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Beverley 'es, Texas Wednesday. ould have traveled far- x plains why the shut- taut nose cone traveled ilor said. aerodynamic pieces of thermal tiles that coat- -'olunibia, would settle the ground after ire using global-posi- lites to determine the 2 of debris so the field SA hopes to use that >P computer models to r - The models would hris back in time to the rom the orbiter. itical things are deter- ces are and identifying where those pieces huttle, no matter how James Kroll, who is project at Stephen F, ty in Nacogdoches, ke them jump back if) ack to that part of# . old Gehman, chainre )anel investigating tk computer simulations determining how the lurhbia shattered on its rida, more than 1,20(1 up the pieces in Texas ng through forests and and sleet to hunt down i be retrieved by hand. ded the French Legion He also covered the of the Dachau and >on concentration 5 one of the great wai that there have evei id Stanley Cloud, who ed "The Murrow Boys" vife, Lynne Olson. I remarkable things," d, adding that LeSueut :ntleman." eniors. )DAY »NLY! i addition to regular hours, I Photography i/ill be taking trbook pictures y from 9-11 and 1:30-7. appointment necessary, Dn't miss your Dortunity to be 2003 Aggieland, l is located at iversity Dr. E,Ste,F, Questions? 3-8183 or 845-2682, .eland 2003 SPORTS: King poised to set record in Texas game • Page 5 ACCIIUPI: Jitter Junkies • Page 3 rr<TTTx Ti A rTtrii a t t/’YTWT THE BATTALION Volume 109 • Issue 91 • 10 pages Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Friday, February 7, 2003 Gates plans for new faculty jobs By Rolando Garcia THE BATTALION Texas A&M President Robert M. Gates said he still plans to create 100 new faculty positions at a cost of $20 mil lion, despite the deep cuts expected to result from next year’s budget. The University must Submit an early outline for its 2004 and 2005 budgets, to state budget officials by Feb. 10 reflecting a proposed 12.5 percent cut in state funding. Following that plan, A&M would, in the span of two years, lose an estimated $52 million. Gates said. Although final budget num- liers will not be known until the state legislature completes its work in May, the University will incorporate the 12.5 percent cut in its 2004 budget planning. Gates ruled out an across-the- board cut and said he would ensure that nationally ranked academic programs were pro tected and funds would be cut inother areas to advance his top priority — hiring more faculty. “We’ve paid the price in our rankings because of a shrinking faculty, and we have to find the smartest way to allocate those cuts and still invest in our tore,†Gates said. In a Jan. 31 memo to top alministrators and college tas, Gates said he planned to ffife 100 new faculty positions /it 2004 and add similar num bers in subsequent years. Without an increase in state funding, he added, the University will raise tuition and fees to cover the expense. “If we end up with cuts any where near (12.5 percent), the legislature will be inclined to give us more flexibility to set tuition,†Gates said. The memo warns top University officials to brace themselves for the painful and contentious budget cuts ahead, saying A&M’s progress depends on their willingness to make “very tough, and almost certainly controversial decisions about priorities.†The University of Texas and A&M Systems are urging legis lators to remove tuition caps and allow the boards of regents to raise tuition without legislative approval. Bob Wright, spokesman for A&M System Chancellor Howard Graves said the state’s budget crunch makes it likely that the legislature will allow universities to make up for lost state funds by raising tuition. Rather than complete deregula tion of tuition, Wright said, the legislature will likely opt for partial deregulation, such as summer tuition or graduate and professional school tuition. Sen. Steve Ogden, recently appointed to the Senate Finance Committee, does not favor com plete deregulation. Instead, he said, tuition should be set by the legislature during the spring and fall, but should be regulated by universities during summer school and for out-of -state See Budget on page 2 Early A&M Budget Plan H 2004 and 2005 budget outlines must be submitted to state budget officials Feb. 10 B A&M will incorporate 12.5% cut in 2004 budget B A&M woul d lose $52 million during two years B Gates still plans to create 100 new faculty positions at a cost of $20 million Travis Swenson • THE BATTALION Source: PRESIDENT ROBERT M. CATES Students debate possible war By Melissa Fowler THE BATTALION The possible war with Iraq is sparking controversy around the world and around campus as students speak out through protests and a recent debate sponsored by the Texas A&M Objectivism Club. The Objectivism Club, founded on the philosophies of Ayn Rand, held a forum for speakers on both sides of the war issue to voice their opinions Thursday night in Rudder Tower. At the heart of the debate was whether United States involvement in Iraq by force is justified. David Veksler, senior politi cal science and economics major and president of the Objectivism Club, feels the United States has a duty to pro tect itself and that governments that violate the civil rights of their own have no right to rule. “If you violate your citizens’ rights you are a criminal and don’t deserve to be in power,†Veksler said. “No government has the right to exist that uses force against its citizens.†Using this reasoning, he said the United States has the right to go to war with Iraq, as its leader Saddam Hussein, has ignored the rights and even taken the lives of many of his own people. Still, some believe the United States is not entitled to police the world or enforce punishment on governments that do not adhere to the standards we accept on American soil. “I believe our system is the best in the world. I believe strongly in freedom,†said Brazos County Libertarian Party member Clyde Garland. “I do not believe we have the right to tell other countries in the world how they should live their lives.†Protesters marched at the Lawrence Sullivan Ross statue in the Academic Plaza Monday. Some held signs expressing the See Debate on page 10 Remembered fondly KRT CAMPUS Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at a memorial service hon- at the Washington, D.C. church, where one of the stained-glass oring the crew of the space shuttle Columbia at the National windows displays stars and planets and holds a piece of Cathedral Thursday. Cheney joined more than 2,000 mourners moonrock collected by the first men to reach the moon. Foam still under consideration as cause of shuttle disaster By Marcia Dunn THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A day after all but ruling it out as a leading cause, NASA said Thursday that investigators are still considering whether a piece of insulating foam that struck Columbia’s wing during liftoff was enough to bring down the shuttle. Shuttle program manager Ron Dittemore said that even though the pos sibility appeared remote, investigators must remain open to every option as they put together a so-called fault tree into what caused Columbia’s fiery breakup just minutes from its landing Saturday. “The foam that shed off the tank and impacted the left wing is just one branch, and we are pursuing that,†he said. Eighty-one seconds into launch, a 2 1/2-pound, 20-inch chunk of foam from Columbia’s external fuel tank broke off and slammed into the underside of the shuttle’s left wing. The accident investigation board, led by retired Navy Adm. Harold Gehman Jr., arrived at Johnson Space Center on Thursday and met with Dittemore and other shuttle officials. NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe pledged from Washington that ‘’every single piece of evidence, every fact, every issue†will be checked, and the board’s conclusions will be final and absolute. Before ruling the foam out as a cul prit, NASA will test its impact on the thousands of fragile thermal tiles that cover each space shuttle. In addition, the entire analysis that was conducted during Columbia’s flight is being redone. On Monday, NASA officials had said the foam may well be “the leading can didate†for the cause of the accident. Two days later, Dittemore all but discounted the theory that it was the main cause, saying NASA computer simulations had shown the debris hit was not severe and could not have been the sole cause of the disaster. Dittemore said the camera views of the flyaway foam during liftoff Jan. 16 could have been better. “It’s a disap pointment that the camera with the very best view turned out to be out of focus,†he said. NASA also has not yet written off the possibility that other debris during launch might have damaged Columbia. Nothing else unusual was photographed, however. Engineers taking part in NASA’s so- called reverse analysis struggled Thursday to make sense of the eight minutes recorded between the time the first sign of trouble appeared aboard Columbia over California - a surge in temperature in the left landing gear com partment - and the shuttle’s final, dying moment over Texas. Most of the debris field has been in East Texas and Louisiana, but Dittemore said none of the shuttle parts considered crucial to the investigation had yet been found. He said reports of debris west of Texas, including in California, had not been confirmed as shuttle parts. NASA has been swamped with reports of sightings, some of them caught on camera, of pieces coming off Columbia as it streaked across California. Dittemore said the reports have yet to be verified, and he stressed that all indications in Mission Control suggested no such breakup so far west. Senate passes Sports Fee increase By Lecia Baker and Hedish Connor THE BATTALION The Texas A&M Student Senate passed a Recreational Sports Fee increase Wednesday, enabling the the student body to vote on the bill. The Department of Recreational Sports proposed the fee increase during the Jan. 22 meeting. If approved by the student body, the bill would entail a $10 increase per semester for each student and would take effect by Fall 2003, said Kevin Capps, stu dent senator. Students are currently charged a Rec Sports Fee of $78. Dennis Corrington, director of rec sports, said the primary rea son for the increase is inflation. “The proposed budget for 2003-2004 will exceed rev enues,†he said. The increase will generate $8.6 million, including revenues from A&M’s aquatic center. The University of Texas generates $8.7 million without its aquatic center revenues, Corrington said. The fee increase would help expand the weight and fitness room and Penberthy Athletic Fields, and will also increase the base hourly wages of Rec. Sports student workers, said Capps, a junior history major. Expansion would help the overcrowding problem occurring between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m., Corrington said. Expansion of Penberthy fields will allow more teams to join intramural sports, Corrington said. See Senate on page 10 Franchione speaks at Bush Library By Brad Bennett THE BATTALION Head Football Coach Dennis Franchione dis cussed team building to a sold-out crowd of 600, one-third of which was students who let out a loud whoop as he took the stage at the Bush Presidential Library Conference Center Thursday night. The discussion was the first in the Bush Foundation’s Issues Forum series. “I can’t do anything mechanical. When my family sees me with a hammer they call the police, but I can get a team together for a common cause,†Franchione said. See Franchione on page 2 Head Football Coach Dennis Franchione.