BACK AT HOME ■ IN THE HOT SEAT ■ LOSING DIGNITY
Catcher William Shiflett took the
long road to Texas A&M.
Sports, Page 7
Nolen: "Fake-Baking" reflects society's unhealthy and
shallow desires.
Opinion, Page 9
Clark: Risque photos of Jennifer
Aniston ruin Rolling Stone's image.
Aggielife, Page 4
A-
11.102, No. 104 (10 pages)
Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893
Friday* March 1, 1996
Hearing set for Fish Aides
JThe Hearing Board
will decide whether
six freshmen violated
liazing regulations by
kidnapping the student
tody president.
If Wes Swift
Ihe Battalion
The Texas A&M Student Or
ganization Hearing Board will
kide March 19 whether the ac
tions of the Student Government
fish Aides toward the student
tody president, which have
Irawn mixed reactions from
iGreek organizations, violated
University hazing regulations.
If found guilty, Fish Aides
:tould face disciplinary actions
ranging from a reprimand to
removal of the organization
from campus.
Christi Moore, Hearing Board
chair, said a preliminary investi
gation by the Department of Stu
dent Activities yielded enough in
formation to spur a hearing.
“There were enough questions
like who planned (the incident),
who took part in it ... that it war
ranted a hearing,” she said.
In addition to charges
against the organization. Fish
Aides may face individual
charges from the Student Con
flict Resolution Center.
Dr. Gene Zdziarski, SCRC co
ordinator, said he is waiting for
the results of the investigation
reports before deciding whether
to file charges.
The hazing charges stem
from a Feb. 19 incident in which
six Fish Aides, or freshmen Stu
dent Government assistants,
kidnapped Toby Boenig, student
body president, in honor of Pres
idents Day.
The freshmen blindfolded
and handcuffed Boenig, a senior
agricultural development major,
and dropped him off on the cor
ner of Texas Avenue and George
Bush Drive.
State and University regula
tions forbid “any act of threat,
physical or mental, perpetrated
for the purpose of submitting a
student or other person to physi
cal pain or discomfort, indignity
or humiliation.”
The regulations also prohibit
physical bondage and taking
students to outlying areas and
leaving them.
Boenig shouldered the blame
for the incident Thursday, say
ing that he should be held re
sponsible since he had authority
over the freshmen involved in
the incident.
“If there is a hearing, it should
be held on me personally,” he
said. “Being the student body
president. I’m the elected leader
of 40,000 students, and I was in
charge of the six Fish Aides.
“I am the one responsible if
this incident is defined as hazing.”
He said he is drafting a letter
that will be sent to Moore and
other representatives in the Di
vision of Student Affairs that
explains his argument. Boenig
said he does not feel the inci
dent was hazing and plans to
present a defense of the incident
at the hearing.
A&M Greeks reacted to the
announcement of the hearing
with mixed feelings.
Earlier this week, fraternity
and sorority members com
plained that the Boenig kidnap
ping was being treated as a joke,
though similar instances in the
Corps of Cadets and in Greek or
ganizations were pursued as haz
ing incidents.
Jason Jordan, Interfratemity
Council president and a junior
marketing major, said he was
happy to see that all organiza
tions would be treated fairly, but
knew the six freshmen never
imagined that a hearing would
result from their actions.
“On one side of the coin. I’m
glad to see that every organiza
tion is held to the same level of
responsibility,” he said. “But on
the other side, I feel bad for those
(freshmen) because I know they
had no ill intentions.”
Hazing may tie
into traditions
□ University officials Texas law> from which the
said common defenses
of hazing, including
tradition and consent,
are not acceptable.
By Wes Swift
The Battalion
Texas A&M officials said
hazing at A&M is widespread
and is influenced by the tradi
tion-laden nature of the Uni
versity and close ties between
current and former students.
Dr. Gene Zdziarksi, coordina
tor of the Student Conflict Reso
lution Center, said many com
mon acts on campus could be
considered hazing under state
and University regulations.
“By University policy. I’d say
(hazing) is widespread,” he said.
University draws its own haz
ing policies, defines hazing as
any act that endangers the
mental or physical health of
students or destroys property
for the purpose of admission
into an organization or as a
condition for continued mem
bership in the organization.
Hazing on campus has taken
the spotlight since the Interfra
ternity Council Judicial Board
found the A&M chapter of Pi
Kappa Alpha fraternity guilty
of hazing on Feb. 15.
The fraternity was placed on
probation for two years and
sentenced to 400 hours of com
munity service.
Thursday, the Student Orga
nization Hearing Board an
nounced that it would hold a
See Hazing, Page 5
K CLEAN SWEEP
Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion
William Davenport sweeps leaves in front of the MSC. Daven
port has worked for Texas A&M for more than two years.
Commander and deputy chosen
to lead next year’s Corps of Cadets
□ Stephen Foster was
named Corps commander;
Cynthia Ericson was named
deputy commander.
By Lily Aguilar
The Battalion
Members of Texas A&M’s Corps of
Cadets filled the Sam Houston
Sanders Corps Center Thursday
night to hear the announcement of
next year’s Corps commander and
deputy commander.
