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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 2002)
Aggielife: Indie bands in College Station • Page 3 Opinion: USA ready for woman president?* Page 7 108 Years Serving Texas A&M University Volume 108 • Issue 148 • 8 pages www.thebatt.com Tuesday, June 11, 2002 Second commandant candidate speaks at forum By Jessi Watkins THE BATTALION Lt. Gen. Ronald House, Class of 1967, one of two candidates for 38th Commandant of the Corps of Cadets and head of the Department of Military Sciences, said the next commandant will lead the Corps through a time of change. “For the Corps to remain relevant to the state and nation it will have to change,” House said Monday afternoon in an open forum at the Forsyth Gallery. House said he plans to continue the good relations between the commandant and cadets developed while Gen. Maj. M.T. Hopgood served as the 37th Commandant for six years. “Knowing Ted Hopgood, 1 would have to assume there is a good relationship right now” House said. “Assuming that, 1 would just want to sustain it.” House said he is a strong team player and team builder. “My strength has always been team play. The commandant may be the quarter back of the field, but it is only going to work if we work together.” House said he believes changing an organization as bound in traditions as the Corps requires an ample amount of com munication and contingency. “Do we lead the change or do we get changed, and I think most people would prefer to lead the change,” House said. “When 1 talk about change I don’t think I'm talking about revolution. I’m talking about evolution.” He said an increased racial, ethnic and gender diversity is an adjustment the Corps needs to make in the corning years. “I know their strength is diversity, and if organizations are going to thrive in the 21st century, they are going to need to have that strength you get from diversity” House said. “The Corps will be stronger with increased diversity. This university is almost 50 percent women. In that environ ment an organization is going to need to have as many women as possible.” House also said the Corps cannot isolate itself from the rest of the University. “The Corps has to be part of a team,” House said. “It cannot be insularly. The Corps is critical to the University but it is just a part of the University, and it needs to look for ways to integrate with the University.” House and Lt. Gen Van Alstyne, Class of 1966, are the two final candidates cho sen by the commandant selection commit tee, chaired by Dr. J. Malon Southerland. Southerland and the selection commit tee hope to appoint one of these candidates as the 38th Commandant of the Corps by the end of this summer. JOSHUA HOBSON • THE BATTALION Lt. Gen. Randolph House, candidate for commandant of the Corps of Cadets, speaks during an open forum at Forsyth Galleries on Monday. Staring into the sun RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION Don Corona, director of the Astronomy teaching Observatory, aligns a high powered telescope up to the sun for his students to see Monday night's rare annular solar eclipse. The Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes are usually only used for nighttime viewing, but with a mirrored solar filter the Physics 307 students were able to view the moon eclipsing the sun. The next solar eclipse will not be until 2005. Terrorism forum examines policy By Courtney McDonald THE BATTALION Young, old and former Aggies attended the first of three forums on National Issues of Terrorism at the George Bush Library and Museum Monday night to partic ipate in a discussion surrounding topics on terrorism and the approach America should take to answer problems of national security. Suggestions to combat ter rorism and raise national secu rity ranged from full scale mil itary action to rethinking the way Americans interact with foreign nations. The discussion was moderat ed by Taylor Willingham and Conor Seyle, while both affiliat ed with the National Issues Forums, who acquaint them selves with the title of being a citizen of America. The “public conversation,” coined by Willingham, included discussion on three possible actions America could take in regards to terrorism. The purpose of the delibera tive group discussion was to encourage “citizen to citizen conversation so as to strengthen democracy (in America),” Willingham said. Approach one was the “Sword of All-Out War.” This opinion addressed the impor tance of the United States to use the military in any means neces sary to search out and destroy the parties responsible for ter rorist actions. The major consequences encountered when following this view would be extreme military costs. Also, the possible reper cussions of warring nations would be a major global conflict. To support the military actions even more, opinions of reinstating the draft encouraged nods'ttnd comments of approval by many of the participants. The second approach was the “Shield of Homeland Security.” This concept dealt with the option of changes within the United States involving heightened secu rity measures and the