2The Battalion
olume 110 • Issue 174 • 6 pages
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
AGGIELIFE:
The road
less traveled
Page 5
wmv.thebatt.com
PACE DESIGN BY: RACHEL SMITH
ally Texan questions A&M business school rank
By Shawn C. Millender
THE BATTALION
Officials at Mays Business School are furious
ojer questions about its record being questioned
bj an article Monday in the University of Texas’
Iident newspaper, The Daily Texan.
■ Daily Texan writer Lomi Kriel questioned the
vdidity of the school’s ranking in April’s U.S
ws and World Report graduate school rankings.
Mays Business School earned 23rd place, the
same as UT's McCombs Business School.
Kriel said the rankings were suspect because re
cords of A&M’s graduate placement, which ranked
first in the country in job placement at graduation
and job placement three months after graduation,
were not made available to her.
A&M ranked 62nd and 74th, respectively, in the
same categories last year.
“But after outshining even schools such as Har
vard, A&M could not verify any of its data,” Kriel
wrote in the article. “An open records request
yielded figures that backed up UT’s 2003-2004 re
sults, but A&M officials said no such records exist
at their school.”
The Faculty Senate will hold a faculty/staff
meeting today to discuss the article and allegations
that the school embellished its records to score
high in the prestigious U.S. News rankings. The
meeting is set for 2 p.m. in Wehner 160.
“Honestly, this was an attempt by (Kriel) to
tarnish the image of our program,” said Associate
Dean for Masters Programs John Dinkel. “And I
consider it to be outrageous and unfounded.”
Dinkel said the article was an attempt by The
Daily Texan to deflect criticism directed toward
UT’s dismal placement record for 2003-2004.
Texas beat out only Penn State.
Graduate Business and Career Services director Jim
Dixie was directly quoted by Kriel as saying A&M did
not keep graduate employment placement records.
“1 have no clue what she’s talking about,” Dixie
said. “ 1 never told her we didn’t have the records.
She would be a good candidate to write for The
New York Times.”
Dixie said Kriel asked for records containing
students’ names, contact information, employer,
supervisor’s contact information, salaries and
bonuses. He said giving her access to the re
cords would constitute a violation of privacy and
See Rank on page 2
S to eliminate
'free parking
or select events
By Natalie Younts
THE BATTALION
■Texas A&M Transportation Services wants to elimi-
iir nate free parking for entertainment-related events on
T canpus, TS director Rodney Weis said.
■Previously, students attending Fish Camp were able
■ park for free on campus, but this August, a $5 Fish
r.RaMmp Parking Pass is needed for students who have
oe: m(purchased a semester-long permit.
I “We’re trying to be consistent,” Weis said Tuesday,
here is no free parking; everybody who uses the fa-
ities pays for the use of the facilities.”
Lacee Lynch, Fish Camp director and a senior in-
strial distribution major, said she is trying to be con-
lerate of TS' goals and policies.
“It’s just business, as far as TS making the freshmen
iy,” Lynch said. “(TS) is just trying to get by, just the
me as we are.”
Weis said most free parking has been eliminated
on campus.
, jjJjSome areas are still free at football games,” he said.
MDiereare discussions going on right now to change that.”
1 Eliminating free parking is good for students be-
puse it helps keep the cost down for parking per
ils, Weis said.
“We’re trying to expand our customer base so the
Iculty, staff and students don’t have to bear all the fi-
lincial burden of paying for facilities and maintaining
|cilities,” he said.
Michelle Harness, a freshman elementary education
ajor. said she will attend Fish Camp in August and
IT
Squeaky clean
mm
easli
m
See Parking on page 2
Still Creek Ranch intern Chelsie Kay loads a tray full of clean glasses at
the Faculty Club in Rudder Tower. Kay is helping a group of Still Creek
Ranch students coordinate a meal to celebrate the students’ graduation
BRIAN WILLS • THE BATTALION
from a six-week course with Chef Mike Chornyak where they practiced
planning meals by purchasing the ingredients and preparing the meal
from scratch.
to address
convocation
By Chelsea Sledge
THE BATTALION
I On Friday, Aug. 27, President Robert M. Gates will speak at a for
mal academic convocation. Gates will address the students, faculty
lid staff of Texas A&M in a state of the University address.
I Convocations are a traditional event in academic life. A&M re-es
tablished the practice of holding an academic convocation in 1997. It is
seen as a celebration of the year's success and a discussion of the Uni-
vrsity’s future. Prior to 1997, the last convocation was held in 1976.
I “1976 was the celebration of the Centennial for the University,”
I ancy Sawtelle, director of communications in the Office of the Vice
resident and Provost said. “Then, in 1997 we wanted to raise aware
ness of the academic mission and begin preparation for the 125th an-
nversary. The faculty and administration all felt it was a good focus
fbrthe University, and we have done it ever since (1997).”
Previously, convocations were held in October to coincide with
University’s opening in 1876. This year the decision was made
to hold convocation prior to the school year because 2004 does not
lark a significant anniversary for A&M. It also helps the University
ficus on fulfilling the mission of upcoming year, Sawtelle said.
