Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 2004)
mi i.i. •; i 'i .{diafo IvVitiu“it Peace Corps needs Americans with skills in Environment Education Business A nr j. || if. ||V .. He K nraAiatas B B I Vi I 6B Thursday, January 22, 2004 NATIfl THE HATTALIO Peace Corps needs 5,500 graduates with skills in agriculture, business, education, environment, health and information technology. All majors are welcome. Benefits include medical, dental and housing, as well as a monthly stipend and 24 vacation days a year. Graduates can defer student loans while serving. Visit the TAMU Career Center 209 Koldus Building to pick up a Peace Corps Catalog. ACLU: States’ database replicates Pentagon program www.peacecorps.gov • 800.424.8580 ?arn to from ind up Private pilot ground school Jan. 26 - March 8 Enrollment is limited Office of Workforce Education P. O. Box 6030 Bryan, TX 77805 979-209-7205 S BLINN COLLEGE Proven. www.blinn.echt OVER $ 30,000 WON WEEKLY 1805 Briarcrest, Bryan 979-776-0999 OPEN TUESDAY THRU SUNDAY Ag Appreciation Nights on Wed & Thurs Nights: 6:00 & 8:00 • New times for 2004 • Open Tuesday thru Sunday, 6:00 & 8:00 • 1/2 price paper • $ 10.00 1/2 price Bingo Magic Machines • BYOB • $ 2500 package prize each session LARGE NON-SMOKING ROOM Great Food • Security • Pull Tables and Much More! CathoTc B ;r S ^r BVCASA Elks #859 Church St. Joseph Catholic School By Brian Bergstein THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — A seven-state crime database launched with $L2 million in fed eral funds is a more powerful threat to pri vacy than its organizers acknowledge, the American Civil Liberties Union alleged Wednesday after obtaining documents relat ing to the program. The law enforcement officials and private database company behind the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, or Matrix, contend it is merely an investigative tool that helps police quickly gather already- available information on suspects. But the ACLU and other privacy advo cates allege that the program too closely resembles a scrapped Pentagon program that aimed to mine a vast pool of data to spot pat terns useful in terrorism investigations. Congress cut off funding last year for the so- called Total Information Awareness program after a privacy outcry. A Freedom of Information Act request filed with Pennsylvania yielded several doc uments that the ACLU says clearly show the Matrix’s data-mining abilities. Among them were minutes of a 2002 planning meeting that said the FBI, the Secret Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Drug Enforcement Agency helped craft data-mining software for Matrix. That represents more federal involve ment in the program than previously known, though the Departments of Justice and States drop Matrix over privacy concerns A database linking public and pdvate records, known as Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, or Matrix, is currently used in seven states. However, privacy concerns have obliged several more states to abandon the project. •/'li Currently using Matrix Withdrew from the project .rr Matrix compiles information from state, federal and private Bources including: ► Criminal and correctional history ► Motor vehicle, pilot and boat licenses and registrations ► Federal and local weapons, hunting and professional licenses ► Voter registration * Digitized photos ► Property ownership, address history and utility records ► U S directory assistance ► Bankruptcies ► U S domain names SOURCE Instiluta for irileroovernmenlai Georgia Office of Homeland Security Research, Homeland Security invested $12 million to get the system running. The Pennsylvania documents include security and privacy policies that say Matrix is usable only in active criminal or intelli gence investigations. Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU’s technology and lib erty program, calls those guidelines too broad and susceptible to abuse. Clay Jester, Matrix coordinator for the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, the nonprofit group helping to expand the project from its original implementation in Florida, called any comparisons to the defanged Pentagon data-mining program “a fallacy” resulting from misconceptions about Matrix. NEWS IN BRIEF Impasse over 2004 budgej starting to take a toll WASHINGTON (AP) — This harsh flu outbreak is passing without $50 million lawmakers promised expanding future vaccine pro' Millions of federal workers are slimmer than expected paycl Initiatives for fighting global AIDS, fires and terrorism have been threal The reason: Congress is nearly I months late in finishing the menfs budget. The Senate seemed likely to bre through Democratic stalling tactics Thursday and vote final congressif approval for a $373 billion bill financ scores of federal agencies for the renic ing eight months of the budget year. Supreme Court rules EPA can overrule state in clean air case WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal ng tors can trump more permissive state i cials in some disputes over costly m ures to limit air pollution, the Supre Court said Wednesday in a ruling ft departed from the court’s trend granting state governments more powe Alaska’s governor wanted to allow world’s largest zinc mine to use cheap less effective anti-pollution equipment the federal Environmental Protection Age- said no. The Supreme Court's 5-4 ru upholds EPA’s veto power in such cases The victory for environmentalists may more symbolic than substantive Florida orange growers fight back By Mike Schneider THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LAKELAND, Fla. — Tired of losing orange juice drinkers to low-carb diets, Florida's citrus growers are fighting back. The state Department of Citrus on Wednesday changed its mar keting strategy to convince consumers that orange juice can be com patible with the Atkins diet as well as the popular weight-loss plan pushed by television talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw. The department’s lawyer also is reviewing legal options against some books, such as “The South Beach Diet,” that discourage orange juice for dieting purposes because of its high sugar levels. About $1.8 million will be spent on a marketing campaign to combat the bad image caused by low-carb diets. The depanme abandoning a marketing campaign that targeted moms and jus professional women, “There are powerful, negative messages against us." said Crawford, executive director of the Rorida Department of Cr “We're not going to stand and take it.” : :^il Florida's $9 billion citrus industry has reason to be concent Orange juice consumption has fallen from 888 million gallomi ing the 200()-2(X)l growing season to an expected 844 tnilliont. Ions in the current season. Citrus officials said a noticeable drop occurred last March »!t low-carb diets began to reach a critical mass. “People are dropping out of the market," said Dan Gunter sultant for the Department of Citrus. THE BATTALION Thursday. January 22. 2004