The
olume 111 • Issue 18 • 10 pages
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
OPINION:
Spoiled bats
page 5
www.thebatt.com
PACE BY: LAUREN ROUSE
ounseling Services requests funds increase
By Jibran Najmi
THE BATTALION
The Student Service Fee Advisory Board (SSF AB)
:gan its deliberations Thursday lor the allocation
o more then S12.8 million annually in next year’s
dent service fees with a request for an increase in
mdsfrom Student Counseling Services (SCS).
Every year, the SSFAB makes recommendations to
vice president of student affairs in regards to the
ount of student service fees.
“Every department receives 30 minutes to pres-
t their budget, and we have a liaison w ho meets
ith departments after the presentation,” said Jim
rlson, chairman of SSFAB. “When we get to the
liberation process, we go through each individu-
request and try to determine whether the request
valuable to the student body.”
As part of the allocation process, each depart
ment requesting funds from SSFAB is required to
make multiple presentations to the board defining
their initiatives, goals and uses for the funds. One
of the departments requesting funds from SSFAB
was Student Counseling Services (SCS).
“One of the reasons the suicide rate at A&M is
so low compared to other colleges is due to many
of the programs we’ve started including helpline
using student service fees,” said Dr. Maggie Olona,
director of SCS. “It is absolutely unacceptable to
us to have three suicides in the past six months.”
SCS has started several programs to address
the issue of suicides including Question, Per
suade, Refer (QPR).
“QPR teaches students what questions to ask a
person who is suicidal, where to get help and how
to deal with the situation over all,” Olona said.
“Training only takes an hour, wouldn’t you give
an hour to save another Ag’s life?”
Olona said SCS serves approximately 11 to 12 per
cent of A&M students and that it needs more money to
be able to serve the students who request SCS services.
“One of the things we would like to do this year
is to hire an additional psychologist and another
academic career counselor,” she said.
Olona said that if her request is not approved,
students will suffer.
“We will ultimately serve fewer students, and
we’ll have to cut things such as individual counsel
ing sessions,” Olona said. “We have 25 professional
staff and 45,000 students, you can do the math.”
Among the other organizations requesting funds
from SSFAB were The Battalion and Graduate
Student Council (GSC). GSC President Cassandra
Rutherford did not request an increase in the allo
cation of funds for GSC, nor did The Battalion.
See Funds on page 2
STUDENT SERVICE FEE SUMMARY
Each student taking at least 12 hours pays
$ 145.80 per semester.
I
□
I
The rate is $12.15 per semester credit
hour
The fee only charges up to 12 credit
hours
The fee funds Student Counseling
Services, MSC, SGA, study abroad
programs and more
WILL LLOYD - The Battalion
SOURCE - JIM CARLSON
Furniture finds
[reshman biology
loll
major Dana Pappalardo tests out
lie residence hall furniture options at an exhibit held by
leslife at the Memorial Student Center. Students have the
ALEJANDRA MARTINEZ - The Battalion
opportunity to voice their opinions on next year's furniture
options. The exhibit will be open until Wednesday in MSC
225 and MSC 226.
tBS apologizes for ‘mistake in judgment’
By David Bander
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
I NEW YORK - CBS News apologized Monday for a “mis-
^takc in judgment” in its story questioning President Bush’s
[National Guard service, claiming it was misled by the source
bfdocuments that several experts have dismissed as fakes.
■ The network said it would appoint an independent pan
el to look at its reporting about the memos. The story has
ushroomed into a major media scandal, threatening the
putations of CBS News and chief anchor Dan Rather.
also has become an issue in the presidential campaign,
e White House said the affair raises questions about the con-
ctions between CBS’s source, retired Texas National Guard
Ifficer Bill Burkett, and Democrat John Kerry’s campaign,
i Rather joined CBS News President Andrew Heyward in
suing an apology Monday.
“We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry,”
athersaid. “It was an error that was made, however, in good
and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradi-
Pon of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism.”
I Almost immediately after the story aired Sept. 8, docu
ment experts questioned memos purportedly written by
Bush’s late squadron leader, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, saying
they appeared to have been created on a computer and not on
the kind of typewriter in use during the 1970s.
CBS strongly defended its story. It wasn’t until a week
later — after Killian’s former secretary said she believed the
memos were fake — that the news division admitted they
were questionable.
Burkett admitted this weekend to CBS that he lied about
obtaining the documents from another former National
Guard member, the network said. CBS hasn’t been able to
conclusively tell how he got them, or even definitely tell
whether they’re fakes or not. But the network has given up
trying to defend them.
“Based on what we now know, CBS News cannot prove
that the documents are authentic, which is the only accept
able journalistic standard to justify using them in the report,”
Fleyward said. “We should not have used them.”
CBS said it approached Burkett initially about the docu
ments. Rather said Burkett was well known in National
See CBS on page 2
Hu’s new military status as commander
ould strengthen Chinese economy
By Joe McDonald
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING — President Hu Jintao’s
H new status as commander of China’s
|Military should strengthen efforts to
■ Ight corruption and control a surging
Bgconomy, forcing resistant lower-level
■ ■ficialsto recognize 1 lu as their undis-
■ pitted leader, analysts said Monday.
| Former President Jiang Zemin’s de-
| cision to hand over his last post as mili-
| ary chief on Sunday, almost two years
h [iter Hu succeeded him as Communist
I arty leader, ended tensions over con-
■ lol that had let local officials resist
I iressure to cut spending and carry out
I ainful reforms, the analysts said.
