aper: Sherrill paid ‘hush money’
despite pending NCAA sanctions
By Richard Williams
City Editor
A former Texas A&M fullback re
ceived a cash payment from Coach
Jackie Sherrill four days after the NCAA
sanctions against the football team were
announced, reports published Friday
said.
The Dallas Morning News reported
that George Smith, a former A&M
player, received $4,400 from Sherrill “in
a series of cash and money order trans
actions that date back to November
1986.” Smith called the payments “hush
money” according to the copyrighted
story.
Neither The Battalion nor the News
could reach Sherrill for comment.
President William H. Mobley told the
News A&M had notified the NCAA of
the allegations.
This morning David Berst, NCAA di
rector of enforcement, confirmed for The
Battalion that A&M had notified the
NCAA about the allegations.
Berst said he would not comment on
any penalities that could result if the alle
gations are true. But, he said the NCAA
will investigate the matter.
Berst said he expected A&M to coop
erate in the investigation.
“I anticipate the institution will con
tinue to communicate with the NCAA in
regards to this matter,” Berst said.
If the allegations are proved true
A&M could face the NCAA’s death pen
alty. The death penalty would mean the
loss of the football team for one or more
years.
Mobley could not be reached by The
Battalion for comment, but he is quoted
by the News as saying he has ordered an
internal investigation into the matter that
is to be headed by Robert Smith. Smith
is A&M’s compliance officer for inter
collegiate athletics and vice president of
finance and administration.
During the Sept. 9 press conference
that was held after the University an
nounced the penalities, Mobley said
Robert Smith’s primary responsibility
would be for operational and compliance
auditing of the athletic program.
“Based on our further discussions this
morning and information you have avail
able, without question we’ll proceed ex
peditiously and bring to bear investiga
tive resources we need to seek to
establish the validity of the issues on
whether or not there are violations of
NCAA rules or whether or not the are
other institutional issues involved,”
Mobley told the News.
It is not yet known what steps A&M
will take against those involved if the al
legations are proven true.
Sherrill was placed on administrative
probation by Mobley after the NCAA in
vestigation. Sherrill said during the press
conference to announce the results of the
NCAA investigation that, “If Jackie
Sherrill does something wrong, Jackie
Sherrill will leave. This institution
comes first.”
In the article Smith claims to have re
ceived three payments since June 6. The
payments were reportly sent by over
night mail.
The News obtained an envelope deliv
ered by overnight express which Smith
claimed had contained a $500 cash pay
ment. That envelope has the return ad
dress of Bob Matey, a member of Sher
rill’s staff.
The News also reported the two other
envelopes had return addresses of “A&M
receivers coach George Pugh and a
Matey associate who is not employed by
the athletic department.”
The article states that an envelope
dated Sept. 26 was opened in the pres
ence of a News reporter and contained
See Sherrill/Page 4
Former A&M football player
George Smith
Texas A&M
The Battalion
Friday, November 18, 1988 College Station, Texas Vol. 88 No. 60 USPS 045360 14 Pages
Students react to latest A&M football scandal
By Richard Tijerina
Staff Writer
On a cold and dreary day, campus
reaction to reports concerning Fri
day’s cold and dreary news that the
A&M athletic department is again
under scrutiny for further NCAA vi
olations varied.
In a report released Friday by the
Dallas Morning News, former A&M
football player George Smith has
been receiving “hush money” from
Coach Jackie Sherrill and the ath
letic department to stay quiet about
past recruitment violations. Smith
layed the ’82 and ’83 seasons here,
ut transferred to Clemson Univer
sity in 1984.
Smith said the last payment he re
ceived was for the amount of $500
on Sept. 13, just fottf days after the
NCAA placed A&M under proba
tion for past violations.
Most of the students interviewed
said basically the same thing: the
A&M football team should get what
it deserves, even though most said
they feel every school commits the
same violations.
Jerry Blanton, a senior secondary
education major, said he felt Sherrill
should have known the possible re
percussions of his actions and should
have been more careful.
“Sherrill should have known the
consequences of what he was doing,”
he said. “We’ll probably get busted
again, and Sherrill has to look out
for his job now.”
Ron Williams, a senior physical
education major, said he felt Sherrill
should have admitted what was
going on sooner, and that A&M
probably will not receive the
NCAA’s “death penalty.”
“I don’t know if we’ll get the death
penalty or not, because this is now
the second time we’ve got caught,”
he said. “SMU was on probation
three times before they got the death
penalty, but I’m sure we’ll get stiffer
infractions than we had in the begin
ning. Sherrill should have come out
with* it sooner because sooner or
later it’s gonna come out anyway.”
Allison Currie, a sophomore bi
ology major, said she felt A&M is be
ing made an example of by the
NCAA.
