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engaged couples and those thinking of getting
engaged to join us for a 6-week seminar on
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$75 Per Couple Fee Includes:
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Congratulations Fish
Camp 2003 Namesakes!
Christina Aguilar - Multicultural Services
Mike Balog - Political Science
Karen Beathard - Nutrition
Risa Bierman - Student Life
Dr. Alice Blue-McLendon - Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Larry Boleman - Animal Science
Brooke Bond - Industrial Distribution
Jennifer Boyle - Memorial Student Center
Jason Boyle - Rec Sports
William Breazeale - Former Student
Carolyn Cox - Alcohol and Drug Education
Dr. Rick Curry - Modern and Classical Languages
Dr. Donnalee Dox - Theatre Arts
Sharra Durham - Student Activities
Brian Fisher - Grace Bible Church
Crystal Goodman - English
Melinda Grant - Health and Kinesiology
Jay Griffin - Veterinary
Hal Hall - Cushing Library
Dr. Robert Hall - Educational Psychology
Sam Herrmann - Measurement and Research
Pat Hurst - Food Services
Kelli Hutka - Association of Former Students
Dr. Robert Knight - Rangeland Ecology and Mgmt
Jo Ann Ledlow - Career Center Resource Library
Ginger Melton - Custodial Services
Dr. Larry Piper - Petroleum Engineering
Patrice Poage - Mathematics
Mickey Saloma - Admissions and Records
Kristi Shryock - Career Center
Charles Sippial - Administration
Molly Snell-Witt - Health and Kinesiology
Kathleen Speed - Center for Academic Enhancement
Lt. Gen. John Van Alstyne - Corps of Cadets
Dr. Lynne Walters - International Studies
Jim Woods - Former Student
10
WORL!
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
THE BATTALIO
Four U.S. soldiers killed in
Kuwait helicopter crash
By Chris Tomlinson
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KUWAIT CITY (AP) — A U.S. Army
Black Hawk helicopter on night training
crashed Tuesday in the Kuwaiti desert,
killing all four crew members. The Kuwaiti
military said sandstorms were reported in
the area at the time the chopper went down.
The aircraft, which belonged to the
Army’s V Corps, was part of the force that
has massed in this Persian Gulf emirate for
a possible invasion of Iraq.
The Pentagon identified those killed
Tuesday as Spc. Rodrigo Gonzalez-Garza,
26, of San Antonio; Chief Warrant Officer
Timothy W. Moehling, 35, of Florida; Chief
Warrant Officer John D. Smith, 32, of
Nevada; and Spc. William J. Tracy, 27, of
New Hampshire.
Based out of Germany for the past year,
Rodrigo Gonzalez was a crew chief on
Black Hawk helicopters and was one of sev
eral siblings involved in military service. He
had been in Kuwait for three weeks. His
twin brother, Ricardo, an Army combat
medic, is stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y.
“I loved him. I love him,” his father.
Ramiro Gonzalez Sr., said in Wednesday’s
San Antonio Express-News. “What hap
pened hurts. There are no words for this.
4 T can’t say what is just or what isn’t,” he
said. “You can’t hold the government
accountable for what happened.”
Veronica Valadez, 32, of San Antonio
said her brother asked in a telephone call
Friday for a water backpack, boots, choco
late and candies.
“Unfortunately, he never saw them.” she
said.
Kuwait army spokesman Col. Youssef al-
Mulla said the helicopter went down in bad
weather. Sandstorms and high winds were
reported overnight and continued Tuesday
afternoon.
The UH-60 Black Hawk crashed about 1
a.m. near Camp New Jersey about 30 miles
northwest of Kuwait City, an Amiy state
ment said.
The helicopter was part of the 158th
Aviation Regiment, 5th Battalion, of the
12th Aviation Brigade based in Giebelstadt,
Germany. The group is attached to V Corps’
11th Attack Helicopter Regiment, which is
part of some 9,000 troops from the corps
deployed as part of the recent U.S. buildup.
It includes a headquarters unit commands
by Lt. Gen. William Wallace.
V Corps spokesman Bill Roche saidfroii
the corps headquarters in Heidelberg
Germany, that it was still too early tospe®
late about a cause of the crash.
“A V Corps safety team is already 01
site, and then additional people are 1
in from the U.S. Army Safety CenterinFoit
Rucker, Ala.,” Roche said.
The bodies are expected to be 1
back to Germany, Roche said.
The helicopter was one of twoV
helicopters participating in the exercklTif
other returned safely.
On Jan. 30, an MH-60, an adaptedver
sion of the Black Hawk, crashed in a
ing mission seven miles east of BagramAii
Base in Afghanistan. Four members ofi
elite aviation regiment were killed.
