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Sports: Volleyball team back on track • Page 3A Opinion: New campaign is in poor taste • Page 5B
THE BATTALION
Volume 109 • Issue 40 • 14 pages
www.thebatt.com
Thursday, October 24, 2002
J
Off-campus bonfire will be open to public
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
An off-campus bonfire will be
held at the High Meadow Ranch Golf
Club in Magnolia Nov. 26 and will be
free and open to the public, golf club
officials said.
David Goff, general manager of the
eolf club and Texas A&M Class of
1980, said the event is similar to the
Muster events that take place around
ihe world each April 21.
“We think this might be a solution
to the University’s legal problems, at
least from a former student’s perspec
tive,” Goff said. “It is great to support
and remember what Bonfire meant.”
Goff said the project is an ongoing
effort by former students to keep the
fire burning and remember the tradition
that began in 1909.
Several off-campus bonfires took
place last year, but most were at
undisclosed locations and were not
open to the public.
The golf course held a bonfire last
November that drew a crowd of 600.
Planning began three weeks before the
fire burned, so fewer people knew
about it ahead of time, Goff said.
Other events of the day include the
Aggie Bonfire Golf Classic tourna
ment at noon, a barbecue, the bonfire
burning at 6:30 p.m. and a concert
featuring Dub Miller and Owen
Temple.
The golf course staff and mainte
nance crew will be in charge of build
ing the 30-foot stack, made mostly of
timber from dead trees in the area
which did not survive the summer
drought, Goff said.
“There are so many trees to dispose
of and (building a bonfire) is a good
opportunity to do it.” he said.
Safety issues should not be a prob
lem because of irrigation pipes
throughout the golfing range, Goff said.
Goff hopes most of the funding for
the event will come from the golf
tournament.
A&M officials caution any partici
pation in an off-campus bonfire.
“We continue to discourage any
attempt to build an unauthorized bon
fire, including any effort off campus,”
University spokesman Lane Stephenson
said. “Our paramount concern stems
from safety — the safety of our students
and anyone else who might be
involved.”
Stephenson said A&M officials will
not participate in the golf course’s bon
fire activities.
Goff said he respects the
University’s position, but thinks this is a
See Bonfire on page 2A
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BRIAN RUFF • THE BATTALION
First-year veterinary medicihe student Michael Allen hangs a The haunted house will run Oct. 24-26. Participants can bring
spider at the College of Veterinary Medicine's haunted house, a canned good to receive a dollar off admission.
Jiang to visit A&M
amidst controversy
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
When Chinese President Jiang
Zemin steps up to the podium to
deliver his speech today, he will
be greeted by a carefully selected
crowd of students and donors to
the George Bush Presidential
Library Complex.
But the thousands of demon
strators expected outside the
auditorium to protest Jiang’s
visit underlie the highly contro
versial nature of China’s com
munist regime, which many
human rights activists allege to
be among the world's most bru
tal and repressive.
According to reports from
Amnesty International, an inde
pendent human rights group, and
the U.S. Department of State, the
Chinese government employs
widespread torture and execution
against political dissidents.
Since 1999, the government
has cracked down on Falun
Gong, a religious movement
which teaches meditation and
healthy living. Amnesty esti
mates that tens of thousands of
Falun Gong supporters have
been detained and tortured in
prisons and labor camps, and at
least 500 have died from torture
in custody.
Despite China’s poor human
rights record, University offi
cials say Jiang’s political bag
gage will not blemish A&M.
“Students should have the
opportunity to hear different
points of view, including those
that may be repugnant to many
people,” said Charles Hermann,
associate dean of A&M’s Bush
School of Government and
Public Service.
He said that engagement and
dialogue with Chinese leaders
may, in the long run, improve
the human rights situation in
China. Hermann said the gov
ernment’s free market economic
reforms may eventually trans
late to new political freedoms as
a growing middle class demands
self-governance.
“Rather than in-your-face
protests and boycotts, it might
be better to engage (China),”
Hermann said.
See Jiang on page 2 A
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Polls open for early voting in B-CS
By Amy Adams
the battalion
Brazos County voters are head-
y t0 the polls to cast their votes for
® year’s state and local elections.
Early voting began Monday for
u!l ov - 5 g en eral elections.
The greatest benefit that one
? n receive from voting is the satis-
a ction that your voice has been
? ar d, said Brady Creel, commu-
btions director for College
publicans and graduate student
he department of management.
ree ' sa id he encourages all
. U ents t0 vote, although many •
dioose not to.
“My concern is that students will
pay less attention to these elections
because they occur at midtenn and
they usually tend to have a lower
voter turnout,” he said.
Jonathan Steed, president of
Texas Aggie Democrats, said stu
dents are more unaware of elections
this year than usual. The elections
seem to be overshadowed by other
news, and are not receiving enough
coverage. Steed said. He said about
15 percent of students vote.
“I chose to vote because I
believe that the decisions lawmak
ers make often directly affect me
and 1 want to have a voice in those
decisions,” Steed said. “Voting is
the best way to defend our nation
and make sure its values are
encompassed.”
About 1,000 people voted
Monday and Tuesday, a good pre
dictor of turnout for remaining
early voting days, said Brazos
County Clerk Karen McQueen.
There are 92,659 registered voters
in Brazos County.
“Normally students vote more
heavily in the presidential race,”
McQueen said. “Students may only
be in College Station for a short
time, but they are still a part of the
community, so why not vote and
make your opinion heard.”
Early voting began this week
and runs through Nov. 1.
Bryan polls will be open at the
Brazos County Courthouse on East
26th Street, Arena Hall at Tabor
Road and North Earl Rudder
Freeway and Galilee Baptist
Church on North Logan Street.
In College Station, citizens can
vote at the Memorial Student
Center or the College Station
School District’s central office on
Welsh Avenue.
The polls are now open
Monday through Friday from 8
a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 8
a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 10
a.m. to 3 p.m. The week of Oct. 28
through Nov. 1, polls will be open
from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
On Nov. 5, election day voters
can vote from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Where to vote 3^
Bryan
• Brazos County Courthouse on East 26th Street
• Arena Hall at Tabor Road and
North Earl Rudder Freeway
• Galilee Baptist Church on North Logan Street
H College Station 1
• Memorial Student Center
• College Station School District Central Office
on Welsh Avenue
When to vote 1‘V't
r- This week
• Monday - Friday 8 a.m. -
• Saturday 8 a.m, - 8 p.m.
• Sundav 10 a.m. - 3 P.m.
5 p.m,
H Week of Oct. 28 - Nov. 1
• 8 a.m. - 8 o.m.
M Election dav. Nov, S 1
• 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.
TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION
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Source: Texas Imported Fire Ant Program
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
Scientists conducting experiment to kill fire ants
By Sara Runnels
THE BATTALION
Phorid flies, nature’s enemy to
fire ants, were released in a pasture
area outside Caldwell in an experi
mental attempt to find a solution to
the growing fire ant problem.
“If this release is successful, we
should enjoy phorid flies in our
backyards within the next few
years,” said Dr. Bart Drees, director
of the Texas Imported Fire Ant
Program and Texas Cooperative
Extension entomologist.
Fire ants were first introduced to
the United States from South
America in the 1930s and the popu
lation has since grown to infest more
than 310 million acres in the south.
“The fire ant is a persistent pest,”
said Dr. Charles Barr, extension pro
gram specialist.
With few natural enemies in the
United States, the fire ant has the
opportunity to continue spreading on
its own. Drees said.
Phorid flies are being imported
from South America for experiments
and may eventually become a bio
logical method for controlling the
ant problem, Barr said.
“Our purpose is to eliminate the
ant as a social and economic nui
sance,” he said.
The Texas Imported Fire Ant
Research and Management Project
and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service are working
together to carry out these tests.
“Without using chemicals, we are
taking the biological approach to get
a hold on the fire ant problem,” said
Elizabeth Hickman, extension agent
for fire ants in the Dallas area.
See Experiment on page 6A
Symposium speakers denounce censorship
By Sarah Darr
the BATTALION
Th
jn a t e j= 0vernment has'attempted to censor
alas'* on . tlle Internet, but experts argued
Hi/ m P 0S ' Um ^ ec I nesc Iay that no one rea\-
°ws how to apply laws against obscen-
y f ) 0 online material.
Int er p Spite nnoves to filter content on the
"'hich 61 lndecenc y ^ a personal preference
re gulat° ne . C0Untr y’ s laws can’t effectively
^toelKkJ 1 Intellectual Property Attorney
s ome OW ' n ^ a ser ‘ es °I slides depicting what
ohvists labeled indecent, Kloke said
others would call the same material artistic.
“These monuments are building blocks
of tomorrow,” Kloke said. The decisions
we make today will either inspire future
artists or abolish them.”
A panel of professionals spoke out
against censorship at the symposium, hosted
by the MSC Literary Arts Committee.
Students should be allowed to make their
own decisions about what they want to view,
said Joseph M. Hutchinson, a professor in
the Department of Architecture.
“Students should have the opportunity to
get another mature opinion that is not
parental- or church-guided.”
Hutchinson spoke about the censorship
of art in America, saying there has always
been public criticism about unusual or
expressive art. Artists are supposed to think
about the uncommon to create something
new, Hutchinson said.
“Artists are supposed to be on the cutting
edge, finding new things,” Hutchinson said.
“Their purpose is to make a statement about
the age in which they live, and people may
not like it.”
Hutchinson said culture leads the artist,
and American culture is on its way to
becoming more open to ideas.
“Censorship will be less tolerated as
See Symposium on page 6A
BRIAN RUFF • THE BATTALION
Esquire intellectual property lawyer Daniel C. Kloke (right), Class
of 1991, discusses censorship in today's world at the Censorship
Symposium held Wednesday night at the J. Wayne Stark Galleries.