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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 5, 1996)
: ■ ' : !• The Battalion U. 102, No. 143 (6 pages) Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893 Wednesday • June 3, 1996 Regents reject proposed humanities center Some faculty members are accusing the board of trying to restrict academic freedom lyAmy Protas [he Baitalion Texas A&M liberal arts faculty mem- :ers are accusing the Board of Regents f infringing on academic freedom with he board’s recent decision to kill a pro- osed Center for Humanities Research. Larry J. Reynolds, director of the In- irdisciplinary Group for Historical Lit- rary Study (IGHLS) and Thomas : ranklin Mayo Professor in Liberal jirts, said the center would have been U expansion of the Interdisciplinary [roup he directs. “It was the humanities center and wuld involve several departments,” feynolds said, “It’s for people inter ested in going beyond their own area of specialization and talking about it within a bigger context. The group I direct is very interested in historical literary study.” Reynolds said the group was not asking for additional funding from the regents. “We just wanted a new designation,” Reynolds said. “No funds were asked for. We already have a budget we oper ate from. We were asking to be desig nated as a humanities center.” This is not the first time the regents have rejected the proposition. Last fall, the regents also tabled the measure. Fred McClure, a member of the board, said the main reason the proposal was not accepted was lack of necessity. “It boiled down to the board not feeling satisfied for the need for changing the IGHLS into a center giv en the fact the current study group has received lots of positive comment,” McClure said. “Part of the proposal in dicated the study group has been do ing outstanding work. The case hadn’t been made enough for a need to make it into a center. We felt it was doing well the way it was.” The IGHLS has been in the depart ment of English for eight years. Throughout this time, the group has been locally and nationally commended. Lynn Vallone, an assistant professor of English, said the regents are punishing them for what they have accomplished. “It’s like being punished for being good,” Vallone said. “We wanted them to establish us as a more permanent en tity. We would like accepted status. I’m really disappointed it didn’t work out after all the work.” Another reason for the regents’ deci sion was concern over the content of the center’s research. According to the Associated Press, Don Powell, a Board of Regents mem ber, said the board is concerned about revisionism. “There is a concern that there have been some attempts by certain entities at other universities to question some of the events of history,” Powell said. “That results in a rewriting of history.” See Center, Page 6 "The statements they [Regents] have made indicate they wish to proscribe a certain kind of research." — LARRY J. REYNOLDS director of the Interdisciplinary Group for Historical Literacy Study •e t >- b- t L Id i 11 / CS Lollapalooza date remains unconfirmed ivent permits have not been obtained lyDavid Winder he Battalion The alternative music festival ollapalooza may have found an Iternative site to the Texas Wd Speedway (TWS) south of Allege Station. The TWS date, the only one theduled in Texas, was tenta- ively set for July 25. But that :ate is now unconfirmed, ac- irding to a spokesman for the aarketing department of Lolla- alooza. A TWS spokesman aid Lollapalooza has never ontacted them about holding iefestival there. Since the announcement that ollapalooza would be coming to lollege Station, rumors have per sisted that the festival would not be held here. One such rumor was that Brazos County officials were preventing Lollapalooza from tak ing place by not giving the show’s producers the required permits. Susan Gandy, the adminis trative assistant to County Judge A1 Jones, said no one from Lollapalooza has even contacted the county office. “That rumor is really false,” Gandy said. “We haven’t ap proved it (the permit) because they haven’t made a request. That’s not to say we would refuse it once we chd receive an application for the permit — we just haven’t heard at all from See Lollapalooza, Page 6 tAc Crfr yi'iS vTietA A&M Track Coach captures national award By Philip Leone The Battalion arget what you have -heard all your life — good guys don’t al ways finish last. In fact, they even come in first from time to time. Just ask Texas A&M Head Track Coach Ted Nelson. A prominent figure in colle giate coaching since the late 1960s, this long-time Aggie “track man” and all-around nice guy was named National Wom en’s Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track Coaches Association May 29 at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eu gene, Oregon. The award is the first nation al honor for Nelson, who was named Southwest Conference Coach of the Year in 1992. A big deal, right? Not from Nelson’s perspective. Like his athletes, he prefers to take everything in stride. “Not for one moment do I think this award is the crowning achievement of my career,” Nel son said. “I got into this business for the kids and my love for the sport. I’d give it back in a second to win a Southwest Conference championship. “I don’t mean to sound un grateful, though. It’s