The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 02, 2002, Image 1

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THE BATTALION
Volume 109 • Issue 24 • 10 pages
www.thebatt.coni
Wednesday, October 2, 2002
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Junior civil engineering major and black belt fighter on the Texas
A&M Judo Team Roy Camiato throws junior international business
major and black belt Judo fighter Alex Arredondo during a practice
RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION
in G. Rollie White. The A&M Judo team won the state championships
for the past ten years and has been top five in the national champi
onship as well.
Search goes on
Officials expected to announce
candidates for new Provost, VP
By Lauren Smith
THE BATTALION
The Search Advisory
Committee for the Executive
Vice President and Provost
will hold its second meeting
today to start identifying can
didates.
University President Dr.
Robert M. Gates attended the
first committee meeting on
Sept. 12 to give the group its
charge.
“Dr. Gates has asked the
committee to conduct a nation
al search, review candidates,
and provide a short list of the
committee’s recommendations
to him for consideration,” said
Dr. Herbert Richardson, asso
ciate vice chancellor of engi
neering and search commitee
head.
The University needed a
seasoned administrator with
experience in leading at the
department head and dean lev
els, Richardson said.
The committee announced
the qualifications for the posi
tion, which include an earned
doctorate degree in the candi
date’s field of study and the
highest standards of personal
and professional integrity and
ethics.
“Dr. Gates also indicated
his intent that the incumbent
oversee all. University func
tions and serve in effect as his
deputy,” Richardson said.
Following Dr. Gates’ com
ments, the committee dis
cussed drafts of advertising,
the position description and a
flyer that will be used in con
tacting candidates, Richardson
said.
The committee encourages
nominations and applications
from University faculty and
staff.
Following the first meeting,
the committee set a target
appointment date for Feb. 1,
2003; however, the search will
continue until the position is
filled.
The process for seeking
additional candidates will be
specifically discussed at
today’s meeting.
capons inspection agreement may be reached
VIENNA. Austria (AP) — U.N.
[inspectors reached agreement with the
> Tuesday on logistics for a new
mission to reassess Saddam Hussein’s
j arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.
flraq said it expected an advance party in
[Baghdad in two weeks.
The Iraqi representatives said “that
jthey accept all the rights of inspections
llhat are laid down" in previous U.N. res-
jolutions. said Hans Blix, the chief
Inspector.
The negotiations resulted in “assur
ances from the Iraqis that we will have
unconditional access to all sites.” except
|lie so-called presidential sites, said
lohamed ElBaradei, director general of
pne Vienna-based Atomic Energy
Agency, the site of the talks.
That apparently was an Iraqi conces-
pon, in that Baghdad had put a number
P other sites off limits to surprise visits.
Including the headquarters of the
epublic Guard and Defense Ministry.
I The United States demands that all
[ ltes b e °P e n to surprise inspections and
yants the United Nations to adopt a
Jl ews inspections resolution outlining
I at stance as well as the threat of mili-
| ar y action if Saddam does not comply.
The Iraqi chief negotiator, Gen. Amir
A1 Sadi, said the issue of surprise
inspections of Saddam’s palaces and
other presidential sites was “not a sub
ject on the agenda.”
“Quite honestly I don’t understand
why it is so critical,” A1 Sadi said.
Immediately after the Vienna agree
ment was announced, the State
Department said any inspections should
be deferred until a new resolution out
lining the mission is approved by the
U.N. Security Council. However,
spokesman Richard Boucher said the
Bush administration had no objection to
inspectors making arrangements in
advance.
As promised, the Iraqis handed over
four CDs containing a backlog of moni
toring reports for suspect sites and
items, spanning June 1998 to July 2002,
Blix said. Although that information was
not yet analyzed, it would provide
important clues about Iraqi weapons
activity, he said.
Blix was asked if the results of the
two-day meeting were a rebuff to the
United States and its close British ally.
The chief inspector said he would
not be so “presumptuous,” as to
rebuff anyone and that he would
report in “all humility” to the
Security Council Thursday.
Blix further said restriction on access
to the eight so-called presidential sites
— encompassing about 12 square miles
— remained in effect.
