m
HE
B ATTAL||]
rssaj
electioiis|
e| ectronicvo
Electronic
ltes w ith COBs
ih-tech
equifrj
Louisiana
unties rushccj
uted equipmec}
ting fiasco Ifcjj
mirched the:
vote in Flenl
ant that mad®]
ed more qaidj
)le, analysts fi,
■re majorprohal
could forestall
’004. w]
have higM
nks to a nen i
I law to helps:
ted equipment
ia
; defeated raoi'
ole amputees
President B>
Security.
; GOP in ^
t Democrat
tic Gov. bi
'atives bit: i
the OOP’s S
ivenes in Mi
ults showedf
by incumbes
, for Democit:
its threatened
won the ri#
own a challee
lief of!
ey Graham
trom Thurmo®
mer College 1
ve the SenaK
Aggielife. Lords of the dance • Page 3A Opinion: Diversification or racism • Page 5B
'TUT?
I riii
ATTAT TO
[Volume 109 • issue 50 • 14 pages
www.thebatt.com
Thursday, November 7, 2002
Gates announces ‘full support’ for Slocum
By Dallas Shipp
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M President Dr. Robert M.
3ates said in a statement released
Wednesday that A&M head football
[coach R.C. Slocum has his full support,
[despite the Aggies’ lack of success on
he field this season. Gates said any
[decisions about Slocum’s job would be
nade by the new athletic director, who
Is yet to be named.
“It is my policy that the athletic
jiirector will make decisions with
espect to the programs and the coaches
[under his or her purview,” Gates said.
Slocum, in a statement released
Wednesday evening, said he appreciates
Gates’ support.
“I am proud that our administration
liH
SLOCUM
here at Texas A&M
recognizes that there
are numerous factors
in evaluating a coach
in a college setting,"
Slocum said.
Gates said
all departments on
campus would
be evaluated, includ
ing the Athletic Department.
“During this academic year, at my
direction, Texas A&M University will
review virtually every major program on
campus in tenns of perfonnance, effec
tiveness and potential,” Gates said. “I
intend that all of our athletic programs,
including football, also will be evaluated
expeditiously by the new athletic direc
tor as soon as he or she is hired.”
Slocum, who has struggled to lead
the Aggies to victory this season, is
facing his first losing season as head
coach of the Aggies.
After starting the season ranked
No. 23 in the nation, the Aggies have
fallen out of the rankings and are in
danger of not receiving a bowl bid if
A&M doesn’t pull off a sixth win for
the season. This would be the third
time in Slocum’s 14-year tenure as
head coach and the first time since
1996 for A&M not to go to a bowl.
"We place a high value on the total
development of the young men in our
program. However, make no mistake,
we do value winning and champi
onships and we are not pleased with our
current record," Slocum said.
Earlier this season, Slocum relieved
offensive coordinator Dino Babers
from his play-calling duties in an effort
to give the offense a boost. While the
offense has since improved, Slocum’s
defense has still failed to halt the
offense of the University of Nebraska
and Oklahoma State University.
Slocum said in a media conference
on Monday that he can’t concern him
self with the rumors concerning his
future at A&M.
“You spend your time working on
things you have control over and the
things you can do something about,”
Slocum said. “Everybody to some
extent or another deals with that.”
Despite Slocum’s troubles this year.
Gates says he is behind Slocum’s efforts.
“While our football season to date
has been disappointing, Texas A&M
has a fine head coach,” Gates said.
“Coach Slocum has my full support.”
The search for a new athletic direc
tor received a boost Tuesday. Benton
Cocanougher, chairman of the A&M
search committee told a Houston
See Slocum on page 2A
History lesson
A&M seeks new
energy provider
am
i
#J8y
JP BEATO III • THE BATTALION
After the free cake and ice cream, students from the Willis Presidential Library Complex during a special celebration of
Independent School District got a tour of the George Bush Bush Library's fifth anniversary.
By Lauren Smith
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M University
System has joined hundreds of
thousands of Texas shoppers
seeking new energy providers, a
move which could reflect posi
tively on student’s pocketbooks.
Since electric deregulation
began Jan. 1 in Texas, A&M
has banded with six other uni
versities in the system to find a
better price for their electricity.
In 2001, the Energy Systems
Lab, part of the Texas
Engineering Experiment
Station (TEES), saved taxpay
ers $1.5 million by taking less,
money out of the University’s
pocket, said Dr. Dan Turner,
the lab’s director. Turner said
taxpayers can expect similar
savings in the years to come.
Energy costs, have been ris
ing for years, leaving A&M
departments such as Residence
Life scraping the bottom of the
coffers and turning to student
fees for help. Reed Arena has
also struggled under the weight
of prohibitive energy bills.
Officials hope deregulation will
cure the troubles.
The agencies and companies
in the Electric Reliability
Council of Texas (ERGOT) all
have the chance to save money
with the option to subscribe to
other electricity sources aside
from their local service. Most of
the state of Texas is in the
ERGOT, which covers most of
the major metropolitan areas of
the state, including universities
and agencies within the A&M
system.
“Before deregulation, the
seven universities were divided
into specific areas and billed
respectively. Under that sys
tem, there was no choice for
who provided electricity,” said
Susan Linenschmidt, a
research engineering associate
working on the lab’s project.
“With deregulation, people
have the opportunity to pick
their provider.”
Several companies are bid
ding for a contract with the sys
tem, Linenschmidt said.
“We are going through them
to find out which one meets our
needs best,” Linenschmidt said.
The University contracted
the lab to collect data and send
out proposals for contract’s to
electricity providers.
