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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 2003)
NATION THE BATTALION LIMON • THE BATTALION uy for his girlfriend lat they were up to.” 301 destroyed the retire- ; of employees and hurt nsion funds nationwide, ee’s inquiry was among sional investigations Iasi mpany paid no federal 36 through 1999,11)12 ig again in 2001. led the concept ofki- and perhaps beyond, Enron’s behavior ilta joration can manipulate s of the law.” By using cl lawyers, investment s, “corporations likf vantage over the IRS,” panel’s chief of staff. Enron violated the tax Enron gained “inappro- e of the schemes. “This nder the tax code,” she it be down, ivestigating board con it its research “does not ic scenario of an early nt of the left gear.” i also confirmed that near Hemphill, Texas, 0 miles northeast of recovered what is to be one of i’s radial tires. A in was not immediate- vhich of the shuttle's found. re was blackened and a massive split across nit it was impossible to ether the tire was dam n'd Columbia or when he ground, oard’s announcement e day after NASA -mails showing midlev- agineers in Virginia and xinsidered the risks of ing inside Columbia’s heat damage. p@RT§; Aggies close weekend with win over UH • Page 3 Overcoming AIDS • Page 11 Volume 109 • Issue 97 • 12 pages Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Monday, February 17, 2003 Two senators reject deregulation By Rolando Garcia THE BATTALION The Student Senate will consider a resolution Wednesday rebuking Student Body President Zac Coventry for lobbying state legislators in support of luition deregulation and demanding he solicit stu dent opinion on the issue. “For Coventry to go to Austin and voice support fortuition deregulation without getting student input was reckless,” said Jeff Graham, a student senator and sophomore management major. The resolution, introduced by Graham and stu dent senator Kerri Ward, seeks to hold Coventry accountable and to put the issue of tuition deregula tion on the senate’s agenda. Coventry, however, denies speaking in sup port of deregulation and said student government would study the issue more before taking a posi tion. During a Feb. 11 trip to the state capital sponsored by the Association of Former Students, Coventry and other student leaders were supportive of deregulation, which would remove tuition caps currently in place and allow the Board of Regents to raise tuition without approval from the legislature. “We were just talking about different options,” Coventry said. “If the state cuts the University’s budg et. (raising tuition) is one way to make that up.” He also cautioned against following the lead of the University of Texas Student Government, which recently passed a resolution expressing fervent opposition to tuition deregulation. “UT may have done it a little too quickly. If you just throw a fit and say ‘no,’ you lose credibility,” he said. Friday, Student Senate Speaker Brooks Landgraf requested senators gather student opin ion on tuition deregulation for Wednesday’s meet ing. Landgraf, a senior political science major, said the request was not prompted by Graham’s resolution. Although no resolutions in support of or opposition to deregulation are currently pend ing, Landgraf said he wanted the senate to be COVENTRY u If the state cuts the University's budget, (raising tuition) is one way to make that up. ” ready to discuss the issue when a deregulation bill comes before the state legislature. Graham said the steep tuition hikes resulting from deregulation would jeapordize accessibility to a quality education for many Texans and urged stu dent leaders to oppose deregulation. “At a public university, it should be the responsi bility of elected representatives, who are accountable to the voters, to set tuition rates and not unelected regents,” Graham said. Want milk? RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION Senior agriculture development major Chad Martindale tends a Station. The cattle are part of an Embryo Transfer Research project group of research cattle after laying down hay for them to eat on at A&M. The Dairy Center is also home to a large number of cattle Sunday at the Texas A&M Dairy Center off of F&B Road in College that are milked twice a day. A&M reacts as the world protests war By Michael Neu THE BATTALION A flood of antiwar rallies has decorated the streets of Washington, D.C., New York, and most of Europe during the last few days amid fears of impending U.S. retaliatory efforts. In Geneva, around 2,500 people protested on Sunday against potential military reprisals, according to CNN. The protesters marched peacefully from the cen ter of the city to the European headquarters of the United Nations, carrying banners proclaiming, “No war,” and “Stop global ten or, fight for justice.” Although many students on the A&M campus demonstrated similar anti-war feelings at a peace rally Feb. 3, others have remained in support of the position held by President George W. Bush’s administration. “I don’t like the idea of goinc to war, but I feel that the Bush administration should be trusted in making the right decisions,” said Alexandria Arbizu, a senior marketing major. “We’ve elected them as our representatives, and we need to stand behind them on these issues.” In addition, several A&M students who had spent the summer traveling abroad shared their opinions on the bitter but evolving European sen timent on U.S. policies. “Spending most of my summer in Europe, I witnessed a lot of disdain toward Americans and U.S. foreign policy,” said Matt Josefy, a junior accounting major.” The lack of acceptance 1 some times felt as an American student led me to be more open in listening to the views and concerns See War on page 5 New top 40 radio station Source: BEN DOWNS TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION By Molly Cain THE BATTALION A local radio station will go off the air at the end of the month to make way for a new hit music station aimed to play music’s top 40 hits. KNDE 95.1, or Candy 95, will replace Clear Channel Communication’s KTSR 92.1, which plays hard rock and alterna tive music. KTSR will officially go off the air Feb. 27. Clear Channel CEO and Texas A&M University System Board of Regents member L. Lowry Mays testified Lit a congressional meeting in January that Clear Channel is not a monopoly. The new station’s history goes hits B-CS back 14 years, Downs said. It took the Federal Communications Commission that long to decide whether Bryan Broadcasting or someone else should have the rights to the frequency. He said once the FCC made its decision place a radio station in College Station instead of its com petition city, which was in Caldwell, KNDC received the go-ahead for its plans for the new station. Candy 95, which will officially launch March 3, will play only current radio hits. The new station was tested Friday afternoon to aid in a smooth transition. The first two songs played on the channel were “Amazing Grace” and the See Radio on page 2 A&M and Clark Atlanta seek alliance By Nicole M. Jones THE BATTALION The administrators of Texas A&M and Clark Atlanta University, a predom inately black university in Atlanta, Ga., are contemplating an alliance that would construct an educational pipeline between the two institutions. In January, Dr. Walter D. Broadnax, the president of Clark Atlanta, visited A&M and publicly invited A&M President Robert M. Gates to form a part nership between the two universities. A&M students would go to Clark Atlanta to study liberal arts, and Clark Atlanta students would reciprocate by sending students to A&M to study cut dif ferent fields of engineering. Brooks Landgraf, a senior political science major and speaker of the Student Senate said Clark Atlanta’s department of liberal arts is highly accredited. A measure approved by the A&M Student Senate said the benefits A&M would reap through the association with Clark Atlanta University include a more appealing curriculum to a wider spectrum of students, a more receptive learning environment and the ability to share and exchange priceless experiences with another university. Gates said he supports the student ini tiative, though he is only aware of the proposed endorsement in general terms. Landgraf said the alliance would cause no financial burden for A&M, and that both universities would possibly gain greater recognition in their counterparts’ geographic region. Clark Atlanta students would come to A&M for the same reason current stu dents do: to receive an education at the highly-ranked Dwight Look College of Engineering, Landgraf said. Levi Winn, student senator and a freshman general studies major, supports the educational alliance. “This resolution will open the door for increased knowledge and understanding of unique perspectives,” Winn said. The Student Senate unanimously approved the proposed alliance. Landgraf said the Student Senate feels See Clark on page 2 Gas prices experience record highs in Texas By Brad Bennett THE BATTALION Gasoline prices experienced a record one-week increase last week and will continue to rise as crude oil inventories are at the lowest point since 1975, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. The price of fuel rose more than 8 cents last week to a statewide average of $1.56 per gallon, almost a 50 percent increase since the statewide price of $ 1.04 during February 2002. Texas prices are 4 cents less than the national average of $1.60 and 19 cents less than the California average of $1.75, the highest statewide average. Texas is categorized as part of the EIA Gulf Coast region, which experienced the largest increase out of the five regions. The lowest regional increase was in the West Coast region. Local prices posted on gaspricewatch.com range from $1.49 per gallon for regular to $1.59 at gas stations in Bryan- See Gas on page 5 RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION The weekend highs in College Station were similar to this Exxon