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Ag cagers snap long
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i90 No. 72 GSPS 045360 8 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, January 15,1991
English future debated
Senate endorses findings
on discrimination policy
By JULIE MYERS
Of The Battalion Staff
After an hour of debate Mon
day, the Texas A&M Faculty Sen
ate endorsed the findings of the
Committee for a Discrimination-
Free Campus.
The committee’s statement was
approved by President William
Mobley last summer and formally
announced at a press conference
in August.
Senators who opposed the
adoption thought that by accept
ing the statement they also were
accepting the recommendations
of the committee.
These recommendations in
clude the addition of a three-
hour interdisciplinary course on
multiculturalism to the core cur
riculum.
The committee’s report said
discrimination or harassment
based on age, ethnic background,
family status, gender, handicap,
national origin, race, religion,
sexual orientation or veteran sta
tus is unacceptable.
The new policy is the first to
give homosexual faculty and staff
members the same protection
from discrimination given to stu
dents.
The policy, however, does not
apply to employees of Texas
A&M University System agencies,
including the Texas Engineering
Experiment Station, Texas Engi
neering Extension Service, Texas
Agricultural Experiment Station
and Texas Forest Service.
Associate professor of history
Dr. James Rosenheim, a member
of the committee, said a positive
vote would be endorsing the
statement and the principles of
the report, not necessarily the
recommendations, which have
not been implemented.
Professor of philosophy Dr.
Larry Hickman saiid the commit
tee’s report did not address appli
cability to the Corps of Cadets.
Corps Commandant Maj. Gen.
Thomas Darling said the Corps
does not discriminate based on
sexual preference, but the De
partment of Defense will not
commission homosexual officers.
Associate professor of educa
tional administration Dr. Delbert
Carpenter said approval of the
policy would place A&M in the
forefront of higher education in
stead of a laughingstock.
(JULIE MYERS
iHie Battalion Staff
lexas A&M’s Faculty Senate de-
jfd Monday the future of English
iiComposition and Rhetoric I.
English Department head Dr. J.
jurence Mitchell said ENGL 103
onld be withdrawn and replaced
ikanew English 104 Composition
il Rhetoric II which would com-
se aspects of ENGL 103 with
,\'GL 104.
Hie Senate debated the course
ildrawal for about an hour before
nding the matter back to the Cur-
oilum Committee for study and
isultation with the Academic Af-
35 Committee.
llitchell said the department’s
sited resources could be better
ltd to teach more sections of En-
sli 301 Technical Writing and a
i* course, English 100, for stu-
dits whose scores are not high
tough to get into the new ENGL
l
ENGL 103 is a three credit hour
a required before taking ENGL
d,but the hours do not count to-
ird graduation nor is the grade
ted to determine grade point ratio.
1n the interest of the University
nivhole, we’re not simply trying to
duceour workload,” Mitchell said,
it're trying to produce a stronger
;glish combination.”
After taking the new ENGL 104,
idents would be required to take
nurses like ENGL 301, English 325
reative Writing, English 210 Argu-
xntation and Composition or En-
jish203 Introduction to Literature,
iwiting intensive course limited to
5 students per class. Sophomore
tudents could also choose to take
:\GL210T, a proposed sophomore
ichttical writing course.
About 60 to 65 percent of stu-
Itntsdo not place out of ENGL 103
ang the College Board tests or the
verbal part of the Scholastic
Achievement Tests.
Many senators were concerned
these students would be ignored un
der the English Department’s new
package.
But Mitchell said those 60 to 65
percent of students who do not place
out of ENGL 103 would still be
served by the new plan. He also said
ENGL 103 was not needed because
97 percent of students who took the
class in the last five years, passed the
course.
Mitchell suggested lowering the
passing grade on placement exams
to allow more students to take ENGL
104 instead of taking a remedial
ENGL 100 course. Presently, A&M
requires a higher passing grade on
English placement tests than the
University of Texas at Austin.
“We’re being overwhelmed by stu
dents who didn’t need to take ENGL
103,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell was surprised at the de
bate over the issue. He said he had
given all colleges affected by such a
change many opportunities to scruti
nize trie package.
