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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 2003)
} NATO THE BATTALIO) dead eked and jumped out tli Aldana said. “She’sdoini ■nt down about a half-nil at Groton-New Londoi Aviation Administratioi eters said. He said it In Farmingdale Repui ork’s Long Island, ng, the Groton aiipoif plane was on its secon vent down. The crash bp before the tower opend ils were using recording communication to p« pened, she said, rtounced something atjoi port, but it was garbled d state Department« 'rotection were on 111 gistered to JetproLLC,; at New Hyde Park,N.I believed to be carryin ns of jet fuel, said he s for the Department e itection’s oil and chemiti :>asse nued from page 1 session or Dewliursi a Senate tradition of g two-thirds of senators to take up a bill on iIk loor. Under that tradition, tocratic senators blocked ting in the last special uirst said he would not his mind about the so- two-thirds rule,’’ saying idition for the Senate not t in place when lawmak- e red 1st riding, in’t think our 11 col- are in a position to ask liing," Dewhurst said lave broken the Texas tion. They need to come ey were elected to do a icrats said that is not happen without move- m Perry or Dewhurst, vcre a betting man con- a wager on how teg itinue, if we’ll holdorif j. I’d place my chipson > 11,” said West, invok- name the Senate its have been calling es. exas Senate met briefly afternoon and then the day because of a quorum with the ts gone. democrats, meanwhile. ■ daily meeting, reading iters of support from nts as photographers pictures. i folk singer Steven .'ho said he was touring /lexico, stopped by the fly and entertained the with a song he wrote “Killer Ds of Texas.” -repeated line in the s: “The killer Ds of it the sting on Torn k&M bus route choice: by the bedroom jse an apt. imate matching nternet & ; with HBO g Sports: Aggies set for Fran-tic practice • Page 3 Opinion: Bleak future for education • Page 5 Volume 109 • Issue 182 • 6 pages 109 Years Serving Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Wednesday, August 6, 2003 A&M plans for game-day traffic By Jodi Rogers THE BATTALION More green lights will be offered to motorists going to and from football game on George Bush Drive, University Drive and Texas Avenue, thanks to a traffic reduction plan called “Go with the Green,” University transportation officials said. June Broughton, communica tions coordinator for Texas A&M’s Transportation Services, said cer tain streets will be blocked for football games so motorists have a straighter and faster route to main arterial streets in College Station. “By blocking Wellborn, we pro vide a quick exit route and lessen the impact of turning movement off of side streets and preventing addi tional vehicles from entering the central campus area that slow the flow of traffic,” Broughton said. A special task force within the Texas Department of Transportation created the plan eight years ago. The task force includes representatives from the University Police Department, Athletics Department and Transportation Services. It also included the Bryan and College Station police departments and other local agencies. The West Campus Parking Garage and the Wellborn under ground passageway serve as major components of the plan for this fall. The organization wants to give people the best routes to go in and out of town while ensuring pedes trian safety, said Elmer Schneider, associate director of the A&M Department of Security and University Police. Schneider said there has been a great deal of cooperation on the task force between the University and local law enforcement, espe cially the CSPD. CSPD Lt. Larry Johnson said people could cross Wellborn wher ever they wanted in past years due to restricted lanes during recent construction. He said that will change now that the underground passageway will be used. “We used to have to escort pedestrians across Wellborn, so See Traffic on page 2 GO WITH THE GREEN • More green lights along streets such as George Bush Drive, University Drive and Texas Avenue • New West Campus parking lot with 3,800 spots • New underground walkway for pedestrians * Recommended pedestrian routes on game days RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION SOURCE: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Grad student storm chasers uncover data By Natalie Younts THE BATTALION Mary Schulze once let her son tape his comput- erequipment inside her new van and drive it thou sands of miles to chase storms. Her son, Karl Schulze, chases storms as part of Texas A&M’s Mobile Severe Storms Data Acquisition, an officially recognized student organ ization with about 100 members. “The one thing that helps us to understand why (Karl) is doing it is that the information they get on these trips can save lives,” said Mary, a resident of Waukegan, Ill. “Someone has to do this.” Mary said she now knows more about tornadoes, learning about them from Karl. Karl, along with friends Tim Thomas, Brandon Ely, Scott Steiger and Dave Gold, have been chasing itomis for nearly four years. They all graduated from the University of New York at Oswegol and came to Texas four years ago, Steiger said. All four are cur- tently graduate students in A&M’s atmospheric See Storms on page 2 TEXAS A&M MOBILE SEVERE STORMS DATA ACQUISITION PHdrO: KEVIN WALTER; RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION SOURCE: A&M MOBILE SEVERE STORMS DATA ACQUISITION Tailgating in style SHARON AESCHBACH • THE BATTALION Entrepreneur John Smith debuts his car decor on the hood and team items to Aggie fans as part of his collegiate mar- of his Mercury Grand Marquis in a parking lot off of George keting tour, which will take him to eight college towns this Bush Drive Tuesday. Smith hopes to market his tailgating month. Church elects gay bishop By Rachel Zoll THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MINNEAPOLIS — The Episcopal Church voted Tuesday to approve the election of their first openly gay bishop, a decision that risks splitting their denomination and shatter ing ties with their sister church es worldwide. After a delay caused by an allegation that he inappropri ately touched another man and was affiliat ed with a Web site that had a Robinson link to porn, the Episcopal General Convention approved the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Robinson had been cleared of the accusations a few hours before the vote was taken. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said the bishops voted 62-45 to confirm Robinson’s election. Two bish ops abstained from voting, but their ballots under church rules were counted as “no” votes. American conservatives and like-minded overseas bishops who represent millions of See Bishop on page 2 Bombing at Jakarta Marriott kills 13 in likely suicide attack By Steven Gutkin THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JAKARTA, Indonesia — A suspected suicide bombing at a Marriott Hotel created lunchtime carnage in Jakarta’s business district Tuesday, billing 13 people and wound ing 149, setting cars afire and scattering glass shards for blocks in a bloody reminder of Hie continuing threat of terror ism in the world’s most popu lous Muslim nation. The blast came two days before a verdict in the trial of a bey suspect in the Bali night club bombings last Oct. 12 that billed 202 people, many of them foreigners. A Dutch banker was among the dead Tuesday, and at least 10 for eigners, including two Americans, were reported injured. The attack occurred on the first day of testimony in anoth er bombing case by the alleged leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been blamed for the Bali bombings. Authorities have linked the group to al- Qaida and say it hopes to cre ate an Islamic state across Southeast Asia. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the Marriott bombing. The governor of Jakarta, Sutiyoso, said the attack was “very likely” carried out by a suicide bomber. The national police chief, Gen. Da’i Bachtiar, said the van carrying the bomb was moving at the time of the explosion. World leaders expressed horror and outrage. The White House called it a “deplorable attack on innocent civilians” and declared its support for the Indonesian government’s fight against terrorism. The Marriott — a frequent site for U.S. Embassy func tions and a popular destination for foreigners — was shattered just after noon when the bomb exploded on the driveway Bomb rocks Jakarta A powerful bomb exploded in downtown Jakarta Tuesday, killing at least 10 people including one foreigner and wounding more than 100. leading to its front entrance. The blast smashed many windows in the 33-story hotel and smoke from burning cars blackened the outside of lower floors. The lobby ceiling caved in on charred sofas and See Bombing on page 2 E-mail about cell phone driving law proves a hoax By C.E. Walters THE BATTALION An e-mail circulating across Texas with information regarding cell phone legislation in the Texas House of Representatives is a hoax, said a Department of Public Safety spokes woman Monday. The e-mail provided information on House Bill 281, which would have ’flade it illegal to drive while talking on a cell phone without a headset. Cell phone usage without a headset would have been restricted to emergen cies, according to the bill. According to the e-mail, the law would go into effect Sept. 1. If a person was caught, punishment would have been a misdemeanor with fines ranging from $25 to $200. The bill was proposed last year, but was killed in March, a DPS spokes woman said. Mark Langwell, public information officer for the College Station Police Department, said that although officers from his department would be attending legislative update training soon, he had not heard any news about House Bill 281. Benson Kilgore, secondary public information officer for the Bryan Police Department, said he had not heard any news on the legislation since his offi cers attended a conference July 13. Officials: Al-Qaida may use laptops to conceal bombs By Leslie Miller THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — CD players, cameras, laptop computers and other electronic devices will get greater scrutiny at airports, the govemment said Tuesday, warning that terrorists may try to use such items to conceal weapons or bombs. The Homeland Security Department sent an advisory to law enforcement personnel nationwide alerting them to the possibility al-Qaida could use electron ics to carry out attacks. “Al-Qaida oper atives have shown a special interest in converting a camera flash attachment into a stun gun type of weapon or improvised explo sive device,” the advisory said. Among the items that will prompt increased scrutiny at airports are remote keyless door or lock openers, automatic camera flash attach ments, cellular phones and multi band or dual-speaker radios. “Depending on location, place ment and configuration of the device, the amount of explosives that could be contained within even the smallest camera could cause collateral damage,” the advisory said. It also said terrorists could design such devices to be used against govemment buildings, pub lic areas with controlled access and security screening checkpoints. Security directors at airports were ordered to meet with all feder al screeners within the next day and review procedures for checking electronic gadgets, said Brian T u r m a i 1 , spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA also is asking passengers to remove all their electronics from their pockets or bags and put them through the X-ray machine at the security check point, Turmail said. Air travelers will still be required to remove laptop computers from their cases before they’re screened, he said. David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, predicted inconveniences for travelers, includ ing longer lines at security check points. See Security on page 6 u Al-Qaida... have shown a special interest in converting a camera flash into a stun gun type of weapon. — Department of Homeland Security