Monday, July 14, 2003
THE
Full Muote
by R.BeLuna Johnson
Gil
H/)RRy
IT'S
You
CoAll AJfc To
/me
CotL E6£
Tor\oRRo»~> f
Bor
Are You
Sore.
(T's
Cool.
UiTH
YouR
RoOAl-
AlflTE
To
HAVE
YooR
/Mo/MST £R
tJELL. HE'S
K aJOUJAJ I'A1
/l U£I?EU>olF
Fof? CovPLE
UJEEkS
r th(ajk He's
Be
Did Vou 3ost
T/4ST E G°ot>
CHEESE
rvr
S/IT '
UMTH
I'O
Continued from page 1
f\>r Voo(Tn
To sleep,
isgEZ^,
#24
.w /*// t'srji? WMJA
ft/M’S TMOt/G# r/ff
sew/rfis tv/T/r ctteer^M y
SPUD.
PfS M/SS/OP.
ro sux xw pfsrpor
xetv/ue w/.
rpx/ppp ro ft //tr/pxrp
AP/TH/t/G /A/ A/AS PATAA,
APATAAOtAT AAfSAPATAOAf OX
XfAAOXSf, AAf tfArry POX
pas pxsr xfAor ro srxAAce.
“Wrath of the Ninja”
BrLFiom
into journalism,” Gates said.
“How they brought that about is
up to (the deans) in terms of
organization.”
Johnson said journalism facul
ty and faculty from other depart
ments will form a five- to seven-
person committee to determine
the impact of closing the depart-
ment.other departments will form
a five- to seven-person commit
tee to determine the impact of
closing the department.
Journalism faculty members
will elect three members from
within the department Monday,
Johnson said, and he will appoint
a faculty member to chair the
committee.
Dr. Julia Kirk Blackwelder,
associate dean in the College of
Liberal Arts, will assume the title
of acting journalism add depart
ment head. Dr. Leroy Dorsey,
associate professor of communi
cation, has acted as interim
department head since 2001.
Elizabeth Knapp, a junior
journalism major, said A&M
must retain its journalism depart
ment to compete with other Texas
universities.
“Why go to A&M and take
journalism classes when you can
go to another university and get a
journalism degree?” she said.
Knapp said journalism is a
major part of people’s lives, and
journalists are supposed to be
well-rounded.
“Journalism is all about put
ting the pieces together,” Knapp
said.
Johnson said the recommen
dation to close the department is
the culmination of a 2001 exter
nal review of the department and
recent budget cuts.
The review recommended the
journalism department needed to
hire more faculty, merge with
another department or, as a last
resort, be closed.
“To pay competitive salaries.
the kind of faculty you wi
attract is expensive,” Jol
said. “Now we will focus onto)
we can best serve the interest d
incoming students wantra
learn journalism.”
Johnson said the review
ommended hiring at
full-time faculty, a departs
head and additional lecturers.
Dr. Barbara Gastel, associi
professor of journalism, said b
ing the journalism degree isi!
major problem, that she w«|
like to see the program resit,
tured for interested students.
“1 hope journalism co
will become open to studei
other majors,” she said. “1
able to write in a journalistic*!
is an asset.”
The dean’s office sent
Thursday to all journalism sti-
dents containing the specificsd
Johnson’s recommendation,T>
information is available on s
college’s Web site
http://clla.tamu.edu.
’St
Claudette
Reaction
New Iraq intellegence questioned
Continued from page 1
Continued from pagel
By Dafna Linzer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Most of what Washington and London knew
about Saddam Hussein’s suspected mass weapons
programs before the war was based on old intelli
gence. The few new details, which garnered the
most attention, are now under serious scrutiny and
in question.
Some information about Iraq’s
purported chemical, biological and
nuclear weapons program has
already been dismissed by U.N.
inspectors or international experts.
Other intelligence has turned out
to be uncorroborated or has not
been agreed upon by government BUSH
officials inside the CIA, the State Department and
in Britain.
With no weapons of mass destruction found
three-and-a-half months since President George
W. Bush launched the war against Iraq, intelli-
^igepce agencies on both sides of the Atlantic are
now scrambling to explain not only why their
information failed to lead U.S. troops to the goods
— but exactly how they came by the knowledge in
the first place.
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld
acknowledged last week that no “dramatic new
evidence” was discovered showing Saddam had
weapons of mass destruction. “We acted because
we saw the existing evidence in a new light
through the prism of our experience on Sept. 11,”
Rumsfeld told the Senate Armed Services
Committee.
According to a British House of Commons
report released in London this week, the picture
Blair’s government painted in 2002 “is little dif
ferent from that set out in a much shorter docu
ment released by the government in 1998,” ahead
of four days of airstrikes launched that year
against Iraq.
Since Bush came to the United Nations on
Sept. 12, 2002, the two English-speaking allies
chose to highlight some of the long unanswered
questions identified by U.N. inspectors as they
campaigned for world support for war against
Saddam.
After eight years in the field, inspectors said in
1999 that they were still missing information from
the Iraqis on the production of the nerve agent VX,
evidence that 550 mustard-gas filled artillery
shells were destroyed, and an accounting of ingre
dients for the production of anthrax and botulinum
toxin.
Those items were highlighted in a State
Department fact sheet distributed Dec. 19 togeth
er with several pieces of newer intelligence, such
as a charge that Iraq was trying to purchase urani
um from Niger. It also included a mention of
mobile laboratories for a biological weapons pro
gram and an allegation that Iraq was involved in a
secret missile program.
U.N. nuclear inspectors from the International
Atomic Energy Agency, which tried unsuccessful
ly to get evidence to support the uranium claim
when the British alluded to it in September, now
asked Washington to share what it knew on Niger.
Six weeks later, supporting documents were
handed over to the U.N. inspection office in New
York and within weeks, the IAEA was able to
determine that the documents were forged. U.N.
officials say they repeatedly asked Washington
and London to provide any further evidence to
support the charge.
“It was not provided to us,” IAEA spokesman
Mark Gwozdecky said.
Both the Bush administration and the govern
ment of Tony Blair said Sunday that the presi
dent’s statement in the State of the Union address
about Iraq seeking uranium was accurate and is
supported by other British and U.S. information.
“The British stand by their statement,”
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said
on “Fox News Sunday.” “They have told us that
despite the fact that we had apparently some con
cerns about that report, that they had other
sources, and that they stand by the statement.”
Nevertheless, Rice said the statement should
not have been in the Jan. 20 speech in which Bush
laid out reasons for military action against Iraq.
“We have a higher standard for presidential
speeches” than raw intelligence, she said.
Rice said Britain was unable to share more
infonnation it has with Washington because of
sensitivities surrounding the source. But Britain,
like all U.N. members, is resolution-bound to
share any intelligence on Iraq’s weapons programs
with U.N. inspectors.
Robin Cook, who resigned from Blair’s
Cabinet to protest the war, told the House of
Commons committee that information sharing
between Washington and London was so intense
that it was often difficult “to spot which raw data
was originally gathered in the United Kingdom
and which was originally gathered by the United
States.”
Other new intelligence presented by the United
States and Britain before the war included a
charge that Iraq was hiding scud missiles. So far
no scuds have been found, U.S. weapons hunters
told The Associated Press.
The United States claimed there were signs of
suspicious activity at a number of sites previously
used in Iraq’s former weapons program. U.N.
inspectors checked those sites and found no such
activity. American weapons experts have not
found anything either.
U.S. claims that Iraq was trying to buy alu
minum tubes for a renewed nuclear program were
dismissed by the International Atomic Energy
Agency and by an outside panel made up of two
American nuclear physicists, two British experts
and a German expert. The United States however
insists the tubes were for a nuclear program.
