Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 2003)
Sports: Singing for the moment • Page 3 Opinion: Questionable police work • Page 9 spoil TH E BATTAij in Aust THF RATTAT TON JL xJLJL# aJJHL JL ..a fm I \ M1 li lume 109 • Issue 121 • 10 pages Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Friday, March 28, 2003 card of Regents approve tuition increase By Brad Bennett THE BATTALION he Texas A&M Board of Regents roved a tuition increase of $2 per credit ir and increases in parking and interna- student fees and the Independent idy Abroad fee Thursday. Gates said the new $50 Independent dy Abroad fee is a one-time fee for all Idents. The fee will allow A&M students A&M financial assistance while nding study abroad programs not associ- d with A&M. ■Gates said he asked the board not to raise tk fees to show students that administration is accountable to the student body. Although the student service and computer fees were voted down in a February student referendum, the board still had the power to raise the fees, said A&M President Robert M. Gates. “A lot of students feel administration doesn’t listen to them. I wanted to send a message that when students vote down a referendum we will listen,” Gates said. Gates said he hopes students realize that there will be repercussions for not raising the computer fee. The international student fee increase from $36 to $46 applies only to internation al students and is necessary to cover the implementation costs of the Student Exchange Visitor Information System, a federal computer tracking system mandated by the USA Patriot Act. “(Immigration and Naturalization Services) just wants to make sure people who get visas show up where they said they would,” Gates said. “(Administration) feels that once someone is here we will treat them no differently than if they were from Texas.” Resident and commuter parking fees are now $141, an increase of $8. Students had an opportunity Thursday morning to voice their opinions about the fee and tuition increases to the Board of See Regents on page 2 President Robert Gates addresses the Board of Regents regarding the fee increase Wednesday morning at the MSC. 1 ISSA HOLLIMON•THEBATH s of two A&M divers heafel impionships this weekend. >out whether they will act; compete in all of them. “I think we are going lot ise some people,” Nelan Ve are young, but we t of experience, and haveh ice with our inexperience enty of guys are ready eakthrough swim.” The meet begins lod e Lee and Joe Jamail Ten vimming Center, anc ntinue through Sunday ORTS IN BRIEF lose to Baylori Big 12 matchup A&M women's tennis ten ). 44 Baylor University Bea day evening at the r. I Aggies (10-7, 5-2)startc iking two of three won the first match in? nior Jessica Roland daid tory on court one. laylor (8-8, 5-1) m the next four inch the victory. had held a perfect tie this season before tlif ? within a half game of fe [-University of Texas conij h. ;o 9-0 this season >le to claim the iow won five of the lasts veen the teams and holt in the Big 12. team continues r actice schedule k&M football team rantin' pring practices this week oach Dennis Franchiont en progress, ilding a foundation, andl ased with the attitudes ol 'anchione said, nesday, the Aggies II pads after working out helmets on Tuesday.The es are open to the f are encouraged to > to register and mal information. Beautiful bovine Senior agricultural development major, Glenna Pruitt, and her heifer, Miss Norman, get ready for the Dairy Science 202 JOSHUA HOBSON • THE BATTALION Showmanship Event at the Dairy Science Center, this Saturday. The show is free and open to the public and begins at 10 a.m. U.S. airborne seize airfield, troops move closer to Iraq By David Espo THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Army airborne forces parachuted into north ern 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, and sandstorms cleared to ease the advance toward Baghdad. One week into the war, the possibility of a major battle loomed within 100 miles of Baghdad as another convoy — this one made up of elite Republican Guard forces — moved in the direction of American troops aiming for Saddam’s seat of power. Jumping from low-flying planes into the Iraqi night, an esti mated 1,000 paratroopers from the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade landed near an airstrip in Kurdish-controlled territory less than 30 miles from the Turkish border. a There will be a day of reckoning for the Iraqi regime y and that day is drawing near. — President George W. Bush Hundreds of miles to the south, the unchallenged bombing of Iraqi forces leaving Basra raised hopes that U.S. ground troops could soon enter the city, feared at risk for a humanitarian crisis. The military developments unfolded as the first food aid convoy rolled into southern Iraq, greeted 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 overseeing