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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 2003)
X m\\ battali Sports: Aggies sweep Tech, TCU • Page 5 Opinion: Save Money • Page 9 THE 10 pages Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Monday, April 7, 2003 Albright stresses U.S. ally relations JP BEATO III • THE BATTALION : ormer Secretary of State Madeleine Albright spoke about stability in the Middle East Friday it Texas A&M. She is the highest-ranking vdman in the history of U.S. government. By Janet McLaren THE BATTALION Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stressed the gravity of current conflicts in Iraq and North Korea and the importance of the United States’ diplomatic response Friday in an hour-long lec ture and question program at Rudder Auditorium. “I am in my seventh decade of life and have seen few moments more dangerous, more disturbing than this,” said Albright. Former Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian, an expert on Middle East foreign policy, joined Albright in the event hosted by the Wiley Lecture Series on “Force and Diplomacy.” Albright, the first woman Secretary of State and highest-rank ing woman in the history of U.S. government, delivered her first lec ture at Texas A&M wearing maroon. Albright stressed the impor tance of maintaining good rela tions with American allies and improving global confidence in U.S. actions in the Middle East. “Around the globe, American actions have not been so widely questioned since the Vietnam war,” she said. “We have to remedy that.” Both Albright and Djerejian said economic help from other nations will be necessary to rebuild the Iraqi nation. Albright, who worked personally with North Korean president Kim Jong-11, said preventing North Korea from becoming a nuclear power is a priority for the United States. “North Korea is as dangerous as it is poor,” she said. “Stopping North Korea is essential and is not going to be easy.” Albright said President George W. Bush must demonstrate the same urgency in resolving the North Korea problem as it did in removing the threat posed by Iraq. “We must act now,” Albright said. “It is absurd to stand by and allow North Korea to become a military power while sending United States See Lecture on page 2 Chilifest 2003 .ecord crowd and fewer shenanigans —— . krt campus >s about the isn’t Ira^ i soldiers dir nil she ran oil ring severalp rials declined By Rolando Garcia THE BATTALION Despite a record crowd, ChiliFest 12003 concluded Saturday night with Ifewer shenanigans than usual, law mforcement officials said. Country music legend Willie Nelson lelped draw more than 38,000 people to the annual music festival in Snook. More than 70 law enforcement officers were on land to keep the crowd in line, said lurleson County Constable Dennis Gaas, Y'ho oversaw security for the event. I wouldn't say everyone was drunk, but they were all feeling good, and you vporter with Force, Mar. man whose it the hospital , a lawyer ftM whom titiTied only , said he peei e window m. then 1 must lit I,” the man ying. “I deci ) to tell might have expected a lot more trouble. — Dennis Gaas Burleson County Constable Officers issued more than 125 cita- ions, 80 of them for underage drinking, itations were also given for public ntoxication, urinating in public, disor- erly conduct and presenting false dentification to law enforcement, Gaas aid. Considering the size of the crowd nd the amount of alcohol consumed, he disturbances were minor, with only wo incidents of fighting, he said. • th - “I wouldn’t say everyone was drunk, r°J 1 1 IM but they were all feeling good, and you might have expected a lot more trou ble,” Gaas said. Traffic congestion was alleviated through the park-n-ride service at A&M • ary reporter lohammad bout Lyit , he returned r of Iraqi tro layout oft which Lyr Consolidated High School, where par- tygoers could leave their vehicles and ride buses to and from the festival. The vast pastures surrounding the festival were divided into 10,000 parking spaces, but only 8,500 were used, Gaas said. Although traffic often slowed to a crawl, it never came to a complete halt. Lt. Rodney Sigler, spokesman for the College Station Police Department, said an officer was posted at the high school parking lot to monitor partygo- ers returning to their vehicles. CAR- POOL was on hand to take home those too intoxicated to drive, he said. To prevent underage drinking, atten dees who were of legal age were given wristbands necessary to purchase alco hol, and law enforcement officers were posted at beer vendors to ensure identi fications were checked. Students said the good music, favorable weather and security com bined to make their ChiliFest experi ences enjoyable. “Everyone was drinking excessively, but nobody got hurt or out of control,” said Jason Sellers, a junior wildlife and fisheries sciences major. “I’d definitely do it again.” Although some in the Snook com munity have complained about the fes tival in the past, most welcome the event, Gaas said. The festival last year raised more than $100,000 for local charities, and some 500 volunteers helped direct cars in the parking lots and hand out wristbands at the gate. “(ChiiiFest) is strongly supported by the Snook community,” Gaas said. The site was left littered with beer cans, papers, chairs and other trash items, though there are fewer couches left behind this year, Gaas said. Last year, it took workers five days to clear the site. Jl> BEATO III • THE BATTALION Four fans sit atop a tractor for a better view of Willie Nelson as the sun sets on Chilifest 2003. Around 38,000 attended the two-day event. Chilifest By the Numbers - 38,000 attendees - 125 citations - 70 law enforcement officers - 8,500 vehicles on property JP BEATO III • THE BATTALION Headliner Willie