a big hon or because it’s voted on by my peers, and it’s also a tribute to the assistant coaches and all the people in the program.” Photo courtesy of Texas A&M Sports Information See Sports, Page 3 A&M’s head track coach Ted Nelson was named National Wom en's Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track Coaches Association. ! l, t d s 7 <r Pat James, The Battalion LET ME CHECK MY CALENDAR ... John Sykes, a senior zoology major, writes his exam dates on his calendar in front ofthe Butler Building Tuesday afternoon. Clinton proposes school tax credit plan Under Clinton’s Plan: □ Parents or students would get a $1,500 tax credit — rough ly equal to the average community-college tuition — for the first year of full-time education after high school. The credit would be $750 for a part-time student. The credit also could be used to help defray expenses at a four-year college. □ The tax credit could be extended for a second year if the student maintained a B average and stayed off drugs. □ A family would have to choose between the tax credit and the tax deduction. Either one would be available only to households with annual incomes under $100,000. The tax break would begin to be phased out at $80,000. PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — President Clinton, in a elec tion-year bidding war with Bob Dole over tax breaks, pro posed a $l,500-a-student tax credit Tuesday for the first two years of college, saying to Americans: “Go to college, we’ll pay the tuition.” Clinton’s proposal, to be financed by higher taxes on corporations and a $16-per- passenger departure fee for international flights, brought immediate ridicule from his Republican rival. ‘“There he goes again,” said Dole, borrowing Ronald Reagan’s 1980 put- down of then-President Carter. “Who knows what taxes he’ll increase if he should be re-elected.” Campaigning in Chester, Va., Dole said Clinton had promised a middle-class tax cut when he campaigned in 1992, only to increase taxes after taking office. Dole, the presumptive GOP nominee, is crafting his own economic plan, which is expected to include a tax cut proposal. Clinton unveiled his tax- credit plan in a commence ment address at Princeton University, whose $21,000- a-year tuition makes it one of the most expensive col leges in the country. His proposal has no chance of being approved by the GOP- led Congress in this presi dential election year. The tax credit would cost $7.9 billion over six years. Combined with an earlier Clinton proposal to offer $10,000 tax deduc tions for college expenses, the total price tag would be $42.9 billion, according to the White House. “Our goal must be noth ing less than making the 13th and 14th grades of ed ucation as universal to all Americans as the first 12 grades are today,” Clinton, wearing an academic robe, told graduates and parents on the green before Prince ton’s historic Nassau Hall. In proposing the tax cred it, Clinton upped the stakes in his tax-break bidding war with Dole at the same time that each candidate was pledging his commitment to balancing the federal budget. Search begins By Heather S. Rosenfeld The Battalion The search is on for Maj. Gen. Thomas Darling’s replacement for Commandant of the Corps of Cadets. Darling, who became commandant in 1987, announced his resignation last Spring in order to head up a fund raising campaign to permanently en dow the Corps. Officials and students are now looking for someone to fill the supervisor’s shoes. The Search Advisory Committee, chaired by Dr. Malon Southerland, vice president of student affairs, met yesterday for the second time. The committee, composed of seven faculty members and two cadets, was estab lished to review the prospective candi dates, and prepare a short list for in terviewing. According to Dr. Souther- for new Corps land, eight candidates are being con sidered for the position. Yesterday’s meeting was a learn ing session where Darling addressed the qualities he would like to see in the new commandant. He said the committee should look for someone to lead by example using positive lead ership, high ethical standards, and commitment to building a team. Al though this was not a total list. Dar ling said the quality he would like to see most is someone with “a genuine respect, fondness, and love for Texas A&M and the Corps of Cadets.” The official minimum qualifications for applicants, however, require the candidate to be a retired general or flag officer with at least twenty-five years of active military service. The new commandant must also be a grad uate of Senior Service School, hold a Commandant master’s degree and possess command experience at the colonel level. In order to ensure that A&M re ceived a wide range of quality appli cants, a letter went out to every Aggie general officer in the country who graduated in 1960 and after. In addi tion, advertisements were placed in the Army Times , Navy Times and Air Force Times . A small ad was also purchased in the Texas Aggie. However, according to Sandi Os- ters, assistant to the vice president for student affairs, word of mouth was the biggest source for applicants. “We have had only one applicant so far that has told me they saw our ad in a paper,” Osters said. Once the Search Advisory Commit tee selects the final candidates, the ac tual interview process will begin. See Darling, Page 6