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Wildlife at A&M
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^endangered species
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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
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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.