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^ 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