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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2004)
| Monday, July 5,2004 The Battalion SPORTS: Katy Doyle grabs gold at championship Page 5 V ohmic I 10 • Issue IM • 0 pages A lev as INI Tradition Since IK 1 )* w u Ilich.UI < 0111 PACE DESIGN BY: RACHEL VALENCIA B-CS celebrates Independence Day By Shawn C. Millender THE BATTALION ,1 vm w. fa P. f The soggiest summer in recent memory gave way July 4 to bright, sunny skies for The Lions Club’s annual Fourth of July celebration at the George Bush Presidential Library. “We’ve been doing this for 44 years,” said Lions Club past president David Jones. Celebrations have been held at the library for five years after many years at Olsen Field. Entertainment this year included several vocalists and Texas Country band, Texas High Life. Elvis impersonator Jason Adams preceded the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Marcelo Bussiki, which accompanied the night’s fireworks display. Jones said the celebrations get better every year. “It’s certainly drier than it was last year,” Jones said. “It’s kind of ironic in that. But we have a lot more experience doing it out here.” The Lions Club does a lot of fund raising throughout the year. “This is the big one,” Jones said. “A lot of people help make this go: businesses, the city of College Station and of course the library. It’s not just us out here.” Jones said this year’s holiday has special sig nificance. “It takes on a lot more meaning since we’re at war,” Jones said. “The Fourth makes people stop and reflect on what we’ve been given. America has a lot to be thankful for, and this is the time to celebrate that.” Aggie broadcaster Dave South emceed the event again this year. He said the holiday is one of his favorites. “I love my country. I think it was a blessing to be born here,” South said. “Every July Fourth, since I was a little boy, I’ve always been to some sort of celebration.” South said he enjoys interacting with people at events like this one. “I like to see the people - the kids, the par ents, the veterans - come out and celebrate,” See Celebration on page 2 , D.C. since !• Al inn aL patior "‘AffiA'v •tyj, x*v<-vv<- ati Alejandra Martinez • THE BATTALION Alejandra Martinez • THE BATTALION The College Station Noon Lions Club hosted its 44th Entertainment included an Elvis impersonator, a petting Elvis impersonator Jason Adams performs at the Fourth of July celebration at the George Bush Presidential annual "I Love America" Fourth of July celebration at zoo, free watermelon, the Brazos Valley Symphony Library Sunday. Adams graduated from A&M Consolidated High School, served in the Marine Corps and the George Bush Presidential Library Sunday. Orchestra and a fireworks display. has performed in Las Vegas. reck takes life of Aggie; baby in fair condition By Brian D. Cain THE BATTALION lo the! Kara Lyn Grothues, a senior economics major, died Friday in an automobile accident in south razos County. Grothues was traveling to Houston on State Highway 6 at about noon on Friday when she lost control of her Dodge Stratus as she turned to tend to her 18-month-old baby Cassandra Boyd riding in the backseat, according to a police report. Sheila Swan, a communications supervisor who works for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the vehicle hit a tree and burst into flames. “The woman and the baby were lifeflighted to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. The woman died but the baby arrived in critical condi tion with head injuries,” Swan said. Amy Berryman, operations administrator for Memorial Hermann Hospital, said Boyd had improved over the weekend. “She’s (the baby) still here, but now she’s in fair condition. Her vitals have been stable and she’s awake and alert,” Berryman said. “She rec ognizes family members when they walk into the room. She’s getting much better.” Berryman said it is too early to tell if the head trauma may have caused any permanent damage. “It’s hard to say at this point,” Berryman said. “Hopefully the baby will be fine, but you never know.” Grothues donated her organs to Lifegift, an organ and tissue donation service. former regent dies of cancer at 71 By Shawn C. Millender THE BATTALION Former Texas A&M Board of Regents ice Chairman Wayne Showers died of can- r last Monday at the age of 71. Showers graduated from A&M in 1953 ith a degree in horticulture before earning 5 master’s degree from A&M in entomol- y. He served on the Board of Regents >m 1987 to 1993. Funeral services were held Thursday at alvary Baptist Church in his hometown of McAllen. Showers was laid to rest