The restriction on inspecting presi
dential sites would have to be lifted by
the Security Council, something U.N.
representatives in Vienna had empha
sized throughout the two days of talks.
Blix said the Iraqis were serious
about allowing the return of his team,
saying: “There is a willingness to accept
inspections that has not existed before.”
Before the inspections resume, the
Americans are. expected to push the
Security Council for a new resolution to
include the threat of military action if
inspections fail. But Russia, China and
France oppose issuing threats before
inspectors can test Iraq’s sincerity.
French Foreign Minister Dominique
de Villepin said Monday that France was
still interested in a first resolution
demanding a return to inspections, fol
lowed by a second resolution threaten
ing military action if Iraq fails to com
ply.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair
issued a strong statement Tuesday back
ing the United States.
“Let us lay down the ultimatum.
Let Saddam comply with the will of
the U.N.,” Blair said in a tough speech
to a convention of his governing Labor
Party.
“If we lose our collective will to deal
with it. we will lose the authority not of
the United States or of Britain, but of the
United Nations,” Blair said.
At a regular weekly Cabinet meeting
led by Saddam in Baghdad, senior Iraqi
officials discussed the American efforts
toward a new resolution.
“If those evil people think that the
war drums that are beating can force
Iraq to give up its national rights, its
rights according to the U.N. charter and
to the (past) Security Council resolu
tions, they are under an illusion,” Iraqi
TV quoted the unidentified spokesman
as saying after the meeting.
In Ankara, Turkey, meanwhile, Iraqi
Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said
the delegation in Vienna had been under
instructions to cooperate fully.
“Iraqis will totally assist U.N.
inspectors,” Aziz said. “That way,
those inspectors will be able to fulfill
their mission and uncover the fact that
there are no weapons of mass destruc
tion in Iraq.”
Aziz was in Turkey trying to per
suade Ankara not to take part in any
U.S.-led military action against
Baghdad, as Turkey did in the Gulf War.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said
the full success of Blix’s mission
would await Security Council comes
up with new guidance or additional
resolutions that might require him to
modify his plan.
“I’m pleased that he is in that state
of readiness and we'll have to see how
things develop over the next couple of
weeks with respect to a resolution
with new requirements,” Powell said
in a television interview with PBS
Monday night.
Nearly four years ago, inspectors
withdrew from Iraq on the eve of
U.S.-British airstrikes amid allega
tions that Baghdad was not cooperat
ing with the teams.
By the end of the 1991 Gulf War,
IAEA assessments indicated Saddam
was six months away from building an
atomic bomb. Inspectors discovered the
oil-rich nation had imported thousands
of pounds of uranium, some of which
was already refined for weapons use,
and had considered two types of nuclear
delivery systems.
qual access to tax dollars needed Hurricane Lili gains strength
for equal education, Sen. Ogden says
By Eric Ambrose
THE BATTALION
quality in education for students can be ensured
L|P rov ' din 8 all students with equal access to tax
L a !?’ sa * ( l State Sen. Steve Ogden (R), co-chair-
; H n ort he legislature’s Joint Interim Committee on
Ration Funding.
tsn sa '^ wa nts to simplify the system,
ItateTn t * le n ? et B°d of finance. The percentage of
L n i* c '§ et going toward public education is drop-
f n | Ogden said.
c 0 °1 districts are relying more on local proper-
j g . ax reve nues and less on income tax revenues,
(he r* u aid ^ ea Bh care costs are “eating us alive.”
j' v r °*‘ e ge Station School System does not quali-
lent r f SUr T* us federal aid because less than 28 per-
f “W ,tS stu dents do not receive free lunches,
that C need to k e more creative with the money
jov e We * lave ’ Ogden said. “The Federal
leK lnni ^ nt clearly discriminates against states that
first n a ■ ^ er sa l es tax instead of income tax. My
Pnan^ 10 ' 1 ^ ' s to '"oaiotain a constitutional public
» eSystem w hich means that all school children
ave access to equal amounts of revenue and
ln ^ar tax systems.”
Ogden
said he believes that all children can learn.
