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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 11, 2003)
Opinion: Money woes • Page 11 NATION PHE BATTALION ig on ;case i to offer hearsay itors sought an to the general rule :arsay in trials, citing ion for conspiracy t Conlon said they to show a conspiracy itors allege that there evidence connecting i al-Qaida: aid on the charity’s fices in March pro- lutes of the meeting 1-Qaida was founded len, as well as photos cutors say connect ith the terrorist mas- lamed Bayazid, who to prosecutors once »et uranium so al- uld build an atom s listed as president lence in 1993. a Laden’s alleged ief, Mamdouh Salim, tosnia in 1998 with iscribing him as a ce director. the late 1980s, as close to bin Laden stan, even serving as st leader’s chauffeur, s allege. /en-count indictment out used his charity • money to al-Qaida early 1990s, that ce paid for the lodg- Salim’s Bosnia visit, enevolence produced ising video for al- tosnia. itors also allege that ice sent an X-ray uniforms and steel- anti-mine boots to ebels fighting Sor/rf 1995. But defense say those things add anitarian aid and not rrorism. ts of : spying ;hts to Americans or when they are appre- rism should not be ie very rights we are said. ent’s policy is David ashington, D.C., who > foiled crimes with combatants. Giving interrogations and aid. e debating the issue itly sponsored by the servative Federalist g board will decide at her to take a stand on , including standards I contend the ABA ihould be provided to ons applied so that promised. cLean, Va., a former ABA committee that urity, said attorneys to American citizen is weighing in on the er Congress gave the 11, 2001, attacks. Sports: Aggies start 2003 campaign at Olsen Field • Page 7 nPTTT"! T\ A tTpOTri A T Y X T THE BATTALION Volume 109 • Issue 93 • 12 pages Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Tuesday, February 11, 2003 ‘Scrap fire’ may be included in senate proposal Bonfire is not a part of this proposal. ” -Dr. Malon Southerland Ik,.. cc The Bonfire decision is a part of TABS. ” — Dr. Robert M. Gates By Janet McLaren THE BATTALION Texas A&M Vice President for Student Affairs J. Malon Southerland said he does not foresee the return of the Aggie Bonfire this fall, despite con flicting statements by other University officials on aStudent Senate proposal that includes a modified version of the traditional Bonfire. "In my opinion, there will be no Bonfire this year,” Southerland said. Southerland is part of a group of administrators evaluating a Student Senate proposal called Texas Aggies Building Spirit (TABS). If approved in its entirety, students would be involved in designing and building projects across Texas in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. The leftover wood from the buildings could be used to make a scrap fire, similar to how Aggie Bonfire originally began, according to Kyle Carlton, junior business finance major and the external affairs chariman of Student Senate. Southerland and Gates responded in markedly different ways when questioned on the TABS connection to the return of a University-spon sored Bonfire. Southerland infonned student senators in a memo Jan. 14 that the “scrap fire” aspect of TABS as outlined in the proposal was not a viable option. “The ‘scrap fire’ is impossible to support at this time,” Southerland said in the memo. “More infor mation and discussions are required related to this particular aspect of the proposal.” “Bonfire is not a part of this proposal,” Southerland said. The final decision about TABS rests in the hands of A&M President Robert M. Gates. While Gates said he was not ready to make an official statement on Bonfire, he did say that the scrap fire idea was being considered along with the TABS proposal. “The Bonfire decision is a part of TABS,” he said. Director of the Memorial Student Center Jim Reynolds said he had no knowledge of a connection between Bonfire and the scrap fire that was a part of the proposal presented to a group of administrators See Bonfire on page 6 Gates: A&M education still a bargain By: Nicole M. Jones THE BATTALION Addressing the Texas A&M Faculty Senate meeting Monday, University President Robert M. Gates said despite rises in student fees and tuiton costs, receiving an education at A&M is “still a bargain.” Kiplinger Magazine lists A&M and the University of Texas as two of the top 100 “best deals” for education in the United States, he said. Gates said he would like the state to take some of the financial burden off of college students. “Increasing the cost for students and their fam ilies ought to be the last resort, not the first choice,” he said. Gates said that even with the current 7 percent budget cut and the 12.5 percent budget cut, equalling $52 million for fiscal year 2004-2005, he wants to protect faculty, staff and students as much as possible. Gates’ three principles for approaching the budget cuts include protecting teaching and research, avoiding laying off personnel and offering as much access to research opportunities. The lowest cuts will be in instructional pro grams, with larger cuts in special items and infra structure, respectively, he said. Gates said he welcomes suggestions from fac ulty members about how to effectively handle the budget cuts. Suggestions can be sent to the Faculty Senate office, he said. Motions from the core curriculum council See Senate on page 2 Wanna race? RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION Three-year old Evan Howard and two-year-old Holden Howard pre- afternoon. The two brothers enjoy going to the park together to swing, pare to go down the slide at Castlegate Park in College Station Monday slide, and most of all have a mock sword fight. A&M and UT unite for education funding By Melissa Fowler THE BATTALION On the athletic field they are fierce competi tors, but the Aggies and Longhorns will unite in Austin today to work toward a common goal that could end up costing students more money in tuition fees. Alumni and students from the two largest nniversities in Texas traveled to Austin Tuesday for the Orange & Maroon Legislative Day to lobby for higher education funding. One of the main issues up before the state legislature is tuition deregulation, which would allow boards of regents flexibility with raising tuition rates without state approval. Texas Exes Public Policy Coordinator Leticia Gonzales said the universities are lob bying legislators for continued state support for current services, allowing universities to retain 100 percent of indirect cost and granti ng local control to state institutions to set their own tuition. The grass roots effort relies on the person al accounts of former students to persuade politicians and communicate the value of a college education. “We want to go to Austin and impress upon the legislature the importance of higher education,” said Barry Hammond, Memorial Student Center Council president and senior economics major. Joan Tatge, director of communications for the Association of Former Students at Texas A&M, said the schools’ alumni are trying to find a way to promote their universities as top research centers. “It is not so much issues-based but getting awareness out there of the value of Texas A&M and the University of Texas-Austin as premiere research and educational institutions that have impact well beyond the city limits of Bryan- College Station and Austin,” she said. Tatge said individual alumni are encouraged to speak their minds about issues such as tuition deregulation, though the Association of Former Students will not take a stance on the issue. Volunteer recruiting practices of this effort have come under fire due to a recent e-mail from the Texas Exes Alumni Office dated Feb. 4, which was sent to the Texas Exes chapter and individuals listservs. The e-mail said, “you do not have to be See Funding on page 2 Jrange-Maroon Legislative Day When: Tuesday, Feb. 11 1:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. State Capitol and Stephen F. Austin Hotel Austin, TX A&M, UT alumni and student leaders meet with legislators. Both university's presidents will attend To lobby for higher education funding and discuss tuition regulation TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION SOURCE: Association of Former Students ows 237/238/242 >8/218 f 123/123 [ETS: /HISTORY iCIOLOGY HOLOGY *A SOLN 'S IG 209 .UTIONS End of Muslim holiday raises alarm By Lecia Baker THE BATTALION Campus security has not signifi cantly increased in the past week, even though a national security alert was recently announced in conjunc tion with the Islamic holiday Eid-Ul- Adha, one of only two Islamic reli gious holidays celebrated yearly. Intelligence reports have suggest ed an increased likelihood that the al-Qaida terrorist network may attempt to attack Americans in the United States or abroad at the end of Hajj, the Muslim religious period ending mid-February, according to The Associated Press. Faisal Chaudhry, president of the Islamic Community of Bryan- College Station, said the months of Hajj are known as the forbidden months in Islam because violence against humans, plants and animals is prohibited during this time period. “Historically, people who have traveled (to Mecca) have gone over land and over sea, and the journey used to be long and arduous,” he said. “It would take a matter of months to come and go back. To ensure that time was free from any threat of vio lence or disruption, security and peace was emphasized much more.” Chaudhry said any Muslim who would attempt to use this occasion to engage in violence would be going “dead against” all of the principles and the spirit of the whole Hajj season. Zahir Latheef, a sophomore com puter science major and a practicing Muslim, said the majority of Muslims make a point to celebrate the Hajj without violence of any kind. “There’s about 1.2 to 1.5 billion people celebrating this holiday in a very peaceful and spiritual manner, and I would hope these kinds of ter rorist alerts don’t overshadow the real significance of the holiday,” Latheef said. See Muslim on page 6 Anti-terror law questioned By Jesse J. Holland THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Democrats on Monday asked the Justice Department to explain reports that it plans to ask Congress to expand an anti-terrorism law to increase surveillance while restricting access to information and limiting judi cial review. House Judiciary Democrats called on Attorney General John Ashcroft to explain the existence of a copy of draft legislation called the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003. The Center for Public Integrity, which posted the document online Friday, said it had obtained it from a government source. Attorney General John Ashcroft said Monday that the Justice Department is working to figure out “what we can do to be more successful” in the war on terror ism. “We’re going to do that on a daily basis,” Ashcroft said. The new legislation, according to the alleged draft, would prohibit disclosure of information regarding people detained as terrorist suspects and prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from distributing “worst-case scenario” infor mation to the public about a nearby pri vate company’s use of chemicals. The measure would create a DNA database of “suspected terrorists”; force suspects to prove why they should be See Democrats on page 2