March 27,1996
kets
lorry and
^as as close as
l Rockets could
ir hit 18 points
Patrick Ewing
nthony Mason
;s and 17 re-
les Oakley re-
r York’s lineup
19 games with
nb. He played
nd scored two
wn and Kenny
6 points apiece
3.
ailing lineup
rolling in the
e Knicks took
he opening tip
ulling away to
,e lead, led by
first-quarter
3 were especial-
in the second
ng only four of
ercent).
ets had no one
sday night who
ile figures,
ned scoring av-
ston’s starters
ints per game
oore the group’s
averaging 9.0
games with the
s had been out-
15 of their last
it had a 50-39
.he Rockets,
its will have a
id their streak
t the Mavericks.
TEMPE TOURNEY
The A&M golf team
shoots for a win.
SPORTS, PAGE 7
Watson: Common
sense goes up in
smoke in Kentucky.
OPINION, PAGE 9
A&M FASHION
A campus of more than
42,000 students creates a
variety of fashion trends.
AGGiELlFE, PAGE 3
The Bate alio
102, No. 118 (10 pages)
Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893
Thursday • March 28, 1996
Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion
IF THE BOOT FITS, WEAR IT
Brian Burnett, a junior business analysis major and cadet in E-2, is fitted for his
handmade senior cadet boots by Dewayne Matheson.
Bowen lifts admissions,
scholarship suspension
By Lily Aguilar
The Battalion
Texas A&M president, Dr. Ray
Bowen, announced Wednesday that
the 10-day admissions and scholar
ships suspension ordered by Dr. Bar
ry Thompson, Texas A&M University
System chancellor, on March 21, has
been lifted.
Thompson reversed the decision,
saying System schools can resume
admitting students and awarding
scholarships as long as their policies
are consistent with the guidelines
set by last week’s 5th Circuit Court
of Appeals decision in Hopwood vs.
State of Texas.
In this case, which was initiated by
students who claimed reverse dis
crimination after being denied admit
tance to the University of Texas Law
School, the court determined that us
ing race and ethnicity as an admis
sion criteria is unconstitutional.
Thompson said in a press release
Wednesday that System officials
have assessed the ruling, and Sys
tem’s schools policies have been
changed accordingly.
“The suspension was necessary for
us to reassess our policies to ensure
that they are in compliance with the
law,” he said.
“We remain committed to our re
sponsibility of providing access to all
Texas who are qualified for and desire
a college education.”
After three days of reviewing
A&M’s policy, Bowen said in a
press release that the University
will proceed with Summer and Fall
1996 admissions.
“Following that review,” he said,
“we feel confident we can now pro
ceed with the normal pattern of ad
missions and scholarship awards so
long as we exclude race as a deci
sion criteria.”
Bowen said A&M will remain
dedicated, within the constraints of
the court order, to diversifying the
A&M student body to reflect the
state’s population.
Panelists focus on harassment
The Women’s Week teleconference featured attorney Anita Hill
By Kendra S. Rasmussen
The Battalion
Texas A&M faculty, students and
staff participated Wednesday in a na
tionwide interactive teleconference
about sexual harassment, an effort to
increase campus awareness of the is
sue in honor of Women’s Week.
The teleconference, “Sexual Ha
rassment 1996: Defining Codes of
Conduct,” was sponsored by the vice
president for student affairs, Student
Life Programs and the Office of the
Corps of Cadets Commandant.
The teleconference, broadcast live
from Washington, D.C., included five
panelists at the forefront of issues re
lating to sexual harassment in the ’90s.
Joining them via satellite from
Norman, Okla., was attorney Anita
Hill, the University of Oklahoma law
professor who testified against
Clarence Thomas during his Senate
conformation hearings.
Panelists were Dr. Anne Bryant, ex
ecutive director of the American Associ
ation of University Women; Dr.
Michael Greve, executive director of the
Center for Individual Rights; Emma
Jordan, Georgetown University law
professor; Ellen Vargyas, legal counsel
for the United States Equal Employ
ment Opportunity Commission; and
Beth Wilson, assistant provost for
Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Ac
tion at Columbia University.
Texas A&M was linked via satellite
to the program, which was broadcast
on college campuses across the nation.
Participating universities could ask
questions of the panelists by tele
phone or fax.
Vargyas said the best way to bat
tle sexual harassment is to make it
an issue that people feel comfort
able discussing.
“I think what we are trying to do
here is change the environment so
that people can feel open to talk about
it,” she said.
Vargyas said the number of sexual
harassment complaints has increased
in recent years because of changes in
federal law and awareness programs
like Wednesday’s teleconference.
Federal law concerning sexual ha
rassment was amended in 1991 to in
clude money damages for victims. But
stereotypes still prevent many people
from bringing sexual harassment cas
es to attention.
Bryant said the number of dis
crimination cases brought forward
does not represent how widespread
the problem is.
She said surveys indicate that 81
percent of students, both male and fe
male, have experienced during their
education some form of sexual harass
ment, which she defined as unwanted
and unwelcome sexual behavior.
Wilson said people must be edu
cated about what constitutes sexu
al harassment.
“We want to avoid situations where
someone has sexually harassed some
one else without realizing it,” she said.
Hill said confronting myths about
See Harassment, Page 6
New GRE format considered adaptable
Eleanor Colvin
The Battalion
Although some Texas A&M
students are concerned about
Ians to change the Graduate
iecord Exam to a computerized
ormat, John Lopez, director of
he Princeton Review in College
itation, said students should not
ave difficulty adjusting to the
.ew test.
Lopez said anxiety and intim-
dation levels should decrease as
tudents gain a clearer under-
tanding of the similarities and
lifferences between the paper-
nd-pencil and computerized
ersions of the GRE.
Lopez took the computerized
RE in July 1995 and said it
|vas not more difficult, but it had
:o be approached in a different
"... students cannot skip questions or go back over
their work, which makes it a little more stressful for
the students."
— JOHN LOPEZ
director of the Princeton Review in College Station
manner than the paper-and pen
cil version that will be phased
out by 1999.
“The key difference is that the
computer test is adaptive,” he
said. “As a result, students cannot
skip questions or go back over
their work, which makes it a little
more stressful for some students.”
The test is considered adaptive
because students’ responses de
termine what the next question
will be. Question ease or difficulty
fluctuate depending on whether
students answer correctly.
Lopez said changes in the
test’s format mean that it will be
scored differently. In the paper-
and-pencil version, students are
given a fixed number of ques
tions in a fixed order, and scores
are determined by the number of
correct responses, regardless of
the difficulty level of questions.
In contrast, the computer
GRE begins each section with a
question of average difficulty
and adjusts the difficulty range
after each response. Scores on
this exam are not determined
by the number of right answers,
but by where students finish on
the scale.
The scoring range for each of
the three sections is 200 to 800.
Lopez said these changes
will hopefully make the GRE
more effective.
“This should make the test
more objective because in the
past, the GRE has not always
been a good predictor of gradu
ate student performance,” he
said. “They are trying to give
students questions that are more
appropriate for their varying
skill levels.”
Lopez said one of the primary
advantages of the new format is
See GRE, Page 6
’olice give tips on avoiding unusual violations
\Cutting through parking lots and flashing bright lights at other cars could result in citations
Tauma Wiggins
The Battalion
jru
6-7791
Many offenses that Texas A&M students
Receive citations for seem annoying and in
convenient but commonplace, such as
[speeding tickets.
Suddenly noticing a police officer’s flash
ing red and blue lights in the rearview mir-
for is not an uncommon experience.
But there are more obscure areas of the
law that, if violated, can result in citations
pnd fines.
Regina Stark, a sophomore English ma
o', was surprised to receive a ticket for run-
ling over an empty fire hose.
Stark said she was driving through the
[Texas Avenue Whataburger parking lot one
Pight after work. The building had caught
Rre earlier that day, but because it was late
Pnd there were no lights on, Stark said she
fas unaware there had been a fire.
“I usually eat there after work,” she said.
P was just driving through to see why it was
{lark, and then all these firemen came out
Nling, and then they called the cops.”
Stark said the police officer issued her a
$215 ticket for running over the fire hose.
“They said the offense wasn’t on the reg
ular list, and they told me to call them and
find out how much it would be,” she said.
“I thought it would be, like, $6. I was
overwhelmed.”
Sgt. Choya Walling of the Bryan Police De
partment said many people are not aware that
certain actions can result in traffic citations.
Walling said that recently there has been
a problem with people running red lights
and not realizing it.
“The way we judge what constitutes run
ning a red light is by drawing an imaginary
line from one curb of the intersection to the
other curb under the stoplight,” Walling
said. “If the vehicle breaks that line after the
light turns red, they can receive a ticket.
“Due to vehicle perception, you can’t see
20 feet in front of your car. Most people don’t
know they ran a red light.”
Walling said that when a light turns
green, it does not always mean drivers
should go.
“If someone’s stuck in the middle of the
a Xffy J
intersection,” he said, “and you go on any
way when the light turns green, you could
receive a citation.”
Walling listed other areas in which traffic
tickets can be issued, such as cutting
through parking lots to avoid intersections,
flashing bright lights at other cars, and hav
ing a television within the driver’s view.
Traffic tickets are not issued only to cars
and trucks. They can be issued to bicyclists
and rollerbladers as well.
Walling said many individuals run stop
See Tickets, Page 6
Gwendolyn Struve, The Battalion
Kristina Crystal, a junior agricultural business major, introduces
the items up for auction as Lloyd Joyce, a professional auctioneer
from Bryan, takes the bids at the MSC Lost and Found Auction in
the Flag Room Wednesday.
Auction funds MSC
community programs
By Kasie Byers
The Battalion
As a Texas A&M student
entered the MSC Wednesday,
he heard an auctioneer’s
booming voice.
Curious about what was
happening, John O’Neill, a se
nior biomedical science major,
walked into the Flagroom and
began to browse through the
numerous items he could bid
on at the MSC Hospitality Lost
and Found Auction.
It took him 15 minutes to
decide on a koozie, a men’s
watch and a pair of sunglasses.
To O’Neill, the $6 purchase
meant keeping his drink cold,
being able to tell the time and
keeping the sun out of his eyes.
But for MSC Hospitality, $6
allows a member of the organi
zation to spend time with a
Bryan child whose parents are
forced to leave him home alone
while they are at work.
Penny Ditton, MSC Hospi
tality adviser, said money
earned from the auction of
campus’ lost and found items
will be used to fund Hospitali
ty’s community programs.
“The money from this auction
isn’t used for the committee’s
personal good,” she said. “It goes
into our service projects.”
Programs funded by the
auction include the Beck Street
Delinquency Prevention Pro
gram and Mockingbird Run,
which both focus on elemen
tary-school children in the
Bryan-College Station area
who need mentoring, tutoring
or just a little attention.
See Auction, Page 6