I “Every chance I get I go hear Dr. Gates speak,” Sean Strong, a ju-
n or political science major, said. “He is by far one of the best speak-
e s I have ever heard and probably the greatest man at our University.
See Address on page 6
(resident Gates will speak at a formal academic convocation Aug.27
• Academic convocations are
celebrations of the past year's
successes and discussions of
the future
• Convocations have been a
rediscovered tradition at A&M
since 1997
• The convocation will begin
with an academic procession
at Cushing Library
• New faculty and newly
tenured and promoted faculty
will be recognized
Andrew Burleson • THE BATTALION
File Photo • THE BATTALION
Source: NANCY SAWTELLE, OFFICE OF THE VP AND PROVOST
NAACP says Austin police abuse black rights
By Jim Vertuno
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — This hip, easygoing col
lege city is generally regarded as one of the
most progressive communities in conserva
tive Texas. But some blacks believe a large
cultural divide dating to the Jim Crow-era
still exists, and they say tensions have been
enflamed by a string of police shootings of
black suspects in 2002 and 2003.
The shootings have led to weekly protests
and federal civil rights investigations.
“We talk a good case here, but we don’t
carry through on the promise of a city that
reflects all communities and cultures,”
said the Rev. Sterling Lands II, a civil
rights leader.
Police Chief Stan Knee has defended his
department and vowed to improve its rela
tions with minorities.
“We’ve had to rebuild some bridges,”
said Knee, who is white. “But we have con
struction well under way.”
Tensions peaked when the Austin Ameri-
can-Statesman ran a series of articles this
year that reported that between 1998 and
2003, police were twice as likely to use
force against blacks as they were against
whites, and 25 percent more likely to use
force against Hispanics than against whites.
During that period, 11 people, all but one of
them minorities, have died at the hands of
police. Some were shot, others were beaten.
“Those were the issues we had been
screaming about, but nobody paid attention
to them,” Lands said. “When reporters start
ed to look with diligence, all of a sudden,
now all the things came to the surface.”
The Justice Department, FBI and U.S.
Attorney’s Office are all conducting inves
tigations to determine if the shooting vic
tims’ civil rights were violated.
Police killings rile racial tensions
In Austin. Texas, between 1998 and 2003. 11 people died at tt*e
hands of police. All but one of them was a minority. The three most
recent slayings occurred in East Austin, the city's histoncatly black
neighborhood separated from the rest of Austin by Interstate 35.
Austin
X
TEXAS
Austi n *
v/'K
vf
East Austin 1
(unofficial) 1
10%
Black V : M
TT
6% Other
Police force
21%
Hispanic
Austin-
Bsfgstrum
1114
Block
City of Austin
29% 54%
Hispanic Whit©
66%
White
International
Airport
SOURCES £sn«. U S Census Bureau
The NAACP filed a complaint last month
with the Justice Department that outlined
other alleged civil rights abuses by officers
and requested that federal funds for the po
lice department be put on hold until those
cases were investigated.
Video shows hijackers passing screenings
By John Solomon and Ted Bridis
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Surveillance video from Washington Dulles
International Airport the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, shows four of
the five hijackers being pulled aside to undergo additional scrutiny
after setting off metal detectors but then permitted to board the fate
ful flight that crashed into the Pentagon.
The video shows an airport screener hand-checking the baggage
of one hijacker, Nawaf al-Hazmi, for traces of explosives before
letting him continue onto American Airlines Flight 77 with his
brother, Salem, a fellow hijacker.
The disclosure of the video comes one day before the release of
the final report by the Sept. 11 commission, which is expected to
include a detailed accounting of the events that day.
Details in the grainy video are difficult to distinguish. But an
earlier report by the commission describing activities at Dulles is
consistent with the men’s procession through airport security as
shown on the video.
No knives or other sharp objects are visible on the surveillance
video. But investigators on the commission have said the hijackers'
at Dulles were believed to be carrying utility knives either person
ally or in their luggage, which at the time could legally be carried
aboard planes.
All 58 passengers _ including the hijackers _ and six crew mem
bers, along with 125 employees at the Pentagon, died when the
flight crashed into the Pentagon at 9:39 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001.
The video shows hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Majed Mo-
qed, each dressed conservatively in slacks and collared shirts, set
ting off metal-detectors as they pass through security. Moqed set
off a second alarm, and a screener manually checked him with a
handheld metal detector.
The pair were known to travel together previously and had paid
cash to purchase their tickets aboard Flight 77 on Sept. 5, 2001, at
the American Airlines counter at Baltimore’s airport.
Al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi had been known to be associat
ed with al-Qaida since early 1999 by the National Security Agency,
and were put on a terrorism watch list on Aug. 24, 2001.
Only Hani Hanjour, believed to have been the hijacker who pi
loted Flight 77, did not set off a metal detector as he passed through
Dulles security that morning, according to the video.
Moments after Hanjour passed alone through the security check
point, wearing dark slacks and a short-sleeved shirt, the final two
hijackers, the al-Hazmi brothers, walked through the checkpoint.