FRIDAYSEPTEMBER 14, 2001
1 SECTION • 10 PAGES
American flags flying,
Btion’s supply short
— In the agonizing
^Kirs since terrorists stole
^Busands of lives and
^■tericans' sense of security,
, oni notion has been rein-
^■ced as never before:
^Bericans have a deep-root-
if sometimes dormant,
sei se of pride and patriotism.
^Bnd then there’s Old Glory.
Wednesday’s search and
^Bcue effort continued amid
th< smoldering debris of the
^Brld Trade Center, workers
^■d one symbol of survival
Hlped them keep going: A
Hg had been planted in the
Hbble, “just to let them know
tl|at America’s not dead,”
said firefighter Ronald Coyne.
■Tom the Midwest to Cajun
Country, specialty shops,
hardware stores, Kmarts and
Wal-Marts were selling out of
fla^s.
■Three were raised outside
the North Dakota home of
retired policeman Craig
Sjoberg. Peggy Ross, a sales
clerk at an Albany, N.Y., jew
elry store, put them inside the
Windows of her shop. In
Bountiful, Utah, Boy Scouts
helped hang them outside of
homes.
B“l wish I had a truckload,”
said Barby Fryer, manager of
the Kmart in Schenectady,
N.Y., which had sold out of
flags by late Wednesday
morning.
jB Battalion readers can use
the American flag on page 10
of today’s newspaper to show
their support.
PUBLIC EYE
F.Y.L
Students enrolled
in Blinn TEAM
program
362
TODAY
AGGIELIFE
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kicking off
for a good
cause
* Portion of proceeds
from Ag Kickoff go to
Red Cross
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Aggies look
to NFL after
success at A&M
Is it still
child’s play?
• Danny Amonte’s
parents pushed their
son too far
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Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years
THE BATTALION
SERVING THE TEXAS A&M COM MuNITY SINCE
Volume 108 • Issue 15 College Station, Texas
A DAY OF PRAYER
AI> PHOTO • CHARLES KRUPA
Top: A&M students of many faiths and ethnicities, including the Muslim Students
Association, march across campus in memory of the victims of Tuesday’s terrorist
attacks during a peace march Thursday afternoon. Bottom: With the Statue of Liberty
standing in New York Harbor, smoke rises from lower Manhattan following the destruc
tion of buildings at the World Trade Center in New York Wednesday. Two hijacked com
mercial jetliners crashed into the center’s towers causing them to collapse.
Bush condemns
attacks as first war
of the 21st century
WASHINGTON (AP) —
President Bush called the terrorist
attacks in New York and
Washington “the first war of the
21st century” on Thursday and his
administration labeled fugitive
Osama bin Laden a prime suspect.
The United States promised to
wage all-out retaliation against
those responsible and any regime
that protects them. Action could
take weeks or months rather than
days, a senior administration offi
cial indicated.
As part of the effort, the United
States urged Pakistan to close its
border with neighboring
Afghanistan, where bin Laden
operates, and to cut off funding for
terrorist groups.
The official, who spoke on con
dition of anonymity, said the
United States also asked Pakistan
for permission to fly over its terri
tory in the event of military action.
The nation’s capital remained
tense two days after the attacks
that leveled the World Trade
Center and severely damaged the
Pentagon.
Close-in Washington Reagan
National Airport remained closed,
indefinitely. And authorities closed
all three New York area airports
just hours after allowing them to
reopen.
Vice President Dick Cheney
was working in the security of
Camp David as a precaution,
administration officials said. The
Secret Service widened the protec
tive buffer around the White House
and Air Force jets patrolled the
skies over major U.S. cities.
The White House canceled its
tours for Friday, and the Lincoln
Memorial and Jefferson
Memorial also were closed after
being briefly reopened.
In another sign of security con
cerns, the Capitol was evacuated in
the middle of a Senate vote
Thursday evening because of a
bomb threat. Members were
allowed to return when bomb-sniff
ing dogs did not find explosives.
Meanwhile, U.S. investigators
worked to identify terrorist collab
orators and explored the possibili
ty that some individuals involved
in Tuesday’s plots may still be at
large, four U.S. officials speaking
on the condition of anonymity told
The Associated Press. Fresh intel
ligence suggested a continuing
threat, the officials added.
Tears welling in his eyes. Bush
spoke earlier of a need to win the
battle against terrorism.
