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Sports:
First win slips
away as
Aggies lose to
Baylor.
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PACE DESIGN BY : EMILY HENDRICKSON
The Passion of The
Christ’
Students react
to bloody film
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
id
al
Despite being one of the bloodiest films
of the year, moviegoers at Cinemark
Hollywood U.S.A. said they were pleased
nith the “The Passion of the Christ” and
stayed in their seats through the credits.
Passion’ opened Wednesday and sold
out all nine shows.
“Noone wanted to get up,” said College
Siation resident Andrew Lowry.
Theater officials were unable to com
ment on ticket sales, regarding company
policy, but allowed reporters into the com
plex to speak to patrons.
Jessica Bilhartz, a senior history major,
said it was one of the most gruesome and
moving films she has ever seen.
“1 have never seen that much blood in
a movie in my life,” Bilhartz said. "1
didn't think the human body had that
much blood "
People began to line up inside the the-
atertwo hours early for the sold out shows.
Shayna Whiteside, a junior speech com
munication major, said she bought 14 tick
ets two weeks ago to ensure she and all her
fnends could see the movie.
Whitney Andrews, a junior English
major, said she was there with 34 people,
mcliiding Whiteside and her 13 friends,
i Andrews said she had mixed feelings
See Students on page 2A
Joshua L. Hobson • THE BATTALION
Movie patrons await the 10:30 p.m. opening day The 233 seats at screen nine, one of the two screens
showing of Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of The Christ" showing the movie, sold out yesterday. Lines for the
at the theater in College Station Wednesday night. 10:30 showing started two hours before.
Moviegoers flock to see
controversial movie
By Bobby Ross Jr.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PLANO, Texas — The peo
ple streaming out of the movie
theater looked as if they’d just
attended a wake — and many
said they felt as if they had.
Red eyes and muffled crying
were common as Christians and
the merely curious flocked to
theaters nationwide for the Ash
Wednesday opening of Mel
Gibson’s “The Passion of The
Christ.”
“It’s a little bit more brutal
than you would think,” said a
sobbing Kim Galbreath, 29, as
she left a theater in this Dallas
suburb. “I mean, there were
times when you felt like it was
too much. But I dare anybody
not to believe after watching it.”
In Los Angeles, Joseph
Camerieri said Gibson’s much
hyped epic about the torture and
Crucifixion of Jesus left him
shocked and physically weak.
“I think if you’re a Christian,
it will increase your faith tenfold
in what Christ has done for
you ” the 39-year-old paralegal
student said after a midnight
showing. “If you’re not a
Christian, you’ll probably treat
others with more love.”
“The Passion” opened in
more than 3,000 theaters — an
unusually large release for a reli
gious film with English subtitles
to translate the Latin and
Aramaic its characters speak.
Directed, produced and co
written by Gibson, the film has
received mixed reviews from
critics. Some have praised
Gibson’s commitment to his
subject: The Oscar-winning
“Braveheart” director says the
movie is both an attempt to ren
der the Gospels faithfully and a
personal vision. Others see it as
excessively bloody, obsessed
with cruelty and unfair in its por
trayal of Jews.
About 50 people in the cen
tral Pennsylvania community of
Bellefonte attended a showing
after midnight. Viewers groaned
as Jesus was nailed to the cross,
and soft cries could be heard
during more than an hour of
Jesus’ torture. Crucifixion and
death. In the end, as Jesus rises
from the grave, some in the audi
ence quietly celebrated.
“To me, that was the impor
tant part,” said Aaron Tucker, an
English major at Penn State.
See Movie on page 2A
Senbraccounting major Guy Faith Jr. (right) and sophomore electrical engi-
wmg major Andrew Arnold listen to Dr. Terry lecture about plans to con-
tftHolardHall into office space Wednesday afternoon in Rudder Theater.
18 Settlement reached
^ in voting rights case
HOUSTON (AP) — As
part of a settlement of a fed
eral lawsuit filed by a college
NAACF chapter seeking vot-
•ll iag rights, the Waller County
| 11 district attorney apologized
for his “threatening” behav-
iortoward Prairie View A&M
U.S. District Judge Lee
Rosenthal approved the settle
ment Tuesday night, and it was
filed Wednesday in federal
court in Houston.
“I want the PVAMU com
munity to know that I apolo
gize, and I welcome them as
participants in the democratic
institutions in Waller County,”
District Attorney Oliver
Gtzman said.
He said he never intended
tube threatening but later real
ized that students perceived his
actions that way, given the
“historical context in which
fey occurred.”
In November, Kitzman
advised the county’s election
administrator, Lela Loewe,
that Prairie View students were
not automatically eligible to
% in county elections
because of state-mandated res
idency standards.
The district attorney, who is
white, was accused of having
racial and political motives in
challenging the large voting
bloc that the mostly black
5,000-student Prairie View
campus represents.
It triggered a protest march,
complaints to state and federal
officials and a civil rights
investigation by the U.S.
Department of Justice.
Loewe’s office ignored
Kitzman’s letter, which was
rebutted by the Texas gover
nor, secretary of state and
attorney general.
