The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, July 05, 2004, Image 2

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Monday, July 5, 2004
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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.
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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
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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.
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The Battalio
Joshua Hobson, Editor in Chief
The Battalion (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and sp#
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