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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 1991)
Wednesday Partly Cloudy High near 90 “So there we have it. Fraternities haze.” — Trey Jacobson pages Wildlife at A&M Vet School’s Wildlife and Exotic ^Animal Center preserves ^endangered species pages A&M tops statewide sales of collegiate license plates. Si* Texas* CD jHh aggie Tmai ilflrn llnlv israttgc page 2 The Battalion i|. 90 No. 151 (ASPS 045360 6 Pages College Station, Texas 'Serving Texas A&M since 1893' Tuesday, June 11,1991 lis- BA he se- ; is t to [ties :ide be ted up an ted be- alls alls rst ear um r, T 1 of ifou you ally me, the we l be ion- 0. he ters rim- ited Jay- mch said :tive ner- jcks and ison itire k IT1 e to nkle 1 se- •ight \.C. e at here jary y to ither ‘ting iven the ome id. 1 Metcalf, A&M officials meet to discuss 'slush fund' allegations From staff and wire reports Former Texas A&M basketball coach Shelby Metcalf will meet with Texas A&M officials today to discuss allega tions that he controlled thousands of dol lars in a special cash fund used to pay players. Metcalf denied knowledge of any ille gal fund during a phone interview Mon day with The Battalion. The Austin American-Statesman, how ever, reported Sunday that Metcalf used the cash for clothes, parties, beer, airfare. court costs and an abortion for one play er's girlfriend, citing two A&M adminis trators and two former players as sources. Metcalf, the win- ningest coach in South west Conference his- t o r y , said t h e p allegations "are all news to me." "I can speak for my self," Metcalf said. "Over a period of 27 years, you don't know who might have said Shelby Metcalf or done some thing." Metcalf coached at A&M for 27 years and was removed from coaching in 1990. "I'm not saying something didn't hap pen, but I think you have a gross exag geration here," he said. "I can assure you no one gave me any money. We had probably the cleanest program in the conference." Metcalf said he and his coaching staff were aware of how University President Mobley felt about A&M's athletic pro gram. "He wants a program above re proach," Metcalf said. When asked if a fund could have existed without his knowledge, Metcalf said he did not believe such a breach could have happened, but added that coaches do not have complete control of their programs. "Coaches can't be with their players 24 hours a day," he said. An administration source said he was told by an A&M booster who contributed to the fund that it was in operation for more than a decade and that it involved thousands of dollars. The information provided by the administration source was confirmed by a second administra tor, the American-Statesman reported. There is no documentation to prove an exchange of money between alumni and Metcalf or between Metcalf and players, sources said, because all the transactions were in cash. One administration source said the payments stopped when Kermit Davis replaced Metcalf as coach last year. on the condition their names not be used, one former A&M player said he received cash and a second watched See Metcalf/Page 6 Statements completed Mobley hands down final revisions on A&M's discrimination, harassment policies By Chris Vaughn The Battalion Down Under Tara Lee, Lori Denson, David Mayer, and Kevin Smith put on their gog gles before going under in an advanced scuba class at the Wofford Cam SbNDRA N. ROBBINS/The Battalion swimming pool. The class meets at 10:30 a.m. and is taught by Tom Meinecke, a lecturer in the health and physical education dept. University President William Mobley recently completed his controversial alterations of Texas A&M's harassment and discrimi nation policies by omitting all spe cific groups from two statements in the students' handbook. Mobley's decision, announced Monday in the Faculty Senate, ended weeks of speculation that the president would change the remaining specific harassment and discrimination statements to more general policies. Specific wording such as race, color, religion, sex, sexual orienta tion and age were removed from both statements. The first statement in the 1991- 92 Rules and Regulations Hand book now reads: "Texas A&M University has a strong institutio nal commitment to the principle of diversity in all areas. In that spirit, admission to Texas A&M Univer sity and any of its sponsored pro grams is open to all qualified indi viduals without regard to any subgroup classification or stereo- type." The second revision comes un der the Student Rights' portion of the handbook and reads: "Each student shall have the right to par ticipate in all areas and activities of the University free from any form of harassment and any form of ille gal discrimination and without re gard to any subgroup classification or stereotype." These two statements differ from Mobley's first policy revi sion, which was the University Statement on Harassment and Discrimination. That statement, altered in March, makes no men tion of "subgroup classification or stereotype." Mobley said he changed the statements because general statements are more inclusive than statements mentioning specific groups. While Dr. Jim Mazzullo and Dr. Larry Hickman, both outspoken critics of Mobley's changes, be lieve the revised statements in the See Critics/Page 6 penate plans to begin 20-minute breaks between classes Texas A&M's Faculty Senate ap proved a recommendation Mon- to extend the break between tlasses to 20 minutes after search- ng two years for a soluhon to the iprawling campus' time con straints. The 20-minute break period, ivhich begins Spring 1992, is in re sponse to a problem with students leaving classes early and arriving ite because they cannot get from to west campus or from north to south campus in 10 minutes. A report by the Senate's Plan- fiing Committee recommended By Chris Vaughn The Battalion the 