)
W0R1|
HE BATTALIA
Aggielife: Feeling the burn • Page 4A Opinion: Malpractice makes perfect? • Page 5B
r ene
nglrof
in Iraq
that many nation
lited States goest
val.
ver
th inspectors; says
to use military fora
xindl must authors
•elieves council ms:
sing force, but has
xie
k; hinted it might
action
out veto powet
noundng position
support U.S.-led
o position regards
oncing position
vention, even if its
position regarding
ght support military
ciidomatic resdutrr
military interven&cr
s should be lifted
mg up unless w
tg sensational ini
tave not hadsuclii
lix said,
zed Iraq for bloci-
is from using i
-2 spy plane it
ghdad’s weapon!
e areas where«
ted and the U-28
Blix said,
s were a mainsii)
hunt for Iraoi
mass destruciffl
1998. Ameticffi
;m.
from page 1
rrington said tit
lie ip improve tit
:c Center.
said he does nJ
ncrease to be ate
: Aggies and ptf
it options to eat
said if it does nfl
I be several const'
iding a decrease;
perating hours £
to replace broke
ements are set tok
2006.
lusiness, sen#
onfusion regard
if social seed
•uld actually coif
Is office get d
so people cant* 1
;ir informatioc
112133ml
rea agree
ible solute
Jth Korea (AP)'
agreed Friday t:
south Korea |:
olve the inteflif
andoff ov«
luclear programs
Korean govern
Hedged that tits
I short of comm®
it from the Notf
linet-level talks
a ration, the
/ had "sufficient!
iositions on tits
006 Council
ting application
s office of
e President
will be available
Dpen House and
:udent Program!
r online at
-tamu.edu/2O0d
ns will be due
th by 5:00 p.m-
>
THF RATTAI TONT
JL JL JL H j M, JrjL jl* 1 JL JTjLjLj JL JL ^1
Volume 109 • Issue 82 • 14 pages
Texas A&M University
wwvv.thebatt.com
Monday, January 27, 2003
2006 class president removed
By Esther Robards-Forbes
THE BATTALION
Freshman Class President Grant
Soderberg was removed from office because
he gave misinformation to other officers and
failed to communicate with officers and team
members of the Freshman Class Council,
according to a written statement from Class
Vice-President Cinnamon Hodges.
Hodges, a history major, said “The offi
cers determined that his removal would be
in the best interest of the freshman class.”
Memorial Student Center (MSC) offi
cials, who oversee the Class Councils, have
made no public announcement regarding his
dismissal, and the circumstances and reasons
for Soderberg’s removal are still unclear.
MSC Director Jim Reynolds and
Director of Class Councils Rusty Thompson
both canceled appointments with The
Battalion and did not return phone calls.
Katie Hanselka, the adviser for the Class
of 2006, said Soderberg was removed from
office, but declined to comment on when the
removal occurred.
Every A&M student pays a student service
fee of about $150 for 12 hours a semester,
from which the MSC received $2.5 million
this year, according to MSC Council
President Barry Hammond. He said the total
MSC budget is $6.2 million, with the
remaining $3.7 million being generated by
MSC programs.
Hammond said he is unsure how much
each Class Council receives from the stu
dent service fees.
“Class Councils do a lot of fundraising
and are supported by some endowments,” he
said.
Former class president Soderberg, a busi
ness major, said “I’m not able to discuss my
presidency at this time.”
Hodges has assumed the office of fresh
man class president.
“I didn’t know they could remove our
officers without telling us,” said Amy Rabb,
a freshman mechanical engineering major.
“They have us elect the officers, and there
fore give up the right to withhold informa
tion about them.”
See President on page 2A
File Photo • THE BATTALION
New Freshman Class President Grant Soderberg gets hugged
by friend Greg Kay after hearing he had won.
Football 101
Courtest of KRT Campus • THE BATTALION
SAN DIEGO, CA - Oakland Raider, Charlie Garner (25) covers his face after quarter of Super Bowl XXXVII. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Oakland
missing a pass near the fifty yard line against Tampa Bay in the second Raiders 48 to 21. Story on page IB.
Inspectors
unsure Iraq
is rearming
By Dafna Linzer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS — Iraq’s arms declara
tion is incomplete, its scientists aren’t cooperating
with inspections and Baghdad is obstructing the
use of a U-2 plane which could be helpful in the
hunt for weapons of mass destruction.
After two months on the job, the chief weapons
inspectors, who will issue their current assess
ments to the Security Council on Monday at 10:30
a.m. EST, can’t confirm claims by the Bush
administration that Iraq is rearming. Inspectors
still don’t know what happened to Iraq’s stock
piles of biological and chemical weapons or how
much time they have left to find the answers.
Still, with all the open questions, the reports by
Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei will likely be
key to Washington’s efforts to bolster internation
al support for a war on Iraq, or efforts by skeptics
to avert one.