More than 70,000 U.S. troops are
ing in the Kuwaiti desert in preparation foil
possible invasion of Iraq. President
has threatened to use force to disai
Baghdad of weapons of mass destruction!
it does not do so voluntarily according it
U.N. resolutions. Iraq denies it has
weapons..
Consumer confidence falls to
lowest level in nearly a decade
By Rebecca Gomez
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Consumer
confidence plunged in February
to its lowest level in nearly 10
years, dragged down by the
prospect of war with Iraq.
The Consumer Confidence
Index fell almost 15 points to
64.0 — its lowest reading since
October 1993 — from 78.8 in
January, the Conference Board
reported Tuesday. Analysts were
predicting a reading of 77.0.
“On all fronts, it’s jitters
about the upcoming war with
Iraq,” said Josh Feinman, chief
economist for Deutsche Asset
Management in New York.
The Dow Jones industrials
fell as much as 138 points to a
fresh four-year low before
staging a late-day rally on bar
gain hunting. The Dow rose
51.26 points to close at
7,909.50, while the Nasdaq
composite index gained 6.6
points at 1,328.98.
Economists closely track con
sumer confidence because con
sumer spending accounts for two-
thirds of U.S. economic activity.
“The gloom is deepening,”
said economist Oscar Gonzalez
of John Hancock Financial
Services in Boston. “A stagnant
job market, rising oil prices,
slumping stock prices and the
threat of war with Iraq, all of
these seem to be pressing down
heavily on consumers.”
Still, Americans continued
their home-buying frenzy last
month as the housing market
remained one of the few bright
spots in the economy.
Sales of previously owned
homes surged in January to their
best month ever, at a seasonally
adjusted annual rate of 6.09 mil
lion, the National Association of
Realtors said Tuesday. That rep
resented a strong 3 percent
increase from December and
defied analysts’ expectations
that home sales would dip
slightly to a rate of 5.80 million.
“It's mortgage rates,” said
David Lereah, the association’s
chief economist. He said low
mortgage rates are “the fuel for
the housing engine.”
The average, fixed-rate 30-
year mortgage dropped to 5.92
percent in January — the low
est level since the early 1960s.
The average in December was
6.05 percent.
Low mortgage rates
pushed sales of both new and
existing homes to record levels
last year. And, last week, the
government reported that con
struction of new homes and
apartments posted a 16-year
high in January.
Economists say potential
home buyers see houses as an
attractive investment compared
with the turbulent stock market.
The national median home
price in January was $160,400,
up 6.7 percent from the same
month a year ago.
With the United States mov
ing closer to war, the
Consumer Confidence Index
was down for the third straight
month in February, as those
surveyed expressed more wor
ries about the job outlook and
Consumer confidence
Here is a look at the Consumei
Confidence Index from a survey
of 5,000 U.S. households.
Seasonally adjusted, 1985-100
120
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Editor in Cl
Managing Ed\
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One year ago 95.0
MAM J JASON DJF
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SOURCE: The Conference Board k
their incomes.
The Present Situation Indei,
which gauges consumers’seift
ment about current business
conditions, dropped to 61.6 ii
February from 75.3 in Jai
The latest time the index : I
such lows was in Novemta
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The Battalior
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Show off
In response t
Feb. 25 news
NEWS IN BRIEF
Bernard Law begins testimony
BOSTON (AP) - Cardinal Bernard Law
began testifying Tuesday before a grand jury
investigating whether criminal charges
should be filed against him or any other top
church officials for their handling of priests
accused of sexual abuse.
Law resigned as Boston archbishop in
December after enduring a year of revela
tions that he and top aides reassigned
priests who were known molesters to dif
ferent parishes.
Reilly's office would not comment on Law's
testimony Tuesday. Reilly has been publicly
critical of church officials, but has also
acknowledged the difficulty in bringing crim
inal charges against them
"There was a cOver-up. There was an
elaborate scheme," Reilly said in December.
But "it is very difficult under the criminal
laws of this state to hold a superior account
able for the acts of another.'
New York tallies homeless
NEW YORK (AP) - More than 1,000 vol
unteers ventured out on to the streets of
Manhattan in below-freezing temperatures
early Tuesday to help the city count its
homeless.
The effort was New York City's first offi®
attempt to come up with an official tally.
"We believe that if you have a problem
you have to know what it's all about
order to solve it," said Commissioner Liu
Gibbs, who heads the Department
Homeless Services.
Advocates say homeless numbers are d
record highs. More than 38,000
people slept nightly in city shelters as
month, 7,400 more than the previous ye*
according to the Coalition for the Homeless
"We believe that there is more we tit
do," Gibbs said.
read the fine print.
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