i
uliliiies
ernet
lAPliS
isnts^l
wished, f
^ Monday, March 8, 2004
The Battalion
room
Volume 110 • Issue 107 • 12 pages
Texas A&1V1 Tradition Since 1893
Sports:
Aggie tennis
overpowers
Houston.
Page 7
www.thebatt.coni
iainvife|
Jacobs
is, 2
iOO/mo.
(omen’s Week 2004
IMMV
|l1:30a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Reed Arena, Room 301
Kick-off luncheon with Dr. Nancy Dickey,
bresident oftheTAMU Health Services Center
Nice.)
whom I
(11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Cain Hall, Maroon Room
Athletics panel conversation
f'Title IX: Our Stories”
Ticketed event ■**—*»*—
H1:30a.m. to 1 p.m., 225 MSC
Speaker: Dr. Susan Golden,
distinguished professor, biology
l:30a.m. to 1 p.m.,
of Cadets Center, Dashed Room
panel discussion about women in
i Corps
Fora complete schedule, log onto
www.thebatt.com
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
SOURCE : WOMEN'S CENTER
PACE DESIGN BY: LAUREN ROUSE
Celebrating the power of women
Women’s Week recognizes accomplishments ofA&M women
By Carrie Pierce
THE BATTALION
Several history classes taught at the high
school and college levels decline to incorporate
women’s history and its contributions to society
into the curriculum, said Brenda Bethman, direc
tor of the Texas A&M Women’s Center.
“We don’t learn enough about women’s histo
ry,” Bethman said. “You learn about Susan B.
Anthony, and that’s it. Women’s history is not
integrated into history classes; you have to take a
separate class for that.”
In honor of Women’s History Month, A&M will
be holding Women’s Week, with a variety of panels
and speakers beginning today through Thursday.
Women’s Week was created in 1994 to cele
brate the many accomplishments of women at
A&M, and it is A&M’s answer to Women’s
History Month, Bethman said.
Former Gov. Ann Richards officially pro
claimed Women’s Week after a recommendation
was made by the campus task force, Bethman said.
The speakers this year will be discussing the
week’s theme, “Title IX: 32 Years of Progress,”
said Brandy Peebles, a member of the planning
committee and business coordinator for the jour
nalism department.
“This year will keep with a very diverse picture
of what Title IX is,” Peebles said. “Most people
think it only deals with sports, but it also deals
with equal opportunity in education to get in
schools and equality in the workplace.”
Bethman said that had it not been for Title IX,
women would not be allowed to attend most high
er-education institutions.
A&M has a different situation as far as women
are concerned because of the Corps of Cadets and
the late integration of women, Peebles said.
“It was a great thing when women were inte
grated into the University,” Peebles said. “It was a
very traditional male institution and organization.”
Some women attended A&M in the early 20th
century, even though they were unable to obtain
degrees, Bethman said.
Peebles said it is important to commemorate
Women’s History Month and Women’s Week at
A&M because it highlights the diversity of
women in our own population.
Women’s Week is important for A&M because
the female population is growing every year, said
Rose Robards-Forbes, a junior journalism major.
Forbes said this week is about awareness and
that it is definitely important to get that word out.
“It also raises awareness of women who don’t
get benefits of American women,” Peebles said.
“Around the world, like in Afghanistan, women
See Women on page 2
e Preys
bonfire-related merchandise
ypingir
Kite flying
i, and tig
le. fleas 1 It
^makes a campus comeback
tom weK
tom,as!
I with
Operato
ta. Big?
(group
tons t-8J
SkT
IASE
By Sonia Moghe
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M President Robert
M.Gates lifted the moratorium on
ilie sale of Bonfire-related mer-
or Tcr|ciiandise Friday morning and will
$50,000 a year from all
University merchandise sales
building a Visitor Center
andaBonfire museum.
am lifting the moratorium
in the hope that the memorial
i Bonfire will help keep
ilm's fresh in the minds of
Aps...and also to help ensure
the Bonfire Memorial will
always be tended,” Gates said in
Bis statement.
^ The moratorium, which didn't
TV allow the sale of Bon lire-related
ly merchandise, was enacted to pre
sent people from profiting from
.-0 he 1999 Aggie Bonfire Collapse.
Ilv Alex King, chair for the Bonfire
Coalition for Students, said he is
pleased with Gates’ statement.
“(Lifting the moratorium) is
pretty much the next-to-final step
to getting Bonfire back,” King said.
“It was the number two platform
on our goals for getting Bonfire
back — now all we have to do is
actually get it back on campus.”
In April 2003, the moratorium
was lifted for the Aggie Moms
Club to sell merchandise at
Parents’ Weekend.
In Gates’ statement, he
requires that all vendors who plan
to sell Bonfire paraphernalia sub
mit samples of their designs to be
approved before the merchandise
can be sold.
Luke Cheatham, founder and
director of Student Bonfire Unity
Project, said he thinks Gates’
move isn’t noteworthy.
“This is a small step in terms
of an on-campus Bonfire,”
Cheatham said. “We’ve played
the waiting game since 1999.
Being able to sell something is
nothing compared to what we
want and really has nothing to do
with what we want, which is an
on-campus Bonfire.”
King said the lifted moratori
um is essentially allowing the
University to be associated with
Bonfire again.
“Having the name association
— the words ‘Aggie Bonfire’ —
back out in the public all around
town and on campus just gives
students and former students a lot
of hope for (Bonfire’s) return,”
King said.
