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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 2004)
rr\ Friday, September 10, 2004 The Battalion L olume 111* Issue 11 • 10 pages A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893 OPINION: Right to fight, page 9 www.thebatt.com PACE DESIGN BY: LAUREN ROUSE /II remembrance marks A&M weekend Red, White and Blue Towel Out canceled By Sonia Moghe THE BATTALION I On Sept. 22, 2001, about 70,000 Aggies donned red, white and Blue T-shirts for the “Red, White and Blue Out” during the first foot- ftall game after the Sept. 11 attacks. This movement was deemed ■ the greatest act of symbolic patriotism in the history of organized Iports” by senior history and political science major Kevin Capps, whose parents — Debbie and Oral were in the Twin Towers when the planes hit, but managed to escape. I The 12th Man Student Foundation planned to initiate a similar Bvent — a Red White and Blue Towel Out — for Saturday’s game ■gainst Wyoming, but after an overwhelmingly negative response ■rom polls taken on Texags.com, as well as individual input from Survivors of the attacks, the Foundation changed its mind, said Lin- Ha Salzar, vice president of publicity and promotions for the 12th wlan Student Foundation. 1 "It's just not something you can do if (...) 100 percent of people Idon’t participate)," Kevin Capps said. “We’re very afraid of tar- pishing the memory of (the original Red White and Blue Out,) but Tve have supreme confidence in the ingenuity of the Aggie family |hat we can come up with something else that expresses our feelings does not harm the cherished moment in our school’s history.” Debbie Capps said she was on the 16th floor of the World Trade tenter when the first plane crashed. Her husband, an agricultural Iconomics professor, was scheduled to have a breakfast meeting on Ihe 102nd floor, but the meeting had been moved to the lobby in- Itead. After the planes crashed, she and her husband escaped, leav ing behind all of their belongings — including Debbie’s wedding ing — and it took the couple almost a week to travel back home to Texas from New York City. "The Red White and Blue Out game that occurred in September See Towel on page 2 After Debbie and Oral Capps were rescued from the Twin Towers on Sept 111 by firefighters of Ladder 12 Engine 3 in New York City, they started a fund to help pay for one student's firefighting training every spring. f Donations can be mailed to: The Capps Family Firefighters' Education Foundation w 9204 Sunlake Ct. College Station, TX 77845 ■’sac 'MW4 BRANDI DUNN • THE BATTALION SOURCE : DEBBIE CAPPS Student Senate elects new chairs By Jibran Najmi THE BATTALION he Student Senate elected a By external affairs chair and a tew rules and regulations chair Wednesday after the former hairs simultaneously resigned his past weekend, fcorey Nichols, a sophomore ;eneral studies major, was elected ha a of rules and regulations fol- H^ing exten- • ive debate. ■dent Servic- ■ Chair Scott ■ith moved B the vote be ■ducted by ■et ballot, ■ the motion k immedi- ■y seconded. K final tally ft 24-16-6 for ftator Nich- I Senator ■in Foley and Bator Wil- am Dugat re- ftctively with ft abstention. ■I think /e’re going to le a great of- ftr team this ear that will accomplish several oals, and I think we will repre- ftt the students of Texas A&M ftetively,” Nichols said. Owen Taylor, a senior animal lienee major, was elected ex- tfnal affairs chair after defeat- tg junior political science major IjRaimond. Academic Affairs 'hair Jeri Ann Henry moved for ie vote to be conducted by se- ret ballot, and the motion was ain immediately seconded, he final tally was 26-18, in fa vor of Senator Taylor. “I’m thrilled to have this op portunity, and 1 realize the huge responsibility that has been placed on my shoulders. I am going to do my best to effec tively represent the students of this University,” Taylor said. “I won’t let them down.” Taylor said his committee would be addressing three major issues this year, including tuition deregulation, the top 10 percent law and affir mative action. Taylor also stressed that the commit tee needed to focus on local issues and not overlook the local needs of students. “In order to get a cap for tuition de regulation, we need to form a coalition with other universi ties across the state,” Tay lor said. “We can’t do it ourselves. We have strength in numbers.” Senior management major Logan said he Renfrew urged students to become involved with Senate and to get to know their representatives. “I’m very excited about this year,” said Renfrew. “I can’t wait to see what Senate is going to accomplish for the students of Texas A&M. Renfrew also said he urged See Chairs on page 2 Students will be able to see a more visible Senate that is gathering feedback and opinions from the students and representing those issues and concerns to the Administration and others. — Logan Renfrew Student Senate speaker Douglas Menarchik. director of the George Bush Presidential Library, shows Katherine Armstrong a steel gerder from the World Trade EVAN O'CONNELL • THE BATTALION Center Thursday night. The twisted steel will be on display in the Bush Library rotunda until Nov. 14. WTC steel structural beam comes to Bush Library By Lacy Ledford THE BATTALION A steel structural beam from the World Trade Center made its way to the George Bush Presidential Library Museum on Wednesday and will go on display Satur day as part of the museum’s new “Com memorating September 11” exhibit. The exhibit, on display through Nov. 14, is part of a special ceremony open to the public on the rporning of Sept. 11. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. and the ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. The World Trade Center beam was donat ed through efforts of the Texas Engineering Extension Service’s national urban search and rescue team, Texas Task Force 1. More than a year ago, representatives from the Bush Museum told the Director of Emer gency Response and Rescue for the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) Bob McKee that they wanted to display a piece of World Trade Center steel. “McKee worked with his contacts within the New York City Police Department and the New York mayor’s office, as large pieces of steel from the World Trade Center became increasingly difficult to obtain,” said TEEX Communications Director Jason Cook. Cook said that after many months, McK ee obtained the steel on behalf of the Bush Museum, arranged for its transportation to College Station and then coordinated the display of the steel. “There was no charge for the steel, only the cost of shipping,” said Bush Library Public Relations Specialist Brian Blake. “It cost $3,000 to have the piece shipped here, and that was paid for by the Arts Council of the Brazos Valley.” The beam, weighing in excess of 2,000 pounds, has been prepared with a protective coating that will allow visitors to touch it. “We are a historical museum,” said Direc tor of the Bush Library Douglas Menarchik. “It is our purpose to bring history alive so you can touch, feel, smell and see it.” The steel beam is among many other items included in the exhibit. Photographs, respirators, pieces of unifonns and com mon tools used by search teams at the World Trade Center will dtSb be part of the exhibit. Before being deployed to the World Trade Center site to aid in recovery efforts after the Sept. 11 attacks, Texas Task Force 1 received a teddy bear from children af fected by the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing See WTC on page 2 30 years of women cadets celebrated By Rhiannon Meyers THE BATTALION As a freshman coming into the Corps of Cadets, Roxie Prang- lin. Class of 1978, didn’t know what to expect. The problem was, neither did anyone else. In 1974, Pranglin and 70 other women made A&M history as the first women to be admitted into the Corps. Thirty years later, Pranglin said being one of the first females in the Corps was an experience that changed her life. “1 don’t think anyone knew what was going to happen that first year,” Pranglin said. “People say, ‘I don’t know how you could ever do that,' but you would be surprised at what you can do.” Pranglin joined the Corps to follow in the footsteps of her dad and uncle, both members of the Corps in the 1940s. “All my life, all I wanted to go to was A&M, and for me A&M was the Corps,” Pranglin said. “At freshman orientation, they an nounced that we (women) could join, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to be involved in a group.” Pranglin said the friendly atmosphere at orientation didn’t pre pare her for the challenging year that was to come in outfit W-l, which was created solely for female cadets. “1 didn’t realize what was going to happen,” Pranglin said. “The people at orientation were fairly polite. It wasn’t until school start ed and we formed as a unit when the harassment began. It wasn’t just other male cadets that didn’t want us there. We got comments Wsy 30th Anniversary: Women in the Corps The Anniversary Planning Committee urges all students to attend the events planned for the 30th anniversary of women in the Corps this weekend. Saturday • Breakfast: Col. PaulettaBlueitt,Classof1981 ( will speak about the Corps'role in her professional life • Pregame: Opening of the Women's Exhibit in the Corps Center • Dinner: Lt. Gen. John Van Alstyne, Class of 1966, will speak at Duncan Dining Hall Sunday • Memorial service and dedication of memorial bricks BRANDI DUNN • THE BATTALION SOURCE : KIMBERLY CURRENS from other students, both male and female, saying that we didn’t belong, that we were breaking tradition and ruining the Corps.” Pranglin said the first year was the most challenging for the fe male cadets. She said women didn’t get uniforms or a dorm on the Quad until the second semester and were forced to spend the entire See Women on page 10 New documents shed light on Bush military record By Terence Hunt THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — New documents unearthed in the midst of the presidential campaign fill in some blanks but raise other questions about the sometimes mysterious and spotty story of President Bush’s mili tary service during Vietnam when he won a coveted spot in the Texas Air National Guard and avoided the war. Reviving issues that have shadowed his political career, the documents show Bush ignored a direct order from a superior of ficer and lost his status as a Texas Air Na tional Guard pilot more than three decades ago because he failed to meet military per formance standards and undergo a required physical examination. The disclosures marked the second time in days the White House had to backtrack BUSH from assertions that all of Bush’s records had been released. It also raised the specter that Bush sought favors from higher-ups and that the commander of the Texas Air National Guard wanted to “sugar coat” Bush’s record af ter he was suspended from flying. Less than two months before the election, the documents turned the spotlight on Bush after weeks of political attacks questioning John Kerry’s military service in Vietnam. Overshadowing issues such as jobs and the economy, that controversy raised doubts about Kerry and hurt him in the polls. Kerry, campaigning in Iowa, refused to tal k Thursday about the new Bush documents. “That’s for the White House to answer,” he said in an Associated Press interview. Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said, “1 think you absolutely are seeing a coordinated attack by John Kerry and his surrogates on the president.” Yet, it was the White House — not Kerry’s campaign — that distributed four memos from 1972 and 1973 from Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, now deceased, who was the commander of the 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron in Houston where Bush served. The White House obtained the memos from CBS News, which said it was convinced of their authenticity, and the White House did not question their accuracy. There was no explanation why the Pentagon was unable to find the documents on its own. The key questions about Bush’s service are whether or where he trained in late 1972 See Record on page 2