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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 9, 1991)
**■ jguste.r A man in Idaho drops a dish, while 1,500 miles away the weather in Aggieland is hot with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. NCAA axes athletic dorms Southwest Conference coaches argue pros and cons of new rule. PAGE 3 "We also need to see rape victims the victims of a crime of violence and treat them with sympathy, not shame. This will allow them to prosecute their rapists, instead of letting them go free." - Michael Cowen * PAGE 5 The National Poultry C onventibn PAGE 2 provided bij lightclubsa:] mge. ?a House The Battalion 103 Boyeti L d CaiiWl Vol. 90 No. 184 USPS 045360 8 Pages a formation, "il Fire. Foil $3 cover. U. M. Soot on and it 9 p.m.$4 ite Bread e. Rock, S3 cover. >tic Stage. rtsat8p.i College Station, Texas "Serving Texas A&M since 1893" Friday, August 9, 1991 Report on teacher certification problems untrue, officials say By K. Lee Davis The Battalion Bar tation sity Drive, d older 93-7500 for •n. f - Eugene d. Startsati ibaret 1 Ages 18 ted. Alcohol ■ informa- id With No rts at 9:30 Bye Colui 1 Mob. to i. $3 cover. Df Fame ryan. -or more 822-2222. louse. 18 p.m., cm. $3covi UID). Lyon and Notes. 19 p.m., .m. $5 o Garwood t 9 p.m., .m. $4 liversityDj . Alcohol in forma- ; Rutz. [) p.m. $2 'es. Rock. | $2 cover, f. Rock. $2 cover, Club Jni versify Ages 19 d. Alcohol 500 for ny the range. A local newspaper report stating some students in Texas A&M's College of Education might have their gradua tion delayed because of teacher certifi cation problems was false, officials with the college said. "There will be some adjustments (in the certification process), but no stu dents will have their date of graduation affected by the changes," said Dr. Donna Wiseman, associate dean for teacher education. "After the story appeared in the (Bryan-College Station) Eagle, we re ceived clarification from the THECB (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board) that all of these students are protected and won't have to graduate late," she added. Dr. Bryan Cole, dean for undergrad uate studies in the College of Educa tion, said the THECB recently inter preted a section of a 1987 state law affecting teacher certification that had not been thoroughly dealt with before. The law states any individual receiv ing teacher certification after Sept. 1 must have an academic degree or inter disciplinary academic degree other than education. This new interpretation will cause some changes in the curriculum A&M uses to certify teachers for bilingual studies and special education. "(The THECB) has given us an ex tension until Aug. 31, 1991, by which time the student can be certified in their current program or can be looked at individually to make sure that they can be transitioned into the new pro gram," Cole said. Dr. Viola Flores, an associate profes sor of curriculum and instruction and the director of bilingual education and the English as a Second Language Pro gram, said no student will be forced to graduate behind schedule because of the changes. "When you start to look at the de mand and importance of bilingual tea ching in Texas and across the nation, it would not make sense to cut the pro gram back," Flores said. "We really need more recruitment into this pro gram. Flores also stated the college had known about the problem for less than a week before students were notified. "The college used that time to for mulate a plan to deal with the crisis," she said. Wiseman said 17 bilingual education students were given notification from the college of the new interpretation handed down from the THECB. "It (the new interpretation) can make some changes in the sequence that some courses have to be taken," Wise man said. "But we can adjust that with no problem." However, some students might have to do their student teaching earlier than they had anticipated, she said. "Contrary to some of the rumors fly ing around, no programs are being eliminated, no students should lose credit, and no students will graduate late because of this change," Wiseman said. Cole said 85 special education stu dents will be notified of the changes in curriculum when fall classes resume. "Too many of them (special educa tion students) are gone for the sum mer, and the problem has been resol ved," Cole said. All three administrators stressed that students with questions should talk to their adviser soon. Getting the run-around Laura Watts, from Houston, runs laps around Anderson Track Thursday afternoon. Watts, a marketing major, will be graduating in August SONORA ROBBINS/The Battalion Bills' fates unknown Amendment for student regent held up; tuition increase may be less than expected By Greg Mt.Joy The Battalion ;ent amend- before being A bleak legislative outlook surrounds a non-voting student re gent amendment, part of the education-minded House Bill 2, said Rep. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan. Ogden said he had high hopes for the student ret ment, which had passed both the House and Senate 1 held up by a conference committee. "Tm very disappointed we were held up after getting the mea sure further than we ever had before," Ogden said. "It's funny how one or two guys can hold something like this up." Ogden said the bill's almost imminent death was probably the result of opposition by Sen. Carl Parker, D-Port Arthur. "He didn't hold it up just for the student regent amendment, though," Ogden said. "There were several controversial points on that bill, including a decision to save $200 million by not funding pre-kindergarten baby-sitting. Parker would rather see the entire Dill die than try to work it out." Ogden said the most surprising news came surrounding H.B. 11, a tax bill that included a slight tuition increase. "Most students had resigned themselves to a bill perhaps dou bling tuition," he said. "But the tax issues discussed (Thursday) in clude only a $2 per semester hour increase. Any increase will cer tainly not be along the lines of the major increases proposed by State Comptroller John Sharp." Ogden said legislative leadership was going to submit a sub stantial tax bill, totaling about $2 billion to $3 billion, coming See Ogden/Page 8 js Twist- 9 p.m. $2 e B-CS communities will look for solutions to homelessness, provide housing strategies gg s n College jrved. e infor# Assault T. and ^ressive. ;over. ect to » fexas Av { ‘ unended admitted 11 693-17$ ?n. /ernom Starts at- advance/ lub niversit) ges 19 . Alcohol )0 for ians- n. Ticket door. By Robin Goodpaster The Battalion Homelessness is a growing E mblem — even in Bryan-Col- ige Station — and the two com munities will look for new solu tions at an open meeting Wednesday. Gail Macmillan, community development coordinator for Bryan, said social service provid ers and the general public will be able to provide ideas about hous ing strategies. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Brazos Center. "This meeting is to assess the greatest needs for housing and Battalion moves underground in fall The Battalion office has moved to the basement of the Reed McDonald building. It will now be in 013 Reed Mc Donald. Also, The Battalion's final summer issue is today. Look for the next issue of The Bat talion on Aug. 28 and The Bat talion's Back-to-School Issue on Sept. 2. what to do about it," Macmillan said. "We want the plan to be re flective of the whole commu nity." Jo Carroll, community devel opment administrator for Col lege Station, said the additional input will enable social services to help more people. "We hope to identify groups or needs that have not been seen before, like the elderly or AIDS patients," Carroll said. "Maybe someone at the meeting will come up with a solution that we have not thought of." Macmillan estimates 127 fami lies are homeless in Bryan-Col- lege Station but said the actual number could be higher or lower. She said a good estimate would be to add together how many people are staying in half way houses and how many are being turned away. Bryan and College Station are coming together for the project to gain federal dollars. Funds generated under the Cranston-Gonzales National Af fordable Housing Act are granted when a local govern ment creates a housing strategy, and the meeting is designed to accomplish that. Block grant funds are desig nated to eliminate slums, ad dress emergencies or help low See Housing/Page 8 A&M offers heart fellowship Staff and wire reports Physicians at the Texas Heart Institute and officials at Texas A&M University on Thursday announced a new research fellowship program that will train veterinarians in human cardio vascular medicine. "To me, the merger is just the epitome of my dreams to see THI and A&M get together," said Michel T. Halbouty, the chief exec utive officer of Halbouty Energy Co., which made the initial dona tion to endow the five-year fellowships. The first two of what eventually will be 10 full-time fellowships have been awarded this month to two graduate veterinarians. Pressure buildup causes explosion By Jeff M. Brown The Battalion An ether experiment rattled Texas A&M's old Chemistry Building Thursday afternoon when extreme pressure built up, causing an explosion that damaged the lab and exhaust stack on the roof. Robert Stitler, University safety and health officer, said there were no injuries and a minimal amount of damage. Graduate students working on a distillation project in lab 201A, where the accident oc curred, were able to extin guish the fire caused by the explosion. Increased pressure in a connecting smokestack "popped" the top off the stack on tne roof. The College Station Fire De partment and University Po lice were called to check the building. Neal Gray, a member of a See Explosion/Page 8 RICHARD S. JAMES/The Battalion John Demere, with the Systems Safety Office, surveys the damage to an exhaust stack on top of the old Chemistry Building. The exhaust stack was damaged when a chemistry experiment accidently exploded.