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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2004)
2 it Monday, July 5, 2004 PIPeWOPKS TIP #s f* ^ ' p 4: w eveN IP thev know evepytHiN^ ON THE SU&OBCT, DO NOT 8<?IN<S 5MOKE85 TO PIPEWOPKS WAPE- HOUSES... ^ f y y - / by Will Uoy^ First piece of Freedom Tower put in place By Amy Westfeldt THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK —A 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed to honor “the enduring spirit of freedom,” was laid Sunday at the World Trade Center site as the cornerstone of the skyscraper that will replace the destroyed towers. The ceremony marked the start of construction on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, designed as a twisting glass and steel tower that evokes the Statue of Liberty, including a 276-foot spire resembling her torch. Gov. George E. Pataki said he chose July 4 to begin rebuilding to show that the terrorists who attacked New York on Sept. 11, 2001, didn’t destroy America’s faith in freedom. “How badly our enemies underestimated the resiliency of this city and the resolve of these United States,” Pataki said. “In less than three years, we have more than just plans on paper — we place here today the cornerstone, the foundation of a new tower.” The cornerstone put in place Sunday is garnet- flecked granite from the Adirondack Mountains. Garnet is the New York state gemstone. It is inscribed: “To honor and remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and as a tribute to the enduring spirit of freedom. — July Fourth, 2004.” Among the several hundred people at the ceremony were rela tives of some of the people killed in the ten orist attack. The 13-year- old son of a police officer killed on Sept. 11 read portions of the Declaration of Independence. “It’s a new beginning,” said John Foy, whose mother-in-law was killed. “We all need to move on and rise above this.” The stone and its inscription will eventually disappear from view, as crews work over the next year to remove ruins of a parking garage and shore up the 70-foot-deep foundation before building the Freedom Tower above street level. Parts of the parking garage will go to a storage hangar at John F. Kennedy International Airport for historic preservation. Completion of the Freedom Tower is scheduled for 2009, and trade center leaseholder Larry Silverstein has plans to build four more towers between 2009 and 2015. Also planned for the site are a rail hub, a memorial that trans forms the twin towers’ footprints into reflecting pools, and cultural space including several small theaters. At 1,776 feet, a height meant to evoke the year of America’s independence, the Freedom Tower will be the tallest skyscraper in the world, organizers say. The current tallest building is the 1,676-foot-tall Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, which includes a mall, office space and an observatory. It was com pleted in October with the installation of a pinnacle atop the 101-story building. The highest freestand ing tower remains the CN Tower, a 1,815-foot com munications structure and outlook point in Toronto. The 110-story World Trade Center towers were 1,350 feet tall. Critics have questioned whether all five towers of the Trade Center complex will be built, espe cially after a jury verdict this year cut the insurance proceeds Silverstein is seeking to pay for the development from a possible $7 billion to a maximum of $4.5 billion. Silverstein still hasn’t signed an anchor tenant for the Freedom Tower, but said he has more than enough money to complete it with insurance proceeds. He has said he will use “traditional financing methods” to pay for the rest of the development. How badly our en emies underestimated the resiliency of this city and the resolve of these United States. — George E. Pataki New York governor Job security tool for teachers gets scrutiny By Ben Feller THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — The decades-old tra dition of tenure protects teachers, often frus trates principals and has even surfaced as an issue in the presidential campaign. Now tenure itself is under review. Tenure guarantees that public school teachers who have this protection cannot be fired without legitimate cause and due process, perhaps even a court hearing. Almost every state provides tenure in some fomi. Yet with federal law requiring schools to have a top teacher for every core class, more administrators are questioning whether tenure keeps them from getting rid of even a small number of instructors who just are not good enough in the classroom. Democrat John Kerry, the presidential candidate favored by education unions, wants to make it easier for schools to act quickly against poor teachers, provided that educa tors are protected from baseless firings. To teachers, tenure is a coveted and often misunderstood right — not a lock on a life time job, but assurance of fair treatment, including