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BREAK OUT THE BROOM
The Texas A&M baseball team uses
strong pitching to sweep Dallas Baptist.
Sports, Page 7
WHOOPSTOCK UNITY FEST '95
Over 1,000 people came out to Simpson Drill Field
Saturday to celebrate the different cultures at A&M.
Page 3
SINCOLA
Austin-based band draws compar
isons to the Pixies on new album.
Aggielife, Page 2
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“Serving Texas AdrM since 1893
Monday • April 10, 1995
K&M strives for diversity through equality plan
1
□ The Access and Equi
ty 2000 Plan will in
crease minority gradu
ation rates and the
number of minority
faculty members.
By Lisa Messer
The Battalion
| The Board of Regents voted
Friday to support the Access and
Equity 2000 Plan.
Part 1 of3
I The plan will provide equal
access, opportunity, education
and employment to qualified
people and celebrate diversity in
the A&M System, according to
the System’s resolution to sup
port the plan.
The institutional six-year
plan began in September 1994
and will continue through
August 2000.
According to the State Admin
istrative and General Office’s
plan. Access and Equity 2000
will increase the undergraduate,
graduate and professional grad
uation rates of African-American
and Hispanic students to equal
white students’ rates.
The plan will increase the
number of African-American and
Hispanic faculty and adminis
trators until the number equals
their representation in the state.
according to SAGO’s plan.
Daniel Hernandez, the Ac
cess and Equity coordinator for
the System, said the plan is
pro-active.
“In the past it’s been very
compliance-based oriented,”
Hernandez said. “In my opinion,
that means do what the law
says. You lose a lot of creativity
that way.
“We need to go away from the
quotas and numbers and repre
sent our community. We need to
minimize our idea of activity and
go toward results. We want to
spend time measuring results
and not counting how many let
ters you sent out that never
went anywhere.”
The Federal Office of Civil
Rights notified the state of
Texas in 1981 that African-
Americans were segregated and
Hispanics were under-represent
ed in enrollment and staff at
Texas colleges and universities.
The Texas Educational Op
portunity Plan for Higher Edu
cation, which was referred to as
The Texas Plan and covered
1983-1988, was instituted as a
response to OCR’s notification.
Texas voluntarily adopted a
second Texas Plan for 1989
through 1994 and the Access
and Equity 2000 Plan for 1994
through 2000.
Guadalupe Rangel, a member
of the Board of Regents, said the
Access and Equity Plan goes be
yond what the law demands.
“I see too many agencies
meeting only the minimum stan
dards in hiring women and mi
norities, and that scares me,”
Rangel said. “This would not be
for our benefit alone but for the
benefit of the whole state.”
Hernandez said the System
wants to start community advoca
cy groups throughout the state.
“We’d like to put groups at
every campus,” Hernandez said.
“There are folks throughout
Texas who would like to support
our efforts.”
Barry Thompson, chancellor
of the A&M System, said that
through Access and Equity
2000, the System has discov
ered resources it did not know
existed before.
“We’re finding centers of ex
cellence all over this state in
numbers that, quite frankly, I
didn’t know existed,” Thompson
said. “We think in five years
we’ll see a significant improve
ment and in 10 years it won’t be
that big of a deal anymore.”
Charles Hines, president of
Prairie View A&M University,
said each universities’ efforts
will help improve higher educa
tion in people’s eyes.
“The relevance of higher ed
ucation is being called into
question more and more recent
ly,” Hines said. “What have
you done for my need? Univer
sities and higher education are
being questioned so it is essen
tial we continue.”
Regents re-elect Mary Nan ^X/est
hairman, approve fee increases
Regent Michael O'Connor was
elected vice-chairman.
Lisa Messer
„ The Battalion
offrey ;
29.50 ■ The Texas A&M University Board of Regents re-
? elected Mary Nan West as chairman and elected a new
i vice-chairman to the Board Friday.
| Regent T. Michael O’Connor was elected vice-chair
man, beating out Regent John Lindsey.
t The election of officers takes place at the Board’s
I first regular meeting after new regents are appointed
; and confirmed every two years.
