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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2003)
STATI E BATTALIO Sports: A&M men's basketball crushed in Austin • Page 5 Opinion: Memorializing the fallen • Page 11 THF RATTAT TO Ji Oxjl JL /olume 109 • Issue 78 • 12 pages Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Tuesday, January 21, 2003 &M basketball player arrested for possession RANDAL FORD* THE BATTALION Texas A&M men's basketball coach, Melvin Watkins, comments lun Andy Slocum's drug charges after Monday's practice. By Dallas Shipp THE BATTALION A Texas A&M basketball player was released from the Brazos County Jail Monday after being arrested for posses sion of a controlled substance early Sunday morning. Senior center Andy Slocum was charged with two counts of possessing a controlled sub stance and spent Sunday night in jail. He posted a $30,000 bail. A&M head men’s basketball coach Melvin Watkins said that Slocum would be suspended from the team until the details can be worked out and all the information can be gathered. “I’m still waiting to get some more details and until then I don’t want to rush into any type of decision or make any com ments because I just don’t have all the information yet,’’ Watkins said. “(Andy’s) going to step away from the team until we get all the information.” College Station Police received a phone call that some one was selling ecstasy outside a house on Turkey Creek Road. Officer Henderson of the College Station Police Department said he responded to the phone call. As he approached, he observed a group of four men in front of the house and saw two individuals talking with each other, who he later identified as Slocum and Jared Morris, a junior linebacker for the A&M football team. Following their discussion, Slocum got into his Chevrolet Tahoe and closed the door, while apparently searching for something on the floorboard of his vehicle. Seconds later, he reappeared from his vehicle and the other three men, including Morris, huddled around the dri ver’s door. The police report said Morris then handed what appeared to be cash over to Slocum and then cupped his hands as Slocum dropped an unidentified object into Morris’ hands, which Henderson said is a typical nar cotics transaction. After witnessing these actions by Slocum and Morris, Henderson identified himself as a police officer. Henderson said in his report that Slocum and Morris both appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and that Slocum was incoherent in his responses. Henderson then looked inside the window of the Tahoe and saw a large Ziploc bag con taining syringes, brown glass bottles and prescription medi cine bottles on top of the center See Arrest on page 2 Dialogue [begins about .‘ghetto party’ THE BATTALION as A&m golf By Janet McLaren THE BATTALION Student leaders and administration are begin- ^ ^ # —-ing a dialogue and responding to questions sur- ^ ^ ^■oimding an off-campus ghettd-themed party that l}| ITjUftt least one student considered racially offensive Tlftfter it made national news this past week. Texas A&M Student Body President Zac oventry paraphrased a quote from Dr. Martin uther King Jr., calling for students to “stand |together and speak up about things that matter.” Memorial Student Center (MSC) Council 'resident Barry Hammond said the party was ffensive to him as a minority student. “It is obviously making fun of a prominent lid Brooke ThaletMfrjcan-American leader and is disrespectful of lood Centers, folthe whole culture,” he said. Hammond, a senior finance major, said an s - vent of this type was never OK. ff to a worse star “Any time anyone dresses up in blackface it is she said. “That lot appropriate,” he said, wt into place thii The party was a yearly event that usually fell feeling the effect iround the birthday of King, one of the few lational holidays that A&M observes with a day On Tuesday, tl&off for students and faculty. ers — America ! University officials learned of the event from a an Red Cross -px signed “Sorry, but 1 cannot give my name.” Jonations, sayinifThe memo accused Walton residents and staff of an a two-day sup participating in a “ML King party” where party- Joers dress in “blackface or other negative stereo- |ypes of African Americans.” It indicated that members of the Walton staff [were “the moving force behind organizing the hould have a three a one-day supply. litals canceled r af the blood sbs »es every Januap s and it’s the miii :ed in care See Party on page 2 Freedom walk j*- ■it lip _ mi Diny\ Sigma "// n soinmny. f\ c Celebrating tbeJL/Yc- and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, PU'X* 1 ' > A Vo ; fr m m! RANDALL FORD • THE BATTALION Children from the Brazos County lead the seventh annual Freedom began at Thomas Sadie Park and ended 2.4 miles down MLK Blvd March down Martin Luther King Blvd on Monday morning. The at Kemp Elementary School. The march included prayer and song in event, which was sponsored by the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Gates creates new decision structure By Brad Bennett THE BATTALION sing to camp- : : ' night. Butler w; n with authorize* bacteria, which select agent gistered with tl# Biohazard d with the feder- accounted fori Texas A&M faculty and stu- vials and we ha'Wjents now have an official