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Sports: Aggies looking for payback • Page 5
OPINION: Administrators make too much money • Page 11
'TTY
I. ri
Volume 109 • Issue 26 • 12 pages
www.thebatt.com
Friday, October 4, 2002
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Gates officially installed
JP BEATO III • THE BATTALION
Former President George Bush and Texas A&M President Robert M. Gates march to
Rudder Auditorium before Gates' presidential inauguration Thursday. The ceremoni
al march began in front of Cushing Library and ended at Rudder Auditorium.
Faculty, administration celebrate
convocation, inaugurate Gates
JP BEATO III • THE BATTALION
President Robert M. Gates gives the pres
idential address in Rudder Auditorium at
the 2002 Academic Convocation.
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
Dr. Robert M.Gates said his highest pri
ority as president of Texas A&M is to make
significant progress towards achieving the
imperatives of Vision 2020.
Gates was officially installed as the 22nd
President of A&M Thursday at the Academic
Convocation in Rudder Auditorium.
“There are many obstacles in our path,”
Gates said. “But there have always been
tough challenges for Texas A&M and they
have always been overcome. They have been
overcome because of the Aggie Spirit, it is
what makes this University truly unique.”
Gates said all universities need to empha
size the negative consequences of lying,
stealing and cheating to graduating students.
For A&M. this emphasis is consistent
with past traditions, spirit and the Aggie
Code of Honor, which must be made the
core value of the University, Gates said.
“It is a tradition we must strengthen and
is a fire we must rekindle in our own
hearts,” he said.
Former President George Bush spoke
highly of Gates, with whom he worked
when Gates was director of the Central
Intelligence Agency in the early 1990s.
Bush said he was proud to call him a friend.
“Today Dean Gates officially becomes
President Gates as he becomes the 22nd
individual to lead what I am absolutely,
totally convinced is one of the greatest
institutes of higher learning in the entire
world,” Bush said.
Bush said the campus will see Gates as
a man of great skill and integrity who can
be counted on to do the right thing when it
matters most.
“You have the right man in the right job
at the right moment in this school's hal
lowed history,” Bush said. “The best days
for this institution are still ahead of us.”
Faculty Senate Speaker and accounting
professor Robert Strawser said A&M’s facil
ities are among the best and the University is
actively pursuing a vision of excellence.
“With the leadership of Bob Gates 1
am confident that we will succeed,”
Strawser said.
Strawser said he thinks of Gates as a
partner and colleague although his title is
president.
“Bob has described himself as an agent
of change, that is not entirely true. Bob is
change,” he said.
Chancellor of the Texas A&M System
Howard D. Graves presented Gates with
the presidential medallion.
See Convocation on pagt? 2
Jones elected freshman class president
ALISSA HOLLIMON • THE BATTALION
Venton C. Jones, a freshman biomedical science major, is congratu
lated after learning he is the new freshman class president.
By Sarah Walch
THE BATTALION
Venton C. Jones won the
office of freshman class presi
dent in a landslide victory
Thursday night.
Jones, a biomedical sciences
Major, garnered 55 percent of
the vote, or 189 votes. Jones
was ecstatic after the winners
were announced.
“What’s important more
than anything is that I represent
My class,” Jones said.
Communicating with upper
classmen, the administration
and the community around me
) s going to be a big part of my
job now, but I always want to
stay in tune with my class.”
The offices of vice presi
dent, social secretary and histo
rian will be decided in a run-off
election on Wednesday, Oct. 9
and Thursday, Oct. 10. Students
can vote at on-campus polling
s,tes and online at
v ote.tamu.edu. In these three
e ections, no candidate received
a majority of the vote. Results
. 1 Be announced Thursday
Mght at 10 p.m. at the Sul Ross
statue in the Academic Plaza.
Cinnamon Hodges and Ben
Steed are the remaining candi
dates competing for the office
of vice president.
Hodges, a history major,
received 46 percent of the vote,
or 261 votes. Steed, a general
studies major, received 22 per
cent of the vote, or 127 votes.
Hodges said she envisions
herself as a dedicated leader on
a new adventure if she wins.
“This is a fresh start for our
class,” she said. “We're all in it
together.”
Until the elections next
week, Hodges said she intends
to continue campaigning 100
percent.
Steed said if he gains
office, uniting the class will be
a primary goal.
“I want to learn what’s
expected and fulfill that role,’
Steed said. “Marketing will be
an important aspect. I’m ready
to get involved.”
Steed said he plans to switch
the focus of his campaign in the
next week and design new flyers.
“I’m going to campaign the
hell,” he said.
Melodic Jordan, a journalism
major, and Joey Boggs, a gener
al studies major, are running for
the office of historian. Joshua
Wagner, a general studies major,
and Lear Bowling, also a gener
al studies major, will be compet
ing for social secretary.
Jimmy Miller, a business
major, is the new freshman
class treasurer. Miller said he
will be busy during the next
year making sure class money
is spent wisely and that the
class views are heard.
“The election was pretty
See Elections on page 2
Lili downgraded, Texas Task Force returns home
Lili makes landfall
Hurricane Lili weakened off shore early
hursday before .hitting the Louisiana
coast with 100 mph winds and heavy rains.
TEXAS C 2 ARK.
Tropical storm _ — ~~
force winds, up LA.
to 73 mph.
^Hurricane force,
winds, 74 mp
and abov
Lafayette
WP r i || liii | i ;
Current as of 5 p.m. EOT Thursday
Memphis
Scale varies
with perspective
S °URCES: Associated Press; NOAA; USGS
AP
By Jeremy Osborne
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M Galveston stu
dents and members of Texas
Task Force 1 (TX-TF1) will be
returning home after Tropical
Storm Lili’s landfall in
Louisiana left the Texas coast
out of harm’s way on Thursday.