“Fm a loving guy. And I am
also someone, however, who’s got
a job to do and I intend to do it.
And this is a terrible moment,”
See Wash INCH ON on page 2.
Aggies
unite in
Peace Walk
By Christina Hoffman
THE BATTALION
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s terrorist
attacks on the United States, Aggies unit
ed in a Peace Walk Thursday to show
patriotism and support for the victims’
families.
Schuyler Houser, student body presi
dent and a senior industrial engineering
major, said the walk was one way for
Aggies to get together and show support
for the rescue workers and each other.
“We have all felt shock, fear, help
lessness and anger. We can trust in our
leaders, we can pray, and most impor
tantly, we can create peace in our own
community,” Houser said. “Anger does
n’t have a place in our community.”
Archana Ramaswamy, International
Student Association president and a sen
ior accounting major, encouraged stu
dents to overlook their differences and to
support each other.
“We can’t forget that no matter where
we’re from, all the 45,000 students at
Texas A&M are united by one simple
fact — we are all part of a larger family,
the great Aggie family,” Ramaswamy
said. “The goal of this walk is to show
the entire nation that we walk as Aggies
undivided by culture, color, or race, but
united by our ideals and values.”
Ramaswamy said approximately
3,500 international students, from
more than 110 different countries,
attend A&M.
The Peace Walk began after
Ramaswamy’s speech. Houser,
Ramaswamy, Oni Blair, executive
director of education exploration in the
Memorial Student Center (MSC) and a
See Peace on page 7.
Maroon is out, fans
to sport USA colors
By Roi ando Garcia
___ ' THE BATTALION J
\n email circulating throughout the Texas \&M communitx
is asking Aggies at the Sept. 22 football game against Oklahoma
State to wear red. white and blue instead of maroon to show sup
port for America in the wake of Tuesdax’s terrorist attacks.
Organizers of the effort will be selling red. white and blue
T-shirts next week and proceeds will be donated to funds
established for the families of New \ork C itx t irefighers and
police officers killed in the World 1 rade Center collapse.
Originating from a discussion forum on Tex \gs.com. the
suggestion quickly spread as recipients forwarded the mes
sage to others.
"B> now. | think everybody"s gotten the email at least a
dozen times.” said Eric Bethea, an organizer of the project and
a junior finance major. “ I he response has been oxerxxhelming.
people really want this to succeed.”
The email asks fans in the first deck to wear blue, white in
the second deck and red in the third deck.
See GAME on page 7.
A&M experts analyze attack
By NONI SRIDHARA
THE BATTALION
“Stunned”, “numbed” and
“confused” were the words Dr.
Maggie Olona used to describe
the feelings and emotions of
many Aggies in the wake of
Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.
Olona, director of Student
Counseling Service, was among
a group of expert panelists who
addressed students at a campus
forum Thursday on issues con
cerning the World Trade Center-
Pentagon attack.
Other members of the group
included Col. Joseph R. Cerami
(r), a lecturer in national securi
ty and strategy at the George
Bush School School of
Government and Public Service;
Dr. Julian E. Caspar, director of
the Center for International
Business Studies at A&M; Dr.
John E. Guido, director of law
enforcement and security at the
National Emergency Response
and Rescue Training Center; and
Dr. Christopher Sprecher, pro
fessor of political science.
Cerami discussed the securi
ty aspect of the attacks.
“This is not only a call for
leadership, but also a call for
statesmanship as far as national
security strategy is concerned,”
Cerami said. “Internally, we’ve
had problems coordinating our
efforts in the post-Cold War era.”
Cerami said there are four
major dimensions that need to
be coordinated: the military,
economics, diplomacy, and
information.
“Our homeland defense will
now organize vertically and
Albritton will
toll for tragedy
In response to President George
W. Bush’s call for a “day of remem
brance and prayer,” the Albritton
Bell Tower will play patriotic songs
and religious hymns every hour
starting at 7 a. m. today. The bell
carillon will also toll four times,
beginning at 7:45 a.m. for the first
plane that crashed into the World
Trade Center; 8:03 a.m. when the
second plane crashed into the
World Trade Center, 8:43 a.m.,
when the third plane crashed into
the Pentagon and again at 9:10
a.m., when the fourth plane
crashed in Pennsylvania. All times
are the central time zone equiva
lent to the east coast events
Tuesday. All Faiths Chapel will be
open to the public all day.
See Experts on page 2.