SETTING STANDARDS
Becky Silloway reaches goals as
first female Student Senate speaker.
Aggielife, Page 3
NO FOOD, DRINKS OR JOURNALS
Halbrook: The library has made great strides by
adding a desk, but more should be done.
Opinion, Page 11
SHOT DOWN
The hot-shooting Houston
Cougars down A&M, 79-75.
Sports, Page 7
r mg.
t power,”
jchael Klii
-owboys,
U e j“;r 102. No. 98 (12 pages)
‘Side the I
e NFL
e the law
? s has offei
Proceeds,
?nt
rcent to
The Battalion
Serving Texas AdrM University Since 1893
Thursday • February 22, 1996
&M probes into possible Boenig hazing
is resot P abduction of the
because indent body president
Presidents Day may
ningthatJ*
^priating'!
rrible ant
earing up
act, he is:
be considered hazing by
■niversity regulations.
)ld the_
ed to chi:
by violi|
lut on his
and ma:
d Nike.
r Wes Swift
ie Battalion
| The Department of Student
tivities is investigating a pos-
le hazing incident involving
Jnby Boenig, Texas A&M stu-
S nt body president, which has
awn complaints of unfair
iatment from fraternities and
Corps members.
Boenig, a senior agricultural
development major, was kid
napped early Monday by six Fish
Aides, or freshmen Student Gov
ernment assistants, in honor of
Presidents Day. The six freshmen
handcuffed and blindfolded
Boenig and took him to Albert
son’s grocery store.
See related EDITORIAL, Page 11
Boenig was then covered with
sugar, syrup and eggs and taken
to the corner of Texas Avenue
and George Bush Drive. There,
Boenig held a sign that read,
“Honk if you love your student
body president.”
The Department of Student
Activities began the investigation
after Christi Moore, head of the
Student Organization Hearing
Board, saw a picture on the front
page of The Battalion of Boenig
on the street corner holding the
sign. Moore also heard of several
complaints from fraternity mem
bers alleging that the kidnapping
fit the definition of hazing.
Under University regulations,
hazing is defined as “any act of
threat, physical or mental, perpe
trated for the purpose of submit
ting a student or other person to
physical pain or discomfort, indig
nity or humiliation...”
Moore said she plans to talk
to the six Fish Aides who par
ticipated in the incident, as
well as Boenig, to decide if the
case should be referred to the
hearing board, which will de
termine if any disciplinary ac
tion should be taken.
Boenig said he is cooperating
fully with the investigation and
has already talked to Moore. He
defended the incident as well,
saying that several circumstances
distinguish this incident from typ
ical hazing incidents.
“I have power over these six
freshmen,” Boenig said.
“At any time, I could have
told them to stop, and they
would have.”
The nature of the incident will
be considered, Moore said, but
will not carry more weight than
other factors.
“Certainly the intent will be
taken into consideration,” she said,
“but it doesn’t change the action.”
The handcuffs the freshmen
used, Boenig said, were plastic
and easily breakable. The fact
that the freshmen bought him
breakfast, Boenig said, shows no
malice was intended.
University regulations, howev
er, say intent and consent are ir
relevant in hazing incidents,
specifically citing physical
bondage, such as handcuffs and
taking students somewhere and
dropping them off, as hazing.
A&M fraternities have objected
to the incident.
Jason Jordan, Interfratemity
Council president and a junior
marketing major, has received “a
ton of calls” from fraternity
members who were furious that
the incident was being treated
as a joke.
Jordan said the Battalion pic
ture reminded him of similar inci
dents involving fraternities and
the Corps of Cadets that drew
penalties from the University.
“When I saw the picture, I real
ized it was all in good fun,” Jor
dan said, “but by the time I fin
ished the story, [the kidnapping]
reminded me of some incidents
that caused fraternities to pay big
fines and serve a lot of community
service hours.”
PLAYIN' WITH THE BOYS
Gwendolyn Struve, The Battalion
Tom Thurmond (right), a senior petroleum engineering major, lays down a domino in the game of 42 at SidePockets Wednes
day for Engineering Week. Matt Stewart (left), a senior petroleum engineering major, is Thurmond's partner.
Student Senate,
GSC mull merits
of GUF proposal
rilm critic sites problems in entertainment
J Michael Medved spoke
about the need for people
mth traditional American
values to regain control over
the entertainment industry.
By Heather Pace
The Battalion
Michael Medved has completed law
school projects with Hillary Clinton. He
has appeared on the Phil Donahue Show
with Las Vegas showgirls. And he re
cently appeared on Rush Limbaugh’s
show as a guest host.
But Tuesday night, the well-known
film critic, added another experience to
his resume when chatted about enter
tainment and politics with Texas A&M
students. Medved came to A&M as part
of Rush Week II, an event sponsored by
College Republicans.
Much of Medved’s speech focused on
problems he sees within the entertain
ment industry, and he said his wide
range of experience has given him a
broad understanding of how the indus
try functions.
Medved said that though Hollywood
has inaccurately judged America’s desire
for entertainment, its detrimental effects
on the American family can be reversed.
“For the past 10 years, the American
people have demonstrated that they do
not believe movies and television are orna
ments to our civilization,” Medved said.
The argument that sex and violence
sell better, he said, is simply not true.
For example, Medved said G- and PG-
rated movies generate two-and-a-half
times the revenue of R-rated movies.
“America is craving more wholesome
entertainment,” he said.
Medved asserted that the failure of
many movies, such as Showgirls, shows
that producers do not understand what
the public wants.
“Lots of people call producers bad peo
ple,” he said. “I call them bad businesspeo
ple. They turn to hopelessness for shock
value so they can gain peer respect.”
Hollywood entertainers, he said, argue
See Medved, Page 10
□ Senators said that
though A&M needs the
revenue, students may not
respond well to another
fee increase.
By Heather Pace and
Kendra S. Rasmussen
The Battalion
Texas A&M undergraduate and
graduate students have mixed reac
tions to a proposal by Dr. Ray Bowen,
A&M president, to increase the Gen
eral Use Fee (GUF). Bowen presented
his plan to the Graduate Student
Council (GSC) Tuesday night and the
Student Senate Wednesday night.
Bowen’s proposal calls for an $8
increase per semester credit hour in
the General Use Fee
for Fall 1996 that
would generate an
additional $11 mil
lion for A&M.
The increase
would raise the Gen
eral Use Fee from
$24 per credit hour
to a maximum of
$32 set by the state Legislature. Stu
dents would pay an additional $100
to $120 more per semester if the pro
posal is approved.
The added revenue would be used
primarily for merit-based salary in
creases. Revenue would also fund in
structional enhancements, such as
classroom and library materials, and
classroom improvements, such as
chair replacements and new visual-
aid equipment.
Josh Hennessey, a freshman senator
and a business major, said the revenue
from the General Use Fee increase
would have little impact on A&M be
cause the funds would be so diversified.
“The increase in the GUF is not
only too much for the students at this
point, but the spending is so spread
out that A&M will see no real effect,”
Hennessey said.
Bowen said the fee increase is nec
essary for A&M to remain competitive
and uphold its reputation, but stu
dents are worried it may have an ad
verse effect on the University.
Ashanti Johnson-Pyrtle, a Black
Graduate Student Association repre
sentative and an oceanography gradu
ate student, said she worries the Uni
versity will suffer decreased enroll
ment in the long run.
“It appears as though the University
severely needs the income,” she said.
“However, I am concerned about how
this increase will affect the students.
“My concern is that the price may
be too high. Some students may not
be able to afford to continue their edu
cation, especially graduate students
that stay around for six years or so.”
Students said Bowen presented a
well-researched proposal.
Kyla Dodson, a masters of business
administration representative and
MBA graduate student, said she does
not welcome the idea of an increase in
fees but realizes it is necessary.
"I simply cannot support such a drastic
fee increase without a parallel proposal
to increase financial aid."
— Bo Armstrong
off-campus senator
“I hate to see it become more ex
pensive for us to get an education, but
I think people will still come to
A&M,” she said.
“It looks like (Bowen) has been re
ally thorough in his analysis. There
seems to be no room for internal bud
get cuts. The proposal was presented
on a really strong business and eco
nomic basis. It didn’t seem like a big
political presentation.”
Bo Armstrong, an off-campus sena
tor and a junior computer science ma
jor, agreed that the proposal was well-
researched, but he said many stu
dents are already struggling to pay
current fees.
“I simply cannot support such a
drastic fee increase without a parallel
proposal to increase financial aid,”
Armstrong said.
Stepheni Moore, GSC president
and a meteorology graduate student,
said she feels Bowen is sincere in his
See GUF, Page 10
University, Brazos Valley receive zero anti-Semitic activity reports
□ Some Jewish officials said
that, overall, A&M does an
effective job of discouraging
anti-Semitic activity.
By Lisa Johnson
The Battalion
Though 35 incidents of anti-Semit
ic activity in Texas were reported to
the Anti-Defamation League in 1995,
no incidents were reported in the
Brazos Valley.
Anti-Defamation League Director
Jonathan Bernstein said the majority of
anti-Semitic acts in Texas occurred in
the San Antonio and Houston areas.
Rabbi Peter Tarlowe of the Hillel
Foundation in College Station defined
anti-Semitism as a form of racism
in which an individual is judged
by his or her affiliation with an
ethnic group rather than who
they are as a person.
Anti-Semitism can be cate
gorized in two forms, passive
and active. Passive activities in
clude the exclusion of a person or
group based on their affiliation, and ac
tive anti-Semitism includes destruction
of property and physical or verbal
abuse toward a person or group be
cause of their affiliation.
The ADL report covered anti-Semitic
acts that were specifically anti-Jewish.
Tarlowe said he is not surprised by
the lack of reported anti-Jewish
activity in Brazos Valley,
specifically on the Texas A&M
campus. He said the Univer
sity has gone out of its way to
be sensitive to the Jewish is
sues he has brought to the ad
ministration in his 13 years at
the Hillel Foundation.
“The University has really managed
to be an island of administrative toler
ance,” Tarlowe said. “The administra
tion, and especially Dr. (J. Malon)
Southerland, (vice president for Stu
dent Affairs,) have immediately
stepped in whenever anything came up
that I thought would present a problem
for Jewish students.”
Tarlowe said potential problems in
the past have included moves to say
Christian prayers at campus events
and to hold final exams on Friday
nights, which would interfere with
Jewish religious services.
But one University area where
anti-Semitism has not been corrected
easily, Tarlowe said, is in the contents
of The Battalion.
He said the publication has failed
to print any articles about activities
conducted in conjunction with Holo
caust Day.
“Holocaust Day is participated in by
all of the area churches here,” he said.
“A few years ago, we had a huge thing
on Holocaust Day here on campus. It
was covered by The Eagle and by other
members of the press, but The Batt act
ed as if it did not exist.”
Tarlowe said, however, that such oc
currences were probably the result of
ignorance or incompetence on the part
of The Battalion staff.
Overall, he said, the University does
a good job of countering anti-Semitic
See Anti-Semitism, Page 10