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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 2002)
■•E B AXIAL hrii EDNESDAYAPRIL 3. 2002 VOLUME 108 • ISSUE 122 eek, the e series agi .led a 14-4 dni: won six of : r a series swet| raska Conihu« •17. s a stretch dir 1 1 Aggie j>ar m Field > T f Y Yin 1 l~f f’- 4 JL JL M M J ATTAT TOM jlTL A A Hljlji A v-/ JL N TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY Teamwork 5en/or agricultural development major Keoke Makahilahila (left) and junior agricultural devel opment major Kyle Ruppert team up with others STUART VII.LANUEVA •THE BATTALION members of their leadership development class to remove a can of water from a circle using vari ous objects without touching the can. Noise violations top police calls By Anna Chaloupka THE BATTALION When searching for the perfect place to hang their hats, most college students are drawn to apartments with low rent, plenty of room and quiet neighbors. But, according to the College Station Police Department (CSPD), noisy neighbors are hard to avoid at some apartments and can attract the attention of the police department. Lt. Rodney Sigler, public information offi cer of the CSPD, said complaints about loud parties consistently top the list of calls made to police officers by large apartment complexes in College Station. Minors in possession of alcohol (MIPs) and false alarms come in second and third, respectively, on the number of calls for service, Sigler said. A call for service refers to any request for police service made by private citizens or police officers, including non-emergency and 91 1 calls. The Crime Analysis Unit of the CSPD releases monthly reports of the number of calls for service for each apartment complex. The apartments are ranked according to the number of calls made to the number of units in the complex. For the month of March, Southgate Village Apartments ranked first with 71 calls to 200 units. Windsor Point Apartments and Sausalito Apartments came in second and third with 54 calls to 192 units and 30 calls to 148 units, respectively. Although they may not be ranked at the top of the list of calls for service, Sigler said some of the larger apartment complexes make sig nificant numbers of calls for service, typically for loud parties, MIPs and alarms. “If you’re looking at physically dangerous stuff,” Sigler said, “there’s not a whole lot to worry about.” Jennifer Hernandez, assistant manager of Sterling University Village, said she was not aware of any major criminal issues at her com plex aside from noise and MIP violations. She said she does not like to use the words “safe” or “dangerous” when referring to the apartment complex. “I don’t use the word ‘safe,’” Hernandez said. “But, I encourage all my residents to call the police department if there is anything they feel uncomfortable with.” Hernandez said the complex has one entrance and one exit, designed to discourage people from mischievous activity, and the com plex employs a courtesy officer who walks the property and completes routine checks. Cabrina Scott, crime analyst for the CSPD, See Apartments on page 2 r ( il r I liMIS APARTMENT COMPLEXES PLACE CALLS FOR SERVICE TO THE COLLEGE STATION POLICE DEPT. CHAD MALLAM • THE BATTALION echnology to Coleman explains rap culture ; • 1 change education ^ | j By Carol Treece a fear that quality will be lost in ie)! upon) rtion '90 ing 46) ■ ■ By Carol Treece the BATTALION I I I Developing technology will INge the way students learn J u professors teach by the 1 f 2020, said John Hoyle, 1 8 lessor of educational I ministration at Texas A&M. J /laseries of lectures exam- 1 ln g the future of education, H tyle will address how chang- te chnology might erase at the college experience has been perceived to be. With increasing use of the (ernet and global technolo- I ltr 111 any more Internet-based 11 "iteractive learning courses Jr available for students ( °mid the world, he said. owever, Hoyle said there is a fear that quality will be lost in the translation of information and interruptions because of some inadequate technologies. “The learning and caring community is the heart and sole of a university,” Hoyle said. “How do you make an Aggie by wire?” Hoyle teaches in a traditional classroom setting at A&M while teaching a class through real time interactive video confer encing over the Internet to stu dents who are pursuing a mas ter’s degree in education. Every other week, Hoyle travels to conduct his video class in person and uses examples of A&M traditions See Education on page 6 By Melissa Sullivan THE BATTALION Hip-hop is a serious sociological topic that contains several artistic aspects, including rap, philosophy and graffiti art, English professor Finnic Coleman said Tuesday in a discussion titled “Rap, Rhetoric and Revolution.” Coleman introduced culture in the form of hip-hop and rap music and discussed specific musicians and how each of their styles con tributes to the hip-hop movement. For exam ple, he said, Busta Rhymes is known for singing over the music and creating a nega tive message. “[Rhymes] was criticized for doing that,” Coleman said. “People said he had nothing positive to say about the issues that affected the people.” Opinions and debate concerning cultural origins of African communities tend to center around two competing ideas. Black Atlanticism and Afrocentrism, and a new hip generation is adding to the debate, he said. “It is important to let the youth provide leadership.” Coleman said many have a misconception that buyers of rap and hip-hop music are typ ically African-Americans. However, he said 70 percent of hardcore rap is purchased by white males. Coleman began to study the topic of hip- hop across the United States and then contin ued studying abroad in Mexico and India. “It began when I accompanied a friend to a conference in Thailand,” Coleman said. “We went on interviews and what I imagined hip- hop to be was totally different than I thought.” Coleman was reluctant to introduce his See Coleman on page 2 Al-Qaida capture valuable ^ong Distance Learning At A&M 1 bourses can foe taken via video and Internet 1 A&fvi currently offers 11 long distance i Naming programs ’ ^dents communicate with professors v,a phone and video conferencing .JgE: THE CENTER OF DISTANCE LEARNING CHAD MALLAM • THE BATTALION WASHINGTON (AP) — The capture of a top al-Qaida leader is a victory in the war against terrorism that could lead to valuable information about Osama bin Laden’s network, U.S. officials said Tuesday. White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer said Abu Zubaydah was a member of bin Laden’s inner circle, a top terrorism plotter and recruiter of al-Qaida operatives. “He will be interrogated about his knowledge of ongo ing plans to conduct terrorist activities,” Fleischer said. “This represents a very seri ous blow to al-Qaida.” Authorities in Pakistan captured Zubaydah on Thursday and turned him over to U.S. authorities. U.S. offi cials would not say Tuesday where Zubaydah was but said he was not expected in the United States any time soon. Like other alleged al-Qaida leaders, Zubaydah could even tually be held at U.S. military detention facilities in Afghanistan, aboard a Navy ship or at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Pentagon officials said Tuesday that Zubaydah was not in U.S. military custody, however. Zubaydah also could be transferred to a third country where U.S. laws prohibiting mistreatment of prisoners do not apply. Zubaydah was convicted in absentia on terrorism charges in Jordan in 2000 in connec tion with a foiled plot to bomb a tourist hotel during the mil lennium celebrations. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday that Zubaydah was in custody and receiving medical care for several wounds that “seem not to be life-threatening.”' See Capture on page 2 Kennedy relative goes on trial in Connecticut Conn. Michael (AP) — Skakel went n °RWalk, cousin wJudp T ° r ITlur ^ er Tuesday, accused of J :ars e ° nin ® 3 ne ighbor g' r l to death 27 ” Sii^° w ^ en They were both 15. a Van Peri ° r Court Judge John lr ors f W c: ^ r ‘ ' ntr °duced prospective 1^. ° -i a ^ e l, w h° stood and gave a Use an 6 ’ ^ ater ’ as he left the court- akpi nd Was as ked how the day went, replied; “It was good.” jurors were chosen, but lawyers said it could take over a month to seat all 12 and the four alternates. The rest of the trial may take up to two months. Skakel, 41, is accused of beating Martha Moxley with a golf club in their wealthy Greenwich neighborhood in 1975. The nephew of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was arrested in January 2000 after a one-judge grand jury investigated the murder following articles and books about the old case. He was arraigned as a juvenile because of his age when the crime was committed, but the case was later trans ferred to adult court. If convicted, Skakel could face life in prison. There were no Kennedy’s or Moxley’s in the courtroom Tuesday. The jury pool included several executives, a teacher and TV financial analyst Louis Rukeyser, recently oust ed from the Public Broadcasting Service series “Wall Street Week” after 32 years. Rukeyser was excused after a humorous exchange with Superior Court Judge John Kavanewsky Jr. Asked if he was needed at his job, Rukeyser replied, “I’m irreplace able,” drawing laughter from others on the panel. Lists of potential witnesses were released Tuesday. Courtney Kennedy, Skakel’s cousin and a daughter of the See Trial on page 2 Sports Pg. 7 Ags get job done with win over Islanders A&M baseball team wins fifth-straight, 9-1