Opinion: Money woes • Page 11
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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
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.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