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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 1989)
ie Battalion TATE & LOCAL 3 Friday, September 22,1989 tudents play judge and jury jjiJudicial boards review on-campus rules violations t 10t tudent runs. y Cindy McMiliian )f The Battalion Staff Though students who break cam- us and residence hall rules can’t be nt to court, they still can be asked appear before a jury of their eers. Two residence hall judicial boards l andle on-campus residents alleged |o have violated hall policies or Uni- ersity regulations, and one campus dicial board hears cases of off- mpus students. The boards meet weekly to hear cases from the stu dents’ points of view and to decide on referrals or sanctions. “This is an educational process, not a court system,” said Linda Windle, coordinator of Residential Judicial Programs. “We’re not law yers.” The boards often try to determine if the violations were a reaction to something else happening in a stu dent’s life, she said. Students having a difficult time in school, for exam ple, may have been upset or blowing off steam when they broke a rule, olunteer firefighter rescues 10 students from submerged bus she said. If such students needed help aca demically, then the board could sug gest a place for them to go, she said. “We make a lot of referrals in the discipline process.” Some problems occur because stu dents do not agree with University policies, but Windle said policies are set up for the benefit of everyone. “Students may not agree with the rules and regulations, but there are appropriate ways to address that,” she said. “If the policy is a state law, then write a legislator; if a University committee or group sets the policy, talk with its representative,” Windle said. Students receiving a letter of charge to come before the board also may come in for a pre-hearing con ference to ask questions about the process and read the report describ ing charges. “This is a discussion atmosphere,” she said. “Our hope is to lower the anxiety level for them and let them be better prepared.” Rules violations are referred to the judicial boards through the De partment of Student Affairs. Each board has seven student members and hears two or three cases each week. Sometimes no cases are sched uled, Windle said, so the board might listen to a guest speaker in stead. Members of the boards re ceive special training in student de velopment and perform mock hearings before they begin hearing actual cases. Sandy Ackles, a resident advisor at Legett Hall who was a judicial board member last year, said the ex perience really helped her with deci sion-making. She sometimes felt put on the spot during cases, she said, but believed in what she was doing. “I never re gretted a decision,” she said. Board member selections were made last week, and training took place this week. The boards begin hearing new cases next week. Student, professor support YMCA idea for underprivileged By Mia B. Moody Of The Battalion Staff A Texas A&M student said Bryan-College Station may have a YMCA within the next year if community members and stu dents “pitch in” and offer the support that is needed to open one. David Harris, a senior physical education major from Bryan, said in order to have a successful YMCA the whole community needs to get involved because YMCAs are run by the commu nity. YMCAs can improve the com munity, Harris said, because they help community members de velop self-confidence and lead ership skills, which can lead to an increase in community pride. Harris said he has no idea where the center could be lo cated, but he hopes community leaders would fight to have it in the area that needs it the most. “Currently underprivileged areas in Bryan have a Girl’s or Boy’s Club, but these are insuffi cient because they kick members out after they turn 16 or 17,” he said. “We need a club like YMCA which are open to persons of all ages, religions and sexes.” Harris said he and Dr. Ruth Schaffer, a professor in the socio logy department, are in the proc ess of drawing up a workable plan. If community members follow through, then the club could open within a year, Harris said. ALTON (AP) — An Alton volun teer firefighter dived repeatedly into a murky, water-filled caliche pit and eagen escued at least 10 students trapped i a school bus that went off the road fter being hit by a truck. Luis Guerrero, 34, said he was the rst emergency aid to arrive after ie Mission school bus carrying 80 jnior high and high school students lunged into the pit Thursday. t the d pri J urpose