intervention for teachers who may be struggling to reach students. “It’s protection against the false accusa tions, against politically trumped up charges, against people who insist you must teach a certain way or risk getting fired,” said Penny Kotterman, a special education teacher and president of the Arizona affiliate of the National Education Association. She spoke during a group interview Sunday with The Associated Press during the NEA’s annual meeting. Tenure is most associated with colleges and universities, where prospective profes sors earn it by compiling a rigorous record of research, teaching and service. In the kindergarten through high school world, it is typically granted to teachers after two to five years of at least solid per formance in a district, although debate con tinues over its value as a sign of quality. Most principals and superintendents say tenure does not mean teachers have proved themselves to be very good, and many teach ers agreed with that point in polls by the non partisan Public Agenda research group. But Kotterman said that is off the mark. Tenure, she said, is meant mainly as an assurance of fair review, while certification and regular evaluation of teachers are indi cators of quality. In the polls, most teachers said tenure protects them from district politics and los ing their jobs to newcomers who could be hired for less. David Sanchez, a kindergarten teacher from Burlingame, Calif., said tenure has helped teachers who were being pushed out of jobs in retaliation for union activity. Charles Hasse, a fourth-grader teacher and president of the Washington Education Association, said tenure helps because schools have fewer people in supervisory roles than many employers, making “the opportunity for misjudg- ments much greater.” School administrators, who are often for mer teachers, say they understand the point of tenure. But they say it can lead to frustrat ing delays in replacing poor teachers, lead ing some administrators to give up trying. Showers Continued from page 1 Library Continued from page 1 the Horticulture Hall of Fame. While earning his master’s in ento mology, Showers met former University System Chancellor Perry Adkisson, who thought highly of Showers. “Wayne was just a prince of a man; he was dedicated to his family, his community and active at state com modity groups,” Adkisson said. “He was always in good humor and (had) a very positive outlook.” Anyone wishing to make a contri bution is urged to direct it to the Reba and Wayne Showers ’53 Sul Ross scholarship fund for the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets through the Texas A&M Foundation. would do what was necessary to support the library with a site, funding and commitments to academic programs. “It simply was an early statement of will ingness and desire to encourage the president to consider putting his library at the campus,” Nye said. Nye said that so far, no progress has been made towards the board’s goal of housing the library at A&M. “There is no action, no activity ... nothing that we could report,” Nye said. The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum officially opened in November 1997. The White House announced in May 1991, more than a year before the next presidential election, that former President Bush had selected A&M as the site, according to the Bush Library. Nye and Jackson said that housing two presidential libraries would set A&M apart from any other university. “To have the two libraries co-located on the campus would be a wonderful combina tion,” Nye said. Anthis said that already having one presi dential library established would hurt A&M’s chances of getting another one. “I think (getting another library) it’s highly unlikely,” Anthis said, “We already have one.” Nye and Jackson said that Southern Methodist University and Baylor University have also expressed strong interest in housing the library. The University of Texas at Austin and the city of Arlington have also reportedly expressed interest. LARGE 2 BEDROOM APARTMENTS Bedroom $ 449 Bedroom $ 499 1 BEDROOM STUDIOS with washer/dryer connection Witness Center "Outside Storage "Walk-In Closets Sparkling Pool "Shuttle Route "24 Hour Maintenance Visit us & check for yourself! springheights.com 409 Summer Court, C.S. 846-3569 Free Rent Or Special Rates (979) 693-3701 I 700 Southwest Parkway M Apart Apartments Celebration Continued from page 1 South said. “So we can all stop and see the blessings of free dom we have.” Enjoying his first July Fourth at the library was specialist Charles Tucker of the Army national guard. The 11 -year vet eran candidly explained he enlisted before graduating high school because he “looked good in the uniform.” “This is fantastic,” Tucker said between mouthfuls of THE BATTA watermelon. “The en ment is great and the excellent.” Tucker said the activity in the Middle East I the only thing that make.