ONDAYNOVEMBER 12, 2001
Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years
1 SECTION • 10 PAGES
NEWS IN BRIEF
lay, November!
ion
from the previous*
s strong showiuj,
on's M.|iiadslhis;;:
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\pyiev The
A<k\i invitaii Wood fire casts
smoky pall over
ouston, not smog
OUSTON (AP) - The
lid smoke that blanketed
fts of Houston all weekend
nothing to do with the
men s race'infamous smog: It was
jtrokefrom a wood mulching
lity in northwest Harris
unty, which has been
-- since last Tuesda y-
M y yrWhe blaze at the 20-acre
®odpile, which Harris County
Marshal Fred Windisch
id is 60 to 80 feet deep in
lots, was under control
inday but continued to burn,
he smoke, which resem-
a thick fog in some parts
the Houston area through-
t the weekend, was not con-
lered toxic. However, it was
uisance on what otherwise
Id have been a clear day,
it was recommended that
flple with breathing prob-
is use caution.
.1 golf course,
h Central Rea
d the Aggie me:
m their previous
i to their No. Ir
its beein at 9.
o remain perfect
nerican Airline'
io game withT ]
advantage into It
* ho was 9-for-i:
half and made a!
1-74 lead at the':;!
ottense. sa
ker Cte
iez. “They can do
y want. But even
r weaknesses so
e can exploit (Ikv
e turnovers."
backer Rocky C
n the rock of if
this season.These
i Big 12 tacklesw
\ ary a reall;
said A&M head
icum. "They are a
ih a lot of speed o:
They’ve got ei
- where they don’t It
•verythine perfectly
1 you bad plays."
evelopments
Sunday related to
Jnthrax cases
■
I* Trace amounts of
thrax discovered in five
ore Senate offices in the
me building where letter
ntaining the bacteria was
iened Oct. 15.
Decontamination crews
jean another post office in
e Trenton area, even
icugh final results of anthrax
sts there were incomplete.
Postal officials move
ilashmton’s central post
Office to another building
ter finding widespread
thrax contamination.
PUBLIC EYE
kf
(Mu
Number of
citations issued
by PITS for
October 2000
,545
TODAY
AGGIELIFE
Page 3
Helping
the Hungry
•A&M participates in
National Hunger and
Homelessness
Awareness week
m *1 irilf ’
<*ni.ny
SPORTS
Page 5
n|)l<
Sooners
corral A&M
title hopes
• Lack of offense
spells disaster in
31-10 loss
OPINION
Page 9
U: ,ll
‘Sounds
like Hell!’
Aggies should sing
first verse of
‘War Hymn’
WEATHER
TODAY
HIGH
79° F
LOW
55° F
TOMORROW
I I'. H*
HIGH
80° F
LOW
55° F
FORECASTS COURTESY OF
www.weathermanted.com
ATTAT TO
JL JhL» «JhL» mJBm. jlm. 3mm. rnJKLmmjt JLm
SERVING THE TEXAS A&M COMMUNITY SINCE 1893
Volume 108 • Issue 56
College Station, Texas
www.thebatt.com
Top-10 policy for colleges same
By NONI SRIDHARA
THE BATTALION
As the College of Business,
College of Architecture and
College of Engineering at Texas
A&M continue to grow, the
University is not revising a poli
cy that guarantees the top 10 per
cent of high school seniors auto
matic admission into their first
college of choice.
Under Texas law, all public
universities must admit those stu
dents ranking in the top 10 per
cent of their graduating class.
However, the law does not speci
fy that students must be allowed
into the college of their choice.
Recently, the Red McCombs
School of Business at the
University of Texas-Austin
(UT) became the first of the uni
versity’s colleges to break away
from the policy, and more
recently, the UT College of
Communications followed suit,
according to an Oct. 23 article in
The Daily Texan.
Joseph A. Estrada, associate
provost for enrollment at Texas
A&M, said that although there is
some concern about A&M’s larg
er colleges, students in the top 10
percent of their high school class
will still be admitted into their
college of choice.
“We are a little bit concerned
about the College of Architecture
and College of Business having
the top 10 percent dominate the
college,” Estrada said. “We are
closely monitoring these num
bers, but at this level or juncture,
we are not going to make any
changes to this rule.”
See Percentages on page 2.
wm :
Percentage of students admitted
under Texas top-lO percent law
c of Architecture
College of Engineering
e of Business
SOj
7 °l
70
Source: Associate Provost for Enrollment ^
CHAD MALLAM • THE BATTALION
Wings
STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION
Visitors at Wings Over Texas, an exhibition of remote-controlled model aircraft, inspect some of the planes participating in this year’s
show. Model enthusiasts from across the state brought their planes, some worth thousands of dollars, to the Hearne Municipal Airport
to show off their skills as craftsmen and pilots.
