Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2004)
I ^TTilJlIS he VCTj, : . StU ^tlts JK Of the i issues! at A&M 'S so elves said she fee| s that she lating he f ln g this. | y for thi arrish s 'e been ssor, saidiij ss its opiniir immature ^ lis courses i'> forums wIkh :s. ‘d to prom® --Starks saii my class is tty about then r H Germ® md ostracitej aged studeu viewpoint i to anesthetia dealing include race who would 4 3uite fraiil) tould exercis I will use tie they want timenorsopfc ological b- aom and fin: dox said."W sy before tho es on the Wei the egresioii' e bias, and :hink the most i more radical note names in on creating an te where stuj afessots. ^ j Friday, May 7,2004 The Battalion OPINION: Recent study underscores need to prohibit smoking in Texas’ public buildings Page 5B Volume 110 • Issue 143 • 24 pages A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893 www.thebatt.coni PACE DESIGN BY: ALICIA SVETLIK Aggie dies attempting to cross parkway By Rhiannon Meyers THE BATTALION Courtney “Court” Tullier, a junior in the Corps of Cadets, was killed Wednesday morning while attempting to cross Harvey Mitchell Parkway at the Raymond Stotzer on-ramp in College Station. Tullier, 21, from Spring, Texas, was first struck by a northbound Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Bascom Comer of Bryan at 2:50 a.m. Tullier then spun off the Tahoe and into a southbound Oldsmobile driven by Brian Casarez of College Station. Tullier was transported to College Station Medical Center where he was pro nounced dead. Lt. Mark Langwell, public information officer for the College Station Police Department, said no charges have been filed at this time and that the accident is still under investigation. “We’re still investigating it, and there are no new develop ments,” Langwell said. “When new information comes out, we will sure release it.” Justin Woods, Corps of Cadets public relations officer, said in a statement released Thursday that Tullier was a flight officer designate in Squadron 12 and a Marine candidate in the Platoon TULLIER Leadership Course program. “It is a tragedy to lose a member of our Aggie family, but it hits even harder when one of our own is taken so unexpectedly,” Woods said. “The Corps is a family, a family that cares for its own.” Woods said that Echo Taps will be held in honor of Tullier at 9 p.m. Sunday on the Quad. “I will stand with the rest of the Corps, salute and honor a fallen Aggie and fellow cadet,” Woods said. Janna Almquist, a junior American studies major, graduated from Klein High School along with Tullier. “He was the type of guy that everyone knew and wanted to be friends with,” Almquist said. “He was very outgoing and very friendly.” Almquist said Tullier’s death is still a shock for her. “It’s surreal,” Almquist said. “You never think something like that will happen, especially to your friends. I don’t even know how to explain how I feel.” A funeral service will be held for Tullier at 11 a.m. Saturday at Lakewood United Methodist Church in Houston. A viewing will he held beforehand at Klein Funeral Home in Klein, Texas, Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Woods said Squadron 12 has set up a memori al fund to help the Tullier family. To make a dona tion, call Jonathan Knight at (979) 847-3602 or (702) 336-9439, or e-mail Knight at thinjohn 100@neo.tamu.edu. Aggie chosen to become new president of Panama By Sonia Moghe THE BATTALION When Gary Halter, profes sor of political science and director of undergraduate advising at Texas A&M, met with torrijos Mart i n Torrijos, Class of 1987, as his undergraduate adviser, he had no idea Torrijos would one day become the president of Panama. “1 didn’t know about his background.” Halter said. “I’m not even sure I knew he was from Panama.” Torrijos was elected presi- fcnt of Panama Sunday. His faher. Omar Torrijos, was the dictator of Panama from 1968 to 1981, when he died. Halter said that while he did n’t know about Torrijos’ family, he remembered that Torrijos may have said something about it to students in his classes. Luis Martinez, a freshman biomedical sciences major, was bom and raised in Mexico and said he feels inspired by Torrijos. “In regards to an Aggie being president, I think that’s out standing (and) it’s quite an accomplishment,” Martinez said. “I know that like any other Aggie, I’m always setting high er goals. I think that (Torrijos) had high standards for himself and he had a dream.” Despite concerns as to whether Torrijos will perpetuate the military dictatorship that his father held, Torrijos has empha sized that he will rule differently than his father, Halter said. “I must say his proposed plans for Panama seem incred ible.” Martinez said. “He basi cally wants to build a new infrastructure.” Sebastian Troya, a senior agri cultural business major and pres ident of the Ecuadorian Student Association, said the fact that Torrijos’ father was a dictator isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “He has the leadership skills in his blood,” Troya said. “It’s not bad to be a dictator in some cases, (and) it’s not fair to judge some one by what his father has done.” Halter said much of Latin American politics are wrought with corruption. Having grown up in Mexico, Martinez said he has seen the corruption in the Mexican gov ernment also. “Right now, everyone says (current Mexican) President (Vincente) Fox isn’t doing any thing,” Martinez said. “How can you change a seven-year (dictatorship) of the same party in six years?” Martinez said the Panamanian people will have to wait and see what Torrijos does for the country. “I think the best judge (for how Torrijos will do) will be the Panamanian people them selves,” Martinez said. What