See Energy on page 2A
onths.
relinquished
>aign last i#
- being re-efc
who retired
*ack
ttrol
Republican party
sweeps Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) —
re sident Bush and his party
avored sweeping midterm
v ' ctor i e s Wednesday
began sketching an agenda
Jii d 1 new ’ Hepublican-con-
n e d Congress. Minority
°use Democrats jockeyed for
sitipn in the event Rep.
ar d Gephardt steps down
Party leader.
I m excited to be able to
Hon ur' 1 offense,” said
^Publican Sen. Trent Lott of
L,i Sl ^PPi’ the once and
re Senate majority leader.
inclnrt ld GOP [ ,nonlics wil1
Cland n r De P arme "' ° f
UrseS ? Securi ty as wel1 ^
eci d ax cuts to help the
jconomy He added that
exno S 'l Uc *' c ' a l nominees could
ex Pft speedier review
n ° P ubIic
aide, • J dunng the da y’ and
givinoTk^ be Wanted to avoid
L a PPearance of gloat-
and m here ’ s . a lot more to do
Ward 6 P res ' dent looks for-
Demn„ t0 working with
doit” 1 ? 1 - 8 and Republicans to
Fischer s P°l <esman ’ Ari
5] ^P ublicans were assured of
s m the new Senate, a
gain of two. Democrats had 48,
including one independent. One
race remained in doubt, in
Louisiana, where Democratic
Sen. Mary Landrieu will face
Republican Suzanne Terrell in a
December runoff.
In the House, Republicans
had 227 seats — a gain of four —
and led for one more. Democrats
won 203, and led for three. There
was one independent.
The elections marked a
remarkable triumph for
Republicans, who bucked histo
ry to gain seats in a midterm
election in which they held the
White House.
Democrats conceded the
obvious. “This was one tough
night,” Senate Democratic
Leader Tom Daschle said on the
morning after, appearing on
NBC’s “Today” show.
And some party activists
grumbled about the party’s lead
ership. “There wasn t any uni
fied message,” said David
Worley, former chairman of the
party in Georgia.
“I think the national leader
ship did a miserable job of giving
a theme to the election.
See Vote on page 2A
Honesty, integrity tops
CEO’s business ethics
By Amy Adams
THE BATTALION
Honesty, trust and integrity are the
essential elements in business ethics
today, said Richard Kovacevich, presi
dent and CEO of Wells Fargo, in a speech
Wednesday night at the George Bush
Presidential Library Complex.
In his speech, “Ethics in Business,”
Kovacevich addressed a crowded room
and posed the question, “What has
caused the epidemic of ethical elapses in
corporate America?”
Greed and theft have always been a
part of human nature, Kovacevich said,
and corporate fraud has always existed,
but the year 2002 seems to have been
hit the hardest.
Kovacevich said the root of the prob
lem lies in the blind adherence to finan
cial rules. Moral questions are turned
into legal technicalities, he said.
Corporate leaders are focusing on
accounting rules rather than applying
principles and policies to their business,
Kovacevich said.
“Rules tell you what to do while prin
ciples tell you how to make ethical deci
sions,” he said. “Rules are complex letters
of the law that are easily manipulated.
Principles are universal over cultures and
are the fundamental spirit of the law.”
See CEO on page 2A
JP BEATO III • THE BATTALION
Richard M. Kovacevich, CEO of Wells Fargo,
spoke at the Program on Ethics at the George
Bush Conference Center on Nov 6, 2002.
Tours highlight Bush Library’s fifth year
By Jeremy Osborne
THE BATTALION
“This is the 41st President of the United
States. You’re too young to remember, but
he was the president during the Gulf War.”
Tour guides leading groups of Boy
Scouts and local elementary students
through the George Bush Presidential
Library and Museum Complex explained
history to children on Wednesday, during
the museum’s 5th anniversary.
The celebrations were small — cake
and ice cream — with the former President
George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush
missing from the scene as they celebrated
their son Jeb’s reelection to the governor
ship of Florida. But for the school children
who w-ere congressmen and lobbyists for
the day, the anniversary was living history.
“It was so important for us to be here
because this is a great marker for this to be
here in College Station,” said 11-year-old
Matthew Hernandez, a door prize winner.
“We’re just celebrating.”
Retired volunteers led the children,
pointing out the original copy of the
Declaration of Independence hanging in
the Changing Exhibit Gallery, the full-
sized plane similar to the one Bush flew in
World War II, Gulf War exhibits and a re
creation of the Camp David office from
which Bush worked when commanding
the troops.
Bob Wilkinson, a retired military man
who was posted at Camp David, leads
tours through the Museum every
Wednesday. Like Bush, he served in World
War II. He sees the Museum as part of the
nation’s memories.
“I enjoy this, it’s fun,” said Wilkinson, a
self-proclaimed expert on Camp David.
In addition to role playing, students and
adults participated in trivia games about the
former President and First Lady for prizes.
Prizes ranged from museum posters to pho
tos autographed by Bush.
More than 800 visitors toured the
museum during the celebration.
“That’s probably a 40 percent increase
over a normal day,” said Brian Blake, muse
um public relations director.
Museum Curator Patricia Burchfield said
visitors can see pieces of America’s past,
and in the five-year duration of the musuem,
exhibits have explored aspects of American
culture ranging from Cold War documents
to a planned display of art from the
American West.
“We consider ourselves an American his
tory museum,” she said.
The anniversary festivities will conclude
on Friday night, when the Bush’s celebrate
the dedication anniversary at a private party.
About 1,400 guests will enjoy dinner, a
salsa band and fireworks.