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Thursday, March 3, 1988
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Ruling: Army to halt
andom drug testing
WASHINGTON (AP) — A fed-
ral judge on Tuesday ordered ihe
irmy to stop random checks of
400 civilian employees for drug
se because the tests are an unrea-
Dnable search prohibited by the
bnstitution.
U.S. District Judge Thomas F.
logan found that the Army had
tiled to show that random urine
testing was needed to ensure safety
nd security, and was therefore an
xcessively intrusive” search pro-
ibited by the Fourth Amendment.
Hogan said random checks could
ot be justified by safety concerns
ecause the urine test used by the
rmv did not indicate whether an
employee was using drugs on the
job.
In addition, “the government’s
nonsafety interests in maintaining a
drug-free civilian workforce are not
sufficiently compelling to justify the
substantial intrustion of mandatory,
random urinalysis,” Hogan said.
“Illegal drugs are an enormous
and dangerous problem,” Hogan
said. “It is with some regret that the
court removes what might be a pow
erful weapon from the nation’s arse
nal in the campaign against illegal
drug use, but the values represented
by the Constitution and Fourth
Amendment are transcendent.”
Noting that another federal judge
here last year upheld random drug
testing of nearly 30,000 Transporta
tion Department employees, Hogan
invited the Justice Department to
appeal his decision.
He also suggested that the U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals here con
solidate the two cases for a single re
view of “a question of exceptional
importance.”
Based on Hogan’s invitation, “we
are reviewing the opinion and are
considering an appeal,” said Amy
Brown, a Justice Department
spokesman.
Robertson
wants to end
libel lawsuit
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pat
Robertson wants to drop his libel
suit against a former congress
man who questioned his war re
cord, because going to trial now
would “sacrifice his presidential
campaign,” his lawyer said
Wednesday. But Robertson’s ac
cuser declared, “He’s chickening
out of the trial just like he chick
ened out 37 years ago.”
Former Rep. Paul McCloskey,
R-Calif, who has accused Rob
ertson of using his father’s politi
cal influence to avoid combat
duty in the Korean War, has said
in recent weeks he wouldn’t settle
the suit unless Robertson paid the
costs of defending against the
suit, which McCloskey estimates
to be about $400,000.
The trial, set to begin on Tues
day, when Robertson hopes to do
well in delegate-rich Southern
primaries, would force him off
the campaign trail for three
weeks, attorney Douglas Rigler
said.
In dropping the lawsuit “Rob
ertson does not intend to back
away at any time from his denial
of the charges that Mr. McClos
key made,” Rigler said.
He said that “it is quite possible
that Mr. Robertson will be asked
to pay a substantial amount of
court costs” to cover the expenses
of taking depositions from more
than 50 witnesses.
Jury deliberates,
without verdict
in magazine suit
HOUSTON (AP) — A federal court
jury Wednesday deliberated a sec
ond day without reaching a verdict
in a negligence suit that sought mil
lions of dollars from Soldier of For
tune magazine.
Attorneys for relatives of Sandra
Black contended the military mag
azine was negligent in publishing an
ad that led to Black’s slaying at her
home in Bryan three years ago.
The jury, which heard two weeks
of testimony, was returning for a
third day Thursday to consider
seven questions about the magazine’s
alleged negligence, the ad itself and
damages.
Jurors at midday Wednesday mes
saged for guidance from U.S. Dis
trict Judge David Hittner where and
to whom exemplary damages would
go. Hittner wrote back that they
should consider the questions and
instructions he gave them in his jury
charge Tuesday.
Later in the afternoon, they asked
for reasons why the managing editor
of the magazine, James Graves, had
not been called to testify.
Graves had signed an affadavit in
a 1982 criminal case linked to the
magazine’s ads. His action, which
was disclosed in the final day of testi
mony Friday, was contrary to the in
sistence of magazine officials, who
contended no one at Soldier of For
tune knew of any crimes linked to
the ads. Hittner, responding to the
question, reread a portion of the jury
charge before sending them back for
further discussions.
Gary Wayne Black, 18, the vic
tim’s son, and Marjorie Eimann, 64,
her mother, were seeking $22.5 mil
lion in the suit against the self-styled
“Journal for Professional Adventur
ers.” Of that, $20 million was re
quested for exemplary damages.
Black’s husband, Robert, is on
Texas’ death row for paying John
Wayne Hearn $10,000 to kill her.
Hearn is serving three life terms in
Florida for the Black slaying and two
others in that state.
Robert Black contacted Hearn
through a personal services classi
fied ad Hearn placed in Soldier of
Fortune in late 1984.