20-minute break period on a trial basis for Spring and Fall 1992. After the trial basis, the Faculty and Student senates will evaluate the results and suggest changes. But 20 minutes between classes has other advantages, the report stated. "It also provides the advantages of minimizing pedestrian and ve hicular interaction, increasing shuttle bus utilization and more opportunity for student/faculty in teraction," the report stated. Lecture and laboratory times for classes will be altered to deal with the 20-minute breaks. Classes on MWF still will last 50 minutes, but will begin at 8, 9:10, 10:20, 11:30 and so on. Classes on TR will be gin at 8, 9:35,11:10 and so on. The Planning Committee con sidered several options in its two- year study, including additional shuttle bus routes, shortening class times, and offsetting the starting times on east and west campuses. But A&M Registrar Donald Car ter and Dr. Steve Searcy, chairman of the subcommittee which stud ied the issue, said none of the other alternatives was as desirable as lengthening the break period. After some debate, the Faculty Senate also passed a recommenda tion to lengthen the time students can Q-drop a class to 10 weeks, the 50th class day. Presently, students can only Q-drop until the fifth week, or 25th class day. Though the recommendation passed, some professors believed 10 weeks was too long and that the measure was being approved just because graduate students can drop until the 10th week. Associate Director of Student Affairs Bill Kibler, however, said students need more time to eval uate their classes, especially since some students do not receive a grade until the seventh or eighth week. All recommendations approved by the Faculty Senate are for warded to University President William Mobley who rejects or ac cepts the Senate's advice. In other business, the Faculty Senate: □ approved a proposal to change the name of the Faculty of Plant Physiology to the Faculty of Plant Physiology and Plant Bi otechnology. The group is an in tercollegiate group of faculty members that administers the graduate degree programs in plant physiology. □ approved requests for two new English graduate courses and one i □ uate pol altered an undergraduate English course and mechanical engi neering course. SUMMIT TALKS President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev are not likely to hold their sum mit until some time after the mid-July eco nomic summit of the seven major industri alized nations in London, the White House said today. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said he could not rule out the possibility that a superpower summit could be held before then. Moscow and Washington both have said they hoped to have a summit in late June if possible. Legislators support funding for education reforms By Greg Ml.Joy The Battalion Legislators and the rest of the texas state government need to Jet out of the way and let teachers Jnd administrators do the jobs ley were educated to do, a state tducation official said Monday luring a banquet at the MSC. Sonia Hernandez, director of education in the governor's office, educators from across Texas lat teachers must be allowed to Hake the decisions they went to iollege to learn to make. Hernandez, keynote speaker for the New Directions in Education Conference banquet, said each school district in the state must have a plan by 1992 for site-based decisions in compliance with House Bill 2885. "The bill encourages teachers and administrators to make their own decisions," Hernandez said. "In September, you will have the freedom to do so." Hernandez said state educators also have firm backing from Gov. Richards' office. "As a one-time middle school teacher, the governor is a firm be liever that only education can turn the state around," Hernandez said. "We are about to enter one of the toughest times ever for the state financially, but funding for education is essential." Hernandez said despite finan cial hardships to come, funding must be secured for education at all levels. "You and I need to stand shoul der to shoulder and fight for every dollar to continue to do the things we have been doing at this confer ence," she said. The conference, which took place Monday and continues to day, was designed to study and support innovative programs at all education levels. Programs involving ties be tween schools, industry and busi ness and universities were tar geted specifically. Hernandez said cooperation with the governor's office is essen tial to the success of these pro grams and offered her office phone number to beleaguered ed ucators. "If you need help, give me a call," she said. "I will make sure you can say we offered you leg endary customer service second to none. We work for you." Hernandez said HB 2885 went a long way toward freeing teachers to do their jobs but came up short on some important issues. "Teachers' and administrators' salaries need to be increased," she said. "The state average is in the mid-20s, and that just can't do it. That is not a professional living wage." That average, she said, is well below the national average. "We are looking at adjusting that average by at least $5,000 a year at a minimum to catch up with the rest of the nation," she said. "Gov. Richards is committed to exceeding the national average by 1996. We need at least that much just to give teachers and ad ministrators enough comfort to be able to think about kids and lear ning." Hernandez also urged educators not to stay at arms length with the Legislature. "You have an ally in the gover nor's office and an ally in me," she said. "Schools can't be skimped on. This is something w*L can't af ford not to invest in." Funds for educational staff de velopment also are needed, Her nandez said. An extention from the five days currently offered for staff development is needed, she saidr-a<Tvell as money.