The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 18, 1988, Image 1
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.