
will be in managerial positions and will not be able to make ticket-related decisions,
See Dorm on Page 10.
See PTTS on Page 10.