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TOMORROW’S FORECAST:
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of thunderstorms
HIGH: 78 LOW: 62
/ol.89 No.108 USPS 045360 12 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, March 6,1990
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Photo by Eric H. Roalson
Three members of the A&M rugby team attack Sunday. A&M won the match against SMU but
an SMU player during the Collegiate Rugby Tour- lost to SFA. The University of Texas won the
nament held on the A&M polo field Saturday and tournament, while A&M placed fourth.
Silver Taps
ceremony
to honor 1
student
The solemn sound of buglers
playing “Taps” and the sharp
ring of gunfire will be heard on
campus tonight as a Texas A&M
student who died during the past
month is honored in a Sil-
Taps ceremony at
10:30 in
front of the
Academic Build
ing.
I he deceased
student being honored is
Eduardo Bessoudo, 37,
a graduate student in
Animal Science and
Class of ’83, from Mex
ico City who died Feb. 5.
Dating back almost a
century, the stately tra
dition of Silver Taps is
practiced the first Tuesday of
each month from September
through April, when necessary.
The names of the deceased stu
dents are posted at the base of the
flag pole in front of the Academic
Building, and the flag is flown at
half-staff the day of the cere
mony.
Lights will be extinguished and
the campus hushed as Aggies pay
final tribute to fellow Aggies.
The Ross Volunteer Firing
Squad begins the ceremony,
marching in slow cadence toward
the statue of Lawrence Sullivan
Ross.
Shortly after, three volleys are
fired in a 21-gun salute and six
buglers play a special arrange
ment of “Taps” three times — to
the north, south and west.
Refunds available for
unused Aggie Bucks
By KATHERINE COFFEY
Of The Battalion Staff
Students who have the Texas
A&M Aggie Bucks meal plan now
can receive a complete refund of
their unused credit.
Ty Clevenger, speaker of the Stu
dent Senate, said he and the Food
Services Ad Hoc Committee, created
by the Senate and the Residence
Hall Association, have been investi
gating where students’ unused
money goes when the semester is
over.
In the past, students were unable
to get their unspent Aggie Bucks at
the end of the semester.
Clevenger, a junior genetics ma
jor, said the Student Senate was con
cerned about students losing money,
and decided to talk to the Depart
ment of Food. Services about what is
done with the extra money.
Food services officials told the
Senate that they are non-profit, but
Clevenger said he learned that food
services was making a profit from
Aggie Bucks.
Director of Business Services Don
Powell said the food services depart
ment is a non-profit organization
but must make extra money to pay
for things such as insurance, public
relations and maintenance.
Clevenger said the Senate’s main
concern was where the money was
going. The Senate learned that more
than $80,000 was added to food
services revenue from unused Aggie
Bucks, so they requested a budget
from the food services department.
“I’m sure the money went to a
good cause, but we just want to find
out what it was being used for,” Cle
venger said.
“We have not found any real justi
fication for food services not being
able to give students back their
money,” he said. “The only argu
ment we heard was that it was a lot of
trouble for the food services to get
the money back to the students.”
Clevenger said he was extremely
pleased when food services decided
to give the money back, but he said
the Senate still is investigating what
the money has been used for.
“The bottom line is that it
shouldn’t have happened in the first
place,” he said.
Powell said the Department of
Food Services had no intention of
keeping the students’ unused
money, but that it was considered as
just another board plan. He said this
type of meal plan, which used to be
called the Point Plan, was created so
students could pay at the beginning
of the semester and have credit de
ducted when they bought some
thing. It was changed to a board
meal plan so students could pay in
installments for that semester, Pow
ell said.
“It was,the ultimate flexible meal
plan until we realized the problems
that it caused,” Powell said. “We did
See Aggie bucks/Page 6
Committee to discuss bonfire
The Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Com
mittee on Bonfire will have an open
hearing tonight from 4 to 5:30 p.m.
in 338 Psychology.
Those with comments or com
plaints about bonfire are encour
aged to attend the hearing and make
their opinions known.
The committee, comprised of
four students and four faculty mem
bers, will record all statements made
at the hearing and will review these
statements before preparing their
bonfire report.
All students, faculty and commu
nity members are invited.