ganor latiin studer who eader: Thei front! ’ides, r ees. I )ad. y do luyil. ■ refe .him : for 1 adi: astso: Authorities said 19 students were illed in the accident, which is being memHalled the worst involving a school us in Texas history. It occurred lout 7:40 a.m. just outside this iuth Texas city of about 3,700. Guerrero said about 20 students ad escaped when he arrived min- tes after the bus collided with a Dr epper delivery truck at a county "•PBoad intersection. He said his home one-half mile away. “I jumped about 30 feet down to water and I started getting kids utofthe windows ... I got some of lem back breathing again and I ulled another couple of kids out,” luerrero said. “Then, some other dp started coming in.” Guerrero said he went to the sink ing bus again and again. He didn’t realize it, but a crowd had gathered. “People started calling my name out and I looked and I saw a lot of people all over the place,” Guerrero said. “And they said ‘Luis, look for my kid . . . Luis, my daughter is miss ing.’” To find the students, Guerrero said he felt for them inside the bus windows. “I was just going window by win dow ... I would feel the kids inside and pull them out by the hand or the hair, or however I could get them,” Guerrero said. The bus came to rest on its side in 12 feet of water, and only the top and rear were visible, witnesses said. Guerrero said the windows were submerged about two feet. The bus driver had escaped. “The bus driver was trying to help me, but he was injured. His head was busted open. I just told him to stay calm,” Guerrero said. Gilberto Pena, the bus driver, was listed in critical condition. Center attempts to tackle racism By Todd Connelley Of The Battalion Staff Incidents of racism on college campuses across the country was the topic of the critically-acclaimed “Racism 101” video presented by Texas A&M University’s Multicultu ral Services Center. The powerful video, produced by the PBS Frontline Video Series, pre sented interviews with students and faculty at various universities where widely-publicized racial incidents have occurred. The video centered around the University of Michigan where 30 ra cial incidents have occurred in the last three years. The most dramatic sequence fo cused on a racial remark made on the school’s student radio station which eventually led to major policy changes by administrators. In the spring of 1987, a local caller on radio stion WJJX told two racial jokes on the air. Black student leaders organized immediately and formed the Black Action Movement under the leadership of Charles Winder. BAM pressured school ad ministrators to act on the incident and demanded policy changes in fa vor of the black student. The mounting tension at Michi gan caught the eye of Jesse Jackson, who went to Ann Arbor to help with negotiations. In five days the demands of BAM were met. The caller who provoked the entire incident was suspended from school and funds were set aside for a Black Student Union. The video also highlighted racial unrest at such prestigious schools as Dartmouth College, Harvard Busi ness School and the University of Texas. The Multicultural Services Center is committed to addressing racial is Texas’ Capitol declared runaway shelter AUSTIN (AP) — Texas’ century-old Capitol, perhaps the most familiar building in the state, was designated Thursday as a “safe place” for runaway youth. “The Texas state Capitol is the first state Capi tol in this nation to declare itself a safe place for children,” Mitch Weynand, local executive direc tor of Middle Earth Unlimited, Inc., said. Weynand and other social workers were joined by state legislators, security guards and a dozen youths, some reportedly runaways, at an outdoor ceremony that included cutting a ribbon on the south door of the Capitol. “When a kid is out on the street, all we have to do is tell them to go to the state Capitol and we’ll be down there to meet you in just a few minutes,” Weynand said. Middle Earth, a non-profit organization that provides emergency shelter for youth and their families, is the local connection for Project Safe Place, which was started at Louisville, Ky., in 1983. - Safe places also have been designated in Dallas and San Antonio. The Capitol, the 50th “safe place” in Austin, became part of the program through legislation sponsored by Rep. Jerald Larry, D-Dallas. Approximately 1.5 million youths run away each year, including more than 100,000 in Texas, according to Middle Earth. Larry said runaways “paint a rather grim pic ture of our country’s future,” but Texas “has taken the