H
lember 23.2d
Accielife: On skins and needles • Page 3 Opinion: Compromising education • Page 9
THE BATTALION
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
tiger
rseus galia
Volume 110 • Issue 19 • 10 pages
CflMPUSlDIDE COMPUTER PROBLEMS
Computer and UJeb sites across campus
are hauing access problems.
Uiruses from sources uiithin the
[ fireman haue slomed computers.
Optical cable to Dallas cut on
Sept. 15.
H router failed, cutting off open
access labs, neo.tamu.edu and
r UfebCT.
I ] .The nemlu installed IDindoms HP
y ^increased login times.
B
mm
SETH FREEMAN • THE BATTALION
SOURCE : CIS
www.thebattaIion.net
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Bad router downs A&M network
By Sarah Walch
THE BATTALION
A router in the Teague Building machine room
went down Sunday night and caused open-access
labs and major network sites such as neo.tamu.edu
and webct.tamu.edu to be inaccessible on and off
until around 5 p.m. Monday.
Campus residents continued to experience
internet outages as late as Tuesday night.
Marc Mojica, a senior computer engineering
major, said he faced problems getting his resume
to the Career Center through its online registra
tion Monday.
"There was a deadline of 12 a.m., aid 1 was worried
that I would not get it in on time,” he said. "I needed to
get it in so I can get an interview with companies.”
Mojica said he understands that everyone access-.
ing the network at the same time can cause problems.
“(The network) is never going to run perfectly,”
he said. “The best you can hope for is that it works
when you need it.”
Mojica said he knew a lot of people who were
having problems with the network.
"Perhaps they should create a backup e-mail
system,” he said. “Otherwise, you are going to
have problems if you cannot get to neo.”
Computing Information Services Director Tom
Putnam said the equipment failure was an unfore
seen problem.
“The router stopped working correctly,” he said.
"Basically, it was out of our control.”
Putnam said the router first failed Sunday evening
and was repaired. But, when the router failed again
Monday morning, the CIS networking staff decided
to replace the malfunctioning equipment.
“We thought we had fixed it,” he said. “We had
(the new router) installed in about two and a half
hours once we decided to replace it.”
CIS Associate Director of Networking Willis
Marti said the whole system appeared to fail
between 10 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. Monday. Though
it only took until around 12:30 p.m. to fix it, there
were backup problems that made those Web sites
and the labs inaccessible until around 5 p.m.
“If you were up at 8 a.m. you may have been
lucky enough to get access,” he said.
See Router on page 2
UESY OF CHANDRA.HARVAIOD.
eus' black hole (rightlm
e human being conheu
h through the gasses!
[hese cavities thai coc
ci magnetic fields. Is
ig gasses in the cluss
s aves to ripple throes
ts have struggled w
near the center of ts
not cooled do#:
in galaxy clusterstb
should cool down ora
h to an immense niir
sts observed clusien
:y found that this m
e. Astronomen were
after billions of years,
e still hot. NASAindi-
tie high-energy soimd
ing from the centero!
on Id be the answer if
:d question,
sound waves tras
gasses in the gala*
.Miergy spreads out.
1 transferred into heaj
oduced by the soun
be the agent that i
asses in the cluster an
s cooling,
ind waves is extreme!)
ig the high energy tin
ould learn a great dea
lore information aboK
nt of galaxy cluster
nown about how the
ieorge Kattawaroftlt
fessors have had told
e process of evolutia
own. Soon, however
ered information, pm
o explain how gall';
of objects in the it
’hysics faculty keeps:
md is working on inif-
nto the currictilifl
<attawar said. “Ilf
the things goingonf
ng”
s posts informationU
tronomical discovene
c e 19 8
Gates, Weis to speak
at Student Senate
By Sarah Walch
THE BATTALION
Director of Transportation
Services Rodney Weis and Texas
A&M President Robert M. Gates
are slated to speak tonight at the
second Student Senate meeting
of the semester in the open gov
ernance room of Koldus.
Gates attends two Student
Senate meetings every semester,
and said his time will be strictly
a question-and-answer session
open to the senators.
Weis, who was scheduled to
speak at the first Senate meeting
Sept. 10 but did not show, is first
on the agenda.
On Tuesday, Sept. 9, TS sent
out an e-mail about changing
the rules for permits in
Southside Garage.
At the Sept. 10 Senate meet
ing, about 20 students signed up
to express their concerns about
the e-mail and changes to Weis
directly. Due to his absence,
they were turned away before
the meeting began.
Last Wednesday, Sept. 17,
the Residence Hall Association
unanimously passed a resolu
tion against changing the allot
ment of parking spaces in the
Southside garage.
Michael Vargo, a sophomore
business major and president of
Appelt Hall Council, introduced
the RHA resolution and has
organized a petition. He said he
expects RHA members to make
an appearance at the Senate
meeting to show their unhappi
ness with the proposed changes.
“From going through the
halls, I know a lot of people are
going to be there,” Vargo said.
After the RHA meeting last
week, Vargo expanded the peti
tion to allow time for it to circu
late among members of the
Corps of Cadets and Northside
residents. Once more signatures
have been collected, he intends
to present the petition to Weis.
“He can see how many people are
opposed to it for himself,” he said.
On Friday, Sept. 19, Weis
sent a second e-mail to
Southside permit holders assur
ing students that any proposed
changes would not go into effect
until next fall when permits
would be reissued.
