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VOLUME 108 • ISSUE 121
THFP R ATT AT m
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TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
srael fights back as bombs continue
hAMALLAH. West Bank (AP) —
|eli troops backed by armor intensi-
an offensive across the West Bank
Monday, pounding a Ramallah
ing with anti-aircraft guns, briefly
|nng into Bethlehem and sending
deafening echo of tank shells
ugh Palestinian streets,
ipurred by a wave of bloody suicide
ks that claimed more than 40 lives in
five days, Israeli leaders said the military
drive was meant to smash a Palestinian
terrorist infrastructure. Palestinians, for
their part, said Israel’s tactics amounted
to a campaign of state terror against the
civilian population.
Troops searching for Palestinian
militants and weapons caches carried
out house-to-house searches and
engaged in running battles with gun
men. In the center of Ramallah, sol
diers used vehicle-mounted anti-air
craft guns to pulverize the facade of a
building where Palestinian gunmen
were holed up, sending chunks of
masonry plunging into the street.
Israeli forces also moved into the
northern Palestinian towns of Qalqilya
and Tulkarem on Sunday night and
Monday.
In the sixth Palestinian attack in six
days, a car bomb exploded near down
town Jerusalem. Police said a policeman
stopped the car and the driver, a
Palestinian, set off the bomb. The
Palestinian was killed and the policeman
seriously injured. The A1 Aqsa Brigades,
a militia linked to Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement,
claimed responsibility.
Sporadic gunfire rang out after dark
in Ramallah, a few miles to the north,
where a tight curfew and continued
fighting have turned a busy commercial
center into a ghost town. The boom of
tank shells was heard after night fell.
Eight Israeli soldiers were injured —
two seriously — in Ramallah and
See Israel on page 6
Faculty member
performs in protest
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Graffiti was found early Monday morning on the Sul Ross
Statue outside the Academic Building. Members of the
Corps volunteered their class time to clean the statue
JOHN LIYAS •THE BATTALION
before a professional was called in. The University Police
Department said it received several vandalism calls on
campus, but did not release further details.
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
Emerging from a metal trash can
dressed as a homeless person with
dirt on his face and a bottle of alcohol
in his right hand, music professor Dr.
Howard Fredrics perfonned a protest
performance of “The Mockingbird”
in his class Thursday afternoon.
Fredrics was scheduled to perform
the piece at the faculty talent show on
March 22, but due to the dramatization
it contained, the Memorial Student
Center Opera and Performing Arts
Society (OPAS) put a disclaimer on it,
saying it contained subject matter that
would be inappropriate for young
audiences.
In protest of the disclaimer,
Fredrics withdrew his performance
from the program.
“No one [in OPASJ saw it. They
had the program notes and the text
and I told the organizers it wa?r an
‘in-your-face’ performance because I
came into the audience and I was
wearing a disgusting costume,”
Fredrics said. “I think they should
have seen it with unbiased eyes and
ears and judge it for themselves.”
“The Mockingbird” is a theatrical
setting of Charles Bukowski’s poem
scored for baritone voice, actor and
electronic tape.
“The reason why we put the dis
claimer on it was because of the
description he provided and how he
intended it to be vulgar, intense and
shocking,” Elaine McClurken, coordi
nator for OPAS said. “We encouraged
him to still perform and it would have
been great if he did.”
Other themes portrayed during
the show included adultery and sui
cide, however, organizers chose to
put the disclaimer only on Fredrics’
performance, he said.
“Someone could have been
offended with anything performed,”
Fredrics said.
Fredrics has performed this piece
several times, most recently at
Southern Methodist University,
which is known for its conservative
atmosphere. He said there were no
problems with the performance at the
Ft. Worth campus.
“I think instead of saying it was
inappropriate for young audiences
they should have said it depicted
alcoholism and homelessness and it
contained audience participation in
some ways,” Fredrics said.” “I did
n’t know this was supposed to be a
family event.”
