Sports: Texans ready to show their stuff • Page S
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Volume 108 • Issue 178 • 6 pages
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Opinion: United States needs to donate • Page 5
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108 Years Serving Texas A&M University
www.thebatt.com
Monday, August 5, 2002
HAT.~
Students make online registration successful
n By Molly McCullough
THE BATTALION
JH The number of students who
'Shave used the online registration
’[■system to register is higher than
Bever according to Texas A&M’s
r 1 ^ ^ Computing and Information
^^^Services (CIS).
I Associate Director for CIS,
iLarry Malota, reported 72 per-
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cent of seniors, 82 percent of jun
iors, 91 percent of sophomores,
and 97 percent of freshmen have
used online registration to sched
ule classes for this fall.
“The student body has been
really good about believing in
our system,” Malota said.
Reasons students did not take
advantage of the system include
no access to a computer at the
assigned time of registration or
being more comfortable with the
phone system that has been in
place for years, Malota said
However, starting in August
2004, the phone registration
will lose its hardware and soft
ware support by Intervoice/
Bright. The loss of telephone
technology support will force
A&M to make a decision about
continuing the phone registra
tion system.
To make this decision, A&M
will have to review issues sur
rounding assigned online regis
tration times and the availability
of the Internet for students.
“Students with special situa
tions will always have their
department to go to,” Malota
said. “Arrangements will
always be made to handle spe
cial situations.”
Incoming freshmen can now
register for classes online
instead of waiting in line to take
care of this, and an overwhelm
ing amount of freshman have
already taken advantage of it,
Malota said.
“Online registration is so
much easier than the phone sys
tem,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick, a
senior economics major.
“Getting in to the phone system
was so frustrating and some
times took hours.”
Students can also take advan
tage of services such as paying
student fees, checking on hous
ing on- and off-campus.
See Registration on page 2
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Israeli police investigate a bus that was attacked by a suicide bomber Sunday in northern Israel.
Suicide bomber lolls 9 in Israel
JERUSALEM (AP) — A
Palestinian suicide bomber blew up
a bus in northern Israel during the
morning rush hour Sunday, killing
himself and nine passengers on a
day punctuated by violence from the
rolling hills of the Galilee to
Jerusalem’s Old City to the
Mediterranean beach front.
Hamas claimed responsibility for
the bus bombing, which left charred
remains — including a child’s draw-
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ing of two hearts in crayon — across
a highway. The attack, at the Meron
Junction near the town of Tsfat, was
the militant group’s second deadly
bombing in five days.
Altogether, two bombings and
three shootings Sunday left 14 peo
ple dead and dozens wounded.
Among the dead were three
Palestinian militants who died carry
ing out — or preparing to carry out
— the violence, Israeli officials said.
The bloodshed continued after
midnight. Palestinians opened fire
on a car in the West Bank, killing an
Israeli couple and wounding two of
their children, the military said. The
ambush took place on the main road
through the West Bank, between
Ramallah and Nablus.
Israel’s military clampdown on
the West Bank has kept many
Palestinians confined to their homes
for most of the past six weeks, but
militants continue to elude the
troops to carry out attacks.
“People lucky enough not to face
the ugly face of terror can have a
much more relaxed opinion about
it,” said Israeli Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres. “If you live through
a day like today, in this country, you
can understand our determination.”
President Bush said he was “dis
tressed” to learn of the bus bomb
ing. “There are a few killers who
want to stop the peace process,”
Bush said as he began a daybreak
golf game with his father in
Kennebunkport, Maine.
The Israeli government said
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat,
who turned 73 on Sunday, bore ulti
mate responsibility for not reining in
militants during the 22 months of
Mideast fighting.
“This Palestinian terror must be
uprooted and Israel will not relent,”
said David Baker, an official Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon’s office.
The Palestinian leadership con
demned the bombing, but also
accused Sharon of “war crimes” for
the Israeli army’s mass detentions,
home demolitions and curfews
imposed on Palestinians.
Israeli officials had said high-
level talks between Sharon and
Palestinian Cabinet ministers could
be expected later this week, but it
was unclear whether the meetings
would go ahead as planned after
Sunday’s attacks.
Hamas said the bus bombing was
the second retaliatory strike for
Israel’s July 22 air strike that killed a
senior Hamas leader, Salah
Shehadeh, and 14 others in Gaza City.
Hamas also carried out a
Wednesday bombing at Jerusalem’s
Hebrew University that killed seven,
including five Americans.
Utilities offer new
payment system
By Ruth Ihde
THE BATTALION
The College Station Utilities System
has implemented a new online payment
option, called e-pay, and an automated
phone payment option for residents.
Residents can access the online
option by going to the city’s Web site
and clicking on the “e-pay” link. From
the Web site, residents can receive
information about the College Station
utility company, download their
account history, their current bill, and
remaining balance.
Citizens of College Station will
also be able to connect and disconnect
utility services, and check dates their
meters will be checked, all by using
their account number to access the
system.
Bruce Albright, College Station
Utilities office manager said when a
person pays his or her bill with the e-
pay system, the payment is posted 24
to 36 hours after the transaction and
there is special software that does not
allow the person to pay the amount on
the bill twice with the same credit card.
