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LACK HERITAC
L ookft
c or next week's series
T he Battalion will begin a five-part
series Monday in honor of Black
History Month. The series will
chronicle blacks at Texas A&M university:
their history, their culture, and their future
at a University that has always been stereo
typed as a conservative, all-white, all-male
institution.
* MON DAY: Former slave and Texas
senator who was instrumental in the found
ing of Texas A&M.
• TUESDAY: The struggle of a few stu
dents to become the first black Aggies at
Texas A&M in the 1960s.
• WEDNESDAY: Local black churches
and the importance of the church in the
lives of black students at Texas A&M.
• THURSDAY: The social life of blacks
at Texas A&M.
• FRIDAY: The number of blacks at
Texas A&M today and their future at the
University.
his month's events
FEB. 8
Alpha Kappa Alpha &
Kappa Alpha Psi
— Will sponsor Black History
Jeopardy at 8: 30 p.m. in 292 MSC.
FEB. 10
Black Awareness
Committee (BAG)
— Will sponsor "Sex in the 90s:
AIDS Awareness in the Black
Community" at 8:30 p.m. in 402
Rudder.
FEB. 16
igm
Phi
Alpha Phi Alpha
— Will sponsor Tribute to the
Black Arts at 8: 30 p.m. in 601
Rudder.
FEB. 16-23
All TAMU Black Greek-letter organizations
MSC Showcases—
Will showcase in the M
MSC contributions x
FEB. 17
NAACP
— Carl Cauley, president of the local
chapter of the NAACP will discuss
the relevance and importance of black
history at 7 p.m. in 308 Rudder.
"Soul Food" will available to sample.
FEB. 21
The Griot Society
— Will sponsor a poetry/
prose reading session that
will highlight AfHcan-
American cultural
expressions. All are
encourages to submit
entries. Call 764-4399 for
location and time.
FEB. 23
Sigma Gamma Rho
& Omega Psi Phi
— Will sponsor a
program. For more
information call Debbee
Williams at 764-1825.
FEB. 24
Black Awareness Committee (BAC)
— Will sponsor Unity Fest. Rooms and time will be
announced at a later time. Call 845-1515.
FEB. 26
Kappa Alpha Psi
— Will sponsor the fifth annual Greek Olympiad. Black
fraternities and sororities around the state will come to
perform their latest dance steps. The contest will begin 7:30
p.m. at Rudder auditorium.
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Friday, February 4,1994
College suffers lack of funding
Liberal Arts reports uneven distribution of money affects departments
By Laurel Mosley
The Battalion
The College of Liberal Arts is the second
largest college on the A&M campus, but monetar
ily this statistic may be deceiving.
Becky Silloway, a Student Government repre
sentative from liberal arts and a political science
major, said it seems as if funds are not equally dis
tributed to all colleges.
Silloway, a member of the Legislative Student
Group, said her group presented a report to the
state legislature showing how funds at Texas A&M
are not distributed equally.
"The liberal arts department definitely receives
less money than some other departments," she said.
"My lower level classes are extremely large, and it's
because just about every major is required to take
core curriculum classes in liberal arts.
"I'm not required to go over and take a class
from engineering, but they take classes in liberal
arts, and we seem to get less money than them."
She also said student government can pass a res
olution or bill to ask the administration to give
more funds to the college, but no move has been
made to do this.
Dr. Julie Blackwelder, head of the history depart
ment, said her department has a very limited
amount of money to spend.
"We do not have enough money to cover all of
our needs, but I don't feel we are being discrimi
nated against," Blackwelder said.
The history department had to limit the amount
of extra copies professors can make this semester,
excluding tests and syllabi. Last semester, the his
tory professors were not allowed to make any extra
copies at all unless they paid for them out of their
own pocket.
Dr. Paul Parrish, associate dean of the College of
Liberal Arts, said the college does not have suffi
cient funds to do what they want to do, but he un
derstands Texas A&M is not getting the level of
support it got previously.
"We have been treated fairly by the University,
but we need additional funding," said Parrish.
"These are tight economic times and higher educa
tion is worse off in terms of increases in funding."
Parrish said he does not think the lack of funds
is adversely affecting the students.
"I don't think the students are getting a bad ed
ucation, I just think it is a different kind of educa
tion," said Parrish. " We have more students
and we can't afford to hire more teachers, so we
have to make classes larger. You can do certain
kinds of things in a small class that you can't do
in a larger class."
Dr. Woodrow Jones, dean of the College of Liber
al Arts, said the department does not have the mon
ey to do everything it wants, but it is doing fine.
"My view is I want to do more then I am able to
do now, tut we're doing okay. There is no reason
to be alarmed," said Jones.
He said he realizes his department will not re
ceive the same kind of funds as other colleges, such
as the College of Engineering, because the college
has not been around as long. But, he said the Uni
versity has been as helpful as they can.
"The University is very supportive of the col
lege," said Jones. "They understand our budget
and our needs. There are other departments
worse off than we are."
Students bike cross-country for charity
By Juli Rhoden
The Battalion
It could be called the summer of ex
tremes — one night sleeping in a four-
star hotel and the next on the ground.
But it's all in the name of charity.
Four Texas A&M students are plan
ning to ride 3,000 miles on bicycles
from San Francisco to Washington,
D.C. in 62 days for PUSH America, a
charity organization that benefits chil
dren and adults with disabilities.
Andrew Paparella, Shane Luther,
Jim Degnan and Kenneth Martinec, all
members of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity,
are riding their bicycles in what PUSH
America calls the "Journey of Hope."
During the ride, beginning June 13
at the Golden Gate Bridge, the team
will stay in 99 different cities until the
ride ends on Aug. 12 at the Capitol
Building in Washington, D.C.
In addition to riding 80 miles each
day, the team members will partici
pate in workshops, give speeches and
go through empathy training.
Degnan, a junior speech communi
cations major, said the activities they
do after the daily ride is what is most
important.
, "We have to understand who we're
riding for," Degnan said. "Sometimes
in our empathy training sessions, we
eat with tape on our hands or blind
folded to make us understand what
disabled people deal with every day."
PUSH America is a charity organi
zation that was started by Pi Kappa
Phi as a national outreach program in
1977. So far, the organization has
raised $3 million.
Luther, a senior journalism and po
litical science major, said the Journey
of Hope is special because of what it
provides and what it teaches the team
members.
"We are raising the money for Jour
ney of Hope to provide disabled per
sons with some necessities," Luther
said. "In the Brazos Valley, we've
been working with the Brenham State
School for the Deaf."
There are 60 members of the Pi
Kappa Phi fraternity from all over the
nation who raise money for PUSH
America and ride during the summer.
Paparella, a junior marketing major,
said this year is different from previ
ous years because of the Pi Kappa Phi
A&M chapter's involvement.
"This is the first year the A&M
chapter has been involved in the bike
ride," Paparella said. "And our chap
ter is the only one out of the seven
chapters in Texas to participate. With
all four riders going, that's the most
riders out of all the chapters in the na
tion."
Each team member must raise
$4,000 to ride in the Journey of Hope.
Donations from merchants and indi
viduals have helped each member
come closer to that goal.
"If we don't raise all $4,000, we
don't ride," Paparella said. "It's that
simple."
The application process for team
members was formal and voluntary.
Personal interviews and letters of rec
ommendation were just two of the re
quirements. The A&M members were
selected around Thanksgiving.
Luther said although the process
Tim Moog/The Battalion
Members of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity (from left) Andrew Paparella, Jim Deg
nan and Shane Luther will be biking across the United States this summer
with PUSH. PUSH is an organization to help the disabled.
was lengthy, it was worth being a
member of the team.
"This is an annual event for Pi Kap
pa Phi and it's important to partici
pate," Luther said. "And since this is
the first year for A&M to ride in the
Journey of Hope, I think that makes it
special."
All donations to PUSH America's
Journey of Hope are tax deductible.
Branch Davidian cuts deal
in exchange for leniency
The Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — Branch Davidian Kathryn Schroeder acknowledged Thurs
day she cut deals with prosecutors and moviemakers in hopes of winning her
freedom from prison sooner and reuniting with her four children.
"You desperately wanted to get out and be with the children, isn't that right?"
asked defense attorney Jeff Kearney.
"Yes," replied Schroeder, whose youngest child is 3.
A beaming Schroeder said under defense questioning in the murder-conspira
cy trial of 11 Branch Davidians, that she signed a movie contract and used some
of the money to pay her lawyer for civil court cases involving her children.
She acknowledged she could earn "big money" later if a movie is made. Her
attorney, Scott Peterson, said outside of court that Schroeder has been paid
$12,000.
Schroeder, 31, the prosecution's star witness, also said she agreed to plead
guilty to a lesser charge of forcibly resisting federal agents and to testify against
the other Davidians.
Eight of the defendants had guns during or immediately after a shootout Feb.
28, 1993, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Schroeder testified.
Like the Davidians on trial, Schroeder also was charged with murder in the
agents' deaths and could have faced life in prison if convicted.
With the lesser charge, the most Schroeder can face is 10 years during her up
coming sentencing. Prosecutors have agreed to ask for less if they are satisfied
with her "performance," she acknowledged.
Outside the presence of the jury, Schroeder said part of her decision to plead
guilty was based on warnings that prosecution witnesses would testify that she
had a gun and may have fired it during the battle. She said she had no gun at that
time.
On Wednesday, Schroeder said all 11 defendants were followers of doomsday
prophet David Koresh and his "message" that the world would end in a violent
"final confrontation" with authorities.
"If you can't kill for God, you can't die for God," Koresh was quoted as telling
his disciples as the Davidians stockpiled weapons and prepared for "war."
On Thursday, however, defense attorney Douglas Tinker asked Schroeder if
she conspired or intended to kill federal agents.
"Not in those words," she said.
Later, prosecutor Ray Jahn questioned her again about a conspiracy.
"Killing the agents was not something that I thought about," she said.
"Would you have done it?” Jahn asked.
"If I was told to, yes,"Schroeder said.
As for her testimony about specific Davidians, Schroeder admitted under
cross-examination that "it was probably an assumption on my part" when she
said defendant Renos Avraam fired a .50-caliber rifle during the shootout.
Gold-seeking professor
cleared of allegations
The committee conducting an official inquiry into allegations of
scientific misconduct against Dr. John Bockris, a professor of chem
istry at Texas A&M, has unanimously reported it did not find any
evidence to sustain the charges.
Allegations of scientific misconduct were made against Bockris
last fall relating to the Philadelphia Project, a research project that
involved solid state reactions and allegedly an attempt to turn mer
cury into gold.
The report of this inquiry committee represents only one of three
efforts initiated by Texas A&M University to examine issues raised
by the Philadelphia Project. The others include an internal audit of
accounts related to the project and an ad hoc committee that is re
viewing policies and procedures for gifts and grants at Texas A&M
and other universities.
Dr. Benton Cocanougher, interim senior vice president and
provost, said a full appraisal of the situation and the related poli
cies and procedures will be made after all reports have been com
pleted, received and reviewed.
Inside
Sports
►Lady Aggies face Texas
Tech.
► Kirkland takes track and
field by storm.
Page 5
Opinion
► Pro/Con: Should we use the
Confederate Flag?
►The story behind the
nation of Islam
Page 7