in,
r ■ Tuesday, March 9,2004
The Battalion
Volume 110 • Issue 108 • 12 pages
ATexasA&M Tradition Since 1893
Aggielife:
Students work
hard for the
money.
Page 3
www.thehatt.com
egroponte: War in Iraq justified
By Rhiannon Meyers
THE BATTALION
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John
.Negroponte said Monday night that the United
[ations, like the United States, is helpful in secur-
igdemocracy worldwide.
"If the United States is necessary, but not suf-
icient to good things happening in the world, the
ie is true of the U.N.,” he said.
Negroponte, who has been an ambassador
ince 2001, told an overflowing audience of 350
the George Bush Presidential Library
inference Center that the United States never
ittempted to undennine the United Nations.
“A strong vigorous, democratically-disposed
United Nations is in our national interest,”
'(egroponte said. “This administration has never
jiallenged the United Nations to weaken it;
rather, it has challenged the United Nations in
order to challenge it.”
Negroponte said in a question-and-answer ses
sion that America was justified in going to war
with Iraq without the U.N. resolution.
“(The resolution) did not say if we were to use
force we have to go back for yet another resolu
tion, it simply said that we would have to come
back to consult the Security Council ” Negroponte
said. “As far as we were concerned, there were
more ways than one that Iraq continued to not be
in compliance.”
Negroponte said that although no weapons of
mass destruction were ever found, Iraq had mis
siles that were prohibited.
“I don’t have any doubt in my mind that we
were justified for what we did,” he said.
Negroponte said U.S. troops that are now in
Afghanistan and Iraq are defending the U.S.
Constitution as well as democracy all around
the world.
“We believe that not only is the national secu
rity of the United States good for us, it’s good for
the world, because we think democracy, modeled
on our own constitution or not, is the best guaran
tor of national security,” Negroponte said.
Negroponte said one of the progressions that the
United Nations has made is the support of President
Bush’s vision of peace in the Middle East.
“We are engaging in crucial work designed to
bring about the democratization of Afghanistan
and Iraq,” he said.
College Station Mayor Ron Silvia said he
enjoyed the speech and learned a lot about the
United Nation’s role in the world.
See Negroponte on page 2
PACE DESIGN BY : LAUREN ROUSE
ART WRIGHT • THE BATTALION
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John D.
Negroponte delivers a speech to a standing room only
audience at the George Bush Presidential Conference
Center Monday evening. Negroponte has served as a
diplomat for 43 years and received his first appointment
in 1960 from President Eisenhower.
lO
Sixteen-year-old Duskie Snowdy of Bryan
skateboards in Williamson Park in Bryan behind
Ie Municipal Golf Course. The skatepark
35«
sc its
EVAN O'CONNELL • THE BATTALION
opened on May 30, 2003, and has been a pop
ular hangout for BMX bikers, rollerbladers and
skateboarders.
i
| Candidates ready for state primary
By Kelley Shannon
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Hours before Texas’ primary
today — the first test of the contentious,
(epublican-drawn map for congressional vot-
; districts — candidates fanned out across
Restate to put the finishing touches on their
ampaigns.
Some primary battles were hard-fought
nd expensive, particularly in key congres-
I races where the GOP hoped to take
eats away from Democratic incumbents and
narethe advantage in Texas’ evenly split 32-
nember congressional delegation.
Besides congressional races, voters will
lecide a primary race for Texas Railroad
'ommission and contests for the Texas
iupreme Court, Texas Court of Criminal
\ppeals, State Board of Education and the
pas Legislature.
Texas won’t play a big role in choosing the
Democratic presidential nominee because
John Kerry is the only major candidate left in
that race. Ten candidates will be listed on the
Democratic ballot, however.
Two weeks of early voting concluded
Friday. A total of 272,722 ballots were cast in
the state’s 15 most populous counties, the
Texas Secretary of State’s Office reported
Monday. The office estimated that nearly 1.7
million people, or 14 percent of the state’s
more than 12 million registered voters, will
cast primary ballots.
Some of the heaviest early voting came
along the U.S.-Mexico border in Hidalgo
County,, the southern population base of the
new congressional District 25, and Austin’s
Travis County, the northern base of the dis
trict.
Lloyd Doggett, a five-term congressman
from Austin, chose to run in the heavily
Closing the gender gap
Women make strides in job market, society
By Carrie Pierce
THE BATTALION
Before Title IV was implemented, women could
not take certain classes, stay out late or participate in
certain activities, said Dr. Nancy Dickey, president
of the Texas A&M Health Sciences Center College
of Medicine and vice chancellor for heath affairs.
Dickey spoke before a full crowd at the
Women’s Week kick-off luncheon Monday at Reed
Arena, beginning a week of events that celebrate
women’s accomplishments.
Dickey was asked to speak as part of this
year’s luncheon because she is admired and
respected, said Karan Watson, dean of faculties
and associate provost.
“This particular observance of Women's Week
is important because it shows how far women at
Texas A&M have gone and will go,” said Julia Kirk
Blackwelder, associate dean of the College of
Liberal Arts and co-chair of Women’s Week.
Dickey spoke about women competing on the
same level as men, such as in the job market and
in school.
“Prior to Title IV, it wasn’t who went to school,
but being able to go to school,” Dickey said.
In 1963, 150 women attended A&M, yet there
were few restrooms for women, Dickey said.
There were no residence halls for women, and they
could not participate in some student organiza
tions, she said.
Women also had curfews on campuses, and
female professors could not belong to faculty
clubs, but were encouraged to join faculty wives
See Women on page 12
Bush drops in on livestock show
By Brian D. Cain
THE BATTALION
HOUSTON — President
George W. Bush appeared
Monday at the Houston Livestock
Show to meet and greet potential
voters between fund-raising din
ners in Dallas and Houston.
Bush entered the cattle barn
area of Reliant Center amid a roar
of applause and began inspecting
the Brahman bulls as he spoke to
exhibitors and shook hands with
Livestock Show visitors.
With the Texas primaries
beginning Tuesday, the visit was
a sign that the 2004 presidential
campaign has begun in Texas.
“It’s good to be here and it’s
good to be home, and I thought
there was a lot of bull in
Washington!” Bush said as he
studied the Brahman finalists.
Bush said the trip was an
opportunity to view one of
Houston’s proudest events.
“It’s nice to be at the Houston
Livestock Show among people
with strong values who stand up
for what they believe in,” he said.
The crowd was largely made
up of Bush supporters and stu
dents who wanted to get a
glimpse of the president.
“I came with my family
today to see the president, and I
think it’s great that he came,”
said Houstonian George
Simons. “It shows that he sup
ports his roots and we were
lucky to have him here.”
Some A&M students working
as interns for the College of
Agriculture met the president and
were able to get his autograph.
Jen Biser, a senior agriculture
journalism major, and Jamie
McDonald, a junior animal sci
ence major, had the president
sign their Houston Livestock
See Bush on page 2
Differences remain unresolved
as Iraqis sign interim constitution
By Hamza Hendawi
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD, Iraq — For an hour anyway, Iraqi
leaders put aside their disagreements during the
signing of a landmark interim constitution Monday,
heaping praise on the U.S.-backed document amid
patriotic songs and Quranic verses urging unity.
But sectarian differences resurfaced as soon as the
event ended.
The Shiites’ most influential cleric, Grand
Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, issued a reli
gious edict saying he had reservations about the
interim constitution and that it will gain legitimacy
only when adopted by an elected assembly.
His supporters on Iraq’s Governing Council
pledged to try to amend parts of the charter, saying
they effectively give minority Kurds and Sunni
Muslims a veto over a permanent constitution due
to be drafted and put to a referendum next year.
“This law places obstacles in the path of reach
ing a permanent constitution for the country that
maintains its unity, the rights of its sons of all sects
and ethnic backgrounds,” al-Sistani said.
President Bush praised the 22-page document,
saying in a statement that its adoption was a “his
toric milestone in the Iraqi people’s long journey
from tyranny and violence to liberty and peace.”
Still, al-Sistani’s edict and the Shiite Muslim
council members’ comments somewhat devalued
the historic significance of the signing of a charter
that promises to compensate Iraqis for years of
oppression under Saddam Hussein, safeguard the
freedoms and human rights of their ethnic and reli-
Iraqis sign interim constitution
Iraqi leaders signed a landmark interim constitution Monday, a key
step in U.S. plans to hand power to the Iraqis by July 1. It will remain
in effect until the permanent constitution is approved in 2005.
Timeline of events
March 20, 2003 - U.S.-
led invasion of Iraq begins
Nov. 15 - U.S.-led coalition
and Iraqi Governing Council
sign agreement on transfer of
sovereignty ultimately by July 1
Dec. 13 - Saddam ■
Hussein is captured
March 1 - Governing Council
agrees on interim constitution
March 5 - Planned signing —
delayed after Shiites oppose
clause giving Kurds veto power
over a permanent constitution
May 1 - President Bush
declares major combat over
Jan. 15, 2004 - Shiites
demonstrate seeking direct
elections, not selection by
caucuses
Feb. 28 - U.S. deadline for
adoption of interim
constitution passes
March 7 - Shiites consult
with Iraq's top Shiite cleric,
and say they will sign
March 8 - Governing
Council signs charter
SOURCE: Associaled Press
gious groups and lay down the foundations for a
genuine democracy.
Senior Shiite clerics like al-Sistani are exploit
ing the void left by Saddam’s departure to exercise
See Constitution on page 2