Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1993)
dinale ■'“Uy The Battalion 93 No. 53 (12 pages) 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Wednesday, November 10,1993 Jim Peterson and three other 12eMAN Greg Hill was suspended by the alumni had knowledge of Hill's mm.mimsmmWAmwtwn NCAA in September for five 1 two jobs, according to a letter Four members of the Twelfth Man Foundation knew games because he was paid for J obtained by The Battalion Greg Hill was working for two A&M boosters work he did not perform. A&M boosters knew of job scandal 12th Man Foundation members discussed Hill's employment By Juli Phillips The Battalion Four members of the Twelfth Man Foundation could have headed off the current NCAA in vestigation of Texas A&M's foot ball program a year before it start ed if they had reported informa tion that came out in a meeting, according to a letter obtained by The Battalion. See Editorial Page 11 [D Srown day ir to Black- :ly to hold According to the letter, Jim Pe terson, Cliff Taylor, James ’Stormy" Kimrey and Warren Gilbert, all of whom at that time were members of the executive board of the foundation, took part in the meeting. The Twelfth Man Foundation is an alumni booster dub for Texas A&M athletics. The letter, dated March 23,1993, was written by Kimrey to Byron Wrotenbery, son-in-law of Gilbert. Gilbert, a prominent A&M booster, was disassociated from the athletic program after allega tions that he knowingly paid play ers for work not performed. Kimrey stated in the letter that during a meeting of the invest ment committee of the Twelfth Man on Jan. 13, 1992, some mem bers engaged in small talk con cerning Christmas break employ ment of the Texas A&M players. "Warren (Gilbert) named a few (players) he had employed includ ing Greg Hill," Kimrey wrote. "At that time, either Jim Peterson or Cliff Taylor informed Warren that Greg Hill was working for Weldon Jaynes in Fort Worth. Taylor told The Battalion Tues day, "We just didn't take what Warren said seriously. If I would have thought that he wasn't just boasting, I would have contacted the University." Both Taylor and Kimrey told The Battalion that there is a rival ry between Fort Worth and Dal las when it comes to employing players. "I just took it as somebody's loose talk," Kimrey said. "After (Gilbert) was told about Greg's employment with Weldon Jaynes, we assumed that a man with his integrity would take care of it." Texas A&M Vice President of Finance and Administration Robert Smith said last week that his office was not contacted about the Twelfth Man members' prior knowledge of Greg Hill's employ ment situation until Jan. 6,1993. "At that time," Smith said, "we immediately reported the infor mation to the NCAA." The NCAA investigation be gan after an article appeared in The Dallas Morning News on Dec. 20. A subsequent article in the Jan. 9, 1993 edition of the Morning News detailed employ ment records from Weldon Jaynes and Warren Gilbert and reported that Hill could not be working in both places. Bill Willms, attorney for Gilbert, would not comment about the Kimrey letter, but in a prepared statement said, "Mr. Gilbert has fully cooperated with Texas A&M and the NCAA and has met with representatives of both and an swered all of their questions." Gilbert's son-in-law, Byron Wrotenbery, also would not com ment on the letter. The incoming president of the Twelfth Man, Jim Peterson, who was also named in the letter as one of the participants in the con versation, did not return any of The Battalion's phone calls. On Sunday, Nov. 14, officials from the University will meet with the NCAA Infractions Com mittee to discuss the investigation. The following excerpt of a letter written by Stormy Kimrey shows that members of the 12th Man Foundation discussed Hill's employment before a meeting. on January 13th of 1992, tha Inve&fcisante Co»#.ttfe«e in Ft. Worth, Thosa present that X «sa» recall warr. &r. Ji?® patornon {Kr. Cliff Taylor of Ft. Worth, hr. chslker of Oallaa, Mr. •Ftixnk Shannon and handy Howard of Station, raaybo a couple of othoso with warren and jsyseif. Stsall talk before the meeting centered around the peat Cotton Bowl and mention «f where player® ware balng employed during the holiday**. Warren nawed a few ho had employed including Crag Kill. At that tine, either Jim Fetor won or Cliff Taylor informed Warren that Greg Hill wan working for woldon Janea in Ft. Worth. Warren quickly responded that he w«» certain dreg employed by h.i» firm hat he would certainly check it out upon his return to his office. After the meeting Warren dropped sae at »FW Airport on his way hack home. On the way to the airport we again discussed the gees t i on dfeent Oreg ’e employment and he reassured me fee warn going to chock on thin that nemo afternoon. Basketball season starts next week :on- - his life- still enjoy "I don't hysical ex- lic, where Texas A&M basketball coach Tony Barone overlooks a halftime warm-up during the maroon & white scrimmage at the 'Meet the Kevin Ivy/THE Battalion Aggies' basketball preview Tuesday night at G. Rollie. There was also a 3-point contest and a slam-dunk contest. policy mer Sti Transfer students find it harder to get Aggie ring New policy requires more hours at A&M By Lisa Elliott Changes in the ordering policy or me evggic .. ... .— ~ challenging for some students to get their ring. Transfer students at Texas A&M as well as non-transfers will have to wait longer before they can get their Aggie ring because of the new y approved by the Board of Directors of the Association of For- Students. Starting Jan. 1,1994, undergraduate transfer students must complete 60 credit hours at A&M, instead of 30, before ordering their Aggie rings. If transfer students graduate before completing 60 hours at A&M, they can order an Aggie ring after they receive their diplomas. Non-transfer stu dents will have to complete 95 hours before they can place a ring order. Carolyn Swanzy, director of the Aggie Ring Program, said the changes were made to reduce the confusion about when students can place an order. Porter Garner, associate director for alumni programs, said the poli cy wasn't meant to punish anybody but to keep the Aggie ring special by making it more challenging for transfer students to get. "We're not trying to penalize anybody, we wanted to make sure that the ring represents more than a two-semester experience at A&M," he said. Garner said he talked to a lot of students about the new policies and could not find one that disagreed with it. "Most students want these policies to be strict," he said. "All the Board is trying to do is make sure the Aggie wearing that ring fully un derstands what it means to wear that ring." Swanzy said the Board also took into consideration students who need loans from the financial aid office to order the ring. The policy at the financial aid office states that students wanting loans for a ring must have completed 95 hours at the time they apply for a loan. Swanzy said that because students who are in the process of com pleting 95 hours aren't eligible for a loan for a ring, the Board felt the same policy should hold for ordering the ring. However, she said, the new policy won't prevent the students from getting their ring in time for important functions. Students that place their orders after the spring semester will get their ring before the football games, and students placing an order after the fall semester will get their rings before Ring Dance. Garner said the Association has been discussing the changes for more than a year. appellate sidered a i a justice. iost liberal 's politics Inside Campus •Ross Perot, Al Gore duke it out over NAFTA Page 5 Sports •Men's soccer advances to national tournament Page 7 Opinion •Column: Megliola prepares for the dreaded job interview Page 11 Student Services VP candidate catches 'Aggiemania' By Michele Brinkmann The Battalion "This is a vice president for stu dent services dream," is the way Dr. Richard J. Correnti, a candidate for vice president of student ser vices, described his first impression of Texas A&M University. "There is something really spe cial happening when students participate at the level that they do here," he said. Correnti, currently the vice pres ident for student affairs at Florida International University, was on campus this week to interview with the vice president for student services search committee. He said he caught the Aggie spirit when he received the "300 pounds" of information sent to him by Ron Basse, head of the committee. "Aggiemania is very conta gious," he said. "When I first got here, I wanted to see Bonfire. When I got there, I had to get out of the car and see if it was real." Correnti, who said he was im pressed with the students here, said his most important role is as an educator. If selected for the vice presi dent position, Correnti said he wants students to leave this Uni versity with a greater understand ing of people, especially those that are different from themselves, and to have a sense of commitment to service and others. "Student services plays a big role in all of these things," he said. Correnti said he would have the most impact in the multicultural area if he were to get this position. "I have a lot of experience and success in this area," he said. Because of his interest in mul- ticulturalism, Correnti said he was especially pleased to learn of the vote passed in the Faculty Senate Monday, which approved a multicultural requirement. "This is a major step for the Uni versity," he said. Kevin Carreathers, director of multicultural services, met with Correnti and held a dinner for him Monday, so he could meet with minority faculty and staff. See Candidate/Page 5 Correnti ited i. Tomorrow in Interview: German journalists visiting A&M •Filins “Flesh & Bone,” & “Fearless” •Xc\v albums by Boh Dy lan, Kate Bush