THE BATTALION
JFF* THE BATTALION
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AMliUPi! Trotting around the globe • Page 3
OfMNIONi Big Brother is watching • Page 5
'TUI?
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fthiine 109 • Issue 151 • 6 pages lSlj»
Wright named sole candidate for Prairie View
109 Years Serving Tixas A&M University
www.thebatt.com
Thursday, June 12, 2003
By Rob Munson
THE BATTALION
Dr. George C. Wright came one step
closer last week to becoming Prairie
View A&M’s next president. The Texas
A&M University System Board of
Regents named Wright as the lone
finalist for the position in its meeting
June 6.
The Board chose Wright out of 135
qualified applicants, said A&M
University System Chancellor Howard
Graves.
“Prairie View is a diamond in the
rough that’s just waiting to be polished
by the right leader,” Graves said. “I
really think Dr. Wright has the wisdom
to choose the right thing to do and the
courage to do it.”
Wright earned a Ph.D in history
from Duke University, and said his
studies in southern history and race
relations helped him appreciate pre
dominantly black universities like
Prairie View.
Wright said he first heard about
Prairie View while in graduate school at
the University of Kentucky.
“Institutions like Prairie View are
very important in American society and
Texas society in educating black lead
ers in all walks of life,” he said. “I want
to make sure students are reminded of
that history and the historical contribu
tions Prairie View has made.”
WRIGHT
Wright served as
executive vice presi
dent at the University
of Texas-Arlington
since 2000 and has
been the university’s
provost since 1995.
Prior to joining
UTA’s administrative
staff, Wright was a vice provost and
professor at Duke University, and a
vice provost and professor at the
University of Texas-Austin.
Wright said previous administra
tive and teaching positions have read
ied him to take over as Prairie View’s
president, and that his teaching expe
rience will allow him to understand
faculty concerns.
A renovated student center, a new
engineering building and a new Prairie
View nursing program in Houston will
open when classes resume this fall.
“Prairie View is fortunate,” Wright
said. “It is exciting to walk the cam
pus and see the renovations and new
buildings.”
Wright said new programs and
research centers attracted him to the
university. “I’m glad to be going to a
university where I can take part in the
direction over the next 10 years,”
he said.
Graves said he and the Board of
Regents looked for someone who could
lead and inspire.
“Prairie View’s success will be the
success of the Texas A&M System and
all of its members,” Graves said.
Wright replaces Prairie View interim
president Willie Timpton. Timpton took
over after Charles Hines stepped down
last year.
Graves said Timpton led Prairie
View in the right direction and
enhanced confidence among its alumni.
“Now Prairie View A&M needs con
tinuity and a permanent leader,” Graves
said. “The (A&M) System is behind Dr.
Wright 100 percent.”
Wright’s appointment as Prairie
View A&M’s president will not come
until June 27.
A&M enrollment
down for summer
BLINN==.
Bryan Campus
<=>TEXAS A&M
5,878
I 16,505
^Up
■ 5.47 percent
tm Down
4 percent
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
Summer enrollment numbers
for summer session one at Texas
A&M dropped four percent
from last year, while Blinn
College’s enrollment is up 5.47
percent, officials said Tuesday.
A&M’s unofficial enrollment
stands at 16,505, which includes
A&M’s 10-week class sessions
and both schools’ distance edu
cation courses and Internet
courses.
The figure was recorded June
5, the fourth day of classes, and
is unofficial until certified on
k 15th class day.
Blinn registered a total of
fi,978 for all three campuses,
located in Bryan, Brenham and
Schulenburg. The Bryan cam
pus reports an enrollment fig
ure of 5,878, a record up from
5,513 last year, said Gena
Parsons, spokeswoman for
Blinn.
Parsons said Blinn’s enroll
ment continues to grow, and stu
dents take classes at Blinn
because it is affordable.
“Community colleges are
more affordable and offer the
same qualities as big institu
tions,” she said. “With all the
budget cuts, A&M is offering
fewer classes while (Blinn) con
tinues to increase (class)
demand.”
