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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 19, 2004)
s Tti )ltimc 110 • Issue 171 • 6 pages stronaut By Chelsea Sledge THE BATTALION (Astronaut Peggy Whitson spoke in front of a :liwd of 150 people on Thursday evening at the George Bush Presidential Library. To commem- Dflite the Bush Library Issues Forum’s “Year of the Woman,” Dr. Peggy Whitson spoke about \lmen in aviation and space. She also spoke al>ut her experiences living on the International Sp ice Station for six months. Astronaut is one of the rarest titles in all of humanity,” said Douglas Menarchik, li- bliry director. “It is one of the most blessed t[t es in history, and we are fortunate to have iTitson) here.” Battalion A Texas A&IW Tradition Since 1893 OPINION: Steps toward Democracy Page 5 www.thebatt.com PACE DESIGN BY: RACHEL SMITH seeks return to space Whitson is one of seven women in the world who has walked in space. She was a member of the Expedition-5 crew that launched on June 5, 2002. Whitson returned to Earth Dec. 7, 2002 — logging almost 185 days in space. For six months, Whitson lived in the Interna tional Space Station with two Russian cosmo nauts. They performed experiments on pulmo nary functions, such as lung capacity, and effects of zero gravity on the cardiovascular system. Also, Whitson grew soy beans in space while her father was growing them on Earth simulta neously. The three astronauts were so happy to see green life in space that Whitson had to hide the soy beans from one of the cosmonauts so he wouldn’t eat them, Whitson said. “The (cosmonauts) cut me a lot of slack even though they have many prejudices against wom en,” Whitson said. “I was an American woman and they said, ‘She’s smart. She can do this.’ I became good friends with them during that time, and we still interact today on a very personal and regular basis.” Whitson had the opportunity to go on a space walk during her time on the space station. Held only by a mechanical arm, she was 40 feet away from anything. “It was the most incredible sensation,” Whit son said. “It was dark and then the sun came up. I will always remember seeing the station light up (at sunrise).” Whitson said she didn’t get tired of her two See Astronaut on page 2 Evan O'Connell • THE BATTALION Astronaut Peggy Witson (right) answers questions about space flight Friday night at the George Bush Presidential Library. Giddy ‘up cowgirl Citelena Cowgirls, Jessica from Houston (right) and Jennifer J. from Conroe, County Rodeo Arena on Tabor Road. Hundreds were entertained by bullriders, Iwiit with their horses before their performance this weekend at the opening of the bucking broncos and rodeo clowns during the rodeo, sponsored by the Bryan ■rd Annual Bryan Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association Rodeo at the Brazos Breakfast Lions Club. Controversy escalates over offensive T-shirts By Shawn C. Millender THE BATTALION When Aggie Democrats former president Nick An- this went to New York Sub to investigate rumors about an offensive T-shirt being sold there, he had no idea what to think. “It was much worse than I expected,” Anthis said. “They were very rude and unapologetic about it.” The controversy centers around a T-shirt the res taurant is selling for $9. It features an image of an el ephant mounting a donkey on the breast pocket with the phrase “F#(a)k John Kerry” on the back. “The front of the shirt insinuates rape when taken in context with the back of the shirt,” Anthis said. “The owner claimed it wasn’t, but that’s what I saw. New York Sub has hurt the community by alienating (Dem ocrats). It’s inexcusable.” Senior construction science major Seth Stewart started working at New York Sub in September. He said Anthis’ allegations are groundless. “That’s ridiculous, for someone to even say that. Nothing is funny about rape. At all,” Stewart said. New York Sub owner Austin Harkness said the idea for the shirt started with some employees who wanted to display their political affiliation at work. He said the original designs weren’t up to the offi cial dress code because the curse word on the back wasn’t blanked out. “We have liberal employees who are invited to make up any pro-Kerry or anti-Bush shirt as long as it’s up to dress code,” Harkness said. See T-shirt on page 2 ew version of LoveGate Ipreads through networks its By Lacy Ledford THE BATTALION m I GOT NORMS! New versions of the 2003 LoveGate jorm have been discovered. LoveGate, wl ich spreads through e-mail and network aring, also contains a backdoor program it enables hackers to access infected com- jters and replace application files with cop- of the worm. Computing Information Services Help sk student worker Justin Carter said stu- jnts may avoid getting such worms by not ^ding e-mail from unknown senders. “They should also use a Windows firewall |d keep virus protection software on their puter,” Carter said. Another worm prevention measure itching Internet browsers. Blocker Computer Lab associate Jonathan illips said, “A lot of worms are written Ith Internet Explorer in mind. Using a dif- Vl feient browser like Mozilla or Netscape