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Sports: Three hurlers lead Aggies in draft • Page 3
Opinion: Meet The Battalion • Page 5
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Volume 109 • Issue 145 • 6 pages
109 Years Serving Texas A&M University
! www.thebatt.com W ; ' . I’jh ] . Wednesday, June 4,2003
A&M alters immunization requirements
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By Justin Smith
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M will no longer block
students from registration for not hav
ing their measles, mumps, rubella
(MMR) or tuberculosis immunizations.
However, TB screening is still
required for all international students
and students traveling to countries
where TB is an endemic.
Students of certain majors, such as
health science, are also required by law
to fulfill certain immunization require
ments before they begin working clini
cal rotations.
“Requiring just (TB and MMR)
vaccinations puts an emphasis on those
diseases when other diseases are just as
bad. Instead, we are now giving stu
dents the full menu of vaccinations and
letting them make their determination
because it is a personal thing,” said Dr.
Linda Lekawski, director of Student
Health Services.
The menu recommends students get
vaccinations for MMR, TB, diphtheria
and tetanus, varicella for students who
have not had chicken pox, hepatitis A,
hepatitis B, pneumonia, meningitis,
and influenza.
“We do not require vaccinations for
all of these because some are expensive
and many students could not afford
them all, so how can we block them for
that?” Lekawski said. “Most incoming
freshman will have had both of their
necessary MMR doses, because it is
required by most schools, and tetanus is
non-communicable.”
She said not all students need to take
every vaccination, but who are at high
risk, such as those having chronic ill
nesses such as diabetes, should protect
themselves by doing so.
Lekawski said educating students
to make informed decisions about their
own health is now the priority of
Student Health Services.
She said everyone should be aware
of these vaccinations and the impor
tance for college-age people to be
informed about certain diseases such
as hepatitis B, which is sexually
transmitted.
A&M is not the only university to
have such a policy. Most colleges in
Texas carry the same policy and only a
few schools in Texas still have require
ments. The University of Texas still
requires the two MMR doses and TB
screening.
“MMR are easily communicable
and can cause birth defects, so mothers
are screened as soon as they are found
to be pregnant,” said Dr. Theresa
Spalding, medical director at UT.
For domestic students at UT who do
See Immunization on page 2
Qatar branch OK’d
Degree programs offered at
Texas A&M - Qatar
OPetroleum Engineering
c^Chemical Engineering
^Electrical Engineering
■^Mechanical Engineering
• All classes will be taught in English
Source: OFFICE OF THE PROVOST Ruben Deluna • THE BATTALION
By Natalie Younts
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M will open a
new campus branch in the
Middle Eastern country of
Qatar in September.
The campus will be
located in Doha, Qatar’s
capital city, and is the result
of a 10-year agreement
between A&M and the Qatar
Foundation for Education,
Science and Community
Development.
“This is an extraordinary
opportunity for Texas A&M
to expand its international
presence and to provide edu
cational and research oppor
tunities for our faculty and
students,” said A&M
President Robert M. Gates.
“It will foster greater under
standing among future lead
en in the Middle East and
M.S”
The campus will offer
undergraduate degree pro
grams in petroleum, chemi
cal, electrical and mechani
cal engineering. All classes
will be taught in English.
“The degrees are going to
be exactly the same as the
degrees here. Same quality,
same curriculum,” said Dr.
David Prior, executive vice
president and provost.
Prior said the Qatar cam
pus is an extension of the
strength of the Dwight Look
College of Engineering, but
in a different part of the
world where there are great
relevancies to the economic
development of Qatar.
“For example, our petro
leum engineering degree
that will be offered in Qatar
relates directly to the petro
leum and chemical engi
neering that is associated
with the economic devel-
opement of the country,”
he said.
The campus will enroll
See Qatar on page 2
Chilifest donates funds
By Megan Orton
THE BATTALION
More than $200,000 was donated to
local charities from Chilifest 2003, dou
bling its endowments from last year.
“Twenty percent of the profits go to
alcohol awareness in the community, and
ihe remainder goes to help children,” said
Todd Gilmore, Chilifest 2003 chairman.
Chilifest has already donated $105,000
of the $200,000 and still has $95,000 left to
donate, Gilmore said
Charities and organizations benefiting
Donated $200,000 to
local charities
MADD
■ Burleson County Go
Texas Association
• Boys and Girls Club of
Brazos Valley
Snook Lions Club
Snook Volunteer Fire
Department
Coalition of Alcohol
Responsibility and
Education
College Station Morning
Lions Club
Ruben Deluna • THE BATTALION
Source: 2003 CHILIFEST COMMITTEE
from the chili cook-off include Burleson
County Go Texas Association, Boys and
Girls Club of the Brazos Valley, Snook
Lions Club, Snook Volunteer Fire
Department, College Station Morning
Lions Club, Mothers Against Drunk
Driving and Coalition of Alcohol
Responsibility and Education.
Six computers were donated to area
high schools for Project Graduation pro
grams and proms, and the Boys and Girls
Club of Brazos Valley received funds for
educational materials and supplies,
Gilmore said.
With the money they received, the
Brazos Valley MADD chapter hopes to add
more programs to deter students from
drinking and driving.
