Saturday
Partly Cloudy
High 78
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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