STATI
E BATTALIO
Sports: A&M men's basketball crushed in Austin • Page 5 Opinion: Memorializing the fallen • Page 11
THF RATTAT TO
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/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-
^ ^ ^â– 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
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Diny\ Sigma "// n soinmny. f\ c
Celebrating tbeJL/Yc-
and Legacy of
Dr. Martin Luther King,
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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
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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-
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bl'tWHlVs fertHriitiw Vh* ftsHfotedl Sttd Htn-ttsl (tw Us*
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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