The Battalion
Vol. 92 No. 35 (8 pages)
‘Serving Texas A&M Since 1893’
Friday, October 16, 1992
raternity receives fine, sanctions
By REAGON CLAMON
I
ir
Reporter o/THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M chapter of the Sigma Alpha
psilon fraternity was hit with a $1,000 fine
nd other sanctions Thursday evening after re
sponding to charges of racism in front of an
ight member judicial board.
These sanctions still must be approved by
niversity administrators including Dr. John J.
oldus, Texas A&M's vice president for stu-
lent services.
The Texas A&M chapter of Sigma Alpha
psilon was found guilty by the Interfraternity
udicial board of violating section 72.(l)(e) of
he Texas A&M University regulations-which
tates that a student organization must act in
a manner that reflects the highest ideals of the
Jniversity" — by holding a "jungle" theme
jarty where some members wore black make-
ip on their faces.
Mike Hebert, president of SAE, said he was
atisfied with the board's conclusions.
"I think action definitely had to happen,"
debert said. "In all honesty, I do think this
was fair."
Hebert said he was apprehensive about
what the board could have done to the chap
ter, but he wanted the fraternity's side of the
story to be told.
"We tried to go in and present just the
facts," he said.
Clinton Sam, a member of C P Time Play-
rs, an African-American performing arts asso-
iation, who testified at the hearing, felt the
sanctions were adequate, but emphasized that
the issue wasn't closed.
"The key is what is going to happen next,"
Sam said. "The idea is that they made the
commitment to avoid other fraternities and
sororities making the same mistake. It's a posi
tive start."
The board recommended the fraternity be
put on disciplinary probation until the end of
the spring 1994 semester. A recommendation
was also made to have the fraternity's social
"Not only will it change the
behavior of all the Greek orga
nizations, but hopefully a
change in attitude will occur
on the whole campus, so two
or three months from now
we're not back to square one."
- Dr. Mike Leese, coordinator of
Greek affairs
parties with sororities, or "mixers," canceled
for the spring and fall semesters of 1993. A re
view and reapproval of the chapter's operating
structure and pledge education program by
the University's Greek adviser was requested.
The board also proposed future IFC regulation
of party themes for all fraternities and sorori
ties. The board directed that the $1,000 fine be
put toward a seminar on cultural sensitivity,
approved by the department of multicultural
Students take steps
to smooth tensions
DARRIN HILL/Thc Battalion
Interfraternity Council justice Todd Fisk, left,
prepares for the hearing of the Sigma Alpha
Epsilon fraternity Thursday night.
services and that all SAE executives and com
mittee chairmen participate in the next Univer
sity Awareness for Cultural Togetherness (U-
ACT) retreat.
Dr. Mike Leese, coordinator of Greek affairs
in the department of student activities, said the
board's decision would help educate the Uni
versity about cultural sensitivity. Leese said
that after all of the events of the last four days,
something positive had to happen.
"I hope when all is said and done, we come
out ahead . . . and don't get a black eye from
it," Leese said. "Obviously, there is a need for
cultural awareness."
See IFC/Page 3
DARRIN HILiyrhc Battalion
Joseph
Epsilon,
Gourrier, left, president of the local chapter of the NAACP, debates with David Stenfenagel, middle, a pledge of Sigma Alpha
and Mike Panozzo, a member of SAE, while the Interfraternity Council Judicial Board met Thursday night.
By JULIE CHELKOWSKI
Reporter of THE BATTALION
While the Interfratemity Coun
cil Judical Board was determining
the fate of Sigma Alpha Epsilon
fraternity last night, a diverse
group of students waited outside
the closed doors trying to smooth
racial tensions that have bewil
dered generations of Americans.
About 45 minutes after the
hearing began, representatives
from African-American campus
groups, members of SAE and oth
er students found themselves in
the midst of heated debates. They
discussed racism — what consti
tutes it, why a party with a jungle
theme is guilty of it, and how to
solve it. The discussions lasted
more than three hours, but could
have gone on for many more.
