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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