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WORLD
Friday, March 28, 2003
THE BATTALION
7,000 expected to help at Big Event
By Melissa McKeon
THE BATTALION
1912 South Texas Avenue
979-693-6684
www.elchico.com
MARDI GRAS PARTY
Crawfish Boil Starts at 5:00
$ 1.50 bar drinks, long necks,
domestic pints, frozen drinks
ALL NIGHT LONG
BEADS TOSSED ALL NIGHT
Shot Specials
25% off all menu items
Tuesday, March 4th
FAT TUESDAY
w/The Dave Matthews Cover Band
696-5570
for details
Party Safe and Designate a Driver
More than 7,000 Texas A&M students are
expected to gather on O.R. Simpson Drill
Field Saturday morning for the start of the
2003 Big Event, the largest one-day student-
run service project that allows students to
give back to the community.
This year students are expected to com
plete more than 660 jobs in the Bryan-College
Station area. This year also marks Big
Event’s 21st year as the largest community
service project in the nation.
The Big Event originated in 1982 when six
Aggies, led by Joe Nussbaum, cleaned a local
cemetery.
The day will begin with music by Feeding
5000, as well as food and drinks.
Lori McLain, director of Big Event, said
people are touched by Aggies who give their
time just to change the look of a house by
painting or gardening.
“Some people have recently lost a loved
one and just want to talk to young people in
order to re-energize them,” McLain said.
“Students reap huge rewards by helping
someone and making a connection with peo
ple. They also get to see the results of their
hard work.”
McLain said the Big Event team targets
needy areas but is not limited to those com
munities.
“Big Event is not need-based she said.
“We accept the first 700 people that come in
before our deadline, which was Feb. 26.”
Kappa Delta Chi sorority is one of the
many organizations participating in Big
Event.The sorority will paint two houses, as
well as break down a fence and clear out a
yard.
“We have always participated because we
feel it unifies the A&M community and its
organizations,” said Arycelis Segura, president
of Kappa Delta Chi. “We are also helping out
the community that supports A&M. We are
giving our time, which is sometimes the best
thing people need.”
Students and organizations are assigned
randomly using a computer program, but
there are special assignments for some proj
ects.
“Some people only speak Spanish, so we
try to make some special matches,”
McLain said.
Michelle Rivera, community interest s»N
chair for Big Event and a junior psyc
major, said Big Event staffers look for dona
tions year-round.
“Big Event costs $50,000 to put on, sow
gather donations to buy supplies, v
small amount of supplies are donated,” Riven
said. “We ask businesses in the comraunilj
for donations and we also had an auction fea
turing signed football memorabilia that raised
$4,(XX).”
Rivera also said there are a few cotporaie
sponsors, such as Bank of America and ie
12th Man Foundation.
“We’re also working on becoming a non
profit organization so in future years
businesses can get a tax deduction,” slie
said. “That will definitely help us get
donations.”
Currently, 30 schools across the i
host The Big Event, and the number is expect
ed to increase in the upcoming year.
“Our goals in the upcoming year are
establish an endowment fund, include mi
service projects and students on the day of
The Big Event, and expand nationally to othei
universities,” McLain said.
Bush and Blair assess progress in Iraq
By Scott Lindlaw
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
« «*?•«»
WASHINGTON
President George W. Bush and
British Prime Minister Tony
Blair are assessing the progress
of the war in Iraq after a week of
fierce combat, meeting amid
growing signs Saddam Hussein
has dug in for a prolonged fight.
The American and British
leaders were getting together at
the Camp David presidential
retreat while grappling with how
to prepare their citizens for a
longer war than many had .
Iraqi forces have frustrated
U.S. officials hopes that they
would defect or surrender en
masse, and there have been few
celebratory welcomes for U.S.
and British troops. The coali
tion march on Baghdad has been
slowed by weather and unex
pectedly strong Iraqi resistance.
In their talks Thursday, Blair
and Bush also were looking
beyond the conflict to a rebuild
ing phase, both for Iraq and for
U.S.-Europe relations. And they
were discussing how best to
move humanitarian supplies
such as food into war-torn
regions of Iraq.
Blair, under fire at home for
supporting the invasion of Iraq,
is pressing for a strong U.N. role
in rebuilding. He says the
United States and its allies must
broaden their agenda beyond
Iraq to help build peace in the
Middle East and across the
globe.
