5
AggieJ tryy^
THE BATTAU§ e BATTALION
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
ihingly strong-nj
tier incarceratioDl
.ancelot (loan (I
je could have rl
uffles that plotliiT
dministration proposing plan
open more forests to logging
Hot pepper
By Bob Pick
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OISE, Idaho — The Bush admin-
«tion Monday proposed lifting a na-
: The Saxons art
ir drums in the!.
ilk a tew more k*al rule that closed remote areas of
■onal forests to logging, instead say
h, like one bail states should decide whether to keep
Dthers are borinJ m on road-building in those areas,
irk that makes foil invironmentalists immediately criti-
; of characters.(I I ;d the change as the biggest timber
ds as handsome, % ustry giveaway in history.
(Ray Winstone), I Jnder the proposal, governors would
children, providl e to petition the federal government
I dock road-building in remote areas
he is no knightoijf lational forests. Allowing roads to be
flat on its face,! It would open the areas to logging,
gs to Guineverel The rule replaces one adopted by
f camera time,ail Clinton administration and still un-
( I challenge in federal court. It cov-
the body-pail
>r role in the sr|
:s. The real'
his ferocious Sat
dding script, a
ice that helps i
ers about 58 million of the 191 million
acres of national forest nationwide.
The Bush administration heralded the
plan as an end to the legal uncertainty
overshadowing tens of millions of acres
of America’s backcountry.
“Our actions today advance the Bush
administration’s commitment to co
operative conserving roadless areas,”
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman
said in announcing the plan in the Idaho
Capitol Rotunda.
Trust President Philip Clapp called
the administration proposal the biggest
giveaway to the timber industry in his
tory, arguing that many western states
would likely press for development to
help struggling rural economies.
“The idea that many governors
would want to jump head first into the
political snake pit of managing the na
tional forests in their states is laugh
able,” he said. “Besides, the timber
industry has invested heavily for years
in the campaigns of governors with the
largest national and state forests, giv
ing almost equally to Republicans and
Democrats.”
Under the proposal, the 58.5 million
acres designated as roadless among the
191 million acres of national forest will
be protected from development for an
other 18 months.
In 2006, each governor may submit
a proposal either to continue protecting
the roadless land or allow it opened to
multiple use. The federal government
would consider each state petition and
then issue a regulation determining the
extent of future roadless protection.
haron invites Labor Party into his coalition
presence is
ience may evemj
e once the am
s another uninsp
Gavin Rabinowitz
(HE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ERUSALEM — Prime
Inister Ariel Sharon on
nday invited the moderate
or Party into his shaky
E lition, and warned rebels
lis Likud Party that he’ll
early elections if they try
lock the partnership,
in alliance with Labor
Huld boost Sharon’s plan
lo withdraw from the Gaza
Strip and four isolated
ftst Bank settlements by
■05. Coalition hard-liners
■ve been trying to sabo
tage a pullback.
[Some sticking points
aain in coalition nego-
Itions, including wrangling
(er senior portfolios, partic-
rly the job of foreign min-
|er for Labor chief Shimon
res. Both sides said they
ipectadeal quickly.
The main threat to such a
union appears to be coming
from Likud hard-liners op
posed to a Gaza withdrawal
and senior Likud
ministers who,
fearing they’ll
lose their jobs,
have threatened
to stir a rebellion
in the party.
Sharon
warned Li
kud legislators
Monday that
he'll call early
elections if they
make good on
their threats.
He told the
legislators that he has no
choice but to expand the co
alition by bringing in Labor.
“But if you don’t want this
or that, we can go to elec
tions, that’s the way it is,”
Sharon said. “1 am saying
this in the clearest possible
way: This situation cannot
continue.”
The coalition talks were
held as U.S.
Mideast en
voys were
in the region
to discuss
the Gaza
withdrawal
plan. White
House offi
cials Elliot
Abrams and
Steve Had
ley were to
meet with
Palestin
ian Prime
Minister Ahmed Qureia on
Monday and with Sharon
on Tuesday, a U.S. Embassy
spokesman said.
Sharon and Peres met pri
vately for an hour Monday
morning. Both sides said the
If the Labor
Party enters the
coalition it will
bring a cancer into
the Likud.
— Uzi Cohen
Likud party member
talks had gone well.
“He gave me a formal in
vitation to enter into negotia
tions to create a government
including the Labor Party,”
Peres said at a meeting of
Labor lawmakers. The party
was expected to accept the
invitation on Tuesday, set
ting the stage for negotia
tions to begin.
Sharon turned to Labor,
which supports the Gaza
withdrawal, after facing
increasing opposition from
far-right coalition partners
and hard-liners in Likud.
Defections have deprived
him of his parliamentary
majority.
Many Likud hard-liners
still oppose the union. “If the
Labor Party enters the coali
tion it will bring a cancer into
the Likud,” said Uzi Cohen,
a member of the party’s pow
erful Central Committee.
Junior nutrition major Kristen
Anderson, left, and her sister Jenna
shop for Oriental Peppers at The Farm
EVAN O'CONNELL • THE BATTALION
Patch Monday afternoon. The Farm
Patch sells a variety of fresh flowers
and produce.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Al-Yawer issues
warning to insurgents
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Iraq’s interim pres
ident issued a warning Monday to guerrillas
who have killed hundreds of Iraqis, promis
ing to use a “very sharp sword” against any
one threatening the country's security.
The new Iraqi government has been
discussing offering a limited amnesty
to militants to put down the insurgency.
But it has also been talking increasingly
tough about those who keep carrying
out attacks.
“Terrorism isn't just killing and blowing
up bombs; whoever threatens the ordinary
life of the people is a terrorist,” President
Ghazi al-Yawer told reporters. “We have
a very sharp sword ready for anyone who
threatens the security of this country.”
Al-Yawer's words appeared carefully
chosen, reflecting a classical Arab sym
bol of might in the sword and threat
ening militants, some of whom have
beheaded hostages, with their own cho
sen weapon.
In a crackdown Monday night, dozens
of Iraqi police fanned out in the capital’s
Bab Alsheikh neighborhood, setting off
small gunbattles in which one suspect
was killed and two were wounded. Hun
dreds of people were detained.
ERSITY
FACULTt
TAFF-
DN TICKETS
11 Row & VIP seals]
> le discounts.)
J
i esc/
II u
IN!
HT
JULY 14
CETS!
3:30 PM -
discounts )
7:30 PM - .
- S4.00 ON TICKETS'I
Ringfing.ai
OX Office
sand handlingfeesmajiJf
venture*-
til® .,
Cambridge
college station
• heated resort style pool
* state-of-the-art fitness center
* 1st on TAMU shuttle route
• !€-station computer lab
• cyber lounge with Internet
* ultimate dining sente i
* 80 seat movie theater
* compute! desks
* microwaves
* frost-free refrigerators
1 game rooni
* multiple Telephone outlets
»in-room InternetIncLided
• 24-hour front desk
501 University Oaks
College Station
(979) 694*1500
toll free (800) 704-7099
apply online: www.cambridge-tamo.com
Take a Tour...
Receive a complimentary meal
for you d your family!!*
FOR NEW STUDENT CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS ONLY.
REDEEMABLE ONLY WITH COUPON.