M. O IS ^ A y July 2, 2001 Volume 107 ~ Issue 164 6 pages M News in Brief Thi Batuuoh .day after face. > er y ivasive, eip- is a waiting p- •val. rd to have tit .itine chechipui cKinnonsaid a represenici l gross asarepre- cna tor fjr more ides, nown'fljfc ngton loilifing ■, Lipfeit,^®-, ion oriil Hi ■ Nation father stabs 3 sons fcefore he is shot by Lolice in New York j SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — A Mther stabbed his three young ■>oys, killing two, before he was ■hot and killed by police as the ■istraught mother looked on futside a locked window. I Police said Cuong Tran, 33, lunged at them with a knife i|vhen they found him Saturday fight in a bedroom of the fam ily's home, standing over one f the children. Sons Randy, 5, and Danny, , died in the attack. Seven- tear-old Andy was in serious 3ut stable condition Sunday. The mother, whose identity /vas not released, was unhurt. Sgt. David Sackett said the nother arrived home late Sat urday. Her screams prompted a neighbor to call 911. Police forced their way into the locked home, where an officer fired a single shot that killed Tran. The officer will not be iden tified until a grand jury consid ers whether the shooting was justified, which is common practice after a police shooting, Sackett said. Bus driver facing 46 charges in accident it provost fora- ;U other school o learn howthcr lools.” FAIRPLAY, Colo. (AP) — The driver of a chartered bus that overturned near the sum mit of a mountain pass while carrying high school students from Minnesota was arrested Sunday on 46 charges of care less driving. A17-year-old boy remained in critical condition Sunday land three others were listed in /serious condition. Most of the >; passengers were treated for minor injuries and released Sat- system will k urday night, from the newest The bus passengers — 45 >logy. One suck teen-agers and adults from <; Ji-annpnvitli Burnsville, Minn. — were head- Af) m ed to Frontier Ranch near Bue- 1 U P 0 P^ lna Vista when the bus went off ■the road and rolled Saturday Inear the 1 0,000-foot summit as been mexce ° f Kenosha Pass - The bus went as ueen anexcy ^ road ^ ro| state : P enence - , | police said, the primary a rued from tfc Quakes hit Spokane hat teachingtej SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — latience. jsj 0 damage or injuries were re known that ported from two mild earth- tience,”shesai quakes that rippled through eard the [pant Spokane, authorities said, ent teachingarl The quakes were felt at ring.” J 10:45 p.m. and 10:50 p.m. lotentialtribni Saturday, said Bob Stose, dis- ,g are very scat patcher for the Spokane Coun- okingforward ty Fire Department. :classroom fl ser ' es °f nnild earth- 1 for that one® ua * 1 students at struck Washington on Feb. 28, tohelptheh causing more than $2 billion theprogranii damage in the greater Seattle IE students, area but claiming no lives. tie who just theater her engines, le movie can ier: “Should! -earned moff iitake and tut : been wantin rade: 1)- — Dim Preparation begins for A&M's 125th anniversary celebration Robin Lewis The Battalion The celebration of the 125th birth day of Texas A&M, scheduled to begin Oct. 4, will give Aggies time to reflect on the history and traditions of one of Texas’ first public institutions of higher learning. What began in 1876 as the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College has now grown into a university that not only includes a college for those in terested in agriculture and engineering — but of architecture, business, educa tion, medicine and more. “A lot has happened in 125 years,” said Cindy Lawson, coordinator of the 125th celebration and executive director of University Relations. “Corporations, institutions of high er education, agencies and non-profits all over the world seem to have mile- « / hope that everyone will look at this as a really fun and exciting time to celebrate what we are, what we've become and what we will become. ” — Cindy Lawson coordinator of 125th celebration stone marks in their history,” Lawson said. “This is one ofTexas A&M’s mile stones.” The year-long celebration will begin with a campus-wide coffee social to kick off the events that will last through Oct. 3,2002. Lawson said she hopes students will participate in as many of the activities as possible. There will be University-wide activities and activities specifically for the students. One of these activities may include creating a time capsule. The time cap sule would be buried sometime during 2002. “We’ve been told that there are time capsules all over this campus that have been buried in the past,” Lawson said. “We’re trying to do an inventory of that now because I think it would be neat to open one up from way back when.” Lawson said students will have yet an other reason to celebrate the Universi ty’s birthday — they will receive a day off from classes. “I would hope that all students would take some of that time to reflect back and learn a little bit more about the history ofTexas A&M,” Lawson said. Since the celebration project is still in the planning stage, she said the schedule of events is still to be announced. “I hope that everyone will look at this as a really fun and exciting time to celebrate what we are, what we’ve be come and what we will become,” Law- son said. Fun raising STUART VILLANUEVA/The Battalion Eleven-year-olds (left to right) Geronimo Longoria, of the Brazos Valley Stealth Little League team and Brandon Groff and Zach Othold scrub down the have qualified to play in the National Little League window of a pickup Saturday. The boys are members Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, this summer. ELI needs English speakers Elizabeth Raines The Battalion The English Language Insti tute (ELI) at Texas A&M is looking for American students to donate one hour per week for the next five weeks to partici pate in the Conversation Part ner Program. The ELI is in need of Eng lish-speaking students this sum mer because diey are hosting 40 Japanese high school students who are scheduled to arrive this week. Rita Marsh, coordinator for the program, said the ELI esti mates it is still in need of 100 Americans to talk to the stu dents for one hour per week about the American culture and attending Texas A&M. Students are allowed to meet with their partners on or off campus. Marsh said usually the students will meet at one of A&M’s libraries or the Pavilion, « This is a real eye opening experience for both students.” — Rita Marsh program coordinator but sometimes, the partners be come close enough that they will meet off campus and do something together. “This is a real eye-opening experience for both students,” Marsh said. “The students are always surprised to see how sim ilar they are to their partners.” Marsh said that, in addition to having the Japanese students meet with conversation part ners, they will be staying one night with an American family. “We want these students to see how Americans live,” Marsh said. “We are having families [throughout the B-CS area] host a student for one night to see how Americans live.” Approximately 1,300 inter national and American students participate each year in the pro gram —1000 students during the fall and spring semesters and 300 students during the summer. During the fall and spring semesters, students from specific anthropology and speech communications classes are required to participate in the program; however, this summer with the additional Japanese visitors, there will be more international students than the University can accom modate with classes. “We have been doing this program for several years,” Marsh said. “There are re quirements for both partners but there are also benefits.” Marsh said that students in terested in participating can contact her by email, r- marsh@tamu.edu or by phone at 845-7936. Professor receives a Royal Medal Justin Smith The Battalion Texas A&M professor Dr. A. Ian Scott has been named as one of three recipients of the Royal Medal, which is awarded by the Royal Society of Edin burgh. He is being honored for “outstanding distinction in the physical sciences.” Scott is a distinguished profes sor of chemistry and biochemistry and holds the C. J. Davidson Chair in science at A&M. He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE). “It came out of the blue,” said Scott about when he heard the news of the award. “I was pleased that they still remem bered me even though I had been gone for so long.” Scott was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and received his Ph.D. in 1952 from Glasgow Univer sity. He went on to teach at the University of British Columbia, Sussex and Yale before coming to A&M in 1977. At A&M, Scott has made ad vances in the study of vitamin B12, which is essential to hu man life. Typically found in red meat, a lack of B12 is strongly associated with the develop ment of anemia. Scott also has done extensive research in nuclear magnetic resonance on a biological level. This research has helped form ways to synthetically create mo lecular structures like that of vi tamin B12. The Royal Medals were in stituted by Queen Elizabeth in 2000 and will be awarded an nually. To receive a Royal Medal, one must excel in one of many categories, such as life sciences or business, and have a See Professor on Page 2. Dr. A. Ian Scott received a Royal Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Background checks block sales Analysts say because crime rate decline people feel safer, less inclined to buy guns WASHINGTON (AP) — Background checks blocked 153,000 of the nearly 7.7 million prospective sales of guns last year, and fewer people tried to buy firearms in 2000 than in 1999, the Justice Department reported Sunday. Analysts attributed the decline to a drop in crime, which they said has led Americans to feel safer and less inclined to purchase guns. “These are the long-term positive reper cussions of a lower crime rate,” said James Alan Fox, criminal justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston. “Peo ple see that streets are safer and they are not as compelled to go out and purchase a gun.” Researchers, however, said the decline in applications does not necessarily mean that (( People see that streets are safer and they are not as compelled to go out and purchase a gun. ” — James Alan Fox criminal justice professor at Northeastern University fewer guns were sold. In some states, peo ple can purchase more than one gun from a single application. “It’s not a measure of whether gun sales are up or down,” said Lawrence Greenfeld, acting director at the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. Between 1999 and 2000, there was an 11 percent drop in the number of Americans who tried to purchase guns from federally licensed firearm dealers — from 8.6 million to 7.7 million. Almost all of the 19 states listed in the re port as providing complete statewide data for applications and rejections in 2000 had declines last year; the largest were in Indiana See Guns on Page 2.