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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 2003)
4 Bcf/2 Bath $350 per person 1,200 sq. ft. approx *FuHy l urnished 'Oh A&M Hus Roiilt* * lo niin. I'roni IMiiiu M rve I llui net, (jihle X HliO Size Waslu'r/Iti yer *Video Uentiii l .ihmry 12A Thursday, March 27, 2003 THE BATTAU 2 Bd/2 Bath $415 per person 900 sq. ft. approx W 4+ t 4/ l 4, i, % + v » v* X- V €. -r 4 x t «/ COMMONS 2 Bd/1 1/2 Bath $410 per person 890 sq. ft. approx/ Glitches riddle databasi to track foreign studen "Add $5 for ;jrd f loor A-.k AIjouI ptir UtilXy Package By Robert Becker KRT CAMPUS m 050 Cruiuu Fax 764 1077 wwvw univiiiraityr.nMimni'itt i.nm THE Librar Meet • Drink • Lounge Come and experience our exclusive “See and Be Scene” Newly remodeled Bar & Downstairs area Thursdays 44 Retro Rewind’* TO’s, SO’s and 90's music along with today's hits $ 2 00 anything in the House till II p.m. 1 jltifllk- V LP - DANCE/LOUNGE UPSTAIRS ] L THURSDAYS-SATURDAY 1 Available for Private Parties 979-739-1967 Doors open: 9p.m. Tuesday-Saturday 329 University Dr. at Northgate CHICAGO _ The computer system intended to track international students as part of the nation's stepped-up security routinely loses sensitive infor mation about foreign students and faculty, accord ing to university officials throughout the country. Gaffes in the $36 million Student and Exchange Visitor Information System _ or SEVIS have also left schools .unable to print documents that international students and visiting scholars need to obtain visas, delaying their entry into the country. Remarkably, universities trying to print docu ments for their visiting scholars through the SEVIS program operated by the U.S. Department I of Homeland Security have had those papers I appear on printers at other campuses thousands of miles away. And in an incident creating concern in aca demic circles around the country, a student from Thailand attending Southeastern University in Washington was arrested March 12 by federal agents after the SEVIS database incorrectly list ed her as having dropped out, university officials said. "We are very concerned about this kind of pre cipitous action, especially during the time that the database is getting the kinks out of it," said Charlene Drew Jarvis, Southeastern president. Federal officials could not be reached for com ment about the incident. Flaws in the federal government's ability to track the approximately 500,000 foreign students who come to the United States each year to attend school surfaced after two terrorists involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks received approval for stu dent visas six months later. As part of a congressionally mandated system to track international students, SEVIS was rolled out in January, with schools required to use the system exclusively by Feb. 15. SEVIS, developed for the government by Electronic Data Systems Corp., for the first time will link schools that admit foreign students with federal agencies. It will provide an instantaneous exchange of information. SEVIS is designed to replace a tracking system riddled with errors and fraud. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service had con ceded that it had all but stopped monitoring more than 70,000 schools and institutions empowered to admit foreign students. Chris Bentley, a spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which replaced INS and oversees SEVIS, acknowl edged that the computer network "is not a perfect system." Bentley said the agency decided to roll out SEVIS during the relatively quiet spring semester so glitches could be identified. He said officials remained "fully confident" SEVIS would be ready for fall semester, when the bulk of new interna tional students need records processed. University officials say that in the i since it has been compulsory to useSD track international students, staff meniben spent untold hours trying to resolve problems. "I think the system is just overwhelmed,' Ravi Shankar, director of the international at Northwestern University. "We just hope something about it." The officials also fear it's only going worse in coming months, when hundreds oh sand of students seek entry to study in the States and a similar number of graduates mi stay for postgraduate studies or training. University officials say much of their tion stems from the lack of flexibility SEVIS system. In the case of the Southeastern Universi dent, university officials say the mattercoold been avoided if SEVIS had allowed the to fix the student's record. Southeastern's Jarvis said the school December that the student's record erroi showed she had dropped out. But Jarvis, declined to identify the student, saidthesd attempts to correct that record were blocks Jarv is said that at 8 a.m. March 12,1 agents appeared at the young woman's hou during their interview learned that she was ing part time at a restaurant. Although education officials say that ei merit outside a university without penni$s»| potential violation of a student's visa,thevsai unlikely it would lead to an arrest. Jarvis said the student was led away cuffs. She has since been released. "You can't fight terrorism by terrorizing the! dents," Jarvis said. iM junior Scott Iniversity on Wedi By Jei THE BA After Tue toned due to Texas . blayed a dot flam Houstc Vednesday. Following be first gam but the Be Strength of a )) senior Jf regi rHoustoi TO, in a rut "We were Northwestern University students Vridhi ( India and Cahal McVeigh from Ireland meeting related to SEVIS, developed for I ment by Electronic Data Systems Corp. NEWS IN BRIEF Nasdaq bars Al-Jazeera journalists NEW YORK (AP) - The Nasdaq Stock Market has joined the New York Stock exchange in barring journalists from Al- Jazeera, the Arab television net work that has aired footage of American prisoners of war in Iraq. Nasdaq declined Wednesday i discuss the move, but spokesman Scott Peterson told the Los Angeles Times the net work wasn't welcome "in light of Al-Jazeera's recent conduct during the war, in which they have broadcast footage of U.S. POWs in alleged violation of the Geneva Convention." Al-Jazeera had not used Nasdaq's facilities in two years, instead filing market reports from the NYSE. The network lost that option earlier in this week after it was banned by exchange officials who cited space and security constraints and desire to focus on busii news organizations. Media watchdogs said Arab TV network is being! ished for airing footage American POWs and dead diers. U.S. government offii rebuked Al-Jazeera for broadcast, although theaf work's reporters at Pentagon, White House f I other government locatitf j have retained their access, THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY STUDENT MEDIA BOARD IS ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR The Battalion — Including radio and online editions — Summer 2003 (The summer editor will serve May 26 through Aug. 13, 2003) Fall 2003 (The fall editor will serve Aug. 18 through Dec. 17, 2003) Qualifications for editor in chief of The Battalion are: Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student) during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate); i -ff Y* ■**,*»« ft ft ST Aggieland 2004 Qualifications for editor in chief of the Aggieland yearbook are: Have at least a 2.00 cumulative grade point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) and at least a 2.00 grade point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the appointment, the semester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least six hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for that semester; Have completed JOUR 301 (Mass Communication, Law and Society), or equivalent; Have at least one year experience in a responsible editorial position on The Battalion or comparable daily college newspaper, -OR- Have at least one year editorial experience on a commercial newspaper, -OR- Have completed at least 12 hours journalism, including JOUR 203 and 303 (Media Writing I and II), and JOUR 304 (Editing for the Mass Media), or equivalent. Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student) during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate); Have at least a 2.00 cumulative grade point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) and at least a 2.00 grade point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the appointment, the semester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least six hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for that semester; Have completed JOUR 210 (Graphics) and JOUR 301 (Mass Communication, Law and Society), or equivalent; Have demonstrated ability in writing through university coursework or equivalent experience; Have at least one year experience in a responsible position on the Aggieland or comparable college yearbook. Application forms should be picked up and returned to Dell Bomnskie, Student Media business coordinator, in Room 011A Reed McDonald Building. Deadline for submitting application: noon Wednesday, April 2, 2004. Applicants will be interviewed during the Student Media Board Meeting beginning at 9:30 a.m. Friday, April 4, 2003, in room 221F Reed McDonald. An Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer Committed to Diversity JEE Of
