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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 24, 2004)
The Battalion IN PRINT ONLINE ON RADIO News Sports Opinion Mailcall Aggielife Photo Graphics Comics AP News Classifieds SUBSCRIBE TO OUR EMAIL EDITION 8 SSisL 1 |f 4 NOW MORE USEFUL THAN MILK CRATES! www.thebat1.com HAVE A DATE? TRY SOIVIETHINC DIFFERENT! Join Us For Our Next Murder Mystery Dinner ROMAN RUINS Saturday, IVIarc h 27, 2004 u ££ U X u < u > > 2 2: n PO > You'll love this fun Murder Mystery Dinner. It's only $49.95 per person plus tax and gratuity. Wonderful food, but you will have to stop laughing to eat. Reservations or more information: (979) 778-9463, ext. 34 BRYAN TEXAS UTILITIES Features USAT Sanctioned Event Chip Timing Post Racfe Massages Prize Drawings Awards 500 Meter 9wim • 31K Bike • 5K Run April 4 • Lake Bryan in Bryan, TX ft A C*1Y DRY7EC You do not need to be a UrmiSni A MlaJjiM/iJ pro to enter this division $500 to Top Male & Female Finisher INFORMATION Sharon Parker (979) 695-7050 brazostriathlon@yahoo.com www.powerpedal.com REGISTER ONLINE AT: www.signmeupsports.com www.RunnerTriathleteNews.com SWIM: 500 meter open water swim in Lake Bryan. BIKE: The 31K course includes numerous rolling hills & short climbs on lightly traveled roads. RUN: The flat 5K is run through the park, partly on pavement, partly cross country. Antaress Indian Fusion Band in MSC Flagroom * The Last Samurai at 7:00 & 9:45 pm in Rudder $1 w/ TAMU ID In Collaboration w/ MSC Film Society *Free activities in the MSC Basement: pool, bowling, arts & crafts and Dance Dance Revolution in collaboration with Cepheid Variable * FREE FOOD and Drinks!!! * PRIZES: Nintendo Game Cube & Digital Camera!!! Drawing at 12:50 am in MSC Flagroom! V. 979.845.1515 aggienights.tamu.edu &■ For special needs, please contact us three days prior to the event at 845-151 5. Wednesday, March 24, 2004 THE BATTA1 NASA: Mars once had a shallow Republican vot pool of briny water on its surface drive to hit MTi By Andrew Bridges THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PASADENA, Calif. — Mars had a shallow pool of briny water on its surface long ago, NASA said Tuesday in announcing what could be the strongest evidence yet that the now-dry Red Planet was once hospitable to life. The space agency’s scientists announced earlier this month that the Opportunity rover found evi dence of water in Mars’ distant past. But it was unclear whether the water was in the soil or on the surface. The new findings suggest there was a pool of saltwater at least two inches deep. A rocky outcropping examined by the rover had ripple patterns and concentrations of salt — con sidered telltale signs that the rock formed in standing water. “We think Opportunity is now parked on what was once the shoreline of a salty sea on Mars,” said Cornell University astronomer Steve Squyres, the mission’s main scientist. The findings add to the grow ing body of evidence that the Red Planet was once was a wetter and possibly warmer place that may have been conducive to life. “This is a profound discov ery, it has profound implications for astrobiology, and I’d like to say if you have an interest in searching for fossils on Mars, this is the first place you’d want to go,” said Ed Weiler, NASA’s associate administrator for space science. Although Squyres referred to the water as a sea, scientists said it is not clear how big the body of water might have been or whether it was a fixed feature and not just a desert basin that flooded periodically. Evidence of Mars’ surface brine NASA’s Mars Opportunity rover has found rocks thought to be sedimentary deposits that formed where saltwater once flowed. NASA’s Opportunity rover is located in the Meridiani Planum region : Magnified view of martian rock shows layers indicating sediments Rover’s tracks , Eagle Crater in the Meridiani Planum WASHINGTON For young Americans! care more about than the GOP, choos their favorite music vid on MTV’s “Total Retp Live” may be as they’ve come to the d® cratic process. Republicans are hopis! change that by sendingii voter registration Thursday to two where Republicans ally in short supply:! Times Square. The National Repufe Committee’s Reggie | IjZ.', Registration Rig is sett uled to visit the “TRL’i Bn* prii day wel ray the i as been ien. Join ; s Jreadyb dio, where the currenltj 1( j sattac test between Presids Bush and Massacta ltn i' s us Sen. John Kerry usiia , n takes a back seat :onserva iccause vying videos of Usher a )eturne( Clay Aiken. SOURCE: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory The evidence also does not indicate when water covered the broad and flat region where Opportunity landed, called Meridiani Planum, or for how long. Nor does it indicate if any organisms actually lived on Mars. If life did flourish at the site when it was awash in water, the type of rock found there is capa ble of preserving evidence of any biological material, he said. “If we are correct in our interpretation, this was a habit able environment,” Squyres said. “These are the kinds of environments that are very suit able for life.” The findings were presented at a televised news conference at the headquarters of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Washington. Weiler noted that a group of outside scientists was brought in to review the rover mission sci entists’ findings before they were announced. The findings give NASA impetus to expand its Mars explo ration program to leant whether microbes ever existed there and. ultimately, whether people can live there, Weiler said. NASA plans to send a more sophisticated rover to Mars in 2009 to probe for signs of life. In 2013, the space agency plans to send a robotic mission that would collect rock and soil sam ples and bring them back to Earth for more detailed analysis. NASA intends to send one or more unmanned missions to Mars every 26 months. President Bush recently proposed a manned mis sion to visit the planet but did not set a timeline for such an under taking, which probably remains decades away. 9 police trainee shot south of Baghdad BAGHDAD, Iraq ( Gunmen opened fire on van filled with police reciul wrung \ south of Baghdad i sions. Tl Tuesday, killing nine, ar ^ the assailants shot and killed!* policemen — twin brotte fr° m Ma — north of the capital. The slayings were thefc est to target police and otlii Iraqis who work with tti U.S.-led occupation The attack in the son! took place on a between Musayeb Hillah when a car pu front of the minibus an assailants sprayed it t small arms fire, police Hillah said. rc; S’ lie, an a :onserva nited is MasterC ommerc ferry is eceivinj. raring ‘Anothei AAA reports record-high gasoline price, By Brad Foss THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — The retail price of gasoline hit an all- time high Tuesday — nearly $1.74 per gallon nationwide — reflecting strong demand, tight supplies and the high cost of oil, AAA reported. AAA, formerly the American Automobile Association, report ed that motorists are now paying $1,738 per gallon for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline, one- tenth of a penny higher than the previous record set Aug. 30 of last year. Premium unleaded costs more than $2 a gallon in many parts of the country. “Unstable gasoline prices make budgeting for fuel costs extremely difficult for families and businesses,” AAA said in a statement. The Orlando, Fla.-based travel agency gets its data from Oil Price Information Service of Lakewood, N.J., which collects retail price information from 60,000 locations daily. Gasoline prices traditionally rise between March and May as refiners temporarily shut down their plants in preparation for the peak summer driving season, when special clean-burning blends of fuel are required. These shutdowns shrink supplies. This year, the effect on price has been magnified because commercial inventories of gaso line are already low. For the week ended March 12, U.S. gasoline inventories stood at 199.6 million barrels, down from 202.1 million barrels a year ago. The most recent statistics from the Energy Department show that gasoline demand has been roughly 4.5 percent higher than last year over the past four weeks, at 8.9 million barrels a day. Moreover, refiners are maintaining extremely lean inventories because of the high price of crude oil, another factor contributing to higher fuel prices. Crude oil for May delivery sold for $37.45 per barrel Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 40 cents. The price of oil is below recent highs but still near its highest level in 14 years. The Energy Department's weekly survey of retail gasoline prices, released Monday, showed a jump to $1,743 in the national average for regular grade gasoline in the week ended March 22, up from $1,724 the week before. That’s still 0.4 cent below the record the agency reported last August. Gas prices reach all-time high natut The national average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline reached an all-time high on Tuesday, reflecting strong demand, tight supplies and the high cost of oil. National daily average price of regular unleaded gasoline $2.0 per gallon March 23 $1,738 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 2000 2001 SOURCE: AAA 2002 2003 ’04 AP The department’s Energy Information Administration compiles the data weekly from a sampling of about 800 locations from a database of 115,000 sta tions monitored. Meantime, some Democratic lawmakers criticized the Bush administration for contributing to the recent run-up in fueicosls purchasing oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve time when supplies are tiglit,i ing prices even higher. Sen. Carl Levin, D-M questioned the diversion ai time when private oil invel ries, at 281 million barrels,! 23.4 million barrels below five-year average for this tiffi year, according to the EIA. “When supply goes doi the private inventory the pti« going to go up,” argued Levin! said high energy prices havetn “a drag on the economy" pose national security conce® Sens. Charles Schumei New York, Barbara Boxei California and Harry R Nevada also urged the ad m i n i st rat ion release oil fo the reserve, which is dost its 700 million-barrel capm at 648 million barrels as March 12. Energy Secretary Spetf Abraham has repeatedly ss the administration views petroleum reserve asanei gency stockpile for security and that it be used to manipulate pries The amount of oil bt! taken off the market “is negligible” in a global oil® ket of 86 million barrels ad! Abraham said Tuesday Senate hearing. claims hi people.. What is an adv makes m cize Ken Instead, shouldn’ material Liberals class wai willing ti The ai that Bust has also he and K Universit Anoth Kerr)’ uni microphc saying, know, lyi this type dential c; Bush alst remarked Dick Che should s its WESTERN * BEVERAGES 2 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS LOOK FOR OIJR NEW LOCATION IN BRYAN-OPENING SOON TITO'S Vodka 750 mL 80" CZ-7 KAHLUA Coffee Liqueur 750 ml 40" WESTERN * BEVERAGES 701 University Dr. East (979) 846-1257 2205 Longmire (979) 764-9577 Major Cr edit Cards Accepted Hours: Monday - Saturday 10 am to 9 pm Prices ( ,00(1 4/24 04 to A/27/04 In ium- ol mmliii” emir, srnre nricc mt‘\ailv 7* LeaderShape is coming to Texas A&M University! What is LeaderShape? LeaderShape is an intensive and ene'rgizing six-day student program(W at Camp Allen) that teaches key leadership issues - vision, partnerslf integrity, results, reflection, and personal growth. This program is FREE, but space is limited so apply today! The deadline to submit applications has been extended to Friday, March 26, 2004 @ 5:00 Applications can be found at the front area of Student Activities,oi online at http://studentactivities.tamu.edu/stuactweb/sitemap.htmF on Leadership Opportunities). Return applications to Koldus 112, An informational meeting is being held on Wednesday, March 24 ,h @ 8:30 pm in Koldus Room 144 for anyone interested in applying MSC | be an Thank seizing i jurisdicth You ha le MSC le oper or did y ow thej lis ridic Thanks senting things. H argumer elected, name-re Approx of the st comn amount ident, yo forget th the ( the amo operatioi argumer The gc the amc MSC m squired men! of Studer Student MSC pre can cation ai dent is i has worl rown Please the expe Mate tl MSC, its Perhaf Student the spec ild fe so many really do