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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 2002)
Sports. Regular season ends with loss at UT • Page 7 Opinion: Florida's new law too harsh • Page 11 jg]< e in a for obesity, e equivalent ie put on uju !t tho Ritzy viarkably pr^ considering lc * activities® says, ■eve ttiat?So : , two ho tin, that oo'rc cam 6 and disce of being a I studies in A TTP AI -TL JL JL ear to inti® > the body's sa If you've pat ;ing it ear' Volume 109 • Issue 65 • 12 pages www.thebatt.com Monday, December 2, 2002 Students study abroad despite 9-11 concerns By Lecia Baker THE BATTALION The number of Texas A&M itudents interested in study ibroad is the same as in years iast, despite concerns that post- lept. 11 travel warnings and ears would deter student travel, \&M officials say. Students see international ducation as increasingly more mportant, said Brian Lancaster, irogram coordinator of A&M’s itudy Abroad Office. One of the biggest lessons of the terrorist attacks is exactly how much Americans don’t know about foreign cultures, he said. “Although there is much con cern involving international travel and safety following the Sept. 1 1 attacks, there also seems to be a counter-balance taking place as to the impor tance of international relations and cultural intercommunica tion,” Lancaster said. A&M students typically visit European areas, primarily west ern European countries such as Italy, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain, Lancaster said. Mexico, Costa Rica and Australia are close sec onds in popularity, and Asian countries are increasingly becom ing popular, Lancaster said. Students and parents worry about world events, but not enough to drastically impact study abroad and foreign travel for students, said Cathy Schutt, assistant director of the Study Abroad Program Office. “For Texas A&M programs, checks are in place to ensure the safety and security of our stu dents studying abroad,” she said. The primary concerns stu dents face in choosing to study abroad include finding sources of funding, dealing with the length of time they’ll be away from campus and finding the time to fit in a study abroad experience with most students’ rigorous degree plans, Schutt said. See Study on page 2 A&M Student Travel A wli tftc? fr i H ft «7fi Ktt ^ WIWIA SlUWIVVl* WHIT ^ iHflfMHMI CWMtrtot tttcfc 1« France and Spain ♦ Mtnfcft, Costa Rka mi Australia rank tacaad * Asian coiiotrhis ore also becofniaa Source:'A&M’s Study Abroad Officenn TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION s signab i said. If tve the o rr v * stin r eep ’ISM0II{ ties most mei le Allioi-fe isteroffrancf nationals and i already ta 'esligaw-a ingclwd-[ irovidf W V i ;e.WW‘ e nundto® u: in Pans ^1 nergencyland I )ui was W an advanci* It wasn’t me After yell practice in Austin Thursday night before the A&M- up at the capital shouting obscenities, the altercation that UT annual football game, an Aggie fan is asked to leave by followed was broken up by Texas State Troopers. No arrests surrounding police officers. When few hundred fans showed were made. terror® -1 /-* E- Palestinians jump out of car before md na^ ^ 2 Israeli missiles hit near Gaza City Palestine ni an invest 995 into o* /ears ling canf > once ik Algerian P ) attack " icdral duriny tions. ;n on se. ccordin? s, Kbalfc ntacts he ^ JERUSALEM (AP) — rtucsi oar near Gaza City Sunday n escaped an Israeli helicopter missil on their vehicle, blasted into a heap dering metal seconds after they jum witnesses said. The attack was an apparent atl Rill Palestinian militants belonging Islamic Jihad group, Israeli media r The Israeli army would not commei During two years of Palestinia violence, Israel has killed dozens Pected militants in what it calls “ attacks,” claiming that it is preventii strikes. Palestinians charge that the amounts to assassination of their an <J human rights groups call it s locution without judicial process. The two passengers of the IV sedan saw the Israeli helicopters overhead and managed to flee the vehicle before it was hit, witnesses said. “Suddenly I saw a Mercedes driving fast down the road and it was hit by flames com ing from the sky,” said Amina Daalasa 55, who lives nearby. Two missiles hit the car and one missed, hitting the road, Daalasa said. The air strike came after two Palestinians were killed Saturday night as Israeli tanks and troops entered the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya and demolished three homes. One of the Palestinians, a 70-year-old man, unable to leave a home before Israeli bull dozers began toppling it, was buried under the rubble, witnesses said. An army spokesman, Capt. Jacob Dallal, said soldiers routinely call on residents to evacuate buildings and troops search the premises before structures are destroyed. The forces demolished three homes belonging to militants of the Islamic Jihad group who were responsible for attacks that killed 24 Israelis, the army said. One Palestinian bystander who was watching from his balcony was shot dead during an intense exchange of gunfire, Palestinian witnesses said. The army said soldiers shot at and hit armed Palestinians. Security alerts disrupted life in Israel Sunday. Citing warnings of terror attacks, police canceled a soccer game in Jerusalem, then relented and allowed it to be played. Also Sunday, police stopped buses from traveling for several hours on a main road in Israel’s north where suicide bombers have See Bombing on page 2 Football player remembered by hundreds Staff & Wire THE BATTALION EULESS, Texas — Texas A&M University football player Brandon Fails was remembered by hundreds Saturday as a big- hearted player who was quick with a smile and at times seemed too nice to be a defensive lineman. More than 1,600 college and high school teammates, family members and friends gathered for the funeral of the 18-year-old freshman, who died Monday after collapsing while getting ready to go eat breakfast. “He had a love for others that’d just, it’d just embrace you like one of his big ol’ hugs,” Fails’ Colleyville Heritage High School coach Chris Cunningham said, speaking before rows of former teammates wearing Colleyville Heritage jerseys. Texas A&M head football coach R.C. Slocum said Fails was so friendly he had trouble putting on the “meanest of mean” faces