Two mobile labs found in Iraq — which the
Bush administration believes were designed to be
used in a biological weapons program — were
reviewed by three different groups of experts who
couldn’t agree on the trailers’ use. Some State
Department analysts have questioned the CIA con-
clusion the two truck trailers were mobile
weapons labs.
recreational vehicles parked for the summer on South Padre Island
were warned that wind of more than 25 mph would mean they
would not be allowed to drive their rigs across the sole bridge to the
mainland. By Sunday, most of the campers had packed up voluntar
ily and left.
Workers on South Padre, along the coast a few miles from
Brownsville, piled sand into berms at beach accesses, and Mayor
Bob Pinkerton said the resort community was bracing for high
water.
However, Pinkerton said there were no plans yet to evacuate.
On the mainland in the Brownsville area, Cameron County offi
cials advised residents of low-lying areas to leave, and employed
jail inmates to stack sandbags and clear out drainage ditches.
The tropical storm swept over Mexico’s resort city of Cancun
early Friday, battering high-rise hotels with high wind, flooding
several streets and closing the international airport for several hours.
Claudette is the third tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane sea
son. It developed Tuesday in the Caribbean, brushing Jamaica’s
southern coast with heavy rain and rough surf, battering the Cayman
Islands with waves and above-normal tides and scattering rain over
parts of Cuba before reaching Mexico.
Experts have predicted a busy Atlantic hurricane season, which
began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.
Shuttles
Continued from page 1
and other prizes sponsored by Post Oak Mall,” she said. “In addi
tion to the ‘Get to the Grid’ express shuttles, the new pedestrian
passageway will be opened prior to the first game and fans will
be welcomed by music and entertainment near the passageway
prior to each game.”
Additional parking will be available for home football games
when the West Campus Parking Garage opens along with the
pedestrian passageway.
Maps showing the express shuttle route can be downloaded at
the Transportation Services’ Web site: http://transport.tamu.edu.
from the quality of education
Potter said she is glad cunt;
students will not be kickedM
but said there may be nora
to reamain in the department
“They said you could sta)
it, but I think there’s going to
limited faculty, limitedcte
she said. “The faculty said tkj
will stay to teach, but I woui
want to teach something
department that doesn’t effl
anymore.”
Woller said she is ups
because the journalism prop
trains students well for a cats
in journalism.
“It is a great program andl
professors are top-notch andp
above and beyond to help®
dents,” she said.
Potter said she is u®
whether she will stay in the pi
gram.
“I don’t know what Is
going to do now,” she said "ft
one hand I could stay in joint
ism because that’s what Iral)
want to do, but I don’
that is the most wise decision
could make.”
Roh Munson and
Shipp contributed to this slot]
Legislators
Continued from pagel
NEWS IN BRIEF
Poll suggests public
uneasy with new
FCC media rules
said they think news organiza
tions are often influenced by
powerful people and organiza
tions.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
more Americans learn about fed
eral changes that lift restrictions
on companies owning different
media outlets in the same city,
the less they like it, a new poll
suggests.
Half in the poll by the Pew
Research Center for the People &
the Press said they think allowing
companies to own more broad
cast and newspaper operations
in the same city will have a neg
ative effect. Only 10 percent said
that would have a positive effect.
About a third said in February
that the concentrated ownership
of media outlets in a city would
have a negative effect. But few
people at that time had been
paying much attention to ongo
ing efforts to change the media
ownership rules.
Seven in 10 in the new poll
2002 safest year for
major airlines
WASHINGTON (AP) - Last year
was the safest ever for the
nation's major airlines, with no
deaths and only nine serious
injuries due to accidents on U.S.
commercial flights.
According to the National
Transportation Safety Board,
there were 34 commercial airline
accidents in 2002, but most were
considered minor.
The only accident designated
"major" was the July 26 crash of
a Federal Express Corp. cargo
plane at Tallahassee, Fla. The
plane was destroyed, but the
crew survived.
The NTSB classified one 2002
passenger aircraft accident as
"serious." That occurred Aug. 28.
