IE battalion :tice s 1 '-on-ll dril and Weber sitin, ore running bad irn *ng got most a who rushed b carry in NEW YORK (AP) — It inspired design •Mary Quant to create the mini skirt and ns bumbling comic Mr. Bean’s favorite node of transport. Now tlie Mini Cooper, reborn and on sale in oke several mir gainst a combina defense’s first e problems, as 'ses were knock oed. most of the ay, however. nation the battalion 3B Wednesday, March 27, 2002 Mini Cooper hot once again P^lhe United States since last Friday, is hot again. Dealers say waiting lists for the tiny four- eater are growing, even though research from ^ )arent company, BMW Group AG, shows less han 2 percent of Americans are even aware of 0 s p f 1 sm l ! SH-'lie brand. “Most people have no idea what a Mini is, ilyou show them a picture,” Mini general nanager Jack Pitney said in an interview Cl Bethel Johns f ue sday during media previews at the New receiver Jam ^ international Auto Show'. The original Mini was produced from 959 to December 2000, but was only sold in take Wednesit ^ United States from 1960 to Mime workc. 957, Pitney said. During those seven years, only 0,000 Minis were sold in the 1 • Bnited States. This time around, C I/' 1 tT f 'itney said, the company expects OJVllldJjsell its entire U.S. allotment of 0,000 vehicles during the first have their vehicles serviced and repaired at the same service operation at the dealerships. Pitney said the automaker hopes to cre ate aspiration,” which would occur when Mini customers who shop at BMW dealer ships look to eventually purchase or lease a BMW vehicle. Analyst Chris Cedergren with the auto motive marketing firm Nextrend, said the strategy is sound. “Among young people, the BMW brand is oft the charts as far as being aspirational,” he said. Younger people also are becoming affluent faster, allowing them to skip from entry-level vehicles to luxury vehicles, Cedergren said. The Mini is available at 53 dealers in 29 states. Pitney said by the end of the year, 70 Mini dealers will be up and running. With demand building in the United States and already strong elsewhere, a third shift has been added to accommodate the pressure to produce more Minis, but Pitney said another plant will not be built. That demand likely is to swell when the Mini is featured in this summer’s third install ment of the Austin Powers series. Unlike most product placements in movies or television programs, BMW did not seek to place the Mini in the movie, Pitney said. Actor Mike Myers, who created the British character and stars in the movies, loved the Mini and had a representative call the compa ny asking for six of them for the new movie even before they went on sale in the Unites States, Pitney said. BMW bought the Mini brand in |997 and built a new plant near the riginal one in Oxford, England, to (roduce the new version of the car. At 11 feet, 10 inches, the new (lini is a little more maxi than the riginal. It’s 2 feet longer and 1 ot wider, to accommodate safety huipment and modem instrumen- Jtion, Pitney said, but the wheels ! still placed out to the comers, ne as the original. Priced between $16,850 and 119.850, the Mini is a lot less jpensive than its brethren in the IMW family. That’s a key ele ment in the Genuan automaker’s ategy to cultivate future cus- Imiers for its core high-end prod- pts. Minis will be sold by BMW ilers, but in separate showrooms a dedicated sales staff. Both and BMW customers will Still MINI after all these years The latest retro-vehicle to re enter the U.S. marketplace is the new MINI Cooper, a modern version of the super small British coupe. The original MINI went on sale in 1959 and sold 5.4 million units worldwide before being retired in 2000. 2002 Ford Excursion — 226.7 Inches — Even as one of the smallest cars sold in the United States, the new MINI still is nearly two feet longer than the original MINI. 2003 MINI Cooper * 142.8 inches — Model Length (Inches) Weight (pounds) MINI Cooper 142.8 2,524 Ford Focus 168.1 2,598 Honda Civic 174.7 2,405 Mazda Miata 155.7 2,387 Original MINI 120.0 1,300 SOURCES: BMW: Cars.com; Associated Press ormer sheriff s deputy kills family, commits suicide ■KRTOMPi Merced, caiif. (ap> — a actice for theft N sheriff’s deputy shot and ,b last January. “ his 5-year-old daughter , M his three stepchildren ayer and t eo w j 1 j] e ^ ex _ w jf e was last years e u|j 0 ggj n g^ t j ien cornm j ttec j d nuich s 317 w j t | 1 t j le u 0 dy of one of leiTfel, w 0" leyoungsters in his anus. • , .JJ Hogan. 49, apparently 1 1 ht " lered the house with his .40- e ^ cn fry a ^ r handgun after his ex- ! 0 ,i 1 ,! , ite4lS 1 le „ f, ' t hh 'h 0rnin8 jo ? a neighbor, authorities said. The motive was unclear, said ^ced County sheriff’s Cmdr. wkPazin. Nobody could ever foresee Wiething like this,” Pazin t said. “Ante 1 '' aid, “I can ’ t p Llt j t j nto worc j S- than what" tshorrifying.” 1, and Lester'* Hogan was found dead in them to come ebed in the master bedroom, ias really help ebody of 5-year-old Michelle °£ an in his arms. ^hen Christine McFadden t elUrn ed from her jog, she 'her 17-year-old daughter in the hallway outside her Fhoom, said sheriff’s •s, and free ishington’s it r options. vith the gies will tab' lay at the Vars? ig a string oh" 12 » ar season, ig 12 champion S8 ‘- McFadden went to a neigh- , rs house in the well-to-do '^herhood to call police, then „ n J e< -i home with deputies and "tTUivoJ an? , three other children gt miX Hogan in separate bed- litchers ? r s , a11 Shot to death. /aPl- * 00 hs like they had been TE, Fla. r 1 r lsmael han starter, lay night a igament d sleeping,” Cavallero said of the children. McFadden told authorities her husband was not in the house when she left. Their divorce was finalized last year. “My husband has a very bad temper and when he gets angry he explodes,” McFadden wrote in an application for a restrain ing order in June 1998, three months after filing for divorce. Hogan had called a former co-worker at the Santa Clara sheriff’s office Tuesday morn ing and left a message that he was bankrupt and depressed, said Assistant Sheriff Henry Strength. It was unclear whether the message was left before or after the victims were killed. Hogan served as a deputy from 1983 to 1993 before retiring for undisclosed medical reasons, the sheriff’s department said. For the past six years, he worked as a private investigator, said Casey Simmons, a defense lawyer for juveniles who had hired him and considered him a friend. Simmons said Hogan never showed signs of violence or a temper while working with the children. She said Hogan became despondent and quit working when he and McFadden split up for good. They had married in 1995. “Obviously what he was trying to do was hurt Christine as deeply as possible,” Simmons said. The three older children were identified as Melanie Willis, 17; Stanley Willis, 15, and Stuart Willis, 14. Melanie, a junior, was a straight-A student, ranked second in her class of 467 stu dents and was on the ballot Friday to become senior class vice president. Stanley was on the baseball team. “They were very positive and engaging kids,” said Golden Valley principal Ralf Swenson. Students at the school scrib bled messages about their grief on a huge banner, and coun selors were brought in to discuss the killings. Students at Our Lady of Mercy School, a nearby Roman Catholic elementary school that all the children had attended, learned of the shootings after arriving at school. Many prayed for the slain children during a special Mass. Principal Brenda Feehan showed reporters a 1998 picture of Melanie, with braces on her teeth and her brown hair in curls. “They were bright and full of hope and positive, with ter rific senses of humor,” Feehan said. “It doesn’t make sense.” NEWS IN BRIEF Judge erases lawyer restrictions on Reid BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge erased restrictions on defense lawyers’ access to accused shoe bomber Richard C. Reid, but banned them from repeating the conversations, saying “we are engaged in a war on terrorism." The Justice Department had sought to curtail Reid’s contact with the outside for fear he would find a way to communicate with other terrorists. Chief U.S. District Judge William G. Young said Monday that federal prosecutors did not have the authority to limit contact between Reid and his defense, but agreed that the sensitive nature of the case required careful handling of information. “You get access. You keep what you hear to yourself,” Young told Reid’s attorneys. “We are engaged in a war on terrorism. (Prosecutors) try to restrict data that if it gets loose might affect national security.” Reid has been in U.S. custody since Dec. 22, when he allegedly attempted to light explosives hid den in his shoes during a trans- Atlantic flight. He has pleaded inno cent to nine charges that include attempting to murder the 197 pas sengers and crew members. Monday’s emergency hearing was on the 12-page “special admin istrative measures” drafted Feb. 20 and approved by Attorney General John Ashcroft. The measures pre vent attorneys from bringing expert witnesses to meet with Reid and give prison officials latitude to decide whether his attorneys meet with him in the same room. Hil ns y* { - i ^ Mmmm. m HL MMRHP|IBHP•-•n T —US V. v* ^ £ 1 H lip Ojrn l ^ * If*'’ -v' * < i i i' iM; - ", .U” T: * . V ‘ 't.:* ' 4 ■ ■'\ ■ , - ' ; , y >. y', '-r ^ not made 3 c )f Valdes, w he teams' 11 stAnahor« information http wehniftt.Tainu.edu!'agC Hostec by Giooati infraction and The Center for International Business Studies t MEET ME AT SATCHELS $ 1 — Longnecks all day / every day Across the street from Traditions Dorm 260-8850 FREE PARKING BEHIND SHADOW CANYON BIRTH CONTROL STUDY Planned Parenthood of Bryan is participating in a FDA approved injectable birth control method for women. A pharmaceutical company is sponsoring this 13- to 15-month study. Qualified volunteers will receive medical-related services, including; • Study-related medical examinations • Study-related laboratory blood work • Study medication |PI ^ For more information, and to find out if you qualify, please call our Bryan clinic at 846-1744. Participation is voluntary, and research participants will be compensated for their time. ATTENTION All 0n-Campus Residents The deadline to cancel your housing contract for the fall 2002 - spring 2003 academic year and receive a 100% deposit refund is: April 1, 2002, by 5:00 p.m. In the Housing Assignments Office Room 101 YMCA Building Letters of cancellation can be faxed to: 979-862-3122 or mailed to: Housing Assignments Office 101 YMCA Building College Station, TX 77843-1258 Deadlines to receive a portion of your deposit: April 2 - 15 75% April 16-May 1 50% May 2 - 15 25% After May 15 no refund POST OAK HALL 979-764-4444