possibility of having national identification. Personal inconvenience was an issue in this area of discus sion. The line that defines free dom and inconvenience was dis cussed between the participants. Having no more pocket knives and fingernail clippers in travel bags was one thing to the participants, but there was a dis agreement of opinion about hav ing to register all firearms. The last approach to terror ism dealt with the “Battle for See Terrorism on page 2 Class of 2002 to renovate Spence Park By Ruth Ihde THE BATTALION After much deliberation, the Class of 2002 Gift Committee decided to use the funds it raised throughout its four years at Texas A&M to renovate Spence Park, hop ing to make it a safer and better place to enjoy outdoor activities. Spence Park, located south of the Koldus Building and across the. street from Kyle Field, is a well known area for joggers and bikers. It provides a place for students to rest after a day of classes and is a popular place for picnics, especially during the foot ball season. Through T-shirt sales. Elephant Walk, Ring Dance ticket sales, and other class fundraising efforts over the last four years, the Class of 2002 will completely fund this project with an estimated budget of $75,000, including the $7,500 endowment for ongoing maintenance and future repairs to Spence Park, said Bridger Roy, 2002 Class Gift Committee chair and a senior telecommunications engineering technolo gy major. The gift will include needed repairs to the jogging and walking trail and additional lighting around the park and trail. There are also plans to build a new 25 square foot pavilion complete with electrical outlets and a new swing set, Roy added. The process of renovating will take around two months, he said, but it will take addition al time to work through a bidding process to hire a company to build the pavilion. Roy said within the last two weeks, the Board of Regents had approved the project and is ready to start the bidding process. See Renovate on page 2 Spence Park renovations $75,600 University endowment 57,500 Bonfire memorial donation $25,000 mmwmmmtwMmsmmmnnmmmmm TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION American arrested in “dirty bomb” plot * Jose Padilla, 31, also known as WASHINGTON (AP) — The gov ernment on Monday announced the arrest of an American accused of plot ting with al-Qaida terrorists to deto nate a “dirty bomb” to spread radioactive material, possibly target ing Washington. Authorities said the alleged scheme, involving a former gang member from Chicago who was raised Catholic but converted to Islam, went only as far as the planning stages. Undersecretary of State John Bolton indicated the man was carrying plans for the attack when he was picked up in Chicago. Abdullah al Muhajir, was arrested on May 8 as he flew from Pakistan via Zurich, Switzerland, to O’Hare International Airport. Officials said the CIA and FBI had helped foil the alleged plan, and FBI agents were waking for Padilla as his plane arrived at the gate. Authorities said they believed he had returned to conduct reconnaissance for al-Qaida. President Bush said, “We have a man detained who is a threat to the country and that thanks to the vigilance See Dirty Bomb on page 2 Vet lab joins Homeland Security network By Lauren Bauml THE BATTALION The Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) at Texjas A&M, will soon join a newly formed national network, funded by the Office of Homeland Security. The program will assist in the identifi cation and response to outbreaks of foreign disease and possible threats of bioterrorism within the animal and agriculture industries. The National Network of Diagnostic Laboratories for Animal Disease Monitoring and Diagnosis, overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), will set up five animal and five plant core diagnostic labs nationally, one being in College Station. Each core lab, and the addi tional six satellite animal diagnostic labs, will be strategically located throughout the United States. Dr. Lelve Gayle, director of TVMDL, feels this joint status with the Homeland Security Network will give TVMDL, as well as A&M, the national visibility they both need and deserve. He also feels the additional core and satellite labs are very important because of a threat of accidental introduction of disease in the United States. “This program will allow for rapid detection and response to outbreaks the Federal Government alone does not have the capacity to deal with,” he said. The TVMDL seems like a viable choice due to its current position as the largest and most productive veterinary diagnostic lab in the world. It receives 160,000 requests annually from Texas animal industries asking for assistance in the diagnosis of animal disease, Gayle said. The TVMDL will receive approxi mately $2 million for two years, with an option for a third year, to serve as the core lab for Texas. The funding is supported by a $328 million budget allocated by President George W. Bush and Congress earlier in the year to strengthen the USDA’s homeland security in response to any possible See Network on page 2