Vol. 92 No. 34
The Battalion
(12 pages) “Serving Texas ASM Since 1893” Thursday, October 15, 1992
WADE CALLISON/Special to The Battalion
Handing out fliers, Jennifer Boyd, left, a sophomore from Sugar
Land, and Amy Galbreath, middle, a sophomore from Harlingen
both in the Student Engineering Council, promote today's Amoco
Career Fair to Tracy Billingsley, a senior from Georgetown. The
fair is from 2 p.m.-6 in Room 110 and 111 of the Student
Services Building on Thursday.
IFC to review
racism charge
on fraternity
By GARY P. CARROLL
City Editor of THE BATTALION
Chris Coon, director of com
munications at Sigma Alpha Ep
silon's national headquarters, said
SAE members "deeply regret and
condemn the actions stemming
from the Oct. 2 social event of its .
. . chapter at Texas A&M Univer
sity."
The statement was in response
to charges made by a Dallas-
based band accusing the fraterni
ty of racist activities stemming
from a party in which fraternity
pledges dressed up in native cos
tumes, painted their faces black,
and carried spears.
The XAE chapter goes before
the Texas A&M Interfraternity
Council Judicial Review Board to
day for possible reprisals concern
ing the incident.
In a phone interview with
Coon, he stated there were no na
tional by-laws outlining proce
dures regarding multicultural tol
erance, but he did say the by-laws
contained general comments and
guidelines designed to uphold the
integrity of the fraternity's mem
bers. XAE was founded in 1856 at
the University of Alabama and
"does not restrict membership to
anyone" based on racial back
ground or heritage.
Executive Director of Sigma
Alpha Epsilon, G. Robert Hamrd-
la, said he, along with each mem
ber of ZAE, apologizes for the in
cident.
"In no way does this fraternity
condone behavior that does not
take into account the integrity of
others," Hamrdla said. "The atti
tudes and actions stemming from
this event do not reflect the beliefs
or the mission of Sigma Alpha Ep
silon."
"We're not taking it lightly,"
Coon said. "We think it's best
taken care of on a local level
first."
Coon would not comment on
possible punishments the chapter
could face, but he did say the na
tional fraternity will be sending
consultants in an effort to "re-ed
ucate and sensitize the members
of our chapter at Texas A&M."
Gwen Davis, president of Kap-
See Fraternity/Page 6
NOW ^peaks-out'
about campus rape
Group leads discussion to promote student awareness
DARRIN HILL/The Battalion
Lauren Katz, left, and Nancy Pattillo, watch as Jana Gandy demonstrates assault prevention devices.
By CHERYL HELLER
Reporter of THE BATTALION
S tudents gathered at the Rudder Fountain area
Wednesday for a campus rape speak-out
sponsored by the Texas A&M chapter of the
National Organization for Women.
The event, which came in response to figures re
leased over the summer by the University Police
Department, was held to promote rape awareness
among Texas A&M students.
Tara Odom, a senior psychology major, attend
ed Ihe speak-out because she was interested in
what was being done as far as rape prevention on
campus.
"I wanted to learn how to protect myself, and I
was really interested in learning what self-defense
devices would be recommended," Odom said.
NOW secretary Amy Owen began the problem
by reading statistics about the number of rapes on
the Texas A&M campus and nationwide, and a list
of rape prevention recommendations to present to
Texas A&M administrators.
Paula McCune, Assistant Director and Coordi
nator of Volunteers at the Rape Crisis Center,
spoke to the gathering about the importance of re
porting rape.
"Rape is by far the most serious violent crime
on college campuses," McCune said, "and college
students are more vulnerable to rape than nay oth
er age group."
McCune said that far too often rape victims re
main silent, which can cause them long-term psy
chological, social, developmental and academic
problems. She also said that students need to re
port the crimes in order to alert the police of the
problem.
"The police can only help the community when
they are aware of crimes being committed," she
said.
Bob Wiatt, Director of Security and the Univer
sity Police, also spoke about the importance of re
porting sexual assaults to the police.
"Since January, one sexual assault has been re
ported on campus," Wiatt said. "In the same time
period, the Bryan-College Station police have re
ceived 18 reports."
Wiatt believes that there are many more sexual
assaults that are not reported, and that it is a
woman's duty to report that she has been raped.
Other speakers at the speak-out included Dr.
Wendy Stock, faculty advisor to NOW, and Dr.
Brent Patterson, Associate Director of Student Af
fairs, who spoke to the students about how to re
port a rape.
Several Texas A&M students also spoke about
their personal experiences with sexual assault, and
accounts of rape were read by NOW members.
After the speak-out, students were given the op
portunity to purchase self-defense devices that
were on display. Jana Gandy and Jim Hapenney of
J and J Enterprises were present to demonstrate the
devices.
NOW president Tawny Britton was pleased by
the amount of response to the speak-out.
"The turnout was excellent," Britton said. "I
wasn't expecting this many people, and I was wor
ried about the weather, but things really turned
out great.
"The accounts were really moving, and the
speeches really got to people. There are a lot of
people interested in protecting themselves, and I
think our speak-out really helped them learn how
to stay safe."
An assault prevention workshop to educate stu
dents about the risk of sexual assault and avoiding
such encounters will be held on Thursday, Oct. 15
at 7 p.m. in the Grove.
NOW will meet on Monday, Oct. 19 in Room
146 of the Memorial Student Center at 7 p.m.
Greeks justify theme party
By GARY P. CARROLL
• City Editor of THE BATTALION
Members of Kappa Alpha
Theta Sorority and Sigma Alpha
Epsilon Fraternity responded to
accusations of racism at an XAE
function October 2, and expressed
concern over ,fair treatment of the
Greek system at Texas A&M.
In letters to The Battalion,
members of XAE said that the
party was not intended to portray
any negative historical event, par
ticularly a re-creation of a slave
hunt.
". . . (The) claim that the theme
of the party was a parody of an
African Nave hunt, where the ac
tives, dressed as slave hunters,
were chasing slaves around is
completely ludicrous," according
to a letter from members of SAE.
Ken Monk, XAE member and
co-author of the letter, said the let
ter reflects the dominant feeling of
the fraternity.
"We talked about it with nu
merous people and a lot of discus
sion took place among brothers,"
Monk said. "That's the way we
feel."
Monk's letter apologizes for
any insensitivity the fraternity
showed during the theme party.
"Sigma Alpha Epsilon sincere
ly apologizes to those whom (the)
costumes offended. 'The fact that
we did not assume that such cos
tumes would be offensive was ig
norant on our part," the letter
said. "The fact that it is offensive
See Greeks/Page 6
Politicians straddle issues
Graduate student speaks on racial politics, politicians
By WILL HEALY
Reporter of THE BATTALION
Racial politics drove the political career of former
Alabama governor George Wallace, said a Texas
A&M graduate student Wednesday.
John Impson, a Ph.D. student in history, spoke to
the MSC Political Forum on the politics of race, em
phasizing the subject of his dissertation, George Wal
lace.
Impson said Wallace began his career in the early
1950s, first running for Governor of Alabama in 1958
as a relative moderate, opposing integration, but also
taking a stand against the Ku Klux Klan. Wallace
lost in 1958, but won in 1962 after changing his posi
tion to make himself the most extreme racist on the
ballot, said Impson.
Wallace held to this position when he tried to pre
vent an African-American student from entering the
University of Alabama in 1963. He lost this battle
when President Kennedy sent federal troops to allow
the student to enroll.
This stand led him to become the nation's leading
spokesman for segregation. He participated in the
Democratic primary for president in 1964 and ran for
the office as the American Independent candidate for
president in 1968, said Impson. He toned down his
rhetoric with a "law and order" platform before hav
ing his thunder taken away by Nixon, said Impson.
He ran again in 1972, but was stopped with an as
sassination attempt that paralyzed his legs but not
his political career. He was reelected governor in the
1970s before making another political comeback in
1982. Wallace changed his position on civil rights
again, taking a stand that directly contradicted his
1962 position. He was elected governor with 90 per
cent of the black vote, said Impson.
"The political environment in Alabama changed a
lot between 1962 and 1982," said Impson. Wallace
realized he could not win without the black vote and
repented for his sins, said Impson. He used the
same formula for Democratic victory that Jimmy
Carter earlier used: reaching out to blacks while be-
See Racism/Page 6
DARRIN HILL/The Battalion
Bob Wiatt, Director of Security and the University Police, speaks to a crowd about the dangers of rape.