Aggieufe: A decade on the Go-Go • Page 3
Sports: Warren tops list of Aggies in draft • Page 7
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THE BATTaJ
TO 17 |> A TT A T TT\
1 tit Jd/tlI 1 aliu
I Volume 109 • Issue 141 • 12 pages
Texas A&M University
www.thebatt.com
Monday, April 28, 2003
Student involved in hazing may be expelled
COLLEGE STATION (AP) —
Texas A&M officials have recom-
nended the expulsion of a Corps of
Cadets student and the suspension of
(several others in a continuing investi
gation into alleged hazing within the
60-member cavalry.
The investigation opened in
October after A&M senior Ty Keeling,
Commander of the Corps’ Parsons
lounted Cavalry, reported the alleged
hazing to Corps Commandant Lt. Gen.
John Van Alstyne.
Juniors in the 60-member cavalry
were accused of forcing sophomores
to do push-ups and sit-ups, beating
them and even dousing them with
urine and horse feces, the Houston
Chronicle reported in its Saturday edi
tions. The alleged incidents took place
over a number of years, according to a
student who was recommended for a
one-year suspension and didn’t want
to be identified.
Brazos County District Attorney
Jim Kuboviak conducted a five-month
criminal investigation of the alleged
hazing, which is a Class A misde
meanor. A grand jury declined to issue
indictments in March, but Kuboviak
said at the time that he believed hazing
had occurred.
The Parsons Mounted Cavalry fires
the cannon at A&M football games
and Midnight Yell Practices.
Since October, A&M officials have
banned about half of the cavalry mem
bers from participating in its activities.
The others take care of 40 horses and
participate in other events.
Recommended punishments for
some students were first announced
this week, said the student who didn’t
want to be identified.
Dave Parrott, A&M’s dean of stu
dent life, said it’s unclear how many
students will be sanctioned in the
investigation because the matter is
“evolving.” Parrott said he did not
know how many suspensions have
been recommended; the students will
have the right to appeal their recom
mended punishments.
“No sanctions are complete until
you’ve exhausted your appeals,”
Parrot said Sunday night. “We have a
large batch of cases that will be han
dled by the end of the semester, a
few this summer and some even in
the fall.”
orps institutes
eight requirement
KRT CAMPUS
y on Wednesday. Slie
By Esther Robards-
Forbes
THE BATTALION
Beginning next fall,
overweight Corps of
Cadets members will have
shed excess weight or
lace removal from the
i, said Duncan Wooif: L- or P s -
5ecialist for the
or the Eastern Diet
idicted on onechaf
it property.
of 10 years in prii
prosecutors said
enforcement offii
o on trial on theft cl
The new maximum
weight limits implemented
)y Corps Commandant Lt.
Gen. John Van Alstyne are
ed of stealing a c "tended to “promote a
"ealthy lifestyle among the
adets,” said Col. Anthony
thermal insulatingltf roVes ’ the assistant com-
heft count wouldci' Mndant for trainin S and
aperations.
The weight limits were
compiled using military
ind insurance industry
tandards and are fairly
enient requirements,
roves said.
The weight require
ments are based primarily
on a weight-to-height ratio
chart. However, this meas
urement is
not always
accept-
able, espe
cially for
those with
a high per
centage of
m u s c 1 e VAN ALSTYNE
mass, Groves said. In
those cases, a second set of
standards using body fat
percentage is used.
An example of the new
requirements is a maxi
mum 33 percent body fat
for female cadets and 24
percent body fat for male
cadets, or a maximum
weight of 189 lbs for a 5-
foot-9 male.
“There are a lot of peo
ple who feel that the Corps
should be within these
requirements,” Groves
said.
Cadets who just barely
meet the Corps’ body fat
requirements are still with
in the obese category on a
scale developed by the
American Exercise
Council.
Cadets who do not
meet the requirements will
be referred to a weight loss
program that will focus on
proper nutrition and exer
cise. The program itself
will be run by the com
mandant’s office. In this
program, cadets must lose
four pounds a month until
they meet their require
ment or face removal from
the Corps. Grace periods
will be given under certain
circumstances.
See Corps on page 2
4$
mt
Jobs decreasing for grads
By Janet McLaren
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M’s Career Center Executive
Director Leigh Turner said the number of
jobs for graduating A&M students have
decreased in the last two years.
“Opportunities have continued to be
fewer for students,” Turner said. “There
are more students upon graduation who
are not employed and we have more stu
dents after graduation still using our serv
ices than last year.”
While Turner said statistics from this
year’s graduates have not been reported
yet, the slowing economy has factored
into the low count of jobs available,
affecting student employment after grad
uation.
“Two years ago, about 50 percent of
our students were employed at gradua
tion,” she said. “Last year that number
dropped to 36 percent.”
Turner said the number of on-campus
interviews sponsored by the Career
Center declined 20 percent compared to
the statistics for May 2002 graduates.
“Our interviews to date declined
from 24,341 to 19,234,” Turner said,
“and the number of companies who
come here looking for graduates
declined 10 percent.”
