Sc ]VE
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V
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Y
A MATTER OF SIZE I SCIENTIFIC PROOF
Machines create problems
for shorter students in
weight training classes.
Aggielife, Page 3
Baxter: Scientific evidence
linking homosexuality with
heredity could stir the world.
Opinion, Page 15
Run and gun
The Lady Aggie Basketball
team sets a school record in
an 111 -83 victory.
Sports, Page 11
Battalion
102, No. 59 (16 pages)
Established in 1893
Thursday " November 16, 1995
tudent Senate passes cultures bill
Senate passes, introducespAer bills I
he Senate debated two
cultures bills Wednesday
night. The final bill would
allow individual colleges to
implement the cultures
requirement.
By Tara Wilkinson
The Battalion
I The Texas A&M Student Senate
ittssed a bill Wednesday night stating
that the student body “as a whole” does
not support a core curriculum cultures
I requirement, but that if the adminis
tration decides the requirement is nec
essary, the decision to implement it
should be left to individual colleges
and departments.
The American and International
Cultures Proposal states that since
“decisions concerning curriculum are
best made by those who are experts
in their respective fields,”
changes to curriculum should be
made by each department and
college after they research the
issue themselves.
The bill calls for college and
department administrators to
weigh several factors in their
curriculum decisions, including
the expanding global economy, cul
tural diversity in the workplace and a
need for “increased understanding and
awareness of U.S. minority or interna
tional peoples.”
Many senators opposed the bill be
cause they wanted the Senate to take a
stronger stand, for or against, cultures
course requirements. Some senators
said this bill is nothing more than a
“politically correct way to say we don’t
want a cultures course.”
But J. J. Wilson, an engineering
senator, said accusations that the
bill is “watered down” are unfair
and inaccurate.
“It does make a stand,” Wil
son said. “It says we want the
colleges to make their own re
quirements. That’s the stand.”
Senators favoring the Ameri
can and International Cultures
Proposal said the bill should not be
interpreted as a message that multi-
culturalism is unimportant.
Jason Waligura, an engineering sen
ator and a junior petroleum engineer
ing major, said the bill provides the
See Cultures, Page 5
In other business, the Student Senate
passed two bills:
♦ Common Final Exams Bill: The Sen
ate rejects the concept of common final ex
ams, which involves giving the same test
to all sections of a course. If common final
exams are enacted, the bill requests that
exams not be scheduled on readings days;
exams be curved on a sectional, not de
partmental basis; the course syllabus in
clude an overview of testable material; a
common text be used; and common finals
be implemented first for courses that al
ready have common midterms.
* Health Excuse Policy: Because the
service at A.P. Beutel Health Center has
slowed due to many students seeking ex
cuses for missed classes, the Senate calls
for a stricter attendance policy. The new
policy specifies that instead of students
just being treated, a physician must deter-;
mine that students were too ill to attend
class or were contagious. The new policy
would also require students to provide ex
cuses by the end of the next, working day if
an absence occurs on an exam day.
Three new bills were introduced to
the Student Senate. The bills will be
debated at the next Senate meeting,
scheduled for Nov. 29.
* Southside Mail Drop Box Bill: The
Senate requests that a blue mail drop
box be placed in a Southside location,
See Bills, Page 5
Amy Browning, The Battalion
Park pals
Sophomores Bianca Maldonado, an industrial engineering major, and Angie Garza, a civil engi
neering major, feed bread to the ducks in Research Park Wednesday.
Conference to focus on
campus diversity issues
Stone stresses need for strong,
risk-taking American leaders
□ Chuck Stone was the first
African-American man hired to do
television commentary and served
as an adviser to U.S. Rep. Adam
Clayton Powell Jr.
By Heather Pace
The Battalion
Professor Chuck Stone, first president of the
National Black Journalists Association, urged
students Wednesday to refuse mediocre leader
ship and to steps to better the nation.
Stone began by emphasizing the importance of
“paying your civic rent.” Students should use col
lege to further both their intellect and moral char
acter to prepare them for leadership roles, he said.
About 30 people filled 601 Rudder Tower to
hear Stone, who served as an adviser to U.S.
Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and was the
first African-American man hired to do televi
sion commentary.
Shane Elkins, The Battalion
Chuck Stone urged students to refuse mediocre
leadership at a speech Wednesday. -
Stone said many factors go into the making of
a leader, including high intellect, steadfastness
of purpose, ideological consistency, charisma and
the courage to take risks.