can ■uce your chances of getting a worm.” ■However, if your computer does become ■ected with a worm, A&M provides soft- OS »ie to assist students in removing it from Jir computers. “You can go to any open access lab and y a TAMU scan and remove disk,” Phil 's said. Carter said the. scan and remove disk tects against almost every virus, al- --- though it may not be updated to the most 'litecent versions. |•J■“We also advise students to download linger anti-virus tools,” Carter said. Interim Associate Provost for Information Jchnology Pierce Cantrell recommends forming Microsoft Windows updates to ect critical threats. In response to past problems with infect- computers, A&M personnel have taken ventative measures to protect computers Several new versions of the "LoveGate" computer worm have been discovered. Students should take these steps to keep their computers worm and virus- free. Do not read e-mails from unknown senders Use a Windows firewall and virus protection software Change browser to Mozilla or Netscape If infected, Texas A&M provides software to assist students in removing worms Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION Source: JONATHAN PHILLIPS, BLOCKER COMPUTER LAB from similar encounters. “In residence halls last fall, a lot of stu dents brought in brand new computers that weren’t security patched, hooked them up to the network, and the computers got infected within about thirty seconds,” Cantrell said. To combat this, boxes that contain sig natures for certain types of viruses were in stalled in front of each residence hall. The signatures can be continually updated to pre pare for new worms and viruses. “If a signature for one of these infections See LoveGate on page 2 A&M professor earns 'Rip Rapp’ award By Joanna M. Jemison THE BATTALION Avid archaeologist and Texas A&M anthropology professor Dr. Michael Waters received a nod from the Geological Society of America. The organization awarded Waters with the “Rip Rapp Archaeological Geology Award” which recognizes Waters’ outstanding continued con tribution to the interdisciplinary field WATERS of archaeological geology. The award is named for archaeological geology pio neer George “Rip” Rapp. Rapp was the primary in dividual responsible for bringing the Archaeological Geology Division to the GSA. Waters is also the associate director for the Center for the Study of the First Americans and author of the av idly used geoarchaeology text “The Principles of Geo archaeology: A North American Perspective,” which he wrote in 1992. Waters has traveled across the globe to participate in several archaeological field projects in Yemen, Jamaica, Russia and Mexico. For the layman, Waters describes the field of geo archaeology as the field for applying geosciences and archaeological research questions. Waters’ research involves investigating late prehistoric ar chaeological sites and relating them to the chang es in landscape to discover the origins of the first Americans. After receiving his doctorate in geosciences from the University of Arizona, Waters received several endowments from the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society to fund his re search in geoarchaeology, the field in which he is known for his expertise. “Because of the accumulated contributions to the See Award on page 2 Palestinians burn office in protest By Lara Sukhtian THE ASSOCIATED PRESS RAMALLAH, West Bank — Militants sacked and burned Pales tinian government offices Sunday, the latest sign of growing anger over Yasser Arafat’s decision to reach into his old guard and choose a loyal ist relative as his new security chief. A confrontation was brewing between Arafat — reluctant to yield significant power — and Pal estinian militants, including some of Arafat’s own officers. They are demanding deep reforms and new faces, Palestinian analysts said. The divide between the two sides centered on the appointment of Moussa Arafat, Arafat’s cousin, as the new head of Palestinian se curity. Many Palestinians rejected him as a symbol of corruption and cronyism, propelling long-held dissatisfaction into the open. Dozens of masked gunmen marched through the Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza after sundown Sunday, chanting, “No to Moussa Arafat, yes to reform.” In the Rafah refugee camp, gun men exchanged fire with guards at preventive security headquarters and attempted to break into the complex with a bulldozer. The guards wound ed three attackers, but there were no casualties to the security forces, per sonnel at the building said. A Palestinian freelance re porter on assignment for Reuters was shot in the leg during the Rafah firefight and was in stable condition at a hospital, a Reuters staffer said. The internal Palestinian unrest was the most serious in more than a year. In 2003, protests against cor ruption forced Arafat to promise reforms and appoint a new govern ment, led by Mahmoud Abbas. He resigned after only four months. The turmoil came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon planned to withdraw from Gaza next year, intensifying a struggle for power and influence among the various Palestinian factions.