The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 25, 2002, Image 1
ONDAYFEBRUARY 25. 2002 VOLUME 108 • ISSUE 101 THE BATTALION TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY International eek offers iversity Laund Men'j & Hy Sarah Szuminski THE BATTALION up. O.VOI t (1II) ■tj^J^Hntcmational Week festivities begin today and will include a i p ra . ^^Hes of events sponsored by international students to celebrate it HooEViilultural differences at A&M and promote unity and inclusiveness. 825-2:. I'ultura! displays will be available for viewing in the Memorial ■ ■mr (Student Center from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. to 4 Tuesday. 1 he displays will represent various cultures across * mob jibe world through artifacts, pictures and music from approxi- A ^ nately 32 different student organizations, said Ashish Chitale, jpokesperson for the International Students Association and a ^^^^^^^■uate engineering student. culture booklets containing interesting facts about many countries will be distributed at the cultural displays. K^Rroximately 3.000 copies were printed and will be distributed MMOWEif^tso students. ♦ jacuzzs* ‘'] t j s a good place for students to go that are interested in other SOfi (Vi :ultures and want to get informed,” Chitale said. ^*^Rlany students became interested in other cultures after the 77 . >ept. 11 terrorist attacks, he said, and that is one reason ^ niernational Week has greater importance this year. $9flfY|lfBhe theme of this year’s event. “Unity and Diversity,” is ntended to emphasize unity among the A&M community while nibracing the diversity of its students, Chitale said. | ‘iWe want to let students know that this is a University-wide See I-Week on page 2 TERNATIONAL WEEK 2002 Lion dance Patty Sun (right), of Dallas, assists 9-year-old Andrew White with the motions of the Lion Dance, a Chinese celebration of the new year, at an exhibition of Chinese culture at the MSC STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION Friday. Sun and other members of the Chin Woo professional dance group were on campus to demonstrate their skill as well as teach volunteers the art of Chinese dance. Today 11 a.m., MSC Flagroom Today 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., $10 admission fee *• Customer! Wj ires 03-31-02 International Talent Stiow and Traditional Ores* Parade mi ere cTi'f Rudder Auditorium Friday, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., C ^S| $5 admission fee 1718 Rock 01 Proirie Ceff Friday, immediately following the talent show, place to be announced The International Students Association • MW > rfensive ) riving vith o ch (Line]! 25 with Coopc* airnog Co He COWi (S once reduction nshausen '90 3&Go Tutoring i 778-4746! Senate deals with low turnout CHAD MALLAM • THE BATTALION By C.E. Walters THE BATTALION With 16 absences at the Feb. 20 meeting, the Student Senate is facing larger numbers of absences this semester than normal, said Kimberly Schell, senate speaker pro tempore and a junior biomedical science major. Schell said that at the beginning of the semester, many senators have busy schedules or simply forget about meetings. However, rep resentation of the student body, Schell said, is not hampered by the high degree of absences. “I think that all of our sena tor’s take their constituency’s concerns first,” Schell said. Most absences come from off-campus senators, who hold 20 positions in the senate. The absence problem is mainly with the older sena tors, said Morgan Howard, residency whip and a sopho more political science major. Newly elected senators are more energetic, he said. “Senators are ready to grad uate,” said Lara Pringle, aca demic affairs chair and a junior finance major. “1 think that’s true for any organization.” Jack Long, senate speaker and a senior political science major, said senators are allowed four unexcused absences before they are removed from their positions. At senate meetings one half of an absence is deducted for missing the roll call vote at the beginning of the meeting, and an additional one half is deducted for missing the adjournment vote. Thirty-two senators must be present to constitute a quorum. “We set up a system at the beginning of the year to deter mine whether or not an absence is excusable,” Long said. “Most of them relate to illness or school related activities.” \dvisory board allows student input at University system level By Tanya Nading THE BATTALION The Texas A&M University System a sprawling entity comprised of nine Tools and tens of thousands of stu- ;nts, but the Chancellor’s Student dvisory Board (CSAB) enables stu- mt leaders from each campus to voice students’ concerns to System officials. “We are a part of a large University -system,” said Schuyler Houser, student body president and CSAB representa tive for Texas A&M. “Most student’s don’t realize that. I think it’s important to for them to know, learn and recog nize the relationships we have with the other universities in our system.” 2002 ELECTION Comprised of student government leaders in the different schools within the Texas A&M System, A&M’s stu dent representatives include the student body president, another student repre sentative and an alternate, who the stu dent body president appoints. “We come together to bridge com munication through the University sys tem to address common problems that we all face,” Houser said. “We meet at different campuses throughout the year to discuss the problems the students are facing there.” The CSAB was created in 1982 by Chancellor Arthur E. Hansen, in response to student calls for representa tion at the system level. At the time there were only four universities represented in the system; today there are 10. Out of several different mission goals, the main objective of the CSAB is to advise the chancellor about pressing student issues, said Brent Burgess, chairman of CSAB and a See CSAB on page 2 TTJr candidates vie for District 31 seat An open congressional seat in an overwhelmingly Republican district is too good for local GOP politicians to pass up, and seven candidates are vying for the Republican nomination. The district, which stretches from West Houston to Round Rock, is one of two new congressional districts given to Texas following the 2000 Census. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the March 12 primary, the top two finishers will compete in an April 9 runoff. Early voting is underway. The winner will face Democrat David Bagley in November. As a service to our readers, each candidate will be profiled this week. The Battalion will also endorse a candidate. Closing ceremonies onal ;st Price 5 jll Set ^20 European Pedicure *20 n. - 7:00 p.m 11/02 By Rolando Garcia THE BATTALION Peter Wareing JEd WAREING ers , tulips) Accepted- 6pm late the economy and generate more revenue for the ffE See Wareing on page 2 Peter Wareing’s wealthy River Oaks neighborhood in Houston is a far cry from the rural and suburban central Texas district he recently moved to in order to run for Congress, but Wareing said he shares the values of the people he wants to represent. “These are conservative. God fearing people and those are my values,” Wareing said. ■ Wareing, a Houston businessman, rented an apart ment in Bryan to campaign for the open congressional seat, and said he will buy a home there if elected. Allhough not required by law to live in the district he is running in, Wareing said he chose to move to Bryan to gei to know the people he could represent. ■ Wareing said his top priorities will be tax relief and improving the district’s transportation infrastructure. ; Letting people keep more of what they earn will stimu- WHITFIELD Eric Whitfield Like other Republican candi dates, his mantra is tax cuts, but Eric Whitfield said he is the only candi date in the District 31 race who has actually cut taxes. During his two terms on the Round Rock school board. Whitfield said he was able to increase efficien cy, improve school quality and give tax payers a break. “It’s one thing to talk about cutting taxes, it’s anoth er to actually do it,” Whitfield said. In addition to accelerating the implementation of President Bush’s tax cuts, Whitfield said he wants to permanently eliminate the estate tax and lower the cap ital gains tax. Rather than ballooning the budget deficit, Whitfield said tax cuts would increase govern ment revenues by stimulating the economy. Whitfield, 51, a Round Rock businessman, said he would like to replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax. This would encourage saving and See Whitfield on page 2 Dancers perform during the closing ceremonies in Rice-Eccles Olympic KRT CAMPUS Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. See final medal count on page 7. 1NSID1E Sports Pg. 7 Aggies earn second at Big 12 meet Battalion News Radio Exhibit shows science behind risk Listen on KAMU 90.9 FM at 1:57 p.m. WLATfiLT HIGH 78° F LOW 46° F TUESDAY HIGH y 46° F LOW www.coifegewea’fiiercom