i
E BATTALION
f mmn* Monday, February 16,2004
The Battalion
110 • Issue *>2 • 10 puj^es
A Texas A&M I radii ion Since 1893
Sports:
Aggie men’s
tennis squad
defeats Lamar.
Page 6
vvww.thebatt.com
PAGE DESIGN BY : LAUREN ROUSE
ALCOHOL AWARENESS
Officials at Texas A&M's Alcohol
Drug Education program and The
Brazos Valley Council on Alcohol
and Substance Abuse are warning
students of the effects of alcohol.
693-9905
^Call CARP00L at
Thursday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to
3 a.m., for a free ride home
Ilfa student wants to discuss an
alcohol problem, he can call
Dennis Reardon, program
coordinator for Student Life at
845-02 80
and make an appointment
^Additional links
available at
www.thebatt.com
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
SOURCE : ADEP AND CARPOOL
Officials warn of alcohol dangers
By Natalie Younts
THE BATTALION
Jimmy Meyer and his family were
raised on farms, but his brother married
a woman from a wealthy family who
did not live on a farm. Meyer said alco
hol allowed the families to relax at the
wedding reception and get to know
each other better.
“If it hadn’t been for a little bit of
beer and whiskey, we wouldn’t have
been able to meld quite as well with the
affluent people that were on the other
side of the family,” said Meyer, assis
tant manager of the Texas Hall of Fame
in Bryan. “We could speak a little more
easily between each other when we’d
had a few drinks.”
Besides relaxing them, Meyer said
alcohol provided a topic of conversa
tion; it was one of the few things they
had in common.
As much a part of college life as
books and classes, alcohol is an admit
ted part of Texas A&M’s culture.
Northgate bars and dunking one’s
Aggie ring in a pitcher of beer are just
two in a series of Aggieland images.
However, officials at A&M’s
Alcohol and Drug Education
Programs (ADEP) and The Brazos
Valley Council on Alcohol and
Substance Abuse said they want to
warn students of the effects of the
misuse of alcohol.
Jennifer Ford, programming coordi
nator of ADEP, said a person has an
alcohol problem if he drinks for the
sole purpose of getting drunk.
Ford said ADEP’s stance is that it
wants students to be responsible about
their use of alcohol.
“We’re not a prohibitionist office,”
she said. “We’re not anti-alcohol.”
Ford said ADEP opposes underage
drinking in all circumstances.
“If you’re under 21, it’s against the
law,” she said. “That’s not a morality
question or a value question.”
In the case that a student would like
to talk to someone about a drug or alco
hol-related problem, he can call 845-
0280 and make an appointment with
Dr. Dennis Reardon, a full-time chem
ical dependency counselor who sees
students free of charge.
Ford said ADEP counseling is con
fidential, covered under the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
Organizations such as Caring
Aggies are Protecting Over Our Lives
(CARPOOL), organized in September
1999, provide free rides for students
and strives to eliminate drinking and
driving related accidents.
Ben Carter, chair of operations for
CARPOOL, said drinking can be OK if
it does not lead to drunk driving or
alcohol poisoning.
“One night I might be working CAR-
POOL, and the next night 1 might be
taking CARPOOL home,” he said. “It’s
all about making responsible decisions.”
Meyer said he sees the good and bad
effects of alcohol.
“I do see some excessive drinking
among college students that happens
from time to time, but I think that’s just
part of being a kid,” Meyer said.
Meyer said alcohol allows some
people to relax, reduce their tension
See Alcohol on page 2
mm
flat department begins search
new department head
iHT • THE BATTALIOK
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By Aerin Toussaint
THE BATTALION
Die Department of Statistics has begun an
international search for a new department head to
teplace James Calvin, who stepped down earlier
this year to take another job within the University.
Calvin resigned from the position he had
Mdsince 1998 to take the job of executive asso
ciate vice president for research at Texas A&M.
T. Longnecker, former associate
department head, is now serving as interim
department head until the international search
fot a replacement is completed.
^Department of Statistics will proba-
bhotsuffer any drastic changes in naming a
twdepartment head, said H. Joseph Newton,
hofihtCollege of Sciences.
Yamoonfident that Dr. Longnecker will continue
Miwiage the department effectively,” Newton scud.
Longnecker has served as associate head
oftliedepartment and interacted with students
ii the department and consulted with Calvin,
Newton said.
Elaine Reed, editorial assistant for the statistics
, said she welcomes the chance for the
receive more international attention,
that the international search will
bring publicity to the department,” she said.
Longnecker said a small search party was
formed through Newton’s appointment and by
faculty vote.
The committee will put announcements
recruiting for the position in statistics journals
and send memos to other statistics departments
around the world.
