16, ■rsday • November 16, 1995 Page 5 • The Batialign Ichools may be learning lesson anTom special teaching permits it people granted such ermits do not have to go ilough the regular state dcher certification rlcess. PBuSTIN (AP) — Nearly one- iurth of special teaching per- dls intended to bring out- ;arding people to the class- )o|m have been awarded to eo de whose college or work ac ground in their teaching rep is limited or nonexistent, ;ate records show. ■’hose people received 29 of ie| 129 special permits granted ruler a new program, according > Texas Education Agency doc- mpnts obtained by The Associ- Press. i The program allows school isiricts to license teachers for art icular subjects if state edu- atjon officials approve, people with such permits on’i have to go through the reg- lar state teacher certification jj^^Bcess, and a teachers' group ays that opens a back door into he profession. rstt:: jpducation Commissioner sa tlike Moses, who has final say to: ill such permits, has denied 86, t w icc< rding to TEA staff. About 50 am, )thers are pending, ge rjffhe program, part of a 1995 education law designed to in- ! ea crease local control over educa- h < tier, was billed as a way to get i 1 n uniquely qualified people into o! the classroom — such as a doctor teaching a health class, ^^ccording to 209 applications )btained by the AP under the 3pen Records Act. many per- nit -i seem to be good examples of that intent. Among them: a language pro gram utilizing teachers of Japan ese, Russian and Mandarin Chi nese who were educated in Tokyo, Kiev and Taiwan; a choir teacher who has performed at venues as diverse as Carnegie Hall and Fiesta Texas; and law officers teaching criminal justice. But a number of others lack such credentials. Permits were issued to 14 people who either had no speci fied work experience in the area they teach or whose work back ground had limitations noted by TEA staff. “Not qualified technically, but all they got,” said a notation about one person licensed to teach manufacturing graphics. An algebra teacher’s application said “experience does not justi fy” a permit. Academic limitations also were found. Four had no college classes in at least one area they are teach ing. A third-grade teacher had no elementary education coursework. On five others, offi cials found applicants weak in academics. Five more people got permits despite problems in both acade mics and work experience. School districts, which may assign mentors to work with such new teachers, often includ ed compensating factors in per mit requests. Among them: an outstanding academic record despite no work experience; classroom ef fectiveness; being a good role model; or a lack of certified teacher applicants. Moses conceded that the deci sions might appear arbitrary. But he said he and agency staff work hard to “make the most balanced decisions we can.” “I’m sure some could second- guess us,” Moses said. “I would not make any pronouncements that there’s an absolute science to this. It’s plowing new ground.” In some cases, Moses said, su perintendents provided more in formation about a prospective teacher’s background or about difficulties a school district had in hiring someone. Most of the 209 permit re quests came from smaller school districts, which Moses said may have a harder time attracting teachers than those in large urban areas. “I think there are small school districts that are struggling to get qualified and talented people in their classrooms. It’s not a real big surprise that the rural school districts would be the ones mak ing a lot of the requests” for spe cial permits, Moses said. “We would probably try to err on the side of the school district. Quite frankly, it’s their request. It’s one they’re going to have to live with.” Senate Education Committee Chairman Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, an author of the law, said that’s proper. “I think he ought to give a lot of weight to the local needs and their decision on how to meet the needs,” Ratliff said. “That’s not to say he ought to allow them just to hire anybody. I don’t think there’s any indica tion he plans to do that.” Ratliff noted that people with special permits that might be questioned make up a tiny per centage of the state’s more than 220,000 teachers. Architects meeting to design Northgate area The Brazos Chapter of the Ameri can Institute of Architects is conduct ing a two-day design meeting for a portion of the historic Northgate dis trict of College Station. The chapter will work with the city of College Station and Texas A&M ar chitectural faculty members and stu dents to establish an architectural fu ture plan for the Northgate area. Final results of the planning session will be presented Friday at 2 p.m. Nobel Peace Prize winner Borlaug to speak Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, winner of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize, will dis cuss the his involvement with the "green revolution" that led to a boon in India's food grain exports. The speech at 7 p.m. in 504 Rud der Tower is sponsored by the India Association. Clayton to discuss arguments on religion The Texas A&M Department of Phi losophy and Humanities will present a colloquium at 3:45 p.m. today in 506A Blocker Building. Dr. John Clayton, religious studies at Lancaster University, will speak on "The Ends of Argument in Religious Traditions." Admission is free. Sociological research opportunities outlined The Texas A&M Department of So ciology will present a colloquium to day at noon in 326 Academic Building. Richard Udry, a sociology profes sor at the University of North Caroli- na-Chapel Hill, will speak on the "National Longitudinal Study of Ado lescent Health: Surprising Opportuni ties for Sociological Research." Ad mission is free. sraelis elect Peres as premier to replace Rabin ^eei The new Prime Minister must elect Cabinet members swiftly nd plans to keep Israeli peace. ■ TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Uniting to ■ove that ballots, not bullets, must deter- M tne the government of Israel, lawmakers (proas the political spectrum backed Shi- ion Peres as premier on Wednesday. President Ezer Weizman gave the Labor farty leader 21 days to form a new Cabi net after parties representing 111 out of the 120 Knesset members — including most of the right-wing opposition — recom mended him. Many Israelis are deeply repentant over the poisonous political atmosphere that cost Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin his life. Peres accepted Wednesday’s offer “with a heavy heart, in light of the circumstances." “The death of a great prime minister, the late Yitzhak Rabin, has left the nation shocked and pained,” he said. “I will make every effort to form a government that will broaden peace with our neighbors and within us.” Meanwhile, police arrested an eighth student suspected of aiding Rabin's as sassination, and charged two others for attempting to desecrate the slain prime minister’s grave. Peres, 72, has been a fixture of Israeli politics since the 1950s. He now plans to surround himself with younger lieu tenants and try to tap the surprising new support from young people, who have turned out by the hundreds of thousands to mourn Rabin, the 1 IL/lLzS ■intinued from Page 1 ■ box be placed in a Southside location, somewhere central ly placed between Heldenfels the Military Science aiding. On-line Transcript Bill: j»e Senate requests the regis- ir to offer an on-line tran- ipt service free of charge, jje transcripts could be used unofficial purposes only ice they would not be imped with the A&M seal, livacy of students’ transcripts >uld be maintained. Student Senate Seat Aho- Ition Bill: The seats of the ■nate should be reallocated (cause they do not reflect the (rrent distribution of stu- feats’ living areas and acade- Bc colleges. Cultures Continued from Page 1 only practical way for cultures courses to be implemented. “We have different colleges,” Waligura said. “We have dif ferent needs. We need to have different curriculums.” Senate debate on an alter nate cultures course bill, the Degree Marketability Act, end ed when the bill’s authors pro posed withdrawing it from the Senate floor, unsatisfied with amendments that had been made to it. The Degree Marketability Act called for implementation of a three-hour U.S. cultures requirement and a three-hour international cultures require ment, to be chosen from a lengthy list of courses already approved by the Faculty Senate. Chris Miller, an off-campus senator and a sophomore Eng lish major, was among sena tors who were upset that the bill was withdrawn. “They have taken away a choice from the student body,” Miller said. Other senators said the Senate’s decision to accept the authors’ motion to withdraw their bill showed that the Sen ate was not generally favor able toward the bill anyway. Jason Ross, a liberal arts senator and a senior political science major, said the with drawal was “not too much dif ferent than voting down the bill.” As the only remaining cul tures course bill, failure of the American and International Cultures Proposal would have left the Senate cultures bill passed several years ago, which called for a three-hour U.S. cultures requirement, in effect. Tracey McAllister, an off- campus senator and a senior marketing major, said the Sen ate should pass the American and International Cultures Proposal so that a semester’s worth of work and debate would not be wasted. “If this fails, we will walk out of this chamber having done nothing,” McAllister said. “It’s time for this to be over.” But Chris Halvorsen, Sen ate external affairs chair and a senior accounting major, said the Senate should postpone ac tion on the bill, allowing it to go to a student referendum, “allowing 5,000 students to de cide instead of 60.” “Are we listening to the people who say ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ the loudest, or are we listening to the largest number of peo ple?” Halvorsen asked. All of the Senate officers voted against the American and International Cultures Proposal. PNO Parents Night Out free babysitting for sfudenfs, faculfy and staff of Texas A&M Friday, November 17, 1995 6:30- 10:00 p.m. 601 Rudder for more information call 862-2525 Sponsored by: Alpha Phi Omega A&M U! JAMES EARL RUDDER NORM AND PROGRAM 19 * EARN TAMUCREOITIN THE SUMMER OF 1996! * No language requirement! * Receive a PARTIAL scholarship for tho trip to France! Come to an In Formation al I Applications now available Irom: Dr. Kramnier, 845-7108, rni. 549 Harrington Tower. Office hour*: MWF 3:00-4:00 p.m. and Thurs. 1:30-5:00 or by appointment Dr. Shandley, 845-1752, rm. 230-D Academic Bldg. Office hours: MWF 10:00-11:30 a.m. or by appointment Study Abroad Programs 181 Blzzell Hall West 845-0544 l.*/» > I ***4*,/**»£« CHARITY BINGO AT ITS BEST! 1805 Briarcrest Bryan,Tx 776-0999 CURRENT SCHEDULE Doors open 1 si session 2nd session benefiting Tuesday 5:00pm 6:45pm None Wednesday 5:00pm 6:45pm 9:00pm Thursday 5:00pm 6:45pm 9:00pm Friday 5:00pm 7:15pm 9:00pm Saturday 5:00pm 6:45pm 9:00pm Sunday 4:00pm 6:00pm 8:00pm Elks BVCASA-LVA Elks-BVCASA LVA-Elks BVCASA-LVA St. Joseph School Church LOW LOW PRICES ° MAXIMUMII PAYOUT MIQIH1TLY PRICES LOW AS $10 PER SESSION CLOSED MONDAY 8 V.C.A.S.A. LIC. #30008721273 H CATHOUC SCHOO LIC. #30007613679 ST. JOSEPH CATHOUC SCHOOl/CHURCH LVA BFtAZOS VALLEY LIC. #17424313017 ELK’S LODGE #2096 LIC. #17413246913 SCHULMAN SIX 2000 E. 29th Street 775-2463 Aggie Owned and Operated! Class of 79, ‘80, “SI Entertaining Brazos Valley Since 1326 $1.00 All Shows Before 6 p.m. $1.50 All Shows After 6 p.m. •WATER WORLD •PG-13 Frt-Sun 7:00 9:45 Mon - Thur 7:00 9:45 •TO WONG FOO • PG-13 Fri-Sun 1:05 3:10 5:15 7:20 9:35 Mon - Thur 5:15 7:20 9:35 •FREEWILLY2 -PG Frt - Sun 1:20 3:20 5:20 Mon - Thur 5:20 •A WALK IN THE CLOUDS • PG-13 Fri - Sun 7:20 9:55 Mon - Thur 7:20 9:55 •APOLL013* PG Fri - Sun 1:00 3:55 7:00 9:40 Mon - Thur 7:00 9:40 •POWER RANGERSI • PG-13 Frl-Sun 1:25 3:00 5:00 Mon - Thur 5:00 •LAST OF THE DOGMAN • PG Fri - Sun 1:05 4:00 7:05 9:45 Mon - Thur 7:05 9:45 •OPERATION DUMBO DROP • PG Fri-Sun 1:10 3:15 5:20 7:25 9:35 Mon - Thur 5:20 7:25 9:35 * IN DOLBY STEREO London V Paris $219* Frankfurt $295* Madrid $279* Bogota $276* Guatemala City $141* Costa Rica $150* *Fares are each way from Houston based on a roundtrip puchase. Restrictions apply and taxes not Included. Call for other worldwide destinations. Council Travel 2000 Guadalupe St. • Austin, TX 78705 512-472-4931 Eurailpasses issued on-the-spot! TmirorofMipSuBS FRESH, FAST, & HEALTHY Now 2 Locations! Albertson’s Center 2205 Longmire 693-6494 Randall’s Center 607 E. University 691-2276 Fast, Fresh A. & Healthy That’s the ThunderCIouJ way! 20 delicious varieties of subs, savory soups ICWSL V* Dwy. HUGH GRANT From The Director Of ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Comes The Comedy Event Of The Summer. aCICOLU Thurs. & Sat. (not Friday), Nov 16 & 18 at 7 & 9:30pm Admission $2.75 w/I.D. $3 w/out I.D. Persons with disabilities please call 847-8478 to inform us of your special needs. We request notification 3 working days prior to the event to enable us to assist you to the best of our ability. Aggie Cinema Hotline: 847-8478 Rudder Box Office: 848-1234 All films are presented in the Rudder Theater Complex e-mail: films.nov®m8c.tamu.edu.