rch 21,1996
n §
Page 1
if I’m a little
end of the
till clear the
ut sometimes
, I can write
lonth without
only student
es checks to
round town,
os County at-
ce prosecutes
ake payments
bounced,
in Bryan-Col-
ar a student’s
days. If there
ids, the mer-
ident 10 days
lem. After 10
ues a 48-hour
,hat although
/er reach the
dess spending
I.
to get the per-
le small check
e — everyone
2e in a while,"
lave to target
le courtesy no-
1 never make
in College Sta-
way through
l bad checks,
ercentage, but
tudents should
>sely bouncing
lot a prank.
■ there is a new
d every semes-
ight. Students
college careers
the welfare of
,hat if students
to the arrest
issued, it be-
criminal theft,
; from shoplift
ing hot checks
S500 is punish-
p to $2,000, six
>oth.
as
n Page 2
pment.
technology as a
nd train people
ties can prosper
learn the skills
>t said.
include math-
g, English as a
; and, possibly,
diplomas,
i demonstration
it up in Progres-
Irande Valley,
t Bend County
Spring View
ner-city San An-
)allas County,
break, A&M lat
ent to the sites
he equipment,
•grams that will
ne.
a cultural liai-
o, said the ann
ually vocal, era-
Open Season
Johnny Hunter preys on
pitching
SPORTS, PAGE 5
Valdez: Genetic research
could complicate the issue
of abortion
OPINION, PAGE 7
A&M club works on solar-powered car
AGGIELIFE, PAGE 3
, The Battalion
M. 102, No. 114 (8 pages) Serving Texas A&M Uttiversity Since 1893 Friday • March 22, 1996
Chancellor decides against GUF increase
!ylara Wilkinson
The Battalion
Dr. Barry Thompson, Texas
i&M University System chan-
tellor, announced Thursday that
ike General Use Fee will not be
increased for the academic year
1996-97 as proposed by Dr. Ray
Bowen, A&M president.
Bee related EDITORIAL, Page 7
Bowen had been planning to
[resent his proposed increase of
18 per credit hour in the GUF
at the March 22 Texas A&M
University System Board of Re-
jents meeting, but Thompson
removed the item from the
agenda.
Thompson said removing the
proposal from the agenda — in
effect, deciding against the in
crease the fee — was solely his
decision.
He said it was not necessary
for Bowen to present his pro
posal at the Board meeting be
cause Thompson and most of
the Regents had already re
searched the proposal and
A&M’s financial situation re
garding the GUF.
“At the present time, there’s
not a compelling case to raise
fees,” he said.
In a press release, Thompson
said affordability of education was
his primary reason for deciding
against the GUF increase.
“At the heart of this decision
is our responsibility as a land-
grant institution to provide af
fordable higher education for
the citizens of Texas,” he said.
If approved, the additional
increase of $8 per credit hour
would have raised the GUF to
the maximum $32 per credit
hour allowed by state law.
The GUF was increased $8 per
semester credit hour for Fall 1995
and an additional $4 per credit
hour for Spring 1996. Bowen’s
most recent fee increase proposal
would have resulted in a 176-per
cent increase in the GUF in a
two-year period.
Bowen would not comment
on Thompson’s decision, but
Jim Ashlock, director of Uni
versity Relations, said the pres
ident’s office had been aware
the chancellor was hesitant
about the proposal.
“We didn’t anticipate he
would do this on the eve of the
meeting, but we had been
aware there were some reserva
tions at the chancellor’s office,”
Ashlock said. “So it was not an
overriding shock.”
Ashlock said though the Uni
versity plans to reanalyze its fi
nancial resources, he has no
idea if Bowen will propose the
GUF again next year.
Thompson said that if Bowen
does repropose the increase for
academic year 1997-98, he can
not yet predict whether he
would support it.
“It’s kind of like when you’re
umpiring a baseball game and
it’s ball four,” Thompson said.
“Next time, it might be strike
three.”
Thompson added that he and
Bowen have maintained com
munication about decisions re
lated to the GUF proposal.
“I respect his advocacy for the
University,” Thompson said.