After a few months of searching, the com
mittee will invite candidates in for interviews
and recommend their choices to the dean, who
will make the final decision, Longnecker said.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to advertise the
fact that our department is growing,” said senior
lecturer Julie Hagen Carroll.
James Matis, a professor in the statistics
department and head of the search committee,
said the department head position is more
attractive to international candidates.
“It’ll be great to have someone with that
vision of growth since we are a highly ranked
growing department,” Matis said.
Matis said he anticipates that someone
prominent could apply for the position.
“The new head of the department could be a
part of shaping the direction of the department
and helping A&M achieve higher status interna
tionally,” Matis said.
Snyder brings educational
txperience to district race
If Anthony Woolstrum
THE BATTALION
Dot Snyder said she has an
tnsive background in edu-
:ilion and said that she is
ready to take that experience to
Washington to
sent the
ils in
Congressional
son who beats Edwards must
do well in McLennan County,
and I am the only person who
can do that.”
After Snyder received her
undergraduate degree and
Ph.D. in biostatistics from the
University of Texas, she
Third in a series on
candidates running in
Three
lepublican
andidates, Arlene
Wohlgemuth, Dave McIntyre
and Snyder, are competing in
primaries for U.S.
Congress in District 17. The
winner will face Chet Edwards,
D-Texas, in the general elec
tion in November.
"I am from McLennan
[County and have deep roots
Snyder said. “The per-
focused her
career on
promoting
education.
She served
the
School
on
Waco Independent
Board for five years, some of
that time as president.
Even with Snyder's experi
ence in education, one of the
concerns expressed by students
at Texas A&M has been Synder’s
inexperience with A&M.
"If Dot Snyder does not
See Snyder on page 2
JOSHUA L. HOBSON • THE BATTALION
Dot Snyder talks to reporters in the
Stark Galleries in the Memorial
Student Center last week.
Strike three
Texas A&M baseball's junior left-hander Zach Jackson
pitched a no-hitter in a 15-0 win in Saturday's game
against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Olsen Field. The
game was Jackson's first game as an Aggie after trans-
JOSHUA L. HOBSON • THE BATTALION
ferring from the University of Louisville. The Aggies won
all three games in the series against the Islanders and
will be on the road Tuesday to play Sam Houston State
in Huntsville. See story on page 6.
Courts consider mental health claims
By Jim Vertuno
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — In the year and a half since the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled mentally retarded
inmates cannot be executed, state and federal
appeals courts have delayed or sent back to trial
41 Texas death row cases to decide whether the
killer was mentally retarded, says a group that
tracks the claims.
Critics of the Texas’ capital punishment sys
tem say the numbers show death row has dozens
of people who may be ineligible for execution.
Death penalty supporters wonder if inmates are
trying to delay justice by jamming the courts
with new claims of mental retardation.
Both sides agree the Legislature should
change state law to decide mental retardation
earlier to reduce the burden on appeals courts.
When the Supreme Court ruled, it left it up to
the states to determine mental retardation, and
the Texas criminal justice system has been groping
See Court on page 2
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RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
Bloody Haitian uprising kills about 50 people
By Michael Norton
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Defying
government loyalists, hundreds of activists
demonstrated against President Jean-
Bertrand Aristide on Sunday as exiled para
military forces joined rebels in a bloody
uprising that has killed some 50 people.
Shouting “Down with Aristide!” mem
bers of a broad opposition alliance known
as the Democratic Platform massed for the
demonstration in Port-au-Prince, saying
they didn’t support violence but shared the
same goal as the rebels — ousting the
embattled president.
Militants loyal to Aristide crushed a
similar anti-government demonstration on
Thursday, stoning opponents and blocking
the protest route. There has been a steady
string of protests since mid-September.
“We’re still dealing with pacific, nonvi
olent means, but let me tell you we have
one goal,” said Gilbert Leger, a lawyer and
opposition member. “We do support
(rebel) efforts.”
The rebels launched a rebellion nine
days ago from Gonaives, 70 miles north
west of Port-au-Prince and Haiti’s fourth-
largest city, seeking to oust Aristide. The
rebels have fortified Gonaives with flaming
barricades, rusted cars and discarded
refrigerators.
Although the rebels are still thought to
number less than Haiti’s 5,000-member
police force, paramilitary leaders and
police living in exile in the Dominican
Republic have reportedly joined them.
Two Dominican soldiers were killed on
the Dominican border at Dajabon on
Saturday and their weapons were taken from
them. It was unclear who was responsible for
the killings, but in recent days a force of 20
men led by exiled paramilitary leader Louis-
Jodel Chamblain crossed the border.
Dominican President Hipolito Mejia
said Sunday that authorities would arrest
any Haitian suspected of taking part in the
uprising who tries to enter the Dominican
Republic.
Louis-Jodel Chamblain, a former
Haitian soldier who headed army death
See Uprising on page 2