Parsons said Blinn’s enroll
ment of high school students
who take classes offering dual
credit during the summer to get
ahead increased 63 percent.
“They can kill two birds with
one stone,” she said.
Parsons said Blinn also
offers prisoners at state prisons
an opportunity to receive an
education while in prison, but
Parsons said these numbers are
down 13 percent. Parsons said
they take basic core curriculum
classes.
“It helps so (the prisoners)
don’t fall back into a life a
crime,” Parsons said.
Texas A&M-Galveston
reported 467 students enrolled
this session, an increase of two
students during the same peri
od last year.
A&M / BLINN ENROLLMENT
Summer I
Laser Edge
Sokolov brings his research in optics to A&M students
By Megan Orton
THE BATTALION
Dr. Alexei Sokolov knew he was inter
ested in laser physics when his father
explained a laser to him at age 10.
“His explanation was mostly right,” said
Sokolov, an assistant professor of physics
at Texas A&M. “He was not a physicist,
but he had physics colleagues that had
explained it to him.”
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
SOURCE: BLINN ADMISSIONS OFFICE, A&M RECORDS & ADMISSIONS
Bombing, rocket attack
jeopardize peace plan
Sokolov said a simple children’s book
about physics he read at a young age
sparked his interest in optics.
“Physicists look at the world in a differ-,
ent way,” he said. “They wonder why metal
is shiny, how colors work when you paint,
what happens when you combine colors,
and why if you see gas spilled on water,
there are all the colors in the film.”
A Ukrainian citizen, Sokolov grew up in
Russia until age 11 when he moved to
Ukraine with his siblings and parents, both
engineers.
Sokolov received his Ph. D. from
Stanford after completing his Master’s
degree at Moscow Institute of Physics and
Technology and has been at A&M since
2001.
“It was very exciting to me to live in
another country,” he said. “To learn the way
people live here, and show who I am and
what Russians are.”
While at Stanford, Sokolov won the
Adolph Lomb medal, which is awarded
annually to a researcher who has made a
noteworthy contribution to optics before
age 30.
Sokolov and his co-workers discovered
a way to create a new, shorter pulse of light
that had never been produced before. His
research has been published in Physical
Review Letters and other journals.
Sokolov said graduate school was also a
See Sokolov on page 2
TERESA WEAVER • THE BATTALION
Assistant Professor Alexei Sokolov is one of the leading researchers in the field of laser physics.
Sokolov works in the optics field, using complex lasers to create shorter beams of light.
By Ravi Nessman
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM — The cycle of
bloodletting escalated Wednesday as a
Palestinian blew himself up on a
Jerusalem bus and killed 16 other peo
ple, and Israel retaliated with rocket
attacks that left nine dead in Gaza,
including two Hamas militants.
President Bush called on all nations to
cutoff funds to terrorists like Hamas.
A U.S.-backed peace plan was in
tatters only a week after Bush launched
inputting his prestige.on the line at a
dramatic Mideast summit with Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud
as. Since then, 24 Palestinians and
2l Israelis have been killed.
The sudden surge of violence contin
ued just after midnight, when Israeli hel
icopters fired missiles at a car in the
Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, wit
nesses said. Two people were killed,
doctors said. Israeli military sources said
Retarget was a cell militants who fired
rockets at Israelis. Seven other
Palestinians were killed in helicopter
attacks Wednesday.
6
The suicide bombing in
one of Jerusalem’s most
policed areas underscored
the vulnerability of Israel
and the ineffectiveness of
Abbas’ efforts to persuade
militants to end terror
attacks.
Even as U.S. officials
called on all sides to stick to
the “road map” peace plan,
Sharon insisted he would not
let up in his assault on mili
tants. Israel will “continue
to pursue until the end the
terrorists and those that send
them,” he said.
The bus bombing was
carried out by a man dressed
as a religious Jew. Hamas
claimed responsibility and
rejected a call by Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat for a
halt to the violence. Palestinians identi
fied the bomber as Abdel Madi
Shabneh, an 18-year-old high school
student from the West Bank town of
Hebron. Israeli soldiers began search
ing his house after sundown.
