D 1985 liii Spring break hours Facilities set new schedules Pages * Vi? Big dreams in Dallas Metcalfs Ags begin SWC tourney Page 7 The Battalion College Station, Texas Friday, March 8, 1985 University suspends Cadet for violation of new training code Associated Press COLLEGE STATION — A mem ber of the Corps of Cadets was sus- E ended for one semester after he al- ■gedly required another cadet to perform unauthorized physical exercises, school officials said Thurs day. The student, identified as Joseph Andrew Gassman, 20, is being al lowed to attend classes while the charge is appealed, officials said. Nine other cadets also are being called for disciplinary hearings on unrelated allegations of misconduct, officials said. University officials declined to discuss the specific charges, citing laws that govern release of informa tion about students and their re cords. “The only thing that we can say is that we will not tolerate any form of abuse — physical or mental — of any student attending Texas A&M, and we will, and are, investigating any al legations that even hint of prohib ited actions,” said Bill Kibler, assis tant director of student affairs. However, a unit commander said Gassman was dismissed after fresh man Williams Buvins, 18, of Baton Rouge, La., was ordered to perform “motivational exercise” on Feb. 9. Buvins marched and did sit-ups, push-ups and leg lifts for four hours, said commander Frank DeL eon. Afterward, Buvins returned to his room and took a nap on the floor, DeLeon said. When Buvins’ roommate tried to wake him, the cadet would not get up. The cadet was later revived, but was disoriented and fatigued. A se nior officer in the dormitory called an ambulance, and Buvins was taken to the A.P. Beutel Health Center. Buvins has since withdrawn from school. The “motivation exercises” per formed by Buvins violated new reg ulations governing physical training by the Corps, DeLeon said. Gassman was disciplined for alleg edly violating a rule that prohibits exercises on weekends. But DeLeon said the University is overreacting to the incident because of the death last year of another student. But Gen. Ormond Simpson, assis tant vice president for student serv ices, said violations of University rules would not be tolerated. “It doesn’t make any difference whether he (Buvins) was injured or not,” Simpson said. “I don’t think the University is overreacting. We’re just not going to tolerate hazing any more.” Col. Donald L. Burton, Corps commandant, added that the admin istrative charges against the nine up perclassmen resulted from an exten- See UNIVERSITY, page 5 Zentgraf still hot over mistreatment now 13-2 overall, downed the Crimson Tide 5-4 and the Tigers 6-3. A&M will meet Cal- Berkley at 2:30 p.m. today in the semi-finals. *■‘'March to the Brazos project to support March of Dimes , y DEAN0 iketball’s) 3 (fastbreak) y’re crov/i ’s worth.’ 1 Texas’ ^ Marbury. ienf By DAINAH BULLARD |j|' Staff Writer The project is fun but the purpose is serious. The project is the March to the Brazos on March 30, when the Corps of Cadets will meet on the banks of the Brazos River for a day of fun and games. The purpose of the march is to raise money for the March of Dimes. Greg Bowen, Corps adjutant says the Corps’ goal this year is $40,000, about $23 for each cadet. Last year, the Corps raised about $33,000 for the March of Dimes. Bowen says B-Battery brought in about $4,232, an average of about $85 for each cadet, while other out fits brought in an average of only $4 for each cadet. The cadets will march about 14 miles to the river, then compete in a chicken-eating contest sponsored by Tinsley’s Chicken-and-Rolls, and games such as tug-of-war, stretcher races and 50-yard relay races. Three Dallas Cowboys Cheerlead ers will be on hand to inspire the ca dets. Prizes for the cadets who raise the most money include a round trip for two with the Aggie football team to an out-of-town game and a color television set, Bowen says. In addition to the March to the Brazos, the Corps and local sorori ties are sponsoring a “Spring Break” mixer on March 29 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Lakeview Club. Tickets ($2 for each person in ad vance or $3 at the door) will be sold March 18 through March 28 in the main ha|l of the Memorial Student Center and on the Quadrangle. The mixer is open to everyone. T-shirts advertising the mixer will be sold for $5 each. Profits from the mixer and the T-shirts also will be donated to the March of Dimes. The March to the Brazos began in 1908 as a means to remove the rowdy student body, then all-male and all-military, from the Texas A&M campus on All Fool’s Day (April 1). It was discontinued when a cadet drowned in the Brazos River in 1915, and resumed in 1977 to raise money for the March of Dimes. Since 1977, the Corps has raised about $165,000 for the March of Dimes. From staff and wire reports HOUSTON — Texas A&M Uni versity President Frank Vandiver says he neither supports nor opposes Melanie Zentgrafs suit against for mer University president Jarvis Miller, former Corps of Cadets Commander Robert Kamensky and Vice» President for Student Services John Koldus. “I have no opinion for or against it,” Vandiver says. “It’s a matter of legal concern, and I can’t comment.” Zentgraf, who filed a class-action lawsuit against A&M during her ju nior year, is seeking $75,000 dam ages from Miller, Koldus and Ka mensky for public humiliation and sex discrimination. In testimony Wednesday before Judge Ross Sterling, Zentgraf said she was taunted by classmates, ig nored by school officials and snubbed by the University president after she sued to gain entry into all male campus organizations. Zentgraf, 26, and now a captain in the U.S. Air Force, said the ultimate embarassment came at her 1980 graduation when former A&M Pres ident Jarvis Miller refused to shake her hand. “There was booing and the Aggie tradition of hissing,” Zentgraf testi fied in federal court. “I did not get a handshake. I felt that Dr. Miller publicly humiliated me at my grad uation.” After she filed the suit, Zentgraf testified, she received demerits for wearing the same style boots that male members wore, reprimanded for attempting to get women in volved in the traditional bonfire be fore the A&M-University of Texas football game, and denounced in the student newspaper. “I was basically forced to become a focal point,” she said. “I had to step forward and do something.” In January, U.S. District Judge Ross Sterling issued a consent decree banning the exclusion of women from all-male groups such as the Texas Aggie Band and the Ross Vol unteers. The decree was approved by Zentgrafs lawyer, Carol Nelkin; the U.S. Justice Department’s civil rights division; and Texas Attorney Gen eral Jim Mattox. The attorney general’s decision to settle the case prompted an outcry by A&M alumni and some cadets. Houston attorney John Tyler has appealed the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Or leans on behalf ol the T exas Aggie Band Association, an organization of former band members. “I don’t see how you can appeal a consent decree where the judge didn’t change a word of it,” said Sterling, adding that Mattox, not A&M alumni, was the “real party” to the suit. O'Neill: 200 House votes will kill MX Associated Press WASHINGTON — House Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. said Thursday that despite an in tensive lobbying campaign by President Reagan, at least 200 House Democrats are prepared to kill the MX missile. In the Senate, Assistant Repub lican leader Ted Stevens of Alaska said he believes at least 55 senators eventually will vote for continuing MX production. While sources said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Les Aspin is prepared to vote for continued MX financ ing later this month, O’Neill said he met with Aspin and had not yet given up hope that he could be persuaded to vote against (he missile. Aspin, from Wisconsin, was persuaded by arguments that kill ing the powerful, long-range nu clear missile just after U.S.-Soviet arms control talks convene March 12 in Geneva would undermine the American negotiating posi tion, the sources said. But O’Neill callfed the Demo cratic vote against the MX a “solid block.” House Majority Leader Jim Wright, D-Texas, said, “You haven’t often heard me dispute the speaker.” O’Neill said the White House is pressuring Congress to endorse more missiles. MSC Crafts Center merges with After Hours By CATHIE ANDERSON Staff Writer Although the Memorial Student Center Crafts Center is merging with MSC After Hours, most Aggies won’t notice any changes. While the Craft Center offers classes including ceramics, drawing and cross-stitching, After Hours in structs people in such courses as aer obics, bartending, and pool. After Hours will soon be losing its committee status, and an advisory committee structure will be formed. The advisory board will serve as a go-between for the MSC Council vice president of operations and Wayne Helton, the Craft Center su pervisor. After Hours committee members will still have input in the running of the program. And Helton says this will not only link the Craft Center mor e closely to the MSC, something he has been hoping for, but it will also make the groups’ management more efficient. The Craft Center will become one central location for the continuing education program. This also will put the two groups under one man ager. Although Helton is looking for ward to running the two organiza tions, he says he’s not pleased with the way the merger occurred. Lani Balaam, MSC Council exec utive vice president for programs, says the program and budget review committees, standing committees of the MSC Council, needed to make a decision quickly. The MSC budget had to be given to Student Government finance committee for hearings on Feb. 23, which help Student Government de cide on the disposition of student service fees. The program review Committee knew the merger was in evitable, Balaam says. ! not sure that the form board provides for the hand$~ok experience the com- to havef’— Maria Woodruff, chairman of Helton says he hopes members of the After Hours committee will not be bitter about the merger because it happened so quickly. Maria Woodruff, chairman of Af ter Hours, says she isn’t sure she agrees with the elimination of the After Hours committee to form an advisory board. “I do believe the merger in and of itself is a good thing, but I’m not sure that the form the merger is tak ing is the form it should be taking,” Woodruff says. “I don’t think an ad visory board provides for the hands- on experience the committee used to have.” Woodruff says that After Hours members will have little incentive to continue working if they can only make recommendations, not deci sions. “And I can’t see anyone who hasn’t been involved in the commit tee before the merger wanting to get involved in the (advisory) committee later,” Woodruff says. “The people in the committee now have an inter est, but looking towards the future, I just can’t see that.” The Craft Center now operates under the operations portion of the MSC structure, meaning that the center is run like a business. Now Af ter Hours will be moving from the recreational programs side of the MSC to operations. The merger will make After Hours less of a financial risk, Balaam says. The leadership ability of the students in this committee has fluc tuated in the past, although, it has been good for the last two years. By bringing the groups together under Helton’s supervision the risk will decrease. And by scheduling the classes out of one office, Balaams says, the groups’ services will be en hanced. James Randolph, associate direc tor of the MSC, says the merger will make the Craft Center a more self- supporting organization, Randolph says. Although the center is operat ing in the black, it depends on stu dent service fees for nearly 50 per cent of its money. Five years ago the center de pended on student service lees for about 75 percent of its money. Unlike the Craft Center, After Hours has not been directly subsi dized by student service fees, he says. The group collects fees for their classes and pays for their ex penses with the money. However, student service fees do pay for a pro fessional advisor for the After Hours committee. -4