Corps officials discharge
cadets involved in hazing
By DEAN SUELTENFUSS
Of The Battalion Staff
Two Texas A&M students involved in a Jan. 26
hazing incident have been removed from the Corps of
Cadets following A&M’s investigation, a Corps official
said Monday.
Maj. Gerald Betty, the officer in charge of the investi
gation, said the final decision in the matter was made by
Gen. Thomas Darling, Corps commandant. The ap
peals process has been exhausted and the issue has been
resolved, Betty said.
Darling would not comment on the matter, citing
protection of the privacy of the students involved.
The two former A&M cadets were identified as Rus
sell Hruby, a junior accounting major from Spring, and
Tim Maurice, a junior civil engineering major from San
Antonio, in a story on “Campus Journal,” a program
that aired on A&M television station KAMU Saturday,
Sunday and Monday.
A&M began investigating Feb. 5 after Shannon
George, a sophomore biology major from Silsbee, with
drew from the Corps following a visit to the A.P. Beutel
Health Center.
Dr. Kenneth Dirks, director of the health center, told
The Battalion that George said he was required to do
push-ups and sit-ups and to run for an hour as part of
Corps training. Dirks said George complained of a sore
back and abdomen upon visiting the health center.
Hruby told “Campus Journal” he did nothing im-
roper while supervising physical training being done
y George.
“I do not feel like it (the training) was to an extreme
limit,” Hruby said. “I feel like I pushed him to his limit,
but I don’t feel like it was an over-extreme ...”
Hruby told The Battalion he did not realize the inter
view he granted to “Campus Journal” would be aired
publicly. He said he thought the story was being done
for a journalism class.
“Campus Journal” airs stories produced by journa
lism students in Jour 312, Television Newscasting.
Hruby told The Battalion he did not want to com
ment further on the matter, but he did grant a phone
interview for several minutes.
“I really don’t want to say anything,” Hruby said. “I
really want it all to be over. The whole thing has been
blown out of proportion, I think.”
Maurice could not be reached for comment.
Several cadets acquainted with Hruby and Maurice
were contacted by The Battalion, but all declined to dis
cuss the hazing incident or the investigation.
Hazing is illegal according to University regulations,
and state law. A&M’s 1989-90 Regulations handbook
defines hazing as “participation in any act or threat,
physical or mental, perpetrated for the purpose of sub
mitting a student or other person to physical pain or
discomfort, indignity or humiliation at any time regard
less of the intent of such an act and regardless of the
consent or cooperation of the recipient.”
Resolution’s funds aid women
By CHRIS VAUGHN
Of The Battalion Staff
Noting the extraordinarily low
number of women in high positions
at Texas A&M, the Faculty Senate
passed a resolution Monday that re
quests the University set aside funds
to assist in the recruitment and hir
ing of women.
According to 1988 statistics, there
are only 25 women full professors
and 824 men full professors. The
statistics show that there are 53 fe
male associate professors in compa
rison to 497 male associate profes
sors. Only one administrative
position is held by a woman, accord
ing to the 1988 statistics.
The chain of teaching titles at
A&M begins with full professor,
then goes down to associate profes
sor, assistant professor, instructor
and lecturer.
The resolution, authored by the
Committee on the Status of Women
in the University, states that the Uni
versity should set aside funds similar
to the minority recruitment policy
already in place.
Dr. Janis Stout, associate dean in
the College of Liberal Arts, said the
only area where the number of
women has increased substantially
has been at the assistant professor
level.
“We discovered that the numbers
of women at the higher levels has
not substantially grown since 1984,”
Stout said. “They have been at the
assistant professor level, but not at
the higher ranks.”
The 1988 statistics showed that
there were 119 assistant professors
who were women, which was up
from 93 in 1984.
The number of women at the full
professor position has increased al
most 100 percent since 1984, when
there were 13. The total number of
women professors, however, does
not compare well with the 824 male
Faculty Senate endorses bill
to modify syllabi distribution
By CHRIS VAUGHN
Of The Battalion Staff
The Texas A&M Faculty Sen
ate endorsed a Student Senate hill
Monday requesting that all course
syllabi be given to students on the
first class clay with more detail
about course requirements. • -
T he bill, which must go before
A&M President William H. Mob
ley for ajpproval, stated that syl
labi shall be distributed on the
first day with detail about grading
policy, class participation, exam
weight and required books and
materials.
