^ Wednesday, January 21,2004
The Battalion
Volume 1 10 • Issue 73 • 10 pages
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
uww. thebattalion.net
Page design by Lauren Rouse
Aggie dancer
remembered
IIy Melissa Sullivan
the battalion
Brooke Marie Blevins always had a smile on her face,
even at 7 a.m. dance practice every day.
However, on the night of Jan. 16. Blevins was killed
on the way to Odessa when the truck she was riding in
with her boyfriend, Jason Kendrick Lovell, hydroplaned
and collided with an 18-wheeler on Highway 36 near
Jonesboro. Both died upon impact, according to the
Department of Public Safety accident report.
Blevins, a 2Ly ear °* c * J un ‘ or marketing major from
Nacogdoches, graduated from Nacogdoches High School
and was a member of the A&M Dance
Team. She was remembered at her
funeral service Monday as a beautiful
and bubbly girl.
A&M Dance Team instructor
Jennifer Hart said Blevins was a
team player and was always encour
aging the other team members to per
form their best.
She was the kind of girl you wish
you had 20 just like her.” Hart said.
“She was a neat. neal ^ Ir *'
Hart said when BE' ms did not make the team the first
time she tried out. that she did not get discouraged, and
when she made it die next time she was excited.
“You wondered how she did not make the first time,"
BLEVINS
Addressing the nation
GEORGE BRIDGES • KRT CAMPUS
Vice President Dick Cheney, right, presides at the joint session of Congress. President George W. Bush as the president delivers his State of the Union address to
the 108th Congress at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday night. Bush appealed to Congress not "to falter and leave our way unfinished."
Bush focuses on re-election, war
By Jason Hanselka
THE BATTALION
Former prisoner of war and retired Air Force
tol. Edward L. Hubbard urged listeners
Tuesday to go above and beyond what they
believe they are capable of doing.
“No matter what you’ve done in your life,
lou’ve only scratched the surface of what you’re
kapable of doing as a human being,” he said.
Hubbard spoke to more than 100 people at
he George Bush Presidential Library and
Museum Orientation Theater.
Hubbard’s speech was part of the Bush
Museum Issues Forum that took place at the
peorge Bush Presidential Library and Museum.
Hubbard was a POW in North Vietnam for
six years, seven months and 12 days, from July
20, 1966, to March 4, 1973. He said the first
few months were the worst.
“Sit down, face the wall and feel sorry for
yourself for the next 150 days,” Hubbard said.
“That’s how the first five months of prison
were, and it nearly cost me my life.”
Hubbard urged listeners to close their eyes
for several minutes as he described his sur
roundings in prison. Hubbard said he stayed in
a six-by-six foot cell and took in only 300 calo
ries a day.
He said the POWs were afraid to talk
because they feared they would be killed.
Hubbard said that if people instill small
changes in their lives and the lives of others
everyday then together everyone can change
the world.
Teamwork, he said, is the most underused
free resource.
“Competition gives your life meaning and
makes you more productive,” Hubbard said.
“You have no idea of your mental and physical
capacity.”
Hubbard said that by the end of his impris
onment he could do 300 push-ups nonstop, and
he learned a 46-verse poem by tapping in prison.
code on the walls.
A positive attitude, he said, will help every
one to become leaders in their community.
Hubbard encouraged everyone to stand and
sing “God Bless America” as loudly or as soft
ly as they wanted.
“Personal pride and pride for your coun
try,” Hubbard said, “are the greatest assets
you have.”
dangerous risks with their health and safety.
Bush said. He also proposed doubling federal
spending on programs to promote sexual absti
nence among teenagers.
Touching on a politically sensitive issue, he
said he would support a constitutional amend
ment banning same-sex marriages if the courts
struck down a law saymg marriage should be
between a man and woman.
The speech fell one day after the one-two
finish of Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards
in the Iowa caucuses threw the Democrats'
race into a wide-open contest going into next
week's New Hampshire primary.
“America this evening is a nation called to
great responsibilities," the president said.
“And we are rising to meet them. ... We have
not come all this way — through tragedy and
trial and war — only to falter and leave our
work unfinished.”
"Our greatest responsibility is the active
defense of the American people,” he said.
See Bush on page 2
Hart said.
Emily Brock, a scn * or chemistry major and dance
team captain, said ms left her mark on everyone.
“We will be think ,n 8 °f her alt the time, regardless,”
Brock said. “And that will definitely continue the rest of
the year."
Hart said Blevins vvas such a caring person that when
Hart s boyfriend vvas 1 e P'°y e d to Iraq. Blevins wrote her
[a note to tell Had she was thinking of her.
“She had this way of saying my name when she needed
See Dancer on page 2
&M prof returns
lafter accident
By Eric Ambrose
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M mechanical engineering professor Ozden
)choa has something special to be thankful for this new
/ear: her life.
Ochoa was hit by a drunk driver on Nov. 22 in Dayton,
)hio, while working on a two-year
Research assignment as a senior scien
tist with the Wright Patterson Air Force
lase Research Laboratory. She left her
apartment around 7 p.m. to see
)ayton’s Harmonic Symphony in con
cert when the driver of an SUV failed to
stop at a t-intersection.
