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The Battalion
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OPINION:
Disastrous
undertaking?
Page 5
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lamp.
Reagan’s death brings tributes from world
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By Jeff Wilson
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Ronald Reagan
was remembered with jelly beans, flowers and
American flags on Sunday at memorials in his
hometown and outside the mortuary where the
former president’s body lay.
“Thank you for changing the world,” said a
handwritten note among the tokens of remem
brance left in Santa Monica for the nation’s 40th
president, who was 93 when he died Saturday of
pneumonia, as a complication of Alzheimer’s.
The family’s spokeswoman said Nancy
Reagan was thankful for thousands of expres
sions of sympathy over the death of her husband.
and despite her sadness was relieved he was no
longer suffering.
“I can tell you most certainly that while it is
an extremely sad time for Mrs. Reagan, there is
definitely a sense of relief that he is no longer
suffering, and that he has gone to a better place,”
Joanne Drake told a press conference outside the
mortuary where Reagan’s body lay.
“It’s been a really hard 10 years for her,”
Drake said of Nancy Reagan, as nearly a week of
tribute to the former president was detailed.
In a piece written for Time magazine before
Reagan’s death, Nancy Reagan remembered her
husband as “a man of strong principles and
integrity” who felt his greatest accomplishment
was finding a safe end to the Cold War.
‘T think they broke the mold when they
made Ronnie,” she wrote in the article appear
ing Monday. “He had absolutely no ego, and he
was very comfortable in his own skin; there
fore, he didn’t feel he ever had to prove any
thing to anyone.”
Former President Jimmy Carter said Sunday
that the death of Reagan, who defeated him in
the 1980 presidential election, was “a sad day
for our country.”
“I probably know as well as anybody what a for
midable communicator and campaigner that
President Reagan was. It was because of him that I
was retired from my last job,” Carter said before
teaching Sunday school in his hometown. Plains, Ga.
Carter added: “He presented some very con
cise, very clear messages that appealed to the
American people. I think throughout his term in
office he was very worthy of the moniker that
was put on him as the ’Great Communicator.’”
On Monday, the Reagan family was to travel
in a motorcade with the body to the presidential
library in Simi Valley, northwest of Los Angeles.
After a private ceremony, the body was to lie in
repose for public visitation through Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the body will “be flown to
Washington, D.C. The family accepted an offer
from President Bush to use one of his jets, nor
mally used as Air Force One, for the trip. The
body will then be driven to the U.S. Capitol for a
state funeral. Reagan’s body will then lie in state
in the Capitol Rotunda through Thursday.
See Reagan on page 2
inthsai
- Jates discusses shortcomings in U.S. intelligence
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By Erin Price
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M President Robert M. Gates said
I iinerican intelligence agencies failed to predict
the Sept. 11 attacks even after receiving numer
ous warnings and attacks from terrorists.
Gates, former director of the CIA, said it
|iok the United States too long to realize that
was at war.
Gates spoke at the Bush Museum Issues
Forum hosted by The Bush Museum on
hursday at the Annenberg Presidential
lonference Center.
Time and again, the government was
warned that a catastrophic attack was
planned,” Gates said. “Nothing was done to
prepare (for it).”
Gates said the war on terrorism will continue
into the distant future because of people like
Osama Bin Laden who hate the United States
with such passion.
“Terror has always been the primary weapon
for the weak against the strong,” Gates said.
“America will continue to be a target.”
Gates said the recent photos of Iraqi pris
oners being abused by American soldiers will
be used as a recruitment tool for the terrorist
groups and will result in more Americans
being killed.
“United States intelligence agencies have
always been good at detecting the technologi
cal advancements of threatening nations,”
Gates said.
Gates said that over the past decade there
has been a serious lack of resources for the
CIA, and that he saw many presidents and
members of Congress distort, exaggerate and
ignore facts given to them (by the CIA) to
match their political agendas.
Gates said a huge change during this time
of war would be very dangerous and that cre
ating the Department of Homeland Security
was a mistake because of a lack of a common
computer system between the agencies
involved.
See Gates on page 2
SHARON AESCHBACH • THE BATTALION
University President Robert M. Gates spoke at the George Bush
Presidential Library Thursday.
Miracle on Rice
Kyle Nicholson, a freshman right-handed pitcher, cele
brates the No. 14 Aggie baseball team's 7-5 victory
per defending national champion Rice University
BRIAN WILLS • THE BATTALION
Sunday evening. A&M came from behind in the eighth
inning to score four runs off a grand slam. See story on
page 3.
Wiatt given heartfelt sendoff
By Michael Player
THE BATTALION
A standing-room-only crowd was in atten
dance at the retirement ceremony for University
Police Chief Bob Wiatt at the Annenberg
Presidential Conference Center on Friday.
University administrators, state legislators
and local law enforcement officials were on
hand to share stories about
Wiatt and to wish him well
in his retirement.
Wiatt, 77, served 53
years in law enforcement.
Twenty-one of those were
at A&M.
“Over the past half-cen
tury, Bob has been shot,
stabbed, held hostage and
been over campus park
ing,” said Texas A&M
President Robert M. Gates.
“No wonder (he’s retir-
ing). “Enough is enough.”
Chuck Sippial, A&M’s vice president for
administration, said Wiatt threatened retaliation
if the University were to force him to retire, and
that would include suing for age discrimination.
“Wiatt had been heard to say that the only
way he would ever leave would be in a box,”
Sippial said.
Wiatt had been heard
to say that the only way
he would ever leave
would be in a box.
— Chuck Sippial
A&M vice president for administration
Wiatt was seated in the front while the pro
cession of speakers and well-wishers continued
to address the group, bringing laughter and tears.
College Station Police Chief Ed Feldman
spoke of how Wiatt helped him with his career
in law enforcement and how Wiatt represented
the mold for area law enforcement officers.
Feldman ended his address with a quote
from the ‘Lonesome Dove’ movie.
“Just like Augustus
McRae said to Woodrow
Call,” Feldman said, “It’s
been a hell of a party, ain’t it.”
Wiatt has been involved
in some high profile cases
throughout his career. Wiatt
once traded himself for
hostages at a prison riot in
Huntsville and was shot
twice during the incident.
Wiatt’s life was even chron
icled in Steven Spielberg’s
“Sugarland Express.”
Sen. Steve Ogden was
on hand to present a letter of appreciation from
the Texas Senate which described Wiatt as a
“most distinguished Texan and American.”
A tearful and thankful Wiatt then addressed
the crowd and gave special thanks to his wife
Ann and his son and his family, who were also
in attendance.