Attorneys for the Boulder, Colo.-
based magazine and its parent com
pany, Omega Group, Ltd., did not
dispute the ad brought Hearn and
Black together, but insisted mag
azine executives had no way of
knowing the ad was for illegal activ
ity.
Hearn’s ad appeared in four is
sues of Soldier of Fortune for “high-
risk assignments”.
Slip slidin’ away
Freshmen in Corps of Cadets Outfit A-l play a
game of football at Spence Park Wednesday af-
Photo by Mike C. Mulvey
ternoon. The students took advantage of a break
from the rainy weather.
Student will face
after accident on
By Drew Leder
Staff Writer
A Texas A&M freshman in
volved in a moped accident late
Monday night was listed in stable
condition at Humana Hospital
Wednesday.
Luis Enrique Coloma, an 18-
year-old industrial engineering
major, suffered a broken leg, a
broken jaw and some fractures in
his cheek bones in the accident.
His condition was originally listed
as critical but was changed to sta
ble Wednesday.
Coloma, who came to A&M
from Ecuador this semester, said
Wednesday that he will undergo
surgery early next week to have
an artificial bone placed in his leg.
He said, so far, he is recovering
well but will have to withdraw
from A&M this semester.
“I will be here (in College Sta
tion) about a month and then I
plan to go home (to Ecuador) for
a vacation and rest and to recu
perate,” Coloma said.
He said he plans to return to
A&M next spring to resume his
studies.
According to police records,
the accident occurred at the inter
section of Anderson and Jersey
surgery
moped
streets. Coloma was heading
eastbound on Jersey when he col
lided with a westbound Volkswa
gen Jetta that was making a left
turn onto Anderson, police re
cords said. The Volkswagen was
driven by Leigh Anna Tolar, a
20-year-old A&M student.
Coloma was not wearing a hel
met at the time of the accident.
As of Wednesday, neither per
son involved in the accident had
been issued a citation, but a police
spokesperson said the case has
not been cleared yet so citations
may still be issued.
Coloma said he doesn’t re
member any details of the acci
dent.
Texas A&M claims
|front-runner spot
in space grant bid
By Jeff Pollard
Staff Writer
Texas A&M, already a land
and sea grant college, is one of
the front-runners for a third title,
that of space grant college, says
Oran Nicks, director of the Space
Research Center at A&M.
“Since President Vandiver was
one of the originators of the idea
and Sen. Bentsen has pushed
A&M very actively, it is logical
that we are at the top of the list,”
Nicks said. “There is a possibility
that they (NASA) will announce
many schools in the beginning.”
The space grant was estab
lished by Congress in the Na
tional Space Grant College and
Fellowship Act of 1987. They rec
ognized that “ . . . the vitality of
the nation depends on the under
standing, assessment, devel
opment and utilization of space
resources. . . ” and the broad
commitment by the federal gov
ernment to the development of
technology was necessary to
achieve these things.
The purpose of the space grant
is to promote a strong educatio
nal base, responsive research and
the development of interdiscipli
nary programs on the college and
university level.
“It will stimulate thinking on
the academic level as to how each
school can become involved as a
contributor to the space pro
gram,” Nicks said. “Unlike sea
grant, all schools have an interest
in space. A school in Nebraska
has as much interest in the moon
as a school in Massachusetts.”
The act set aside $ 10 million in
1988 and 1989 and $15 million
thereafter. It designated NASA
to decide which schools would be
selected and how much money
they would get. So far, NASA has
not announced how the funds
will be allocated but, Nicks said,
they will begin working on the
program on Oct. 1 when the new
federal budget goes into effect.
“They have said that they will
start on Oct. 1 but they have not
defined the rules of the game,”
Nicks said. “We’re pushing them
to designate who will get the
grant as soon as possible in order
to help stimulate space activities
being worked on now.”
The act gives the NASA ad
ministrator authority to set up the
guidelines and qualifications for
space grant colleges to meet, but
they must be “ . . . given in such a
way as to assure wide geographic
and institutional diversity . . . .”
Nicks said the colleges have to
follow a specific process and dis
tribute the money on a compet
itive basis.
“They are going through a for
mal process in order to satisfy the
haves and the have-nots that they
are going about this fairly,” Nicks
said.
The adiministrator, under au
thority of the space grant act, can
make grants based on projects
currently under way, or if he sees
specific problems that need to be
addressed he can make grants or
contracts to fill these needs.
“Universities are on the cutting
edge of science and are in the best
position to do this type of re
search work,” Nicks said. “They
are flexible enough to take new
information and bend in the di
rection that it is going.”