Student Senate will also con
sider a resolution in support of
the current system of assigned
See Senate on page 2
Circle of life
The Whirling Dervishes of Rumi perform the Serna ceremony represent
ing the human being's spiritual journey in Rudder Theater at Texas A&M
Tuesday evening. In the symbolism of the Serna ritual, ego is represent
ed by the wide, white skirt. Whirling right to left with arms open, the
right hand is directed toward the sky and the left hand is turned toward
the earth, embracing all humanity with love.
Electrical problem causes brief evacuation
By Bart Shirley
THE BATTALION
The Chemistry Building was
evacuated Tuesday around noon
due to an electrical disturbance in
the basement of the building.
“Smoke was showing in the
basement,” said Donny Ramirez, a
firefighter for the College Station
Fire Department.
Fred Rapczyk, CSFD Battalion
Chief, said that although there was
smoke, there was no fire.
“A compressor locked up, and
the belt started burning,” Rapczyk
said. “That caused the smoke.”
Sarah Swineford, a sophomore
biology major, was looking for a
classroom in the building when she
smelled a strong smoky odor.
“I thought it was just someone
smoking or an experiment, until it
filled up the whole stairwell,”
Swineford said.
Les Swick, director of facilities
for the Physical Plant, said the air
compressor is used to provide con
trolled air for experiments.
The malfunctioning compressor
had improper belts installed on it,
which slipped off of the motors and
began to burn from the friction.
This is what generated the smoke,
but the circuit breaker activated and
shut the compressor down before a
fire could begin, Swick said.
The automatic fire alarm alert
ed police and firemen to the scene.
Bryan and College Station emer
gency personnel were dispatched.
He said Bryan and College
Station have a reciprocal program
in place for this sort of situation.
College Station units were respond
ing to a structure fire at the time of
the incident, so Bryan units were
the first to arrive. College Station
units arrived shortly afterward.
James Rainer, assistant finan
cial manager for the department
of Environmental Health and
*T*
aJm
Chemistry
Department of
JOSHUA HOBSON • THE BATTALION
Firemen outside the Chemistry Building Tuesday prepare to check out the build
ing's basement where smoke was reportedly seen.
Safety, said the Chemistry
Building has an increased poten
tial for fires and accidents because
of the research and exposure to
chemicals in the building.
However, Rainer said, the risk
is no greater than any other build
ing on campus, and that this occur
rence was no cause for alarm.
“It was a non-event,” Rainer said.
Mentorship focus of State of University address
By Justin Smith
THE BATTALION
Democrats fight
redistricting bill
on Senate floor
By Natalie Gott
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN —The showdown has begun.
After a 45-day boycott of the Texas Legislature this
summer by Senate Democrats, the debate over congres
sional redistricting was in high gear in the Texas Senate
on Tuesday.
Democrats pledged not to let the Republican-backed
effort to redraw the state’s congressional lines out of the
chamber without a fight, even though they admit they do
not have the numbers to block the bill.
Republicans have a 19-12 advantage in the chamber
and it takes a simple majority to get a bill approved.
Democrats want to keep the existing districts.
“We already have a legal plan in place,” said Sen.
Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsviile. “There is no legal require
ment to change plans again in 2003.”
Without the strength to block the bill. Democrats tried
to delay passage by giving lengthy speeches, peppering
the map’s author, Republican Sen. Todd Staples of
Palestine, with questions and trying parliamentary
maneuvers to postpone debate. Republicans, for the most
part, sat quietly and listened.
Republicans, who rule the Texas House and Senate
and occupy each statewide-elected office, say that the
state should have more Republicans representing it in
Washington. Democrats have a 17-15 advantage in the
Texas congressional delegation.
The map the Senate was debating was approved by the
Senate Jurisprudence Committee last week. Republicans
say that under it, the GOP could pick up between three
and five seats.
Staples presented the GOP plan to the full Senate as a
“fair and balanced” proposal that protects minority
rights under the federal Voting Rights Act.
But Democrats were quick to criticize.
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, told Staples that the
See Democrats on page 2
Student Body President Matt Josefy will
focus on mentorship, communication and stu
dent empowerment in his State of the
University address today at 5:30 p.m. in the
Stark Galleries.
“The State of the University address was
started to give students, administration and fac
ulty a chance to hear from the president where
he can communicate future plans and current
successes,” Josefy said.
The No. 1 priority for student government
this year will be to encourage mentorship
across the University, Josefy said.
Josefy said he will be encouraging three
types of mentoring. He said he will promote
mentoring between upperclassmen and fresh
men, faculty and students,
and matching former stu
dents with current students
to attempt to build networks
students can use when they
graduate.
Josefy said he will
address student empower
ment through increased stu
dent participation in
University affairs.
“We have placed dozens of students on dif
ferent committees around the University to rep
resent the students’ interests,” Josefy said.
Josefy also said he will stress the impor
tance of communication. The idea is to inform
students about what is going on around campus
so students can form opinions and participate,
Josefy said.
“The name of this is ‘Aggie Matters,’ and we
are reaching out to the students in a variety of
ways,” he said.
Student government communicates with the
students through e-mail, surveys and FAQ
pages on its Web site.
Josefy said everyone is welcome at the
address, and it will be a good chance for stu
dents to meet faculty and administration as
well as A&M’s student leadership. The Student
Senate and judicial court will also be in atten
dance.
Kerri Ward, speaker pro tempore of the
Student Senate and a sophomore marketing
major, said she will be introducing student sen
ators to the student body.