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Thursday's
Forecast: Mid 90s
Isolated
fThunderstorms
Triathlon
Aggies accept
challenge offered
by 'Iron Man' sport.
page 3
"... Judge Thomas’ record, visible
though it may be, may not be all
that viable for a position of such
stature and importance."
— Guest Editorial
page
Have a blast July 4th
and avoid getting
burned.
page 2
The Battalion
1. 90 No. 164 (ISPS 045360 6 Pages
College Station, Texas
"Serving Texas A&M since 1893"
Wednesday, July 3, 1991
A&M emphasizes quality of teaching through skills training
By Karen Praslicka
The Battalion
The director of Texas A&M's Center
for Teaching Excellence said he wel
comes student and faculty input to
achieve the center's overall goal of im
proving the quality of teaching at the
University.
Dr. Larry Gresham, associate profes
sor of marketing, said the center began
about eight years ago but only recently
has received strong attention and sup
port from A&M administration.
The center provides assistance and
support for faculty and teaching assis
tants (TAs) to improve their teaching
performance through several programs
and activities.
One of the major programs is a TA
training program that will cover infor
mation about syllabus development,
administering tests, motivating stu
dents and handling student com
plaints.
In addition to the general training,
international TA's will learn about dif
ferences in American classroom culture
and their own cultures, as well as what
to expect from A&M students.
Gresham said this is the first time TA
training will be mandatory.
"We're hoping to get them off on the
right foot and avoid complaints (from
students)," he said. "The administra
tion has heard the complaints and is
taking steps to do something."
Gresham said TAs are knowledgea
ble in their fields but might not have
teaching skills.
"Teaching skills aren't a requirement
for a Ph.D.," he said.
The TAs also will be required to at
tend training sessions through their
departments and attend semester-long
training programs.
Gresham said this is a University-
wide program aimed at helping TAs
become better teachers.
Another of the center's major pro
grams is a grant program that encour
ages and supports faculty research
about teaching effectiveness.
The grants are largely funded by the
Association of Former Students as an
incentive to faculty to innovate teach
ing techniques.
Gresham said the grants are given to
faculty who are researching to improve
the teaching field not their own lec
tures and classes. The money is used
for such things as audio-visual equip
ment and computer software.
For the first time this fall, a Council
of Master Teachers will meet and work
with the center to recognize and re
ward teaching excellence at A&M.
The council is a University program
that allows teachers to address issues
related to teachers, Gresham said.
Universities are often criticized for
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A HOUSE BUILT ON FAITH
RICHARD S. JAMES/The Battalion
Ernest Sims, construction coordinator for Habitat for the house the organization is builing in Bryan. Sims
Humanity, takes a break after finishing a day’s work on said he expects the house to be finished Saturday.
Volunteers
construct
third house
in B-CS area
By Tammy Bryson
The Battalion
Habitat for Humanity's
"building blitz" crew is in Bryan
to help raise a house in a week's
time in honor of Habitat Inter
national's 15th anniversary,
said Habitat member Trish
Burk.
A traveling work crew was in
vited to help complete the
house, which is the third to be
built in the Bryan-College Sta
tion area, said Burk, a past pres
ident of the local chapter of
Habitat and presently head of
volunteer coordination.
"We have 12 out-of-town vol
unteers from as far away as
Rhode Island and California as
sisting us (the local chapter) in
our Tmilding blitz,' " she said.
"We began Tuesday and were
scheduled to finish in a week,
but since everyone is working
so hard it looks like we might
finish as early as Thursday."
Burk added that the work
crew, as well as several local
volunteers, are at the house
from 6:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. ev
eryday. A "catch-up crew" also
comes in at night to finish any
thing not completed that day.
Joanne Arnold of Atlanta,
leader of the work crew, said
Habitat has done incredible
things in an effort to eliminate
poverty housing.
"We (members of Habitat)
stress that this is a Christian or
ganization, and it has been so
successful because it is based on
faith," said Arnold, a represen
tative from the Habitat for Hu
manity headquarters in Ameri-
cus, Ga.
Mack Moore, vice president
of the Board of Directors for B-
CS Habitat, emphasized that
Habitat for Humanity is not a
charity organization.
"Each family selected to re
ceive a Habitat house must put
in 500 hours of work on their
own and other Habitat houses,"
Moore said. "This 'sweat equ
ity' takes the place of a down
payment on the house."
He added that the house is
paid for by the family through a
15- to 25-year interest-free loan,
and this money is used to fi
nance other Habitat homes.
Radio station KAGG, Aggie
96, has been successful in gain
ing attention to the Habitat
'building blitz' with its fund
raising promotional, Burk said.
"The morning crew is living
on a billboard across from the
Kroger in Bryan for 96 hours,"
she said. "They are trying to
help raise 1 million pennies
which will pay for the next Hab
itat house. They (the radio
crew) will be there until Thurs
day at 6 p.m. when we hope to
have raised all the money."
Burk said Habitat volunteers
are at the billboard collecting
money from people driving by
the site. Volunteers at the Hab
itat office in College Station are
also accepting pledges by
phone at 846-7200.
The house, at 1113 Groesbeck
in Bryan, will be dedicated at 4
p.m. Saturday, Burk said.
There will also be a square-
dance at 8 p.m. Saturday at First
Presbyterian Church in Bryan
as a "thank you" to all volun
teers and donors, she added.
Construction on the fourth
Habitat house will begin in Au
gust or September. The house
will be located in College Sta
tion.
Yugoslav
cease-fire
collapses
Slovenians attack federal army positions
LJUBLJANA, Yugoslavia (AP) — Slovenian militiamen armed
with rockets on Tuesday ambushed a federal army tank convoy
and fought for control of key border posts. The army called in air
strikes and the chief of staff said "a truce is no longer possible."
The federal army said seven to 10 people were killed and 13
wounded in Tuesday's fighting, but Slovenian television later said
as many as eight people died in one firefight alone. The death toll
in Slovenia was expected to rise in the heaviest day of fighting
since Slovenia and neighboring Croatia declared independence
June 25.
Violence involving federal troops also broke out for the first
time in a week in Croatia, where soldiers opened fired on demon
strators throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at federal tanks as
they left a barrack in Zagreb.
One civilian was reported seriously injured.
In Belgrade, hundreds of distraught parents of soldiers serving
in Slovenia stormed the Serbian parliament to demand that the
troops come back home. Police used tear gas in a vain attempt to
disperse the crowd, which crashed through the gates and poured
into the chamber where a session was underway.
Late Tuesday, Slovenia proposed an immediate end to hostili
ties. The statement released by Slovenian Information Minister
Jelko Kacin proposed a disengagement of forces starting at 9 p.m.
(3 p.m. EDT) at the latest.
Slovenian President Milan Kucan appealed for an end to vio
lence, saying Slovene territorials had been told to stop offensive
maneuvers.
"Under the existing circumstances, a truce is no longer possi
ble, which forced the supreme command to start full scale combat
activity," Gen. Blagoje Adzic was quoted by the Yugoslav news
agency Tanjug.
Adzic vowed to prosecute a war until his troops gained control
over Slovenia and neighboring Croatia.
"We will make sure that the war that has been forced upon us
will be as brief as possible," Adzic said on Belgrade television.
For the first time, the United States hinted it might support in
dependence for Slovenia and Croatia if it came peacefully.
"We do not support the use of force to preserve Yugoslavia's
unity," said State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler in
Washington. "A cooling off period is needed to launch a dialogue
that responds to national aspirations of the people and creates a
new basis for relations among the peoples and republics of Yugo
slavia."
Iraqis deny U.N. observers
access to nuclear equipment
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Despite repeated promises, the Iraqi
government denied a U.N. delegation access Tuesday to a secret
convoy of equipment and material allegedly used for making nu
clear bombs, U.N. officials said.
The officials had emphasized earlier that such a refusal could
have "serious consequences." President Bush warned Monday
that he might order a military strike against Iraq if it refused to
comply.
Hans Blix, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
said the Iraqis showed him only destroyed nuclear research equip
ment for civilian use, not what U.N. officials earlier said was spe
cialized equipment used only for making weapons-grade enriched
uranium.
Regarding a mysterious armed convoy of trucks that U.N. in
spectors have been seeking for a week, the Swedish nuclear expert
said, "We have not had a satisfactory explanation of what they
Were and where they went.
"The Iraqis have shown in this a way of behavior that definitely
does not give confidence," Blix said after meeting with Iraq's for
eign minister.
"This is sad, very sad."
In another part of the country Tuesday, Iraqi soldiers super
vised by U.N. officials destroyed ballistic missiles of the sort that
showered on Israel and Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War.
Blix and Rolf Ekeus reserved final judgment on the seriousness
of Iraq's alleged violation of the Gulf War cease-fire agreement.
Under the April 3 U.N. resolution, Iraq agreed to the inspection
and destruction of its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
Adolescents use gangs to gain
social approval, professor says
By Peggy O'Hare
The Battalion
Teenagers caught engaging in
deviant gang behavior benefit
more from a punishment that fo
cuses on education and positive
opportunities than from tradi
tional forms of correction, a
Texas A&M sociology professor
said.
Distinguished professor Dr.
Howard Kaplan said teen-agers
might feel the need to join a
gang to search for an identity
they can be judged by.
Kaplan, who has spent 20
years studying the behavior of
Houston adolescents who en
gage in deviant behavior, said
the teens might feel that by join
ing a gang, they are provided
with a sense of belonging to a
group.
"If they don't feel accepted by
conventional groups, they may
seek unconventional wants,"
Kaplan said. "In some areas, this
gang may be the only form of so
cial organization they can belong
to, especially if they don't feel a
part of the school group."
He added that different behav
iors demonstrate the different
feelings the teen may be experi
encing.
Kaplan said physical assault
might be the individual's way of
expressing anger at his or her
failure to become part of society
and the need to blame someone
else, while drugs may serve to
reduce feelings of self-hatred
and stealing may serve to pro
vide an image of prestige.
"They evaluate themselves
and believe others evaluate them
in terms of things they have,"
Kaplan said. "There's a sense of
a need to search for an identity.
to find some set of standards
that they can believe in and by
which they can be judged."
To show these individuals that
crime is not a way to better their
situation, the goal of punish
ment should be to provide them
with hopes of becoming part of
society and how this will lead to
a more successful life, Kaplan
said.
"In order to prevent people
from joining gangs, alternative
forms of behavior that are more
rewarding than they anticipate
gang behavior will be must be
provided," Kalpan said. "At
least those alternative forms of
behavior have to be less punish
ing than these individuals found
them to be. If they have good ex
periences in school and at home,
there will be less of a need for
them to adopt to gang-life re
sponses."
Kaplan, who has written seve
ral books on the subject of de
viant behavior among adoles
cents, said an individual who
faces a "revenge" type of pun
ishment might feel stigmatized
by the punishment.
As a result, adolescents might
feel that they have no chance of
becoming part of society. These
feelings might serve to encour
age the individual to return to
deviant forms of behavior, he
said.
Kaplan cited a jail term as an
example of a worst-case scenario
form of punishment.
"There are some social groups
in which some kinds of behav
ior, which others see as deviant,
represent a normal way of life;
and sometimes individuals en
gage in the behavior because
they've learned that's the way to
behave."