See related EDITORIAL, Page 9
Maj. Gen. Thomas G. Darling,
Corps commandant, announced that
Stephen Foster, a junior political sci
ence major of Company D-2, will be
come the next Corps Commander, re
placing Tyson Voelkel.
Darling named Cynthia Ericson, a
junior international studies and po
litical science major of Company G-l,
deputy commander.
Ericson, who is replacing John
Warren, is the second woman to hold
the position of deputy commander.
The crowd cheered and whooped
when the announcement of next
year’s leadership was made.
“If I could say one thing, the Class
of ’97, we have got to work together
to make this Corps better than the
way we found it,” Foster said.
Foster said he is humbled and ex
cited that he will be at the helm of the
Corps next year and that he will work
closely with Voelkel in the coming
See Commander, Page 6
Dave House, The Battalion
Stephen Foster and Cynthia Ericson were selected as next
year's Corps commander and deputy commander.
MSC asks for increase
in University Center Fee
□ The student body can vote on
the decision in a referendum in
March.
By Courtney Walker
The Battalion
The Texas A&M MSC Council will present
a referendum to the student body March 28,
the day of campus elections, asking for a $3 in
crease in the University Center Fee.
The fee for the University Center funds
building maintenance, personnel salaries and
utility bills for the Rudder Tower and Theatre
Complex, the MSC and the Koldus Building.
For the proposal to go into effect, it must
be favored by a majority of students who
vote in the election.
Patrick Conway, MSC Council president
and a serdor genetics major, said he realizes
any prospective student fee increase is going
to have negative connotations.
But Conway said he hopes students realize
this increase would be $3 a semester, not per
semester credit hour, and that it is necessary.
“The operating costs have increased over
the last four years, but fees have not, so
the University Center needs more money,”
Conway said.
Annual University Center expenses have
increased from $2.4 million in 1992 to $2.8
million in 1995, and projected expenses for
1996 are $2.9 million.
Currently, $1 million of University Center
money is spent on employee salaries,
$600,000 on custodial services and $300,000
on utilities.
Dennis Busch, University Center direc
tor, said he intended to ask for an increase
last year, but Dr. J. Malon Southerland,
See Fee, Page 6
Texas graduate students to discuss foreign policy research
JThe conference is an
Opportunity for participants
present their research to
peers from several universities.
j'Michelle Lyons
^Battalion
.Texas A&M’s Program in Foreign
Making is hosting its first region-
graduate student conference today.
The conference on “New Directions
r Foreign Policy Decision Making” be-
^ at 9:30 a.m. in 701 Rudder Tower.
Four graduate students from A&M
four students from the University
• North Texas, Rice University and
■ Je University of Texas will present re-.
search papers they have completed on
foreign policy issues.
Lynn Reitmayer, program coordina
tor, said making the presentations will
benefit the students.
“This gives them a chance to pre
sent their research and gives them ex
perience in doing presentations in
front of their peers,” Reitmayer said.
cussion committee will comment on the
presentations and the students will an
swer questions.
Two panels will be held during the
day. The morning panel will discuss re
search on “Domestic Linkages to For
eign Policy,” and the afternoon session
will focus on “Foreign Policy Outcomes
of the International Arena.”
"We, being graduate students who hope to be professors
someday, need this in our curriculum so we can look good."
— Christopher Hanson
program graduate assistant
“It gives them a chance to get some
early exposure.”
After presenting their papers, a dis-
Christopher Hanson, a graduate as
sistant to the program who is present
ing a paper, said he hopes the confer
ence will become a regular event.
“There are plenty of conferences
that give professors the opportunity to
present research,” Hanson said. “We,
being graduate students who hope to
be professors someday, need this in our
curriculum so we can look good.
“We do some fairly intriguing and
interesting things on our own without
the professors.”
Dr. Patricia Hurley, Department of
Political Science graduate adviser, said
she will attend the conference to hear
graduate students she has worked
with make their presentations.
Hurley said the graduate students
will benefit from this opportunity be
cause several professors from universi
ties across the region will be attending
the conference.
B-CS home
for Habitat
conference
□ The founder of Habitat for
Humanity International, a
Christian ministry that helps
build low-income housing, is
this weekend's keynote speaker.
By Kendra S. Rasmussen
The Battalion
The Texas A&M chapter of Habitat for
Humanity International will join other
Texas and Oklahoma chapters this week
end for the 1996 HFHI Southwest Regional
Conference and the organization’s 20th an
niversary celebration.
The conference will begin today with
tours of Bryan-College Station HFHI homes
and will continue Saturday with devotion-
als, discussion sessions and workshops.
HFHI is the nation’s largest nonprofit
housing organization, and an estimated
400 people from affiliate chapters are ex
pected to attend this weekend’s conference.
Millard Fuller, HFHI founder, will deliv
er the keynote address tonight at 7 at the
First United Methodist Church in Bryan.
Fuller, who has written six books about
his work with HFHI, is expected to discuss
the lack of affordable housing and HFHFs
response to that need.
More than 30 million Americans are
living in poverty, which Fuller said is a
disgrace because other less wealthy coun
tries have managed to eliminate substan
dard housing.
“(The nation’s poverty rate) is a disgrace
on every mayor of every city, a disgrace on
the President, a disgrace on Congress, on
churches and on everyone that is in a posi
tion to solve the problem that has not
See Habitat, Page 6