A&M linemen like to wear in team pictures. “Brandon had no chance,” Slocum said. “He couldn’t do it.” Fails had that same nice quality as a star at Colleyville Heritage, assistant coach John Furin safd, recalling how Fails would always apologize and offer a hand to each player he tackled. “Brandon was a winner in the game of football. He was a win ner in the game of life,” Furin said. The school said Fails’ No. 89 would be retired. His A&M jersey was laid in his coffin. Preliminary autopsy reports showed Fails died from a blood clot that formed as a result of a leg injury and traveled to his lungs, where it became trapped in arteries and restricted the flow of blood to his lungs. Fails had hurt his right knee in practice and had surgery Oct. 22. He had complained of problems breathing and died about an hour after collapsing. Slocum said Fails had been a likely candidate for A&M’s start ing lineup next fall. “He likely would have started for us next year, and possibly would have been starting right now if not for the knee surgery,” Slocum said. The Aggies honored Fails in Friday’s loss to the archrival University of Texas by wearing stickers with his Aggie No. 89 on their helmets. Texas canceled Monday night’s hex rally, an annual pregame ritual. “Our hearts go out to the family and to the Texas A&M staff and players,” UT head coach Mack Brown said in a statement. “There is nothing anybody can say. We understand their pain.” A starting prospect for next season, the 6-foot-1, 307-pound Fails played only four games this season before being sidelined by his knee injury. In his limited playing time he was in on two tackles against Louisiana Tech. Fails, who grew up in Grapevine, had 36 tackles, five sacks and three forced fumbles in his senior year. He was voted Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year by Associated Press Sports Editors last season and was a first-team All- State selection by the APSE and the Texas Sports Writers Association. Fails is survived by his parents, Charles and Valerie Fails of Euless; a brother, Jodfrey Fails; and sisters Tameka Vaughn, and Kimpell Jerrells. Inited $k |! nb tl> e Ll ' also les. U.N. inspectors start search in Iraq KHAN BANI SA’AD, Iraq (AP) TJ.N. disarmament teams 'Hjectcd a shabby, seldom-used ‘■■■field in corn country north of pghdad on Sunday, a place where ! rac li Aperts engineered devices for embarding an enemy from the air w >th sprays of killer microbes. fne U.N. inspectors checked on f^jProent sealed and tagged by •N’ teams in the 1990s, and pored 0 y^ r P a P er ar| d computer files, the air neld’s director said. But they a PParently found none of the a v anced spray systems, unac- c °umed for since the Gulf War. We showed them everything,” p the director, Montadhar K afeef Mohammed. Hie inspectors, as usual, kept i eir findings confidential, pending ater formal reports. In their first week of inspections, e U.N. monitors paid unannounced ■sits to a dozen Iraqi sites with a fn 1 e v ariety of specialties and links Wea Pons programs in the 1980s. Those ranged from an animal vaccine plant that brewed lethal tox ins for bombs, to an industrial com plex planned to house hundreds of gas centrifuges producing enriched uranium for Iraqi nuclear weapons. In both those cases, and dozens of others, the earlier inspectors destroyed the critical equipment, and put other gear under seal, video surveillance or other forms of con trol. They also destroyed many tons of chemical and biological agents for weapons. That inspection regime col lapsed in 1998, however, as the Baghdad government and U.N. officials clashed over access to Iraqi sites and the alleged presence of U.S. spies in the U.N. operation. Those inspectors believed they never found all of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. The inspections have resumed under a U.N. Security Council mandate for Iraq, 1 1 years after its Gulf War defeat, to finally give up any remaining chemical, biological or nuclear weapons programs, or face “serious consequences.” The United States threatens war against Iraq, with or without U.N. support, if the new inspections don’t strip Baghdad of such weapons. The U.S. threats have touched off anti-war protests worldwide. In the latest round, thousands rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday to demand that their government not assist a U.S. war against their southern neighbor Iraq. “We will not be America’s soldiers!” demon strators chanted. More than 18,000 anti-war pro testers also demonstrated in Australian cities over the weekend. Iraqi-U.S. tensions exploded again Sunday in the no-fly zone declared by Washington in southern Iraq to protect Shiite Muslims. Iraqi officials said three U.S.- British airstrikes left four civilians See Inspections on page 2 Floating classroom provides students marine education By Esther Robards-Forbes THE BATTALION Texas A&M has established a marine education program for Texas school chil dren. Fourth through 12th-graders will learn about coastal systems from the deck of the M/V Karma, a schooner owned by the University. The program is made possible by coop eration between the Texas Sea Grant College Program and the Texas Cooperative Extension. The Marine Advisory Service, which operates the pro gram year round, six days a week, is head quartered in Matagorda. The program was formed to increase awareness about the environmental, ecological and economic factors affecting the Texas coast. “Kids will have the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of how these factors affect their daily lives,” said William Younger of the Texas Cooperative Extension office. The curriculum of the program focuses on many factors affecting the coastal sys tem, including environmental factors such as the biology and ecology of the region and natural resources. Younger said. Geology, hydrology and the natural fea tures of the coast are also discussed. Students aboard the Karma will observe microscopic life forms fresh from the water with microscopes located on the ship. They will also have the opportunity to observe a mud sample taken from the channel floor and hold sea creatures pulled up with nets before throwing them back. The program is open to local students. Middle school and high school students as well groups such as 4-H and scouts have been invited to participate.