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: inal vote at A&M debate gives nod
to English in official-language issue
Photo by Dean Saito
fowomir WasiJuk presents his case for an official language.
By Melanie Perkins
Staff Writer
The official vote was 176 for and
82 against English being the official
language of the United States. The
event, held Wednesday night in the
Memorial Student Center, was a par
liamentary debate sponsored by the
Texas A&M Debate Society.
The debate opened with the the
pro speaker, Slawomir “Swavick”
Wasiluk, a graduate business student
from Bialystock, Poland, who said
that without an official language, in
tegrity of our cultural system, our
educational system and our political
system is threatened.
He said in the past, immigrants
wanted to learn English, because
they realized it was an essential tool
for success in American society. But
many more recent immigrants are
not learning English.
“This creates conditions for cultu
ral collapse, because we don’t have a
melting pot anymore — what we
have is a salad bowl,” Wasiluk said.
He said elimination of bilingual
education and bilingual ballots
would cause people to learn to speak
English faster and get into the main
stream of American life faster. He
added that a constitutional amend
ment making English the official
language would not abolish bilingual
health services and would not apply
to private businesses.
Roberto Interiano, a senior com
puter science major from San Salva
dor, El Salvador, took the con side.
"Adopting English as the official
language is turning our backs to
many social problems — not solving
them,” he said.
The United States should not
adopt English as the official lan
guage, Interiano said, because there
are many non-English speaking
Americans, and because encourag
ing people to speak more than one
language is beneficial.
He said it is important to remem
ber that California and Texas were
once part of Mexico, and Spanish
traditions, including the language,
have been handed down from gen
eration to generation.
The debate then was opened to
the audience, who attacked the sub
ject with gusto.
“There is nothing better than all
of us being able to communicate
with each other,” one pro speaker
said.
A con speaker said making En
glish the official language would be
like leaving people who could not
understand English stranded, or like
putting them in concentration
camps, as the Nazis did to the Jews.
A pro speaker said having an offi
cial language does not preclude
speaking or knowing other lan
guages.
“We have an official flower in our
state — it’s called the bluebonnet,”
she said. “But does that eradicate the
Indian Paint? Does that get rid of all
the zinnias and roses? No, it does
not.”
A con speaker said he didn’t un
derstand what everyone was arguing
about.
“I don’t see a problem here,” he
said. “English is unofficially the offi
cial language of America.”
Student Senate OKs bills affirming traditions
By Christi Daugherty
Staff Writer
the final meeting of the spring semester,
■ Student Senate passed two bills relating to
^IVxis A&M traditions and one bill to improve
■ige and dining facilities for the students and
Hlty in the College of Veterinary Medicine,
■he first bill deals with enforcing faculty ob-
do thengnl ■ ance G f two specific traditions. Silver Taps
hat someof md Muster.
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The bill stated that since traditions like Silver
Taps are usually scheduled for weeknights, and
since it’s becoming increasingly popular for pro
fessors to schedule night exams, it’s necessary to
take steps to protect these traditions.
Therefore, the bill recommends that faculty
members refrain from scheduling exams on the
same night as Muster and Silver Taps.
The other tradition bill passed formalizes the
Senate’s recognition of maroon and white as
A&M’s official colors.
Susan Pollard authored this bill and said that
though some found it unimportant, extensive re
search had disclosed no formal recognition of the
colors.
The Senate also unanimously approved a bill
supporting the Veterinary College’s request for
more extensive lounge and dining facilities in or
der to adequately serve its students and faculty.
2 Dunn residents get
opposite decisions
from Judicial Board
By Curtis L. Culberson
Staff Writer
Residence Halls Judicial Board
found one Dunn resident guilty of
possessing stolen property and an
other innocent of being an accessory
in a closed session after the two stu
dents marched out in the middle of
hearing proceedings.
Supervisor of Student Judicial Af
fairs Brent G. Paterson said immedi
ately after the March 10 hearing that
he wasn’t sure what action would be
taken against the two students, who
said they probably would file a law
suit before prematurely leaving the
hearing. Paterson added that he
probably would consult with the
University’s system attorneys before
taking further action.
However, Judicial Board mem
bers went into a closed session after
the hearing and found Donald
Stroud guilty of knowingly posses
sing stolen door signs, memo boards
and pens from Krueger and Mosher
halls, and Joseph Skladal innocent of
being an accessory to possession of
stolen property.
Paterson said, “After talking to
my supervisors and reviewing proce
dures from past situations, we felt
the most appropriate thing to do was
to follow the decision of the Judicial
Board.”
Stroud was given the choice of
hall probation for next fall’s semes
ter or a written reprimand and 20
hours of community service. He said
that although his grades have
dropped sharply because of the situ
ation, he has filed for an appeal.
For Skladal, the six-week-long or
deal is over. Skladal and Stroud both
were found innocent of damages
and vandalism to Mosher and
Krueger halls at a Feb. 10 judicial
board hearing. Both students said
they were shocked and angered
when they received letters on Feb.
24 stating new charges for the same
incident.
Skladal said recharging them was
double jeopardy because they had
been found innocent at the original
hearing and given a verbal repri
mand for not turning in sooner the
items that Stroud had found. Skladal
also said there was vagueness in the
charges and said he was singled out
from other students who also knew
Stroud had possession of the items.
Skladal attempted to address
these issues at the March 10 hearing
but repeatedly was told by the chair
man that a judicial board hearing
was the wrong forum for these is
sues. Skladal and Stroud then
walked out of the hearing without
directly defending the possession
and accessory charges.
Stroud said in the first hearing
that he found the door signs, memo
boards, and pens in a bag marked,
“Courtesy of Aston” while studying
in the Commons. He said it was un
just to be recharged and retried for
something he had admitted to.
“We were guilty until proven
guilty,” Stroud said. But Stroud was
surprised that he was found guilty
while Skladal wasn’t.
“It’s ironic because I thought they
were trying to get at Joe (Skladal)
through me,” he said.
Skladal said his hiring a laywer
and the publicity the case got may be
why he was found innocent.
Paterson said, “Those things
would have no effect on a judicial
board decision.”
Rick Turnbough, assistant south-
side area coordinator, said his office
was satisfied with the way the judicial
board handled the situation.
Stroud said he would base his ap
peal on double jeopardy and selec
tivity of the possession charge. He
said some of the items were in the
possession of a Krueger resident and
then were taken to a room in Dunn.
Paterson said a student can file an
appeal either because he feels he is
innocent, he feels the punishment is
too harsh, or he feels due process of
law was violated. Paterson said the
appeal would be the proper time to
air allegations of double jeopardy
and vagueness and selectivity of
charges.
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