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Aggielife: Thursday night fever • Page 3A Opinion: A nation divided • Page 5B
TUT 17
1 tlE
Volume 109 • Issue 120 • 18 pages
Texas A&M University
www.thebatt.com
Thursday, March 27, 2003
Provost search narrowed to two finalists
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
The search for executive vice president and
provost is down to two finalists: College of
Education Dean Jane Cdnoley and Interim
Tovost David Prior.
Additional outside candidates may still be
onsidered for the position of second in command
)f Texas A&M, said search committee chairman
Dr. Herbert
Richardson.
Richardson
said the com
mittee hasn’t
decided
whether addi
tional candi
dates are needed
after the two outside finalists,
of Ohio State and Cutberto
CONOLEY
PRIOR
C. Bradley Moore
Garza of Cornell,
dropped out.
Richardson said he was surprised at their
decision to withdraw.
“It is too bad; they were both outstanding
candidates,” Richardson said.
Moore withdrew because he accepted a job at
Northwestern University similar to his current
job of vice president for research at Ohio State,
according to an Ohio State press release.
Garza is traveling until May and could not be
reached for comment.
Richardson said many people applied for the
job, but all four finalists were candidates suggest
ed by committee members at the beginning of the
search because of their academic reputations.
Conoley said the job hunt has not caused any
friction between herself and Prior.
“I discussed applying for the job beforehand
with (Prior). There is no pressure,” Conoley
said.
See Finalists on page 2A
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By David Espo
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Army airborne forces parachuted into
northern Iraq on Wednesday, seizing an
airfield for a new front against Saddam
Hussein. U.S. and British warplanes
bombed an enemy convoy fleeing the
besieged city of Basra in the south.
One week into the war, the possi
bility of a major battle loomed within
100 miles of Baghdad as another con
voy — this one made up of elite
Republican Guard forces — moved in
the direction of American troops aim
ing for Saddam’s seat of power.
Jumping from low-flying planes
into the Iraqi night, an estimated 1,000
paratroopers landed near an airstrip in
Kurdish-controlled territory less than
30 miles from the Turkish border.
Hundreds of miles to the south, the
unchallenged bombing of Iraqi forces
leaving Basra raised hopes that ground
troops could soon enter the city, feared
at risk for a humanitarian crisis.
The military developments unfolded
as the first humanitarian delivery of
supplies rolled into southern Iraq, greet
ed at the border by hungry children.
With American and British forces
massing to the south, west and now
the north of Baghdad, the Iraqi regime
kept much of the news from its own
people. Instead, it emphasized a claim
that two American cruise missiles had
killed 14 civilians in Baghdad and
wounded dozens more.
“This war is far from over,”
President Bush said in a quick trip to
the Florida headquarters of U.S.
Central Command, which is oversee
ing the war.
Swirling sandstorms hampered
American units for a second day. The
bombing campaign was crimped as
well, but Baghdad television was
knocked off the air for several hours,
and explosions were heard, as well, near
the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in the north.
Lt. Col. Thomas Collins,
spokesman for the U.S. Army
Southern European Task Force, con
firmed that paratroopers were on the
ground, many of them elite Rangers.
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“I can only tell you yes, they’ve gone
in. They’re on the ground,” he said.
Other officials said tanks, other
vehicles and supplies would be airlift
ed in behind them.
American commanders had hoped
to move a large force into northern
Iraq from Turkey. But the Turkish par
liament refused to allow that, and the
parachute drop was the beginning of
an alternative plan.
U.S. and British warplanes, as well
as ground units, hit the column leav
ing Basra. A British military source,
speaking on condition of anonymity,
said the column included as many as
120 tanks and other armored vehicles.
Iraqi officials said 30 civilians were
injured, some badly, when two
American missiles landed in a resi
dential Baghdad neighborhood.
Associated Press Television News
video showed bodies wrapped in plas
tic sheeting in the back of a pickup
truck and streets that had flooded after
water pipes ruptured. Flames rose
above burning buildings, mixing with
smoke from fires Iraqis have lit to try
to obscure targets for American com
bat pilots. 1
American military officials issued a
statement saying that civilian damage
was “possible” after an aerial attack
aimed at nine Iraqi surface-to-surface
missiles. “The missiles and launchers
were placed within a civilian residen
tial area,” it said
JP BEATO III • THE BATTALION
Beverly Boggs, an educational human resource devel
opment Ph.D student, watches her 9-year-old daughter
at the pro-war rally held at the Sul Ross stature in front
of the Academic Building Wednesday night. Boggs
attended the rally to support the troops and her brother,
Sgt. David Smith, who is stationed in Afghanistan.
Students rally for troops, Bush
By Esther Robards-Forbes
THE BATTALION
With American forces continuing
their advance toward Baghdad, stu
dents gathered at the Academic
Plaza Wednesday night to show their
support for the troops and for
President George W. Bush.
