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Aggielife: The need for speed • Page 3 Sports: Ags head to Lubbock • Page 5
Volume 109 • Issue 116 • 10 pages
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Texas A&M University
www.thebatt.com
Friday, March 21, 2003
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Demonstrators hold up signs of at the pro
peace protest at the George Bush Presidential
ALISSA HOLL1MON •THE BATTALION
Library Complex Thursday night. More than 100
protesters gathered.
Protesters gather at Bush Library
By Melissa Fowler
THE BATTALION
“All we are saying is give peace a chance,”
sang protesters participating in a candlelight vigil
Thursday night at the George Bush Presidential
Library Complex.
More than 100 protesters gathered at the
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Wellborn
Road and walked to the Bush Library holding
signs and singing antiwar sentiments.
Rebel Tekleab, a senior philosophy major and
one of the organizers of the vigil, said the pro
testers encountered mixed reactions from drivers
during their walk to the vigil.
Even though the war has already started.
Tekleab said, he helped organize the vigil
because the principles he believes in remain true.
“We believe war is unnecessary and unjusti
fied,” he said. “We detest war.”
The vigil organizers submitted a request to the
Department of Student Activities Concession
Committee to obtain permission to hold the vigil
at the fountain in front of the Bush Library, but
the request was denied.
Their application was returned with the
instructions that their “planned activity be
restricted to a designated area just west of the
parking lot” at the Bush Library.
Even with these instructions, the demonstrators
gathered around the fountain and held their vigil.
Lt. Bill Zilkus of the University Police
Department was on site to oversee the vigil and
allowed the protesters to stay in the area around
the fountain.
“It’s a public area and they aren’t offending or
assaulting anybody,” he said.
UPD officers were there, Zitkus said, mostly
as a safety issue to make sure no one interferes
with the protesters’ rights.
The Rev. Danita Noland from the Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship said the vigil was held
out of concern for the people in Iraq and to send
a message of peace to our government.
“With heavy hearts we have gathered as peo
ple who love our country and all it stands for.”
See Vigil on page 2
ALISSA HOLLIMON • THE BATTALION
Protesters stand in front of the fountain at the
George Bush Library Thursday night.
Ground war begins
Allied forces begin ground attack
By David Espo
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
American and British com
bat units rumbled across the
desert into Iraq on Thursday
and bombed limited targets in
Baghdad. But military com
manders withheld the massive
onslaught that would signal
all-out war as U.S. officials
tried to talk the Iraqi regime
into giving up.
Coalition forces suffered
their first casualties in a heli
copter crash that left 12 Britons
and four Americans dead.
“The days of the Saddam
Hussein regime are numbered,”
Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld predicted, although
he also said there was “no need
for a broader conflict” if Iraqi
leaders surrender.
On the second day of
Operation Iraqi Freedom,
American officials held out the
tantalizing possibility that
Saddam had been killed in the
initial Wednesday night bomb
ing of Baghdad.
State-run Iraqi television said
Saddam survived, and met with
his top aides to counter the U.S.-
led attack. “We are resolved to
teach the criminal invaders hard
lessons and make them taste
painful punishment,” declared
the Iraqi military.
Intelligence analysts tried
to determine whether a man in
military garb shown on state-
run television was the Iraqi
leader or a double. U.S. intelli
gence believes Saddam and
possibly two of his sons were
present inside a suburban
Baghdad compound when it
was struck and that medical
attention was summoned after
ward. There was no definitive
word whether Saddam was
caught in the pre-dawn attack.
. The onset of war sparked
anti-war demonstrations
across the country — more
than 1,000 were arrested in
San Francisco — and at U.S.
embassies around the world.
The State Department warned
U.S. citizens abroad of an
increased danger of terrorism.
Rumsfeld hinted that talks
with Iraqi military elements.
See Iraq on page 2
ABD RABBO AMMAR • KRT CAMPUS
Smoke from an explosion appears over the Iraqi capital of
Baghdad in the first hour of the war on Thursday.
University police increase security
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
With the ground war in Iraq underway and
the national terror warning elevated to orange,
the second highest level, local law enforcement
remains on heightened alert and is urging resi
dents to report any supsicious activity.
University Police Department Director Bob
Wiatt said he has increased foot and vehicle
patrols around potential targets on campus, such
as the George Bush Presidential Library Center.
For security reasons, he declined to discuss other
vulnerable locations.
“There has been no threat against the
University or the community, but we are still tak
ing all precautions. We’ll be out there and visible,
and that’s all we can do,” Wiatt said. “Until you
get a specific rumor, you just have to go about
your business and be alert.”
Police are also counting on residents to report
suspicious activity immediately, Wiatt said.
UPD is in contact with the FBI and will be
alerted immediately of any rumors or intelligence
reports that suggest the University or the Bryan-
College Station community may be the target of a
terrorist attack, Wiatt said.
UPD will continue patrols from its office at
the University Apartments, where many interna
tional students live.
College Station Police Department spokesman
Lt. Rodney Sigler said police are maintaining
vigilance and keeping an eye on infrastructure
that could be potential targets, such as utilities
and water systems.
