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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2003)
Accielife: You are what you drive • Page 3 Opinion: Students misrepresented • Page 9 Volume 109 • Issue 9S • 10 pages Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Tuesday, February 18, 2003 Slocum pleads no contest to misdemeanors By Michael Crow THE BATTALION Junior Texas A&M basketball player Andy Slocum pleaded no contest Monday to two Class- A misdemeanors — possession of a dangerous drug and possession of a controlled substance, according to the Brazos County District Attorney’s Office. Slocum was originally charged with felony possession of steroids, which requires possession ofa minimum of 28 grams. District Attorney Bill Turner said the decision to reduce Slocum’s charges was based on the specific circumstances of the case. At present, Slocum is awaiting a pre sentence investigation. “It was close to the misdemeanor amount... and we tried to find what would be a legitimate response,” Turner said. “Sometimes when there are close calls like that, you take all the circum stances into consideration.” Slocum was arrested in the early morning hours of Jan. 19 and charged with felony posses sion of a controlled substance when police reports described syringes, brown glass bottles and a vial labeled “Anabolic St.” found in his Chevrolet Tahoe. Slocum spent the night in jail before post ing a $30,000 bail. A&M Head Coach Melvin Watkins suspended Slocum until more details could be gathered. Slocum could not be reached for comment, but in Watkin’s weekly press conference on Monday, that he briefly addressed questions regarding his 7-foot center. “Some of those things I’m not in a position to answer,” Watkins said. “The University is obviously involved, and we’ve just got to sit back and let it work its course a little bit.” Although he has been suspended from partici pation in games, Slocum has practiced with the A&M squad for the past two weeks. Watkins did not say how long Slocum’s sus pension would continue. “It’s at a point now where some decisions can be made whether he is going to play or not, but that decision has not been made yet,” Watkins said. “I’ve seen him every day up close, and he is chomping at the bit to get back out on the play ing floor. He’s taking care of all his business, and that’s what I expected of him.” If Slocum is permitted to return, he would rejoin an A&M team (12-9, 4-6 Big 12) in the See Slocum on page 2 € SLOCUM U.N. leaders give Saddam ‘last chance’ By Barry Renfrew THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BRUSSELS, Belgium — European leaders, trying to end their bitter dispute over Iraq, warned Saddam Hussein on Monday he faces a “last chance” to disarm, but gave no deadline and said U.N. weapons inspectors must have more time to finish their work. The statement came at the end of a European Onion emergency summit on the crisis with Baghdad. Diplomats insisted they had healed the rift owU.S. calls for military action. But significant mions remained, with some states saying the &kl Nations could still disarm Iraq peacefully. '’"War is not inevitable. Force should be used only as a last resort. It is for the Iraqi regime to end this crisis by complying fully with the demands of the Security Council,” the 15 nations said in the joint declaration. That was seen as a setback for Germany, which has opposed war under any circumstances. “Baghdad should have no illusions. It must disarm and cooperate immediately and fully. The Iraqi regime alone will be responsible for the con sequences if it continues to flout the will of the international community and does not take this last chance,” the leaders said. While that position will cheer the United States and Britain, which are urging military action, there was still strong support for continued, possibly increased U.N. weapons inspections. The statement gave no indication of how much longer inspections should continue, but said they could not'go on for ever without Iraqi cooperation. See Saddam on page 2 Dragon train RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION Lee's Golden Dragon team of Houston performs the Dragon and beginning of prosperity, good luck, longevity and wealth. The Lion dance in the Memorial Student Center Flagroom on Monday, celebration was sponsored by the University's Asian Cultures The Lunar New Year, celebrated from Feb. 1 to 21, symbolizes a new Education Group. Budget shortfall leaves students short-changed By Connie Mabin THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN — An estimated 5,000 stu dents would be denied free college tuition promised to them by the state because of cuts designed to ease a pro jected $10 billion budget shortfall, law makers were told Monday. Texas Higher Education Commissioner Don Brown told members of the House Appropriations Committee that budget cuts would mean the Texas Grant scholar ship program would not be able to provide aid to all of the estimated 80,000 students who will be eligible in 2004-05. “That is a bad idea,” said Gov. Rick Perry, who’s championed the program on the campaign trail. Brown “making a recommendation and reality may be a fairly wide gulf,” he said. Texas is facing the shortfall because of declining sales tax revenue and rising expenses. State agencies were asked to cut their budget requests by 12.5 percent so lawmakers could balance the next state spending plan without new taxes. Public medical schools also would see “catastrophic cuts,” with the Baylor College of Medicine being the hardest hit. Brown said. The college would lose at least $55 million, more than 80 percent of its state funding. “How do we hold faith with the See Budget on page 2 Panel: A&M needs JOHN C. LIYAS • THE BATTALION Faculty Senate Speaker Robert Strawser addresses an audience with opening remarks while Black Graduate Student Association President Damali Moore and Student Body President Zac Coventry listen on. The African American Student Coalition spon sored a panel discussion regarding affirmative action. more diversity By Nicole M. Jones THE BATTALION An eight-person panel composed of Texas A&M President Robert M. Gates, students and faculty discussed the status of black students at A&M Monday night. Gates said corporate America and other schools “will not look kindly upon a flagship university that fails to change with the times.” Damali Moore, president of the Black Graduate Student Association at A&M, said that having “something black students can call their own” would help black students feel more welcome at A&M. Money and environment both factor in to minority students’ decisions about where to attend college, Gates said. “When people hear about racist cartoons and see stories about ‘ghetto parties,’ parents don’t want See Panel on page 2 White-tail deer cloning at A&M - Started Fall 2002 Aims to discover how genetics and feed affect antler growth - Texas hunting industry provides 31,711 jobs, $864 million in salaries and wages - One out of every 18 Texans is licensed to hunt Travis Swenson • THE BATTALION Source: the College ol Veterinary Medicine and the Department of Wildlife AND Deer cloning aims to bring in bigger bucks By Lecia Baker THE BATTALION Texas A&M began a white- tail deer cloning project last fall intended to increase scien tists’ knowledge of white-tail deer genetics, said Dr. Mark E. Westhusin, associate professor of the Veterinary Medicine Department. The project is focused on the combination of feed and genet ic background needed to pro duce large bucks, he said. The information gathered from the cloning project could be used to produce larger bucks with bigger antlers that would appeal to Texas hunters, Westhusin said. “We want to know how much the antler growth is dependent on genetics,” Westhusin said. The project addresses the task of conserving the genetic material from deer “We need to collect cells or semen from unusually large deer to conserve the genetic basis before they die,” Westhusin said. “We have the technologies to clone the ani mal, and we don’t want to lose the genetic pool out of the pop ulation.” Widespread interest in the project stems from the huge impact of the hunting industry on Texas and the entire United States, Westhusin said. Nate Nichols, a senior indus trial distribution major, said he would prefer hunting to remain more natural, rather than hunt ing genetically-enhanced deer that would allow him to mount a bigger set of antlers in his home. Cloning would take the fun and the sport out of hunting, . he said. Fellow hunter and senior finance major Landon Stone said he felt cloning large deer would attract more people to hunting. Texas has more than 1.2 million licensed hunters, which is one out of every 18 Texas residents, said Dr. Billy See Cloning on page 2