Albright said last session. Congress
passed a bill enabling credit card pay
ments to be made online, and the com
pany chosen for the Web site’s credit
card company is Payment Processing
Incorporated.
Visa, Mastercard, and Discover are
the accepted credit cards right now and
College Station Utilities is working on
getting American Express on the site as
well, said Kathy Stark, customer serv
ice supervisor for College Station
Utilities.
Any check card with those logos
will be accepted as well. Once a person
See Utilities on page 2
A&M professor studies
Lambert ice glacier
By Lecia Baker
THE BATTALION
Modern technology is enabling a
Texas A&M professor to study the
Lambert glacier in Antarctica from his
College Station office.
Hongxing Liu, a geography profes
sor in the college of geosciences at
Texas A&M University, and Kenneth
Jezek of Ohio State University, will be
spending the next three years analyz
ing, through computer programs, the
thickness of the Lambert ice sheet and
its speed and balance as it moves
toward the sea.
In addition, they will study possible
effects the world climate might have on
such glaciers.
The Lambert glacier, the largest
such ice mass in the world, is so cold
and remote it will not support a scien
tific outpost. Remote sensing satellites
will provide researchers with informa
tion allowing them to search for clues
to help predict global climate change.
“With the ability to fly unimpeded
by the harsh climate, to peer through
clouds and to observe day and night,
satellite-borne microwave instruments
can provide large scale coverage of
the Antarctic ice sheet at very high
resolution,” Liu said.
Liu and Jezek will be analyzing
computer data generated by three dif
ferent satellite missions. Two mis
sions, provided by the Canadian
Radarsat satellite, offered complete
coverage of the entire Antarctic conti
nent for a 30-day period in 1997 and
three months in 2000.
The third mission was collected on
the recently-launched NASA Terra
satellite and yields clear topographic
resolution. This data can be manipulat
ed to produce maps composing geo
graphical information.
Liu and Jezek will use sophisticated
data to create a digital elevation model
and ice velocity maps of the area.
They will also use data providing
full coverage of the glacier to determine
the speed and direction of the Lambert
glacier’s movement.
By combining findings from research
on the glacier’s motion and land surface
with readings from radar echo soundings
of underlying bedrock, the thickness of
any given point on the glacier can be
more accurately estimated.
Once all physical information of the
glacier is analyzed, it can be integrated
to address the glacier’s role in changing
climates.
See Glacier on page 2
Test preparation courses becoming popular among students
By Melissa McKeon
THE BATTALION
Review courses like those offered by The
rinceton Review are becoming increasingly
Popular among college students to further
Sec 'ure their admission into law school, med-
•cal sc h o °i or graduate school.
These test preparation programs allow flex-
1 'oty to accommodate busy schedules, guar-
an tee results and attempt to help students
ac hieve their best possible scores so they can
8 et into the schools of their choice, said
onnifer Sloan, assistant director
n nceton Review in College Station.
Sloan said students can benefit
r °rn such courses.
^ Ur average score increase is 8 points on
e MCAT, 92 points on the GMAT, 212
LSA tS -° n the GRE ’ and 8 P oints on thC
At, ’ Sloan said. “And if any students does
ot get the score they want, they can re-take
,he class for free.”
of The
greatly
Most courses offer a combination of class
room instruction and online tools to help stu
dents maximize test scores.
Many students are drawn to review courses
like these because of the small class sizes.
They guarantee no more than eight stu
dents in GRE. GMAT, or LSAT classes and no
more than 12 in SAT or ACT classes, Sloan
said.
“Classes are small and oriented towards the
student,” Sloan said. “There is also unlimited
outside help from the instructors.”
Classes are grouped by ability level, so
course work will progress at a pace that is
comfortable for each student.
While prep courses for challenging tests
like the MCAT can cost students $2,099, Sloan
said payment plans are available.
All instructors that teach review courses
have met rigorous standards in screening,
hiring and training. They are all experts on
the courses they teach and have achieved
scores in the top five percentile in the nation.
They are also required to consistently earn
high ratings on student evaluations.
“You have to see how students evaluate
you,” said Kate Barron, an instructor at The
Princeton Review Test Prep. “You have to
make exceptional marks in front of the
classroom.”
Among other strategies, the instructors
teach students how to beat the tests based on
how they are designed, Barron said.
Review courses also frequently update
course material to reflect any recent changes
to the tests, so students have current and reli
able material.
Senior animal science major, Jennifer
Jones, is currently attending an LSAT review
course and said it has helped her prepare for
the tests.
“The class has been extremely beneficial
to me,” Jones said. “I’m building confidence
and learning skills I wouldn’t on my own. I
would definitely recommend prep classes for
anyone that wants to gain an edge.”
ADVANTAGES TO REVIEW COURSES
• Point Increase
On average:
8 points on MCAT
92 points on GMAT
212 points on GRE
8 points on LSAT
• Smalt Class Sizes
No more than 8 people in GRE,
GMAT, LSAT
No more than 12 people in SAT
or ACT
MANDY ROUQUETTE • THE BATTALION