Vol. 92 No. 141 (12 pages)
Battalion
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Thursday, April 29,1993
i':
lit
osersr
NCAA to change I-A certification
Texas A&M to face program review;
plan to be installed by fall semester
By JULI PHILLIPS
The Battalion
The National Collegiate Athlet
ic Association (NCAA) said
Wednesday that a new certifica
tion program for class I-A athletic
departments, such as Texas A&M
University, will be in place by the
beginning of next fall.
The program emphasizes two
general areas for certification:
governance and commitment to
rules compliance. Under these
broad topics are many specific ar
eas, which include:
•institutional controls for
NCAA compliance,
•academic support provided
for student-athletes,
•graduation rates among stu
dent-athletes,
•budget integrity,
•booster controls and
•commitment to race, gender,
religious and ethnic equality.
David Knopp, NCAA compli
ance staff official, said the pro
gram would work in the same
way universities are accredited.
The universities will perform a
year-long institutional analysis.
Some universities will begin an in
ternal analysis this fall.
At the end of the year, an out
side team, composed of other uni
versity athletic staff and members
of the academia, will review and
verify the internal analysis and
make appropriate recommenda
tions to the NCAA.
Knopp said some universities
are already conducting these re
ports voluntarily, but concern has
surfaced that the universities' ath
letic departments need a more im
partial review component.
"The certification program is a
way to enhance the rules that are
already in place," he said. "The
basic process is not new to the
academia. It is basically the same
accreditation process that the rest
of the university goes through."
According to the office of the
NCAA president, Richard Schultz,
the implementation of this plan
came through efforts started by
Schultz in 1989.
"The program is not to point
out the institutions as being guilty
of something," Knopp said. "This
program will make the institu
tions identify itself what it is do
ing and lay out a plan to fix it."
The first group of class I-A col
leges and universities will begin
their year-long self study this fall
with the compliance staff begin
ning its evaluation in the fall of
1994.
Knopp warned that the pro
gram still may not catch every
thing that needs to be changed.
."Although the basic framework
is in place, a lot is still in the plan
ning stages," he said.
The Texas A&M athletic de
partment will find out before the
fall semester when the evaluation
process for it will begin.
Female pilots to fly
in combat missions
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Female pilots could be flying Navy and Air
Force warplanes within months and Army combat helicopters within a
year under a new directive set to be signed Thursday by Defense Secre
tary Les Aspin, Pentagon officials say.
The directive also will tell the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine
Corps to provide justification if they want to put any battlefield role, in
cluding ground combat units, off limits to women.
"It's big, it's a very big move for Aspin to be making/' said one se
nior official, who like the others spoke Tuesday night only on condition
of anonymity.
White House spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers did not confirm the re
port today, but said Clinton supports allowing women in combat. "I
would point out that it something the president did support during the
campaign," she said.
The action means Air Force and Navy women could be in fighter
cockpits within months, but female pilots in the Army will have to un
dergo special training before flying front-line Apache attack heli
copters, officials said.
k
Texas Senate approves
bill for faculty liaison
By GINA HOWARD
The Battalion
A bill placing a non-voting faculty liaison position on state universi
ty boards of regents faces approval in the Texas House of Representa
tives after passing in the Senate last week.
Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, said in a prepared release the
purpose of Senate Bill 491 is to increase communication between re
gents and faculty.
"Faculty members play a critical role in carrying out the mission of
our universities," said Lucio, who sponsored the bill. "Giving them a
voice on governing boards will help provide valuable information to
board members when they are making important decisions affecting
faculty and students."
Dr. John Quarles, Texas A&M University Faculty Senate speaker
and professor of medicine, said even though it is a non-voting position,
it is a big step forward for University faculty.
"If we can help provide better information to make their (Board of
Regents) decisions, then that would be important," Quarles said.
Multi-school university systems, like the Texas A&M system, would
create a council of faculty senators, with one from each school. The
council would then nominate three candidates to the governor, who
would pick the liaison.
The bill would allow the faculty senates of single-school university
systems to submit three names to the governor. A single faculty liai
son would be selected and meet with the Faculty Senate at least twice a
year to discuss concerns.
Faculty liaisons would serve two-year terms, but they would not be
allowed to vote or attend executive meetings unless invited by the
board.
The bill must first go through House committee before it will reach
the House of Representatives for approval.
Battalion to offer voter's guide
The Battalion will publish a special voter's guide in
Friday's edition. The guide will feature information on
local and U.S. senatorial candidates running in the May 1
elections.
Siftin' in the shade
ALICIA POUNDS/Spccml to The Battalion
Catherine Yuill, a senior accounting major, enjoys the sun on Wednesday while studying for her Corporate Tax Test.
Health care reform concerns rural areas
Communities must combine resources, expert says
£ / By ELIZABETH LOWE
The Battalion
With less than a month until President Clin
ton's task force announces its recommenda
tions on health reform, speculation is increas
ing about whether the medical needs of rural
areas will be met.
Donald Sweeney, associate professor in the
Texas A&M University Department of Urban
and Regional Planning, said he fears the plan
may make the situation worse rather than bet
ter.