Senate resolution could be repealed
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
The Bonfire resolution passed by the
Student Senate Oct. 31 is in limbo after
opponents of the resolution filed a
complaint alleging supporters violated
procedures in bringing the resolution to
a vote.
The resolution reaffirmed students’ sup
port for Bonfire and urged A&M President
Dr. Ray M. Bowen to do everything neces
sary to ensure Bonfire bums next year.
“Its pretty shady when a group like Pro
Traditions can railroad its agenda through
without regard to senate rules,” said Paul
Jackman, a senator and senior aerospace
engineering major, who filed the complaint
with the Student Government Association
Judicial Court.
The judicial court held a hearing Nov. 7
to consider Jackman’s allegations and sen
ate officers’ responses, and it will reach a
decision Tuesday. If the court finds senate
procedures were violated, the resolution
can be repealed.
See Senate on page 10.
1 year
later:
Bush
won
(AP) —A vote-by-vote review
of untallied ballots in the 2000
Florida presidential election indi
cates George W. Bush would have
narrowly prevailed in the partial
recounts sought by A1 Gore, but
Gore might have reversed the out
come — by the barest of margins —
had he pursued and gained a com
plete statewide recount.
Bush eventually won Florida,
and thus the White House, by 537
votes out of more than 6 million
cast. But questions about the
uncounted votes lingered.
Almost a year after the cliffhang-
er conclusion, a media-sponsored
review of the more than 175,000 dis
puted ballots underscored that the
prize of the U.S. presidency came
down to an almost unimaginably
small number of votes.
The new data, compiled by The
Associated Press and seven other
news organizations, also suggested
that Gore followed a legal strategy
after Election Day that would have
led to defeat even if it had not been
rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gore sought a recount of a relatively
small portion of the state’s disputed
ballots while the review indicates his
only chance lay in a course he advo
cated publicly but did not pursue in
court — a full statewide recount of
all Florida’s untallied votes.
See Ballots on page 2.
A&M conserves millions in energy expenditures
By Justin Smith
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M recently has
formed a committee on energy
conservation to combat the ris
ing cost of natural gas and
electricity.
Chairing the group will be
Dr. Ronald Haden, dean of the
College of Engineering, but the
committee includes members
from organizations and depart
ments across the University.
“We have only had one meet
ing so far, but our objective will
be to not only save the University
money, but do it in a healthy and
safe way,” said Chris Meyer,
director of the environmental
health and safety department.
Charles Sippial, vice president
of administraition, said the
University has already begun
implementing conservation meas
ures with a continuous commis
sioning program in that buildings
across campus are examined for
inefficient energy usage.
“There hasn’t been a building
we have checked out which we
weren’t been able to make it run
at least 10 percent more efficient
ly,” said John Bryant, a program
leader and construction science
professor.
These changes have already
resulted in a savings of $10 mil
lion to $12 million and only cost
about $500,000 to implement,
Bryant said.
Bryant said sometimes a
thorough cleansing of the sys
tem and keeping doors closed
See Energy on page 10.
Women’s soccer wins Big 12
By Jeremy Brown
THE BATTALION
Freshman forward Linsey Johnson scored the
game-winning goal as the No. 8 Texas A&M soc
cer team beat the No. 11 Texas Longhorns 1-0 on
Sunday to claim the 2001 Big 12 Soccer
Championship.
Johnson’s goal broke what was a defensive
battle between A&M and the Big 12 regular-sea
son champion Longhorns and earned her the
Offensive Most Valuable Player award for the
tournament.
The goal ‘came on an unusual play. Senior
midfielder Michelle Royal fielded a UT clear and
took a shot at the UT goal. Her shot bounced of!'
the crossbar, directly to Johnson at the edge of
the goal area. Johnson kicked it immediately and
her shot also hit off the bottom of the crossbar.
However, the ball fell just inside the goal line to
put the Aggies ahead.
“I was just in the right place at the right time,
I guess,” Johnson said. “It was real exciting, and
I think it helped ease a lot of pressure.”
Despite scoring the winning goal, Johnson
gave credit to the A&M defense for holding UT
scoreless.
“The initial shot was a pretty good shot,” said
Texas head coach Chris Petrucelli. “When it goes
off the bar, who knows what is going to happen
and they got on to it first.
See SOCCER on page 10.
Afghan opposition claims
Taliban in full retreat north
JABAL SARAJ, Afghanistan (AP) — Opposition forces claimed
to have the Taliban on the run across much of northern Afghanistan
on Sunday, as the ruling Islamic militia abandoned stronghold after
stronghold in a withdrawal south toward the capital, Kabul.
The foreign minister of the northern alliance, Abdullah,
claimed the opposition had seized half the country in the past two
days and dealt the Taliban a severe blow as a fighting force. U.S.
officials warned that a counterattack was possible.
As Taliban fighters fled south. President Bush urged the oppo
sition not to take Kabul before a new, broad-based government
could be formed.
However, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged
See Retreat on page 2.