m
iU
is 01
The Battalion
110 • Issue 90 • 14 puges
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
Aggielife:
Hip-hop
culture and
fashion.
Page 3
www.lliehnU.com
PACE DESIGN BY : EMILY HENDRICKSON
iMaya Angelou
iere»j /
comes to A&M
By Sonia Moghe
THE BATTALION
Ut II j
; pers«
it atv
lome,
ICOUlllii
Tiffany Johnson, a sophomore
rianical engineering major, said
at as a black female woman, she
a nifli mrelate to Maya Angelou's liter-
precii: pork.
1 think she’s an incredible
0 ^i* pier,” Johnson said. "I've read
ie of her literature — she really
sends a positive message.”
Angelou, an internationally-
acclaimed poet, author, actress, play
wright, civil rights activist, producer
and director will share poems and
experiences at 6:30 p.m. Saturday,
Feb. 28 in Rudder Auditorium.
Memorial Student Center Diversity
has put together "An Evening with
Maya Angelou" as one of its Black
History Month programs.
Leviathan D. Winn, a sophomore
finance major and MSC Diversity
event coordinator, said the organiza
tion wanted Angelou to come to
A&M because of her “diversified
and unique” style of communication.
“(MSC Diversity) wanted to
reinforce (not only) her presence
here at A&M, but our add diversity
initiatives as well,” Winn said.
MSC Diversity offers a resource
area for students to learn more
about diversity located in the MSC,
as well as programs such as this.
Johnson said she believes that
most students have heard of
Angelou mostly because of her
poetry, including the famous book
“I Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings,” but that many students may
not realize she has written books
and plays as well.
See Angelou on page 2
Maya Angelou Speaks
Acclaimed author and civil rights
activist Maya Angelou will speak on
Saturday to wrap up Black History
Month, courtesy of MSC Diversity.
6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Fob. 28
Rudder Auditorium
Doors open at 6 p.m
Admission is free
j
Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION
Source : LEVIATHAN WINN, MSC DIVERSITY
1,000
weekly
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6-OW
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Evan O'Connell • THE BATTALION
br)fHosted hooks up chains to a 2002 Honda Civic on traveled across the median and both west bound lanes before
Hgliwy 2818 Thursday night. The Civic was traveling east coming to a stop on a hill. No injuries were reported at the time
del! ilwos hit from behind. The car spun 360 degrees, then of the accident.
Comic to perform
for Aggie Nights
By Jimmy Hissong
THE BATTALION
Sometimes the best way to get ready
for something big is to punch the air as
wildly and rapidly as possible.
“Before I go on stage, 1 start shadow
boxing really incredibly fast,” said local
comedian Kamran Hamid, Class of 2003.
“Usually it’s just too fast and too furious.
I think it kind of freaks people out.”
Hamid will perform in Rudder
Auditorium at 9 p.m. Friday in a
Memorial Student Center Aggie Nights
production. The performance will fea
ture the improvisational, stand-up and
sketch comedy of the 2002 Laugh Across
America title recipient.
As a medical student and a rising
comedian, Hamid is frequently forced to
weigh his time and interests carefully.
“I feel like I’ve been blessed with the
intellect to get through medical school so
far, but if 1 quit doing stand-up it would be
a waste of that talent also. So I’m trying
to find a good balance” Hamid said.
“Comedy takes a lot more time than peo
ple think. There’s a reason why there’s not
too many medical student comedians.”
Despite his hectic schedule, Hamid
said he manages to perform roughly every
HAMID
two weeks. Many of
his shows are for chari
ty organizations includ
ing the Make a Wish
Foundation and the
Elizabeth Glaser
Pediatrics AIDS
Foundation.
Continual perform
ances around the Bryan-
College Station area have earned Hamid a
level of recognition, which has not come
entirely without a cost. Although he tries to
accommodate as many on-the-spot laughs
as possible, he said it can get annoying.
“A lot of people will just walk up to
me and ask me to tell a joke,” Hamid
said. "But if you have a friend that’s a
plumber and you greet him you don’t say,
‘Hey, can you come fix my drainage?”’
Despite moderate irritations from time
to time, Hamid said he does not want to
feel unapproachable as either a comedian
or an individual. Even though they may
grace the spotlight from time to time,
Hamid stresses that comedians are no dif
ferent than everyone else.
“I was backstage hanging with Mr.
Cooper, and I realized these are just guys,”
See Comic on page 2
n
1:00
6U
Student Senate opposes Hotard residence hall closure
By Natalie Younts
THE BATTALION
dbks
St^
OK*
I
Die Texas A&M Student Senate opposed the
Men Built Environment’s decision to close
nsepti Clifton Hotard Hall at its meeting
today. A Senate resolution said it disagreed
i Hotard's closing because students were not
ffiufed in the decision-making process and resi-
atswere not given timely notice.
“Il was basically a simple resolution saying
^didn't approve of how the thing went down,”
iii Chris Carlin, a senior physics major and
tad resident.
Student Body President Matt Josefy said he will
present the Student Senate resolution and the simi
lar resolution passed by the
Residence Hall Association earlier
this week to A&M President
Robert M. Gates Friday.
Josefy said he is concerned that
the administration would make a big decision that
affects students without their input.
“I believe in the students’ empowennent here at
this University,” he said. “It’s my hope to see what
the possibilities are for students to have a better
opportunity to express the value of a dorm like
Hotard.”
Josefy said the Senate had one major victory:
David Prior, executive vice president and provost
agreed to have a student serve on the CBE.
Carlin said people of different
races, backgrounds and academic
interests get placed in the dorm.