See Stone, Page 9
□ The Drive in for Diversity
coordinators said the conference
will allow administrators and
faculty members to better serve
students' needs.
By Heather Pace
The Battalion
At a time when multicultural issues are a
heated topic of debate, the seventh annual Drive
in for Diversity Conference will explore diver
sity issues Nov. 17.
Becky Petit, conference chair
woman and diversity education co
ordinator, said the conference
should broaden the perspectives
of faculty members and admin
istrators at A&M.
“More than just a single day
to reflect on our heritage, the
conference is a call to action,”
Petit said. “It is an annual op
portunity to expand awareness
of diversity issues and their valu
able impact on our professions.”
The theme of the drive is
Pluribus Unum: Out of Many, One” and
focuses on diversity in higher education.
“We can all bring our differences to the table,
but we can still be one” Petit said. “This is where
our theme comes from.”
Sessions will include: “Minority Athletes:
Winners or Losers in the Academy,” “UPD and
Me: A Need for Understanding,” “Diversity in
Cyberspace: Using the Internet to Find Multi-
cultural Resources” and “Gender Bias: A Multi
cultural Issue.”
Kevin Carreathers, Department of Multicul
tural Services director, said the conference will
remind people about the importance of continu
ing to discuss diversity issues.
“The conference will continue to send mes
sages to the University and keep diversity issues
in the forefront,” Carreathers said. “It will build
a stronger sense of campus community.”
The conference will be divided into two sets of
three concurrent sessions, two keynote addresses
and a question-and answer session during lunch.
Dr. Eric Jolly, an Education Development Cen
ter senior scientist, will give the morning keynote
speech, “Respecting Cultural Differences
and Cultivating Diversity.”
The question-and-answer ses
sion will provide an opportunity
for audience members to ask
specific questions about the
; multicultural issue, and Jolly’s
\ afternoon keynote address will
elaborate on the morning
keynote in a speech entitled,
“Strengths and Weaknesses of a
Multicultural Class.”
Petit said these sessions will
have positive ramifications for
A&M because they focus on the pros
and cons of a multicultural curriculum
and diversity issues relating to the changing
needs and identities of students.
“We, as professionals, need to be prepared to
meet their needs,” she said.
The conference will enable administrators
and faculty members to serve the needs of the
See Diversity, Page 9
Institutions need to assess,
improve diversity climate
□ Dr. Sylvia Hurtado's
speech was broadcast
at other universities in
the System.
By Lisa johnson
The Battalion
Dr. Sylvia Hurtado said
Wednesday that academic in
stitutions must make a con
scious effort to increase diversi
ty on campus.
Hurtado, a University of
Michigan sociology professor
and a member of the Center for
the Study of Higher Education
and Post secondary Education,
studied 6,000 students at 300
universities nationwide.
Hurtado’s speech was broad
cast simultaneously at five oth
er universities in the System.
Hurtado also discussed the
Common Destiny Alliance, a
group with goals to confront
racial issues and reduce preju
dice among students in kinder
garten through high school.
While the CDA is helping to
reduce racial and ethnic ten
sions, Hurtado said, steps need
to be taken to improve the “cli
mate” for diversity at universi
ties across the nation.
“Often when we think of the
climate of something, we think of
something that is uncontrollable,”
she said. “The climate for diversi
ty can be changed, however.
“In an effort to change the
climate, it is crucial that people
recognize the problem and its
dimensions, and then take
steps to rectify problems or
make improvements where
they are needed.”
An institution’s climate for
diversity, Hurtado said, in
cludes the school’s historical
legacy of inclusion or exclusion
of ethnic and racial minorities,
the school’s percentage of mi
nority enrollment, the percep
tion of racial tension among
students and interaction among
the races on campus — both
positive and negative.
Although the legacy of exclu
sion or inclusion differs from
university to university, Hurta
do’s study showed that interra
cial interaction of a positive na
ture, such as dating and study
ing, is most frequent between
African-American, Asian and
Hispanic minority groups and
is less frequent between whites
and minorities.
Interracial interaction of a
negative nature, including dis
crimination and harassment in
the classroom, occurred most fre
quently among the African
Americans and was felt equally
between the whites and Hispan-
ics who were part of the study.
In her speech, Hurtado dis
cussed how to improve diversity.
See Climate, Page 9