THE BATTALION
AeeilUH! Fish out of water • Page 3A OPINIQN! A matter of evolution • Page 5B
m page 1
;d States should not risk
1/
•vatives member Mark
lam Hussein has lied to
e says oil is not the issue,
/iolated numerous U.N.
iag,a sophomore finance
e given peace a chance,
ce action.”
;a debated was the use of
a war that a percentage
xtpulation does not sup-
mechanical engineering
said the U.S. government
ising tax dollars to go to
ional funds is significant
ould support a voluntan
viduals using their own
g their own lives without
ties.
:one against their will to
ing them.” Garland said,
lere the United Nations
ae chair of the disarma-
id Libya the chair of the
mittee, Veksler said the
defend itself,
ppose involvement in
• war to change the world
idal,” Garland said. “You
■ world.”
Kelly of the Attornef
il's Office said there wett
ay specific instances it
of the scam, but citizens
be aware of it.
>tt said well-known,
late national organize
Jo not send unsolicited
s requesting donations,
ays check the URloftht
my. If the domain name
familiar, he said to finds
number to call and vet
organization's intent.
>tt also said to be wai(
ies that closely resemblf
iown charities, and It
give out credit card#
security information®
one.
Lilli
E PLACE!
RANT
DINNER
’clock p.m.
r date
er person
•JCH
dock
person
Volume 109 * Issue 92 • 14 pages
Texas A&M University
www.thebatt.com
Monday, February 10, 2003
Texas soldiers
prepare for war
By Nicole M. Jones
THE BATTALION
FORT HOOD, Texas — Living his
life away from his family lias taken
some getting used to for Bill
MacDonald, lieutenant colonel for the
4th Infantry of the U.S. Army, stationed
atFort Hood, Texas. Having not seen his
wife and two children since the
Christmas holiday, MacDonald now
faces the prospect of heading overseas
to fight for his country.
Married since 1984, MacDonald is
worried he will be among the next
deployed, meaning he won't be able to
read to his children or spend quality
time with his wife back in Mississippi.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like
I’m going to have the chance to see them
before I go ” he said.
Two Texas Army Reserve units were
mobilized Friday and will report to Fort
Hood today. The 121st Chaplain Team
from Fort Sam Houston and the 288th
Quartermaster Company from Victoria
will send about 135 soldiers to Fort Hood.
These units are assigned to the 90th
Regional Support Command, based in
North Little Rock, Ark., and consist of
more than 200 units in Texas, Arkansas,
Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
For MacDonald, the wait for
President George W. Bush’s decision
on whether to declare war with Iraq is
hard because he does not know where
he may be sent to battle.
Before deployment, soldiers must
also have all personnel matters in order,
including finance papers, medical
requirements and insurance.
Top: A soldier directs a tank
driver as they load their
equipment on rail cars near
Fort Hood that will be taken
to surrounding ports to go
overseas. Each piece of equip
ment must be tied down prop
erly before departure. Upper
right: Inspector Sgt. Kareem
Castillo checks the fit of a gas
mask on a member of the 1st
Cavalry division last week.
Lower right: Members of the
1st Cavalry stationed at Fort
Hood inspect their gas masks
for possible leaks last week
as a commanding officer
reads through operating
instructions. Left: A soldier
waits for the command to
move out vehicles ready for
shipment last week.
I got my smallpox
said. “I got five
“Two days ago,
shot,” MacDonald
pricks in my arm.”
Since Jan. 10, various units of sol
diers have been undergoing lane training
at Fort Hood everyday from 8 a.m. to 5
p.m., said Sgt. Maj. Jose Melendez of
the 1st Infantry.
This training teaches the soldiers
skills to survive in a biological or
chemical environment and teaches
them first aid and how to identify and
treat symptoms, Melendez said.
Soliders undergo common task testing
during lane training.
Parts of lane training include interac
tive scenarios in which the soldiers’
See Soldiers on page 5A
Would-be
terrorist
deported
DALLAS (AP) — An immi
gration judge has ordered that a
Jordanian graduate student who
acknowledged he once consid
ered becoming a suicide bomber
if the United States invaded Iraq
be deported.
“I was looking at America
as my enemy. If someone
would have approached me and
asked me to do something
against the country, I was will
ing to do it,” Tahir Ibrihim
Aletwei of the University of
Texas at Arlington said at his
deportation hearing Friday.
Aletwei, 30, said he has
since changed his views and
confessed to help U.S. authori
ses better guard against people
like him.
However, U.S. Immigration
fudge D. Anthony Rogers on
Triday ordered Aletwei, who
came to the U.S. in August 2001
as part of a Jordanian-sponsored
student exchange program,
deported within five days.
He was three months shy of
earning a master’s degree in soft
ware engineering.
“1 abhor the thought process
es that you acknowledge,” the
judge said. “The issue we have
in this nation since 9-11 is we
Want to act on the side of cau-
|on, and it will be necessary to
send you home. That’s my final
See Deportee on page 2A
U.N. faces ‘moment
By Will Lester
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va.
— President Bush said Sunday that Iraq
has fooled the world for more than a
decade about its banned weapons and the
United Nations now faces “a moment of
truth” in disarming Saddam Hussein.
“It is clear that not only is Saddam
Hussein deceiving, it is clear he’s not
disarming. And so you’ll see us over the
next short period of time working with
friends and allies and the United
Nations to bring that body along,” Bush
told congressional Republicans at a pol
icy conference.
He said the terrorist acts of Sept. 11
changed America and the world.
Before the attacks. Bush said, “We
were confident that two oceans could
protect us from harm. ... We are now a
battle ground. We are vulnerable.”
Bush said the U.S. public needs to
understand that the country is expanding
the fight against terrorism to Iraq and
elsewhere.
Saddam “wants the world to think
that hide-and-seek is a game that we
should play. And it’s over,” Bush said.
The president spoke as chief U.N.
weapons inspector Hans Blix said in
Baghdad that he saw a beginning of
Iraq’s understanding that it must serious
ly observe U.N. demands for disarma
ment. U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed
ElBaradei said he expected the Security
of truth,’ Bush says
Council to give the inspectors more time
“as long as we are registering good
progress.”
Asked later about Blix’s statement.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
noted that the president has said: “Given
the fact that Saddam Hussein is not dis
arming, time is running out.”
Blix and ElBaradei are to make their
next report to the U.N. Security Council
on Friday. That could be pivotal toward
determining whether the United States
should launch military action against
Iraq and its allies.
In his speech, given while the inspec
tors held a televised news conference
from Iraq, Bush said, “It’s a moment of
truth for the United Nations. The United
Nations gets to decide shortly whether or
not it is going to be relevant in terms of
keeping the peace, whether or not its
words mean anything.
“But one thing is certain, for the sake
of peace and for the sake of security of the
United States and our friends and allies,
we will disarm Saddam Hussein if he will
not disarm himself.”
Bush said “it is important for the coun
try to realize that Saddam Hussein has
fooled the world for 12 years, is used to
fooling the world, is confident he can fool
the world.”
Earlier, Bush’s national security advis
er, Condoleezza Rice, dismissed move
ment toward compliance by Iraq as anoth
er attempt at “cheat and retreat.”
“We have seen this game with Iraq
many times before,” she said.
Robin Hood plan to be revamped
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
A bill to repeal Texas’ Robin Hood school funding
system could save further job cuts at the College Station
Independent School District while leaving a gaping hole
in state funding for the majority of school districts
statewide.
The CSISD released 46 people to compensate for
$2.3 million in budget cuts made for the 2003 fiscal
year, said Dr. Steve Johnson, superintendent of CSISD.
Johnson said future cuts are expected if the funding
system does not change.
“That $2.3 million number is just for this year, it may
go up to 3.3 and maybe 4.3,” Johnson said.
Under the Robin Hood plan currently in place,
money is taken from 150 of the state’s 1,047 school dis
tricts, and redistributed, by the state, to the remaining
897 districts, said Dr. John Walch, assistant superin
tendent for Business for Edgewood ISD, the leading
plaintiff in the school finance court case filed against the
state of Texas in 1984.
The bill, which was approved by the House Public
Education Committee on Tuesday, would save CSISD
the $1.1 million that was taken by the state under the
Robin Hood plan. The state redistributes that money to
school districts less property-rich than College Station
under the Robin Hood system. The proposed bill would
end that process.
In their 1989 ruling Edgewood ISD v. Kirby, the
Texas Supreme Court found that the then current system
was inequitable and unconstitutional and required the
state legislature to find a new school financing system.
The state legislature passed the Robin Hood plan in
1993, and the Texas Supreme Court approved the deci
sion in 1995.
Any changes the legislature makes must be approved
by the state supreme court and provide similar revenues
for students at similar tax rates.
|
Bill
- Ends Robin Hood plan, offers no
school funding alternative
- 80% of Texas school districts receive
funding from the Robin Hood System
- College Station ISD would save
$1 million if Sunset Bill passes
Travis Swenson • THE BATTALION
Source: Kent Grusendorf, Dr. John Walch, Dr. Steve Johnson
Johnson said that while an equitable funding system
is needed to assist school districts with little funding, the
solution is not to take money away from wealthier
school districts.
The sunset bill, which would not take effect until
See Robin Hood on page 5A