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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 2003)
NATION THE BATTALION ()• SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS they give a speech outsitli r submitted his candidaq II •allot ewcomers will probabl; Paul Ryan of the Ceniei s in Los Angeles, fully’ is a very big burfc prove,” Ryan said. “lit criminal cases in fa se, with so many novict :ely there would be crint mise to be all over the maf bounty hunter from ot the experience to lie ill about key issues! tigration during his yea big mistake and spenu h was very educational," served time forfailingio e years. d cap state salaries ai lalize drugs and deport rs. “If we don’t do this, ilifomia sink into bant- ent Georgy Russell, a / for Governor” thong nugs on her Web site, picture of herself in a eauty, Leadership." al to twentysomethings :lean energy, marijuana riage. year-old electrical engi- •pes his name will “open platform: stopping an grants. His ultimate goal ike my name back and quality to it, instead o( Public Defender Paul call — that’s why he’s nnocrat, has his own oarty to power if Davis >u would be voting for st act as governor would of staff,” Mariano said, for me, too. Who else is at 57 > dies of cancer Hines, 57, known for lancing in movies, jy and recent roles on ms, has died of cancer, career : eb. 14, 'Jew York was by the k with his >ther, at the Hines 4 they were cast in the ly musical “The Girl in its” d Tony nominations for “Cornin' Uptown’ and Icated Ladies”. He won 11992 for his role in ast Jam” ;t film role was in the I Brooks comedy of the World Part I" and eared with Mikhail kov in “White Nights* ated for several Emmy most recently in 2001 id role in the mini-series is" and had a recurring MU and Grace" sociated Press AP so won a Daytime vard in 1999 for his 2 voice of “Big Bill” in Cosby animated TV ttle Bill,” and NAACP 'ards for “Bojangles" ing Scared.” was engaged to yde and, in addition to and brother, is sur- is daughter Daria, son mdson Lucian and :er Jessica Koslow. Sports: QB spot still up for grabs • Page 1 B Opinion: Silencing student speech • Page 5B THE BATTALION 110 Years Serving Texas A&M University 110 • Issue 1*14 pages Class of By Sarah Szuminski THE BATTALION First-time Aggies and returning stu dents living on campus made their way back to Texas A&M on Sunday, the busiest move-in day of the year. “Lots of parents work and can’t get off during the week,” said Krueger Hail resident adviser Jennifer Romaszewski. “So the weekend is busier.” Many students opted to move in Sunday rather than the weekend before school starts so they can get settled, buy books and make some new friends, Romaszewski said. Move-in officially began Sunday morning and will run through the week end, she said. See related Cars lined story on page 3A. Bizzell Street near the Southside dorms where bike lanes have been designated as temporary parking for unloading. Traffic directors helped control some of the chaos as students and their friends and families struggled ioget their belongings into their rooms. “It took a lot longer than I expected,” said freshman education major Susana Seidel. “I think I brought too much stuff.” Seidel and her roommate, Candace Mokwa, both from Katy, Texas, said they encountered a few frustrations throughout the day. Mokwa, a freshman engineering major, said she thought she knew where to park, but ended up navigating her family to the MSC. After arriving at 8 a.m., it took until noon to assemble the loft her father had built. Later, the girls’ computers blew out their surge protec tor. The two families didn’t break for lunch until well into the afternoon. Still, both girls said they were excit ed to be moving in for their first year at A&M. Seidel attended Muster after her grandfather, Kurt Seidel, Class of 1936, died last year. She said the experience made her decide to be an Aggie. Mokwa said she had planned on attending The University of Texas at Austin but decided on A&M after an orientation visit. “1 didn’t want to go to UT after com ing here,” she said. “We didn’t even stay at the whole UT orientation.” Her mother, Marilyn, agreed. “As soon as we set foot on campus, we were sold,” she said. In Dunn Hall, freshman architecture major Gus Starkey and his parents said they weren’t too overwhelmed by the difficulties of moving in. “We came organized; we brought our own dolly and everything,” said 2007 swarms campus Gus’ mother, Monica. “We looked at the room before and did whatever the Container Store said to do.” Despite having many friends at A&M from their hometown of Kerrville, Texas, Gus and his friend Michael Cordova both decided to go potluck to find their roommates. “1 decided to go potluck because it’s a good way to meet new people,” said Cordova, a freshman mechanical engi neering major. Starkey said going potluck seemed to turn out well after he met his room mate, Drew Peebles, a freshman nuclear engineering major. “And 1 was the first one here, so I got the good side,” Starkey said. Drew’s mother, Lori, said she had been crying for the past two days at the thought of her son going off to college, but she doubted he was as sentimental. “Drew can’t get us gone fast enough,” she said. Candace Mokwa and Susana Seidel’s parents said they had been preparing all year for their daughters to leave. “She’s not sad to go, and we’re not sad either,” said Mercedes Seidel. “She’s ready.” JP BEATO III • THE BATTALION Above: After enduring a three-hour road trip and a one hour hunt for parking, freshman education major Courtney Graf moves the first of seven loads of assorted necessities into her room in Kreuger Hall located on the Southside of campus. Temperatures in the high 90s made for a grueling move-in. Campus construction nears completion By Lindsay Broomes THE BATTALION Most of the campus-wide road construction should completed by the end of the month and before the fall semester begins, said Transportation Services officials. On Aug. 18, the intersection of Wellborn Road at John Kimbrough Boulevard and Joe Routt reopened for public use. Construction on Coke and llirockmorton Streets is now completed, and the right lanes of West Lamar Street in front of the Memorial Student Center are expected to be finished this week. “I think the construction will be a positive thing. During the summer it wasn’t all that annoying since tot that many people were here,” said Shiloh Venable, ajunior business major. Associate Director of Transportation Doug Williams said there were not many complaints regard ing construction. “I believe that we have done a good job communi cating with the public. People seem to accept the con struction as long as they are aware of the work prior to implementation,” he said. The West Campus Parking Garage and Passageway are two major