“I will see President Bush at
Camp David to discuss not just
the military campaign but also
the diplomatic implications of
recent events for the future — in
particular, how we get America
and Europe working again
together as partners and not as
rivals,” he said before leaving
for the United States.
Bush arrived at Camp David
in Maryland’s Catoctin
Mountains on Wednesday after
noon in a driving rain, following
a quick trip to Florida. He
sought to rally the troops and the
American people behind the
Iraq war at a time when U.S.
forces are suffering casualties.
“I can assure you there will
be a day of reckoning for Iraq,
and that day is drawing near,”
the president told hundreds of
cheering American troops and
their families in a packed hangar
at MacDill Air Force Base, the
headquarters of Central Command,
which is overseeing the war.
“Our military is making
good progress in Iraq, yet this
war is far from over,” he said,
making a last-minute change of
wording that dropped a refer
ence to the U.S. military being
“ahead of schedule.”
White House spokesman Ari
Flescher, briefing reporters on
Coalition losses
There have been 27 U.S.
casualties and 22 British
casualties since the beginning
of war in Iraq.
• American
■ British
Combal
Non-combat
March
21 ••
22
24
• •
25 •
NOTE. The dale of one American non
combat casualty was not released.
SOURCE: Associated Press
the way to Florida aboard Air
Force One, said Bush would
tell his audience: “Our
progress is ahead of schedule,
yet this war is far from over,"
Student Car loan Snecialists
Israel fears Iraqi attack
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By Pisley Dodds
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
IF LAWRENCE MARSHAll
GET YOU INTO A CAR
OR TRUCK TORKY!
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JERUSALEM — Israel is
staying on high alert against an
Iraqi strike despite a British
assertion that coalition forces
have disabled Saddam Hussein’s
ability to launch missiles from
western Iraq, an Israeli govern
ment official said Thursday.
Thousands
country closest to Israel
launching point of the
fired in the previous war.
But an Israeli government
official who declined to be iden
titled said Israel still could come
under attack from elsewhere
Iraq and will remain under higli
alert until the theat ofmissilesor
“other attacks” is removed com
pletely.
a
of Palestinians
demonstrated in
the West Bank,
pleading with
Saddam
Hussein to
strike Israel
with missiles
and chemical
weapons. In the
1991 Gulf War,
the Jewish state
was hit with 39
conventional Scud missiles,
which caused heavy damage
and hundreds of injuries but
few deaths.
“We have disabled Iraq’s
ability to launch external
aggression from the west,”
British Prime Minister Tony
We have disabled
Iraq’s ability to launch
external aggression
from the west.
—Tony Blair
British Prime Minister
Israelis
been told to
keep gas
with them anil
to prepare
sealed rooms in
case of a
cal or
attack
The war in
Iraq,
began a weet
ago, has ft
anger in
Gaza Strip and
Blair said Thursday in a joint
news conference with
President Bush.
Western Iraq is the part of the
West Bank, where Saddam
doled out $35 million to
Palestinian families with rela
tives killed during the
against Israel.
“Strike, strike Tel Aviv \
chemicals!” more than 4,i
people chanted in the West Batik
towns of Tulkarem andTubason
Thursday. “Bush, the little one.
you are a coward! The
Iraq is not for you!”
NEWS IN BRIEF
Universities warn students abroad
As anti-war sentiment rises in other countries, U.S. colleges
warning their students studying abroad to avoid demonstrate
street corner debates on U.S. foreign policy and clothes that identi
fy them as Americans.
But just to be on the safe side, some students are passing them
selves off as Canadian.
In interviews over the past week, students and faculty overseas
said the anti-American sentiment they've encountered has
directed at the Bush administration — not at U.S. citizens.
U.S. Navy plays important role in war
Floating fortresses on Saddam Hussein's doorstep, the Navy war
ships that opened Operation Iraqi Freedom with a thunderous
strike of Tomahawk cruise missiles are now launching planes that
can protect ground troops by picking off a single tank or mortal
emplacement.
The Navy has deployed tens of thousands of men and women,
more than half of its 305 ships and more than 4,000 aircraft to the
Persian Gulf and the eastern Mediterranean to focus its impressive
array of weapons on Baghdad.
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