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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2004)
5l npt Tr^ Tuesday, February 10,2004 The Battalion Entertainment: MTV’s new channel targets college students Page 4 ic 110 • Issue SS • 10 pages lexas A*&M Tradition Since 1893 w \n wahehan.com PACE DESIGN BY : LAUREN ROUSE iVright: Black History Month is for everyone ack History Month jGeorgeC Wright, president-of Prairie View IM University, will speak to students, faculty and iffaboutthe importance of Black History Month. Bn Itiere: Sterling C. Evans Library Room 204E ien: Tuesday, 1:30 pm feeption will follow the ANDREW BURLESON • THE BATTALION SOURCE : STERLING C. EVANS LIBRARY By Rhiannon Meyers THE BATTALION George C. Wright, president of Prairie View A&M University, will speak to Texas A&M students and faculty Tuesday after noon at the Sterling C. Evans Library about the importance of Black History Month. "I hope this will make the point very strongly that Black History Month is for everyone, not just for black people," Wright said. "1 hope to give (A&M students) a real dose of our history." Wright's speech will mark the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court decision, which ended mandatory segregation. "I will look at what the Brown decision did," Wright said. "People are simply not aware of the significance of the decision." Charlene Clark, public relations officer for University Libraries, said the library invited Wright because he is a noted black scholar and historian. Clark said Wright will address topics such as desegregation and the civil rights movement. Wright said he would like to engage the students and faculty in his discussion, chal lenge them and then allow them to offer him their opinions. "Race relations has been one of the most vexing things in American history," Wright said. "I can speak personally to how much progress we have made, but the bottom line is we still don't know much about each other." Wright said he will answer any ques tions regarding the topic of Prairie View student voting rights and the recently filed lawsuit in the question/answer period after the speech. Wright will speak at 1:30 p.m. in Evans Library, room 204E, immediately followed by a reception. % culty Senate addresses aster plan, enrollment By Carrie Pierce THE BATTALION ie Campus Master Plan, which isses Texas A&M’s physical envi- km lo meet Vision 2020 needs, is ay, said Bill Perry at the Faculty lie meeting Monday afternoon, bty.chair of the Built Environment Hil and executive associate F TOtsaid the council is focusing on I to of an academic corridor that ® ili be devoted to teaching and TAW long ‘Hiegoal that we have for tin e ' lisa line space," Perry said. to1 ten said the council is looking at 'P* usunent plans to estimate building Ite is still a conversation to he liiibe Financial council." he said. ism we’ve got to find out how to Ktanew construction." Menate also discussed A&M’s isions policy and minority lent. ik speaker Frank Ashley, acting nt provost for enrollment, dis- plcredentials for A&M enrollment I plained the statistics of the fall Ifchman class. fewant to make sure that every stu- i»eadmit to A&M is ready for aca- )r," Ashley said. stressed the importance of lomber blows himself up rying to enter a home having a campus that is racially, eco nomically and geographically diverse. "We are not racially diverse," he said. "Our numbers were negative for African American enrollment last year.” Of the 6,500 freshmen enrolled in fall 2003. only 161 were black. Ashley said. "We have something we have to work on here at Texas A&M." he said. Ashley said the recruitment commit tee is sending people out to all regions of Texas to attract students, blanketing the whole state. The recruitment committee and financial aid department are also coming together for the first time to discuss options. Ashley said. Robert Strawser. former speaker of the Faculty Senate and accounting pro fessor. discussed the continuing search for a new vice president of student affairs to replace J. Malon Southerland, who retired last year. Strawser said there are 40 files being considered right now, including four internal files within the University, but the search committee may want to reopen the search. The committee is still open to any nominations, Strawser said, and it will meet with A&M President Robert M. Gates on Friday to discuss more options for the search. Gates will speak at the next Faculty Senate meeting scheduled for March 1. By Mariam Fam THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD, Iraq — A man wear- explosives belt blew himself up ly outside the home of two trib- lers who have cooperated with Incan forces. Two U.S. soldiers iickilled while disposing of explo- tes in northern Iraq. Ike Iraqi guards were seriously Winded in the blast outside the Ipound of brothers Majid and merAli Suleiman in Ramadi, north- tst of Baghdad. Witnesses said the brothers were living callers when a man iproached the compound but was Id to leave. He returned moments let and triggered the explosives, the ilnesses said. The brothers are two the city’s most prominent tribal aders who have worked with coali- wi forces. Insurgents have repeatedly tned Iraqis not to cooperate with ■ Americans. The most recent eats were contained in pamphlets itculated in Ramadi and nearby iilujah by a purported coalition of (insurgent groups. Ramadi and Fallujah are located in ■ Sunni Triangle, a major center of istanceto the U.S.