Accielife: Mob mentality • Page 3
Sports: Pitt of despair • Page 7
Friday, September 26,;
THP RATTAT TONT
111H 15A1 I./vLil U IN
(Volume 110 • Issue 22 • 12 pages
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
www.thebattaIioii.net
Monday, September 29, 2003
TEXAS A&M ADMISSIONS DATA
A&M's Board of
Regents is
concerned about
the University's
low minority
enrollment
numbers despite
improvements
from last year’s
figures.
1
Regents: Minority enrollment low
| White
Pall 2003
34,262
Pall 2002
34,647
4.296
| Black
1,067
1,048
t 9
D Hispanic
3,813
3,714
T 99
— Asian/
"Pacific Islander
1,306
1,349
A 43
— American Indian/
“Alaskan Native
199
211
A 12
. Non-Resident Aliens/
® Foreign Nationals
3,823
3,679
T 144
^Non-reported
426
636
A 109
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
SOURCE:OFFICE OF PLANNING & INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH
By Bart Shirley
THE BATTALION
Members of the Board of Regents
said they were concerned with low
enrollment numbers for minority stu
dents at Texas A&M during the
board’s Sept. 26 meeting.
“Our freshman minority recruiting
numbers are not good,” said David
Prior, interim provost and executive
vice president of Texas A&M.
Prior said there was a decrease in
Asian enrollment and a slight increase
in black enrollment. According to the
preliminary 12th class day enrollment
and admissions report, the number of
Asian students decreased by 3.2 per
cent, from 1,349 in the fall of 2002 to
1,306 students this fall. In addition.
only nine more blacks are attending
Texas A&M this fall.
“We are concerned that we are not
using all possibilities to improve (our)
yield rate, “ Prior said.
The yield rate is calculated by
comparing the number of students
admitted to the University to how
many actually attend. Prior said there
is a growing discrepancy between
how many minority students are
admitted and how many arrive on the
first day of classes.
Regent Lionel Sosa, chair of the
committee on educational access, said
the biggest challenge facing the uni
versity is finding scholarship dollars to
give to minority students. He said the
majority of minority students accepted
typically fail enroll, and this implies
that other universities might be reach
ing out to them more effectively.
“Texas A&M has an opportunity to
take a stronger leadership (position)
in terms of minority recruitment. 1
know lots of programs are in the
works, but I’d like to see those (pro
grams) in the numbers,” he said.
Prior said this summer’s Supreme
Court decisions regarding the
University of Michigan were an ele
ment in the administration’s thought
processes regarding the problem. In
this case, the Supreme Court struck
down the undergraduate school’s point
system that gave minority applicants a
bonus in their application process, but
it upheld the law school’s system that
considers race without giving it a set
value. The latter decision affirmed the
legality of some forms of affirmative
action and is spurring administrators
in all state schools to re-examine their
admissions processes.
Prior said a task force was formed
after the decision at Michigan and
University President Robert M. Gates
is questioning A&M’s recruitment
efforts. He said the University of Texas-
Austin is doing the same thing as the
admissions department here.
“This is a matter of great concern
to us,” he said. “We are discussing
what are the best strategies to do.”
Some members of the Board were
adamant about the University’s need
to step up its efforts.
“They just need to get to work on
it,” said Regent Wendy Gramm, chair
of the campus art and aesthetic
improvement committee. “It’s not
rocket science. We can recruit the best
and the brightest in athletics. We can
do it elsewhere.”
Unity Project plans
for second bonfire
Sign here
Gintrv • THE BATTALION
Yearbook on Ross Street
week in front of Reed f
Original
for $8.9$
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
With debt from last year’s stu
dent-led bonfire looming, the
Student Unity Project has begun
planning for its second annual
bonfire, scheduled for Nov. 22.
To pay off the debt and earn
money, members have made a deal
with Westgate and DC I
Biologicals. People wishing to
contribute to UP can do so by
donating plasma at either of these
I clinics. The money earned is then
f given to UP at the donor’s request.
A person can earn up to $ 150 a
month if he donates two times a
week within a 48-hour period, said
'BrandonBallard, assistant manag
er for Westgate Biologicals.
“A lot of students donate plas
ma so we thought we would help
the community as well as the
University,” he said.
The Unity Project is a student
group independent of Texas A&M
that aims to revive the tradition of
Aggie Bonfire in some form so
that it is not lost, according to the
UP Web site. The group built an
off-campus bonfire last November
that drew more than 3,000 people.
UP’s 2002 bonfire cost approx
imately $26,000 from start to fin
ish and UP wants to make enough
profit to ensure that the tradition
will continue, said Jennifer Evans,
a senior economics major.
“Based on last year’s numbers,
we estimate that if every person
who comes out to cut donates plas
ma, we should raise enough money
to break even this year,” she said.
Evans said because funding is
limited, it is important for people
to support UP.
“We are funded only by stu
dents and a few former students,”
she said.
Jim Bouse, a senior agricultural
development major, said donating
plasma not only helps with the cost
of a bonfire, it benefits burn victims.
“I feel that helping bonfire get
going again with such a small con
tribution is the least 1 can do,” he
said. “I gave plasma in the past for
my gain and 1 feel that bonfire
needs the money more than 1 do.”
Ballard said donors will be
asked a series of questions to see if
they are eligible to donate. They
will need their driver license, Social
Security card and proof of address.
Donating will take a little more
than an hour, Ballard said.
In addition to donating plasma,
UP is selling T-shirts and other
merchandise through its Web site,
www.studentbonfire.com.
SHARON AESCHBACH • THE BATTALION
Ten-year-old Jared Dewey of Katy gets an autograph from third time gold
medal winner of the X-games, Tommy Gowers Sunday afternoon at the
Katy Mills Mall. Thirty-one year old Gowers, known as TomCat, started rid
ing professionally when he was 18 and now is on tour around Texas show
ing off his motorcross skills and his favorite jump, called the Cat Nac Indian
Air, where he hangs off his bike with his legs in an open scissor position.
6
reLwR*'
■n?
i TACOS.
GEAVL
Italy blackout affects
By Tom Rachman
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME — A storm-tossed tree
branch that hit Swiss power lines
helped trigger a massive blackout in
almost all of Italy, trapping thousands
on trains and forcing the pope to use
a backup generator to proclaim his
new cardinals. The outage underlined
the fragility of Italy’s reliance on
imported power.
In Italy’s worst power outage since
World War II, most of the country’s
58 million people were affected —
more than in North America’s biggest
blackout, which left 50 million peo
ple without power in Canada and the
United States on Aug. 14.
As in the North American black
out, there was initially confusion
about the cause and finger-pointing
among neighboring countries. With
scant domestic supply and swelling
public demand, Italy imports most of
its electricity.
The blackout began at 3:25 a.m.,
hitting all of Italy except the island
of Sardinia. The lights came back on
in northern Italy by early morning
and in most of Rome shortly after
noon. But large swathes of southern
Italy were still without electricity
Sunday evening.
The outage tripped a burglar alarm
at the home in Rome where Lonia
Liscio, 21, was babysitting an 8-year-
old boy. She woke up in a panic.
“The baby woke up too — he
sleeps with the light on,” she said.
57 million
“He took out a flashlight and was up
all night long. I was scared. I didn’t
know what was happening.”
Tommaso Primavera, 17, was riding
his motor scooter at the time in Rome.
“There was panic on the streets,” he
said. “The tourists went mad — every
one was thinking about themselves.”
As experts tried to work out the
cause, none of the three countries
involved wanted all the blame. Swiss
and French energy officials said the
responsibility lay with Italy, while the
Italians noted that the power cut came
from France.
Initial investigations indicated a
chain reaction that started in
Switzerland and moved through
See Blackout on page 2
Italy in the dark for
cause of blackout
Most of Italy’s 57 million people
were affected by the blackout
that struck early Sunday. Officials
suspect the problem started in
Switzerland, then transferred to
France, from where Italy receives
a large amount of power, and
from there to Italy.
