Daily Toreador The
TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2013 VOLUME 87 ■ ISSUE 147
NKorea changes tack and tells US: Let’s talk PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — After months of threatening to wage a nuclear war, North Korea did an aboutface Sunday and issued a surprise proposal to the United States, its No. 1 enemy: Let’s talk. But the invitation from North Korea’s National Defense Commission, the powerful governing body led by leader Kim Jong Un, comes with caveats: No preconditions and no demands that Pyongyang give up its prized nuclear assets unless Washington is willing to do the same — ground rules that make it hard for the Americans to accept. Washington responded by saying that it is open to talks — but only if North Korea first shows it will comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions and live up to its international obligations. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. has seen no evidence that Pyongyang’s offer of talks is different from numerous others it’s made over the years that have yielded little. “The key piece here is that they need to take credible steps to move toward concrete denuclearization,” she told reporters Monday.
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Nellis completes first day as president 16th president of Texas Tech begins term with day of meetings
Military plans would put women in most combat WASHINGTON (AP) — Women may be able to start training as Army Rangers by mid-2015 and as Navy SEALs a year later under plans set to be announced by the Pentagon that would slowly bring women into thousands of combat jobs, including those in elite special operations forces. Details of the plans were obtained by The Associated Press. They call for requiring women and men to meet the same physical and mental standards to quality for certain infantry, armor, commando and other front-line positions across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel reviewed the plans and has ordered the services to move ahead. The move, expected to be announced Tuesday, follows revelations of a startling number of sexual assaults in the armed forces. Earlier this year, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said the sexual assaults might be linked to the longstanding ban on women serving in combat because the disparity between the roles of men and women creates separate classes of personnel — male “warriors” versus the rest of the force.
OPINIONS, Pg. 3
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TEXAS TECH PRESIDENT M. Duane Nellis meets incoming students at Red Raider Orientation in the Student Union Building on Monday.
By CARSON WINDHAM Staff Writer
More than half of Americans polled said they are OK with having their phone, email and Internet records monitored. The National Security Agency surveillance program, which has focused on gathering phone, email, and Internet communications, is acceptable for most Americans according to a Pew Research Center poll. PRISM is the name of the program that gathers information from companies including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google,
Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple. According to the Pew Research Center, 56 percent of Americans accept the program’s terrorism investigation methods, and 64 percent believe investigating terrorism is more important than intruding on personal privacy. Cindy Rugeley, an assistant professor of political science at Texas Tech, said the political situation NSA has caused in Washington is interesting. “You generally would have Republicans against a Democratic president,” she said, “but now Republicans are saying ‘I
think it’s OK,’ and Democrats are saying ‘Well, I don’t know if it’s OK.’ It’s a weird mixture.” Even though politicians support often opposite sides, since 2006 the parties have flip-flopped on the surveillance issue. Today, 52 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of Democrats accept the current method of surveillance used by President Barack Obama. In 2006, 75 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of Democrats accepted the methods used by President George Bush, according to the Pew Research Center. Rugeley said it concerns some people
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JESSE MALONE, A senior counselor for study abroad from Auburn, Ala., talks to transfer students interested in the study abroad program Monday. ADVERTISING: 806-742-3384
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because they see the surveillance as a violation of the Fourth Amendment. According to the Legal Information Institute, the Fourth Amendment is defined as “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” PRISM continued on Page 2 ➤➤
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Research shows Americans divided on PRISM
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M. Duane Nellis experienced his first day as the official 16th president of Texas Tech on Monday. Nellis, who was announced as the sole finalist for the Texas Tech presidency March 1 and was approved by the Tech System Board of Regents March 22, succeeds interim president Lawrence Schovanec and 15th president of Tech, Guy Bailey. Before becoming Tech’s president, Nellis served as the president of the University of Idaho for four years. He received his bachelor’s degree in earth sciences/geographer at Montana State and his master’s and doctoral degrees in geographer at Oregon State. “Today I met with my executive team and we went over my priorities for the coming year,” Nellis said in a news release. “Since I was named the sole candidate (March 1), I’ve been gathering as much information as I can as I prepare to provide leadership, as we work collectively to move the institution forward.” According to a March 25 article in The Daily Toreador, Nellis said some of his goals include increasing Tech’s enrollment by recruiting quality students and supporting them while they are students, and enhancing Tech’s research profile. Since his approval from the Board of Regents, Nellis has sent out several emails to the Tech community regarding his search for a new vice president of research, Tech’s home football game against TCU, and his plans to tour the campus in the fall to get to know the colleges, faculty, staff and students.
AUSTIN (AP) — There are 16 fertilizer production sites in Texas like the one that exploded in West, but authorities aren’t clear how many of those might be built near schools or other residential centers, a top state official said Monday. Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw told members of the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee that the facilities are mostly in rural areas, though he wasn’t aware if the state had looked at other fertilizer plants for proximity to key community buildings. McCraw was among the officials who told lawmakers that 129 facilities store at least five tons of ammonium nitrate and other potentially explosive materials. Sixteen of those were fertilizer-mixing facilities similar to the West Fertilizer Co., which blew up following a fire that ignited ammonium nitrate. A school, apartment complex and nursing home nearby were all damaged and 15 people were killed. Monday’s hearing was the second of its kind since the April 17 blast as the committee works to determine if local, state and federal regulations were followed and if more oversight is necessary.
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