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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2003)
icc- a match made Sports: Aggies pitch shutout against Sam Houston • Page 5 ai. Ford • THE BATTALION nday afternoon. The Jational Engineering February 15-22. pede juries fitclub chaos one released pepper spray ;e into the air in the ie Night Club causing eds of guests to rush to ts. At least 21 people were id to death in the panic. Merrill C. ^ Meigs Field / J Burnham— St Paric M 1 * 1# Epitome Night Club 1 3: Associated Press; ESRI ^ :stigation is at full tilt." lorities initially reported ' as 1,500 people were in itclub, but Joyce said lit ot confirm that number. eet! aesecake ; of any adult entree uble Slice Pizza) 'vey Rd./694-5i99/694-5299 t. (across from Baylor) 1/752-1296 oss from Home Depot) '399-0098 per visit at participating only. Expires 5/31/03 ---J B38 88888 888S8f 8888S SS888 88S8S 8888 ^ Volume 109 • Issue 99 • 10 pages Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Wednesday, February 19, 2003 A&M free-speech zones will not change By Janet McLaren THE BATTALION Texas A&M is not reevaluating its campus free-speech policies despite a recent conflict between protesters and students and the University of Texas’ recent designation of its entire campus as a free speech area. “We have not officially discussed anything recently about this,” said Dennis Busch, manager of the University Center at A&M. “It is not on any upcoming agenda.” A&M’s current regulations desig nate three areas as free- speech zones: Rudder Fountain, the Lawrence Sullivan Ross Statue area in front of the Academic Building, and the West Campus mall area. Rudder Fountain is the only location where sound equip ment is allowed. Individuals or groups who wish to publicly express their views on cam pus must submit a request to the Scheduling Office at least two days before the event, according to University Scheduling. “Two of these three locations are the most highly visible areas on cam pus,” Busch said. “We felt we were being very fair.” UT is already operating under new rules developed by the Task Force on Assembly and Expression and endorsed by the UT Faculty Council in January. The policies abolish the free- speech zone concept, said Douglas Laycock, UT law professor and chair of the task force. “The idea of free-speech zones is wrong,” Laycock said. “We decided that the only part of free speech that needed to be confined was amplified sound during weekdays.” A conflict between A&M’s Ross Volunteers Honor Corps Organization members and antiwar protesters occurred Feb. 3 in front of the Sul Ross statue when protesters perceived the Corps of Cadets members’ drills and exercises around the area as offen sive. The Ross Volunteers were cleared of any wrongdoing last week after a Corps-led investigation. A&M political science professor William Anthony said the current A&M free-speech policies are not unconstitutional. “The courts have said you can designate where you can hold free speech and where you can’t,” he said. “The purpose of A&M’s rules are to keep free speech away from where students are and where it doesn’t interfere with the school.” See Speech on page 2 Free Speech Zones '"jSf L Li SiiHivan Ros* Statiw Ar<sa ' Must submit a i request to the : University Scheduling Office u at least two days in advance if ! interested in utilizing an area. 845-8904 W*si Campm Wall Ar-M Travis Swenson • THE BATTALION Source: the University Center Pizza, anyone? Sharia Wisialowski, a sophomore mechanical engineering Engineers' Council. National Engineers Week con mu major, adds another box to the pile as students devoured today with free snow cones in Zachry Lobby and a bow mg 450 pizzas during a free lunch sponsored by the Student tournament at 7 p.m. at Triangle Bowl. Many countries demand more Iraq inspections By Edith M. Lederer THE ASSOCIATED PRESS UNITED NATIONS (AP) — While the United States and Britain worked on a new resolu tion that would authorize military action in Iraq, many countries spoke out Tuesday against a rush to war and demanded more weapons inspections to disarm Baghdad peacefully. Speaking on behalf of 115 mainly developing countries in the Non-Aligned Movement, South Africa urged the Security Council to strengthen inspections and “redouble its efforts to bring about the peaceful resolution to the situation in Iraq.” The message from Friday’s council briefing by top weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei “is that the inspection process in Iraq is working and that Iraq is showing clear signs of cooperating more proactively with the inspectors,” South Africa’s U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo said. The Non-Aligned Movement asked for the open council meet ing to give countries that aren’t on the 15-member council a chance to present their views on the Iraq crisis, and 60 signed up to speak on Tuesday and Wednesday. Kumalo, the leadoff speaker, noted that over the past two months inspectors have verified information provided by a num ber of countries but so far have turned up no weapons of mass destruction. “None of the information pro vided "thus far would seem to jus tify the Security Council aban doning the inspection process and immediately resorting to the threatened ‘serious conse quences,”’ he said. “We believe that resorting to war, without exhausting all other options, rep resents an admission of failure by the Security Council in carrying out its duty of maintaining inter national peace and security.” Kumalo urged Iraq to cooper ate fully with inspectors to avoid war — a plea echoed by two of Iraq’s closest neighbors — Kuwait, which Saddam Hussein’s See U.N. on page 8 A&M students continue work in Texas colonias By Lauren Smith THE BATTALION In Mexico, a “colonia” is