SWITZ. AUS.
SLOV.
CROATIA
FRANCE BOS &
HERZ
ITALY
Italy receives
large amounts
of power from
France
,, o 100 mi
Mediterranean
TUNISIA Sea 0 100 l ' m
SOURCE: ESRI AP
Energy blueprint reflects industry priorities
Month showcases
Hispanic culture
By Lauren Smith
THE BATTALION
When Julian Lopez lived in Corpus Christi, a city in
which much of the population is Hispanic, he never
thought of diversity issues. Then, he came to Texas A&M.
“The biggest issue facing Hispanic students at A&M
is adjusting to the new environment,” Lopez said. “A lot
of Hispanics here are coming from cities like San
Antonio or Corpus where they are the majority.”
In the fall of 2003, Hispanics constituted 8 to 9 per
cent of the student enrollment, with 3,813 Hispanic stu
dents in the 44,876-member student body.
Hispanic Heritage month, from Sept. 15 to Oct. 10, is
a month of celebration made official in 1960 by
President Lyndon B. Johnson, said Dr. Luis San Andres,
communications secretary for Professional Hispanic
Network and professor in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering.
“It is a time to celebrate the contributions of Hispanic
cultures to mainstream culture,” San Andres said. “At the
University, we will bring speakers of national recognition
By H. Josef Hebert
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Congressional
Republicans are cobbling together an energy
blueprint substantially more favorable to indus
try than a Senate-passed bill hailed by
Democrats as a victory this summer.
From drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge to
electric utilities’ use of renewable fuels, pro
industry views are winning consistent support
in negotiations on a final bill.
Democrats are complaining about being
shut out from decision-making as the talks
move toward a conclusion — possibly by the
end of this week •— on the first overhaul of the
U.S. energy agenda in a decade.
Sen. Pete Domenici, chairman of the House-
Senate negotiations, dismisses the Democrats’
complaints. The GOP staff has “worked close
ly” in “open and bipartisan negotiations,” said
Domenici, R-N.M.
But he also said he wants to avoid the type of
gridlock that prevented passage of a bill last year.
A senior Democrat involved in the talks said
he is dismayed at the way Republican leaders
are putting together the bill after the House and
Senate approved different versions this year.
“Republicans... expect (us) to ratify a final
product that we have not yet seen,” said Rep.
John Dingell of Michigan.
The emerging plan reflects a greater tilt
toward the energy industry, is more to the
White House’s liking and more represents the
priorities of conservative House Republicans.
It is largely replacing the legislation passed
by the Senate in July when GOP leaders, facing
an impasse over their own bill, resurrected a
measure approved in 2002 when Democrats
were in the majority.
Domenici promised to rewrite the Senate-
passed bill in negotiations with the House —
and that is what he is doing with Rep. Billy
Tauzin, R-La., head of the House delegation.
“This bill will be a Christmas wish list for
the oil, gas, coal and nuclear industry,” predicts
David Alberswerth, a natural resource special
ist for the Wilderness Society.
As an example. Democrats point to the
See Energy on page 6
See Culture on page 2
Hispanic Heritage Month SSSSSSSSSSSSE^
r — — —"
There will be an Hispanic Literature Showcase in the MSC Bookstore from Sept. 15 to Oct 10
Oct. 1
Colombian Rim Series
3:30 to 6 p.m.
410 Library Annex
"Visa USA"
Oct. 2
Conversaciones
Dr. Rogelio Saenz
12 to 2 p.m.
402 Rudder
“Hispanic Demography"
Oct. 8
Colombian Rim Series
1 to 3:30 p.m.
410 Library Annex
"Los Ninos Invisibles'"
Oct. 9
Conversaciones
Dr. Circo Sumaya
12 to 2 p.m.
502 Rudder
"Changing Demographla
of Hispanics in Texas"
Oct,8
Latin Aggie Nights
8;30 to 11:30 p.m.
MSC
GRACIE ARENAS • THE BATTALION
SOURCE : HTTP://PHN.TAMU.EDU