[ntrri(| ),net,mes at different rates. Ogden plans to
jiavs n( CC a k’" that will continue the customary 180
Qavst , 00 h hut will give school boards 15 extra
I In h 0eC r ate c hildren that need more help.
Pcad * • an ’ pnly students that do not meet certain
Purine th Iet l u ' remen ts will have to come to school
| i* 1686 15 days.
§ cn said this will give the schools more flexi
bility in order to help students in need and create a
fair learning environment.
“One of the problems with the current system is
that it doesn’t reward efficiency,” Ogden said. “I
want to work on some sort of program to reward
teachers that do a good job. Also, we need to use
new money to hire new teachers and improve the
teachers that we have.”
Several members of the audience thanked Ogden
for sharing his knowledge and discussing issues
with them.
“Enonnous progress has been made in the last
ten years,” Ogden said. “Texas has become a model
and leader for the nation as far as evaluation and
accountability of its public schools. Fourth-graders
are scoring the highest in the nation and public
school spending has almost doubled in the last ten
years. Spending in College Station is up about 50
percent.”
Ogden represents 110 school districts, 10 percent
of the districts in Texas.
Public Education Spending;
Around $29 billion in Texas
t Spending in College Station is up 511%
• Public school spending has almost
doubled in the last 10 years
• Percentage of state budget devoted
to public education: 43% and dropping
Ogden represents 110 school districts or 10%
of the districts in Texas mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Ruben Deluna • THE BATTALION
Texas (AP) Texas officials
were preparing for what could
become a hurricane with winds
around 115 mph as Lili
churned its way toward the
Gulf Coast, with landfall possi
ble Thursday.
“It’s a little bit early to tell
that but I think areas there in
the northwestern Gulf, say from
Houston to New Orleans,
should be monitoring the
progress of the storm very care
fully,” said Frank Lepore of the
National Hurricane Center.
The Texas Division of
Emergency Management raised
its alert status to Level Two on
Tuesday morning. Only Level
One is a higher state of alert on
the four-level system.
“We move our level of
readiness up according to the
threat to the state,” said Jack
Colley, state coordinator for
emergency management.
A hurricane watch was
declared for the northern U.S.
Gulf Coast in Texas to the
mouth of the Mississippi River
in Louisiana, meaning hurri
cane conditions were possible
within 36 hours. A tropical
storm watch was in effect from
the Mississippi River to
Pascagoula, Miss.
At 7 p.m. CDT Tuesday, the
eye of the storm was 560 miles
southeast of New Orleans,
moving toward the northwest
near 15 mph, a general motion
that was expected to continue
for the next 24 hours, taking
the center farther away from
western Cuba and into the open
Gulf of Mexico.
Maximum sustained winds
were near 105 mph, with high
er gusts, making Lili a
Category Two hurricane on the
Saffir-Simpson scale. Winds
were expected to strengthen
during the next 24 hours.
The scale ranges from
Category One to Category
Five. A Category One hurri
cane has winds from 74 to 95
mph, and a Category Five hur
ricane has winds over 155 mph.
The National Hurricane
Center prediction puts the land
fall of Lili in south Louisiana,
around New Iberia, about
Thursday afternoon.
Lepore noted that the aver
age prediction error is 150
miles on either side of the hur
ricane’s projected path.
“The hurricane is very
much like a pinball being
moved around between the
large bumpers of clockwise and
counterclockwise rotating air,
so it depends in the high and
low pressure systems,” he said.
In Galveston, officials were
Lili now a Category
2 hurricane
Position: 22.7 N, 85.0 W
Sustained winds: 105 mph
Movement: NW 15 mph
Hurricane warning
Hurricane watch
Tropical storm watch
As of 5 p.m. EDI Tuesday
95"
0 200 n
f 0 - 200 kr
' 85"
SOURCES: National Weather i
Service; ESRI
urging residents to prepare fo
a possible evacuation.
Tony Myers, chief operatinj
officer of East Texas Medica
Center in Tyler, said his hospi
tal was sending eight ambu
lances to Beaumont Tuesda 1
night to evacuate nursing homi
and medical facility patients
They will be brought to Tyle
about nqon Wednesday, h<
said.