the war. Still, he said victory was only a matter of time, adding, “There will be a day of reckoning for the Iraqi regime, and that day is drawing near.” Bush later flew to the Camp David presiden- —tial retreat for a meeting Thursday with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his partner in the Iraq invasion. Swirling sandstorms that have hampered American units over the past two days abated early Thursday. The swarming dust had also been crimping the bombing campaign, although U.S. airstrikes did manage to knock out Baghdad television for several hours, and explosions were heard near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in the north. American forces moving toward Baghdad clashed with Iraqi troops outside Karbala, 50 miles southwest of the capital, under sunny skies Thursday. Small groups of Iraqi armored person nel carriers tested Army defenses but were hit by U.S. warplanes before getting within 10 miles of American troops. Coalition troops were making their way toward See Iraq on page 2 Tuition deregulation discussed in forum Srnoi nt Bom By Janet McLaren, Esther Robards-Forbes THE BATTALION s/Leasing for 2003! . Don't settle for anything le? dryer With budget cuts and tuition hikes loom- ig, less than 20 students showed up to arums held Wednesday and Thursday night d discuss proposals for tuition deregulation with University officials. Student Body President Zac Coventry and jeveral student government representatives were on hand to answer questions and ixplain the situation surrounding budget cuts and possible deregulation. Coventry, a senior agricultural develop- nent major, said there is currently a shift iway from state responsibility for public uni versity funding. “The atmosphere in the legislature is that the cost of education is being passed to the students,” he said. ”1 don’t like that, but what we have to do now is decide how to deal with it.” Six bills that deal with tuition deregula tion have been filed with the state legislature. These bills would remove the cap on tuition and place it in the hands of a university’s board of regents. Some of the bills propose deregulating tuition for out-of-state or summer school stu dents, while others propose total deregula tion. Because of state funding cuts Texas A&M will be forced to give up more than $56 mil lion during the next two years. The adminis tration has attempted to streamline opera tions and trim where it can, but it is not enough. Associate Executive Vice President Dan Parker spoke about the possible conse quences of budget cuts without tuition dereg ulation Wednesday night. “The president has asked us to prepare a plan of a 15 percent cut in non-academic and 10 percent in academic budgets for next year,” he said. “We hope it won’t happen, but it will if there is is no deregulation.” Even with this streamlining, some pro grams may have to be eliminated, Parker said. One victim of the proposed cuts may be the Dairy Science Center, he said. The struggling Dairy Center has been facing the chopping See Tuition on page 2 i? r* TP I fl HI CiVSfils? £■ la L la 1 1 U 111 73 H|| Student body President Resuits Stoney Burke 2,665 Matt Josefy 2,573 Ed “El Ramos” Brown 600 Kyle Carlton 1,518 Luke Cheatham 2,472 Karl Pfluger 1,949 I OH ( OlYlri l H I I I ( TlON KI SH 1 IN VISI I : YVYVYV. I III K VI I .( OIM TRAVIS SWENSON • THE BATTALION French consul discusses European Union Senior Yell Results ice students J.P. BEATO III • THE BATTALION [The Honorable Denis Simonneau, Consul General of [France, speaks at the MSC Stark Gallery on Thursday. By Melissa Fowler THE BATTALION As the war with Iraq continued for the eighth day Thursday, France’s consul general assured an audience at Texas A&M that the country remains “friends and allies” with the United States. Wearing a pin displaying the French and American flags on his suit jacket, the Honorable Denis Simonneau discussed the enlarge ment of the European Union with a crowd of about 50 people in the Memorial Student Center’s J. Wayne Stark Gallery. Although Simonneau’s speech focused on the European Union, he began his speech talking about the current situation in Iraq. The EU is comprised of 15 mem ber states including France, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Italy. According to the EU Web site (http://europa.eu.int/), the union start ed with just six countries after World War II when France proposed the cre ation of a “concrete foundation of a European federation.” To join the EU, countries must apply and prove that they adhere to a set of criteria requir ing the stability of institutions guaran teeing democracy, the existence of a functioning market economy and the Tim Bailey Jonathon Lusk John Magruder 8,330 8,231 5,968 Junior Yell Results Ryan Bishop Keith Lane Paul Terrell Mike Winn 5,426 1,796 4,771 1,731 See Consul on page 2 ‘These four will compete in runoffs next week