The Battalion
olume 110 • Issue 120 • 16 pages
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
Aggielife:
Patterns make
a comeback
this spring.
Page 3
www.thebatt.com
PACE DESIGN BY: EMILY HENDRICKSON
merican bodies dragged through Fallujah
By Sameer N. Yacoub
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FALLUJAH, Iraq — Jubilant residents
dragged the charred corpses of four American
ntractors through the streets Wednesday and
them from the bridge spanning the
Iphrates River. Five American soldiers died in a
|adside bombing nearby.
The White House blamed terrorists and rem-
ints of Saddam Hussein’s former regime for the
lorrific attacks” on the civilian contractors.
“There are some that are doing everything they
png
can to try to prevent” a June 30 transfer of sover
eignty to an Iraqi government. White House
spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.
The four contract workers were killed in a
rebel ambush of their SUVs in Fallujah, a Sunni
Triangle city about 35 miles west of Baghdad.
The U.S. State Department said all four con
tractors were Americans. All four were men.
said Sgt. 1st Class Lorraine Hill, a coalition
spokeswoman.
In one of the bloodiest days for the U.S. mili
tary this year, five 1st Infantry Division soldiers
died when their M-l 13 armored personnel carrier
ran over a bomb in a separate incident 12 miles to
the northwest, among the reed-lined roads running
through some of Iraq’s richest farmland.
At least 597 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since
the war began March 20, 2003. Of the total, 459
have died since May 1 when Bush flew onto an
aircraft carrier off the California coast to declare
the end of major combat.
Residents said the bomb attack occurred in
Malahma, 12 miles northwest of Fallujah.
Chanting “Fallujah is the graveyard of
Americans,” residents cheered after the grisly
assault on two four-wheel-drive civilian vehicles.
which left both in flames. Others chanted, “We
sacrifice our blood and souls for Islam.”
Associated Press Television News pictures
showed one man beating a charred coipse with a
metal pole. Others tied a yellow rope to a body,
hooked it to a car and dragged it down the main
street of town. Two blackened and mangled
corpses were hung from a green iron bridge across
the Euphrates.
“The people of Fallujah hanged some of the bodies
on the old bridge like slaughtered sheep,” resident
See Fallujah on page 8A
Wax on, wax off
Sharon Aeschbach • THE BATTALION
lior kinesiology major Brook Kirchmeier washes a Kirchmeier, along with friends, is helping to raise
nda Accord Wednesday afternoon off Texas Avenue. money for T-Camp, Camp Fleitas.
Journalism department
prepares for closure
By Jason Hanselka
THE BATTALION
Professors and students in the Department of
Journalism are having to endure many headaches
as the process leading up to the extinction of the
journalism department gets underway.
The contracts for three journalism professors
will not be renewed for the fall, and many class
es are no longer being offered each semester.
Journalism undergraduate adviser Ed
Walraven said he is uncertain when journalism
classes will no longer be offered.
“I don’t envision that any student won’t grad
uate," Walraven said. “Everyone from the dean’s
office downward wants the (journalism) students
to graduate with a degree in journalism.”
Walraven said as long as students are enrolled
and in good academic and financial standing with
the University, that they will receive their degrees.
“If students look up courses for the fall they can
see that there are less courses to choose from com
pared to the fall two years ago,” Walraven said.
The contracts for professors Debra Blakely,
Darrell Roe and Brian O’Loughlin have not been
renewed, but the -classes taught by these profes
sors will still be offered, just not as often,
Walraven said.
“Some students might think that these courses
will no longer be offered, which is not true,”
Walraven said.
Blakely said her situation is not as grim as the
other two professors being let go.
“I feel sorry for Roe and O’Loughlin because
they are visiting professors and they haven’t been
with the University very long,” Blakely said. “I
was lucky because I live in Texas and it was eas
ier for me to make other plan£.”
Blakely said she found out in July that she was
no longer going to be working at A&M.
“Within a month I found another job,” Blakely
said. “O’Loughlin found out only two weeks ago.”
O’Loughlin said his future employment is
undetermined at this time and that the depart
ment closing should not discourage students.
“I feel bad for the students because I think they
feel that the department closing undermines all
that they have worked for,” O’Loughlin said. “At
the same time 1 believe that the University doesn’t
want to take anything away from their education.”
Sophomore journalism major Brenna
Rackham said it is increasingly difficult to plan
her remaining semesters at A&M because of the
fewer classes being offered.
“I wanted to emphasize broadcasting, but now
I can only take one class next semester,”
Rackham said. “You can’t emphasize certain
areas if the classes aren’t being offered.”
Rackham said that whe# she came to A&M
and chose to major in journalism she had no idea
the department was in trouble.
“It feels like the education you’re getting is a
joke, and it makes your degree look like a joke,”
Rackham said. “I wish they would just tell us
See journalism on page 2A
\ggie cards get a makeover this spring
By Pammy Ramji
THE BATTALION
I All Texas A&M students will receive a newly designed student identifi-
c.tion card beginning in May as the University continues the transition
musing Social Security numbers to University Identification numbers.
The Texas A&M Division of Finance is giving students the opportunity
(vote for the new design and students will have until noon Friday to vote
;ough its Web site for one of the four designs they like the best, said Bob
;k, financial management supervisor.
The new card will include a card number, which is different from the
and the picture and text will be much larger to make it easier to rec-
iiizethe person. Mask said. The design cannot get in the way of identi-
mgthe holder, meaning the design cannot cover the text, he said.
The U1N will be on the card, but there will also be a different number
the back of the card,, that will identify the cardholder. Mask said.
“This tightens up the security of the card and prevents easy duplication
[someone found a lost card,” Mask said.
Mask said the new card will not cost anything for students. The cost of
making the card will be covered in one semester due to the ID card main
tenance fee.
Overall, Mask said, the response has been positive.
“1 like the idea of a new card, especially enlarging the picture and text,”
New Aggie Card Designs
Beginning in May, students will recieve a new
identification card continuing with the transition
from Social Security numbers to University
Identification numbers.
The new designs are as follows:
said sophomore international studies
major Kathryn Sjurseth. “I have had
problems in the past because 1 have
changed and it’s hard for people to
believe that the picture is really me
since the picture is small. There is
such a problem with identity theft
these days that the new security fea
tures will really help.”
However, some students said
receiving a new card is more trouble
than it’s worth, especially if one’s
card is not damaged or is fairly new.
“I think that it is a big hassle for those
of us whose ID card is now in decent
condition,” said Christina Knowlan, a
sophomore education major.
Mask said students will be sched
uled to get their new Aggie cards
made and will be contacted through
their neo e-mail accounts regarding a scheduled time.
“We’ve been very pleased with the response students have by voting.
Students really seem to care about the card,” Mask said. “We appreciate com
ments and we understand students’ strong feelings of the card and tradition.”
Log on to http://sfs.tamu.edu to vote.
Voting ends April 2 at noon.
Andrew Burleson • THE BATTALION
Source : DIVISION OF FINANCE
leed shares lessons from his Cold War experiences
By James Twine
THE BATTALION
Thomas C. Reed said that he happened to be
the right places at the right times when it came
the events of the Cold War.
“I had no idea I was a part of history, or making
itory, when I went to work at the Pentagon; it
is like going to work anywhere else,” Reed said.
Reed, the former secretary of the Air Force,
oke about his new book “At the Abyss: An
sider’s History of the Cold War” at the George
ish Library Center Wednesday evening.
Reed’s speech was a part of the The Lenore and
ancis Humphrys International Speakers Program
Id at the George Bush Library Foundation.
Reed has a long resume that includes secre-
ry of the Air Force, director of National
iconnaissance, special assistant to former
esident Ronald Reagan for national security
ilicy and consultant to the director of Lawrence
vermore Laboratory, where much of the coun-
f’s nuclear weapons research takes place.
Reed said he wrote the book because there are
people who were a part of
the Cold War in some way,
but only knew that small
piece of the puzzle they
were a part of, and he
wanted to show them the
whole story.
“I wanted the people of
my generation to read this
book to get the big picture
of what took place, but 1
want people of your gen
eration (college students)
to read it so they can learn
the important lessons and
history of the Cold War,”
Reed said.
Reed said the book is
about the true events that
took place on both sides
during the Cold War and how it ended without a
nuclear weapon being fired.
“There are a lot of things people remember
clearly that never happened; I wanted to
show the truth about the incidence of the
Cold War the way they happened and how
it all came to an end,” he said.
Reed said there were important lessons
to be learned about the Cold War, such as
governments are the servants of the people,
technology counts, and we still live on the
edge of nuclear abyss.
He said the United States also needs to
look to the future because it‘s dealing
with a different foe, one which doesn’t
have a government it can deal with as it
did with the Russians.
“Jihadists want to kill us; we aren’t
dealing with a conflict of competing types
of governments anymore,” Reed said.
Students said they found the speech to be
informative and a different way of viewing
an event that shaped recent history.
See Reed on page 2A
There are a lot
of things people
remember clearly
that never
happened.
— Thomas C. Reed
author of "At the Abyss: An
Insider's History of the
Cold War."
A&M challenged
to donate blood
By Brian D. Cain
THE BATTALION
A challenge has been issued by Texas Gov.
Rick Perry to students, faculty and staff at Texas
A&M and the University of Texas to see which
school can donate the most blood to The
American Red Cross during four days in April.
The University Round-up Challenge Blood
Drive is sponsored by Alpha Phi Omega in con
junction with The American Red Cross, and the
goal is to raise 2,000 units of blood from April 12
to April 16, said Amy Tarbet, Alpha Phi Omega’s
Blood Drive chair.
“The school that collects the most blood will
receive the James Pinckney Henderson Service
Award for its contribution to such a worthy
cause,” she said.
All blood donated will become part of the
American Red Cross Southwest Region’s blood
supply, which is currently importing blood from
other regions.
“Our southwest region includes all of Texas
and Oklahoma, and right now we are not collect
ing enough blood for this region to be self-suffi
cient,” said Jan Hale, regional director of the
American Red Cross. “That is why A&M is so
important. We’ve always been able to count on
Texas A&M and they’ve never let us down.”
Hale said one person can donate three units of
See Blood on page 2A
Tim Rattai ioN<;B«!fl«MJ!iii
This Week's Results:
"Which student body president candidate will you
vote for?”
34% 0 Jack Hildebrand
30% 0 Mark McCaig
17% H Will McAdams
9% 0 Andy Herreth
6% i! Narietha Carter
4% 0 Royd Hernandez
Next Week’s Poll:
"Which organization do you think should benefit
the most from a Student Service Fee increase?"
Take this poll at: www.thebatt.com
Ruben DeLuna* THE BATTALION