■ “This is a very significant event,”
I Said Kenneth Lieberthal, a China spe-
I lialist at the Brookings Institution in
|Washington. “Hu really has the future
in his hands at this moment.”
The consolidation of China’s top
party and military posts in Hu’s control
is expected to give him and his premier.
Wen Jiabao, a freer hand
to act as they wrestle with
huge challenges rang
ing from rural poverty
to fighting rampant cor
ruption that is undermin
ing public acceptance of
communist rule.
It also could help
a government auster
ity campaign aimed at
cooling off an economy
that is growing by more
than 9 percent a year,
threatening to ignite
politically dangerous
inflation and weaken China’s fragile
banking industry.
Despite repeated orders from Bei
jing, local officials have balked at or
ders to cancel major construction and
Hu really has
the future in his
hands at this
moment.
other big spending projects — auster
ity moves that could cost local jobs and
reduce opportunities to line their pock
ets. EJu and Wen report
edly have been forced to
visit Shanghai and other
areas to compel obedi
ence in person.
“As long as there was
the impression that there
was political infighting at
the top, there was a rea
son for local officials who
didn’t like the changes to
hold out in hopes of get
ting a different option,”
said Lieberthal.
But now, he said, “at
lower levels it will be seen that the wave
of the future is the Hu Jintao leadership,
and that should tighten discipline.”
See Hu on page 2
- Kenneth Lieberthal
Brookings Institution
China specialist
Bush Library director
moves to new post in D.C.
By Matthew Wilkins
THE BATTALION
A national search for a new direc
tor of the George Bush Presidential
Library and Museum is already un
derway, outgoing Director Douglas
Mcnarchik said Monday.
The selection process, which is
overseen by the National Archives
and Records Administration, may
only take a few months, he said.
Mcnarchik has already begun
the transition to his
new position as as
sistant administrator
of the U.S. Agency
for International De
velopment. He spent
Thursday and Fri
day being briefed in
Washington, D.C.
Mcnarchik was re
cently nominated by
President Bush for
the post and expects
confirmation from
the Senate before
adjournment in early
October. Because of
the nonpartisan na
ture of the position,
he would be sur
prised if any opposi
tion surfaced.
“I’m not a political
person,” he said.
However, he said his connec
tions with former president Bush
likely influenced the nomination.
An expert on terrorism and low-in-
tensity conflict, Mcnarchik served
as a military adviser to Bush dur
ing his vice presidency. Bush later
recruited him for the presidential
library position and they continue
to interact on a monthly basis.
Mcnarchik said that if the confir
mation proceeds as expected, he will
leave the Bush Library with pride of
its growth under his watch.
After taking over as second di
rector in 2001, Mcnarchik worked
to keep local visitors coming back
for more with new programs such
as the Classic Film Series and
through cooperation with Univer
sity groups such as the MSC Wiley
Lecture Series.
John Jackson, a
senior political sci
ence major and pres
ident of the College
Republicans, said
those efforts have
been successful.
“Dr. Mcnarchik
has made valuable
contributions to the
Bush Library, and his
efforts to bring in po
litical speakers have
enriched the commu
nity,” he said.
Nick Anthis, a se
nior biochemistry
major and publicity
director for the Ag
gie Democrats, said
the library’s willing
ness to sponsor programming with
out bias has been positive for the
University community.
“It was obvious to me (when I
arrived) that what I needed to do
was take the library into the local
community,” Menarchik said. “I
think that has happened under my
watch.”
Dr. Menarchik
has made valuable
contributions to
the Bush Library,
and his efforts to
bring in political
speakers have
enriched the
community.
— John Jackson
senior political science
major
Storm sail
A&M sailing team hosts regatta,
competes despite hurricanes
By Elizabeth Knapp
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M-Galveston sailing team hosted a district regatta this week
end, despite the recent hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico.
“We were not sure if Tulane and the University of South Alabama were com
ing because they were evacuated due to Hurricane Ivan,” said Maureen Frerichs,
a junior maritime systems engineering major.
With competitions occurring during the hurricane season, coach Gerard
Coleman said sailing can be affected by the weather, especially when hur
ricanes come through.
“If they come within 100 miles, it is probably too windy to sail and
we have to pack up the boats and bring them to Pelican Island,” Cole
man said.
The team hopes to go to nationals again this year after ranking 20th in the
Sailing World College Rankings in May 2004 — the end of last season.
“Hopefully, we will rank nationally again,” Mclnnes said. “The team is on an
upward trend and I hope that we can continue going.”
As of the Aug. 18 rankings, the sailing team was not in the top 20 ranked
teams, which currently include University of Southern California, Harvard
and Dartmouth.
Texas A&M-Galveston is in a district that includes schools competing
from the Florida panhandle area as well as all across the Southern states of
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and north of Texas including Oklahoma
and Kansas.
“The big disadvantage of a large district is that schools are so far apart,
whereas in the northeast, the schools are so close so they can compete more,”
Coleman said.