Opinion: Losing their civil liberties • Page 9
£olume 109 • Issue 70 *10 pages
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www.thebatt.com
Monday, December 9, 2002
International students undergo visa scrutiny
RIMSONTffi
Head Coa:
iaid Thursds
head coacr
itudents denied visas
The federal government cracked down
on student visas after Sept. 11
FAs a result, hundreds of foreign students
with specialties in math, physics and petroleum
(engineering were kept out of the United States
I this fall
Of the 66 petroleum engineering graduate
students registered for Texas A&M this fall,
22 were not able to attend
Jjurce: The Dallas Morning News, A&M’s Office of Graduate Studies
RAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION
By Sarah Walch
THE BATTALION
International students at
Texas A&M, and those denied a
visa to study here, are feeling the
pressure of the federal govern
ment’s attempts to regulate who
can have access to American
institutions of higher education.
The graduate petroleum engi
neering department at A&M has
turned away 11 Iranian students,
two Indonesians and at least three
Nigerians already admitted to the
program after they encountered
visa problems, said Dr. Thomas
Blasingame, assistant head of
graduate studies in the petroleum
engineering department.
‘Tran is the only Middle
Eastern country whose students
have continued to be a part of
our program,” Blasingame said.
“In the past, these students real
ly have turned out to be very
well attuned to what is going on
with their career. We don’t like
to lose students of their caliber.”
The 11 Iranian students have
since chosen programs in
Australia, Canada and Europe.
Two graduate students in
Blasingame’s department were
also delayed from returning for
at least four and a half months,
although their visas were still
valid. One student from Saudi
Arabia, recently returned, but
another Indonesian student has
still been unable to return,
Blasingame said.
Blasingame said he has one
recommendation for interna
tional graduate students consid
ering returning home before
they receive their degree: don’t
do it.
“Everything is crazy right
now,” he said. “Students are
being rejected outright for visas
with little explanation. Muslim
males are the target, and it’s
been pretty rough.”
A November e-mail notified
University employees that, all
male citizens aged 16 and older
from Afghanistan, Algeria,
See Visas on page 8
Low Hispanic
enrollment
causes concern
By Melissa McKeon
THE BATTALION
I Texas is not increasing college enrollment
among Hispanic students, Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board officials said dur-
Ig Friday’s Texas A&M System Board of
Regents meeting.
I Board chairman Erie Nye said universities are
no! doing their best to increase enrollment.
Businesses and communities must get involved
jy donating and raising money for educational
pals, he said.
Tf we want to ensure the future of this state,”
pye said, “we’ll commit first priority to-higher
ducation.”
Total enrollment at colleges and universities in
Jexas is on the rise, but Texas will meet only 75
Jjpercent of its 2005 target for Hispanic enrollment
noraflAlKi tren< J continues. Coordinating Board Chair
nerauuii®^ Willeford said
“A majority of (Hispanic) citizens understand a
allege education is necessary but not accessible,”
Villeford said. “(The Board) will let students and
arents know they can participate in higher educa-
ion through use of resources and public awareness.”
Higher Education Commissioner Don Brown
aid the statistics are troubling. Institutional tar-
?ets, such, as the relationship between high
chools and the community as well as perform-
a'ce system targets that require submitting a
port on how the Board has done over the past
y^ar, are under review.
“We want to look at whether the targets are
here they should be for the state and individual
istitutions,” Brown said. “We also have to look at
diether we are making progress.”
I The coordinating board’s “Closing the Gaps”
plan hopes to add 500,000 more students to the
fexas college and university system by 2015. The
|lan hopes to increase enrollment among
pispanics, who are are the highest-increasing pop-
jlation in Texas. Coordinating board officials said
heir goal is to have 129,000 Hispanics enrolled in
Alleges and universities in Texas by 2015.
There was an increase in Hispanic enrollment
°r Fall 2001,” Brown said. “But the growth was
00 small.”
At A&M, minority enrollment of freshmen
ecreased this year, Willeford said. Texas is not
howing any increases degrees awarded, she said.
Brown said there has been a strong increase in
osearch grants and expenditures.
We hope to increase federal research funding
t0 13 billion in 2015,” he said.
To reach the board’s goals, Willeford said, Texas
^ust invest billions more in higher education. The
oordinating board would present funding require-
^ts to the legislature next year, she said.
We’re here to keep ourselves and the A&M
ystem focused on where we are and where we
le ed to be,” Willeford said.
. n other business, regents approved renova-
10ns 0n Davis-Gary residence hall that would
Ur n the corridor-style hall into apartments suites
n 2004. Engineering and architectural firms have
been named.
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Greeting kiddos
A Bryan firefighter waves to a crowd on
University Drive during the 76th annual
Bryan-College Station "Spirit of Christmas in
America" parade. The parade attracted
RANDAL FORD - THE BATTALION
almost 30,000 spectators. The route went
east on University Drive and then north on
Texas Avenue to the intersection of Villa
Maria in Bryan.