“I do not remember even seeing
aim.” said Ochoa, who said she could
lot remember anything between the
time of her accident and Dec. 2.
In fact, Ochoa was not identified until Nov. 24, when
|ier friends and boyfriend Henry Geneczko arrived at the
lospital.
“The hardest thing was that they didn’t know who I
ras,” Ochoa said. “It’s the typical Jane Doe story.”
The most serious of Ochoa’s injuries were a 14-inch
wund on the side of her head and a punctured intestine.
)octors left her body open from Nov. 22-25 to repair
lamage to the intestine and to prevent infection. To do
[his, they subjected her to medically-induced paralysis,
diich left her unable to move for four days.
“It is incredible to me because not knowing anything
[or 12 days, it’s a pure example of the grace of God,”
)choa said. “If I would have known of my condition, I
light have had a heart attack on the spot.”
During treatment. Ochoa’s heart stopped and one of
See Prof on page 2
OCHOA
By Terrence Hunt
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — President Bush, wrap
ping the themes of his re-election campaign in
his State of the Union address, asserted
Tuesday night that America is strengthening its
economy and successfully combatting terror
ism. "We have not come all this way —
through tragedy and trial and war — only to
falter and leave our work unfinished,” he said.
In a stay-the-course appeal to a joint session
of Congress, Bush said the nation faced impor
tant challenges and choices.
He said it was tempting — but wrong — to
think the danger of terrorist attacks had passed
even though it has been more than two years
since America was attacked.
“We have come through recession and ter
rorist attack and corporate scandals and the
uncertainties of war,” the president told law
makers at the opening of a campaign year.
“And because you acted to stimulate our econ
omy with tax relief, this economy is strong and
growing stronger.”
Democrats were quick to take issue, noting
that 2.3 million jobs have been lost under
Bush, that deficits are soaring and casualties
are climbing in Iraq. Democrats sat silently
through most of Bush’s 54-minute speech
while Republicans applauded repeatedly.
Bush’s speech was designed to cast him as
the commander in chief, grappling with the
nation’s problems and above politics while
Democratic rivals for his office race around the
campaign trail trading charges.
With a $500 billion budget deficit limiting
his options. Bush offered a handful of modest
initiatives: a $23 million pilot plan to encour
age student drug testing in public schools and
a $300 million training and placement program
to help newly released prisoners find jobs.
He urged major league sports leagues and
athletes to end the use of performance-enhanc
ing drugs, to set an example for young people.
Their use by even a minority of elite athletes
sets a dangerous example for the millions of
young Americans, encouraging them to take
Students more passionate about social issues
By Sonia Moghe
THE BATTALION
President George W. Bush's
54-minute State of the Union
address Tuesday received mixed
reactions from Texas A&M stu
dents and faculty, representing
different political facets present at
the University.
“(The speech) was decent. I sup
port him on most issues,” said Mark
McCaig, communications director
for the Young Conservatives of
Texas (YCT) at A&M. “I don't
blindly follow someone just
because they're of a certain party.”
Bush’s speech, which included
70 interruptions from audience
applause, addressed issues involv
ing tax cuts, healthcare, the war in
Iraq, redefining marriage and
other acts of legislation.
“Terrorist nations declared war
on this country,” Bush said. “And
war is what they got.”
That statement alone provided
the basis of much of the rift
between dissenting student voices.
“I disagree with the whole Iraq
situation,” said Kristen Welbourn,
vice president of the Aggie
Democrats. “I don’t see how (Bush)
can justify over 500 troops dying.”
McCaig disagreed, stating that
he supported Bush on his actions
with the war. Despite their age,
McCaig said, college students’
political opinions are just as valid
as those of other adults.
“For the most part, A&M is
one of the more (politically)
involved campuses. But people
don't necessarily do a lot of in-
depth research on all the issues.”
McCaig said. “I’m a news and
politics junkie. 1 live on this stuff.”
After the speech, students such
as McCaig and Welbourn discussed
fundamental political differences
with their friends through media
such as America Online Instant
Messenger.
“I really felt that most of (the
speech) was propaganda,”
Welbourn said. “(Bush) brings up
these ideas but he doesn’t give us
any way to make them happen. He
doesn't back them up.”
Students reacted more passion
ately to social issues than fiscal ones.
“I don't see how (Bush is) going
to promote the sanctity of mar
riage,” Welbourn said. “It’s not his
place — it’s our own social issue.”
McCaig agreed that the issue
of redefining marriages was one
of controversy, especially on
A&M's predominantly conserva
tive campus. The YCT’s position
on marriage is that it is the union
between a man and a woman,
McCaig said. He said most politi
cal issues rarely had a uniform
reaction from any politically affil
iated student group.
“Political labels — I don’t like
them ” McCaig said. “I think most
people on campus identify with
the Republican party, but I think
it’s dangerous to agree with a
party 100 percent.”
tormer POW: Pride, patriotism greatest assets
JP BEATO III • THE BATTALION
Col. Edward L. Hubbard discusses his war experiences as a pris
oner of war in Vietnam at the George Bush Presidential Library
and Museum Orientation Theater Tuesday evening.