Sports- Tennis teams set to battle with Big 12 implications • Page 3 Opinion: Patriotic displays • Page 11
THE BATTALION
Volume 109 • Issue 133 • 12 pages
Texas A&M University
www.thebatt.com
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
aines memorial raises questions of accuracy
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
An effort to revive a stalled movement to erect
la statue of Matthew Gaines on campus has
Iprompted critics to charge the project is politiciz-
[ing history for the sake of diversity.
The idea of honoring Gaines, a former slave
Iwho served as a Texas state senator during
IReconstruction, first surfaced almost a decade ago
[but was put in limbo in 2001 when then Texas
[A&M President Ray Bowen returned the proposal
[to the President’s Advisory Committee on Art
[Policy for more study.
Student Senate Speaker Brooks Landgraf said
A&M President Robert M. Gates may be more
receptive to the idea, and a student committee cre
ated by the Senate two weeks ago will meet for the
first and only time today to discuss how the
Gaines memorial can move forward.
The project has raised questions of historical
accuracy and proponents have acknowledged
overstating Gaines’ contribution to A&M.
In an e-mail to student organizations soliciting
support, Martha Gault, chair of the Matthew
Gaines Memorial Council, said Gaines was
responsible for the establishment of A&M and
that without his efforts, the University would not
exist today.
“To say (Gaines) was solely responsible is
somewhat misleading,” said Dale Baum, a history
professor at A&M who special
izes in the Civil War and
Reconstruction.
In 1871, the 12th Texas
Legislature passed a bill to ensure
the state could use federal funds
to create a land grant college in
Texas, leading to the establish
ment of the Agricultural and
Mechanic College of Texas in
1876. However, it is unclear what role Gaines
played in passing the bill, aside from voting for it.
The actual bill was probably drafted in the
Texas secretary of state’s office at the behest of
then-Gov. Edmund Davis, Baum said. Gaines did
not author or sponsor the legislation, but like other
GAINES
Republican legislators, voted for it.
Baum, a long-time supporter of a Gaines
memorial, said it would help recognize the pro
gressive policy achievements of the Republican
Party in Texas during Reconstruction. The deci
sion to honor Gaines, Baum said, is not based only
on his contributions to the establishment of A&M.
“This is admittedly a political issue,” Baum
said. “We can show that from day one, an African
American was involved in this school.”
Landgraf said he had met with Baum to discuss
Gaines’ memorial, and that the overstatement in
the e-mail had been corrected.
However, the correction has not placated critics.
See Gaines on page 2
Watch this!
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RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION
Taking advantage of the nice weather, freshman
general studies major Brian Benavides jumps
over a set of four stairs in front of the MSC on
Monday afternoon on his skateboard as a
group of people watched on. He has been
skateboarding for more than five years.
Media Board to consider
barring student leaders
By Lauren Smith
THE BATTALION
The Student Media Board will consider a
proposal Wednesday that would prohibit student
leaders from serving on the body that selects the
editor in chief of The Battalion each semester.
The Board, which oversees The Battalion,
has three student members nominated by the
student body president. Faculty and staff com
prise the other five voting members, and any
decision to appoint or fire an editor must be
approved by the Provost.
The proposed amendment to the Board’s
bylaws was filed by former Editor-in-Chief of
The Battalion, Brady Creel.
In a statement submitted to the Board,
Creel said he was “disturbed at the present
state of student representation on the Board,”
and that “having student political figures as
members of the Student Media Board negates
everything journalists believe in.”
In the past, the student body president has
nominated himself, members of the Student
Government Association executive council,
the president of the Memorial Student Center
council or other high-profile student leaders.
Creel’s proposal would bar students who
serve as officers in the executive councils of
the MSC, SGA, Interfraternity Council and
Corps of Cadets, as well as other organizations
from serving on the Board.
The Board represents a good cross section
of campus, said Dr. Leroy Dorsey, head of the
journalism department and Board chairman.
Dr. Barbara Gastel, a journalism professor
and Board member, said she could see how
having student leaders on the Board may cre
ate conflicts of interest, but said she is still
considering the proposal and has not decided
how she will vote.
Barry Hammond, the former MSC council
president and a student member of the Board,
said he was not familiar with the proposal and
could not comment on it.
See Media on page 2
Bonfire sales ban lifted
By Janet McLaren
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M University
President Robert M. Gates
officially lifted the moratori
um on the sale of Bonfire-
related merchandise for the
Aggie Moms Club at a meet
ing with the Aggie Moms
Federation Saturday.
