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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 2003)
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Bryan • 775-CICI (2424J C.S. • 694-CICIT2424J THE Librar Meet • Drink • Lounge Home of “The Library ” glowing martini TUESDAY $ 2 Martinis all night WEDNESDAY $ 2 Absolut Vodkas all night (vanilla, mandrin, citron, kurant) THURSDAY $ 2 anything till 11 pm $ 2 Mojitos all night FRIDAY *2 Wells till 11pm SATURDAY 3 Long Island Iced Teas till 11pm COME SEE OUR NEW LOOK Newly remodeled Upstairs Bar and downstairs elevated VIP section now open for reservations www.maroond.com Available for Private Parties 979-739-1967 Doors open: 9p.m. Tuesday-Saturday 329 University Dr. at Northgate News Makers/News Breakers: Conversations on Leadership in Public Life Saturday, Sept. 13, 2003 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Texas A&M University Memorial Student Center, Room 292 Keynote speakers Dr. Robert M. Gates, President, Texas A&M University Wayne Slater, Austin Bureau Chief, Dallas Morning News Panelists The Hon. John Carter, U.S. House of Representatives, District 31 Cindy Lawson, Executive Director, University Relations Dave McNeely, political columnist, Austin American-Statesman Gary Borders, Publisher, Lufkin Daily News Mike Sims, Class of ’87, former student body president Brooke Rollins, Class of '95, former student body president Loren Steffy, Class of ’87, former Battalion editor in chief Scot Walker, Class of ’95, former Battalion editor in chief Online registration http: / /battalion, tamu.edu • Registration limited to 125 student leaders and 75 student journalists • Two participants per student organization • Lunch provided Sponsored by the Division of Student Media Office of University Relations Department of Student Life Thursday. September 4, 2003 NT THE B VITAL! Utility confusion uncovere in blackout investigation I By H. Josef Herbert THE ASSOCIATED PRESS |/olunie WASHINGTON — During the hour before the nation’s worst blackout, engineers in the control center of an Ohio utility struggled to figure out why transmission lines were failing and complained that a computer breakdown was making it diffi cult. transcripts of telephone communications released Wednesday show. At one point, an engineer at the Midwest grid managing organization asked engineers at the Ohio utility, FirstEnergy Corp.. to explain why they had not responded to a line outage reported sometime earlier and asked that they find out what was going on. “We have no clue. Our com puter is giving us fits, too," replied a FirstEnergy technician identified as Jerry Snickey. “We don’t even know the status of some of the stuff (power fluctu ations) around us.” A short time later, a techni cian at the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operators, the group that moni tors the Midwest power grid, expressed frustration with FirstEnergy’s failure to diag nose the problems erupting in their power system. “I called you guys like 10 minutes ago, and I thought you were figuring out what was gong on there,” the MISO tech nician, identified as Don Hunter, complained, according to the transcripts. ‘‘Well, we’re trying to,” replied Snickey. “Our comput er is not happy. It’s not cooper ating either.” The exchanges were con tained in 650 pages of tran scripts of telephone communi cations provided by MISO to House Energy and Commerce Committee investigators and made public by the committee Wednesday at the conclusion of the first day of hearings into the blackout. Executives of FirstEnergy as well as other Midwest utilities and Midwest transmission grid managers were scheduled to tes tify before the committee on Thursday. Although investigators have said previously that power line failures in Ohio were the first By Sara THE E Although how feature omedian N leadliner, it icdical studt )pening act lany of the t “I still do ut I guess lamid said. Hamid wi his year’s lin ainers at Fin “Hopefull As Deputy Secretary of Energy Kyle McSIarrow, right, looks of Energy Spencer Abraham addresses the House Committee o and Commerce during a bearing Wednesday on the Northeast indication of an electricity grid problem on the afternoon of the blackout, the transcripts for the first time revealed the con fusion in the FirstEnergy con trol center in Ohio as the utili ty’s engineers sought to get a handle on what was becoming a growing and mysterious power problem. According to previous time lines made public, the first sign of a problem developed when FirstEnergy's power plant in Eastlake. Ohio, tripped off around 2 p.m. EDT on Aug. 14; next, at 3:06 p.m., one of its transmission lines failed and at 3:32 p.m. another high-voltage line, known as Manna-Juniper, went dark. That caught the attention of the MISO engineers monitor ing the grid from their control center. 'I was wondering going on there,” Hume the FirstEnergy control o shortly after 3:43 p.m. EDT FirstEnergy engineers 1 unsure, but Hunter knew thing was amiss. “I 've got to get my calc tor.” he said. “We’ve got sometfc going on.” a FirstEnergy le nician identified only Schwartz, replied. “I'm go to have to take a look and' what’s happening.” FirstEnergy grid proble have been at the center of' investigation into what m : have triggered the black Investigations have said the) fairly certain the first signify power system problems v faced with the transmit lines in FirstEnergy’s sen area in northern Ohio. On Sunday tudent Cent< 50-plus table If 2003’s I he majority c For freshr pen House ard to since “It seems organizations Sunday’s Op lear for me,’ Although [Sunday’s eve dents and the A&M, a chat “I think th MSC's ■ 2 to 6 p ■ More th present ■ Thousa Studen mercha Source: , NEWS IN BRIEF Ridge: Mexican consular IDs have security problems WASHINGTON (AP) — Businesses and cities that accept identification cards issued by Mexico to its citizens in the United States do so at their own risk because the documents are not fraud-proof, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday. The Mexican IDs are under review by a White House-led panel to determine if they pose a security risk and whether the cards should be accepted as proper identification. Known as the “matricula consular," the car- issued by Mexico’s consulates in the Un :; States and shows the date of birth, a cun* photograph and the address of the card hoi* Many of the cards have been issued Mexicans living in the United States, incli# illegal immigrants. Dozens of financial institutions accept” cards for photo identification when their hold* open bank accounts. Cardholders also 1$ been able to use them to turn on utilities, cb* out library books, get drivers licenses or ot* basic services in some communities and state keep it real. Ae^A Real Italian. Real fast? Real fresh. Real affordable. Real good idea. dig in! free garden salad with the purchase of any adult entree (excluding Double Slice Pizza) I I I I I COLLEGE STATION: 400 Harvey Rd7694-5199 . WACO: 5201W. Waco Dr. (across from Home Depot)/770' 1 3 H l 919 S. Sixth St. (across from BaylorJ/ysz-zgzg One coupon per person, per visit at participating Fazoli’s Restaurants only. Cannot be combinea with any other offer. Expires 12/31/03 From a I students,Wi President a seven and i been specta Krumm ; step down a However, Ki closely with for the rema “Dr. Gat and I’m go until next S Before I position at i for businei Michigan, f in business Education f Some ol membershif Investment A&M Foun< He also had financial ma Krumm electron ic-t dents, inclu “I’m a I guy too, an Krumm sai< level. That Althougl amount of i favorite thii his honor. “We stil campers,” f to another < great privili