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