“I think we’re going to get in trou
ble,” she said. “It makes me mad that
we’re in trouble. I don’t really think
it’s fair because I feel they’re picking
on us because other schools do it,
too. It’s like they’re making exam
ples of us. Even though we’re these
spirited, wonderful people, we can
get in trouble too.”
Daphne Magnon, a sophomore
speech major, said Sherrill should
have come out with it sooner, but
that the penalties A&M receives
might be beneficial because it would
open a lot of eyes on campus.
“I think it’s really hypocritical
about A&M and the whole thing
about Aggies and their code of
Activities
honor and stuff,” she said. “I think
it’s really sad that Sherrill is doing
that, but in a way it’s good because
there are so many people in this
school that are so narrow-minded as
opposed to what really goes on. I
know this goes on everywhere else.
It’s nothing new. If we got caught,
though, we should pay. Why should
you try to just rationalize it by just
saying everyone’s doing it?”
She said Sherrill should have just
come out with everything earlier in
stead of trying to fool the school.
Dirk Hays, a junior biochemistry
major, said he felt the coaching staff
should be punished instead of the
team.
“I think they should get rid of
Sherrill,” he said. “He’s always been
kind of a crook to me. He was a
crook when he was at Pittsburgh. I
don’t care how good the football
team is, they shouldn’t let that hap
pen. I’d rather have a Rice team that
is pretty straight-laced.”
Jay Clancy, a junior psychology
major, said it even though A&M
should not be committing violations
in the first place, it is not surprising
the school did not stop even though
it was placed on probation.
“It’s surprising in the first place
that we’ve been doing all this stuff,”
he said. “You can’t really expect it to
stop because we’re on probation. ”
planned for bonfire week
By Juliette Rizzo
Staff Writer
Several activities are planned on campus lead
ing up to Thursday’s Texas A&M verses the Uni
versity of Texas football game.
Monday
• The Class of ’89’s Elephant Walk will begin at
1 p.m. in front of the statue of Lawrence Sullivan
Ross. The seniors will follow the traditional route
that winds around the Chemistry Fountain to the
Fish Pond on the north side of campus. On their
way to the bonfire stack site, they will pass by the
Albritton Tower and hold yell practice in front of
Cain Hall and at Kyle Field.
Junior yell practice will be held at 1 p.m. on
the plaza in front of the Quadrangle.
• Sbisa Dining Hall and the Commons Dining
Hall also will take part in the week’s festivities by
hosting a Bevo Bash and Barbecue from 4:30-
7:30 p.m. At Sbisa, the yell leaders will conduct
yell practice at 5:30 p.m. Pinatas of Bevo will be
broken at two Bevo Bashings at 5:30 and 6:30
p.m.
Leggett Hall will host Sbisa’s “Eat the Hell
Outta TU” party at 6 p.m. The menu will feature
“Bevo tails” and barbecue items. A live band will
play, and a banana split victory party will end the
event.
Tuesday '
• Bonfire will be lighted at about 8:10 p.m. The
senior redpots will march in with the Aggie Band
at 8 p.m.
Wednesday
• The traditional Midnight Yell Practice in Aus
tin before the game will be held on the steps of
the Capitol Building.
Thursday
• Thanksgiving Day. Kickoff for the game is at
7:30 p.m.
A&M may expand services to
By Melissa Naumann
Reporter
Kor iyama, J apan
Chopsticks, kimonos and mid
night yell practice do not pop up in
most conversations together, but
they might someday.
Texas A&M is expanding its hori
zons as far as the Land of the Rising
Sun. If the proposed project is ap
proved by the Board of Regents this
weekend, A&M will have a new cam
pus in Koriyama, Japan in May
1990.
The project is an idea of a con
gressional committee called the “U-
SA/Japan Committee for Promoting
Trade Expansion”, said Dr. Jaan
Laane, director of the Institute for
Pacific Asia.
The committee, formed in 1986,
gave Japanese cities an opportunity
to provide incentives for American
universities to set up campuses
there, he said.
“I guess everyone felt that an im
proved understanding of the two
cultures would improve relations
and trade,” Laane said. “So one way
to do this is to build American uni
versities in Japan.”
In October 1986, Laane went to
Washington D.C. as a representative
of A&M with 80 other universities’
representatives. Later, Dr. Donald
McDonald, provost and vice presi
dent for academic affairs, traveled
with Laane to Japan to visit seven
possible campus locations.
Laane said, “We were looking for
a number of things. We wanted an
attractive place for the students and
faculty plus a city who was willing to
put up enough money. We feel that
Koriyama was the best of all cities
offered.”
Koriyama has a population of
300,000 and is an hour away from
Tokyo by bullet trains, Laane said.
The city is near mountains, a lake
and the seacoast, and is considerably
less expensive than Tokyo.
The project will be funded com
pletely by the Japanese and the city
of Koriyama, Laane said.
“Obviously, the state of Texas
doesn’t want us to take Texas dollars
and put them into Japan,” he said.
