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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 2001)
1 >ber 19,21 MONDAYOCTOBER 22, 2001 ■»» Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years 1 SECTION • 12 PAGES from Png e conference ight said, "ty lopefully, h ick this weet ■ most danj Lockett turning kid d a kickoff 1-A players NEWS IN BRIEF pt. 22, andtti ist one ortv Slocum sal i sure thisvi :hey knowtl* very weir They like it lineup otte icole [Meltor course » iuld be a res them.” )review of the ntercol/egiate n to wm.tk StS ational ational chatr^ M women's ipen its 200f n it hosts te this weekend' Center, vill begin wi )n Friday at f individual t on Saturday 30 p.m.. and )ke on in-state 1 of Texas, in i Saturday at 5 WG y*KS t volid wiihonyoltwcfls and services may voty. IS 3LLEGES both g locations: ing) Iding) oor Rudder 1 i and one och margins. ties Office oi iday, Octobei «nt ough », Texas :t.tamu.e Easterwood: 1 hour sufficient time for pre-flight arrival Though the Federal Aviation Administration has advised arriving two hours before flight departure at the country's major airports, passengers should arrive an hour before depar ture at Texas A&M's Easterwood airport, officials said. Passengers should, in addition to arriving one hour before a flight is scheduled to depart, call their airline to confirm flight arrival and departure times before heading to the air port, said Easterwood Director John Happ. The Easterwood terminals are open from 5 a.m. to mid- ight. The number of carry-on bags authorized for each pas senger is restricted to one bag. plus one personal item such as a purse, briefcase, laptop computer or back pack. This helps to expedite the screening process and reduces the potential for delays, Happ said. Bags should not be left unattended in the parking lot, at the loading and unloading area on the lower level or inside the PUBLIC EYE dumber of graduates from the George Bush School of Government and Public Service since it opened in 1997 60 TODAY Page 3 lhattered homes, tattered lives •October is domestic violence awareness month, organizations offer help Aggies hold off Wildcats •Kansas State mounts late rally but comes up short, 31-24 Page 11 Remembering the Bonfire 12 • Pro-Con: Bonfire memorial ceremony WEATHER TODAY TOMORROW HIGH 86° F LOW 64° F HIGH 87° F LOW 68° F FORECASTS COURTESY OF www.weathermanted.com r-i-r If IT m 1 rlL SERVING THE TEXAS A&M COMMUNITY SINCE 1893 Volume 108 • Issue 4l College Station, Texas www.thebatt.com Costs may prevent Bonfire 2002 Bowen considers using reserve funds Staff & Wire THE BATTALION Texas A&M’s next Bonfire could cost $1.5 million because of heightened design and security measures, and may be too expensive to build, said A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen last week. “It’s probably more than we want to pay,” Bowen told The Bryun-College Station Eagle. “The question is, ‘Does this community really want to spend $1.5 million to have that first Bonfire?’ ’’ Bonfire has been on hold since Nov. 18, 1999, when 12 Aggies were killed and 27 others were injured when the stack collapsed. Last year, Bowen put Bonfire on a hia tus that would last until the Fall 2002, at the earliest. He said the University would have to dip into budget reserves to pay for the event, and added that Bonfire planners could only afford the event in ensuing years if the price were cut in half. Bowen said using cash reserves would be a short-term solution, and sug gested combining student fees and pri vate donations to establish a permanent source of funds. The Student Services Fee, which gen erates $11.6 million and is allocated to student activities and programs, has pro duced a $1.1-million surplus, which Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. J. Malon Southerland said may be spent on a stu dent leadership retreat center. “I think a lot of students would support using some of that fee money for Bonfire,” said Jack Long, speaker of the Student Senate and a senior political science major. “We have to ask ourselves what do we want more, a Bonfire with student par ticipation or a retreat center that a lot of students say we really don’t need.” Previously, Aggie Bonfire has cost between $50,000 and $70,000, Bowen said. See Bonfire on page 12. A&M may terminate ‘Sidelines,’ ESPN deal By Sommer Bunge THE BATTALION A&M officials are considering ending cooperation with ESPN camera crews filming the reality show “Sidelines” unless the show focuses more on Aggie football and less on the indiscretions of stu dents. “We have the option to cancel our participation in future taping,” A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen told the Dallas Morning News at Saturday’s A&M-Kansas State game in Manhattan, Kan. A&M University officials have asked ESPN executives to recon sider the subject matter of the show “Sidelines”, which was intended to show A&M football from the per spective of its fans and players. ESPN director of communica tions Rob Tobias could not be reached for comment. In the second episode, aired Oct. 11, two women were engaged in drunken behavior out side The Salty Dog bar in College Station. The third episode, aired Thursday, concerned a former A&M athlete and her relationship with a current A&M basketball player, also a female. The coeds from the second episode were not A&M students; both attend Blinn College in Bryan, said Kristal Sheaves, one of the girls in the Oct. 1 1 show. Sheaves said despite what the show suggested, she