Linda Hill, Aggie Moms
Federation president, said
Gates specifically lifted the
ban for Aggie Moms.
“The moratorium on the
sale of Bonfire memorabilia
and related items will be lift
ed for Aggie Moms Clubs
and Aggie Moms Clubs
only,” Hill said.
Earlier in the week. Bonfire
Coalition sent a letter to Gates
requesting that the moratori
um be partially lifted for
Aggie Moms during Parent’s
Weekend, April 10-12.
“The intent of the letter was
mainly to help out the Aggie
Moms,” said Ryan
Kirkpatrick, co-chair of
Bonfire Coalition. “Every year
the Moms bring Bonfire para
phernalia to the sale but they’re
not allowed to sell any.”
Kirkpatrick said A&M
Vice-President for Student
Affairs Dr. J. Malon
Southerland and the
Department of Student Affairs
had banned the sale of
Bonfire-related merchandise
by the Aggie Moms Club.
Diane Taylor, 2003-04
president-elect of the Brazos
County A&M Mother’s Club,
said she was “absolutely
thrilled” with Gates’ decision.
“Whoop!” Taylor said.
“That’s great news. ”
Taylor said shoppers could
See Bonfire on page 2
CS Council members would raise
candidate age from 18 to 21 years
By Nicole M. Jones
THE BATTALION
The College Station City Council
has discussed raising the age
requirement for council members to
21, but no efforts have been made to
actually change it, said College
Station Mayor Ron Silvia.
The age requirement to serve on
the College Station City Council is
currently 18. A candidate for a
council position must have lived in
College Station for at least one year.
The item on the City Council’s
agenda was the city charter, which
is the “constitution” of College
Station, Silvia said. Included in the
charter are age requirements, term
limits and residency requirements,
all of which had to be discussed,
Silvia said.
“We discussed whether someone
18 years of age has the maturity to
make the decisions of a city coun
cilman, but there was nothing that
was put forth to go on a ballot for
citizen approval,” Silvia said.
Despite their concern about
whether a student has the time and
maturity to hold the position, most
of the seven council members are
opposed to changing the age
requirement, Silvia said.
Some Texas A&M students, such
as Kyle Whatley, the director of the
Maroon Party at A&M, feel that
changing the age requirement from
18 to 21 would further alienate
young adults from participating in
local government.
“Students already feel that the
city doesn’t like them very much
and that the city specifically tar
gets them in their law enforce
ment,” said Whatley, a senior polit
ical science major.
Whatley said he thinks city offi
cials are worried that if a student is
elected to a position on the council,
he will not be able to handle the
responsibility.
Gary Halter, A&M political sci
ence professor and a fonner mayor
of College Station, said that even if
the motion is put to a citizen vote,
changing the age requirement is not
a good idea.
“I think it is rather stupid to put it
to a vote since the reaction and
backlash from the students may pro
duce something rather different than
intended,” Halter said.
Even though students make up a
See Council on page 2
College Station City Council
Requirements:
HUH
Source: College Station City Charter
- U.S. citizen
-18 years old
-Resident of city for
at least one year
TRAVIS SWENSON* THE BATTALION
KRT CAMPUS
American forces encounter little resistance as they take Saddam's home town
of Tikrit late Monday afternoon.
Major combat winds down
By David Espo
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit
fell Monday with unexpectedly light
resistance, the last Iraqi city to succumb
to overpowering U.S.-led ground and air
forces. A senior Pentagon general said
“major combat engagements” probably
are over in the 26-day-old war.
As fighting wound down, Pentagon
officials disclosed plans to pull two air
craft carriers from the Persian Gulf. At
the same time, Iraqi power brokers
looked ahead to discussions on a postwar
government at a U.S.-arranged meeting
set for Tuesday.
“I would anticipate that the major
combat engagements are over,” Maj. Gen.
Stanley McChrystal told reporters at the
Pentagon. Tikrit fell with no sign of the
ferocious last stand by Saddam loyalists
that some military planners had feared.
Secretary of State Colin Powell hinted
at economic or diplomatic sanctions
against Syria, saying the government is
developing a weapons of mass destruction
program and helping Iraqis flee the dying
regime. Syrian officials denied the charges.
Looting eased in Baghdad after days
of plundering at government buildings,
hospitals and an antiquities museum,
and group of religious and civil opposi
tion leaders met in the capital to plan
See War on page 12