Expert says
terrorists use
symbolism
By Esther Robards-Forbes
THE BATTALION
Symbolic targets are important to terrorists
such as Osama bin Laden, terrorism expert Yoram
Schweitzer said Friday at the Texas A&M Health
Science Center.
The African embassies attacked in 1998 were a
symbol of the western diplomatic machine, the
USS Cole bombing in 2000 was a symbol of the
American military machine and the World Trade
Center and Pentagon attacks in 2001 were a sym
bol of Islamic militants overcoming the capitalist
economic machine, he said.
“You have to understand that for terrorists,
success is important to encourage them,”
Schweitzer said.
Sept. 11 and other terrorist attacks were aimed
at harming the American economy, proving to fol
lowers and potential followers that superpowers
are vulnerable and the terrorist groups are strong,
provoking a clash of civilizations, Schweitzer said.
Schweitzer is a renowned member of both the
Israeli and international security communities.
During his research career of the past 20 years, he
has specialized in suicide terror, state-sponsored
terror and Islamic fundamentalist terror. He has
expert knowledge of the terror groups Hamas,
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hizballah as well as
al-Qaida and its related cells.
“Terrorism is the major threat within the con
temporary situation,” Schweitzer said.
He outlined the history of Middle Eastern ter
rorist attacks in the United States, pointing out that
the Sept. 11 attacks were not the first on U.S. soil.
A group that has now been linked with bin Laden’s
al-Qaida group was behind the first bombing of the
World Trade Center in 1993, Schweitzer said.
Schweitzer said Islamic fundamentalist groups
pose the greatest threat among the numerous ter
rorist organizations that have been identified.
Al-Qaida was first formed during the Afghan
See Schweitzer on page 10
Health officials offer tips to ward off weight gain
IY HEALTH TIP'S
By Lecia Baker
THE BATTALION
As the winter break approaches, Texas
A&M health officials are warning stu
dents not to forget their workout routines
and normal eating habits in the face of
Christmas ham and pumpkin pie.
Moderation is the best approach to
avoiding the common holiday weight
gain, especially when it comes to large
holiday dinners, desserts and snacks, said
Dr. Danny Ballard, professor of health
and kinesiology.
“We can enjoy a small taste of sever-
foods, but do not over-indulge on
al
large portions of any of them,” she said.
“It’s really important not to turn into a
non-activity, eating machine.”
Ballard said there are many ways to
eat less and feel full. She said students
should eat smaller portions more slowly
or put the fork down between bites to
slow down eating. It is also a good idea to
drink water before sitting down for a
large meal, Ballard said.
“Make your plate look like it has more
food on it by using a smaller plate and
this could be mind over matter,” she said.
Moderation is also important when
drinking alcohol. It doesn’t take too many
drinks to add several hundred calories to
See Health on page 2
Eat smaller portions, and
eat slower
Drink water before sitting
down to a large meal to
feel full sooner
Moderate alcohol intake -
two drinks a day for a man,
one drink a day for a
woman
Continue any exercise
routine
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
Students design, construct bus stop covers
JOHN C. LIVAS • THE BATTALION
;ti Wa ^ s f or the bus at Ross Street Sunday night. Architecture
ents designed and constructed bus stop covers without per-
Ssi0n from the University for a final project.
By Sarah Darr
THE BATTALION
Students from the College of
Architecture met on campus at
3:30 a.m. Thursday to install the
bus stop covers they designed
and built without permission
from the University, said Tom
Rusnak, an assistant professor
in the College of Architecture.
The University does not have
a policy about bus stop covers
on campus, said Gary Jackson,
assistant director for transporta
tion. The main reason
University-placed shelters are
not present at all of the bus stops
on campus is because there is
not enough money, he said.
When the student transporta
tion fee was passed in Spring
2001, more shelters were
planned. But with more services
and buses added, there was not
enough money left, Jackson said.
The number of hours of bus serv
ice has doubled since Fall 2000,
and the number of operating
buses climbed from 59 to more
than 90.
Rusnak said he hopes the
University will approve of the bus
stop Covers and possibly use them
as a model for future shelters.
“It would be great if the
University would pick up the
covers as a prototype,” Rusnak
said. “But if we have to tear
them down, then at least one
cycle of students in the morning
will have benefited from them.”
Jackson said plans for addi
tional shelters on campus are
underway with the vice presi
dent of administration (VPA) in
charge. Foundation work with
connecting sidewalks will need
to be done, he said.
By next August, there should
be seven bus shelters on cam
pus, Jackson said. The first two
will be built at the Commons on
Bizzell Street and one across the
street at the golf course parking
lot, he said.
The architecture students
installed five bus stop covers
Thursday; four on Ross street
and one in front of the Zachry
parking lot, Rusnak said.
The bus stop shelters are
intended to protect students
from harsh weather, said Nathan
Mills, a senior architecture
major.
“Without covers it is hot dur
ing the day, and there is no pro
tection from the rain,” Mills
said. “They go against the
See Covers on page 10