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1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
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; of '97
Texas A&M's Faculty Senate adopts
proposal requiring students to take
courses emphasizing multiculturalism
JPUl
If approved by Gage, the bill will go into
W$ Multiculturalism at Aggieland?
effect for all new students entering the
University in the fall of 1995
Senate OKs multicultural bill
Curriculum change proposal goes to Gage for final approval
By Lisa Elliott
The Battalion
Texas A&M University's Faculty Senate
adopted a proposal Monday adding cours
es emphasizing multiculturalism to the
core curriculum.
The proposal was passed after more
than two hours of debate in front of a
crowd of more than 40 spectators.
See Editorial
Page 9
The proposal will be sent to Interim Pres
ident E. Dean Gage for final approval. If
Gage approves the proposal, the require
ment will go into effect for all new students
entering the University in the fall of 1995.
The new requirements will mean stu
dents must take three hours in a U.S. cul
tures course and three hours in an interna
tional course.
The U.S. cultures requirement must take
into account groups such as African-Amer
icans, American Indians, Asian-Americans,
Hispanic-Americans, European- Ameri
cans and American Women. At least 33
percent of the course must pertain to mi
norities and/or women.
The international requirement would in
clude courses that include an international
perspective on agriculture, business, cul
ture, education, engineering, geography,
history, science or society. At least 33 per
cent of this course must address interna
tional issues in the modem world.
If approved by Gage, the requirement
will be phased in during a three-year peri
od beginning with 1995-96 freshmen who
will have to take a three-hour course from
the international course list and the re
maining three hours from either the U.S.
cultures list or the international list. By fall
of 1997, all students will have to select a
class from each category.
The vote was conducted by a rarely
used roll call method because of the nature
of the issue. The vote was 45 for the pro
posal, 27 against. Twenty-one members
did not vote.
Pierce Cantrell, an associate professor in
the department of electrical engineering and
faculty senator, said most students would
not be affected by the addition of the courses.
According to figures of 1991-92 gradu
ates, 67 percent of the students fulfilled the
American Cultures requirement, 80 per
cent satisfied the International requirement
and 61 percent satisfied both requirements.
The new requirements would not add
any hours to the core curriculum because
many of the courses can count twice.
Cantrell said.
"This proposal does not increase the
number of hours in the core curricu
lum," he said. ""It allows you to double
count courses."
Max Stratton, faculty senator and a senior
lecturer in health and kinesiology, disagreed
with the results of the vote and said he won
dered why the Senate passed the proposal if
its proponents are saying that the require
ment will not change anything. Ben Dale,
academic affairs chairman of the Student
Senate, tried to sway the Faculty Senate to
reject the proposal in order to adopt one
drawn up by the Student Senate that advo
cates a compromise between the two oppos
ing views expressed by students on campus.
"Whenever you look at student opinion,
you see a far right or far left view," he said.
"No one group represents the entire stu
dent body."
Patrick Gendron, a senior political science
major and representative of Aggie Democ
rats, said the Faculty Senate's decision was a
step in the right direction for the University.
"We're changing with the times," he
said. "That's how you compete in a global
market."
The University is finally on the road to
being comparable with other major univer
sities, he said.
Senior English major Nicole Harchut
left), of San Antonio, and Deanna
Stewart, a junior political science ma
jor from Spring protest the Faculty
Tim Moog/TnE Battalion
Senate's decision to adopt the propos
al emphasizing required multicultural
curriculum. The proposal still must
be approved by E. Dean Gage.
Associate provost urges campus diversity, fair debate
By Lisa Elliott
The Battalion
William Perry, associate provost and
dean of faculties, expressed support for
the multicultural courses during his ad
dress to the Faculty Senate before their
vote Monday.
Perry stressed the importance of a
thorough and fair debate before a final
decision is made. He told the Faculty
Senate to keep the students' needs for the
future in mind in making its decision.
"It is almost cliche now to say that our
graduates will face an ever increasing di
versity in the workplace and society with
global competitiveness and international
forces more and more a factor in their
lives," he said. "Cliche or not, it is reality,
and we owe our students the best possi
ble preparation."
Faculties across the country are begin
ning to develop cross-cultural curricula,
and A&M is on the right track in setting
up the ground for that development. Per
ry said.
Perry also stressed the importance of
diversity in the faculty at A&M.
Women and minority faculty account
for 50 percent of the 58 tenure track assis
tant professors hired after Sept. 1 of last
year, he said. Twenty-one percent of all
tenure track assistant professor hires were
minority faculty. In addition, the Univer
sity showed increases in the number of
women department heads.
Perry thanked the search committees
for making the goal of diversity in the fac
ulty a priority in filling positions.
"I know we all look forward to the day
when representation in faculty and ad
ministrative ranks is not an issue," he
said. "That day will come because of the
See Provost/Page 3
Yeltsin unveils draft of
post-Soviet constitution
The Associated Press
MOSCOW - Boris Yeltsin
set out his design for the new
post-Soviet Russia on Mon
day, with a draft constitution
that bolsters his presidency
and keeps a tight rein on Rus
sia's restive regions.
