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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 1993)
The Battalion >1.92 No. 186 (8 pages) 1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 brps investigation results may be released roud fl" ORBiT By JENNIFER SMITH The Battalion A decision on whether or not to release he results of a Corps of Cadets sexual as- ault and sexual harassment investigation ill probably be made next week, said offi- ialsin the Texas attorney general's office. The Battalion still has not received the formation it requested March 26, even the opinion committee of the at torney general said July 2 that the records buld be open. When the attorney general's office told ‘ !iM officials July 2 to open the records (leave out the names, their response »as to resubmit the documents so anoth- Attorney General's office to make decision on sexual assault records er opinion could be made. An official with the attorney general's opinion committee told The Battalion Wednesday that officials at A&M have sent the results of the investigation to an agency in Washington D.C. that makes decisions on The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This agency will issue an opinion on whether or not the documents are open documents, and the attorney general's office can either accept this opinion or reject it. The official with the attorney general's office said this agency's opinion carries a lot of weight because this is their area of specialty. The investigation centers around two cadets in the Aggie Band. A female cadet told University Police Department in De cember that she had been raped and ha rassed by a male cadet earlier in the year. She told UPD she wanted the matter handled administratively, with no crimi nal changes being filed. The Battalion is requesting that the re sults of the formal administrative hearing and any reports or recommendations that were made as a result of the hearing, but the names of the students involved in the case are not being requested. Scott A. Kelly, assistant general coun sel for A&M, told The Battalion in July that the results of the investigation could not be opened because it would violate the Buckley Amendment, formerly titled FERPA, which states that educational records are private and belong to the Uni versity. The student does have access to his or her records, but they are in posses sion of the University. Kelly said in a letter to the attorney general's office that the records can iden tify the students involved even when the names are removed because "the hearing Thursday, August 5,1993 next week record of this student's disciplinary hear ing is, in its entirety, personally identifi able to this particular student." The letter states that A&M "has found that the identity of the student accused of violating University regulations ... is gen erally known to many students on the Texas A&M University campus." An official with the attorney general's office said they failed to consider this when they originally decided the records were open. Kelly said the Department of Educa tion can deny or reduce funding to any institution that releases information that the department feels is an education record. S ten eria has ing peo- )St thou- unent of (raveling ;1 leader i the aid signed a i and no refugees bels and two oth- is area," rvices in id Lucas You are by Doc- ren just hed that aid Paul jberia. ut relief tropical of them n Sierra sue. The Aggie rings arrive Wednesday STACY RYAN/The Battalion Robyn Daves (left), a senior community health major from Coleman, communications major from Tyler, shares the excitement with her examines her Aggie ring while Marin Byrd, a senior speech mother in the Clayton Williams Alumni Center Wednesday afternoon. Faculty holds forum to discuss research Study examines relationship to teaching By JASON COX The Battalion Texas A&M University faculty members held an open forum Tues day to discuss research and its relationship to education at universities. A main purpose of the roundtable was to suggest steps that research sponsoring agencies, including federal agencies, should take to help re lieve stresses on the academic research. Dr. Roger Ulrich, associate dean of architecture and environmental design, said the group's study focuses not only on stresses, but also on the relationship with teaching confronting the research enterprise. Dr. John Hogg, chemistry professor, said a member of his commit tee commented that the goal of some instructors at A&M is to become so successful at research, so they don't have to teach. Hogg said some members felt lip service and little action is given to teaching, and that there is a fear of losing "superstar" faculty to other institutions. He said some members felt they were all being shoe horned into the same mold. Hogg stressed though that the comments were not the consensus. Dr. John Shadduck, dean of veterinary medicine and chairman of the priorities committee, said some of the issues facing his area of the study include how a university should decide on its areas of focus in education and research and the criteria and processes involved. Shadduck acknowledged funding issues are changing in nature and said concerns like promotions and tenure affect decisions. Shadduck said in order to answer such questions, it is vital to get feedback from other faculty members, an impression echoed by several other panel members. Dr. James Wild, biochemistry and biophysics professor, said several points came to light during his committee meetings, namely that A&M hasn't found a way for interdisciplinary faculties in the presence of strong head leadership. Wild said interdisciplinary faculties exist in spite of poor support at levels of higher administration and said interagency "turfism" inter disciplinary research. "The individual faculty member is often stressed due to different expectations from multiple authorities," he said. Wild said the Board of Regents is often "politically intrusive" in ma nipulating interdisciplinary academics. A sentiment echoed by many panel members was that faculty mem bers are afraid their comments will be disregarded by administration. Ulrich responded, saying, "There's no question in my mind that people will listen seriously." See Research/Page 2 rying to Archaeologists explore historical site nation ts and r than dlines If you -> d Excavation at Washington-on-the-Brazos turns up remains of Indian tribe By JAMES BERNSEN The Battalion Archaeologists from Texas A&M are digging up one of Texas' most historical sites to make way for a living history farm. The excavation is being conducted at Wash- ington-on-the-Brazos State Park, where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed on March 2,1836. The work began July 6 by the Archaeologi cal Research Laboratory, a part of the Depart ment of Anthropology, through a contract with the Texas parks and wildlife department. Alston Thoms, associate laboratory head, said the excavations are mostly done by grad uate students, but also include undergradu ates from the Department of Anthropology. Thoms said they have basically found what he expected at the site. "We've found clear remains of mid 19th Century occupation by Anglo-Saxons and evi dence of Indians for thousands of years before that," he said. Among the items discovered are glass shards, hand-painted pottery, remains of cattle and pigs apparently eaten by the early Texans and their slaves. Indian projectile points, knives and stone tools, river muscle shells and the remains of an Indian cooking hearth were also found Thoms said. The Indian remains are 3,000 to 500 years old, and most likely belonged to tribes of hunter-gatherers that wandered along the Bra zos river valley, he said. After excavation, the artifacts are returned to a laboratory on the A&M campus for fur ther research, Thoms said. Shawn Carlson, a historical archaeologist with the project, said this is the first time that A&M has excavated at the site. "The park has received money for a living history complex, and we're testing to see if anything is there," he said. Carlson, however, has worked with the park before, developing a long-range interpre tive plan for the park. Tom Scaggs, park superintendent, said the park is considering several sites for a new liv ing history farm, which will bring the world of early Texans alive to the visitors, and the exca vation is to "clear the site." "Since this place is so rich in history, we want to make sure there's nothing important there before we begin construction," Scaggs said. The park was established in 1916, and some archeological work was conducted in prepara tion for the museum, which was built in 1969. A replica of Independence Hall was also constructed based on archaeological evidence at the site as well as private accounts. The work will continue through Aug. 20, Carlson said. Thoms said the Archaeological Research Laboratory is actively involved in excava tions throughout the Brazos Valley continu ally throughout the year, as well as other lo cations throughout Texas. Officials debate effectiveness of uncertified home teachers By JANET HOLDER The Battalion Officials on both sides of the debate on home schooling believe their arena and method of teach ing is the most effective. Dr. Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Re search Institute (NHERI) said chil dren taught at home surpass stu dents in public school on stan dardized tests. An average student educated at home scores in the 65th to 80th percentile on standardized tests, which is over the 50th percentile average of public school students, he said. Hank Tate, executive director of Education Support Foundation, said, "Research studies in the United States and Canada have consistently confirmed the effec tiveness of home education." A study in 1987 showed 426 students who were taught at home scored consistently above average on the Scholastic Apti tude Test (SAT), he said. But despite the scores, some or ganizations question the parent's qualifications to teach. Ann Fickel, of the Texas Class room Teacher's Association, said the association has no formal or ganizational position on home schooling, but it is concerned that there are no checks on the parents as there are on the teachers in public schools. "If there is a bad teacher in public schools we can remove them," Fickel said. "In a home school there is no way we can See School/Page 2 's d ts r o Inside Aggie life •Kicking with confidence, A&M student earns second- degree black belt Page 4 Lollapalooza •Pictures and review from Dallas concert Page 5 Sports •SWC Football: Preseason look at A&M, Texas •Thursday: partly cloudy, highs in the 90s •Forecast for Friday: partly cloudy, higns in Hie 90s. Some rain possible. Texas Lotto •Wednesday's winning lottery numbers: 1,20, 22, 29,31,32 •Jackpot: $1 1 million Page 6 Fred Brown fights for Ford dealership in Russia By CARRIE MIURA The Battalion The Fred Brown Mazda/BMW dealership, located in Bryan, is fighting to participate in a project that will establish Ford Motor Corpo ration dealerships within Russia. The Fred Brown group is competing with a group from the east coast to be, "the only dis tributor of Ford Motor Corporation products for the entire Russian Federation," said Fred Brown, College Station city council member and owner of four car dealerships in Texas. "Our group feels positive we have a fifty- fifty chance," Brown, a sophomore business management major at Texas A&M, said. A car dealership owner in Florida original ly landed the opportunity to work on the Rus sia project, but he turned it down, he said. In January of 1993, the president of the No ram Company, which does oil exploration and farming for Texas A&M in Russia, encouraged Brown to jump on the opportunity to work on the Russia project. The Ford Motor Corporation narrowed down the competition by picking two out of four finalists to handle the Russia project, one of which is Fred Brown and his group. The final decision will be made within a month as to who gets the position. Brown said. "If we get to work on the project, we will own the distributorship and hopefully open several hundred Ford dealerships within the first five years we arrive in Russia." Brown said he is looking forward to the op portunity to work with the Russians. "The Russians want quality products of lasting value, which they usually do not get with the current Russian products built now," he said. Imported cars are prevalent in Russia, he said. From all of Fred Brown's dealerships, the number of cars sold per month averages out to approximately 400 cars. "Our first year projection looks like we will only import 250 cars a month within the whole Russian Federation," Brown said. "The numbers will be small at first because we want to be conservative in our projections." "Russia is inundated with Westerners and the majority of our business will be with the Westerners already over there," Brown said. Brown anticipates that when the cars are or dered in Russia, the buyer will only pay 50 per cent down and pay the other half upon the car's delivery within the four month transit time. Usually, Russians must pay the full price for the car up front and wait up to eight years to receive the automobile. Brown said. The headquarters of the Ford Motor Corpo ration will be stationed in Moscow and the port facilities where the merchandise will be shipped is to be located in Helsinki, Finland.