According to Security Council Resolution
1441, crafted by the Bush administration and
adopted in November, inspectors don’t need to
prove Iraq is rearming.
Any false statements or omissions in Iraq’s
arms declaration, coupled with a failure to comply
with and cooperate fully in the implementation of
the resolution, would place Baghdad in “material
breach” of its obligations — a finding that could
open the door for war.
For the Bush administration, that has already
happened and time is now running out for Saddam
See Iraq on page 2A
Polo fields to be main
site for drainage plan
By Lecia Baker
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M is working on a project to
eliminate drainage problems that have
periodically affected the campus on rainy
days, forcing students to wade through
the standing water to get to their classes..
“Texas A&M needs an effective
drainage system because the basement of
Zachry floods and so students don’t have
to wade through water to class,” said Ben
Hawkins, a freshman chemistry major.
The project, “Main Campus Streets
Campus Construction Dates
Polo Fields regraded for
better drainage
Completed by mid-February 2003
Ross Street construction
Completed by January 2005
Bonfire Memorial
Construction to begin
September 2003
Source: Texas A&M Physical Plant
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
and Area Drainage Improvements,”
came as a result of a Storm Water
Management Plan that was approved in
1997 by the City of College Station, said
Les Swick, associate executive director
of the Physical Plant Department.
“During heavy rain events, the
University was susceptible to flooding in
the basement of Zachry Engineering, the
area around Wisenbaker Engineering
Research Center and Bizzell Street
because storm water would exceed
capacity,” Swick said.
The project includes an effort to slow
the rate at which water from campus
flows into Wolf Pen Creek and the recon
struction of New Main Drive and Bizzell
Loop, said Swick.
The area north of New Main Drive is
the central focus of the plan. A large part
of the polo fields will be at a one foot
slope to allow water to drain into an earth
berm, a trench-like structure, that will
run along the north side of New Main
Drive, said David Godbey, assistant
director of Engineering and Design
Services of the Physical Plant
Department. He said the construction
should be complete by the middle of
February 2004.
The berm will allow water to drain
into Wolf Pen Creek at a slower rate,
Godbey said. Also, the berm will cause
storm water to trickle down into the
sewer and then take it past the golf course
into the College Station drainage system,
Godbey said.
The regraded section of the polo fields
See Drainage on page 2A
Education is focus of conference
By Nicole M. Jones
THE BATTALION
About 450 high school students
were on the Texas A&M campus this
weekend to participate in the
Minority Enrichment and
Development through Academic and
Leadership Skills (MEDALS) con
ference.
The conference, sponsored by the
Department of Multicultural
Services, is designed to “instill in
(minority high school students) the
need for higher education,” said Roy
Johnson, associate director of
MEDALS 2003.
MEDALS hosted the students, as
well as their parents and counselors.
said Bianca Goodrum, associate
director of programs for MEDALS
2003.
A large part of what makes
MEDALS run is the student advis
ers, Johnson said.
About 50 A&M students volun
teered as peer advisers for the high
school students, parent advisers for
the parents and chaperones and to
help out with other aspects of the
conference, Johnson said.
The students came from all across
Texas, from cities such as Houston,
Dallas, San Antonio and Austin,
Goodrum said. During the two-day
conference, they attended work
shops and other activities designed
to inform them about possible
avenues to pursue after high school.
she said.
Entertainment included a talent
show and the “MEDALS shuffle,” a
group dance used as an icebreaker to
get the students excited about the
conference.
In the closing luncheon held
Saturday afternoon, MEDALS
awarded more than $10,000 to
deserving high school students who
submitted essays for the scholarship
contest.
Jan Milton, the parent of a student
involved in Club Generation Success
from Plano High School, said she
was impressed with undergraduate
A&M students having significant
roles in planning the conference.
See MEDALS on page 2A
Students, staff pick parking lots in 2004
By Melissa Fowler
THE BATTALION
Parking, Traffic and Transportation Services (PTTS)
has a new name and a new way of conducting business,
said Rodney Weis, director of Parking and Transit
Services.
The newly named Transportation Services will focus
more on the customer wants and needs indicated by sur
veys collected at the beginning of the semester.
By Fall 2004, Transportation Services hopes to change
parking on campus by allowing faculty, staff and students
to select the parking lot they would like to park in rather
than using the red, blue and yellow lot system which sepa
rates traffic by residents, commuter and staff.
“This plan will make more efficient use of all parking
spaces and provide closer, reliable access to all customer
groups,” Weis said.
Students who frequently drive to
school said finding a parking space in a
commuter parking lot is not as hard as
finding or fighting for a space in a resi
dent lot.
“I think people who live on campus should choose lots
close to their dorms,” said Amy Melendi, a sophomore
political science, major.
Assigning customers to a specific parking lot will
reduce traffic and increase bicyclist and pedestrian safety,
Weis said.
Transportation Services is also considering adding
metered parking to areas of campus where people need
short-term parking for brief business transactions.
See Parking on page 5A