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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1991)
)nl 24,1i s n their ow ^t objects | J'" he sait a they nee, 1 choice ere. 1 even mors sent system, ch and poc, ►ecausemorf w ih have at ierprivilege; Friday yr Partly Cloudy ^ High in 80’s “No one denies that we are the most /c? S wasteful nation on Earth. What can we f do?” C —Andy Yung page 2 /£> Astros Almost^-^fc. no-no ^rHouston rookie throws six figSgSjSjijM /f innings of no-hit baseball as Astros slip past Reds 1 -0 pages J^Vdont blame / THE DOCTOR ^ Medical expert says the public confuses _ medical advancements page 3 The Battalion Vol. 90 No. 139 USPS 045360 10 Pages College Station, Texas "Serving Texas A&M since 1893" Thursday, April 25, 1991 * schools, It the pooi i out by rid Bnt this isni en students ged families '>er qualitt make highti parents ofter -'here to sen: ool. ieves anotlit: ive to be ere e underprivi go to school 1" schools! zander, asst- .rriculumanl ibed Bush 1 ! . butnotven ae plan isles :h was spec: e Gulf War,' 1 is not net' e it might al' assessment! der said, creative test 1 ace of present she said, ather test, it value," Ale>- right have i ause school 1 rove to attrae But if school 1 de which sti 1 ■ would wait ents, and to ould be ill aid. i problem! 8 at understanl e what to out ofschoo its business e funding® i but to p r students, i school lew: ie allowed! e said. Bush's plan 1 1 and said iti ce for imp® and expand good step fe . It's just« ued Irorf 1 niperaturt! ‘g s Preim' id in tree® 1 ;rage tem^ the centu® ■ration off icreased s' id theamc- nosphere ir 2030^ Oz emiss ! ' :: much A ■ system®! lance, li c compoifj Iramahcai ould not* ates 1 arben ,d ,as notvf'j 1 about I s a ^' j e attitudf'- (glo ba1 ,"! whatfi ' e sald rt£ o sion : is a r t aid - % ies mu^ ip way®, leemis sl0 v nations reduce r carh 011 fs * Bl as; ngS !# ween interests 1 Board of higher education puts degree programs on hold By Julie Myers The Battalion Texas A&M, or any other state uni versity, will not implement any new degree programs until the state's bud get situation brightens, according to a recent ruling by the Higher Education Coordinating Board. Faced with the prospect of future budget cuts and concerned about fur ther diluting the quality of higher edu cation, the HECB took the unprece dented step of refusing to allow institutions to implement any new de gree programs. Dr. Jerry Gaston, A&M's associate vice provost for academic affairs, said two new degree programs, a bachelor of science in agribusiness and a bache lor of arts in international studies, will be on the board's July agenda. "Both programs will be affected by the board's new position," Gaston said. The board gave preliminary appro val today to more than a dozen new degree programs, but announced that no programs approved between now and July 1992 could be implemented until the Legislature provides adequate funding. "As a result of years of underfund ing higher education and potential drastic cutbacks this year, we have come to a true fiscal crisis in higher ed ucation," said Harry Reasoner, HECB chairman. "We have gone, in constant 1985 dol lars, from funding of almost $3,500 per student to about $2,800 per student," he said. The board recently issued another statement which said the state should suppport higher education. Gaston said the statement is a posi tive one which clearly recognizes the needs of higher education and indi cates the board will stand up to fight for them. "The decision by the board not to implement new programs is not meant to punish universities, but to commu nicate to the state that programs cost money and we have to have money to do it," Gaston said. "It will be an in convenient situation, but it will also cause citizens to look at the state as a whole and be sympathetic to its pos ition." Board member Lauro Guerra said he equates higher education to a sick pa tient in the hospital. "By not finding revenue sources ad equate to support the state's colleges and universities, the Legislature is cut- See Board/Page 8 Lewis enters drug rehab clinic J. JANNER/The Battalion A&M running back drafted by Bears failed February drug test, misses Chicago mini-camp By Douglas Pils The Battalion Darren Lewis, the Southwest Conference’s all-time leading rusher and a sixth-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears, checked himself into a drug rehabilitation center in Houston Wednesday. Lewis tested positive for substance abuse at an NFL scouting combine in February. Texas A&M running back Darren Lewis, the Chicago Bears' sixth-round draft pick, checked into a Houston drug rehabilitation center Wednes day, after testing positive for cocaine at an NFL scouting combine in February. Lewis, the Southwest Con ference's career rushing leader, played at A&M from 1987-91 and was a two-time All-American. Lewis failed his drug test in Indianapolis while taking part in an NFL combine — a gath ering of NFL scouts and pro spective draft picks. At the combine, all athletes are re quired to take a drug test. A&M athletes are required to take random drug tests throughout the year, but Sports Information Director Alan Cannon said Wednes day that as far as he knew, Le wis never tested positive in his four years here. Drug testing at A&M differs from the process Lewis went through in Indianapolis. A&M uses a system where athletes