Many of the participants said
the informal debates were effec
tive and opened doors to learning
about multicultural diversity.
Jamie Webster, president of
A&M's Interfraternity Council,
said he was impressed by the
talks, but was disappointed that
they could
not happen
more often.
"We've
gotten more
a c c o m -
plished here
tonight than
we have in
years, but
no one will
talk unless
something
blows up," he said. "If people
would do this (discuss'issues)
without having it started by some
incident, we wouldn't have this
stuff. But when it's organized like
a seminar, no one shows up be
cause there is no fire to light it."
Joel Corvin, a member of Kap
pa Alpha Psi fraternity, said he
thought the representatives were
most productive when they broke
off into the smaller groups to dis
cuss the issue at hand.
"Before, we were standing
against each other, we were all on
the defensive," he said. "Once
you talk to a person as an individ
ual, you learn more about that
person and see them as an equal."
A SAE member who requested
to remain anonymous said they
had decent discussions. He said
they all had different views, but
some issues were resolved.
Some participants, such as
Candice Manning, vice president
of Delta Sigma Theta, came away
from the discussions with differ
ent views. She said that before she
spoke to people with conflicting
opinions, she thought that the
SAE charter should be revoked.
"We've gotten more ac
complished here tonight
than we have in years, but
no one will talk unless
something blows up."
-Jamie Webster, president of
A&M's IFC
But afterwards, she changed her
mind.
"Now, I don't want them to get
their chapter taken away," she
said.
Almost everyone agreed that a
lack of awareness was the main
problem. Manning said people
on campus should be educated on
what offends others.
"There is not enough aware
ness on this campus, in general,
about black issues," she said.
"But I still don't think that's an
excuse for behavior like this. We
all know about racism, but we try
to pretend that it doesn't happen
here. If you want to wear the cos
tumes because you appreciate
that culture that's fine, but not
when you start making a mockery
of it."
Clinton Sam, a member of the
C P Time Players, said costumes
at the SAE jungle party did not
bother him as much as its ethnic
undertones.
"I'm not really offended be
cause they're dressed in certain
ways," he said. "I'm more of
fended because they used an eth
nic category
as a theme for
a party. These
things should
come out.
This organiza
tion should be
used as an ex
ample — that
doesn't make
them a nega
tive example."
Sam said
any lack of knowledge on the part
of the SAE members and actives
concerning racism should "be
shifted towards Texas A&M."
He said a proposed class focus
ing on multicultural issues could
solve problems before they start.
The class would be required for
all students, in an effort to in
crease communication and racial
tolerance in America on certain is
sues. However, Sam said A&M
President William Mobley did not
think the class was necessary. .
"It's all a matter of what is im
portant to Texas A&M," Sam said.
"They (A&M) has to accelerate
the process — you can't do it
overnight. "
Mobley said a multicultural
class might not have prevented
the incident. Problems involving
racism can not be solved by a sin
gle class, he said, though leader
ship classes do offer a variety of
learning experiences.
"We clearly have more work to
do," Mobley said. "Our challenge
is there and we have to take care
of it. It's a matter of judgment,
awarenes and being competent of
your actions."
Candidates raise issues in open forum
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RICHMOND, Va. — President Bush and Bill Clin
ton argued over taxes and character Thursday night
in free-flowing debate with Ross Perot. Clinton said
he wanted the wealthy to pay their "fair share" in
higher taxes, while the president said he was op
posed to any tax hikes.
Bush was more aggressive than he had been in
Sunday night's first debate, criticizing Clinton for
trying to come down on more than one side of an is
sue. "You can't turn the White House into the Waffle
House," he said.
Clinton replied that he has been "disturbed by the
tone and tenor of this campaign. I'm not not interest
ed in his character. I'm interested in changing the
character of the presidency."
The 90-minute debate at the University of Rich
mond was held under unprecedented groundrules in
Which members of a live audience asked questions.
The questioner suggested that the candidates were
steered by "your political spin doctors," prompting
Clinton and Perot to protest that the thoughts they
tittered were their own, and not drilled into them by
aides.
The candidates gave their remedies for the huge
federal deficit, and Perot said scathingly that neither
Republicans nor Democrats were willing to take
blame for the nation's huge debt. "Somewhere out
there is an extraterrestrial who's doing this to us," he
said.
Rather than standing behind the customary wood
en podiums. Bush, Clinton and Perot sat on chairs
and were free to move about. They fielded questions
from an audience of 209 independent voters, rather
than from journalists. Carole Simpson of ABC News
served as moderator for the 90-minute session.
The Arkansas governor was quick to take advan
tage of the format, moving away from his chair and
closer to the audience in responding to the first ques
tion.
Perot came out as feisty as ever, punctuating his
poinh with hand gestures and references to the audi
ence.
The tax and deficit discussion came early, when
one questioner asked whether the three men would
agree to not seek re-election if they could not wipe
out the deficit in four years.
Clinton replied, "no, and I'll tell you why," ex
plaining that eliminating the deficit would require
tax increase and cuts in benefit programs co large
that it could "make the economy worse." Instead, he
said he would "bring it down by 50 percent and
grow the economy." He said he would ask the
"wealthy and foreign corporations to pay their fair
share."
Bush did not address the question of not seeking
re-election. But he swiftly questioned Clinton's pro
posals. "I don't see how you can grow the deficit
down by raising taxes," he said. He said Clinton
wants a $150 billion tax hike and $220 billion in more
federal spending.
Bush called for a balanced budget amendment to
the Constitution, a line item veto to permit him to bar
individual projects and a plan to allow taxpayers to
earmark a portion of their taxes to reduce the deficit.
Perot stepped in with his usual attack on both po
litical parties. He said the nation's debt would rise by
$50 million by the time the debate had ended.
Perot said he planned to be a one-term presi
dent who wouldn't spend one minute of one day wor
rying about re-election. He said he wouldn't take any
pay for the job.
Bush endorsed term limits that would restrict
See Debate/Page 3
B-CS political supporters agree
on success of talk show format
By MARK EVANS
Staff Writer of THE BATTALION
The informal, flexible format of
the presidential debate Thursday
evening won the praises of local
candidate supporters, but that's
about the only thing they agreed
upon.
"I thought Bill Clinton did his
usual good job of hitting the is
sues while Bush once again skirt
ed the issues," said Mike Bran
non, a member of the Aggie De
mocrats debate team. "How can
George Bush defend the worst
economic recession since the
Great Depression? He can't."
People perceive the economy
as being worse than it really is,
said Phil Meuret, president of the
College Republicans. A recession
is just part of the natural course of
any economy, he said.
Meuret said he would have
liked to have seen more time do
nated to the discussion of foreign
policy.
"Clinton offers nothing differ
ent from the Carter administra
tion," he said. "All of a sudden
because you've had a recession in
the economy people want to go
back to the Carter years."
Meanwhile, Ross Perot spends
all of his time discussing the prob
lems in America, but offers no so
lutions, Meuret said.
Lou Zaeske, a local leader of
the Ross Perot petition drive, dis
agreed.
"It was clear to me that Ross
Perot had the best answers and
the best approach to things," he
said. "He's going to get in there
and work with the Congress to
get them to stop bashing one an
other and start them working to
gether, not as Democrats or Re
publicans, but as Americans."
Perot's responses to questions
demonstrated a clear understand
ing of the issues facing the coun
try, Zaeske said.
"The American people need to
be told that they're going to have
to make some sacrifices to turn
this country around," he said.
"Ross Perot just needs to keep on
being Ross Perot and tell it like it
is because that's what the Ameri
can people want to hear."
Zaeske enjoyed the talk show
like format of the debate because
See Local/Page 3
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Pick one up Saturday, October 17