test? Evan O'Connell • THE BATTALION Book thieves are on the prowl Freshman environmental geoscience major Chelsea Hanchett studies for her calculus final on the lawn in front of Mosher Hall. Final exams at A&M are being held May 7 through May 1 2. Students living on cam pus have 48 hours after their last exams to move out of their residence halls. KEEP YOUR BOOKS SAFE By Carrie Pierce THE BATTALION As the semester ends and students begin selling back their books, local bookstores warn students to keep an eye on their books as they may become targets of theft. •Don’t leave your books unattended, especially in the library •Write your name in random pages of the books for proof if they are stolen • Selling back unnaturally large quantities of books holds people in suspicion • Bring your ID when selling books back to vendors so they can keep track of where books are coming from Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION Source: Shri Parchure, Loupot's Bookstores general manager, and Chuck Rheay, University Bookstore general manager Students need to be cautious of where they leave their books, said Shri Parchure, Loupot’s Bookstores general manager. Book theft is a legitimate problem, Parchure said. “Once in a while someone finds out that people are stealing books and selling them back,” Parchure said. When bookstores find out that there has been illegal book selling, they inform the police and other bookstores, Parchure said. “All bookstores really work together,” Parchure said. There is at least one case a year, said Holley Scott, Memorial Student Center Bookstore general manager. “We have worked with the College Station Police Department when they have brought up cases,” Scott said. See Books on page 2A Student identification system changeover nears completion By Jason Hanselka THE BATTALION Texas A&M will discontinue using Social Security numbers for identification and authen tication of students, faculty and staff after June 7 and will also change all student ID cards, according to Computing and Information Services (CIS). Tom Putnam, director of CIS, said it is not a good practice for people to use their Social Security numbers to identify themselves on or off campus. “We’ve learned that Social Security numbers are not secret,” Putnam said. “We want to keep them as private as we can.” The process to replace the use of Social Security numbers for identification purposes with universal identification numbers (UIN) has already begun. Last year, all current and former students, faculty and staff were assigned UINs. This spring, all class rosters were printed with students’ UINs oil them. After June 7, the use of UINs will be the pri mary form of identification used by the Student Information Management System (SIMS), Putnam said. SIMS and myrecord.tamu.edu will not be accessible during the changeover period, which will start on the evening of June 4 and last until the afternoon of June 7. Steve Williams, associate director of CIS, said that in addition to alerting students, faculty and staff to the changes, CIS is trying to reach stand-alone departments that may be using Social Security numbers for identification and administrative purposes and assist them in con verting to the use of UINs. Sancy Wu, a member of the identification conversion coordination team, said it is difficult to find out exactly which departments are still using Social Security numbers. Wu said there may be some departments that are unaware of the campus-wide conversion initiative. Putnam said all Aggie Cards will eventually See Identification on page 2A Audio attributed to Osama bin Laden offers rewards for killing U.S. officials By Maggie Michael THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CAIRO, Egypt — An audio record ing attributed to Osama bin Laden offered rewards in gold Thursday for the killing of top U.S. and U.N. officials in Iraq or of the citizens of any nation fighting there. The 20-minute recording, dated Thursday, appeared on two Web sites known for militant Islamic messages. The voice sounded like that of bin Laden and the words were laden with Quranic verse, but the authenticity of the record ing could not immediately be verified. Bin Laden had never been known to offer rewards for missions he had described as followers’ religious duty to carry out. “You know that America promised big rewards for those who kill muja- hedeen (holy warriors),” the speaker said. “We in al-Qaida organization will guarantee, God willing, 10,000 grams of gold to whoever kills the occupier Bremer, or the American chief com mander or his deputy in Iraq.” He was referring to L. Paul Bremer, the chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, and top military officials. “For security reasons, the rewards will be given as soon as conditions per mit, God willing,” the voice said. “As for those who die while killing an occu pying solider, the great prize will be for us and for him when God grants him martyrdom, and the smaller prize (the gold) will be for his family.” The United States has offered rewards of its own for information lead ing to the captures or deaths of bin Laden and his top lieutenants, as well as for top figures in the former Iraqi gov ernment of Saddam Hussein. The price See Audio on page 2A The BATTALION' Online Weekly Poll This Week's Results: "Which summer movie release are you anticipating the most?” 27% □ Troy - Brad Pitt 22% ■ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Daniel Ratcliff 14% □ Spider-Man 2 - Tobey Maguire 14% □ Shrek 2 - Mike Meyers 7% CZ) Van Heising - Hugh Jackman 6% □ The Day After Tomorrow- Dennis Quaid 5% | Raising Helen - Kate Hudson 5% ■ The Terminal - Tom Hanks Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION