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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 2001)
1 SECTION • 10 PAGES WONDAYSEPTEMBER 1 0. 2001 NEWS IN BRIEF : amily relationship iymposium slated For Sept. 15 Texas A&M will host a ymposium Sept. 15 that ill focus on cultural con- tructions of the family and amily relationships. The symposium is titled, The Ties That Bind, The Ties hat Blind." It will feature two keynote peakers followed by a moder- ted faculty discussion. The keynote speakers will ddress the topics of "social elancholy and psychic pace” and “queer norms." The symposium is free and ■lunch is included. It will take ■place in Rudder 501. Police investigate Dallas baby’s death I DALLAS (AP) - Police are investigating the death of a jbaby who was shot while rid ing in a car with his parents (early Sunday morning. The baby, Miguel Angel Martinez, who was about 9 months old, was shot in the head. His father, Miguel Angel Martinez Sr., 19, had two gun shot wounds in the arm. I Police said the elder Martinez returned fire and then sped to the hospital. About 10:30 am. Sunday police found a vehicle they believe may have been involved in the shooting. PUBLIC EYE dW If.Y.I. Proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2001-2002 for the city of College Station Operations: $119,176,064 Capital projects: $35,659,858 TODAY AGGIELIFE Page 3 y/ Planes, trains and automobiles • Students have several options for traveling around campus SPORTS Page 5 Cardinal owns Aggies to win title • Stanford hands A&M first loss A&M should keep cloning • Helps to inform society about pros and cons of cloning WEATHER HIGH 87° F TOMORROW LOW 68° F HIGH 90° F LOW 65° F FORECASTS COURTESY OF www.weathermanted.com Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years THE BATTALION SERVING THE TEXAS A&M COMMON 1 T Y S 1 1 N C E 18 9 3 Volume 108 • Issue 12 College Station, Texas www.thebatt.com U.S. News: A&M ranks 48 By Rolando Garcia THE BATTALION Texas A&M University has joined the ranks of America’s best universities in the 2002 edi tion of America's Best Colleges, published by U.S. News & World Report magazine. The publication, which will be on newsstands today, shows A&M tied with the University of Texas-Austin (UT) and three other institutions at 48th among the 50 schools in the maga zine’s top tier of universities. A&M and UT tied for No. 15, along with the University of California at Santa Barbara, among the best public universi ties. Last year, A&M was ranked 17th and UT 16th. A&M was also listed in the magazine's “best values” category. The overall national list is headed by Princeton. The only other Texas institution to be included on the list is Rice University, which is ranked 12th. A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen said the rankings are another indication that the quali ty of the University’s students and faculty, and programs are being more widely recognized nationally and internationally. “We are obviously pleased to be included among the very best universities in this annual rank ing that attracts considerable public interest,” Bowen said. The rankings indicate A&M is progressing with its Vision 2020 plan to propel the University into the ranks of the top 10 public universities by the year 2020, Bowen said. U.S. News also evaluated schools in specific areas of study, and A&M’s Dwight Look College of Engineering tied with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Minnesota as 17th best in undergraduate engineering programs. A&M ranked first in petroleum engi neering, fourth in nuclear engi neering, seventh in industrial engineering, 10th in civil engi neering, 17th in computer science, 19th in chemical engineering, 20th in mechanical engineering and 21st in electrical engineering. A&M’s Lowry Mays College of Business tied with Arizona State, Case Western Reserve and Georgetown University as 26th among the nation’s best business programs. HXAS A&M !N US. NEWS RANKINGS CHAD MALLAM • THE BATTALION Got kolaches? STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION Spectators watch as Caitlin Johnson. 11, and Amanda Reynolds, 8, of Caldwell, stuff their mouths with kolaches at the Caldwell Kolache Festival in downtown Caldwell Saturday. Participants competed against each other and the clock to finish their kolaches. Trophies were awarded in divisions. Bryan Municipal Court grants amnesty By Daniel Bagwell THE BATTALION The Bryan Municipal Court has granted an amnesty period for all outstanding war rants beginning today. If citizens with out standing warrants pay their fines in full before Sept. 21 they will avoid paying a $50-per-case warrant fee. After Sept. 21, all citizens that have not paid their fines will be arrested as part of a “warrant roundup,” city officials said. There are currently 6,513 outstanding warrants which total more than $1.67 mil lion, Court Administrator Hilda Phariss said. $50 warrant fee waived if fines are paid in full Citizens with outstanding warrants were sent letters on Aug. 29 informing them of the amnesty period. “Some of these cases date as far back as 1995,” Phariss said. “These warrants don’t just go away. They’re good for life.” The amnesty period is being used to reduce backlog cases for misdemeanor crimes, said Bryan Police Chief Ken Burton. “A lot of cities take this approach,” Burton said. “The court knows that sometimes peo ple don’t have the money. So they are trying to be as understanding as possible.” When a citizen receives a citation he or she has 10 working days to pay the fine or to contest it in court. If the citizen makes no contact with the municipal court during this period, the citizen is given a Class C warrant status, which means that if the citizen is stopped by a patrolman, he will be subject to arrest and must pay a $50 warrant fee in addition to his fine. If the citizen cannot pay the fine or cannot Amnesty on page 10. Hurricane Erin passes close to Bermuda HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) — Hurricane Erin roared toward Bermuda on Sunday, forcing the government to set up shelters and prepare for the worst on this wealthy island of posh resorts and sturdy homes. But the first named hurricane of Ihe 2001 Atlantic season was expected to pass 75 miles north east of Bermuda late Sunday afternoon. Eric Blake, a forecaster with the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, said Bermuda would likely be spared heavy rains and hurricane force winds, but might have large swells on the northeastern coast. “Most of the rain will stay offshore. They'll get some but it won’t be in the extreme,” Blake said. Forecasters said Erin was strengthening and could become a Category 3 of major hurricane later Sunday. They projected earlier Erin would come within 15 miles of Bermuda, but its track shifted slightly. It would likely spin out to sea, although the storm might pose a threat to Canadian waters in a few days, said Richard Pasch. a hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center. At 1 1 a.m. EDT, Erin’s maximum sustained winds had reached nearly 105 mph. The hurricane was located about 125 miles east of Bermuda and was moving northwest at about 14 mph. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 45 miles from the storm’s center, and tropical storm force winds extended outward up to 175 miles. Buses and ferries were can celed for Sunday and Bermuda’s 60,000 people were warned to stay off the roads to avoid being hit by debris and to allow emer gency vehicles to pass. Authorities also called out a See ERIN on page 10. Hurricane Erin Position: 29.0 N, 60.1 W Moving: NNW 16 mph Sustained winds: 75 mph Wind gusts: 90 mph As of 5 p.m. EDT . -" v -" C ■ 0 250 mi UNITED STATES 0 250 km w' Atlantic 40" Ocean Bermuda-i Possible window of movement ^ 30° BAHAMAS ▼ 70“ 60° SOURCES: AccuWeather; ESRI AP Lib Arts debuts 2 new degrees By Melissa Sullivan THE BATTALION The College of Liberal Arts debuted degree programs in music and telecommunications this semester. The bachelor of arts in music offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of music with courses in composition,eth- nomusicology, music history, music theory, music technology and performance. The program in telecommuni cation and media studies, which offers a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of science, is designed to help students understand the social, historical, and conceptual impact of public communication based on electronic and digital communication systems and pre pares undergraduates for careers in telecommunication and infor mation industries. “The initiative to add a music major was mainly driven from Vision 2020 and efforts to make the department of performing arts stronger,” said Peter Lieuwen, interim head of the department of performing studies. In the past, students have had the opportunity to take music courses and obtain a music minor. The effort to make a music degree available at A&M started four years ago, Lieuwen said. Currently, 10 students are classified as music majors for the fall. A projected 100 stu dents are expected to be enrolled by 2006 with 60 enrolled in the bachelor of arts and 40 enrolled in the bachelor of science. Six students are majoring in telecommunication and media studies for the fall. One rapidly growing area of telecommunication technology jobs in Texas is education. The 1998 Texas Public School Technology Survey found that in the public school system alone, technology jobs have outstripped the number of qual ified applicants. The rapidly expanding Internet provides many commercial telecommu nication job opportunities. “Having read the proposal, 1 agree that it is an important degree for the University. Given the burgeoning of the Internet and e-commerce, there will be a host of jobs that will call for students to have a substantive knowledge base regarding communication See Majors on page 2.