Accielife: Spare change for a ring • Page 3 Opinion; Genetics are not to blame • Page 9
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THE BATTALION
nine 109 • Issue 126 • 10 pages
Texas A&M University
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Friday, April 4, 2003
U.S. closes in on Baghdad, more troops killed
By David Espo
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Bombs shook the capital as Army
and Marine armored columns took
separate, converging paths toward
the city from the south. “The dagger
is clearly pointed’’ at the heart of
Saddam Hussein’s regime, said
Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks.
The rapid advances brought
thousands of troops within the so-
called red zone — an imaginary
line on the map near the capital
where Iraqi use of weapons of mass
destruction is most feared. Troops
in some lead Army units donned
chemical protection suits, and
Marine helicopter pilots were
ordered to be prepared to do so.
An Army Black Hawk helicopter
was downed by small-arms fire near
Karbala, site of fierce fighting
between the Army’s 3rd Infantry
Division and Iraqi troops, including
Republican Guard forces. Seven
soldiers were killed and four were
wounded and rescued, officials said.
Iraq shot down a one-seat Navy
F/A-18 Hornet with a surface-to-air
missile Wednesday, military offi
cials said. There was no immediate
word on the fate of the pilot. It was
the first American fighter jet shot
down during the war.
The military campaign unfolded
as Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a 19-year-old
prisoner of war freed in a daring
nighttime rescue, was flown to
Germany for medical treatment.
But the joy over her freedom
was tempered by word that the spe
cial forces who rescued her also
found 11 bodies.
The U.S. Central Command,
which is overseeing the war, said it
was investigating reports that war
planes had bombed a Red Crescent
maternity hospital in Baghdad.
Despite the gains on the battle
field, Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld and others cautioned that
some of the toughest fighting of the
military campaign may lie ahead.
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Matt Josefy 4,770 votes
Stoney Burke 3,567 votes
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Ryan Bishop
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5,208 votes
4,811 votes
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Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION
Source: ELECTION COMMISSION
Aussa Hollimon • THE BATTALION
? refon
Newly-elected Student Body President Matt Josefy cele
brates with supporters after hearing the results of the runoff
elections early Friday morning. Josefy won with 57 percent
of the votes over fellow candidate Stoney Burke.
WHO searches for
origin of disease
By Audra Ang
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GUANGZHOU, China — A
team of international scientists
landed Thursday in this city just
west of Hong Kong and set to
work hunting clues to the origins
of a fatal flu-like illness as the
worldwide death toll rose.
Officials in Guangdong
province on China’s southern
coast gave the World Health
Organization team figures indi
cating that fewer people in the
hard-hit region are getting sick
from severe acute respiratory syn
drome, or SARS, said Chris
Powell, a spokesman for the team.
The investigators, who expect
to stay in the provincial capital of
Guangzhou until Tuesday,
planned to talk to doctors and
visit hospitals and the nearby
town where the first case of
SARS was reported in November.
“This is a virological mystery
that needs to be solved,” Powell
said. “There are still new cases
— which is very sad — but the
number of cases from what
we’ve seen is going down.”
The investigators were clos
eted all afternoon with provin
cial health officials, who provid
ed a battery of data, including
“very detailed information”
about people in Guangdong who
got SARS, how they got sick
and what kind of treatment they
received, Powell said.
The Chinese moves toward
openness come after foreign
criticism of the communist gov
ernment’s reluctance to release
information about SARS.
The illness has killed at least
80 people in Asia and Canada
— 46 of them in mainland
China — and sickened at least
2,200 in more than a dozen
nations as infected travelers
board planes and reach other
continents in hours.
In the United States, there
were 100 suspected cases in 28
states. The U.S. Centers for
Disease-Control and Prevention
said they now have a test to bet
ter diagnose the disease.
Health authorities in Toronto
said Thursday they believed a
seventh person had died from
SARS, but they had not con
firmed the cause of death. A
cancer research conference
expected to draw 15,000 to
Canada’s largest city was can
celed for fear oncologists might
spread SARS to their already
weakened cancer patients.
ay or will wort
:cause if “hetf_ — • /* I
• • (jay students strive tor tolerance
or said rates! J
average 45 pet
hile customers ■!
en 22 percent By Rob Phillips
>s coverage. Sf : THE BATTALION
have test! J
<ers that theirt ,\y| ien Noel Freeman voluntarily left the Corps of
:l much more^ a( j cts in October 2000 after admitting he was gay, he not
mly walked away from his friends, he lost the one thing
ittle the state | ia j; sipped his college identity.