Sen. Robert Duncan
According to a statementfe
Shapiro’s office, the current Is*
in action before SB 1652 alio**
retirees eligible for retirei
under the Teachers Retirei
System or Optional Retirei
Program to maintain or enro
UT and A&M group retiree ir
ance benefits after three years it
service.
“What SB 1652 does is anitf
the insurance code to require
years of service,” Shapiro
“This measure will result in acfft
savings because the UT
and A&M will not be required
pay for the cost of lifetime pret
um sharing group insurance pi'
ticipation for those hired
Sept. 1, 2003, who have worbi
less than 10 years.”
The office of Hum!
Resources at A&M sent a
to all employees in Juneinfortf
ing them that they may ’
retire before Aug. 3, the
the fiscal year, if they
meet the new requirements f!
eligibility for retirement
fits but do meet the
ments. Many employees
awaiting Abbott’s
before they make their own
«SATURN
of
Bryan/College Station
197 North Earl Rudder Freeway
‘A Difftrent Kind Of Car Company”
“A Different Kind Of Service Dept*
• Free Cookies • Free Coffee • Free Internet Access • Free Study Tables
• Shuttle Service • Free CarWash
BRIARCREST
Service Hours: Mon-Fri 7:30am - 6:00pm, Sat 8:00am - 12:00pm
Oil and Filter Change
$ 2I.95 with this ad
□
UNIVERSITY
Call 846-8444 for appointment
THF RATTAT TON
A XIJu XJxil A A /tJL/A V-/JL1
True Brown, Editor in Chief
Dallas Shipp, Managing/Sports Editor Elizabeth Webb, Copy/Design Director
Melissa Sullivan, News Editor Ruben DeLuna, Graphics Editor
Emily Hendrickson, Aggielife Editor Joshua Hobson, Photo Editor
George Deutsch, Opinion Editor Brandie Liffick, Radio Producer
Jason Ritterbusch, Webmaster
THE BATTALION (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the
fall and spring semesters and Monday through Thursday during the summer session
(except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University. Periodicals Postage
Paid at College Station, TX 77840. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion,
Texas A&M University, 1111TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-1111.
News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in
the Division of Student Media, a unit of the Department of Journalism. News offices are in
014 Reed McDonald Building. Newsroom phone: 845-3313; Fax: 845-2647; E-mail:
news@thebatt.com; Web site: http://www.thebatt.com
Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The
Battalion. For campus, local, and national display advertising, call 845-2696. For classi
fied advertising, call 845-0569. Advertising offices are in 015 Reed McDonald, and office
hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fax: 845-2678.
Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick
up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies 254. Mail subscriptions
are $60 per school year, $30 for the fall or spring semester, $17.50 forthe summer or $10
a month. To charge by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express, call 845-2611.
WISE
MO/E
THE BATTALION
Classifieds
To placeanadpJv one
HOUS r
Redding \
third innin
toughest j;
beat the Pi
Reddin
into the se
Berkman
Houston >
5-2 Sunda;
The Pir
the third f<
pair of hits
“My he,
was takin
Redding s
myself dov
“(Catchy
out and as
and I said,
hit a wall
enough to
and I was
together af
Redding
in winning
following
streak. He
walked one
the NL Ce
the All-Stai
“I didn’i
NATION;
CENT
Houston
St. Louis
Chicago
Cincinnat
Pittsburgl
Milwauke
RUBEl
Kem
even
By Arn
THE ASS(
MILWAL
Perry isn’t al
hottest streak
“I don
, know why a
of a sudde
I’m winnin
golf tourm
ments,” Pen
said after h
victor
Sunday at th
Create
Milwauke
Open, hi
third win in
just my time
my heart I’m
Perry sank
putt for a one
Steve Allan ai
the GMO.
He won
Memorial tot
ished third ;
before taking
leading up to
Deer Park, w
under-par 66
under 268 tot;
Brett Qui
fourth, two sti
Allan, Sloe
were vying f
Tour victory.
“I had no
those guys ai
their first,” s;
time winner