The constitution lets
Yeltsin serve out his five-year
term until 1996 but sets law
makers' terms at two years.
The shorter terms and
Yeltsin's retreat from a
promise to hold early presidential elections in
june have fed criticism that he is strengthening
his own power at the expense of the legislative
branch. Since disbanding parliament and crush
ing resisters in early October, Yeltsin has wield
ed virtually at>solute power.
Supporters say the president should serve out
his term for stability's sake. They say parliament
should turn over more rapidly to ensure a
smoother transition while Russia undergoes tu
multuous changes.
Yeltsin
Blaze consumes College Station apartment
By Carrie Miura
The Battalion
A fire destroyed a College Station apart
ment on Monday, leaving a mother and her
three children homeless.
Lori Foley, resident of the apartment lo
cated on Potomac Place, returned to find
her home in flames after receiving a tele
phone call at work from her mother.
Foley said her children, Terance, 6;
Cherell, 5; and Sheenicka, 3, were at
school and day care. She and her chil
dren will stay with her parents until
things get settled.
Lt. Steve Smith, from the College Station
fire marshall's office and fire investigator,
said it looked as if the initial source of the
fire was the water heater, but the investiga
tion is still in progress.
"At the present time, we are assuming
that the cause of the fire is from the im
proper storage of flammable liquid contain
ers of gas that were located too close to the
gas hot water heater," Smith said. "The fire
was a hot and fast-moving fire that spread
to the upstairs and downstairs of the apart
ment, but the walls of the apartment held
up pretty well."
The College Station Police and Fire De
partments were dispatched at 10:32 a.m.
and arrived at the scene of the fire within
minutes.
Phanuel Mugabe, who lives near Foley
in the same four-plex, said he was asleep
when the fire started and he woke up to
someone pounding on his door warning
him about the fire.
Mugabe, a graduate student at Texas
A&M University from Zimbabwe, Africa,
said that since all of the electricity was out
in the four-plex, he ran across the street to
call 911 for help.
Bart Humphreys, battalion chief for the
College Station fire department, said it took
the firefighters 25 minutes to get the fire
under control.
Smith said people should be careful
about possible fire hazards, especially
around the holidays.
"As the time comes closer for us to use
fireplaces and heaters, one thing everyone
can do to prevent a firing from occurring is
to check all of their appliances and heaters.
It just takes a little bit of common sense,"
he said.
The fire
that de
stroyed a
College
Station
apartment
Monday
morning
left a
mother
and her
three chil
dren
homeless.
Holly Orgcm/THE Battalion
Inside
Campus
Alpha Phi Omega tackles
AIDS awareness
Page 2
Sports
•Rodney Thomas still on his
feet in Aggie backfield
Page 7
Opinion
•Editorial: Multiculturalism
requirement a waste of time
Page 9
Breast cancer: College students not immune from disease
By Jan Higginbotham
The Battauon
An estimated 46,000 women
will die early this year.
According to the American
Cancer Society, these women will
lose their lives due to the effects of
the most common form of cancer
found in American women-
breast cancer.
Approximately one in every
nine American women will devel
op this deadly disease before the
age of 85.
The risk of developing the dis
ease increases aa, women get over
the age of 40, but a personal and
family history of the disease can
signal the possibility of future de
velopment. Women who have
never given birth or who had a
long menstrual history also have
an increased risk.
Breast cancer is also a problem
for men. According to the Amer
ican Cancer Society, about 300
men die annually from this dis
ease, which has traditionally
been believed to cause problems
only in women.
Unfortunately, breast cancer is
a disease that many college stu
dents ignore because they think
they are too young to be affected.
Sherry Curtsinger, a local nurse
who works with breast cancer pa
tients, said that college-age
women should be concerned
about the disease.
"The biggest thing young peo
ple can do is self-exam because
mammograms are not really effec
tive on younger women,"
Curtsinger said.
Curtsinger also said women
with a family history of the dis
ease, especially on their mother's
side, should make their doctor
aware of that risk.
The American Cancer Society
recommends that women between
the age of 20 and 40 examine their
breasts once a month and have an
exam performed by a professional
every three years. Women over
40 should have a professional
exam yearly.
For vyomen who are diagnosed
with breast cancer, several treat
ment options are available.
Curtsinger said women can
choose from the possibility of the
traditional mastectomy, which in
cludes the removal of the tumor
and a portion of the breast tissue,
or a lumpectomy.
A lumpectomy involves the re
moval of the lump and some of
the surrounding tissue. This
process also calls for taking out a
few of the lymph nodes in the
armpit, and is followed by radia
tion therapy.
Hormonal therapy, radiation
treatment and chemotherapy are
other options available to breast
cancer patients.
Curtsinger said the type of treat
ment recommended usually de
pends on the type of breast cancer
See Cancer/Page 3