projects that have been completed recently. The garage will open in conjunction with the Pedestrian Passageway. According to the Transportation Services web site, the passageway will allow for uninterrupted travel under the railroad tracks and Wellborn Road between main and West Campus. The garage will be open for use to all, said June Broughton, communications coordinator for Parking Administration. According to the Transportation Services Web site, permits for the West Campus Parking Garage include football game day parking and are priced at $390 for 12 months. Broughton said Transportation Services is planning a ribbon cutting ceremony on Sept. 5 for the passeg- way along with other events to promote the tunnel. “We have been working with the Memorial Student Center Student Programs Office, Town Hall and others to provide entertainment in the passageway area prior to the first two home games, as well as the first week of classes,” she said. Transportation Services officials said they encour age everyone to observe traffic signals and proceed through the area with caution as traffic patterns are reestablished. West Campus Parking Garage Pet' mi Eh : • S390 for 12 months • Available to faculty, staff and students • Includes football game day parking Short-term parking: • $1 / hour until 5:30 p.m. all week • S.50 / hour after 5:30 p.m. all week Hfem Location of underground passageway Joe Routt West S Campus Rec Center RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION SOURCE • TRANSPORTATION SERVICES Journalism seeks options By Sarah Szuminski & Natalie Younts THE BATTALION A second committee will be asked by College of Liberal Arts Dean Dr. Charles Johnson to give specific alternate pathways for students at Texas A&M who are interested in pursuing a career in journalism. Rick Street, a communications professor and department head, will chair the Committee to Recommend New Initiatives in Journalism Education. Members of the committee have yet to be named, but will include working journalists who will recommend courses and internship opportunities for students. After his recommendation on July 10 to close the Department of Journalism, Johnson named a Committee to Effect Change in Journalism to give recommendations concerning the journal ism department and options for studying journal ism at A&M. Johnson shared the final report of the first committee with the eight permanent journalism faculty members on Monday. He will ask that the second committee submit a report of its sugges tions by Sept. 30. Included in the first committee’s report are recommendations to continue offering essential journalism courses while students still in the major are completing their degrees. It also rec ommends that faculty and staff be kept in their present locations and computers and equipment for journalism classes be maintained. Members of the committee presented options for the future of A&M journalism, including the possibility of creating an interdisciplinary major, minor or certificate program. Journalism associate professor Howard F. Eilers said the job of the new committee will be See Options on page 2A Redistricting attempt fails By Natalie Gott THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN —A second special legislative ses sion that never got off the ground ended Tuesday, 30 days after 11 Senate Democrats broke a quo rum by fleeing to New Mexico to prevent pas sage of a congressional redistricting plan. The fight over control of the Texas congression al delegation seemed far from over, however. Republican Gov. Rick Perry said he will call anoth er special session, though he would not say when. “When I call that session is strictly up to me, and I’ll give the appropriate notice on the appro priate day,” Perry said. The issue also moves into federal court Wednesday, when a lawsuit filed by the Democrats gets a hearing in Laredo. Several boycotting Democrats said they will return to Texas to attend. Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who presides over the Senate, sent a warning Tuesday to self-exiled Democrats, who along with House Democrats have defeated redistricting three times this year. “Let me pass on a very clear message to our 11 colleagues out in Albuquerque. The mood in the Senate is changing. We’re tired. We’re tired of sitting here and waiting,” Dewhurst said. “At the end of the day, and I am saying this to our colleagues out in Albuquerque, don’t let yourself win two skirmishes and lose the war.” Dewhurst would not offer details on how the stalemate could be resolved, but said, “I did lay out a specific new proposal to our Democrat sen ators yesterday.” The Democrats, though, said they hadn’t heard an offer that would bring them back. They gave no indication they would return See Redistricting on page 2A Columbia’s investigators blame NASA management for crash By Marcia Dunn THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — NASA’s overconfident management and inattention to safety doomed Columbia every bit as much as the chunk of foam that struck the shuttle with deadly force, investi gators concluded Tuesday. Without drastic changes, they said, another disaster is likely. In a scathing 248-page report coming almost seven months to the day after the spacecraft dis integrated over Texas, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board said the shuttle was not “inherently unsafe,” but issued a series of recom mendations for a safe return to flight. “The board strongly believes that if these per sistent, systemic flaws are not resolved, the scene is set for another accident,” the investigators wrote. They added: “NASA’s blind spot is it believes it has a strong safety culture.” The board said the space agency lacks “effec tive checks and balances, does not have an inde pendent safety program and has not demonstrat ed the characteristics of a learning organization.” Board member John Barry put it this way: “NASA had conflicting goals of cost, schedule and safety. Unfortunately, safety lost out.” NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe, prepared in advance for the sharp criticism, pledged to make the necessary changes. “We are, all of us at NASA, a part of the solution,” he told space agency employees. And President Bush declared, “Our journey in space will go on.” The board concluded that safety engineers used “sleight of hand” tactics even before the Feb. 1 Columbia tragedy to play down the fre quency of strikes by fuel-tank foam insulation and managers pressed ahead because of intense pressure from high up to stay on schedule. Even shuttle managers said the rationale for continuing to launch in the face of foam strikes was “lousy.” In all, the Columbia investigators issued 29 recommendations to NASA, six focusing on organizational change. See Columbia on page 2A