The Battalion
>1.92 No. 186 (8 pages)
1893 - A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
brps investigation results may be released
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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.
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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
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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.