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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
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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
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ard to since
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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
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Real good idea.
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free garden salad
with the purchase of any adult entree
(excluding Double Slice Pizza)
I
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with any other offer. Expires 12/31/03
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