Toby Boenig, student body
president, said he is pleased
with Thompson’s decision be
cause it reflects the opinion of
the study body, as demonstrat
ed by the Student Senate’s
March 6 stance against the pro
posed increase.
“I think the Student Senate’s
unanimous vote against the in
crease in the General Use Fee
was a major factor in Dr.
Thompson’s decision — he
heard the students.”
But Thompson said that as
chancellor he is somewhat re
moved from student opinion
and that his decision was not
influenced by criticism of the
proposal.
Fish Aides receive
verdict, not guilty
By Wes Swift
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Student Or-
janizations Hearing Board found
the Fish Aides not guilty of haz
ing in the kidnapping of Student
Body President Toby Boenig,
saying the incident did not meet
the definition of hazing.
Bee related EDITORIAL, Page 7
I Fish Aides, freshmen Stu
dent Government assistants,
learned of the decision Thurs
day after receiving written noti
fication from the Board. The
hearing was held Tuesday.
Kristen Paris, Student Gov
ernment freshmen programs co-
chair and a sophomore biomed-
bl science major, said the orga-
tization was excited by the
Board’s decision.
“(The hearing) has been a
learning process,” Paris said.
‘The Board made some recom
mendations, and we intend to
make some changes so that this
»illnot happen again.”
Paris said Fish Aides will
have a educational workshop
about hazing in the fall to ensure
that members know what acts
violate the policy.
The Board said the organiza
tion did not haze Boenig when
they kidnapped him on Feb. 20 in
honor of Presidents Day and his
birthday because the incident did
not fill one of the criterion man
dated by state and University reg
ulations.
Those regulations define haz
ing as any incident that physi
cally or mentally endangers an
other student “... for the purpose
of initiation, admission into, af
filiation with, or as a condition
for continued membership in a
group of organization.”
The Board decided that since
Boenig could not be inducted
into the group because is was
not a freshman, he could not
have been hazed.
Jason Jaynes, Student Gov
ernment freshmen programs co
chair and a sophomore computer
science major, said Fish Aides
will reap benefits beyond the not
guilty decision.
“I think that what will come
of this is a better understanding
of the hazing law as the Univer
sity applies it to each and every
organization,” Jaynes said.
The decision ends a month
long controversy that began after
Boenig was kidnapped by six
Fish Aides, bound in plastic
handcuffs and taken to Texas
Avenue and George Bush Drive,
where the freshmen watched
him as he wore a sign that read
See Fish Aids, Page 2
Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS
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Thursday morning. He keeps the shrimp as a hobby.
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A&M agricultural engineering graduate program top in nation
By Lisa Johnson
The Battalion
In a study published last
week, U.S. News and World Re
port ranked Texas A&M’s agri
cultural engineering graduate
program first in the nation.
Dr. Don Bender, a professor
and graduate program coordina
tor of the agricultural engineer
ing department, said the rank
ing is consistent with its perfor
mance in past U.S. News and
World Report surveys.
He said, “There are approxi
mately 50 schools with a gradu
ate program in agricultural engi
neering, and in previous rank
ings we have been second behind
Cornell University, so moving
ahead is certainly something to
be proud of.”
Despite the performance of
the agricultural engineering de
partment, the survey ranked the
engineering graduate program
as a whole below the University
of Texas.
However, Bender said the
17th place ranking of the engi
neering graduate program should
make the University proud.
John Dollard, the associate
bean of graduate studies at the
University of Texas at Austin,
agreed with Bender, and said the
difference in rankings could
come have resulted from no more
than a difference of opinion.
“To an extent, these surveys
are a matter of the opinions of
the people polled,” he said.
“Both schools have a scientific
drive, but each has its own spe
cialty. A&M is very agricultur
al in nature, whereas we are
much more electrically and
computer oriented.”
In the rankings of business
graduate programs, A&M was
ranked 50th in the nation.
Dr. Win Shearon, director of
the MBA program and professor
of accounting, said he is excited
to be ranked in the top 50 in the
nation and is working to keep
and improve that ranking.