Gates plans to put $50,000 of
the money earned from University
merchandise sales toward building
a Visitor Center and a Museum at
the Bonfire Memorial. The money
will also be used for maintenance
of the memorial.
“The administration continues
See Bonfire on page 2
itewart jurors swayed by assistant
RD
STEWART
NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors
io convicted Martha Stewart of
iWying about a stock sale said they
feved the key prosecution wit-
lesses against the homemaking
;uru and were surprised that her
earn didn’t mount a more aggres-
iive defense.
They also said Stewart’s repu-
ation as a stickler for detail belied
let claim that she did not remember receiving a
nessage from her broker warning her the price of a
lock she held was about to fall.
“That wasn’t really believable. ’Cause this is a
voman who pays attention to details,” juror
losemary McMahon told Dateline NBC in an inter-
iew with six jurors that aired Sunday.
A jury of eight women and four men deliberated
2hours over three days before returning guilty ver-
licts Friday on all four counts against Stewart —
onspiracy, obstruction and two counts of making
se statements.
Stewart was expected to meet with her probation
ifficer as soon as Monday.
the charges relate to an accusation that
Itewart lied to cover up the reason she sold 3,928
hares of ImClone Systems stock on Dec. 27, 2001
- avoiding a hefty loss when the company
nnounced bad news the next day.
Prosecutors had offered Stewart a chance last
April to plead guilty to just one of the four charges
against her — making a false statement — in
exchange for a probation sentence, Newsweek
reported Sunday, quoting several unidentified
sources close to the case. But a defense source told
the magazine that prosecutors could not guarantee
that Stewart would avoid jail time completely and
Stewart refused the offer, Newsweek reported.
Jurors said while they spent days exhaustively
going over the evidence, they always came to the
same conclusion.
“We tried five ways Friday to take it from differ
ent angles,” juror Meg Crane said. “To work it
through. And — and that was it. We were...we just
could not have done anything else.”
Jurors said they were surprised the defense spent
less than an hour presenting its side, after the prose
cution took four weeks to make its case.
“We thought there was going to be more from the
defense,” said juror Jonathan Laskin, 48, a paralegal
and translator. “We...were hoping they would put up
more of a fight or something. Or give us more to
chew on. But it wasn’t there.”
Jurors said the most compelling testimony came
from Stewart’s assistant Ann Armstrong, who testi
fied that Stewart sat down at Armstrong’s desk to
change a message from her broker, Peter Bacanovic,
that informed her that he thought the ImClone stock
See Stewart on page 2
JOSHUA L. HOBSON • THE BATTALION
Three-year-old David Countryman III and his afternoon. Sunny skies are expected this
mother Christine, of College Station, attempt week, through Wednesday, with temperatures
to get a kite off the ground behind Texas A&M reaching a high of 80 degrees in College
Offshore Technology Research Center Sunday Station.
Delta Gamma event makes a splash
By Lacey Barlen
THE BATTALION
Delta Gamma, raised $10,000 for Service
for Sight at the seventh annual Anchor
Splash Saturday, a fund-raiser aimed at rais
ing money for local schools for the blind and
visually impaired, said Mandy Blackman, a
senior ag economics major and director of
Anchor Splash.
Fifteen male organizations competed in
swimming pool events at the Student
Recreation Center Saturday, which included
inner tube relay races, synchronized swimming
routines and a Mr. Anchor Splash contest.
“The Mr. Anchor Splash contest is always
the most entertaining event,” Blackman said.
“The audience really gets a kick out of it.”
One representative from each organization
spun a wheel to determine which karaoke
song he would sing and then answered a
series of questions from the judges.
Student Body President Matt Josefy and
Kim Franchione, head coach Dennis
See Anchor on page 2
Student fund-raising efforts help leukemia patient
oh
101
-—’ do
By Jason Hanselka
THE BATTALION
Clayton English wants the freedom to be a
lormal 10-year-old boy.
English, who lives in College Station, is
lot physically restrained in any way; he has no
iroken limbs, and he does not have overbear-
ng parents.
Leukemia is preventing this 10-year-old
rom living a normal life.
Melanie English, who home-schools her
m,said leukemia has prevented Clayton from
ioing everything he wants to do.
“He really can’t handle school even though
he thinks he can,” she said. “However, he’s
very intelligent and very blessed.”
“It’s very hard for him, because he has an
identical twin brother who gets to go to school.”
English said trips to the Texas Children’s
Hospital in Houston and certain creams and
injections are not covered by her family’s
medical insurance.
The Children Facing Adversity Organization
recently held a silent auction to raise money for
English and his family.
Lauren Osborne, co-founder of CFAO and
a senior elementary education major, said she
was eager and excited to help when she found
out about English’s financial situation.
“We were looking to help the Children’s
Hospital in Houston when someone there told
us about a child in this area we could help,”
she said. “Once we realized we would give the
money locally, we were excited.”
Osborne said CFAO’s goal was to raise
$1,000, but it ended up raising $4,700.
English was first diagnosed with leukemia
in June 1999, and he underwent two-and-a-
half years of chemotherapy until he showed
signs of improvement, Melanie said.
“The doctors thought he was cured,” she
See Student on page 2
The Battalion
Online Weekly Poll
Last Week's Results:
"Should the administration make decisions affecting
students without consulting them, such as closing
residence halts?"
70% l] N°, students’ interests
should come first
23% [7J Yes, because they are
looking out for the University
as a whole
7 % [U It doesn't bother me
This Week's Poll:
"What are you doing for Spring Break?"
Take this poll at: www.thebatt.com
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION