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Agcielife: Pirates of the MPB'in • Page 3
Opinion: Dealing death sentences • Page 11
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Volume 110 • Issue 14 • 12 pages
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A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
www.thebattalion.net Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Blackout hits areas on campus
By Lauren Smith
THE BATTALION
Computer screens went black
and the lighting blinked out as
the power went out in Sterling
C. Evans Library, one of several
buildings on campus that lost
power at 6:10 p.m. Tuesday.
Other buildings affected by
Tuesday night’s outage were
Reed McDonald, Halbouty and
Biological East and West. The
power in two Corps of Cadets
residence halls also went out.
Director of Utilities Jim Riley
said as of Tuesday night, the
cause of the outage was unknown,
but a full update should be avail
able Wednesday morning.
"We will get to the bottom of
it,” Riley said. “Crews will stay up
working all night if they have to.”
Power outages continued as
the evening progressed due to a
shortage in Halbouty.
While plant workers went
underground to check each feeder
for a possible shortage, students
in Evans Library were told to
move to the Annex if they wanted
to continue studying because the
library would be closing.
Director of Access Services
for Evans Library Pixey Anne
Mosley, said the library would
be closing because of safety con
cerns that would arise when it
became completely dark outside.
All bags had to be searched
manually as students filed out of
the library due to lack of electric
sensors.
Nathan Moore, a sophomore
business administration major,
walked into the library only to
hear warning sirens echoing
throughout the building.
“I wanted to study, but the
siren going off was very dis
tracting,” he said. “This is a big
inconvenience.”
The power going out in
Halbouty did not stop some pro
fessors from continuing with
their lectures.
Kate Furst, a freshman biomed
ical sciences major, said the lights
went out in the middle of class and
her professor kept lecturing and
writing on the board.
“It was so hard to see and
actually concentrating was
impossible,” she said.
The first people allowed into
Evans Library this morning will
be from the pest control.
“There was a bat sighting on
the sixth floor of the library,”
Mosley said. “We take reported
sightings of bats very seriously.”
JOSHUA HOBSON • THE BATTALION
Physical plant worker Brian Legg climbs out of a manhole near Sterling C. Evans
Library Tuesday night after trouble shooting a power outage that affected Evans
Library, Biological East and West Buildings and the Reed McDonald Building.
Texas A&M Regent Susan Rudd Wynn, M.D., receives a hug outside
Grace Bible Church after a memorial worship service held for Howard
D. Graves, former chancellor of the Texas A&M University System.
Graves passed away Saturday, ending a two-and-a-half year battle with
cancer. The funeral will take place at the Cadet Chapel at West Point,
N.Y., where Graves graduated from college and later served as the
academy's superintendent. Graves will be buried in West Point
cemetery.
Medical school
at UT possible
By Bart Shirley
THE BATTALION
Representatives in the Texas
Legislature are considering a
proposal to create a medical
school at the University of
Texas-Austin.
The proposal, spearheaded by
Rep. Jack Stick, R-Austin, and
Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Round
Rock, is an attempt to achieve
parity with other communities in
the country. Austin is the second
largest city in the country with
out a medical center.
“1 started thinking about this
when it became apparent that
we need to expand the economy.
Making Texas the leader in
health care is the way to do
that,” Stick said.
Stick said he envisions a tri
angle of research cities, such as
Houston, College Station and
Austin, to compete with the
likes of the Raleigh-Durham
research triangle.
“(We want to) create an envi
ronment with the academic fire
power to dwarf any other
research facility,” Stick said.
Jon Roberts, managing direc
tor of TIP Strategies, a business
consulting group in Austin, said
the new facility is just part of
encouraging the growth of a
strong, leading community.
“It’s an obvious thing to con
sider,” Roberts said. “The impact
would be very large. On some
level, it’s going to happen. It’s
the real Holy Grail for Austin.”
With hospitals wanting to be
able to offer more in terms of
research and care, this new cen
ter would be part of a trend in
health care. Roberts said there
would have to be a major com
mitment from a regional hospi
tal for the center to begin, and
that it would need to begin as a
facility for patient care.
“No one’s designing a
research center,” he said.
The proposal will not be
addressed until the 2005 legisla
tive session.
“It’s just in the planning
stages,” said Wendy Reilly, chief
of staff for Krusee.
Stick agreed, citing numerous
concerns that would need to be
addressed, including the issue of
redundancy within the UT system.
“We’re working on how to do
this without compromising the
quality of other schools in
See School on page 2
Student loan rates remain steady
By Steve Giegerich
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The default rate on federally backed
college loans hit an all-time low during
the 2001 fiscal year, the Education
Department said Tuesday.
The department said only 5.4 per
cent of college graduates who began
making payments in fiscal 2001
defaulted on their debt. In the previous
fiscal year, 5.9 percent of students with
outstanding loans defaulted.
Tuesday’s announcement stands as
something of a contrast to two recently
published reports that indicate college
debt is resulting in long-term financial
problems for many Americans. Even
so, Education Department officials her
alded the 2001 results.
“Some of us have been around long
enough to remember when we dreaded
these announcements,” said Sally
Stroup, assistant secretary for postsec
ondary education. “That is no longer
the case.”
The peak default rate, 22.4 percent
in 1990, occurred before federal legis
lation curtailed student loan abuse by
beauty colleges, truck driving acade
mies and other trade schools.
Department officials attributed the
drop in defaults to improved credit
counseling, more flexible repayment
schedules and low interest rates.
While the 2001 findings do not
measure the consequences of major
tuition increases imposed by many
colleges and universities over the
past two years, Stroup does not
expect the tuition hikes caused
default rates to rise.
“You can only borrow so much
money regardless of where tuition
goes,” Stroup said. “There are limits
that can control how much people can
borrow.”
In addition to loan limits, Mary
Mowdy, the executive director of the
Oklahoma Guaranteed Student Loan
Program, said borrowing on an as-
needed basis is key to avoiding devas
tating post-graduation debt.
“Just because a financial aid office
STUDENT LOANS
Default rates at low
Despite the economic downturn,
default rates for college student
loans has dropped to an all-time
low of 5.4 percent. The
Department of Education says
the drop is because of improved
credit counseling, more flexible
repayment schedules and low
interest rates.
Year of issue for default*
'91 ’93 ’95 '97 ’99 '01 ’03
26 percent
Year of start for loan repayments
See Loans on page 2 SOURCE: Department of Education AP
Court considers allowing music industry subpoenas
By Ted Bridis
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
1 WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court
panel offered few hints Tuesday whether it will
permit the music industry to continue using special
copyright subpoenas to track and sue computer
users who download songs over the Internet.
The three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia tossed tough
questions at lawyers for all sides. Judges plainly
wrestled with esoteric
Please see related provisions of the disput-
story on Page 3. ed 1998 law that permits
music companies and
others to force Internet providers to turn over the
names of suspected pirates.
The decision, expected later this fall, could have
important consequences for the music industry’s
unprecedented campaign to discourage piracy through
fears of expensive civil penalties or settlements.
The Recording Industry Association of
America, the trade group for the largest labels, has
issued at least 1,500 such subpoenas this summer.
It has filed civil lawsuits against 261 people it
accused of illegally distributing music online and
promised thousands more lawsuits.
Verizon Communications Inc. is challenging
the constitutionality of the subpoenas under the
1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. U.S.
District Judge John D. Bates earlier had approved
use of the subpoenas, forcing Verizon to turn over
names and addresses for at least four Internet sub
scribers; since then Verizon has identified dozens
of its other subscribers to music industry lawyers.
But if the appeals court was leaning in one
direction by the end of Tuesday’s hearing, it was
indecipherable. One judge, John Roberts, alter
nately suggested that a “logical extension” of the
1998 law wouldn’t permit such subpoenas in these
music lawsuits; then he accused Verizon of profit
ing from the online piracy of its subscribers.
“You make a lot of money off piracy,” Roberts
told Verizon lawyer Andrew McBride. People who
download large collections of music traditionally
favor high-speed Internet connections like those
offered by Verizon’s Internet subsidiary.
“That is a canard,” McBride shot back. He said
Verizon makes money when computer users purchase
songs from online services affiliated with Verizon.
Roberts, a new appointee of President George
W. Bush, also challenged RIAA lawyer Donald B.
Verrilli Jr. about whether computer users down
loading music were any different from people who
maintain libraries in their homes.
Roberts questioned whether the fact that copy
righted files were publicly accessible on some
one’s computer necessarily means the Internet user
is illegally distributing those files. File-sharing
software typically stores downloaded music in a
computer folder that is freely available for other
Internet users to browse.
“Isn’t is equivalent to my leaving the door to
my library open?” Roberts asked. “Somebody
could come in and copy my books but that doesn’t
mean I’m liable for copyright infringement.”
The 1998 law, passed years before downloading
See Subpoenas on page 2
Republican says
fines should
be forgiven
By Jim Vertuno
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — A senior Senate Republican
suggested Tuesday that hundreds of thousands
of dollars in fines assessed against the 11
Democrats who broke quorum should be forgiv
en so that the body could focus on the business
of another special session on congressional
redistricting.
“The important thing is to do away with (the
fines) and get back to work,” said Sen. Chris
Harris, R-Arlington, who
chairs the Senate
Administration Committee
and ranks third among Senate
Republicans in seniority.
Harris’ panel endorsed
stripping future quorum
busters of their Senate senior
ity rights, which include pre
mium office and parking perry
spaces and senior status in
who acts as governor for a day, a mostly cere
monial position.
The panel put off making a recommendation
on whether to forgive the fines. The fines and
seniority rights will be discussed in a meeting of
the Senate caucus, which includes all 31 sena
tors and typically meets behind closed doors.
The caucus will meet as early Wednesday.
Republican senators voted to impose fines
totaling $57,000 for each senator who left the state
in July in a move that prevented the chamber from
doing business in the previous special session. The
Republicans also stripped the Democrats of other
perks, such as prime parking spots around the
Capitol, unless they paid their fines.
See Fines on page 2