"My fear is that the reform package is going
to try to patch up a system that is systematical
ly flawed," he said. "We've patched it up and
patched it up and patched it up. It's the
biggest patched up mess you've ever seen. I
don't sense that we're going to see a real sys
temic overhaul."
Molly Hurst, administrator of Navasota Re
gional Hospital, said her concern lies in the
lack of representation of rural hospitals on the
task force. She said if any hospitals' interests
are considered, it will be those of metropolitan
hospitals, not rural hospitals.
Clinton has supported, the managed com
petition model, in which health plans compete
for enrollment in each community under a set
of rules requiring fair competition. Hurst said
this plan is not feasible for rural areas because
it forces rural hospitals and physicians to com
pete with those in urban areas.
Yvonne McKay, director of nursing at
Madison County Hospital, said she is nervous
because she isn't sure if the special problems
of rural areas will be adequately addressed.
Rural communities comprise 38 percent of
the country's poor, according to the Associa
tion of American Medical Colleges. Rural
economies are often too unstable to support a
hospital. Patients with inadequate insurance
and a h^avy dependence on Medicaid often
force rural hospitals into debt.
Texas leads the nation with 59 rural hospi
tal closings since 1982, according to the Texas
Center for Rural Health Initiatives. Twelve
hospitals, half of them rural, closed in 1991,
the highest number of closings for the state
since 1986. Of the 205 rural counties in Texas,
57 have no hospitals, and 25 have no physi
cians.
"Many of the hospitals that remain open
should close," Sweeney said. "They were built
to solve the problems of 30 to 40 years ago, but
today they are unable to meet the needs of
their community."
Severe ! factors contribute to the problem,
he said. The people are older, sicker and poor
er, and rural areas have more severe accidents.
Farmers get pinned under their tractors or
harmed by bulls, and tourists have motoring
accidents, he said.
Further, chemicals used on farms pose
See Rural/Page 2
MSC operations committee
to reword 'hats off' signs
By CHERYL HELLER
The Battalion
The MSC entrance signs requesting that visitors remove their hats
will be changed to try to accommodate the changing attitudes at Texas
A&M University, MSC Council President Heather Hartman said
Wednesday.
"They'll probably be replaced during the summer, and they should
definitely be changed by the beginning of the fall semester," she said.
The building operations committee has already met to work on
changing the signs, Hartman said.
At its dedication in 1951, the MSC was dedicated to Aggies who
gave their lives in World Wars I and II. The building underwent ex
pansion and renovation in 1975 and was rededicated to "all Aggies
who have given their lives in the defense of the country in any war,
past or future."
The MSC entrance signs, however, were not changed to reflect the
1975 rededication.
A recent Battalion story reported that some minority students do not
participate in the Aggie tradition.
See MSC hats/Page 2
Liberal arts dean to resign from A&M, move to
Dean Fallon
By JULI PHILLIPS
The Battalion
Dean Daniel Fallon will leave
Texas A&M's College of Liberal
Arts to take a new position with
the University of Maryland (UM).
Fallon, whose academic back
ground is colored by many posi
tions in liberal arts colleges
around the country, will become
the vice president for academic af
fairs and provost for UM when he
assumes the position in July.
"There are stages of develop
ment in a person's life when you
are going to consider new
prospects," Fallon said. "The op
portunity offered to me by the
University of Maryland is quite
appealing, and ... I look forward
to assisting them in the kinds of
programs they are organizing."
Fallon joined A&M in 1984 as
the dean of the College of Liberal
Arts and a professor of psycholo
gy-
Texas
A&M Senior
Vice Presi
dent and
Provost E.
Dean Gage
commented
on Fallon's
departure in a
press release
from Univer
sity Relations.
"Dan Fallon will be greatly
missed at Texas A&M Universi
ty," he said. "We recognize his
enormous contributions to the
College of Liberal Arts and the
University.
"He has provided a vision and
leadership for our College of Lib
eral Arts that has been exem
plary."
Fallon
said he is
confident
that Texas
A&M will
put the ap
propriate en
ergy into
finding a re-
placement
for him,
which will be aided by the solid
reputation of the college.
"The College of Liberal Arts is
in very good shape," he said.
"Over the past decade, we have
"He has provided a vision
and leadership for our
College of Liberal Arts
that has been exemplary."
- E. Dean Gage,
senior vice president
Maryland
seen considerable growth in
shape, size and diversity.
"The college is in a position to
attract excellent people whether
they are from inside the universi
ty or outside," he said.
Fallon is past president of the
Council of College Liberal Arts
and Sciences, and is a founding
member of the Council of Arts
and Sciences in Urban Universi
ties.
He also is a former member of
the board of directors of the
American Conference of Academ
ic Deans.
With the assistance of a
Carnegie Corporation grant, he is
currently leading a national effort
to redesign the way prospective
teachers are educated at the na
tion's colleges and universities.
Insid
Lifestyles
•Aggiepalooza concert on
Sunday features 1 2 bands
Page 3
Sports
•Track: Aggie speedster
McCray making strides
•Column: Oilers lack genuine
draft, Harrison says
Page 8
Opinion
•Editorial: Clinton's first 100
days a rough start
•Column: Henderson turns 20 -
no big deal
Page 11