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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 1991)
Saturday Partly Cloudy High 78 P»r rMfe For, what’s being pushed as tolerance these days Is actually no more than benign apathy.” — Tim Truesdale page 2 Pils column An open letter to coach Barone: Don’t worry about winning, just take your time and do it right. pages HOUSE REFORM Legislature OKs school funding reform bill; Ogden a reluctant yes pages The Battalion Faculty group supports revised discrimination statement By Mike Luman The Battalion A handful of Texas A&M faculty members applauded University Presi dent William Mobley's decision to re move "sexual orientation" from the Statement on Harassment and Dis crimination during an open forum Thursday. Dr. Murphy Smith, A&M associate professor of accounting, told the Com mittee for a Discrimination-Free Cam pus that specifying gays and lesbians as a protected group in University pol icy is the same as approving homosex uality. Smith said he represents a group of faculty "moral absolutists" who believe there is no need to designate a class of people in University policy based on sexual orientation. "We urge the committee to stand firm on the (new) statement you have issued," Smith said. "It provides pro tection for everyone." The original Statement on Ha rassment and Discrimination spelled out protected groups. For example, the policy specified protection from dis crimination base<a on gender, religion, race and sexual preference. Mobley's new version, approved by the committee, replaces the fist of pro tected groups with "any form of illegal discrimination against any individual is inconsistent with the values and ide als of the University community." Smith gave the committee a docu ment signed by three faculty members who defend the new policy. The com mittee, however, would not release the names of faculty who favor the new statement. "Universities should not sanction sexual practices that are less than the moral and legal idea of heterosexual re lations within the confines of marria ge," the document reads. Members of A&M's Gay and Lesbian Student Services said the new policy is "useless" because it provides no legal protection from harassment and dis crimination. Bill Kibler, associate director of Stu dent Affairs and committee member, said the word "illegal" was substituted for the list of protected groups in the new policy to more clearly define dis crimination. He said hiring the most qualified ap plicant for a job is a form of legal dis crimination, as is giving grades based on class performance. Homosexual groups contend that gay and lesbian discrimination also is legal. Kevin Carreathers, committee mem ber and director of A&M's Department of Multicultural Services, said he ex pects the new policy will be researched due to the controversy it created. He said he does not know if the com mittee will vote to reinstate the original policy containing the phrase "sexual orientation." Mary Broussard, committee member and program coordinator of A&M's Of fice for Undergraduate Studies and Texas Academic Skills Program, said the committee probably will review its decision to accept the new policy. Matt Poling, an A&M senior biomed ical science major, told the committee he thinks most students perceive Uni versity officials as inflexible toward changing the new policy. "Many think the administration has decided for whatever reason not to af ford gay and lesbian students protec tion," Poling said. He said Mobley has not made a spe cific public statement that gays and les bians will be protected. Mobley undoubtedly intends homo sexual protection in the new policy, but the implied message to students is discrimination against homosexuals is acceptable, Poling said. AND THEN THERE WAS ON E R.C. Slocum restructures 12th Man By Michelle Bergeron The Battalion Texas A&M football fans will see a big change on Kyle Field come next fall's first kickoff. Nine members of the spirit-generating, towel swinging, 12th Man Kickoff Team will be missing. A&M head coach R.C. Slocum has restructured the S id — deciding to use one er to represent the student / rather than fielding an entirely non-scholarship kickoff team. Just one of the 15 players chosen for next year's 12th Man Team will dress out for each game. The 1991 squad was announced April 4. The 15 players will alternate wearing a No. 12 jersey each game next season. Slocum said one of the reasons for the change has to do with the NCAA's 1984 decision to change the kickoff restraining line from the 40- yard line to the 35. "Ever since they moved the kickers back five yards, a lot more kicks are being returned," Slocum said. "Because of this, coaches have worked a lot harder and put better personnel on their kickoff return teams to produce a much better group." The A&M kickoff team's best year was 1983 — its first J. JANNER/The Battalion Members of the 12th Man Kickoff Team prepare for a R.C. Slocum has decided to restructure the squad next kickoff in the 1987 game against Texas Head coach season, cutting the coverage team from 10 to one. year—when it held opponents to 13.1 yards a return. That squad has the second-best return average in school history. However, the 12th Man's production has tapered off since then. Its worst year was 1987, when opponents had an average of 23.1 yards a return. In its seven years of existence, the squad never had allowed more than 20 yards a return until 1987. But it has allowed opponents to break the 20- yard return mark twice the last two seasons. Last year's squad allowed the first touchdown See Slocum/Page 6 Agreement must clear Congress Officials say Bush must have assurance that trilateral trade plan will not change By Timm Doolen The Battalion President Bush must get per mission from Congress to freely negotiate a trilateral trade agreement, or the agreement might not happen, officials close to the issue said Thursday. In order for the free-trade ne gotiating team to arrive at an agreement that satisfies Canada, Mexico and the United States, the president must get assurance from Congress that U.S. legis lators will not alter the final plan. John Hammill, Canadian con sul in Dallas, said countries rar ely are willing to enter into an agreement unless they know it will not be changed by American politics after the negotiating process is over. If the "fast track" plan, as it is called, is approved, then Con gress can reject or accept the agreement but not change its content. Dr. German von Bertrab, head of the Washington office of the Bureau for Free Trade Negotia tions for the Secretary of Com merce, Mexico, said although the plan is called fast track, that does not mean negotiations be tween the three countries will John Hammill (left) and William Cavitt (right), political leaders from the United States and Canada, re spectively, will discuss the trilateral trade agreement tonight at the Wiley Lecture Series in Rudder. proceed quickly. He said the president must seek this fast track approval for the free trade negotiations every two years, and the current nego tiation period ends June 1. If the fast track plan is not voted down before June 1, it will automatically be approved, but more than likely it will come to a vote soon, he said. The trade agreement is still in the negotiations phase, but ne gotiators have a few general goals: □ Elimination of tariffs. □ Elimination of non-tariff bar- See Official/Page 4 Policy causes student worker to quit By Julie Myers The Battalion Physics department objects to tutorials, review sessions conducted by employees A Texas A&M student worker derided to quit her job last week after she was forced to choose between selling review materi als, and grading papers and call ing roll in the same physics class. Dr. Donald Naugle, associate head of the physics department, said Cindy Justitz, a senior psy chology major, was offered the choice after he learned she was offering tutorial services to stu dents who attended PHYS 306 Basic Astronomy; the class in which she graded papers and called the roll. Naugle said the physics de partment doesn't approve of its teaching assistants or student workers holding review sessions or tutoring students. "We (the physics department) do not sponsor the review ses sions or the printed materials, and they have no affiliation with our department," Naugle said. Justitz was charging students for reviews she conducted on campus and review sheets that included material taken from copyrighted textbooks. "I think it's stupid that she's charging students for material that she copies out of copy righted books," junior earth sci ence major Eric Mims said. For the first test, Justitz charged $3 for a review session and $2 for the review material. For the second exam, admittance to the review session was in cluded in the $5 packet. "I think it's bogus that she charges $10 for reviews," Mims said. Dr. Nelson Duller, the profes sor who teaches the class, allows two 8V2-by-ll-inch papers as "cheat sheets" for tests. Justitz's own cheat sheets are included in the packet of materials. "I conduct the reviews and supply the packets because I'm a tutor," Justitz said. "I charge money for them because I'm not completely altruistic. "I've had no complaints. Peo ple who do pay think it's fair. I would be out of business if I wasn't effective." Justitz would not say how much money she has made from the reviews and packets, but there is a total of 144 students in both sections of PHYS 306. "I can explain it in everyday language," Justitz said. "No one is being forced to come to the re view or buy the packets. The stu dents who don't like what I do must be envious of the money I'm making." Becky Urbina, a junior psy chology major, said the review sessions were packed. The re view session for the last exam was moved three times because there were not enough seats for everyone. "It was like a big cram ses sion," Urbina said. Vincent Smith, a senior bio chemistry major, said Justitz's review sessions are responsible for his "A" in PF1YS 306. "Cindy uses the direct ap- I jroach and can talk to us on our evel," Smith said. "It makes all the difference in the world. "Dr. Duller teaches the material, she teaches the test," See Tutorial/Page 4 Official reveals change in science, media roles By Karen Praslicka The Battalion Scientists want to influence the press toward their point of view, and most journalists are vulnerable to their promotional efforts, a New York University professor said Thursday night. Dr. Dorothy Nelkin, professor of sociology and affiliated E rofessor at the school of law, spoke in Rudder about "Living wentions — Biotechnology and the Public." Nelkin said media attention paid to genetic engineering dur ing the 1970s reported a public tear of "lethal organisms." Mov ies such as "The Fly" and "The Wasp," which showed botched genetic experiments, only promoted the public's fear, she said. "Scientific advances in biotechnology have been the focus of media attention and public dispute since 1977," she said. Nelkin said coverage of biotechnology in the media shifts be tween reporting the benfits of science and fearful concerns of the public. From the very first reports of biotechnology in the press dur ing the 1970s, Nelkin said the anticipated benefits were matched See Nelkin/Page 7