and her friend, both friends of “Sidelines” cast member Clay, did not drink at The Salty Dog. They had all of their drinks and spent most of the evening at Bennigan’s in College Station, she said. See ‘Sidelines’ on page 10. All-Stars and stripes Josie Merion and other members of the R&K All- Stars, a Special Olympics delegation from San Antonio, wave American flags as they enter the A&M Consolidated football stadium for the STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION Special Olympics opening ceremony Friday night. Special Olympics delegations from across the state brought more than 1,000 athletes to Bryan- College Station to compete. Former A&M baseball coach Chandler dies at 75 By NONI SRIDHARA THE BATTALION Former A&M baseball coach Tom Chandler died Oct. 18 at his home in Bryan at the age of 75 from supranuclear palsy, a rare form of Parkinson’s disease. “One of his most endearing traits is that he could turn everything from a negative to a positive, and he was a friend to everybody,” said Kyle Hawthorne, a former Texas A&M baseball player. Chandler came to A&M in 1958 as an assistant coach to Beau Bell. He took over the program in 1959 and took the Aggies to the Southwestern Conference champi onship his first year, and then for 25 out of 26 seasons while he was head coach. Under Chandler’s coaching, the Aggies went to the playoffs seven times and reached the College World Series in 1964. Coaching one shy of 1,000 games, Chandler was among the top 15 winningest coaches in the country and had 54 players sign professional baseball contracts. Hawthorne, who is a Bryan attorney, went on to play minor league baseball for the Baltimore Orioles. See Chandler on page 2. Pranksters joke about anthrax in Dunn Hall By Sommer Bunge THE BATTALION A white, powdery substance sprinkled over a door in Dunn Hall last week has left University Police Department (UPD) officials warning against pranks related to the anthrax scare in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Late Tuesday night, UPD officers and two members of Environmental Health and Safety, one wearing a protective suit and mask, arrived at the third-floor Dunn Hall room to test the substance. They determined it was tal cum powder, said UPD Director Bob Wiatt. “In these times of increased anxiety, a hoax or prank or joke of this nature will not be tolerat ed any more than those claiming to have a weapon or explosive device in an airport, or yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded theater,” Wiatt said in an Oct. 17 email. Pranks of this nature are sub ject to state and federal criminal penalties, Wiatt said. The powder was found on the door last Monday, but not reported by the resident to Dunn Hall staff until Tuesday night, said Dunn Hall Director Michael Gregorash. Hall staff do not know who left the talcum pow der on the door or what their motives were, Gregorash said. “We wanted to err on the side of good judgement when they reported the powder to us,” Gregorash said. “We sup port what UPD said in the email, and we think it was an inappropriate action, especially now, and is something that does not need to occur.” Wiatt said pranks take atten tion and resources away from real threats. “Those sparking unneeded investigations should be aware they are stretching thin an over burdened force of officers and health officials required to promptly investigate all allega tions or suspicions of ‘terror ism,’ ” Wiatt said. The U.S. special forces raided an airfield and a Taliban command and control center near Kandahar. Two soldiers died when a search-and-rescue helicopter supporting the operation crashed in Pakistan. UZBEK. TAJIK. TURKM. , SOURCES: Associated Press; ESRI AP U.S. jets hit Taliban front line hard Sunday Attacks encourage Afghan opposition forces to fight QALAI DASHT, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. warplanes bombarded Taliban posi tions Sunday near a front line north of the capital, Kabul, marking what could be the start of a more aggressive campaign on behalf of opposition forces fighting the Islamic regime. In Kabul, meanwhile, grieving neigh bors pulled dust-covered bodies of seven civilians — three women and four children — from the ruins of two homes destroyed Sunday by a U.S. bomb. “This pilot was like he was blind!” sobbed one neighbor. In Pakistan, the U.N. refugee agency renewed appeals Sunday for Afghanistan’s neighbors to open their borders to the refugees — including up to 15,000 trapped in “no man’s land” near the Pakistani town of Chaman. The Sunday attacks marked the closest and most intense U.S. strikes so far against Taliban positions defending Kabul from northern alliance forces, which have been stalled for years 12 to 25 miles north of the city. U.S. jets streaked over the opposition- held Panjshir Valley, and opposition offi cials told an Associated Press reporter in the area that they appeared to strike Taliban positions about one mile behind the front line. Several eyewitnesses, including journal ists and residents, also reported Taliban positions bombed in the area. “We are hoping this will be a big help for the future of our forces,” said Waisuddin Salik, an opposition spokesman. Afghanistan’s anti-Taliban forces, an alliance mostly of minority ethnic Uzbeks and Tajiks, have been urging the United States to provide close air support for their forces so they can advance on the capital. However, the United States and Britain had been reluctant to help the northern See Attacks on page 12.