-led occupation. The two American soldiers were led in an explosion outside Sinjar 1 ear the northern city of Mosul during ration to dispose of ordnance, deputy operations chief Brig. Gen. dark Kimmitt said. Five soldiers were hurt in the last, according to a statement issued ; the;U.S. military’s Task Force ia. The statement said the sol- fes were moving mortar shells and rocket propelled grenades from a storage area to a demolition point when the explosion occurred. One of the soldiers was killed instantly. The second soldier died later of his injuries. Three of the injured were hospitalized in stable condition and two others were treated for minor injuries and returned to duty. The names of the two victims were withheld pending notification of their families. Elsewhere, U.S. and Iraqi forces deactivated several rockets that were primed for launch along a road toward the city of Baqouba, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. Also Monday, defense officials in Washington said American forces in Iraq have detained one of the remain ing most-wanted members of Saddam Hussein’s government. Muhsin Khadr al-Khafaji, No. 48 on the 55 most-wanted list, was turned over last weekend to U.S. troops in the Baghdad area, the offi cials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The officials did not say who turned him over. In Baghdad, the U.N. experts met with several Iraqi politicians in a sec ond round of meetings Sunday to dis cuss the chances of holding early elections, a source of conflict between the United States and the influential Shiite clergy. Team leader Lakhdar Brahimi met individually with several members of the U.S.-installed Governing Council to ‘‘gather facts,” said Ahmad Fawzi, the team’s spokesman. The transfer of power is becoming a major headache for the U.S.-led coali tion and the Governing Council. The current U.S. plan is to choose See Bomber on page 2 SHARON AESCHBACH • THE BATTALION Kinesiology & sports management major Danita Gallegos reads plaques from the life-size wooden figures representing victims of domestic abuse, Monday afternoon in the MSC Flag Room. The 1 7 wooden statues are a part of Texas A&M's "Silent Witness" program, sponsored by the Department of Student Life's Gender Issues Education service. The program was introduced to A&M in response to the violent death of a female A&M student in 2002. Each victim stands in silence wearing a plaque contain ing her name, age and a brief story on how her husband, boyfriend, partner or acquaintance ended her life. Silent Witnesses share stories New program sheds light on domestic violence By Pammy Ramji THE BATTALION On Dec. 28, 2002, Texas A&M freshman Jacqueline Roquemore, 18, was visited by her ex-boyfriend Christopher Taylor Young, who wait ed for her overnight outside of her apartment complex. After arguing with her in the parking lot for two hours. Young fatally shot Roquemore in the chest and then killed himself. This was one of many domestic violence stories shared at the A&M Silent Witness program, which was held Monday in the Memorial Student Center Flag Room. Sixteen life-sized red figures stood as silent wit nesses to domestic violence, each rep resenting individu als who have been affected by domestic violence. Rep. Fred Brown said the topic of domestic violence needs to reach women, especially at an early age. ‘‘We are here to put an end to domestic violence,” Brown said. The goal of the A&M Silent Witness program as well as the Silent Witness National Initiative is to have zero domestic murders by the year 2010. “Last year, two states had zero domestic murders,” said Brian Tenclinger, assis tant director of stu dent life. Havilah Tower- Perk ins, media rela tions coordinator for Texas Council on Family Violence, said every nine seconds a women has been beaten and every week two women die from domestic violence in Texas. “Abuse is not only physical,” said Perkins, who was horrified when she heard that a women was left on the side of the road after being stabbed by her husband. “Knowledge is empow- See Witnesses on page 2 University releases student rule additions By Elizabeth Knapp THE BATTALION Texas A&M University released additions and changes to student rules last week, including a switch from using Social Security numbers to University Identification Numbers, for malizing the usage of e-mail accounts for official communication and announcing the role of the Honor System Office, all of which will affect students, faculty and staff. The University is reverting from the old system of using Social Security numbers to a random number given specifically to each student due to pri vacy concerns. “I think it is a positive (move)' for students in the long-run,” said Matt Josefy, student body president and a senior accounting major. “For incom ing freshmen, they won’t even know the difference.” The rule requires all students to remember a new 9-digit number that they will use upon registration and for taking tests on scantrons. “I think that it is a good idea,” said sophomore sociology major Kelly Dodd. “It helps prevent identity theft.” Student e-mail accounts are also in the process of being changed, said Pierce Cantrell, associate provost for information technology. “This rule establishes e-mail as an official means for the University to communicate with students and places the responsibility to check e-mail on the students,” Cantrell said. “The rule formalizes on policy on when we for ward e-mail off-campus versus when we do not forward.” The new provisions to e-mail rules also note that e-mail addresses are part of directory information and describes how students can withhold the informa- See Rules on page 2 New and revised student rules for 2004 These student rules are to govern student conduct and student activities at Texas A&M Aggie Code of Honor Revised Student ID cards New rule Student e-mail New rule For a complete list of new rules, log on to: L www.thebatt.com J RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION SOURCE : HTTPV/STUDENT-RULES.TAMU.EDU