path it there is no daiiBo j exas a&m President Dr. afety whatsoever | obert M Ga(es through Gates - upe onza decision making structure Totui rhich took effect Jan. 1. lo factor in faculty and stu- lents’ voices. Gates has expand- g-d the Academic Program Council (APC), which reports Directly to the executive vice c Her lineH U president and provost and then fhe president. The APC now members from the faculty Senate, Student Government, the Council of principle Investigators and I'Uistinguished Professors. FBI agents intef “This (the APC) is a group on Tuesday. H ( broadly representative of the NAACP president to speak at A&M President Vltt I’rrUdent Institutional Dlvmltv Stwtfat AUrtsor WthMWeMWit ; fcwMWf Vtii tM-Mth-ni ! atvd ISwwst >f Medicine deaf 1 ia form of plagi* for research { is not weaponizei vhat happened _ vials, whef includes what happened atedly respond^ ales “have bef f m t*r*»(tirtt nttstsatvh By Nicole M. Jones THE BATTALION Kweisi Mfume, the president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), will address current events in civil rights, and speak about the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy, tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Rudder Theater. Mfume will speak as part of “Campus with a Dream” Week to commemorate the birthday of King. Mfume will talk about King’s dream as foreseen on the campus of Texas A&M, said Bob Abraham, the adviser for the Black Awareness Committee and the A&M chapter of the NAACP. Dr. King had a dream of schools such as A&M achieving diversity and overall equality, Abraham said. “Maybe [Mfume] can give us some pointers on how to get there,” Abraham said. Dr. Larry J. Oliver, associate dean for the College of Liberal Arts, said that many speakers daint pointed o 11 ; tatement result^ 1 sstigation invol' state, local ai* 1 re kept in a lockf 1 * Jtler’s lab of irth floor, whichi- ic area. Butler kef 1 s of samples, # reported missis the Lubbofl rnal. come to A&M, but hav ing Mfume at the University is an excel lent opportunity for all students. “The NAACP was created as a tool for pursuing civil rights MFUME and social justice,” Oliver said. Oliver said civil rights and social justice are central values to the College of Liberal Arts and to the University as a whole. Kweisi Mfume, whose West African name means “conquer ing son of kings,” was born and raised in Baltimore, Md. He I graduated magna cum laude from Morgan State University, and later earned a master’s degree in liberal arts from Johns Hopkins University. Mfume represented Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in the House of Representatives in the U.S. Congress from 1986 until he was unanimously elected to the presi dency of the NAACP in 1996. Mfume’s career also includes 13 years in the radio industry, and nine years as host of the award-winning television show See NAACP on page 2 ntire (A&M) community and is Where the real discussion of decisions will take place,” said r. David Pryor, interim execu tive vice president and provost. Four advisory councils. Which report to the APC, have been created to bring together the various viewpoints of the campus to aid in the decision making process. “It (the new structure) is def- nitely increasing communica- ttw t** WKfcttiNs »lr stot, Vk* Psnltkhi bl'tWHlVs fertHriitiw Vh* ftsHfotedl Sttd Htn-ttsl (tw Us* aUiMkMiHMwf* Witts * Uttws llhit to Source: President Gates’ Dec. 17 2002 memo TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION tion with President Gates,” said J. Thomas Regan, dean of the college of architecture. The only access faculty pre viously had with the president was through the Faculty Senate, where now faculty can express their views to a representative on each of the four councils, Regan said. “There is a lot of talent here and the president thinks this is See Memo on page 2 Bypassing the lines for online book buys By Melissa Fowler THE BATTALION Unlike thousands of his peers who will wait in long lines and pay top dollar for text books this semester, Brandon Trochta can order his books in minutes without ever leaving his home. Trochta, a sophomore mechanical engi neering major, is joining the growing num ber of college students nationwide who are choosing to bypass bookstores and buy text books online from Web sites such as ama zon.com, half.com and textbook-trader.com. “It really is the fastest, easiest way to locate cheap used textbooks,” said Abebooks.com marketing and communica tions manager Marci Crossan. “You can shop from home, at night, from school, whenever and wherever.” Abebooks.com is a marketplace for rare and used books that allows users to post items they want to sell for browsing by potential buyers. The average amount a college student will spend on books is $370 to $390, according to the National Association of College Stores 2001 Industry Financial Report. Finding the lowest prices online may offer students a chance to lessen those costs. “I purchase books online to save money,” Trochta said. The average retail price of a new text book is $68, while an average used textbook sells for $17.34 on half.com, according to a See Books on page 9 yxittorr-ifiatJ %/•«**» • Amazon.com • Abebooks.corr • Half.com (eBay owned) • T@xtbook-trad0r.com (A&M baaed) RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION