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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 2003)
If You Have Something To Sell, Remember: Classifieds Can Do It Call 845-0569 The Battalion Large hall and classrooms with commercial kitchen available. Perfect for dances, parries, receptions and corporate training or meetings. Pricing starts at $250/day orris at (979) 822-1600 Tues.-Fri. 8am-5pm ag! Call Robert Ni Kealuv c Realty & Investment Company FREE LOCATOR 260-1200 PRELEASING NOW for Jan, May & August 2004! Across from campus, next to Taco Bell. www.united-rico.com 9s ■rai- igat- e X it it What is the Talgate ChaBonge? Student groups will be given their very own spot on campus to ocmpeto in a tailgate competition before thatu. gamel WHOOPI Frtday, November 28, 2003 - A&M vs. tot Game Dayi E-mai ocatt&shinrn tamuadu to sign 14) for the way fm ccnipetibori! Pleese Inckjcto the name of your student grtxp. contact person, e-mal addess, and phone ncmber be Snom 10-11am. Taiga** tMeim at 11 an unti ktek-otr at ZdCI CHEAP PGZA ROLLS & MUSIC Brought to you by: Off Campus 7'ggies, Pal Activities Councf, and Business Student Course* .4 OFF CAMPUS AGGIES PRESENT THE FIRST ANNUAL Trample ln. 5K FUN RUN Early Registration: $12 (By Nov. 18) Late Registration: $15 **Start & Finish @ West end of Pedestrian Walkway @ Welbom** “Test Your Time" Race: Guess your time. Closest time wins! Prizes for I'-i" 1 places. NO WATCHES!!! FASTEST time (l a place) prize awarded in each division. NOVEMBER 22 9 A.M. START QMlXtlOS SUB Tuesday Buy Regular or Large Sandwich Get 22oz. drink and chips FREE Dine-ln and take out only. Check out our new menu Sandwiches starting at $ 1.99! I 10 College Main • 846-7000 Mon.-Sat. 10:30am-10:00pm Sun. I 1:00am-1 Opm This store not affiliated with Texas Avenue location. Student Counseling ^mJletpfin Are you a good listener? Do you like to help others? Are you a responsible & committed person? MtipZinm tleeded! All majors are welcome! Interviewing now to begin service in the Spring. Training is January 12-17, 2004. The HelpLine is sponsored & supervised by the For more information, contact Susan Vavra at 845-4470 x133 or Susan-Vavra@tamu.edu. STUDENT COUNSELING SERVICE IFY0U ORDERED a 2004 Aggieland and will not be on campus next fall to pick it up, you can have it mailed. To have your yearbook for the '03-04 school year mailed, stop by room 015 Reed McDonald Building or telephone 845-2613 (credit cards only) between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and pay a $7 mailing and handling fee. Cash, Check, Aggie Bucks, Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted. d 2004 12 Tuesday, November 18, 2003 Business inventories rise giving hopeful sign for future of economy By Jeannine Aversa THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON— America’s businesses — which have been keeping supplies fair ly lean — boosted their stock piles of unsold goods in September for the first time in six months, a sign that compa nies may be feeling more confi dent about the economic recov ery’s staying power. The Commerce Department reported Monday that business es’ inventories rose by 0.3 per cent in September, a turnaround from the 0.4 percent drop reported in August. September’s rise was the first since March, when businesses also increased their supplies at warehouses and backlots by 0.3 percent. Economists were expecting inventories to be flat in September. “With inventories swinging over to now showing increases, a watershed has been reached,” declared an optimistic Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics. “Inventories will be a major part of the 2004 economy story, along with a capital spending boom and swelling exports.” In another encouraging sign, the increase in inventories in September came even as busi nesses’ sales rose by a solid 0.6 percent, the biggest gain since July. That marked an improve ment over the 0.3 percent decline registered in August. But the report failed to buoy Wall Street. The Dow Jones indus trials lost 57.85 points to close at 9,710.83, as new fears of terror ism weighed on investors. With the economy improving, economists are hopeful that busi nesses will feel more certain about the sustainability of the economic resurgence and will ramp up inventories, a development that would boost economic growth. After a long capital invest ment drought, businesses are slowly increasing spending and adding jobs, two crucial ingredi ents that must continue for the economic recovery to be lasting, economists say. Near rock-bottom short-term interest rates, along with President Bush’s third tax cut, helped give the economy a big boost during the summer. The Federal Reserve is expected to hold its main short term interest rate at a 45-year low of 1 percent at its last meet ing of the year in December, as well as into part of 2004, econo mists predict. Holding short term rates at such low levels might motivate consumers and businesses to spend and invest more, something that would lift economic growth. Inventories rise Businesses’ stockpiles of unsold goods rose by 0.3 percent in September, the first increase since March. +0.3% Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep SOURCE: Dept of Commerce AP In September, wholesalers boosted inventories by 0.4 per cent and sales rose by 0.5 per cent. Retailers increased inven tories by 1 percent as sales dipped by 0.3 percent. At facto ries, inventories dropped by 0.4 percent as sales jumped by 1.4 percent. The economy grew' at a breakneck rate of 7.2 percent in the third quarter, the best per formance in nearly two decades. There’s a chance that the increase in inventories in September could nudge up the government’s second estimate of third quarter economic growth, as measured by the gross domes tic product, economists said. League MVP NEW YORK - Fin;: American League Asking price: about $179 An hour after the second player place team to win a I Valuable Player award, Rodriguez confirmed tlia Texas Rangers have talta him about a possibletradi “Management approached mewithaste and some choices, and l ! i going to keep my doors right now,” Rodriguez si Monday from Mexico din; conference call. Rodriguez received points for the Amenta p r j ar League award invotingtyM in • Baseball