The bill also asks that the
course syllabi name the prereq
uisites that are listed in the curric
ulum catalog.
Brennan Reilly, the Student
Senate representative, said a uni
form policy for course syllabi
would cut down on students en
rolling in classes they are not pr e
pared tor and would allow stu
dents to plan and budget time
and expenses.
Some faculty members, how
ever, felt the bill was “microma
nagement,” and it might help stu
dents in the short run rather than
the long run.
But Dr. Samuel Gillespie, assis
tant dean in the College of Busi
ness, said the bill, particularly the
listing of course prerequisites,
would benefit the students ami
the faculty by avoiding problems
later in the semester.
In other action, the Faculty
Senate approved a resolution
asking the University to make a
videotape to he shown to all fac
ulty and administrators on in
creasing awareness of minorities.
Dr. James Price, from the De
partment of Soil and Crop Sci
ences, said he strongly supported
See Syliabi/Page 6
professors.
According to the 1988 statistics,
the College of Liberal Arts has the
largest number of women" in teach
ing positions with 108, but only four
are full professors. The College of
Education has 74 women in teaching
spots with four as full professors.
The lowest number of women fac
ulty members is in the College of Ar
chitecture and the College of Geosci
ences. Both colleges have 11 women
in teaching positions.
Some senators said that the gap
between the number of men and
women in higher positions is not on
purpose.
One senator from the computer
science department said that no
women ever apply for a position in
his department.
Dr. James Rosenheim, associate
professor of history, said his depart
ment has offered women several fac
ulty positions, but that A&M cannot
compete with offers from other
schools.
The resolution states that women
in higher professional positions
“might be expected to serve as effec
tive mentors to non-tenured faculty
women, assisting them to progress
into tenured ranks.”
Stand up and be counted
Census includes students
By SELINA GONZALEZ
Of The Battalion Staff
The census bureau wants Texas A&M students to
come to their senses and be counted.
Census Day is April 1, and Texas needs everyone to
be a statistic that counts. The Bureau of the Census will
mail census forms March 23. Residents can mail in their
completed form before Census Day.
A&M student Timothy King, vice-chair for College
Station Census Promotions Committee, said the parents
of college students cannot claim their children as part
of their form if the student lives somewhere else while
attending college.
Therefore, all students living away from home need
to fill out a form.
An accurate count is important to the state, county
and University, King said.
On a state level, a correct count is necessary because
the information is used to redistribute the number of
congressmen that will represent Texas in the House of
Representatives, King said.
The numbers also are used by the state for redistrict
ing of the state legislature, he said.
“In the ’80s triere were 40 cities that went above
50,000 people, and Bryan and College Station were two
of those 40,” King said.
“Between 1980 and 1988 Texas saw an increase of
2.6 million people,” he said. “We are expected to have
an increase of three to five state legislators.”
The state loses $150 in federal funding for every
Texan who doesn’t fill out a Census 1990 form.
“In the ’80s, we lost 8580 million in federal lunding
and in 1987 alone we lost $30 million as a result of an
inaccurate count in 1980,” King said.
He said many Texans weren’t counted in 1980 be
cause they threw their forms away or just didn’t care.
King said that in the 1990s if the Bureau of the Cen
sus doesn’t get an accurate count, Texas is expected to
lose up to $300 million in federal funding. If an accu
rate count is taken, Texas could receive up to $600 mil
lion.
The numbers also are used for federal grants based
on how many students live in the area, he said.
Some private businesses look at the census results to
determine whether an area contains possible markets,
King said. In 1980, many students didn’t fill out a form
or filled out the forms incorrectly by reporting they had
zero income.
“Unfortunately, the minorities are the ones who
need to be counted the most but yet they are the ones
who traditionally don’t partake in filling out the forms,”
King said.
The forms are available in Spanish although they are
not mailed bilingually. A toll-free number is printed on
the forms so residents who speak only Spanish can call
to receive a form in Spanish or have the form trans
lated.
The census information also is used to determine
who should be eligible for the money from welfare and
the Housing and Urban Delevopment fund, he said.
The way they determine how much money a state
should receive for welfare is by looking at the percent
age of below-poverty income people in each area and
See Census/Page 6