'and Gov. George Bush appointed Rob.ert Allen, Freder
ick McClure and Donald Powell to the Board in March.
O’Connor nominated West for chairman, and the
oard re-elected her unanimously.
I West said that being chairman makes her no more
I important than any other regent.
“It’s a big responsibility,” West said. “We’ve got all
hese members on the Board, and we’ve all got to vote,
e’re all equal. ‘
“I’ll do the best I can. I’m a good listener if anybody
at all wants to talk to me, but I don’t know what’s go
ng on unless I’m told. Sometimes I wish I had a crys-
al ball, but I don’t.”
O’Connor and Lindsey were nominated for vice-
thairman. Lindsey received three votes.
After Allen recommended voting by acclamation,
’Connor was elected unanimously.
West said the Board would work to serve the
entire System.
“I know Texas A&M University is the flagship,”
West said, “but like someone told me last night, the
big battleship would be very vulnerable unless it had
ke. |all the little ships around it to protect it.”
:e, In other business, the Board added a $60 architec
ture equipment access fee and a $50 geosciences access
fee and increased the application fee to $35.
The Board increased parking fees to $75 for day per
mits; $200 for faculty permits; $35 for night permits;
$55 for summer permits; $180 for rooftop garage per
mits; $270 for priority garage permits; $270 for Zachry
basement permits; $240 for inside garage permits; and
60 cents for visitor spaces.
These fee increases will take effect Fall 1995.
The Board increased the late registration fee for
students registering after the first day of class from
$10 to $100.
Students who register after the 12th day of class
will pay $200.
"It's a big responsibility.
We've got all these mem
bers on the Board, and
we've all got to vote.
We're all equal."
— Mary Nan West,
Board of Regents Chairman
Dr. Jerry Gaston, interim vice president for Fi
nance and Administration, said the fee increase is
necessary, because the University loses money on
students who register late.
“They’re both designed to encourage everyone to
register on time,” Gaston said. “It’s in the interest of
the University not to be losing millions of dollars.”
The late registration fee increases will take effect
Spring 1996.
Eddy Wylie/THE Battalion
Learning to fly
Kevin Shiffer, a junior mechanical engineering major from Houston, takes hang glid
ing in lessons on Saturday afternoon.
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The Battalion receives
20 college press awards
The Battalion won 20 awards at the 1995 Texas Intercolle
giate Press Association and Southwestern Journalism Congress
Conventions. The contests ranked entries printed in 1994.
The awards were presented Friday and Saturday at the Hy
att Regency D/FW at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Battalion staff members took two first place, one second
place, two third place and two honorable mention positions in
the SWJC competition.
In TIPA competition, The Battalion won four first place, one
second place, two third place and six honorable mention positions.
Battalion editor in chief Mark Smith said he was not surprised
by the staff s success and thinks the future is even brighter.
“As hard as these people have worked throughout the year,
they deserve to get a little praise,” Smith said. “We have im
proved a. great deal over the past year, and I think next year’s
entries will blow the competition out of the water.”
The Daily Texan, from the University of Texas, won the
SWJC overall competition, and The Shorthorn, from the Uni
versity of Texas-Arlington, won the TIPA overall competition.
Southwestern Journalism Congress
1st place Best Feature Headline — Rob Clark
1st place Best Sports Column — Nick Georgandis
2nd place Best Sports Photo — Stew Milne
3rd place Best Editorial Page Layout — Jay Robbins
3rd place Best Feature Photo — Blake Griggs
Honorable Mention Best Non-sports Headline — Stacy Stanton
Honorable Mention Best Page 1 Layout — Anas Ben-Musa
Texas Intercollegiate Press Association
1st place Newspaper Critical Review — Rob Clark
1st place Newspaper Feature Photo — Stew Milne
1st place Newspaper General Column — Erin Hill
1st place Newspaper Sports Feature Story — David Winder
2nd place Newspaper Sports Column — Nick Georgandis
3rd place Newspaper Feature Story — Margaret Claughton
3rd place Newspaper Sports Action Photo — Stew Milne
Honorable Mention Newspaper Cartoon — Gerardo Quezada
Honorable Mention Newspaper Cartoon — George Nasr
Honorable Mention Newspaper Feature Page Design
— James Vineyard
Honorable Mention Newspaper Headline — Rob Clark
Honorable Mention Newspaper Picture Story — Stew Milne,
William Harrison and Mark Smith
Honorable Mention Newspaper Sports Feature Photo — Tim Moog
Elders, Sullivan address values,
social problems affecting families
□ The former Surgeon Gen
eral and former Secretary of
Health say today's youth
need values and education.
By Lynn Cook
The Battalion
Former Surgeon General Dr. Joyce-
lyn Elders and former U.S. Secretary of
Health and Human Services Dr. Louis
Sullivan gave a crowd their “Prescrip
tions for an Ailing Society” Friday night.
Elders, who has returned to teaching
at the University of Arkansas, and Sul
livan, who is president of the Morehouse
School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga., told
Americans what they can do to improve
the problems plaguing society.
Sullivan said a strong set of values is
crucial to a society that is free from
many of the social ills America is trou
bled with today.
“In the last three years, there has
been much discussion about health care
as well as the need for a strong set of
values,” Sullivan said. “Value formation
is missing in action.
“There is a growing recognition that
personal responsibility, perseverance,
honesty and respect for others, as well
as non-violent resolution of conflict and
community service, are the key compo
nents to an economically productive and
caring society.”
Elders agreed that values are impor
tant, but she said they are individual
principles that cannot, and should not,
be regulated by the government.
“When hope is gone, moral decay fol
lows immediately thereafter,” she said.
“A value is a principle which we live by.
Values change as we grow and learn.
“Our values come from our mentors,
parents, education, religion and society.
You can’t teach values, it’s something
inside of you.”
Elders said prevention, not treatment
or incarceration, is the best way to help
society and save money. She said that if
society focused on preventative mea
sures, treatment and incarceration
would not be necessary.
“Our children are in an ocean sur
rounded by the sharks of alcohol, homi
cide, suicide and teen pregnancy,” she
said. “We’ve been sitting on the beach
sipping from our fountains of what’s
morally right and whose values we’re
going to teach.”
Every child must be planned and
wanted. Elders said. Less than $2 mil
lion is spent every year on family plan
ning, while more than $34 billion is
spent on Aid to Families with
Dependent Children.
She also believes students should be
See Families, Page 10
Stew Milne/THE Battalion
Dr. Louis Sullivan addresses a crowd at
Rudder Auditorium Friday night, and Dr.
Joycelyn Elders answers questions at a
press conference as part of “Prescrip
tions for an Ailing Society.”
Christians unite to
celebrate Resurrection
Week, focus on ‘Life’
Q Christians at A&M will celebrate
their faith this week with planned
activities and performances.
By Gretchen Perrenot
The Battalion
The third annual Resurrection Week began Sun
day with a kickoff barbecue at The Grove.
The Grove was filled with 4,000 people who
showed up to eat the 1,000 pounds of barbecue the
Resurrection Week committee prepared and to lis
ten to contemporary Christian music.
Ross King, Toni Ruffino and Karol Ann Taylor
are all A&M students who performed Sunday along
with Jeffrey Alan Wade, a Christian singer from
Houston.
Ruffino said she wanted to reach out to her fel
low A&M students.
“It’s important to me that we reach out and show
God’s love to those who may not receive it other
wise,” Ruffino said.
Wade said he came to A&M to perform because
of the positive things his friends on the staff told
him about Resurrection Week.
“It’s great to see people reaching out to their
peers instead of waiting for someone else to do it,”
Wade said.
Resurrection Week will offer events this Monday
through Thursday. The theme for this year’s Res
urrection Week is “Life”.
Todd Blackmon, president of the Resurrection
Week committee, said the group wanted a name
that represented sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“We don’t want to force religion on people,”
Blackmon said. “We just want to share what’s im
portant to us.”
Resurrection Week was initiated two years ago
by Bobby Dean, a former Corps of Cadets chaplain.
See Resurrection, Page 9