Texas A&M Will Let Gates Go to Washington

Robert Gates led a "revolution" at Texas A&M, but the country will benefit from his move to higher office, the school's students and faculty told the Battalion yesterday.

Gates sent an E-mail to A&M students and faculty just after George W. Bush announced he was the president's choice to replace Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense. "I am deeply honored, but also deeply saddened," Gates wrote. "I love Texas A&M deeply, but I love our country more and, like many Aggies in uniform, I am obligated to do my duty."

Meanwhile, Texas A&M and the University of Texas system yesterday got a little something to take their minds off their loss: $36.4 million from a land lease deal, the Daily Texan says.