“This was one of the incentives of
fered by the Japanese cities. It’s a
tremendous advantage.”
Koriyama officials are considering
putting four billion yen ($32 million)
into the initial construction of the
campus buildings and faculty hous
ing, he said.
Tuition from the Japanese stu
dents — about $10,000 a year — and
contributions from Japanese indi
viduals will help cover operating
costs. A private Japanese construc
tion company will build dormitories,
Laane said.
The Koriyama education will be a
two-year program, with the students
completing the remaining two years
of their education at A&M in Col
lege Station. The Koriyama campus
will have 500 students, most of
whom will be Japanese. After the
first year, however, as many as 100
American Aggies will be able to
study there, Laane said.
“It would provide an easy way for
our students to be exposed to their
culture without having to be imme
diately fluent in their language,” he
said.
Deanna Wormuth, director of the
English Language Institute at A&M,
said that because the language bar
rier is something the Japanese stu
dents must overcome before they
come the United States, they will re
ceive intensive training in English.
“Although Japanese students
have five or six years of English lan
guage instruction, many can’t speak
English,” Wormuth said. “We will
have students who will never have
spoken English. They will, no doubt,
have read it but not heard it.”
McDonald agreed that the Japa
nese studerfts need further English
instruction.
“The Japanese come out of high
school knowing how to read English
but with a limited command of it,”
he said.
Wormuth said that the first year
of school will be solely English in
struction to prepare students for
their classes, which will be taught in
English by A&M faculty members.
“Since the Japanese students will
still be exposed to their native lan-
“In these classes, our goal for stu
dents is that they can apply skills and
not just recognize structures,” Wor
muth said. “Classes are designed to
model university classes, which are
somewhat rigorous and require work
in class and out of class.”
The English classes also will pre
pare the Japanese students for the
differences between Japanese high
schools and American colleges.
“Not only are they learning a new
language, they’re going to be learn
ing a new style,” Wormuth said. “A
lot of their learning is done by rote
rather than by problem-solving. We
will use more analytical methods.
They will be asked to do more than
repeat retained information. We
don’t want the real classes to shock
them.”
A Japanese classroom has a very
different atmosphere from an
American class, Wormuth said.
“The Japanese are used to more
formal structured classrooms,” she
said. “They’re not used to spontane
ity or volunteering information. One
obligation we will have is to make
them more spontaneous in respond
ing. We have to help them learn that
it’s OK to raise your hand and ask
questions.”
The Japanese students who are
more likely to succeed at American
universities are those who are willing
to take chances, Wormuth said.
“The outgoing ones stand a better
chance of being successful in learn
ing the language,” she said. “But this
is a challenge. When saving face is
important, as it is in their culture,
being a risk-taker is no easy task.”
Another difference between Japa
nese and American universities is
students’ workloads, McDonald said.
“The admissions part is the hard
part in Japan,” he said. “Once the
Japanese are accepted into college,
they take it easy for four years.
Then, when they get out and go to
work, they work hard, but it’s a four-
year respite. It’s just a different sche
me.”
Laane said that although Japanese
students are reported to be more
academically advanced than Ameri
can students, that stereotype should
See Japan/Page 13
Bus passes
can be used
for TCU game
By Fiona Soltes
Staff Writer
Students with valid bus passes
will be able to take outer campus
buses to and from the Texas
A&M verses Texas Christian Uni
versity game Saturday.
Doug Williams, Bus Opera
tions manager, said the bus serv
ice will begin two hours before
the game and will run for one
hour after the game.
“This will be a trial run for fu
ture semesters,” Williams said. “If
this is something the students
want and will use, we’d like to en
hance our services with it, having
the buses run for all home
games.”
Williams said two-thirds of the
University’s buses will be used to
cover the regular routes during
extended hours. All buses will
stop on Jersey Street near the
Clayton Williams Alumni Center.
The buses wil be parked during
the game, he said.
If the buses are used as heavily
as he anticipates during the week
end, Williams said, the home-
game service will become part of
the regular shuttle bus pass pack
age. He said he was not certain
whether the price of the passes
would rise if the service were
added.
The current pass allows stu
dents to ride from 7 a.m. to 10
p.m. weekdays.
Williams encourages students
to let Bus Operations know
whether they think the service
should be added to regular
scheduling.
“If they like it, we need to
know,” Williams said. “We’d also
like to know if the students think
that it will be a waste of time or
useless. We definitely want some
feedback.”
Williams said he has no plans
to start bus services to out-of-
town games.
“We’d prefer to leave that to
the people that make a living
doing it,” he said.
Cold turkey...
Jo Ann Chambers of the Texas A&M poultry sci
ence center is selling turkeys for the Thanksgiving
Photo by Fredrick D.Joe
holidays. People needing a turkey can purchace
them at the center on FM 2818 and Luther Road.