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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2002)
NftS HE “Amli ' refund vrexok course we caneasi. sc , ent societies^ lc l. s neighbors. 'na, Saudi Aral* an and Turkey. 'Publicized meeiij on Oct. 16-1] contingency pi® ed Crescent Socer, 1 b y Phone. agencies, k ls have beenli to avoid giving6: that war is ii t governments an * try to keep & in Iraq, to led with the lem in. s neighbors, Iran havesigneik 1 al agreements a and caring fa ut in the end,pi® ay force all these countries to oki once again, aide! Sports: Volleyball looks for third straight win • Page 5 Opinion: The importance of domestic issues • Page 9 fr "■r "w* a w ^ jL lF~W~*i A "W' “if" "Tk "TT JL O Jlj JL Jl / m 1 v 31 if volume 109 • Issue 49 • 10 pages www.thebatt.com Wednesday, November 6, 2002 Bryan-College Station receives record rainfall ECORDRAINFALL IN TEXAS MONDAY NOV. 4 Bryan - College Station 4.56 in Austin 3.15 in Victoria Bl.47 in Corpus Cliristl .80 In Rl BI N DKI.UNA • THE BATTALION By Melissa Sullivan THE BATTALION On Monday, Bryan-College Station set a record for the amount of rainfall on a single day in the month of November with 4.56 inch es of rain falling in a 24-hour peri od, according to the National Weather Service in Houston. The previous record for Nov. 4 was 2.08 inches set in 1925. Hugh Walker, deputy city man ager for the City of Bryan said despite the large amounts of rain. no unusual problems were reported. ‘Any time it rains you are going to have waste system control prob lems and drainage concerns for creeks,” Walker said. “Nature is just going to take its course.” Walker said city officials know the areas that need work, and crushed rock or old concrete will be used to solidify the banks of the creeks to prevent erosion. A process called inflow and infiltration, or “I and I,” is a prob lem for residents. Walker said. “As it rains, water flows into pipes and through the manholes and continues to the treatment plants,” he said. “Raw sewage has not increased, it is the rain water.” Marshall Wallace, drainage fore man for the Public Works Department said College Station reported few problems and only one road closing. “We have done a lot of work in the past year trying to improve the drainage system,” Wallace said. “We go around and keep an eye on places like bridge crossings and trees that slow water down.” Wallace said the city does not normally have any major problems unless three to four inches of rain falls in one hour. Walker said the City of Bryan is working on a long-term plan to make further improvements in the drainage system. In addition to the new plan. Walker said, the city is looking at studies to take more precaution in taking care of water flow problems. “This is long term and will not happen tomorrow,” Wallace said. Presidential Library elebrates 5 years 8® Families, Four Presidents.” The exhibit examined the parallels between the Adams and Bush families, the only two families that have father and son presi dents. Currently on display is “Freedom’s Journey,” an exhibit which features a voting machine, “butterfly” ballots and chads from President Bush’s contested 2000 Florida presi dential election victory. In addition, the library has witnessed the recent resurgence of patriotism in the country. Visitor attendance is up about 20 percent from last year, said Brian Blake, museum public relations coordinator. Library officials said they see more emotion in visitors as well. “I think you see them taking a little longer when they look at exhibits like ‘Remembering Sept. 11/” Blake said. “You see them really looking at paintings and the art and the pieces. I think they’re contemplating, taking it in and really feeling the emotion that those pieces bring.” Burchfield said she feels vis iting the museum is comforting to many visitors. “I think when people feel 6pm FF 10% OFF, )W Ary Hair i Products I (Shampoo, CoWllW" 1 9 Gol, HairtW) Expirsi: 1/31/05 1 Rotation nspection| qnment \9. 9J 49. 8S avings 8575 i each Suite D hbangers) on 103 ngement of lotion i 1 visit. By Jeremy Osborne THE BATTALION With the contested election iPresident Bush, the Sept. 1 1 Irrorist attacks and the resur- nce in American patriotism, he George Bush Presidential library Complex has been a fitness to history since its dedi- ition five years ago. 'Being a Presidential Library, ecan bring in amazing things Dm all over the country and orid to this community and pniversity,” said museum curator Patricia Burchfield. 1 The Bush Library was the only venue to host an exhibit featuring the flag that was flying at the World Trade Center on Sept. \ 1,2001. I “When it actually came through the doors you kind of lopped as that Port Authority pliceman carried it in,” lurchfield said. “It sort of gave Jechills because the history of at flag was so current and pastating.” In addition to the terrorist tocks, the Bush Library has ilnessed the election of anoth er President Bush. In July, the library hosted. Fathers and Sons: Two See Library on page 2 Iibrary anniversary celebration L 1 1 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the George Bush I Presidential Library rotunda CaKe and ice cream will he served; balloons will he available for children I There will be trivia games for Rids land adults I Autographed memorabilia from L former President George Bush will m be awarded RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION Professor fights syphilis with Houston leaders By Melissa McKeon THE BATTALION v A T ex as A&M professor is using funds from the Centers for I ,? ase Control (CDC) to use community leaders in Houston and a s to help eliminate syphilis in the United States. 