simply a neighborhood, yet just across the border in this country, the word takes on a whole new meaning of communities with dirt roads, no running water and self-built housing. In 1999, representatives from Texas A&M and the University of Texas, along with federal and state officials, signed an agreement signifying their mutual commit ment to bettering the health, living envi ronment and nutrition of the residents in Texas’ 1,800 different colonias. “These communities are home to around 400,000, and some believe the fig ure is more like a 500,000 population,” said Kermit Blake, director of the Center for Housing and Urban Development. "Our role is to help these people become less isolated and more resilient families.” The average colonias family has five members and an average income of $10,000 a year, he said. Currently, 16 community resource cen ters service the colonias, in which 400 to $00 public and private entities are provid ing health care and educational services to residents. Along with these community centers providing aid, A&M students are also given the opportunity to earn credit, research what the people in the communi ties need and live with a family in the colo nias for the summer. The setting for this summer’s courses is Weslaco. CHUD, a part of the College of Architecture at A&M, runs the Colonias Program. A special item in A&M’s budget from the Texas Legislature allots $900,000 to the program, and $5 million of external support also comes in annually. “There are several University-colonias partnerships we are developing through collaborative, community-based research,” said Dr. Marlynn May, director of field- based research and learning for CHUD. “Through integrating research into the communities, residents are very involved in the process. It is not just researchers going in and jotting figures down.” Octavios Bonaquiste, an A&M gradu ate and current graduate student at UT- Arlington, lived in a colonia with a family of five in a two-bedroom home. He said a lot can be said for living what you are studying. “Actually living in the home with a family had the most profound impact on my life,” Bonaquiste said. “The family I stayed with had so little yet gave me so much. There was a complete warmth about them.” Signora Bernal, the mother in the home Bonaquiste resided in, served as a “promo- tora”, or promoter, in her colonia. Promotoras are residents who are recruited, trained and supervised as knowledge resources for their neighborhoods. “These promotoras are an essential part of the program because they can disseminate information throughout the community much more rapidly than any other kind of employee by going door- to-door and letting residents know about free immunization going on at a community center or a threatening health issue like mosquito infections,” Bonaquiste said. See Colonias on page 2 Local police upgrade vehicle lights By Bernhard Hall THE BATTALION Following the lead of the University Police Department, the College Station Police Department is replacing the old light bars on top of their cars with new, thinner ones that are more difficult for drivers to see. UPD replaced all of its patrol cars last summer, and its new vehi cles include new, slimmer light bars. UPD’s primary jurisdiction includes all property under the con trol of Texas A&M. So far, only five CSPD patrol cars have the lights, but eventually all of them will, said Lt. Rodney Sigler, CSPD’s public information officer. The light bars are added when each vehicle is replaced, Sigler said. The upgrade is not intended to trap unsuspecting motorists but to give officers added safety, said UPD officer Matt Joseph. The lights are brighter, making them safer for officers, he said. He said while there has been no signif icant increase in the amount of traf fic stops, the lights are less conspicuous. “Something different is added every year depending on what tech nology is out there,” Sigler said. Adam A. Krazer • THE BATTALION A University Police Department vehi cle with the thinner light bar. The new lights are also more reliable and require less mainte nance than the old ones, Sigler said. Some students said they do not See Police on page 2 New department head faces challenges By Melissa Fowler THE BATTALION Dr. Tim Davis, newly named horticulture sciences department head, said he has never been an 8-to-5, Monday-through-Friday type of employee. Since his appointment Feb. 1, Davis follows a unique schedule, dividing his time between his duties in College Station and his position as resident director of the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center in Dallas. Usually Davis is in College Station three days a week to fulfill his role as department head. “I also do a lot of department head responsibilities while I am in Dallas,” he said. Through e-mail and video-conferencing capabilities, he said his location is less of a factor in his role of over seeing all teaching, research and extension functions in the horticulture department. After he accepted his new position in College Station, Davis was unable to relocate due to a family conflict, and continues to live in Plano with his wife and three children. “This dual role is not meant to be a model for the future or a permanent arrangement. It probably will only last a couple of years and then I will relocate to College Station,” he said. To accommodate the demands of his jobs, Davis relies on the help of others. An associate resident director posi tion was recently created at the Dallas Extension Center to assist Davis with daily operations. “We will have competent leadership teams in place at both locations to make sure all business is tended to,” he said. “My approach has always been team-oriented, so this aspect is nothing new for me.” See Davis on page 2