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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2004)
<v Thursday, September 2, 2004 AGGIELIFE: Texas country artist to head up Bryan concert Saturday Page 3A Volume 111 • Issue 5 • 16 pages A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893 ^ww.theban.com PACE DESIGN BY: JEFFERSON LOTSPEICH Prosecutors, accuser drop case against Bryant By Jon Sarche THE ASSOCIATED PRESS EAGLE, Colo. The criminal case against Kobe Bryant case collapsed Wednesday as pros ecutors said they had no choice but to drop the sexual assault charge because the NBA star's ac cuser no longer wanted to participate. Bryant, whose trial had been days from open ing arguments, responded with an apology to the woman who had accused him and whose civil suit for damages is still pending. “Although 1 truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way 1 did,” Bryant said. "1 now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.” With the parents of the 20-year-old alleged vic tim looking on. District Judge Terry Ruckriegle threw out the case under a deal that means no charges will be refiled. Neither Bryant nor his ac cuser was in the courtroom. The dismissal marks a stunning turn in the high- BRYANT profile case against one of the NBA’s brightest young stars. For months, prosecutors had insisted they had a strong enough ease to win a conviction beyond a rea sonable doubt. Instead, prosecutors backed away just days before opening statements were scheduled to begin on Tuesday. Jury selection was scheduled to wrap up this week. District Attorney Mark Hurlbert told Ruckriegle the woman did not want to testify or otherwise par ticipate in the trial. Outside the courthouse, Hurlbert said the deci sion to drop the case “is not based upon a lack of belief in the victim — she is an extremely credible and an extremely brave young woman.” “Our belief in her has not wavered over the past year ... Ultimately, we respect her decision 100 percent,” Hurlbert said. Bryant said the civil case against him “will be decided by and between the parties directly in volved in the incident and will no longer be a fi nancial or emotional drain on the citizens of the state of Colorado.” “1 also want to make it clear that 1 do not ques tion the motives of this young woman,” Bryant said. “No money has been paid to this woman. She has agreed that this statement will not be used against me in the civil case.” The woman’s attorney, John Chine, said the al leged victim has been through an extremely dif ficult time since she alleged she was raped, and that she was disturbed by a series of courthouse mistakes that included the release of her name and medical history. The woman has been the subject of death threats and relentless media coverage. “It is her sincere belief that when this case ends, she does not want to be brought back into the criminal process,” Clune said. “The difficulties that this case has imposed on this woman the past year are unimaginable.” Bryant, 26, the married father of a 19-month-old daughter, has said he had consensual sex with the then-19-year-old employee of a Vail-area resort where he stayed last summer. Had he been con victed, the Los Angeles Lakers star would have faced four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation and a fine up to $750,000. Bryant apologized to the victim “for my behav ior that night and for the consequences she has suf fered in the past year.” “Although this year has been incredibly difficult for me personally, 1 can only imagine the pain she has had to endure,” said Bryant, who also apolo gized to her family, his family and friends and the citizens of Eagle. Legal experts said a series of court rulings hurt the prosecution’s case, including a decision allow ing the woman’s sex life in the days surrounding her encounter with Bryant to be admitted as evi dence. This was expected to bolster the defense contention that she slept with someone after leav ing Bryant and before she went to a hospital exam a potentially key blow to her credibility. The pending civil case could allow defense at torneys to argue the woman had a financial motive to accuse Bryant of assault. Cheney, Miller assail Kerry as protests continue By David Espo THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK - Vice President Dick Cheney unleashed a sting ing attack on Sen. John Kerry' Wednesday night, ridiculing him as a politician who has made a career out of changing his mind. “More wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any other national figure,” agreed Sen. Zell Miller, a Democratic keynoter at the Republican National Convention. “As a war protester. Kerry blamed our military,” said the Georgia senator in a fiery speech that drew repeated ovations- from the GOP delegates in the hall. “As a senator, he voted to weaken our military.” The vice president hailed President Bush as a “superb commander in chief’ who has helped restore the economy since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and w ill lead the nation to victory in the war on ter ror. Bush “does not deal in empty threats and halfway measures,” Cheney said in a prime-time speech at the convention podium deliv ered to a nationwide television audience. Kerry spokesman Joe Lockhart instantly accused Republicans of “slash-and-burn politics” and said it won’t work. “Dick Cheney and Zell Miller looked like angry and grumpy old men,” he said. Republicans launched their double-barreled attack on Bush’s Democratic opponent as the president campaigned his way into the See Protests on page 2A Delegates cheer as the nomination of President Bush is made official during the fourth session of the Republican Na tional Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York on GREGORY BULL • THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Wednesday. Vice President Dick Cheny and Sen. Zen Miller spoke out against presidential candidate John Kerry at the convention. Collegiate Readership Program returns to Texas A&M campus By Jibran Najmi THE BATTALION