However, McClurken said several
faculty members could have brought
See Censorship on page 2
asma-etching could improve semiconductors
By Brittany Hooten
THE BATTALION
computer industry has been searching for
l ear $ to better its most basic component, the
'conductor, and a Texas A&M chemical engi-
sa ys he may have the solution.
)°w Professor of Chemical and Electrical
•ncering Yue Kuo has worked in the plasma
semiconductor field for more than 20 years.
- Sa,t * he has worked periodically during those
with - [ s to tind a way to plasma-etch copper.
)e miconductors, key elements in computer
teJ r
processors and other electric circuits, need tiny
components, transistors, connected to each other
with wire lines to operate.
As computers process information faster and
faster, the number of transistors and number of
wire connections has increased, meaning that
smaller and thinner lines are needed to etch the
transistors together. Scientists have been looking
to integrate copper into the connection system
using plasma-etching.
Today chips are being made more and more
powerful, Kuo said. Advanced chips can contain
tens of millions of transistors, and as more tran
sistors are added to each microscopic chip, more
lines are needed to connect them.
For many years the lines were made of alu
minum because of its high conductivity. Kuo said
that as aluminum is made smaller it becomes
more resistant instead of continuing conducting.
The most common solution is to use copper,
he said. But to make the copper lines smaller,
plasma-etching must be used.
“When we come to very small geometry, we
can only use the plasma-etching,” Kuo said.
In 1998, IBM disclosed a method that can
make a very fine copper line, but not by the
plasma method. This method, chemical
mechanical polishing, is the most common
method used by companies today although it is
problematic, Kuo said.
“This method has a lot of problems that need to
constantly or continuously be studied. It’s a very
tedious process,” he said.
The chemical mechanical polishing method
involves many steps, requires constant attention
and uses expensive equipment, he said. Another
potential problem is that the process can have a
See Semiconductor on page 2
iov. Perry thanks reservists
ORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — Gov. Rick Perry thanked
is military reservists and National Guardsmen and
I them Monday for temporarily giving up their jobs
f P protect America in the war on terrorism.
h e enemies of America have gotten a powerful dose
lefu| l f Ur y of a freedom-loving people. I am proud of
r 0rk you have done to protect America from this evil
r w kn ow as terrorism,” Perry told a group of mostly
l as reservists.
He delivered his remarks from a podium near where
his helicopter landed to bring him to the post. Maj. Gen.
Daniel James III, Texas Adjutant General, stood nearby as
the soldiers sat in bleachers and listened.
Perry said he wanted the troops to know that he was
proud of them and said he wanted to remind their
employers of the work the soldiers were doing.
See Perry on page 6
ER TAPS I Gay Awareness Week
& to support diversity
Bluebonnet Drive
As spring arrives, Bluebonnets begin
to grow on the corner of Wellborn
JENNIFER WIDENER • THE BATTALION
Road and University Drive across
from Northgate.
Night
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•ON BRIAN flOROWUX
•cachtncj. Learning and Culture
PAIGE TAYLOR MIXON
Economics
CARMELA nCATRICE IZAGUlRRC
Psychology
10:30 p.m
ACADEMIC PLAZA
By Tanya Nading
THE BATTALION
Several organizations at Texas
A&M say they are going to spend
this week reminding students that
homosexuals live, work and go to
school in Aggieland.
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and
Transgendered Aggies (GLBTA)
and other campus organizations will
sponsor Gay Awareness Week this
week. The week will celebrate its
18th year of recognition at A&M
with a collection of activities,
demonstrations and discussions.
“The point of this week is to try
and let people know that there are
gay people on this campus,” said
Justin Anderson, a senior psycholo
gy major and president of GLBTA.
“We just want to be treated like
everyone else and be respected for
who we are.”
The week begins with a diversity
workshop with facilitator Magdalen
Hsu-Li, who will be speaking on
diversity and sexuality, Monday
See Awareness on page 2
IkSIDlS
Sports Pg. 7
Terps outlast
Hoosiers, 64-52
Dixon leads Maryland to first
NCAA title
Opinion Pg. 11
Public accessibility?
Cl PA should not be enforced
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