Lili was downgraded from a
Category 4 hurricane with 140
mile-per-hour winds to a
Category 2, with 92 mph
winds, shortly before hitting
the Louisiana coast at Marsh
Island Thursday morning. As
the storm moved further inland
throughout the day, it lost
power and speed and was
expected to dwindle down to a
39 mph tropical storm by
Friday morning.
The TX-TFl’s Flood
Rescue Strike Team, part of
A&M’s Texas Engineering
Extension Service (TEEX),
was dispatched to sites at
Houston and Beaumont
Wednesday in anticipation of
damage from the storm reach
ing into Texas.
But Thursday afternoon.
Gov. Rick Perry ordered the
task force and other assembled
rescue crews to stand down.
Louisiana’s state forces will
not need extra help, said
Marilyn Martell, TEEX
spokeswoman.
Nine students arrived in
College Station Wednesday
evening. Classes at Galveston
will not resume until Monday
at 8 a.m. The students are not
attending classes and have no
duties during their stay in
College Station, said Kate
See Lili on page 2
American values
threaten Islam,
policy analyst says
By Sarah Szuminski
THE BATTALION
Many Islamic critics of the
United States believe that
AmeYica prospers at the expense
of citizens of other countries,
said Dinesh D’Souza, former
White House domestic policy
analyst.
D’Souza, who worked under
former President Ronald
Reagan, spoke at Blinn College
Thursday night on perceptions
of the United States in a speech,
“Why They Hate Us: America
and Its Enemies.”
“Other countries and cultures
benefit from and appreciate
some of America’s develop
ments such as technology and
economic solutions,” D’Souza
said. “But they reject other
aspects, especially American
society and morals,” he said.
One Islamic view is that
characteristics of America can
not be “selectively imported,”
and American society entering
the Islamic world would ruin it,
he said.
“This is a country where we
are the architects of our own
destiny,” D’Souza said. “This, to
me, is the great appeal of
America.”
D’Souza said that many peo
ple immigrate to the United
States in search of a better life
because America provides a
higher standard of living for the
common man. It also provides
citizens with the freedom to
make decisions concerning their
lives, he said.
The American ideal of being
true to yourself, or choosing
your own destiny, is a threaten
ing idea to Islam, D’Souza said.
“A self-directed life says to
the wife or son, ‘you don’t have
to listen to the male head of the
household,”' he said.
Islamic citizens view them
selves as superior because their
culture is based on virtue, and
they believe morality is more
important than freedom, he said.
The problem with this view,
D’Souza said, is that freedom is
necessary for virtue. Without the
freedom to choose a moral way
of life, there is no virtue, he said.
D’Souza pointed to the
example of Islamic women cov
ering their faces not out of mod
esty, but because they are
ordered to.
“Freedom give£ Americans
the liberty to secure the ‘good
life,”’ D’Souza said, “but also
pursue a life that is good.”
Five slain in suburb
of nation’s capital
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Five people were gunned down
one by one in the Washington suburbs in less than 16 hours, and
authorities said Thursday they were looking for a “skilled shoot
er” suspected of felling each victim with a single bullet.
While cautioning that the slayings had not definitely been
linked, police said it was a strong possibility.
“We do have someone that so far has been very accurate in
what they are attempting to do,” Montgomery County Police Chief
Charles Moose said.
More than 24 hours after the murders began, officers called in
on overtime were patrolling the streets of the affluent county as a
state police helicopter flew overhead. Officers were posted at
malls in nearby Rockville, where the city’s afternoon and evening
recreation programs were canceled.
The victims were killed in Maryland suburbs north of the
nation’s capital between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. Thursday.
One was shot as he mowed a lawn, another while cleaning her car
at a gas station, a third outside a post office.
Investigators said they had found no indication the victims were
related or had any conflicts. None appeared to have been robbed.
Police also said race did not appear to be a motive, noting the
victims included two white men, a white woman, a Hispanic
woman and a man from India.
“We’re across the board in genders and ethnic backgrounds,”
police spokeswoman Nancy Demme said. The ages of the victims
ranged from to 25 to 55.
Nearly 150 state troopers and federal authorities, including the
FBI and Secret Service, were involved in the case. Police said they
had no'eyewitnesses, though one
person reported seeing a white
van with two occupants speed
away from one of the slayings.
Police said they were search
ing for a white cargo van with
black lettering, possibly with
damage to the lift in the back.
White vans across the region
were still being pulled over by
authorities Thursday night.
Officers were also collecting
security camera videos from var
ious businesses near the shooting
scenes. Police set up a tip hotline
and offered a reward of up to
$50,000 for information leading
to arrests and indictments.
“The phone lines are full,”
said Capt. Nancy Demme, a
Montgomery County police
spokeswoman.
The shootings occurred in
one of the wealthiest counties
in the nation, with a median
household income of nearly
$71,000. A quarter of all resi
dents are foreign-born.
Police urged residents to
stay calm and asked parents not
to rush to schools to get their
kids. Moose said he would not
impose a curfew.
“To the people who are out
and about, we’re all concerned.
We’re all fearful at this point.
But we must continue with
life,” Moose said.
Shooting spree
Within 16 hours, five people were
shot and killed in public places
in Montgomery County, Md.
Th, .reHo*
MARYLAND Thursday,
-8:37 a.m.
Thursday, Thursday,
7:41a.m. ,8:12 a
* <§)
Montgomery Wed
^ Co. 6:04
Thursday
9:58 a.m.
0 2 mi
o
Detail
SOURCE: Associate Press; ESRI
AP