With the sound of a beeping pager, suddenly their lives change. They are volunteer firefighters, ordinary individuals who race into burning infernos to save people they may have never even met. This week, many of these volunteer firefighters, as well as their full-time counterparts, are on the Texas A&M campus for the 16th annual spring fire training school.

A new computer virus wormed its way into the Texas A&M computer system Tuesday morning, causing users to open what looks like legitimate e-mail attachments. The virus, dubbed Beagle.J or Bagle.k, is spread through a zip attachment that requires a password to open, said Jeff McCabe, associate director of A&M's Computer Information Services.

The Texas A&M System Board of Regents will consider a proposed $3.25 per semester credit hour increase in the student Computer Access/Instructional Technology fee (CA/IT) during its meeting March 25 and 26. The fee for a student taking 12 credit hours would increase $39 per semester.

Stephanie Miller, a sophomore human resources major, is planning to go to South Padre Island for spring break. Miller and her friends are preparing for a fun-filled week of relaxing in the sun, going to parties and enjoying the night life. While they look forward to having fun, Miller said that she and her friends realize they need to be cautious of the potential dangers they face while in Padre.

An Aggie was elected as National Southern Region Director of The Mid-American Greek Council Association (MGCA) for the first time at its conference in Chicago. Grant Soderberg, a sophomore business administration major and a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, will represent 150 schools in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Haiti's key rebel leader promised Wednesday his forces would lay down their arms after 1,000 U.S. Marines began patrolling the impoverished capital to restore order and prepare for the arrival of international peacekeepers. If Guy Philippe, a rebel boss and former police chief, can make good on his vow, it would mark the end of the rebellion that broke out Feb.

KILLEEN, Texas (AP) - After a year in Iraq, Army soldiers have returned home to Fort Hood, where they were greeted by a television documentary crew and a cheering crowd of family and friends. The last 150 soldiers from the 21st Combat Support Hospital and reservists from the 607th MP Battalion in Grand Prairie arrived at the Army's largest post on Tuesday night.

NEW YORK - Jurors in the Martha Stewart case began deliberating Wednesday, deciding whether she lied about a well-timed stock sale in a scandal that could send her to prison and jeopardize her gracious-living empire. The jury received the case after 90 minutes of complex instructions from U.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - An Israeli helicopter strike killed three Hamas militants riding in a car Wednesday, the second such targeted attack in five days and a possible sign that Israel is stepping up its campaign against militants ahead of a planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.