Jonah Goldman, an attor
ney representing the students,
said the settlement “goes a
long way to addressing our
clients’ concerns.”
Students wanted Kitzman
barred from interfering with
student voter registration and
election participation.
As part of the settlement,
Kitzman will create an intern
ship in his office for a Prairie
View student and will meet
monthly with a liaison named
by the school’s National
Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People chapter. He also said he
would meet with students dur
ing the next two weeks.
Decision to convert Retard final
By Sonia Moghe
THE BATTALION
Bill Perry, vice provost for Texas A&M.
said in the Council for Built Environment’s
heated forum Wednesday, that the decision to
turn Hotard residence hall into office space
for 447 new faculty and staff was final.
“It was not an easy decision,” Perry said.
“(The council) was aware that every residence
hall gives something to the University.”
The council’s decision to convert Hotard
into office space upset its residents, who
demanded to know why students weren’t
involved in the decision making process and
why Corps dorms were not considered for
use, said Kurt Fisher, a senior poultry science
major and former Hotard resident.
“There are as many empty rooms on (the
Corps’) side of campus as there are on
(Hotard’s) side,” Fisher said. “Their numbers
have been decreasing. Some of the best guys
at A&M are in the Corps; they really respect
tradition. I’m just saying that the CBE made
this decision very quick and didn’t cover their
tracks well.”
A lack of communi
cation was deemed the
reason why students
weren’t informed of the
Hotard decision until February. Perry said
Student Body President Matt Josefy will aid
in selecting a student representative to better
future relations between the student body and
the council.
“The biggest thing is this is a way for
SGA to better represent in decisions of this
nature,” Josefy said.
Josefy said the responsibility is like any of
the 60 appointments he makes a year. Anyone
interested is asked to send Josefy an e-mail.
“I think (having a student on the council)
is great so long as the student has real influ
ence,” Fisher said.
Perry said the decision to convert existing
buildings into office space, such as Cain Hall
and Hotard Hall, instead of building new ones
was influenced by the high cost
of building on campus. He also
said the administration was
attempting to keep building
“infield” so that the campus
wouldn’t become too spread out.
The academic corridor is one of the many
goals of the CBE’s implementation of its mas
ter plan, and would involve having buildings
frequently used by students closer together.
“I like the idea of the academic corridor,”
Fisher said.
Perry said that the University is already
short 350,000 square feet, even before the
new faculty and staff start coming to campus
next year.
See Hotard on page 2A
Muslim leader speaks about Malcolm X
Evan O'Connell • THE BATTALION
Imam Siraj Wahhaj speaks on "Struggling for Truth
and Justice: the Legacy of Malcolm X" to the
Muslim Students Association Wednesday night.
By Rhiannon Meyers
THE BATTALION
Muslim leader Imam Siraj Wahhaj said
Wednesday that we can learn to be a better
society by studying the legacy of the mili
tant, black civil rights leader Malcolm X,
who was assassinated in 1965 at age 40.
“I think it is wrong to study a man just to
glorify him,” Wahhaj said. “We need to use
the legacy of Malcolm to make our society
better.”
Wahhaj, a founder of Masjid Taqwa in
Brooklyn and former minister of the Nation
of Islam, told an audience of about 250 that
although Malcolm X had a terrible past, he
was able to turn his life around and leave
behind a legacy of unity.
“The legacy of Malcolm is the brother
hood of mankind, for sure,” Wahhaj said.
Wahhaj was invited by the Muslim
Student Association to give his speech
“Struggling for Truth and Justice: The
Legacy of Malcolm X” in honor of Black
History Month. Wahhaj said Malcolm XI
was a revolutionary black leader who had a
tremendous love for black people world
wide.
“Malcolm X was articulate, charismatic,
bold and courageous,” Wahhaj said.
“Malcolm was not just concerned about
black people, he was concerned about the
See Muslim on page 6B
Officer produces DUI video
By Michael Player
THE BATTALION
A former police officer from Tennessee has pro
duced a controversial video to show driv
ers the procedures used by police depart
ments to prosecute people they accuse of
driving under the influence of alcohol.
Tim Stone was a municipal police offi
cer in Tennessee for seven years and said he has
extensive knowledge of the police’s driving under
the influence enforcement procedures. Stone said he
wants to enlighten people on how the law works so
they can be prepared and not incriminate themselves.
“Most cops prey upon people’s ignorance of the
law,” he said.
Stone said he thinks that just because a person has
a driver’s license does not mean it gives the police con
sent to draw a blood sample or conduct a breath test.
“I think that the implied consent law is unconstitu
tional,” he said.” They should
not force you by coercion.”
Stone said the video
shows drivers what happens
if they do certain things,
such as taking a breathaliz-
er test, by showing different scenarios. .
“The main thing to remember is not to do any
thing to incriminate yourself,” Stone said.
Currently in the state of Texas, the maximum
See DUI on page 6B
• 1,669 citations issued in
2003 by CSPD that involved
alcohol
* 74 alcohol-related accidents
in College Station in 2003
•UPD
reported
70 DWI
arrests in
2003
I or moti-s info,
iocj on to
www.tholKrt I.« on»
i I
Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION
Source : UPD/CSPD