“In the past few years, dra
matic revamping has been done
in the MBA department, and it
is just beginning to pay off for
us,” he said. ‘We are working to
improve curriculum, recruit
ment of students and placement
of graduates, and hopefully raise
our standing in the rankings,
but it’s not going to be easy.”
In one of its efforts to im
prove, the program has created
the position of MBA placement
officer. The placement officer’s
duty is to encourage large na
tional corporations to recruit
graduates of the MBA program.
Shearon said that the ranking
is exceptional in view of the
youth of A&M’s business school.
He said, “The school here is
relatively young, approximately
25 years old, where as the UT
program is over 50 years old and
has been considered exceptional
for a very long time.”
Dr. Linda Parrish, associate
dean of graduate studies in edu
cation, said the College of Educa
tion’s graduate program, ranked
43 in the nation by U.S. News
and World Report, is worthy of
its reputation despite its youth.
“When they do this survey,
they rank over 200 schools,” she
said. “We are very proud to be
ranked in the top quarter of all
the programs in the country,
and we expect to be ranked high
er in the future.”
Parrish attributed the to-
quarter ranking of the graduate
education program to the pro
grams’ high placement rates and
diversity of curriculum.
The U.S. News and World Re
port survey assigned schools a
ranking on a scale of 100. Score
were based on rankings of the
schools programs by academic
experts and members of the pro
gram’s respective work forces, as
well as rates of graduate place
ment in jobs.
Some rankings Eire also based
on the amount of money spent
on research and training, as well
as students’ average scores on
the program entrance tests.
System admissions delayed
Universities, colleges have been told to review policies
By Lily Aguilar
The Battalion
Dr. Barry Thompson, Texas
A&M University System chan
cellor, has suspended Universi
ty System admissions and
scholarships for the next 10
days in the wake of a decision
made by the 5th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals Monday.
The court opinion in Hop-
wood, et al vs.State of Texas, et
al states that affirmative action
policies based on ethnic back
ground are not constitutional,
forcing 35 Texas universities
and colleges to review their
schools’ administration and
scholarship policies.
The decision, which involved
students who were denied en
trance into the University of
Texas Law School, caused the
University of Texas to shut
down its admissions office
Wednesday.
Dr. Ray Bowen, A&M presi
dent, said A&M admissions
said the court decision could set
the University back in its re
cruiting efforts because it will
change requirements.
“We aggressively recruit all
qualified students,” Bowen said.
“It is troublesome because we
think we have made great success
recruiting qualified students.”
Bowen said ethnicity is only
one of many factors considered for
admission into the University.
He said the University will
decide during the next two
weeks what changes will be
made to admission policies, and
in the meantime, no more
scholarships will be awarded by
the University.
“Until we fully understand
See Admissions, Page 2
Bill focuses on voter turnout
Few Yell Leaders have ever received a majority of the votes
By Lily Aguilar
The Battalion
Students can vote on a referen
dum to create run-off elections for
1997 Yell Leaders during March
27 and 28 student body elections.
See related EDITORIAL, Page 7
Elliot Kerlin, a business sena
tor and junior finance and ac
counting major, said he co-au-
thored the Yell Leader Proce
dures Bill because he wanted the
Yell Leaders to be more represen
tative of the student body.
He said the current system al
lows only the candidates that re
ceive a majority of the popular
vote to be elected. Few Yell Lead
ers ever receive a majority vote,
earning more than 50 percent of
the student body vote.
“This is important to the stu
dents because Yell Leaders are
representatives and are well-
known to the student body,”
Kerlin said. “All the major of
fices for Student Government,
Residence Hall Association and
other organizations have run
off elections, so winners receive
a majority of votes.”
Kerlin said the bill was not
created to interfere with Corps
Bloc, Greek organizations or non-
reg voting. He said it will only
narrow the election field down to
the best candidates.
“We are doing this in the best
interest of the student body both
immediately and in the long run,”
Kerlin said. “This is not intended
to be biased toward any group. It
is purely for student interest.”
He said the bill is intended to
increase voter turnout for other
run-off elections as well, because
students will be more likely to
vote in run-off elections that in
volve Yell Leaders.
See Voting, Page 2