control the n TThe Corps of Cadets is the only reason I came to
it 95 perceni- exas a&M University,” said Freeman, who left after his
insurance pi^nnouncement caused an uproar within part of his outfit,
tten by insut-wnliout the Corps there was no reason for me to be at
t rate-regula\&M;”
rds of autoin ; in December 2000, Freeman, a senior political science
es are regul#najor, became the first student in A&M history to be dis-
ould change Charged from the Air Force ROTC under the U.S. military’s
npanies wo#Dou’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which bans homosexuals
le their propO'rom serving.
with the insurf “The financial impact for losing an ROTC scholarship is
who would Substantial,” he said,
r s to approve Freeman said he returned to the Corps in August 2001
s or the new because he disliked being a non-reg and missed being part
set. )f one of A&M’s richest traditions. He said on the whole
he Corps has been supportive and credits Lt. Gen. John
"■“Afan Alstyne for his success in the Corps.
“They really care about what people have to offer,
regardless of their background or sexual orientation,” he
said.
Freeman, who wants to create a scholarship for other
discharged gay and lesbian cadets, is part of the gay student
community striving to increase the awareness and tolerance
of homosexuals at A&M. This week marks Gay Awareness
Week at A&M, an effort to educate students about homo
sexuality and offer support for gay and lesbian students.
Chelsey Jones, president of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and
Transgendered Aggies, said progress is slowly being made
to increase tolerance of gays and lesbians at A&M.
“People are a lot more willing to listen, not necessarily
accepting because of their moral stance or religion or what
not, but to be educated,” said Jones, a junior industrial
engineering major. “Just the fact that they are listening is a
step in the right direction.”
Dr. Carol Binzer, interim coordinator of Gender Issues
Education Services, said student protests of Gay Awareness
Week have been “very quiet” to her knowledge.
A pro-heterosexuality rally took place Thursday in the
free speech area at the Academic Plaza, but there have been
no reports of physical confrontation this week, Binzer said.
See Tolerance on page 2
Albright plans to address
foreign diplomacy tonight
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
Against a backdrop of war and tur
moil in the Middle East, former Secretary
of State Madeline Albright will address
foreign diplomacy as
part of the Memorial
Student Center Wiley
Lecture Series tonight at
8 p.m in Rudder
Auditorium.
Albright is the first
female secretary of state
and was the highest-rank- ALHRK,in
ing female in the U.S. government.
“We have been working to get her
here for a long time and the Middle East
is her specialty,” said Steven Pena, direc
tor of marketing for Wiley Lecture
Series. “We are glad she could come
speak at this point in time.”
In the panel discussion, “Peace
Process in the Middle East,” moderated
by Charles Hermann from the Bush
School, Albright will be joined by former
U.S. ambassador to Israel and Syria,
Edward P. Djerejian.
In addition to his knowledge of the
Middle East, Djerejian is an expert in
Soviet and Russian affairs and is one of
the founding directors of the James Baker
Institute of Public Policy.
The panel will accept questions from
the audience, but they must be written
and submitted prior to entering the audi
torium, Pena said.
Tickets are still available, priced at $5
and $7 for students and $10 and $12 for
non-students.
™ Student Senate returns GPR resolution
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hriified GPR Calculation Resolution - Proposed bill
-Students could choose not to apply grade
Of F or D toward overall GPR up to three times
- Students could retake the class they received
Sin F in and only new grade would count ^
- Modification would be noted on student's ^
iffanscript 8
HB c
- Bill approved by Faculty Senate Mar. 17;
Currently in Student Senate Committee O
Travis Swenson • THE BATTALION
Source: STUDENT SENATE
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
The Student Senate returned a resolution to
committee Wednesday night that could boost
future students’ grade-point ratios.
A second vote resurrected the resolution after it
was voted down earlier in the night.
The Modified GPR Calculation Resolution
would allow students to omit a grade of F or D
from their overall GPR, although a note would be
made on transcripts signifying the modification.
The resolution would also allow students to retake
a class they had failed and and replace the failing
grade with the new grade.
All changes would need to be made within 15
days of the next semester to not include a grade.
Matthew Wilkins, a sophomore philosophy
major, said the plan would lead to grade inflation,
which is already a serious problem at Texas A&M.
“The honors program.is considering raising its
GPR requirements because all the honors classes
are full,” Wilkins said. “This is the most important
academic issue we have considered in this cham
ber this year.”
Kevin Capps, a junior history major, said he is
against the resolution because it will not motivate
people to study hard.
“You’re telling people it’s OK to fail,” he said.
Grade inflation is a valid concern, but one to be
dealt with by a later committee, said Cassandra
Patterson, a junior history major and co-author of
the resolution.
“If they (administration) don’t see a lot of stu
dent support, I don’t see them going ahead with
it,” she said.
The Faculty Senate approved a similar resolution
See Student on page 2