Turner said there are usually more
jobs available for engineering and techni
cal majors, but job opportunities have
also declined for them recently.
Turner said education majors were
especially desirable in the job market
right now.
“Last week, we had 152 employers
See Jobs on page 2
;e.c
ia
Coalition arrests key players
in continued attempt to govern
By Charles J.
Hanley
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD, Iraq —
The U.S. military arrested
a political pretender in
Baghdad on Sunday, while
a Shiite Muslim group sig
naled a new willingness to
cooperate on the eve of a
pivotal U.S.-sponsored
conference to help form a
provisional government
for Iraq.
The arrest of
Mohammed Mohsen al-
Zubaidi reflected U.S.
determination to brook no
interlopers in its effort to
build a consensus for
administering Iraq. Timed
just before Monday’s
high-profile conference, it
sent a clear message:
Don’t meddle.
Al-Zubaidi was a
returned exile associated
with the opposition Iraqi
National Congress who
had declared himself
mayor of Baghdad without
sanction from U.S. occu
pation authorities. U.S.
Central Command on
Sunday accused him of
“subversion.”
His activities, including
designation of “commit
tees” to run city affairs,
had complicated the
efforts of postwar U.S.
civil administrator Jay
Garner to reorganize polit
ical life. A U.S. military
spokesman said al-Zubaidi
was arrested “for exercis
ing authority which was
not his.”
Central Command
accused al-Zubaidi and his
associates of “obstructing
the normal means of gov
ernance for their own self-
interests,” particularly by
claiming control Over the
power company and other
utilities.
In a statement, the com
mand said it warned al-
Zubaidi to stop his actions.
“He instead ... continued
his subversive actions,” it
said.
Monday’s conference,
second in a series likely to
extend well into May, was
expected to attract 300 to
400 delegates from politi
cal organizations that had
opposed Saddam Hussein
and from other Iraqi inter
est groups, said a Garner
deputy, Barbara Bodine.
The first meeting was
held April 15 in Ur, in
southern Iraq, just a week
after U.S. troops took con
trol of the Iraqi capital and
ousted the Saddam gov
ernment. Fewer than 100
Iraqis participated, many
of them exiles, as some
Shiites and others stayed
away in protest of poten
tial U.S. influence over
selection of a new Iraqi
president.
But in a sign that Shiite
resistance may be easing,
one key Shiite group that
Flying colors
Randal Ford • THE BATTALION
Johnson Elementary school student Irma Museum. The dance is part of the Cinco de Mayo
Rodriguez, 11, performs Dancing Jaguars to the celebration on campus Sunday afternoon. The
song "Palea de Gallos" in front of a large crowd at festivites included dancing, crafts, music and a
the George Bush Presidential Library and jalapeno eating contest.
Amin
IRAQ'S MOST WANTED
Amin in custody
Lt. Gen. Hossan
Mohammed Amin,
chief Iraqi liaison
with U.N.
weapons
inspectors, is in
coalition custody,
the U.S. Central
Command
announced Sunday. Amin was
No. 49 on the U.S. list of the 55
most-wanted members of the
former government.
► Former air force
communications engineer
► In 1980 became a committee
member for a weapons
research and development think
tank
► Committee later expanded to
produce all of Iraq’s most lethal
weapons
► National Monitoring Director
for more than a decade
► The six of clubs in the U.S.
military’s card deck of top Iraqi
leaders
SOURCE: Associated Press AP
shunned the Ur conference
— the Iran-based Supreme
Council of the Islamic
Revolution in Iraq — indi
cated it might attend on
Monday.
“No definite decision
has been taken so far. We
have been invited and will
most probably attend,”
See Arrest on page 2
Survey shows most Aggies
value campus involvement
By Melissa Fowler
THE BATTALION
Eighty-seven percent of Texas A&M
students surveyed said it is important to be
involved in University-sponsored activities
outside of class, according to a Student
Involvement survey conducted in
November by Student Life Studies.
The telephone survey polled a represen
tative sample of almost 700 students con
cerning student involvement.
Results from the survey will help
departments and student organizations
determine the needs of students and how to
provide programs that better meet students’
interests, said Darby Roberts, assistant
director of Student Life Studies.
“The survey will improve what we learn
about students and in turn improve the pro
grams and services provided for students,”
Roberts said.
According to the survey, 95 percent of
students say A&M is successful in provid
ing and supporting a wide range of
extracurricular activities and events on
campus.
In addition to gathering opinions on the
range and level of involvement, the survey
probed the motivating factors in students’
decisions to attend university-sponsored
events.
Based on these findings, 92 percent of
students said that conflicts with academic
priorities were important factors in deter
mining whether to attend university-spon
sored events. Alcohol was not a factor in
such a decision, according to 82 percent of
students surveyed.
See Survey on page 2
0Sf
Reasons for joinlngCTiTlciilar activitiei
Interaction with others
Entertainment
Experiencc/Skill building
Personal Satisfaction
Personal value/Commitment -
Resume entry
Past involvement
Change of pace —
SOURCE: STUDENT LIFE STUDIES • travis Swenson