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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 2003)
Aggielife: College Station's new last call* Page 3 Opinion: Stopping domestic terrorism* Page 11 nr 1117 12 ATT A TTf\ I nJi l>Ai 1AL1U A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893 fblume 110 • Issue 23 • 12 pages www.thebattaIion.iiet Tuesday, September 30, 2003 highlighted this week By Sarah Szuminski THE BATTALION The Muslim Students’ Association aims lo educate the Texas A&M community on issues regarding the Islamic faith through a series of events this week. Islamic Awareness Week runs through Saturday and is geared toward clarifying common misconceptions and stereotypes, said MSA officer Zahir Latheef. ‘People have a fear of the unknown,” said Latheef, a junior accounting major. “We want Islam to no longer be an unknown idea.” Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, Latheef said, and it accounts for one-fifth of the world’s population with 1.5 billion followers. “Knowledge is important for students at A&M,” he said. “It’s important for us to learn about different cultures and religions.” The weeklong event includes three lec tures on topics of the history of Muslims in America, the role of women in Islam and a biography on the prophet Muhammad. Those interested will also have the opportu nity to visit a Mosque open house on Saturday. IAW is a national program in which more than 100 colleges across the nation partici pate, Latheef said. It has been held at A&M for more than 10 years. Sana Mohiuddin, a senior history major and treasurer of MSA, said the week is important for college students because they strive to learn about unknown things, such as other religions. Mohiuddin said IAW is not only for non- Muslim students, but can educate current followers of the Islamic faith. “In every situation, you always learn something new,” she said. Islam Awareness Week ANDREW BURLESON • THE BATTALION SOURCE : MUSLIM STUDENTS ASSOCIATION Top officials meet behind closed doors to figure out deal By Natalie Gott THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN — Top Republican officials met behind closed doors Monday to hammer out a congressional redistricting map but no final compromise was reached. It. Gov. David Dewhurst said that if the Legislature does not approve a plan by Oct. 6 lawmak ers would have f to move back the f deadline for con gressional candi- f dates to tile to run for office as well as the pri- I mary election | date scheduled for March 2. Oth e r Republicans have issued the same warning. “As long as we can agree and pass redistricting and (adjourn) before, on or before next Monday, then all that is required is moving the filing date one week,” Dewhurst said. “Let’s approach this step by step.” A meeting Monday morn ing involved at least Gov. Rick Perry, Dewhurst, House Speaker Tom Craddick, Sen. Todd Staples of Palestine, Sen. Robert Duncan of Lubbock and Rep. Phil King of Weatherford, all Republicans. Another meet ing was held Monday evening involving top officials, in an indication that they want the issue resolved. Both the House and the Senate have approved sepa rate redistricting plans. One of the main differences in the maps is how West Texas dis tricts are drawn. The House map draws a district so that Craddick’s hometown of Midland, with its oil and gas economy, could anchor a congressional seat. The Senate plan, favored by Duncan pairs Midland in the same dis trict with the larger city of Lubbock, keeping that agri- culture-oriented city the base for a congressional seat. Dewhurst said at Monday’s meeting that four or five plans on how to draw the area were presented. “At least in my judgment, one or two should be accept able to not only the House but the Senate,” Dewhurst said. He said the two plans give See Deal on page 2 I'm more optimistic today than I was last week. — David Dewhurst lieutenant governor Crystal Pecina, of College Station, watches as her es away large water fowl in Central Park in one-and-a-half-year-old son Gabriel Pecina chas- College Station Monday afternoon. Music group settles 52 user lawsuits By Ted Bridis THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — The recording industry on Monday announced settlements with 52 of the 261 Internet users it sued over allegations they illegally pennitted others to download music from their com puters using popular file-sharing software. The Recording Industry Association of America, which plans to file hundreds more lawsuits in October, did not speci fy how much it collected. Defense lawyers familiar with some cases said payments ranged from $2,500 to $7,500 each, with at least one settlement for as much as $10,000. The settlements, which do not include any admission of wrongdoing, require Internet users to destroy copies of illegal ly downloaded soqgs and agree to “not make any public statements that are inconsistent” with the agreement. The RIAA, the trade group for the largest labels, said one dozen other Internet users also agreed to pay unspeci fied amounts after they learned they might be sued. They had previously been noti fied by their Internet providers that music lawyers were seeking their names to sue and agreed to pay to avoid a lawsuit. “The music community’s efforts have triggered a national conversation, especial ly between parents and kids, about what’s legal and illegal when it comes to music on the Internet,” RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a statement. “In the end it will be decided not in the courtrooms,- but at kitchen tables across the country.” Just three weeks ago, the RIAA filed 261 lawsuits against what it described as “major offenders” illegally distributing See Lawsuits on page 2 Sociological success Poston brings research on gender to A&M classes By Justin Smith THE BATTALION If you see a 1996 Cadillac driving around campus, it could be the one belonging to Texas A&M professor Dr. Dudley Poston. Poston won his Caddy in Las Vegas on only his fifth attempt at playing a 50 cent slot machine on his way out of a casino. Poston, a sociology professor and the George T. and Gladys H. Abell Professor of Liberal Arts, has worked across America and around the globe. Poston is a guest pro fessor of demography at the People’s University in Beijing and a guest professor of cultural studies and sociology at Fuzhou University in Fuzhou, China. Poston had originally planned to become a priest, but eventually chose soci ology while studying at the University of San Francisco. “I wanted to see what other options were available to me,” Poston said. “I liked being able to study human behavior, but sociology gave it a more scientific way where you can measure and quantify things about people.” He received his master’s degree from San Francisco State College and his doctor ate in sociology at the University of Oregon. After college, Poston went to Vietnam in 1968 to serve in the conflict and was awarded a Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal. When he returned to the United States a year later, he was hired to teach at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1981, China began to allow students to study abroad and three students came to study under Poston. Poston said he became fascinated with China. He spent most of 1987 living and study ing in Taiwan. After a stint at Cornell, Poston came to A&M in 1992 to head the Department of Sociology, a position he held until 1997, when he stepped down to teach and conduct more research. Poston’s research has focused almost entirely on the population trends in China. One of his concentrations has been study ing the sex ratio at birth in China and the implications of that on the country’s future. Since China imposed the one-child-per- couple law in 1979, there have been 120 boys born for every 100 girls. Poston said China has 25 million extra boys and the dif ficulty in finding wives will lead them to look outside of the country. Poston has also studied Chinese migra tion patterns across China and illegal immi gration to America. “These people do the same work (in China) that illegal Mexicans do in the United States,” he said, “but there are only so many jobs (there) and eventually they will come here in bigger numbers.” Dr. Carol Albrecht, internship program director and senior lecturer of sociology, said Poston is an excellent and well- known researcher in addition to being a devoted teacher. JOSHUA HOBSON • THE BATTALION Professor Dr. Dudley Poston teaches sociology at Texas A&M. “He is excellent when working with stu dents and is quick to enjoy in the success of others, which is rare in a lot of professors today,” she said. Allison Bellomy, a former student of Poston’s who graduated in 2001 with a See Poston on page 2 American troops battle Iraqi resistance fighters By Tarek Al-Issawi THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KHALDIYAH, Iraq — Iraqi insurgents ambushed U.S. con voys with roadside bombs and rocket-propelled grenades Monday, triggering an eight- hour battle in which the American military — in a dis play of force — sent in fighter jets, bombers, helicopters and tanks. One U.S. soldier was killed and three were wounded. And in northern Iraq, U.S. soldiers launched two dozen raids, arresting 92 people and seizing weapons and ammuni tion. One of the raids involved the largest joint operation between U.S. military police and American-trained Iraqi police; about 200 Iraqi officers took part. The two ambushes hit U.S. military convoys about 9 a.m. in the Sunni Muslim towns of Habaniyah and Khaldiyah, six miles apart along the Euphrates River and about 50 miles west of the Baghdad. As the major firefight raged in Khaldiyah, it seemed as though the Americans were pinned down, with the insurgents open ing fire each time the U.S. patrol tried to withdraw. Eventually commanders called in jet fight ers, A-10 Thunderbolt attack air craft, helicopters and tanks. The attackers apparently hid in trees and shrubs lining the dirt road where the roadside bombs left four big craters. Reporters saw four badly damaged farm compounds in the al-Qurtan neighborhood on the north side of Khaldiyah, scene of several previous firefights between the U.S. military and guerrilla fighters. Angry residents cursed at reporters who entered the fire zone after the battle. Civilians, including women and children, fled. One Iraqi man, running away with his wife, three other women, a nephew and five children, said many homes were damaged. He refused to give his name. “Is this the freedom that we were promised?” he asked. “I had to get my family out. ... The helicopters were firing almost nonstop. My 7-year-old is too young to hate but how can he not hate them (the Americans) after this?” Lt. Col. Jeff Swisher, of the 1st Infantry Division, defended the use of force. See Troops on page 2