at Roselawn Cemetery. Showers was instru mental in shaping the changing face of A&M. He helped to develop the horticulture department, the newly accredited School of Rural Public Health and the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center at A&M. He worked closely with Dean and Vice Chancellor for Agriculture and Life SHOWERS Sciences Ed Hiler. "He was always a very optimistic person who was extremely supportive of all of us; certainly of me," Hiler said. "He was a leader in the fruit and vegetable industry." Showers also served as vice president of the Association of Former Students and was president of fruit and vegetable producer Griffin & Brand for 32 years. He was named a Distinguished Texan in Agriculture in 2003 and was inducted into Iraqi militants deny beheading Marine By Hussein Dakroub THE ASSOCIATED PRESS See Showers on page 2 sai^ &M to house next Bush Library, Regents hope By Natalie Younts THE BATTALION Depending on whether President ■flush gets re-elected this November, I he could designate the location of his ^ presidential library this fall or in ffi: four years. wM Whatever the outcome of the election, the Texas A&M Board of I Regents is hoping that when his term does end, he will pick Texas ■&M, said Erie Nye, vice chairman 1 of the board. I Nye said the board made a pro- flesal at the time of Bush’s inaugura- ;t|bn in January 2001. IS* 1 ® “-\y e tr j ec j t0 g et j t positioned on ,, his desk when he arrived in the White w House,” Nye said. I I Nick Anthis, 2003-04 president of the Texas Aggie Democrats and a slnior biochemistry major, said housing Bush’s library would be a stigma for A&M. “Bush the second is going to go down in history as one of our worst presidents,” Anthis said. “I don’t think that’s anything A&M would want to be associated with.” John Jackson, chairman of the A&M College Republicans and a senior political science major, said that another presidential library would benefit students. “(Former President Bush’s) library has offered so many opportunities for A&M students to have different heads of state and important world leaders come to campus,” Jackson said. “I think another library at A&M would really increase that.” Nye said the 2001 proposal was to let the president know that the regents LIBRARY II? Texas A&IVTs Board of Regents hopes that George W. Bush will pick Texas A&M University as the site for his presidential library. o A&M would be the only university with two presidential libraries © The announcement will depend on whether or not Bush is re-elected Q The board made a proposal in 2001 at the time of Bush's inauguration BEIRUT, Lebanon — A militant group denied on Sunday that it killed U.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, injecting hope into his family’s tense wait for news. The fate of the Lebanese-born Marine remains unknown, though Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry says he is believed dead. The denial from the Ansar al-Sunna Army came a day after a statement in the group’s name announced that Hassoun had been beheaded. The Ansar al-Sunna said Sunday they didn’t issue the statement, leaving it unclear if the 24-year-old was killed by another group or was still alive. “The denial gave us a big relief,” Hassoun’s brother, Sami, told The Associated Press by telephone from the northern city of Tripoli, where some of Hassoun’s relatives live. But with conflicting reports and no hard evidence, the fam ily remained afraid for Wassef’s life and was still reeling from the possibility he had been beheaded. “We are hoping that good news will come later tonight that Wassef is alive, God willing,” Sami Hassoun said. He renewed his appeal to the kidnappers to release his brother. The report that Wassef Hassoun had been killed came Saturday in a message posted on Islamic radical Web sites, signed by the Ansar al-Sunna Army in Qaim, a hotbed of guer rilla activity on Iraq’s border with Syria. That name was dif ferent from the one given in the statement that originally announced Hassoun’s abduction a week ago. The Lebanese Foreign Ministry announced Sunday that it had independent information from Baghdad that he had been killed. But after strongly condemning the death Sunday, Foreign Minister Jean Obeid later said news of the death “was not official.” Obeid said the Lebanese charge d’affaires in Baghdad was “in contact with some forces that have indirect links to the (kidnappers), and these forces say they lost hope in all See Library on page 2 Will Lloyd • THE BATTALION Source: ERLE NYE, VICE CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF REGENTS See Marine on page 2 ———————H——MM—