| Fourth of July special. “Every Fourth has meaning because of itsi cance,” Tucker said. “E also the one-month anniwj of President Reagan’s ( “I’m just enjoyingbeid here at another f[ President’s library withirl low soldiers partaking ii[ great atmosphere.” NEWS IN BRIEF Warehouse owner builds new facility after explosion LONGVIEW, Texas (AP) - A year after his father and two other peo ple were killed in an East Texas fireworks warehouse explosion, Joe Lamb is back in the pyrotech nics business. Lamb is building a new fireworks storage facility in rural Upshur County that he calls safer than the old structure. He already has con ducted several fireworks shows. Marvin Lamb and several employ ees were working in the fireworks warehouse near Kilgore on July 3, 2003, when witnesses outside the building reported hearing a loud popping sound followed by a series of explosions. The fiery blasts tore through the metal warehouse. Marvin Lamb, 70, was killed, along with Martin Donner, 58, a longtime aviation professor at LeTourneau University, and Melinda Edmundson, 25. The explosion was ruled an accident, possibly started by static electricity. Lamb's new storage site is more than a mile away from the nearest home, the Longview News-Journal reported. Explosives already are at the site, said a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which regulates fireworks. Continental rejec flight benefit for gay partners HOUSTON (AP) - As Continental Airlines flightafe is challenging the airline'si to allow his same-sex par use his spousal travel passs David Lee married i Vaillancourt on April 1 inCi which began recognizingja tials in 2003. That didn’t matter t Houston-based airline wte asked that Vaillancourt beS to use his spousal travel pas received after taking earl) ment in 1989. “I am sorry to have tom your request," wrote Mitchell, a human resourc- cial at Continental. "The sions of the Early Out to signed specifically do not same-sex travel companion; The flight privilege indue; travel passes that allow the: employee and a spouse tc together. The carrier said! its definition of “spouse"fre Internal Revenue Service. However, the carrier alb) rent workers to name a sa - ; partner on such passes.T'l shared by Dallas-based Sc.L Airlines, applies only to rets G ers, i Kat> find didn Barb but ii glovt than “I basel put a need< him 1 back' A team leyba but r and f softb said with tions A&1V home broth A&1V with i Af Doyb misse in he her v attenc was i knew Marine Continued from page I attempts (to win his release) and by last night the group about to behead him or had already beheaded him.” The U.S. military in Baghdad said it was checking inif claim of Hassoun’s death but had no confirmation. In its statement Sunday on its official Web site, Ansar al-Sunna Army — which has taken responsi for suicide bombings and other attacks in the past-s: it had nothing to do with the claim of Hassoun’s slay; the day before. “In order to maintain our credibility in all issues declare that this statement that was attributed to us has: basis of truth,” it said. It added that “any statement that is not issued through: site doesn’t represent us.” In West Jordan, Utah — where Hassoun lived with hist est brother Mohammed after moving to the United States the early 1990s — relatives were in seclusion since the pc ing of the death report Saturday. A telephone message left early Sunday morning at: home of Mohammed Hassoun was not immediately return: On Saturday, Shuaib-Ud Din, the imam at Khatfe mosque in nearby West Valley City, met with Hassoun’sfi ily members for about 15 minutes at their home, where: yard had been decorated in recent days by about two dot flags put up by Boy Scouts. Hassoun, fluent in Arabic, French and English, was set ing the Marines as a translator in his second stint in Iraqis! he was captured. The original claim of Hassoun’s abduction was issuei; the name of “Islamic Response,” the security wing oft “National Islamic Resistance - 1920 Revolution Brigade rather than the Ansar al-Sunna Army. On June 27, the Arab television station Al-JazeerabroL cast a videotape showing Hassoun blindfolded, alongw:: statement from militants threatening to kill him unless: United States releases all Iraqis in “occupation jails.” Since Hassoun’s capture, his father, Ali Hassoun,*: lives in Tripoli, repeatedly has pleaded for his son’s refe saying he was not involved in the fight against Iraqi resists groups. He and his other sons had contacted politiciansi' Muslim clerics in Lebanon and Islamist groups in Iraq hopes of securing the Marine’s release. Mt sure tl away Af late fc and B grand 18-3 r “1 they d days,” said. ‘ up for Tei Kevin his c Sorian Range series runs it Tex Silver the set year’s the Rt winth Tei: The Battalio Joshua Hobson, Editor in Chief The Battalion (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and sp# ters and Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam|i Texas A&M University. 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