Should the national terror alert to be raised
to red, indicating'an attack could be imminent,
UPD will continue its heightened patrols unless
there is a threat against the University, Wiatt
said. However, he said, it is likely that the Bush
Library would be closed along with other feder
al buildings.
Student dies in car accident
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
Adam Keith Knott, 23, was killed
Thursday orrTris Avay terxchtwrl -wTien
his motorcycle struck a turning pick
up truck.
Knott, a-ftmlui' engTiTn.TfrTg—tech
nology major from Athens, Texas,
went to bed early Wednesday night so
he could spend the next morning
working on a paper for class.
Knott was riding northbound on
Texas Avenue. At approximately
8:40 a.m., he hit a trailer being
pulled by a Chevy S-10 pickup while
it was turning right onto Brentwood
Drive, according to a College Station
Police Department press release.
Knott died at the College Station
Medical Center, where he was trans
ported moments after the crash.
Knott’s mother, Virginia Knott,
said her son had taken a class to
learn how to ride a motorcycle after
his first motorcycle more
than a year ago.
Virginia Knott said her son usually
"wore one of his three helmets while rid
ing his motorcycle but was not wearing
one at the time of the accident.
It is not known whether wearing a
helmet would have saved Knott, said
Lt. Rodney Sigler, public information
officer for CSPD.
Virginia Knott said Adam had left
his favorite helmet at a friend’s house,
and he didn’t like his spare helmets as
much as that one.
“He was a wonderful son and
always did the right thing except this
once not wearing his helmet,” said
Virginia Knott, who encourages
motorcycle riders to wear helmets at
all times. “People think they are invin
cible. On our way home from the hos
pital we saw a grown man riding a
motorcycle without a helmet.”
State law requires motorcycle rid
ers to wear helmets, but the law can be
negated by loopholes, Sigler said.
“There is a law to wear a helmet
but it allows riders to not wear helmets
if they carry certain types of insur
ance,” Sigler said.
It is unknown whether Adam Knott
carried such insurance.
Virginia Knott said Adam loved
sports and was especially good at golf,
both frisbee and traditional, but he
See Student on page 2
Tornadoes ravage Georgia
By Elliot Minor
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAMILLA, Ga. — Tornadoes that
one official likened to “a big lawnmow-
er” swept across two counties in south
western Georgia before dawn Thursday,
killing six people and injuring more than
200. One of the hardest-hit areas had
been flattened by another tornado less
than 3 1/2 years ago.
A man and his mother were killed
near Bridgeboro, a rural community in
southern Worth County, said Sheriff
Freddie Tompkins, who declined to
release the names.
Four others, including an infant and
an 8-year-old boy, were killed in Mitchell
County, said Jennifer Collins, spokes
woman with Georgia Emergency
Management Agency.
Including those with relatively minor
injuries, more than 200 people were
injured in Mitchell County alone, Collins
said. Officials estimated 50 to 75 homes
were destroyed, and 75 were damaged.
Funnel clouds formed between 5:30
and 6 a.m., and there were one or two
fully formed tornadoes, said meteorolo
gist Paul Duval of the National Weather
Service in Tallahassee, Fla.
In Worth County, the tornado cut a
streak about 10 miles long and up to 300
yards wide, Tompkins said.
“I was up in a helicopter this morn
ing,” Tompkins said. “It looked like a big
lawnmower went through there.”
About seven to nine homes were dam
aged, and three mobile homes were
See Tornadoes on page 2
Whoopstock celebrates tenth anniversary
By Bernhard Hall
THE BATTALION
Whoopstock will celebrate its 10th
anniversary Saturday, continuing the tradi
tion that started in 1993 as a festival of unity
to oppose a Klu Klux Klan rally.
This year’s festival will be held on O.R.
Simpson Drill Field and will feature a variety
of bands, dancers and ethnic cuisines.
The festival hopes to become an impor
tant tradition at Texas A&M, said Dr.Marisa
Suhm, adviser for the Whoopstock event.
“We want to grow, come into our own,” she
said. “We want to establish ourselves as a tradition
at A&M.”
The first Whoopstock was organized in
only two weeks and featured four bands and
seven student performances, with approxi
mately 400 students attending.
During the next several years, the event
grew larger as the interest level rose from the
community, said Megan Paisa, assistant direc
tor of Multicultural Services.
“I definitely think the event has grown,” she
said. “Whoopstock brings about an awareness
of our community.”
Director of Multicultural Services Dr.
Felicia Scott said she hopes Whoopstock will
establish an understanding of other cultures.
“More participation from the local commu
nity creates an awareness,”
she said.
Scott said she remembers the
circumstances that resulted in the
first Whoopstock and marvels at
its continued success.
“The biggest impact is that it
continues to happen without an
event to react to,” Scott said.
Whoopstock attendance has
grown the past few years. For
the past two years, attendance
more than 2,000 people.
Suhm said she hopes the event will attract anoth
er crowd of between 2,000 and 3,000 people.
Organizers said they do not expect the
has grown to
TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION
SOURCE: MULTICULTURAL SERVICES
current war with Iraq to cause people to stay
home, but it may bring more people out.
“I don’t think (the war) will affect turnout,”
Suhm said. “Just because we are at war does
n’t mean we can’t be united.”