“Throughout our country’s histo
ry, every member of the armed
forces and every president of the
United States has sworn the same
oath: that they would defend the
United States from all enemies both
foreign and domestic. We are here
tonight to give profound thanks to all
who have kept this oath, no matter
the cost,” said organizer Becky
Jacobs, a senior political science
major.
A crowd of more than 100 stu
dents and community members
waved flags, sang patriotic songs
and burned red, white and blue
candles.
“Right now there are troops —
Americans and Iraqis — fighting for
their lives. Should we feel guilty for
the circumstances we were blessed
with? My opinion is no, but because
we were blessed, we have a respon
sibility,” said Zac Coventry, student
body president and a senior agricul
tural development major.
Americans have a responsibility
to support the troops and Bush
through prayer, Coventry said.
While speakers acknowledged
the right of antiwar demonstrators to
protest the war, they pointed out that
the armed forces protect that right.
Organizers said that the rally
would give a voice to supporters of
the war who are often overshadowed
See Rally on page 2A
University releases revised
emergency procedures
Storms cause complications
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
>dge
• [eaic Off*
By Lauren Smith
THE BATTALION
Following inquiries from
? parents and students about
Texas A&M’s emergency pre-
j paredness after the heightened
: terror alert, the University has
1 updated its emergency proce
dures and made them readily
1 accessible on the Web.
The Texas A&M University
Emergency Protocol Quick
Reference Guide, located online
at http://finance.tamu.edu/ehsd,
consists of 13 pages covering
issues such as what to do in a
bomb threat or a severe weather
episode, where to go if a chem
ical or radiation spill occurs and
what to do upon receipt of a
suspicious-looking letter or
package.
The complete version of the
emergency plan is about 60
pages.
“The plan is quite detailed,
covering all the bases, and is
accessible on the Web, making
it very straightforward and
readily available to any student
or parent concerned,” said Bob
Wiatt, director of the University
Police Department.
Although a University emer
gency plan has existed for near
ly a decade, it lacked informa
tion intended for anyone who is
not a member of an emergency
crew, such as students, staff and
faculty, said Chris Meyer, direc
tor of the Environmental Health
& Safety department.
The plan went through a
lengthy review cycle in the fall
and underwent revisions so that
it would be accessible to the
general population, Meyer said.
The new plan addresses some
terrorist-related issues not pres
ent in the previous document,
he said.
According to the section of
the emergency protocol entitled
“Suspicious
Letter/Package/Substance,” any
package or letter should be treat-
Texas A&M Enter
m
Protocol
Available at:
httpff/finance.tamu.edu/ehsd
Includes directions for students,
staff and faculty in event of:
bomb threat
chemical spill
pasleaks ^
radiation spin or release
suspicious letter 1 package i substance
Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION
Source: FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT
ed with suspicion and must be
handled without shaking or
bumping. It is also important to
avoid opening, smelling or tast
ing the package.
If a bomb threat occurs, the
receiver of the call should
immediately hang up and dial
#91 (trace/trap procedure)
before calling 911, according to
the protocol.
See Revised on page 2A
More than 950 Bryan residents were without
power for up to an hour and a half Tuesday night
after a line of strong thunderstorms pushed
through the Bryan-College Station area, said Bob
Wheeler, Bryan Utilities spokesman.
“One of the outages was caused when a tree
fell on top of a power line,” he said. “All crews
dispatched immediately, and now everything is
back to normal.”
Wheeler said no other major problems were
reported in Bryan.
Tuesday night’s storms caused only two hous
es in College Station to lose power, said Augie
Palmisano, College Station Utility dispatch opera
tions superintendent.
“There were only four or five people affected,”
he said.
Although few residents lost power in College
Station, the fierce storm and lightning it produced
sparked a fire at the Doux Chene Apartment, off
Harvey Mitchell Parkway. No injuries were
reported from the fire.
Bart Humphreys, public information officer for
the College Station Fire Department, said there
See Storms on page 2A
Regents to vote on tuition raise
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M Board of
Regents will vote Thursday on a
proposed tuition increase.
Two separate agenda items
propose possible increases—
one for tuition and fees and the
other for new field trip fees.
A public forum for students
to voice their opinions about the
proposed tuition increases will
be held from 10:30 a.m. to 11
a.m. in Memorial Student
Center 292.
The votes will take place in
an open meeting at 2:15 p.m.,
also in MSC 292. No student
input will be heard during this
meeting.
Also on the agenda are items
proposing the establishment of
four new education centers at
A&M: Center for Biological
Clocks Research, Center for
Atmospheric Chemistry and the
Environment, Center for the
Study of Health Disparities and
the Technology
Commercialization Center.