Writers' Associatm T n of America. Toronto first tei|’ H man Carlos Delgado wi ond with 213 points,! by New York Yankees Jorge Posada with 194 or B) Spears receives sts LOS ANGELES (AP)- of Hollywood Boulevard is “In the Zone" of Brin Spears. The pop star received a on the Hollywood Walt Fame Monday before nesi 2,000 screaming fans The event took place one after her corset-jigg appearance on the Ante’ [and associ assessn Anderr lollege o r of p: icated at Julian tent maj ovemen rt of t niversit iore dive Music Awards and a dayte her latest album, “IntheZo'i was set to arrive in stores Democrats largely disapprove of GOP’s Medicare drug plan, but AARP approve By David Espo THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON Republicans won the blessing of the politically influential AARP Monday for their emerging Medicare prescrip tion drug bill, but Sen. Edward M. Kennedy countered with a scathing attack on the meas ure, saying it included a “$12 billion slush fund to lure sen- Medicare bill nearing completion lilttMlin.l Republican congressional leaders hope to push the Medicare legislation through the Hots; and Senate in the next couple of days. The package was endorsed Monday by the AAR : which is launching a three-day advertising campaign to help pass the bill. Major provisions iors” into private coverage. At the White House, President Bush arranged to meet with lawmakers who have spent months negotiating the deal and now must find votes to pass it. William D. Novelli, CEO of the AARP, said in an Associated Press interview that his group would “pull out all the stops” to pass the legislation, including a three-day television advertising campaign this week. The bill is not perfect, he conceded, “but the country can’t afford to wait for perfect. On balance, it’s the right thing for seniors in America and their families.” Kennedy, D-Mass., his party’s leading spokesman on health matters, said the program would offer private insurance more money to insure the elder ly than traditional Medicare spends. At the same time, he said a $12 billion fund to offer additional incentives amounted to a “slush fund.” The day’s events signaled the onset of a politically charged clash over the legislation, which Republican congressional lead ers hope to push through the House and Senate in the next several days. The bill would create a pre interim drug card In 2004 and 2005, seniors eligible to purchase a dis count card estimat ed to yield drug- cost savings of 15 percent or higher. Low-income senior would get an annu al subsidy of $600. Main drug benefit In 2006, beneficiaries could sign up for a stand alone drug plan or join a private health plan. They would be charged a pre mium of $35 per month, or $420 per year. After meeting a $275 deduct ible, insurance would pay 75 percent of drug costs up to $2,200. Coverage gap — No coverage for drug costs between $2,200 and $3,600 out-of-pocket. Catastrophic coverage —When out-of- pocket spending reaches $3,600, insurance covers 95 percent of drug costs or requires a modest co-payment. Low-income subsidies — The premium, deductible and coverage gap would be waiveC for people earning up to $12,123 a year. Retiree coverage — Starting in 2006, uplo $70 billion in tax-free subsidies to employers who maintain drug coverage for retirees. SOURCE: Staff to Medicare bill negotiators Mark StaK' scription drug benefit for 40 million elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries begin ning in 2006. Participants would be offered a chance to purchase coverage at a monthly premium of $35, with a $275 deductible, a gap in coverage and protection against extreme ly high annual expenses. At the same time, the bill would establish a new role for private health plans in Medicare, encouraging them to offer sen iors the choice of receiving cov erage under managed care plans such as preferred provider organizations. That system encourages use of certain doc tors but allows patients to go elsewhere if they pay extra. Republicans yearned for AARP’s endorsement of the bill as an effective foil against Democratic attacks that the GOP is out to destroy the gov ernment-run health insurance program for 40 million older and disabled Americans. Republican congressional leaders sealed a tentative agree ment Saturday with two Democrats, Sens. John Breaux of Louisiana and Max Baucus of Montana. Their next step is to await word from budget experts to make sure the measure does n't exceed the $400 billion, 10- year price limit that Bush imposed earlier this year in requesting legislation. After that, the leaders can see whether the political and policy calculations they made hold up. In five months of bargaining, the GOP leaders struggled to write a bill that could appeal to enough conservatives to clear the House, while gaining enough support from moderate Democratic sena tors to avoid a filibuster. Other than Breaux and Baucus, no congressional Democrat voiced support for the legislation over the weekend, although others are expected. “Many will reach the decision that this is better to pass than not Reci Mor thro to pass,” Baucus predicted Neither Kennedy nor Set; Democratic leader Tom Da^ has yet threatened a filitet Neither found much to It the proposed legislation, judge by their rhetoric. “It keeps drug pricesliij causes two to three m® retirees to lose drug coveni and coerces seniors HMOs,” Daschle, D-S.D.,sf in a statement. House Democratic Nancy Pelosi of California^ ■j-j -■ the losers in the deal wereofl \ D- Americans, while the wiitf were “the Republicans’spec* interest cronies. Republic leaders are giving dollars in windfall profits to 1 ' pharmaceutical industry ... giving billions of dollars slush fund for HMOs.” The legislation creates a- hi i I ion fund to help manaf care plans take hold Medicare population * Ms£- Ota life, * Tables on sale now!!! $35 MSC Box Office * Questions? Contact the E.D. of Marketing 845-1515 htto *• //mscooenhouse. tamu. edu * AUS’ exas S Tue ncrease [Using r panted *et state he sprii The WISE ACME THE BATTALION Classifieds To place an ad, phone 845-0569 B THE are astc ystem vlark ‘It’s cl )ody tl ping t up sign Afte appropi ilgher i Legist a itave pi ies in mission own tui Yudt System mg tui known would legislati The 178,(XX Arlingt Dallas, San A