are tested at random once a week according to their social security numbers. Cannon said the athletic de partment also tests athletes in different random groups — such as all running backs —on the same day to eliminate any chance of cheating. All players knew they were to be tested in Indianapolis. Lewis was the only NFL pros pect who tested positive. He was drafted by the Bears on Monday, despite a memo sent by the league office to all 28 teams stating the results of Lewis' failed drug test. However, it was a letter Bill Tobin, the Bears' personnel director, said he never saw. "I was told that someone had tested positive," Tobin said. "I marked the wrong player and I made a mistake." Tobin, who didn't find out until Tuesday that Lewis had tested positive, said in a pre pared statement Wednesday that he never would have con sidered Lewis had he known. Some experts were sur prised that Lewis lasted until the second day of the draft. Others said Lewis had a sus pect work attitude, and that his lack of size and speed —he refused to be timed in the 40- yard dash at the combine — would hurt him in the NFL. Gene Burroughs, Lewis' agent, informed the Bears of See Lewis/Page 9 A&M student says University lacks formal anti-discrimination process By Bridget Harrow The Battalion After taking his discrimination suit to federal court, one Texas A&M graduate student said he believes the University still has no formal appeals process to deal effectively with discrimation com plaints. Dave Dearmont, a dyslexic graduate student in agricultural economics, told the Committee for a Discrimination-Free Campus last week that he was discriminated against and could not find a resolution, so he took his problem to court. "President Mobley and the committee have been saying who you need to go see if you've been discriminated against," Dearmont said. "What they do not say is how a complaint that has merit is going to get solved." Dearmont said his experience with discrimina tion started in 1986. Dearmont said he had a lot of problems with timed tests. After failing one part of an economic theory qualifying examination twice, Dearmont said he told his advisory committee he failed because of time limitations, not because he did not know the material. "It was my feeling that I would be stigmatized or even discriminated against by others if they knew that I had a learning disability," Dearmont said. "That may explain why I waited so long to discover my real basis of the problem I had." He said he sought medical attention and was soon diagnosed by the Texas Rehabilitation Com mission as having a learning diability — dyslexia. Dearmont's form of dyslexia is a problem of de ciphering symbols and reversing numbers and letters, so he tends to reverse minus and plus signs. To compensate for this problem, Dearmont has to have extra time to complete his exams. After having his dyslexia confirmed by TRC and even the department head of educational psychology at A&M, Dearmont was allowed to take the microeconomics part of the test again. He was given eight hours, instead of the usual See Dyslexic/Page 9 Schwarzkopf qualifies A&M official defends general's capabilities By Mike Luman The Battalion Gen Norman Schwarzkopf is qualified to assume the Texas A&M University Sys tem chancellorship, a deputy director of A&M's Mosher In stitute for Defense Studies said Tuesday. Dr. Art Blair, a retired Army colonel, also said Schwarzkopf could make a successful transition from Army commander to aca demic leader. "He has the capabilities," Blair said. "The question is if the regents choose him and if he wants to get into the aca demic world, not the business world." A&M faculty senators re- See Schwarzkopf/Page 7 U.S. General Norman Schwarz kopf would make a fine choice for chancellor of Texas A&M, said a A&M official Wednesday. Institute focuses on ethnicity Director hopes A&M center will attract scholars, improve race relations By Katherine Coffey The Battalion The newly established center of Race and Ethnic Studies Insti tute (RESI) was implemented to research the impact of race and ethnicity at Texas A&M and throughout the nation, said Gail Thomas, director of the institute. "The center's priority is to be the basis for which a committed group of scholars can do high quality research on the critical is sues of race and ethnicity," said Thomas, also a sociology profes sor. "It also will provide policy alternatives for improving race relations." Thomas, a research scientist of race and ethnic relations in higher educa tion, said the idea for RESI began with an interest group in the socio logy depart ment. The depart ment then sponsored a Thomas seminar on race and ethnic rela tions in the United States, which was the first step in getting RESI started, she saia. "The goal of RESI is to attract scholars who are committed to issues of race and ethnicity and who are able to produce first-rate research on these issues," Thomas said. "The second goal is to offer policy alternatives for improving race and ethnic rela tions." RESI will focus on education, health and employment. Thomas said while she be lieves it is great for the United States to strive to be world lead ers in science and technology, an even greater goal should be to become world leaders in human relations. The success of the institute will depend on securing grants, she said. University President See Director/Page 9