In other business, the Senate:
• Stood in silence for one minute
to recognize the failure of diplomacy
to resolve the conflict between the
United Nations and Iraq and to ac
knowledge the expected heavy cas
ualties of a war
• Recommended the revision of
the University statement on Aca
demic Freedom, Responsibility,
Tenure and Promotion to include
international activities in teaching,
research and service as achievements
to lx? considered for faculty perfor
mance evaluation
• Approved the final report from
the Committee on Student Advising
and Counseling
• Discussed a proposed amend
ment to the Faculty Senate Constitu
tion granting election eligibility to
non-tenure track faculty who are less
than full-time and/or those paid
from funds not appropriated as tea
ching or library salaries
• Approved a change in one
graduate level course and the addi
tion of 12 new graduate courses
• Approved changes in two
mathematics courses and the with
drawal of Animal Science 319 Ani
mal Nutrition Laboratory.
All resolutions passed and other
action taken by the Senate must be
approved by A&M President Wil
liam Mobley before being enacted.
MIKE C. MULVEY/The Battalion
Allen Academy first-grader Christopher Lee prays with fellow classmates for peace in Middle East Monday.
Students, faculty establish Soviet ties
IflSSELLE MCALLISTER
The Battalion Staff
What began as a trip to the Soviet
■Dion became “an incredible cultu-
3lexchange” between students and
itulty members of Texas A&M and
iazan State University, the Sister
niversity Association chairman
k
A&M sophomore Michael Pinkus
pveled to Moscow with Student
'Xly President Ty Clevenger and
fecial Assistant for International
Hairs Lisa Cash for a conference of
! (iresentatives of 50 U.S. and Soviet
diversities to assess the University
firing Program.
The A&M group left for the So
ft Union Dec. 29 and returned Fri-
%,
The program was organized by
|e Citizen Exchange Council, a
non-proin O.d.-ooviei cultural ex
change organization, and the
U.S.S.R. Committee of Youth Orga
nizations. The program promotes
exchanges between paired universi
ties from the two countries.
However, while they participated
only as observers in Moscow, A&M
representatives met for one week
with students and faculty from Ka
zan State to establish ties to create
the Sister Universities Association.
Pinkus said although Moscow was
beautiful, the conference was poorly
organized.
The delegation accomplished
more communicating one-on-one
with the the students and faculty of
their sister university, he said.
“The real treat was going to Ka
zan,” Pinkus said. “It was like an ivy
league school of the Soviet Union.”
Pinkus said it was only natural for
A&M to pair up with Kazan State be
cause the Soviet city and Bryan-Col-
lege Station are sister cities.
During their stay, Pinkus said rep
resentatives from A&M and Kazan
State reached agreements of good
will to encourage regular exchanges
of information.
The first agreement, written en
tirely by students, was signed by Cle
venger and Dimitry Kounitza, dep
uty secretary of the Student
Governing Association at Kazan
State. No other exchange program is
entirely student operated, Pinkus
said.
“Now we have incredible pro
grams for each other,” he said.
Besides meeting with students
and faculty, Pinkus said the A&M
delegation met with local small busi
nesses, an international affairs direc
tor and a theater group to increase
communication between the two cit
ies.
The two countries can learn a lot
from each other, he said. The Sovi
ets have great theorists, he ex
plained, but not great technology,
while the United States has the tech
nology to apply theory.
The program also was a good
chance to exchange actual historical
facts, not history written through
propaganda, he said.
Many things taken for granted in
the United States such as telephones
and automobiles are luxuries in the
Soviet Union, he explained.
“They are 50 years behind,” he
said. “It made an incredible impact
on my life. It made me patriotic. It
made me realize how good we have
it here.”
Deadline nears
White House urges
rapid pullout of Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
White House said Monday that Iraq
will be living on “borrowed time” af
ter Tuesday’s deadline for withdra
wal from Kuwait. The administra
tion urged Saddam Hussein to take
“dramatic action” to avert war.
“Everyone has to assume that mili
tary action could occur at any point”
after Tuesday, White House press
secretary Marlin Fitzwater said.
Pentagon sources said the number
of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf
had topped 400,000, an increase of
30,000 from the total announced last
Thursday.
There was no sign that Iraq would
pull back. United Nations Secretary-
General Javier Perez de Cuellar,
who met in Baghdad with Saddam
Hussein, said, “I don’t see any rea
son to have real hope.”