lead once more in demonstrating its commitment to helping the youth of this state who find themselves sometimes in rather hope less situations.” “I’m inclined to believe that we have set the pace, and in so doing, that other states will hope fully follow,” he said. Mike Millsap, executive assistant to House Speaker Gib Lewis, read Lewis’ remarks, which said, “Life on the streets for these young people more often than not leads them down a dead-end street of drug addiction and crime. “This program’s high visibility and this locale and welcome atmosphere will make our Capitol building a positive and important addition to safe place sites in our state,” Millsap said. K \aggie\W Cinema/ SCHWARZENEGGER DEVITO Only their mother can * tell them . apart. (7:30 & 9:45 PM) Friday & Saturday September 22 & 23 Rudder Auditorium Admission $2.00 w/TAMU ID (Midnight) Friday & Saturday September 22 & 23 Rudder Auditorium Admission $2 w/TAMU ED Matinee Series Is ( 3:00 PM ) Saturday September 23 Rudder Theatre Adults $2 w/TAMU ID Children under 13 $1 For more information call the Aggie Cinema Movie Information Hotline at 847-8478. Aggie Cinema's next general committee meeting is Monday at 7:00 PM in Rudder Tower room 404. Come join us!! sues facing today’s minority student. Bonne Bejarano, a graduate assis tant on the Center’s staff, said A&M is dedicated to keeping the minority retention rate high. “ In July, A&M received the Noel- Levitz Minority Retention Rate Award for keeping the most mi nority students,’’said Bejarano. “A freshman minority student is faced with an environment that they are not used to at all,’’she said. “Sometimes cultural conflict arises and they begin to question their identity. At the Center we try to help them with that conflict,” she said. The Multicultural Services Center also speaks to different organiza tions on racial issues and presents different video series throughout the year. “The Black Athlete” will be pre sented Oct. 5 and “Racial Insensitiv ity in Higher Education” on Oct. 19. Safety errors common at Kelly AFB, says report WASHINGTON (AP) — An Air Force investigation into a fire that destroyed a B-52 bomber has re vealed a pattern of safety breaches at Kelly Air, Force .Base that raises se rious concerns for the base’s 28,000 workers, says a member of the House Armed Services Committee. Rep. Albert Bustamante, a San Antonio Democrat whose district in cludes a portion of Kelly AFB, said he is particularly concerned about the Air Force’s report on the B-52 accident because Kelly is responsible for maintenance on nearly half of the B-52 fleet. “The report shows a pattern of breaches of safety, training and work procedures at Kelly Air Force Base,” Bustamante said Wednesday. “It is surprising that such an envi ronment has not resulted in higher casualties and damage at Kelly.” The Air Force on Tuesday re leased its report into the July 24 acci dent, which caused estimated dam ages of $15.8 million and resulted in one death and 11 injuries. T he report by the Air Force Lo gistics Command said the cause of the accident was failure to remove an improperly manufactured vent plug from the cejqtfcr wing fuel tank by workers before refueling the air craft. The fuel tank ruptured due to overpressurization and approxi mately 2,600 gallons of JP-4 fuel spilled onto the ramp area sur rounding the B-52. The fuel ignited and the ensuing fire damaged the aircraft, the fuel truck and other equipment. Clarification The Battalion reported on Thursday that faculty salaries in creased over the past year. This year’s average raise was 5 percent as opposed to last year’s average increase of B percent. • C A A il Volleglote fllcohol lT lollonal Volleglafe fucohol fiwaieness Meek cum TUG-A WAReness Friday, Sept. 29th 3:00 p.m. (First Tug) Duncan Field $20 Entry Fee Sign Ups: Blocker & The MSC 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sept. 20th-26th Need to have a team Captain at sign up • 8 members/team 4 Divisions: Corp, Greek, Residence Halls, Student Organizations/Independents Sponsured by: Sigma Chi, Dept of Recreational Sports and Hullabaloo Proceeds go to National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week — •f CHUNKING,/* CHINESE RESTAURANT ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET Mon-Fri.11:30-1:30 Sun. 11:30-2:00 & 5:00-8:00 DINNER SPECIALS Chosen from our most popular items served with soup, rice & egg roll. DAILY LUNCH SPECIALS Different Each Day We serve beer 8c wine 1673 Briarcrest Drive At Ardan Crossing Oxford Street 774-1157 Open 7 Days a Week Lunch 11-2 Dinner 5-10