Khris Thurmond, MADD victim’s assis
tant coordinator, said the money donated
from Chilifest enabled her to buy new soft
ware, a laptop and a scanner.
“I can scan in pictures of victims to tell
their story to students during programs,”
she said.
Additional funds were donated for the
MADD “Fake ID” program, in which
young celebrities speak to students to dis
courage drinking and driving. The program
consists of videos on a three-screen display
and is headed by Vicki Mercer.
“The program encourages kids to exam
ine how they feel about their own identity,
and how they really feel about drinking and
driving,” Thurmond said.
See Chilifest on page 2
Colonize this
Sharon Aeschbach • THE BATTALION
Microbiology graduate student Brian Cantwell creates slides of a bacteria colony in a third floor labo
ratory at the Biology Science Building. The lab studies the behavior of bacteria and how they sense
chemicals in their environment.
T
New Geosciences dean appointed
By Jodi Rogers
THE BATTALION
Dr. Mary Jo Richardson has been
appointed by Texas A&M President
Robert M. Gates as interim dean of
the College of Geosciences.
Richardson is currently leading
efforts to continue the integrated
ocean-drilling program.
The program involves the efforts
of 18 different learning institutions
of which A&M is the science oper
ator. The project, funded by the
National Science Foundation, con
ducts basic research on ocean
basins and floors from a scientific
drill ship.
Richardson has been the acting
dean since August 2002, when Dr.
David B. Prior was
appointed interim
executive vice pres
ident and provost.
“Dr. Richardson
has done an out
standing job in pro
viding the College
of Geosciences
leadership during the
past nine months and we look for
ward to her continued leadership as
■J ,
It
RICHARDSON
we launch a national search for this
deanship,” Gates said.
Nancy Sawtelle, director of com
munications in the office of the
executive vice president and
provost, said Richardson was cho
sen because of her experience.
Richardson said she is looking
forward to serving in her new posi
tion. She said a committee will
announce two new faculty endowed
chaired positions within the next
two weeks.
“That’s very exciting because in
See Dean on page 2
uesday, the lowest
nd's first hospital
:ed in late April,
■ing. But it's not
lat SARS has been
Bob Dietz, the
:h Organization
Beijing. "No one
leir guard yet."
death toll from
at least 772 on
two new deaths
lina, one in Hong
in Toronto. Mote
aople have been
e flu-like illness.
Arab leaders back Bush’s Mideast
By Tom Raum
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt —
Arab leaders, meeting with
Resident George W. Bush as he
Plunged into the labyrinth of
Mideast peace talks, pledged on
Tuesday to fight terror and violence
and called on Israel to “rebuild
•rust and restore normal Palestinian
life.”
“We will continue to fight the
scourge of terrorism against
humanity and reject the culture of
extremism and violence in any
form or shape — from whatever
source or place, regardless of justi
fications or motives,” Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak said,
reading a statement on behalf of the
leaders of Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi
Arabia — all U.S. allies — and the
Palestinian Authority.
“We will use all the power of
the law to prevent support reaching
illegal organizations including ter
rorist groups,” Mubarak said.
Bush, at the edge of the Red Sea,
with Mubarak at his side, said: “We
meet in Sinai at a moment of prom
ise for the cause of peace in the
Middle East.”
Terror threatens the United
States, Israel and the emergence of
a Palestinian state, he said.
“Terror must be opposed and it
must be defeated,” Bush said.
Bush, making his first major
foray into Middle East peacemak
ing, made clear that both Arabs and
Israelis bear responsibility for
achieving peace. “Israel must deal
with the settlements,” he said.
“Israel must make sure there’s a
continuous territory that the
Palestinians can call home.”
Tuesday’s meeting served as a
peace plan
prelude to face-to-face talks
Wednesday among Bush, Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and
his counterpart, Palestinian leader
Mahmoud Abbas, in Jordan.
The Arab leaders embraced the
internationally crafted “road map”
for peace, which calls for an inde
pendent Palestinian state by 2005.
“We support the determination
of the Palestinian Authority to ful
fill its responsibilities to end vio
lence and to restore law and order,”
See Peace on page 2
Shaky ground for President Bush
British Prime Minister Tony Blair instills more confidence in the
United States than President Bush, according to a recent poll. In
addition, those in several major U.S. allies reported only modest
percentages who said they have confidence in Bush.
Percent who said they have “a
lot” or “some” confidence in each
leader’s ability to do the right
thing regarding worid affairs
United States
Blair
Bush
Britain
Annan***
Blair
Putin
I 72%
71%
* Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
•* Russian President Vladimir Putin
*** U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan
Percent who said they have
confidence In President Bush
A lotMHMI Some IliMM
United States jMHMHEZZZ] 78%
Britain WKEZZH 51 %
France f 120%
Germany BKlii 33%
Russia O 8%
Indonesia H 8%
Pakistan 0 5%
Kuwait MM 162%
Israel HBHHEZZIll 83%
NOTE: The polls of some 16,000
interviews in 31 languages were
conducted April 28 to May 15 in 20
countries and among Palestinians in
the West Bank and Gaza. They have
an error margin of 3 to 4 percent.
SOURCE: Pew Research Center For The People & The Press
AP