Due to the success of its four-week trial run in March, the Collegiate Readership Program has re turned to Texas A&M this year. The program provides free Monday through Friday issues of The Dallas Morning News, The New York Times, The Houston Chronicle and USA Today to all A&M students at nine on-campus locations. “Our goal is to give students access to these national papers all year around, so that ultimate ly they can apply the things they learn in class to the things that are happening in the world around them,” said Chris Diem, executive vice president for the Student Government Association and the coordinator for the Readership Program. Students can access the newspapers by swip ing their student ID cards in the newly placed ma chines, which will ensure that only students are taking the papers. “1 want to stress the fact that the machines do not charge your ID or take off AggieBucks,” Diem said. “It’s exactly like accessing your dorm — it just proves that you are a student and that the pa pers are going to the right people.” The Collegiate Readership program is made possible through contracts with several national newspapers that provide the papers to universities at reduced prices. The Division of Student Affairs covers the costs of the program, and thus is provided to students at no charge. Diem stressed that no stu dent service fees were used to fund the program. Feedback from the student body has been positive. “I’m really excited that the Readership Program is coming back this year, as it brings me news that 1 would not usually go out of my way to get,” said Ronetha Williams, a junior political science major. Josh McFarland, a junior biomedical sciences major, said the program will open the eyes of many students to world events and issues. “There are many Aggies who are very passion ate about many different issues, but they don’t re ally know enough about them to have an intelligent discussion,” McFarland said. David Jarrard, a junior accounting major, said he never took part in the program last semester be cause he had already subscribed to a newspapers. He said he will continue to read newspapers See Readership on page 2A Task force suspended Suspension to make way for investigation By Jibran Najmi THE BATTALION The Presidential Task Force, appointed by Texas A&M President Robert M. Gates to investigate an Aug. 21 University apartment fire, has been asked by Brazos County District Attorney Bill Turner to suspend investi gations until the completion of a criminal investigation. “Law enforcement has an obligation when someone dies of unnatural causes to evaluate the case until we’re completely convinced it was not criminal,” Turner said. The July 31 explosion at the University Apart ments on Hensel Drive killed 4-year-old Lamiya Zahin and severely burned her pregnant mother and paternal grandparents. The explosion prompt ed Gates to form the Task Force. The District Attorney also requested that A&M officials withhold any documents or files pertain ing to the University Apartments, prior to the completion of the investigation. In a statement released on Monday, Gates said the University would fully comply with Turner’s request. He added that he fully intends to have the task force convene and complete its work within 30 days, after Turner’s investigation is complete. “Public release of records related to the University Apartments at this time will interfere with the inves tigation and detection of crime,” Turner said. “How ever, as soon as our investigation is complete, the public will be made privy all of those documents.” Turner declined comment on whether any foul play or sabotage is being investigated or if there are possible charges that could stem from this probe. “1 think it’s improper to speculate about the re sults of an investigation prior to the completion of our final report and investigation,” Turner said. Cynthia Lawson, executive director of the See Task force on page 2A Vet school looks for success through change coif Readership Returns The Collegiate Readership Program has returned to campus this year. Students can get copies of The Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle, The New York Times and USA Today by swiping their Aggie Cards (for no charge) in machines at these nine on-campus locations. o Blocker o Sbisa o MSC o Ag Cafe o Zachry o Evans Library o Commons Lobby o Bush School o Wehner ANDREW BURLESON •THE BATTALION SOURCE: CHRIS DIEM, SCA EXECUTIVE VP By Liang Liang THE BATTALION The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine recently changed its name to the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomed ical Sciences (CVMBS) to reflect the college’s commitment in bio medical research and attract more high-quality faculty and students. The CVMBS attracted $20 mil lion per year for past three years for basic biomedical research. “We requested to add ‘and Bio medical Sciences’ to our masthead in recognition of the importance of basic biomedical sciences as the foundation of veterinary medi cal knowledge, and our obligation as a modern veterinary medical college at a research university to contribute to that body of knowl edge,” said H. Richard Adams, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Scienc es (CVMBS). After collective efforts that lasted more than a decade, the CVMBS received approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the A&M University System Board of Regents in July and August, respectively, to have the new masthead and new names for three departments in the college. “These changes better reflect the depth and breadth of vet erinary medical science today and our commitment to future biomedical scientists at both the undergraduate and graduate lev els,” Adams said. The CVMBS of A&M, which was established in 1919, has been the largest college of veterinary medicine in Texas. According to the college’s follow-through re cords, 15 percent of the success ful medical and dental school applicants to Texas Health Sci ence Center come from the college’s See Vet on page 7A