“It’s time to rally behind the
forces in the field,” said Sen. Sam
Nunn, D-Ga., who had opposed the
congressional resolution endorsing
the use of force. He said the time for
debate was over, but warned there
could be bad news from the battle
field if war breaks out.
As the U.N.-set deadline neared.
Bush summoned congressional lead
ers to the White House.
“If conflict occurs, there will be
full support for the men and women
of our armed forces,” said Senate
Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-
Maine, who also had opposed the
congressional resolution. “Conflict is
not inevitable and we hope it does
not occur.”
Fitzwater said, “We all share a
sense of deep concern and somber
anxiety about reaching this 15th
deadline.”
However, he said, “the basic con
sultations and decision-making that
needs to be done preparatory to the
(2 risis in the (j ulf
□ A prayer for peace — edi
torial board/Page 2
□ Student opinions on gulf
situation/Page 2
□ U.N. says war looks un-
avoidable/Page 3
□ Possibility of conflict
hurts economy/Page 3
□ 500 Americans still
trapped in Kuwait and
Iraq/Page 3
□ Allies — who will fight if
war starts?/Page 3
use of force has essentially been
done.”
Speaking of Bush, Fitzwater said,
“If the time comes, he is ready. I
think the president has made up his
mind. He is prepared to use force if
that is called for and if that is his fi
nal decision.”
Military assault
Soviet troops seize
building in Vilnius
VILNIUS, U.S.S.R. (AP) — Presi
dent Mikhail S. Gorbachev on Mon
day defended the bloody military as
sault on Lithuania and said he
learned about it only after a local
military commander executed it.
Soviet troops seized another key
broadcasting facility in Vilnius. Lith
uanian officials said the action vio
lated an agreement to reduce ten
sions in the republic following
Sunday’s attack that killed 14 people
and injured 230. Troops control
eight buildings in and around the
capital.
Vilnius was calm but somber.
Thousands of mourners lined up in
the snow outside a sports arena to
file past the open caskets of 10 vic
tims as weeping parents stroked the
bruised faces of the dead beneath a
huge Lithuanian flag.
Gorbachev’s statement that he was
not in on the decision to use force
called into question how strongly he
controls the Soviet military.
In his first public comments on
the weekend storming of Lithuania’s
radio and TV transmitter, Gorba
chev expressed no sorrow or regret
over the loss of life, except to say it
was “a tragic development” that the
Kremlin did not want.
He told the Supreme Soviet legis
lature in Moscow that it was “a de
fensive action.”
“The manner of defense was de
cided by the commandant,” Gorba
chev told reporters during a break in
the session.
New garage to open;
reserve spaces now
By TROY DON HALL
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M students are encour
aged to begin putting their names on
a list reserving a parking space in the
unfinished University Center park
ing garage.
Tom Williams, director of Park
ing, Transit and Traffic Services,
says the parking garage will begin
operation during Fall 1991.
The structure will provide ap
proximately 1,500 spaces for con
tract, staff and student parking.
One thousand contract spaces
have been allocated for faculty, staff
and on-campus students. The re
maining 500 spaces will be for visi
tors, he says.
“We planned for a mixture of 500
staff and 500 student, but I don’t
think we will need all the faculty and
staff allocations,” Williams says.
Parking spaces will be allocated on
a first-come, first-served basis, he
says.
“Spaces will be assigned based on
when a person signs up,” he says. “I
encourage students to begin signing
up for spaces.”
He says the new parking garage
should be convenient for students
living in residence halls near the
MSC or the Corps area.
Street improvements and modifi
cations, however, will limit the
amount of parking on campus, Wil
liams says.
“Street parking will be limited
next semester because we will be
completing our bicycle system on
campus,” he says.
Parking spaces will cost $200 a
year in the garage and $150 a year
for roof spaces.
Williams says he expects parking
and transportation on the A&M
campus to run smoothly during the
spring semester.
“Parking in the spring is never as
critical as it is in the fall,” he says.
“We had an abundance of parking
spaces in the fall, so there should not
be any parking problems.”
Williams says Ireland Street pres
ently is under repair and that Ross
Street also will be under construc
tion during part of the semester
causing some re-routing of shuttle
buses.
He says faculty members, staff
and students will be kept informed
of any transportation problems.
To sign up for a space in the Uni
versity Center parking garage, stu
dents can contact Karen Lyons at
845-6146.