Nelson played to a large crowd at this year's JP BEATO III andtravisswenson• the BATTALION Chilifest held in Snook, Texas on Saturday. Nelson's set lasted SOURCE: BURELSON COUNTY CONSTABLE for tWO hoUES. tudent media receive awards MSC officials tight lipped about cuts -'ere discover were wound' ent off under t Islamic gt las killed lu | is in attacfi >ility for thedI 'as a “giltI0--- Battalion received honorable mention overall mp has beef Imong four-year collegiate By Rob Phillips THE BATTALION ding in thep‘ troops destn lome allege g tunnels or The army ly 700 houi >s in the M Gaza sii , according Committee he demoiiti 1 ore than 51 icless, the Oz incidet approached- i zone off Ife ns, the Isral The troof Acre planting at them wl* ignored ordf': d men we| / medics handed over ibulance cref lewspapers Saturday at the Texas Intercollegiate Press association’s Spring Convention, winning first- ilace awards for photos, Series, illustrations and ^ports features. Randal Ford took top hon- )rs in the sports feature and lews photo categories, while lohn C. Livas was awarded (first place in the sports action Thoto section. Christina Hoffman and C.E. /alters placed first for their series of articles regarding the Horps of Cadets hazing investi gation in Summer 2002. True Brown finished first in the sports feature story category. Ruben DeLuna placed first md third for illustrations and received second place in fea ture page design. The following staffers also )laced second in various cate gories: Stuart Villanueva for sports feature photo, Dallas Shipp for sports news story and Mariano Castillo in the editorial section. Emily Peters took third place in the news story sec tion for her piece on a con victed sex offender enlisted in the Corps of Cadets and living on campus, and Janelle Wilson placed third for a gen eral column piece. Chad Mallam, who once published cartoons for The Battalion under the pseudo nym The Uncartoonist, received third place in opin ion page design and honor able mention in the cartoon category. During on-site competi tions in Corpus Christi, Livas won first place for sports action photo and Kendra Kingsley won first place for headline writing. Michael Crow placed second in print sports writing. The Associated Press Managing Editors also awarded The Battalion hon orable mention overall for By Brad Bennett THE BATTALION Budget cuts could put several Memorial Student Center com mittees on the chopping block, but MSC officials are staying tight-lipped on which commit tees may be eliminated . All departments within the division of Student Affairs are required to identify spending cuts totaling 9.5 percent of their budgets and submit their pro posals by mid-April, said Terry Pankratz, assistant vice presi dent for Student Affairs. Pankratz said the proposals will be a list of “what-if scenar ios” and actual budget cuts may be less than 9.5 percent. Final figures will not be known until the state legislature determines A&M’s overall budget appropri ations, Pankratz said. “It is a little too soon to know what reduction, if any, will need to be made,” Pankratz said. The MSC has an annual budget of more than $6 million, close to half of which comes from student fee money. The rest is derived from revenues and ticket sales. MSC Council President Barry Hammond declined to comment on potential cuts, and MSC Director Jim Reynolds did not return phone calls from The Battalion. Travis Zimmerman, chair of MSC Cepheid Variable, a sci ence fiction student program ming committee that sponsors the annual AggieCon conven tion, said he and chairs of other committees that may be cut met with Reynolds and incoming MSC Council President Elizabeth Dacus in March and were told their committees may be eliminated from the budget. The committee chairs were also briefed on how they could reor ganize their groups under the department of Student Activities. Zimmerman, a junior politi cal science major, said that he had been informed by a MSC official that Cepheid Variable was a possible cut. Zimmerman said he has not heard from MSC officials on whether the decision to cut Cepheid Variable was final, but the organization is operating under the assumption that it is. Although the group uses little See Cuts on page 2 Troops push into Baghdad; death toll grows The cost of security Much of the burden of homeland security falls on the federal and state level. Here are the cities who have the largest increases in security costs due to the high alert, according to a survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Additional homeland security costs per week See Awards on page 2 New York gggjgil fgg Portland, Ore. San Francisco Austin, Texas 0.5 Los Angeles Y. W;Yv,c-yv t. Chandler, Ariz. 0.3 SIIBImks New Orleans 0.4 Fresno, Calif. Baltimore 0.3 SOURCE: U.S. Conference of Mayors By Calvin Woodward THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Chipping away at the vestiges of Saddam Hussein’s power, U.S. forces encircled Baghdad on Sunday and began flying into the capital’s airport. British forces in the south made their deepest push into Iraq’s second largest city. A hulking U.S. C-130 transport plane landed at the Baghdad interna tional airport, carrying unknown cargo but weighted with symbolism and tactical importance. The arrival presaged a major resupply effort by air for U.S. troops, dependent until now on a tenuous line stretching 350 miles to Kuwait. U.S. officials declared Baghdad cut off from the rest of Iraq. “We do control the highways in and out of the city and do have the capability to interdict, to stop, to attack an Iraqi military forces that might try to either escape or to engage our forces,” said Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Intense fighting took a growing toll on combatants and civilians. See War on page 2