Arafat — putting himself in the
From hope to despair
At last week’s Middle East summit, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas each
accepted the U.S.-promoted “road map" to peace. Sharon
recognized the Palestinians’ right to a state; Abbas vowed to end
militants' violence ^gainst Israelis. Hopes for progress have been
impeded by the resurgence of deadly violence.
June
- In Aqaba, Jordan, U.S.
President George Bush
meets with leaders who
accepted the road map
peace plan.
Two Hamas members
are killed by Israeli
troops in a gunfight in
Tulkarem in the West
Bank.
Hamas quits cease-fire
talks with Palestinian Abbas, Bush and Sharon
officials.
r Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Fatah group claim responsbility
for killing four Israeli soldiers when Palestinians, disguised as
soldiers, sneaked into an army post; Sharon dafends his
acceptance of the road map before his Likud Party critics,
r Israel dismantles 10 uninhabited, unauthorized West Bank
settlement outposts; Abbas says he will not launch a crackdown
on Hamas.
- Israeli helicopter missiles target senior Hamas leader Abdel
Aziz Rantisi, wounding him and killing two bystanders;
homemade rockets fired from Gaza land In Israel; Israeli
helicopters and tanks respond, killing three Palestinians.
r Egypt's intelligence chief arrives to resume truce efforts between
Palestinian Authority and militant groups; suicide bomber on
Jerusalem bus kills at least 16 Israelis; Israeli helicopter fire
kills two Hamas militants and five others in Gaza.
Catholics settle sex abuse cases
SOURCE: Associated Press
By Rachel Zoll
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The $25.7 million settlement the
Archdiocese of Louisville has agreed to
pay victims of clerical sex abuse ends
one high-profile legal fight for the
Roman Catholic Church. But the 243
people covered by that agreement rep
resent just a fraction of outstanding
claims nationwide, guaranteeing more
financial pain ahead for U.S. dioceses.
In the last year, about 1,000 people
have come forward with new allega
tions against dioceses across the coun
try, according to Mark Chopko, general
counsel for the U.S. Conference
of Catholic Bishops.
More than 500 abuse claims
are pending in the Archdiocese
of Boston alone. In California,
where state lawmakers have
abolished the time limit on
abuse lawsuits for this year only,
hundreds of new claims are
expected.
may see more lawsuits.
The Kentucky settlement announced
Tuesday was shared among people who
all accused priests and employees of
child sex abuse.
But the cases were not filed as a
class-action suit, which would have set
a time limit for plaintiffs to claim their
share of a settlement. Abuse lawsuits
are filed separately — and nothing bars
more alleged victims from suing in
Louisville even after agreements have
been reached with others.
See Catholics on page 6
CATHOLIC CHURCH
Kentucky diocese settles abuse suits
The Archdiocese of Louisville will pay 243 people who accused
priests and employees of child sexual abuse more than $25 million.
The archdiocese has liquid assets of $48 million. Past settlements
by the Catholic Church include:
Year Diocese Settlement
1998 Lafayette, La. $18 million
1998 Dallas $31 million
limelight despite American and Israel
attempts to squeeze him out — went on
Palestinian television to condemn
Wednesday’s attacks and implore both
sides “to stop this deterioration and
return to the negotiating table for the
sake of the two peoples.”
It’s going to be substantial 1999 Stockton. Caiif S13 million
before 2001 LosAngeles;Orange, Calif. $5.2 million
2002 Tucson, Ariz. $15 million
2002 Providence, R.l. $13.5 million
2002 Boston Archdiocese $10 million
2003 Manchester, N.H. $6.5 million
2003 Louisville Archdiocese $25.7 million
period of time — years
this is over,” said Steve Rubino, a
longtime victims’ attorney from
New Jersey.
Even dioceses like
Louisville, that have agreed to
multimillion-dollar payouts, SOURCE: Associated Press