1 esh Chatterjee, a professor of health and kinesiology, is work- on T- ^ anas an(d Dallas counties because they are among the 28 in the United States that accounted for 80 percent ot JJ 8 c ases in recent years. t °se specific area codes had higher rates,” Chatterjee said. nr-f/ 6 tr ying to focus in on specific neighborhoods with higher prQ blem rates.” , e CDC Behavioral Interventions and Research branch has r ed Chatterjee a yearly grant of $299,000 for three years. Jifat • -^ S ‘ s a sexu ally transmitted bacterial disease know as the ^ IIT| itator ’ because it’s symptoms resemble many other diseases can be difficult to diagnose, Chatterjee said. train" 6 Plan is built on the Popular Opinion Leader method, which le]n , and uses well-known and influential community leaders to *2? an ge dangerous sexual behavior in the surrounding area. J o rained community leaders will have conversations with people “Th P | Ces buses, salons, street corners or bars,’ Chatterjee said. II ea , bers already know many people in the community and t icy Thu C tbern to see k out health care.” ' Is approach has worked in HIV prevention, he said, locate- n ‘ ne stat es with the highest syphilis rates, eight weie Aft „ '1 the South - according to the CDC Web site. In some areas, Americ a n s are 30 times more likely to get syphilis than ra ces. said Keith Randall, senior media communications See Syphilis on page 2 Cruising by RANDAL FORD - THE BATTALION Lance Armstrong, the most recent Tour de France winner, goes through cycle tests at the Oran W. Nicks Low Speed Wind Tunnel in College Station. Some of Armstrong's spon sors, Trek and Zipp, are in the process of fine tuning his cycle with the help of the Wind Tunnel Staff. The Wind Tunnel has conducted a variety of tests on his cycle. ELECTION 2002 Boyett projected to defeat student By Sarah Walch THE BATTALION George Boyett, Class of 1957 Justice of the Peace incumbent for Precinct 3, led Texas A&M student Jared Copeland by a margin of 74 to 24 percent with roughly 42 percent of precincts counted at press time Monday night. Qualifications are the most important issue in any election, Boyett said. Boyett, a Republican who has held this position for 14 years, said he has never run against a student before, but feels that any student can get elected if they run for it seriously and first find out about the job. “Students by all means should partici pate in politics here and get involved,” Boyett said. Copeland’s campaign manager Jonathan Kolmetz said he is dedicated to getting a student voice into local government. Local politics are important to students, and a student representative should be elected, Kolmetz said. “(Brazos County) is one of the most Republican counties in Texas,” he said. “We ran a good campaign.” Kolmetz graduated from A&M in August with a degree in political science. Copeland was unavailable for comment. Boyett said he ran unopposed in the two most recent elections. “I still remember the numbers from my first election,” he said. “That’s something you never forget.” Boyett says once the final results are announced, the winner will take office Jan. 1 for a four-year term. Republican Steve Ogden, state senator incumbent for District 5 led with 90 per cent of the vote, according to the prelim inary results. County Judge incumbent and Republican Randy Sims led Democratic challenger Tommy Lyons 62 percent to 36 percent, with Libertarian Cindy M. Arnold receiving 2 percent of the vote, with 4 per cent of the precincts counted. “The indication (of early results) is pos itive for Republicans,” said Debbie Capps, president of the Republican Women of Brazos Valley. “It looks as though the trend will continue.” Republicans sweep statewide elections (AP)—Republicans in President Bush’s home state brushed aside the top of the so- called Dream Team ticket, extending their dominance of state offices Tuesday in a night marish election for Texas Democrats. Gov. Rick Perry easily held off big-spending challenger Tony Sanchez, and John Cornyn defeated Democrat Ron Kirk for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Democrats’ best hope rest ed with former Comptroller John Sharp, who trailed Republican David Dewhurst, 52 percent to 46 percent with about 55 percent of the expect ed total vote counted. Perry and Cornyn both declared themselves winners before a cheering GOP crowd in Austin. Red, white and blue balloons were released and the song “God Bless Texas” was played on a loudspeaker. “It’s time to go to work, go to work for the people, and I need your help,” Perry said. Cornyn followed Perry to the microphone and declared, “I accept with humility the honor of following Phil Gramm in the U.S. Senate.” Sanchez declined to con cede, saying that he still expect ed a close finish — final totals were delayed because of prob lems counting ballots in two of the state’s most populous coun ties, Bexar and Tarrant. But Kirk conceded a short time later. Democrats offered a mul tiracial ticket with a middle-of- the-road platform that provided ■WNB voters the chance to elect Sanchez the state’s first Hispanic governor and make Kirk the first black sent to the Senate from the former Confederate states since Reconstruction. “The state of Texas has never seen a ticket like this,” Kirk said in his concession. “We didn’t get there this time, but I wouldn’t change a thing.” Charles Elliott, longtime political scientist at Texas A&M-Commerce, said Democrats didn’t get the increase in voter registration and turnout that they expected. “Given what the Democrats thought they had put together with the Kirk-Sanchez combi nation, they really did think that was the Dream Team,” Elliott said. Republicans emphasized close ties with Bush, and the message was apparently effec tive, Elliott said. The former governor and Vice President Dick Cheney campaigned and raised funds for the Texas GOP candidates. Tuesday’s results don’t negate the Democrats’ strate gy, which was sound, said political scientist Jerry Polinard of University of Texas-Pan American. “This is a preview of com ing attractions,” he said. “The demographics of the state are clear. If Democrats in 10 years are still getting 60 percent of the Mexican-American vote, See State on page 2