^ Friday, March 12,2004
The Battalion
wilume 110 • Issue 111 *6 pages
Texas A&IV1 ITadition Since 1893
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PAGE DESIGN BY : LAUREN ROUSE
errorist bombs kill more than 190 in Spain
toeeti
itoi
ngto
forensic policewoman examines the remains of
carriage of a local train where a bomb explod-
I dThursday morning 700 yards from the entrance
Atocha train station in the center of Madrid.
JON SANTA CRUZ • KRT CAMPUS
The train, full of students and people going to
work, was finishing its journey from Guadalajara,
a town southeast of Madrid, when the bombs
exploded.
By Mar Roman
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MADRID, Spain —A series
of bombs hidden in backpacks
exploded in quick succession
Thursday, blowing apart four
commuter trains and killing at
least 192 people and wounding
more than 1,400. Spain at first
blamed Basque separatists but a
shadowy group claimed respon
sibility in the name of al-Qaida
for the worst terrorist attack in
Spanish history.
Panicked rush-hour com
muters trampled on each other,
abandoning their bags and
shoes, after the first three
bombs went off in one train in
the Atocha station in the heart of
Madrid. Train cars were turned
into twisted wrecks and plat
forms were strewn with corpses.
Cell phones rang unanswered on
the bodies of the dead as frantic
relatives tried to call them.
“March 11, 2004, now holds
its place in the history of
infamy,” Prime Minister Jose
Maria Aznar said.
The bombing came three
days ahead of Spain’s general
election on Sunday. A major
campaign issue was how to deal
with ETA, the Basque militant
group that is seeking greater
autonomy.
Campaigning for the election
was called off and three days of
mourning were declared.
The bombings occurred
exactly 2 1/2 years after the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
in the United States, and was
Europe’s worst since the 1988
bombing of a Pan Am jetliner
over Lockerbie, Scotland, that
killed 270 people.
The attacks also reawakened
terrorism fears among investors.
Stocks fell in London and in
New York, where the Dow Jones
industrial average dropped near
ly 170 points. On Friday, Tokyo
stocks opened sharply lower.
The 10 backpack bombs
exploded in a 15-minute span,
starting about 7:39 a.m., on
trains along nine miles of com
muter line from Santa Eugenia
to the Atocha terminal, a
bustling hub for subway, com
muter and long-distance trains
just south of the famed Prado
Museum. Police also found and
detonated three other bombs.
The Interior Ministry said
192 people were killed and
1,421 injured.
“An act of barbaric terrorism
has engulfed Spain with pro
found pain, repulsion and
anger,” King Juan Carlos said
on national television.
Worst hit was a double-deck
er train at El Pozo station, where
two bombs killed 70 people, fire
department inspector Juan
Redondo said. One corpse was
blown onto the roof.
At the Santa Eugenia sta
tion, “there was one carriage
totally blown apart. People
were scattered all over the plat
forms. I saw legs and arms. I
won’t forget this ever. I’ve seen
horror,” said Enrique Sanchez,
an ambulance worker.
Forty coroners worked to
identify remains, the national
news agency Efe said, and a
steady stream of taxis carried
relatives to a sprawling conven
tion center that was turned into a
makeshift morgue.
Three days of national
mourning were declared and
thousands of people took part in
spontaneous anti-terror rallies
across the country Thursday.
The government called for
nationwide anti-ETA demon
strations on Friday evening, and
millions were expected.
Who carried out the highly
coordinated attack was a mys
tery. The government put the
Basque separatist group ETA at
the top of its list of suspects,
although a shadowy group
claimed responsibility in the
name of al-Qaida.
The Arabic newspaper Al-
Quds al-Arabi said it had
received a claim of responsibili
ty issued in the name of al-
Qaida. The e-mail claim, signed
See Spain on page 3
s'SPD urges students to
port! O
I main safe over the break
and _
By Michael Player
Wt THE BATTALION
s/ti
Authorities are urging students to
^ semore caution when leaving town for
ing break, as well as when leaving
ir residence halls and off-campus
^ sidences, despite the fact that the
niell! timber of break-ins and burglaries tend
?$§ igodown during the vacation.
“People should take with them all
lings that are extremely valuable from
Mr leirdorm rooms,” said Sgt. Alan Baron
f University Police Department.
ita 8 ® Iliieves are going to pick on the easi-
il targets they can.”
UPD said valuables commonly tar-
Hy tied for theft include laptop computers.
“We have had several laptops stolen
M lisyear,” Baron said. “Things like lap-
ips are easily removed by thieves and
are very hard to recover.”
Baron said he recommends that stu
dents living off-campus either secure or
remove their valuables from their resi
dences while closing blinds and leaving
indoor and outdoor lights on to create
the illusion of occupancy.
Communicating with neighbors on
issues such as lights and picking up
newspapers is important, he said.
“We really do not have more burgla
ries during spring break, and vehicle bur
glaries actually go down,” Baron said.
Students that live on campus have
been instructed .by the Office of the
Vice President for Administration to
help conserve energy by turning off all
non-essential electrical equipment, as
asked (requested) by the Energy
Conservation Committee.
Ron Sasse, director of A&M’s
See Break on page 3
SPRING BREAK SAFETY
^ To avoid theft, precautions
should be taken for both
on- and off-campus residents.
Secure and/or remove all
valuables
Close shades and blinds
Use timers for lights
Have your newspapers
picked up by neighbors
Make sure exterior lights
are working and on
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
SOURCE : SGT. ALAN BARON, UPD
:S
hild relief group to host fund-raiser
By Nishat Fatima
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M Chapter of Child Relief
id You (CRY TAMU) will be hosting a
ltd-raising dance Friday at 7 p.m. in the
emorial Student Center, room 224.
The event, titled “Spring Dance Blast,”
ill feature Indian Bhangra and hip-hop
usic from Houston-based disc jockey
[ Josan, also known as DJ Impact, and
Haim to raise funds for CRY, a non-
ofit organization that focuses on aiding
ipoverished children around the world.
Jayant Anand, a member of CRY
)MU, said the purpose of the event is
to raise money for children in different
regions of the world such as India,
Ireland and Kuwait.
Anand said the decision to have a
dance as a fund-raiser came from the
organization’s desire to attract more stu
dents and therefore spread more aware
ness about the need for assistance pro
grams for underprivileged children.
“Since this is a college community, we
wanted to do an event that would get a lot
of the students involved,” Anand said.
“We think it is important for the commu
nity to find out about the need for child
relief and the resources available to them
if they want to help.”
Josan, who has been a DJ since he was
16, said the music from the province of
Punjab, known as Bhangra music, has
gained popularity among mainstream
music listeners due to artists such as
Madonna, Jay-Z and Britney Spears sam
pling it in their music.
“People from all crowds love Bhangra
music,” Josan said.
Josan said Bhangra music was ideal
for the event because of its ability to
attract crowds and expose them to aspects
of another culture.
Josan said aside from raising money
for CRY, he hopes the event will bring the
See Relief on page 3
l&M ranked among top 25 colleges for Latinos
By Joaquin Salcedo
THE BATTALION
0
Hispanic Magazine has ranked Texas A&M as one of the top
i colleges for Latinos in 2004, highlighting academic excel-
ice and Hispanic achievement as dominant characteristics
tong the schools included on the list.
A&M was recognized in this category last year as well;
iwever, its position in the lineup has notably improved.
&M has progressed from an almost unranked 23rd in 2003
lla middle-ground 13.
Director of Hispanic studies Manuel M. Rodriguez said he is
tppy that A&M has been recognized in the top 25 list.
“Interested students and faculty will know that the University is
Diking toward a more inclusive environment, and that its efforts
e beginning to pay off,” Rodriguez said. “A&M’s reputation
Dong Hispanic students and faculty nationwide will be bolstered.”
Hispanic Magazine reviewed many sources in developing the
basis for its selections. Information from the surveyed universities
and Hispanic scholarship organizations were taken into account.
The magazine required schools on the list to have at least an
8 percent Hispanic enrollment, but this was not the sole condi
tion for the ranking. Texas A&M’s enrollment is 9 percent.
Other considerations taken into account in composing this list
were the academic reputation the schools uphold and “whether
or not they (Hispanic students) actually earn degrees from the
universities they attend,” according to Hispanic Magazine.
Managing editor Joe Vidueira said that this list is published
in the March edition of Hispanic Magazine every year.
“(The list is arranged) from the best university for Latinos,
No.l to the 25th best,” Vidueira said.
See Latinos on page 3
‘Passion’ drives
panel discussion
By Pam ray Ramji
THE BATTALION
Students lined up outside
Cinemark Thursday evening
for a free screening of the
movie “The Passion of the
Christ” and to listen to a panel
discussion featuring local reli
gious leaders and educators.
The MSC Film Society, MSC
Current Issues Awareness and
L.T. Jordan, an on-campus
international awareness group
held a panel dis
cussion of the
movie “The
Passion of the
Christ.”
“I think this
discussion
very important
said Rabbi Peter
Tarlow, of Texas
A&M Hillel
Foundation. “We
are thankful that
we can be here to
have this kind of
discussion.”
In addition to Tarlow, the
panel included The Rev. Dean
E. Wilhelm, pastor at St.
Thomas Aquinas Catholic
Church in College Station, and
D.G. Myers, an associate pro
fessor of English and religious
studies at Texas A&M that
teaches a wide range of cours
es, including Bible as literature,
and primarily writes on Jewish
subjects.
Tarlow said he is worried that
people uneducated in
Christianity who watch this Film
will interpret the film as “the
death of Jesus Christ.”
“Any film can lead to hatred or
someone denying another of his
or her humanity,” Tarlow said.
Tarlow said he believes that
the idea for “The Passion” was
taken from graphic and bloody
“passion plays” that were shown
in the Middle Ages.
“This film will inspire you to
become a better Christian,”
Myers said. “The Church in
Rome has given
up prayers for Jew
conversion. Jews
are being killed
not by Christians,
but by (people
like) the people
who were
involved with the
bombing in
Spain.”
Wilhelm said
he believes that
“The Passion” was
an “act of faith”
for Mel Gibson.
“I am looking at this through
the eyes of a Catholic,” Wilhelm
said. “This film reflected on
people’s realization of what
Christ did for our sins. This was
an act of passion that Gibson
brought to this world.”
Wilhelm said he believes that
ignorance is dangerous and that
the greatest harm is judgements
made through ignorance.
“We live in a dangerous
world,” Tarlow said.
Any film can
lead to hatred or
someone denying
another of his or
her humanity.
— Rabbi Peter Tarlow
Texas A&M Hillel Foundation
Online Weekly Poll
The BATTALION'
This Week's Results:
"What are you doing for spring break?"
30% □ Going home to family
25% □ Working
18% H Going to the beach, getting
some sun and hoping my
parents don’t find out the rest
9% H Staying in College Station
8% □ Going on a ski trip
7% □ Studying
3% ■ Visiting other countries
Next Week’s Poll:
"If the presidential elections were held today,
whom would you vote for?"
Take this poll at: www.thebatt.com
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION