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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2002)
V ONDAYAPRIL 22, 2002 fTT* T T TTi ‘TIi A inrip^wri a T T l il 11. Ai 1 A 1 lil JL JL JL JL/ jL3£m. .» M j ■ ■BHHMMWHHHH TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY battle ttie v b..this«t'- ome out r ad the all-; ebraska 19-1 nning thee last Apr STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION Candle bearers (above) at Aggie Muster light candles as the names on the roll call are read. Gov. Rick Perry, Class of 1972 (below), spoke at the campus muster. ‘Softly call the Muster...’ Gov. Perry addresses unity through Aggie spirit chance to OSS! lent.' lat even tte; he sea; |y for Kail' have to If atclTTerM I. so we ha" By Emily Peters THE BATTALION Aggie Muster united the Aggie fami ly Sunday to carry on the tradition of honoring fallen Aggie comrades. Gov. Rick Perry, Class of 1972, took a moment to catch his composure before continuing his emotionally-charged Muster speech paying tribute to his fall en Aggie friend who passed away two weeks ago. Perry said that when he was a fresh man, he said George Schriever, his com manding officer, would pound on his door at all hours of the night. “That was my signal to come a running,” he said. “He may have wanted his shoes or his brass shined, or maybe just wanted me to sing him to sleep that night.” Perry and Schriever ended up as co pilots in the United States Air Force. “He lives on forever in the form of the Aggie spirit,” Perry said. “Though these Aggies are no longer here, as we light a candle, we know they are still alive in our hearts.” Campus Muster in Reed Arena hon ored Brazos County Aggies and mem bers of the 50th Anniversary class of 1952, who passed away in the past year. Nearly 11,000 attended the ceremony. Candles lit for each Aggie created a glowing ring of light surrounding See Muster on page 2 Kidnapping a threat to Americans By Melissa McKeon THE BATTALION CNN’s “The Capital Gang” and Thomas Hargrove, whose life inspired the movie Proof of Life starring Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan, spoke at the MSC Wiley Lecture Series Friday night at Rudder Auditorium about American safety abroad. The main discussion was on threats Americans face while living in and vis iting other countries. Hargrove, a 1966 graduate of Texas A&M, was kidnapped by Colombian guerrillas of FARC, the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia, at a roadblock in 1994. He was held hostage for 334 days in the Andes and was released only after his family paid a ransom. Hargrove lost 60 pounds, was kept in chains and locked in a room for days at a time while his wife and profes sional kidnap negotiators bargained for his freedom. He is one of the few victims who will talk about the experience and explain the kidnapping and ransom industry from the inside. Kidnapping is big business in Latin America, Hargrove said, but he said the media rarely reports it. Most of the hostage negotiations are kept secret and families of hostages negotiate with the kidnappers more often than Americans realize. “Kidnapping is seldom reported to the press,” Hargrove said. “If a person is in the media and becomes high profile. See Threat on page 2 Powell: Education eliminates racism i Marcos- loss in i-confer®' ^ into # Baylor to* g 12 o the seasf jainsl T® the B Missouri road hd 1 ' tened s® g at hontP at 7 p®; aturdayT I be pW‘ allparK m By Sarah Darr THE BATTALION Self-education is the easiest way to eliminate racism and fear of the unknown, said Kevin Powell, a former MTV “Real World” participant and now an author and political activist. “Self-education is the best education,” Powell said. “To me, education is what do I know about myself and other people?" Powell’s third book. Keeping it Real, was written in letter form; some written to different people in his life, and the last let ter to everyone. It covered various issues including racism and political activism in America. Powell spoke Friday in the Memorial Student Center. “We still live in a country where there is racism against people who are handicapped in one way or another,” Powell said. Powell said there are many types of activism that one can implement to get their voice heard. “It starts with writing letters to officials and can progress to protesting or boy cotting if you have to,” he said. Powell said it is important to balance staying open-minded with holding on to personal beliefs. “Constantly expanding your horizons will engage people in critical thinking, but it can be a struggle to do sometimes and you may have to expand your value sys tem,” he said. Powell said children need to be educat ed at an early age about all cultures and races, not just their own. “If children do not learn anything about people unlike them and just look to pop cul ture for knowledge, they’ll never respect that group,” Powell said. “Education of this needs to start early.” Powell said his mother is his inspiration in following his passion for reading and writing. After reading his first book by Ernest Hemingway, Powell researched Hemingway’s background and realized what an interesting life authors could lead. He then began to read books from all dif ferent kinds of authors. “Because of my education, I didn’t even know that a black person could be a writer,” Powell said. Powell said reading also allows stu dents to learn as much as possible about their own race and develop strength in their own beliefs. See Education on page 2 Prof says 1990s boom could not have lasted By Elizabeth Kline THE BATTALION The information technology boom of the 1990s could not have lasted forever. Harvard University professor Dr. Dale Jorgenson said Friday at the George Bush Presidential Library Complex. Jorgenson addressed a crowd of economists, professors and stu dents at the New Economy Conference, hosted by the George Bush School of Government and Public Service and the Department of Economics. The goal of the conference was to explore information technology’s impact on economic performance. Jorgenson said the remark able economic growth of the 1990s was a result of the Federal Reserve Board’s allowing the economy to go into an investment boom that drove unemployment down and output up. “The labor force was growing at twice the rate of the population,” See Boom on page 2 A&M squirrel research will continue iBUb COURTESY OF DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES SCIENCES Ten squirrels were trapped and collared with a monitoring system as part of the animal ecology class’ research in the practices of urban squirrels. By Anna Chaloupka THE BATTALION Squirrels running around with tracking collars will becomo a familiar site at Texas A&M, as research on the ecology of fox squirrels in urban settings is expected to continue for at least two more years. Students enrolled in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences’ Animal Ecology 403 course spent the past three months trapping fox squirrels on campus, fit ting them with radio-transmitter collars and tracking them using basic wildlife techniques like radio telemetry and census methodology. They applied classroom principles to the data collected to find information like aver age survival rate, mortality, litter size and range movement, said Dr. Roel Lopez, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station wildlife researcher. “The students liked being able to take classroom lessons and apply them in the field,” he said. “It has enhanced the overall undergraduate experience.” The project began on the main campus in February, and Lopez said the response has been overwhelming and positive. Wayne Buchanan, a junior wildlife and fish eries sciences major, said he liked the project because it did not confine him to the classroom. “I thought it was great,” Buchanan said. “We were able to go outside and do what we will be doing in the future.” Rachel Curless, a senior wildlife and fisheries sciences major, said the project not only gave her field experience, it allowed her to become familiar with radio telemetry and various computer programs that she will use in the workforce. “We gained experience we would not have otherwise,” Curless said. The class trapped 10 squirrels during the research, Lopez said, and from the data, they See Squirrels on page 2 Emission test raises inspection cost Mciut* 1 etfV'i DALLAS (AP) — Motorists in five Texas counties will have to dig a fittle deeper into their pocketbooks next month when a new vehicle emis sion inspection program takes effect. Emissions inspections in Tarrant, Dallas, Denton, Collin and Harris counties will cost $22.50 instead of the current $13. With the $12.50 safe ty inspection fee, total costs will be $35 instead of $25.50. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission says the plan will help Texas cut ozone levels and comply with the Federal Clean Air Act by the 2007 target date. Failure to comply could result in the loss of federal highway funds and restrictions on opening new businesses. Under the new rules, vehicles made in 1996 and after will be subject to an on-board diagnostics test, or OBD, which plugs into vehicles’ computers. Older cars will use the acceleration simulation mode test, or ASM, which uses a treadmill to sim ulate a road test. The current test checks for carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, a smog forming agent. The new test will See Emission on page 2 AggieLife Pg. 3 Kicking the habit Aggies share their struggles with smoking Sports Pg. 7 Aggies fall short against Bears LOW 65° F TUESDAY HIGH 85° F LOW 65° F