“No one really decides to live
here. They get placed in here by
default" when their first couple of choices their
freshman year get taken up,” he said. “So we have
this kind of cross-section of different people.”
However, Carlin said once people arrive at the
Northside males-only dorm, that they love it and
don’t want to leave; it has the highest retention rate
of any dorm on campus.
Travis Gadberry, a sophomore computer sci
ence major, said there are two reasons that his
home, Hotard, should remain a residence hall: tra
dition and spirit.
“It’s not like it’s that pretty of a building. And it’s
not like it’s that comfortable to live in,” he said, “but
we love it, and we’re not ready to give it up yet.”
The resolution was passed by a vote of 42 to two.
The two people who voted against the resolution
were graduate and professional Senators Cassandra
Rutherford and Jackie Price.
“The main reason we voted against (the legisla
tion) didn’t specifically have to do with Hotard,”
Price said. “It had to do with coming from a gradu
ate student’s perspective: The campus master plan
will (provide) space for more faculty members
which means more space for graduate students.”
lebel leaders say fighters waiting to attack
To#
)N
By Ian James
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAP-HAIT1EN, Haiti — Rebels began
ovins toward Haiti’s capital of Port-au-
tte on Thursday and are awaiting the order
a guerrilla leader told The
iiociaied Press.
The leader, Guy Philippe,
mission was to
test President Jean-
idAristide ifhe did not
i,so he could be tried on
;es ranging from corrup-
H!o murder.
’t want him to die. It
mid be too easy. He has to
| for what he has done to
people,” Philippe
ilin an interview with .the
finCap-Haitien, the conn
’s second-largest city that
itothe rebels Sunday.
Pressure is mounting for
Wide to resign, with
lice blaming him for the
Uosin its former colony in
^•week-old rebellion and urging that he be
Iked by a transitional government. The
H. Security Council scheduled a meeting
t later Thursday.
Foreigners are fleeing Haiti amid isolat-
1 looting, and President Bush said the
^ ^lt doesn't mean
that we're going
to attack today,
we're just going to
take our positions
and wait for the
right time.
— Guy Philippe
leader of the uprising
CUBA
Haitian refugees
The U.S. Coast
Guard intercepted a
dozen small vessels
within 50 miles of
Haiti. 546 have
been brought
aboard cutters.
0 30 mi
United States is encouraging the
international community to pro
vide a strong “security pres
ence.”
Amid concerns of a refugee
exodus toward Florida, the U.S.
Coast Guard said it has intercepted
about a dozen small vessels within
50 miles of the
Haitian coast during
the last three to four
days. Coast Guard
spokesman Luis
Diaz said 546
Haitians have been
brought onto Coast
Guard cutters, where
they were receiving
food and water.
“We’ve decided
to go toward Port-au-Prince.
They’re on their way,” said
Philippe, leader of the uprising
that has overrun half of Haiti
and killed at least 80 people.
“They’re taking their places.
They know what to do.”
Aristide, who has shown determination to
keep power, has said a rebel attack on the cap
ital could kill thousands.
Most of the barricades that had been erect
ed by Aristide supporters in Port-au-Prince
were removed Thursday and streets were
Rebels poised to take Port-au-Prince
Haitian rebels, who have overrun half of the country, moved closer
to the capital Thursday as pressure mounted for President
Aristide to resign. The U.N. Security Council and the
Organization of American States held special meetings
to discuss the crisis.
Port-de-Paix,
Cap-Haitien
Gonaives o
Saint-Michel de I’Attaye
St. Marc o Hinche
A' I T
0 Ouanaminthe
Saint-Flaphael
) Mirebalats
Police fled
the last
Mirebalais
Port-au-Prince
v
Caribbean
Sea
government
bastion on
Wednesday
night.
DOM.
REP
; o Origin of rebels heading to capital j
SOURCE: ESRI
empty, except for motorists lining up for
dwindling supplies of gasoline.
The rebel movement already has sleeper
cells in the capital but they would be rein
forced by fighters from rebel groups moving
in from variety of locations in the north,
Philippe said.
Asked if an attack was imminent, he said:
“It doesn’t mean that we’re going to attack
today. We’re just going to take our positions
See Attack on page 2
First WIN chapter
established at A&M
By Elizabeth Knapp
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M will recognize
its first student chapter of
Women in Nuclear Engineering
(WIN) this spring.
A&M is home to the
largest nuclear engineering
department in the nation and
with the addition of this new
organization, women in the
field will have more opportuni
ties to gain contacts and net
work for future careers.
Laura Strban, a senior radi
ological health engineering
major, was one of the 13
American students who attend
ed the annual WIN global meet
ing held in Las Vegas, last sum
mer, where she got the idea of
starting the local chapter.
Strban said she hopes to have
the first meeting sometime this
semester, and about 20 to 30
people have already signed up
to be a part of the organization.
Strban said she hopes to
bring in speakers for next fall.
“I wanted to start a WIN
chapter at Texas A&M,” Strban
said. “I wanted our students to
meet successful women in the
field and make connections to
open up internships and oppor
tunities for women to become
more experienced in the field of
their interest.”
Strban said it was moving to
•see so many women at the
meeting holding leadership
roles in the nuclear fields.
Currently, there are 278 stu
dents enrolled in the nuclear
engineering department, and 73
are female, said Marvin Adams,
a nuclear engineering professor
and the faculty adviser of the
new organization.
Strban said she hopes this
chapter will bring speakers to
the campus who will act as role
models to women in the
department.
Patricia Bryant, a member of
the WIN Global Board, is also
an executive committee
member and director of
Member Communications at
See WIN on page 2