Faculty, foreign students question
validity of English language exams
Editor’s note: Texas A&M’s En
glish proficiency program for for
eign students has come under re
peated fire in recent months. The
controversy centers on the forced
enrollment of foreign graduate stu
dents in the English Language Insti
tute. When international students
arrive at A&M, they are required to
make a certain score on the Univer
sity’s English Language Proficiency
Exam. If they don’t make the score
on any section, they must enroll in a
non-credit ELI course — taught by
non-tenure track faculty — for that
section.
More than two-thirds of interna
tional graduate students are re
quired to enroll in at least one course
at the institute. Costs range from
$400 to $1,300 per four-month ses
sion, depending on the number of
courses they have to take. In this
week’s four-part series. The Battal
ion looks at the controversy sur
rounding the English proficiency re
quirements.
By Karen Kroesche
Senior Staff Writer
When foreign students arrive at
Texas A&M, they are tested on their
proficiency of the English language.
But some professors and students
across campus charge that the test is
not a fair measure of English skills.
One complaint deals with the
problem of who is classified as an in
ternational student, one is the secu
rity of the test, and the third is
whether the test itself accurately
measures proficiency.
Deanna Wormuth, coordinator of
the ELI, says any student who is not
a U.S. citizen and whose native lan
guage is not English is required to
take the test. But she says that at
times it is not a clear-cut issue. For
instance, the native language of a
student from Canada, she says,
might be French. Also, students
from territories of the United States,
Part three of a four-part series
such as Puerto Rico, are considered
U.S. citizens and therefore don’t
have to take the test.
Dr. Peter McIntyre, a professor of
physics who chaired a committee of
research faculty members investigat
ing the ELI system, says stories
abound of cases in which seemingly
qualified students had to take the
proficiency exam.
McIntyre says his department cur
rently is dealing with one such situa
tion and relates the following story:
“We have an entering graduate
student in physics. Well, we hope
he’s going to decide to come. He’s an
honor graduate of the University of
Bristol in England and comes ex
tremely highly recommended. He’s
done very well on all his examina
tions, but he is going to be required
to take the ELPE. That doesn’t mean
he’ll be required to take any courses;
I would fully expect that he’ll pass it
with flying colors.
“But the University’s sending him
a formidable form telling him that
his admission cannot even be truly
confirmed until he has taken an ex
amination on his proficiency in the
English language and satisfied the
University on that point. So he has to
come at his expense from England
See Language, page 10
English proficiency test troubles students
Below is a reading comprehension
question that appears on one form of
A&M’s English proficiency test. (Stu
dents are instructed to read the pas
sage and then answer a series of
questions about the passage.)
St. Louis is a city set apart in the
Midwest; in the region, yet not en
tirely of it; French in origin; German
in settlement and development;
swaddled at birth in furs and skins
brought in by the forerunners of the
E ioneers, the coureurs des bois, the
unters and trappers; owning slaves
and still largely southern in outlook;
drawn to the North and East by the
rail traffic; made into an industrial,
financial, and commercial metropo
lis and a hub of communications; but
still more stable, ordered, and set
tled in its way of life than any other
Midwest city. You cannot think of St.
Louis without thinking of its great
river front and of the Mississippi, of
Mark Twain, of the north-south and
east-west river traffic of which the
city was the junction, and of its rela
tion to New Orleans, Memphis, Cin
cinnati, Louisville, and Pittsburgh.
81. The first permanent settlers of
St. Louis were ....
a) slave owners.
b) French hunters.
c) Germans.
d) Eastern industrialists.
82. The hunters and trappers . . .
a) were stable, ordered, and set
tled in their way of life.
b) dressed their children from
birth in furs and skins.
c) were forerunners of the pi
oneers.
d) owned slaves and are still
largely southern in outlook.
83. St. Louis was drawn to the East
because of. . .
a) slavery.
b) its stability.
c) the coureurs des bois.
d) the railway system.
84. A notable feature of St. Louis is .
a) its riverfront.
b) its seaport.
c) its pioneer spirit.
d) the way the people dress there.
85. The spirit of St. Louis is most like
that of. . . ,
a) the East.
b) the South.
c) the North.
d) the Midwest.
Dr. Harrison Meserole, distin
guished professor of English at
A&M, says the above paragraph —
and ones like it on subsequent ques
tions — is not well-written and is
“choked with information.” But he
says he sees “a clear set of intentions”
behind the question and says it ap
pears to be “on fair grounds for tes-
ting. ’’
“The aim here is genuinely to test
whether students can see the differ
ences between baskets of informa
tion, ” Meserole says, adding that the
question is a genuine test of compre
hension, as opposed to mere recog
nition.
When A&M’s proficiency exam
was given to entering freshman who
are native English speakers, 12 per
cent failed the reading comprehen
sion portion of the exam by scoring
below 70.
Twenty percent scored below 80,
which is the cutoff for international
graduate students.