f ■ ^4 TT^ Tuesday, June 8,2004
The Battalion
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Volume 110 • Issue 148 • 6 pages
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
AGGIELIFE:
Aggieland 101
Page 3
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PACE DESIGN BY: RACHEL VALENCIA
Bonfire Coalition schools the Class of 2008
reas
spitali
By Erin Price
THE BATTALION
Rachel Wright was in the eighth grade when
^Bonfire collapsed on Nov. 18, 1999 and barely
lemembers hearing about it on the news. She said
Ihe had no idea what Bonfire was really about, but
Tow that she has a brand new outlook on the
Vggie Spirit.
Wright, an incoming freshman biomedical sci-
[nces major, was one of the many new students
vho stopped at a table set up by the Bonfire
toalition for Students at her New Student
Conference this summer.
Roger Abshire, BCS president and senior polit
ical science major, said many new students, like
Wright, do not know what Bonfire is really about
and that he hopes to educate them on the tradition.
BCS is a University recognized organization
whose goals include exemplifying the Bonfire
spirit and ensuring that safety is the primary con
cern of all Aggies with regard to the return of
Bonfire, according to the organization.
“We want the new students to know as much as
they can about Bonfire,” Abshire said. “The more
they know, the better educated their decisions will
be in the future regarding Bonfire.”
Laura Laubach, public relations coordinator
for BCS and a senior English major, said there has
been enormous support from new, current and for
mer students for the program.
“We have had people tell us how glad they are
that there are students who still want Bonfire
back on campus,” Laubach said. “We basically
want the new students to know who we are and
what we do.”
Laubach said there is a large number of people,
including current students, who have never heard
of Bonfire.
“Most of those who don’t know about Bonfire
are from out of state or out of the country,”
Laubach said. “That is why it is important that we
are out there.”
Jack Hildebrand, student body president and
senior accounting major, said his class never wit
nessed a Bonfire and that it is important to educate
students on the tradition.
“(BCS) has been doing a great job working
hard this summer to educate the new students on
Bonfire,” Hildebrand said.
Hildebrand said that when Bonfire is brought
back to campus, the younger classes will need to
know what the tradition was truly about.
Abshire said new students can join BCS in the
fall and help promote Bonfire’s return to campus.
BCS will have tables setup by Rudder Fountain
on June 16, 23, 25 and 30 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
and also throughout the fall semester.
>fpeo[
toefit;
never
&M singer
eatured at
“ Corps center
won
By Natalie Younts
THE BATTALION
Few Aggies know that Carl T.
i “Doc” Sprague was America’s
y first singing cowboy star. Fewer
know that Sprague graduated from
Texas A&M and lived in Bryan
until his death in 1979, said
Dennis Williams, president of the
Carl T. “Doc” Sprague
Foundation.
An exhibit featuring Sprague
be on display at the Sam Houston Sanders Corps
, |f Cadets Center through June 19.
“(Sprague’s) hometown and his alma mater ought
to be recognizing him as an important contributor to
Oar American culture,” Williams said.
I Sprague, Class of 1922, recorded a hit song,
|When the Work's All Done This Fall,” in 1925 that
old more than 900,000 copies.
Sprague was the first working cowboy to record a
lowboy song, and had the first hit record by a cowboy
jinger, Williams said.
Lisa Kalmus, curator for the center, said she was
impressed with Sprague’s accomplishments.
I “For people now, to sell close to a million copies is
picH
igene
or the S
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costui
for lei
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See Sprague on page 2
Got game?
BRIAN WILLS • THE BATTALION
Texas A&M women's basketball assistant coach Kelly Bond instructs campers dur
ing the elite scrimmage round of the Women's Basketball Camp. Bond, along with
several players from the Aggie women's basketball team, helped about 115 aspir
ing players improve their game. Bond, formerly an assistant coach at Arkansas
under Gary Blair, came to A&M after Blair, A&M's women's basketball head
coach, offered her a position on the A&M staff.
&M leads Texas schools
n six-year graduation rates
was
ced,
By Joanna M. Jemison
THE BATTALION
A new study shows that Texas A&M contin-
es to produce six-year graduation rates that
re higher than any other Texas university.
According to the National Center for
ducation Statistics, A&M surpasses other
mysifjtate schools in minority six-year graduation
ates as well.
74.9 percent of A&M students enrolled in
996 graduated by 2002, improving on the pre-
ious year by approximately two percentage
oints. In the report, the Texas Higher
ducation Coordinating Board allows students
six-year time frame for graduation. The
University of Texas came in second place with
70 percent.
A&M also led other state-wide universities
among black students, with a 63.91 percent
rate of graduation, and Hispanics, with a 62.38
percent graduation rate. Hispanic and Black
categories were well above the state averages.
A&M did not lead with Asian students, but
held a 70.45 percent graduation rate.
With white students, which represent more
than 75 percent of the student body, Texas
A&M had a 77.24 percent graduation rate.
In 2002, A&M awarded 9,965 undergradu
ate degrees for students in their first major.
See Graduation on page 2
A&M LEADS IN GRADUATION
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ap
According to a recent study, Texas A&M’s
graduation rates are higher than other
state schools:
Within a six-year time frame to graduate,
72.9% of A&M’s students received diplomas,
the highest of any Texas University
Texas A&M led minority graduation rates
among Texas schools with a 63.91%
graduation rate among African-Americans
and a 62.38% graduation rate among
Hispanics
Texas A&M led the state among Caucasian
graduation rates with 77.24% receiving
diplomas
WILL LLOYD • THE BATTALION
SOURCE • TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION
COORDINATING BOARD
ter av;
lleged al-Qaida statement warns of attacks
as aval
entprit By Mohamed Khalifa
r with] THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
g
CAIRO, Egypt — An Internet
36 shoj statement signed by an al-Qaida
s. Gro*ell in Saudi Arabia warned
1\ mil 1 4onday that the terror network
so t 411 target Western airlines, mili-
ttendaJ ary bases and residential corn-
lion, 1 lounds and told Muslims to stay
million way from Westerners,
as hist The warning of attacks in “the
ig thetf iear future” appeared on a Web site
11,2(1 mown for posting messages from
nilitants, including the video in
inivertf diich a terror group with al-Qaida
inks executed Nicholas Berg, an
merican kidnapped in Iraq.
The authenticity of the state-
ent, signed “Al-Qaida on the
rabian Peninsula,” could not be
onfirmed. Al-Qaida uses the term
‘Arabian Peninsula” to refer to
audi Arabia because it rejects the
•re sevi]
;. Besif
flocked
isin in'
ogul
fficedj
rule of the Al Saud dynasty, after
whom the country is named.
A spokesman for the U.S.
Department of Homeland
Security, Brian Roehrkasse, said
“this particular threat appears to
be focused on Westerners in the
Arabian peninsula.”
“While al-Qaida has demon
strated its ability to attack
Westerners, there is no indication
from this information that al-
Qaida is currently targeting airlin
ers in the United States,”
Roehrkasse said.
The statement did not specify
that airline attacks would be limited
to Saudi Arabia — but suggested
that more attacks on Western targets
in the kingdom were imminent.
It warned that everything asso
ciated with “crusaders” — the
term used by militants for
Americans and Europeans —
While al-Qaida has
demonstrated its
ability to attack
Westerners, there is no
indication ...that
al-Qaida is currently
targeting airliners in
the United States.
— Brian Roehrkasse
spokesman,
Dept, of Homeland Security
including “compounds, bases and
means of transport, especially.
Western and American airlines,
will be the direct targets of our next
operations in the path of holy war
... especially in the near future.”
The world’s second-largest
travel firm, Carlson Wagonlit
Travel Inc., said such threats are
not new and the industry had
already upgraded its security.
“If in fact this is a legitimate
statement from al-Qaida, we are
certainly not going to change the
way we do business,” said Steve
Loucks, a spokesman for the
Plymouth, Minn.-based company.
“We definitely believe this gov
ernment is working to strengthen
and secure our skies.”
State Department deputy
spokesman Adam Ereli noted that
existing U.S. travel warnings call
attention to possible threats to
commercial aviation in Saudi
See al-Qaida on page 2
Scholarship promotes
diversity in education
By Carrie Pierce
THE BATTALION
In the early 20th century. Col. George W.
Brackenridge wanted to give young people the opportu
nity to advance themselves in their personal and profes
sional lives through higher education.
Brackenridge set up the Brackenridge Foundation,
which offers thousands of scholarship dollars to stu
dents each year, said Emily Thuss, a member of the
Brackenridge Foundation board of trustees.
This year, The Brackenridge Foundation has part
nered with Texas A&M to offer scholarships to two
incoming freshman, said Dale Suel, scholarship coordi
nator and teacher certification officer for the College of
Education and Human Development.
The scholarship is for students pursuing a teaching
certification from the College of Education who are
from San Antonio or Bexar County, said Mary
Ullmann, coordinator of the Foundation Excellence
Award Program. .
“(Brackenridge) has a particular interest in young
people who otherwise might not get a higher educa
tion,” Thuss said.
Brackenridge was president of the San Antonio
Water Works Company, president of a trust company,
director of the Express Publishing Company and presi
dent of the San Antonio school board, Thuss said. The
Foundation was his main form of philanthropy.
“Education was the interest of the whole family,”
Thuss said.
. Brackenridge’s sister, Eleanor, was the founder of
Texas Women’s College, Thuss said.
The Brackenridge Foundation Scholarships are
Foundation Excellence Award scholarships, which are
offered through the Texas A&M Foundation and are pri
marily need-based, Ullman said.
Ullman said there are currently 180 Foundation
Excellence Award scholarships granted each year. An
average of 800 students apply.
“The scholarship requires that students make a mini
mum 2.5 GPR,” Ullmann said.
The Brackenridge scholarships are designated for
students from underrepresented ethnic groups and are a
part of the One Spirit One Vision Campaign, Suel said.
“The program is designed to help promote diversity,”
See Scholarship on page 2