The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 02, 1996, Image 1

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A&M students celebrate
their faith during
Resurrection Week.
AGGIELIFE, PAGE 3
Mejia: The tobacco industry
comes under fire as Texas
joins the legal battle.
OPINION, PAGE 9
HEART OF A CHAMPION
Tennis ace Nancy Dingwall
likens her game to her Rockets.
SPORTS, PAGE 7
The Battalion
102, No. 121 (10 pages)
Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893
Tuesday • April 2, 1996
Darling to head Corps endowment
"... we think there are people who will contribute to
financially backing the Corps."
— MAJ. GEN. THOMAS DARLING
Corps of Cadets commandant
By Lily Aguilar
The Battalion
Maj. Gen. Thomas Darling has
decided to step down from his po
sition as Texas A&M Corps of
Cadets commandant and take
over a fund-raising effort to per
manently endow the Corps.
Dr. Ray Bowen, A&M presi
dent, announced Saturday the be
ginning of the $16-million Corps
of Cadets Endowment Campaign.
The University has not named
a new commandant, but a search
will begin for a successor in com
ing weeks.
Darling, who has served as
commandant since 1987, said he
has mixed feelings about leaving
the Corps because of the rewards
the position offers. He said,
though, that he is ready to help
the Corps through the fund-rais
ing campaign.
“Having been here nine years,
it is time to hand the job over to a
younger man,” Darling said.
“It has been rewarding, seeing
cadets mature and leave in lead
ership positions ... and I am reluc
tant to be less involved with the
staff and cadets.”
But the Corps needs him in an
other capacity now, he said, and
because of his experience with the
Corps and his contacts through
out the state, he is suited to artic
ulate to prospective donors the
need for financial support.
Darling said the campaign,
which is set to raise at least $16
million, will be used to fund the
Corps Center, the Aggie Band
and Corps academic, recruiting
and special unit programs.
The interest earned from the
endowment will provide money
to maintain Corps programs, he
said, and it will ease pressure
on the Corps to find funding
each year.
“The University money has
pretty much dried up,” he said.
“We are going for a private
campaign because we think there
are people who will contribute to
financially backing the Corps.”
Darling added that the Corps
has an enrollment goal of 2,600
by the end of the century.
He said the endowment will
help improve recruiting and re-
tainment because the Corps will
be able to offer well-developed
leadership and academic pro
grams, as well as scholarships.
Bowen said in a press release
Monday that he is confident Dar
ling will make the fund-raising
campaign a success.
“I feel good knowing the cam
paign is in Tom Darling’s very ca
pable hands,” he said. “He’s made
major improvements in the Corps
on all fronts.
“Now he has the opportunity to
fortify those gains by ensuring the
Corps of a solid financial footing
for the 21st century.”
Bowen said private funding for
the Corps has become a necessity
because the University is no
longer capable of supporting all of
the Corps’ goals and programs.
Dr. J. Malon Southerland,
vice president for student af
fairs, said in a press release
Monday that Darling, who is a
member of the Class of ’54, has
provided cadets with a superior
role model and has successfully
positioned himself to take over
the fund-raising effort.
“In the past nine years,”
Southerland said, “he has
made great strides in improv
ing the Corps of Cadets and
mustering an organized base of
Corps supporters.”
Dave House, The Battalion
APRIL SHOWERS
jerry Caperton, a junior environmental design major, plays an April Fool's Day prank on his friend Jorge Rousselin, a senior envi
ronmental design major, while another friend distracts Rousselin.
ftaurrcction re-enacted
Students of Christian faiths come together
By Erica Roy
The Battalion
Various events from March
31 to April 4 are bringing
Texas A&M Christian students
together to celebrate the cor
nerstone of their faith, the res
urrection of Jesus Christ.
Resurrection Week events be
gan Sunday at 5 p.m. with a free
barbecue at The Grove, where
two Christian bands, Jackson
Swing and Me Three, played.
Grant Teaff, former head
football coach of Baylor Uni
versity, spoke Monday night
at Rudder Auditorium to a
group of 600 students, and
Rich Mullins, a contemporary
Christian singer, is perform
ing Tuesday night at Rudder
Auditorium.
Wednesday night activities
include two speakers, David
Smithers and Pam Moore. The
men’s speaker, Smithers is the
editor of “The Watchword,” a
periodical focused on bringing
about revival through prayer.
Pam Moore, the women’s
speaker, is the director of In
tercessory Prayer Ministry at
Dallas Baptist University.
Wednesday is also designat
ed Resurrection Week T-shirt
day. The shirts are on sale for
$10 in the MSC.
Ftesurrection Week will end
with a crucifixion scene and
skit performed at Rudder
Fountain. Gregg Matte, minis
ter of Breakaway Ministries,
will speak immediately follow
ing the dramatic performance.
Steven Woodward, Resur
rection Week president and a
senior computer engineering
major, said the week is meant
to spread awareness of East
er’s meaning around cartlpus.
“The purpose of Resurrec
tion Week is to share the
gospel of Jesus Christ and the
freedom of His resurrection,”
Woodward said.
Resurrection Week began
in celebration
four years ago, when Bobby
Dean, the Corps of Cadets chap
lain, traveled to Washington,
D.C., for a prayer conference.
At the conference, Woodward
said. Dean saw diverse people
unified on one foundation, Jesus
Christ. This inspired Dean to
create a similar experience at
A&M to bring dominations of
Christians together.
This year’s Resurrection
Week was organized by a staff of
ten people led by Woodward and
Russ Klawitter, vice president of
Resurrection Week and a junior
agricultural systems major.
See Resurrection, Page 6
Riverside Campus soil to
be tested for contamination
By Eleanor Colvin
The Battalion
Testing is underway at Texas
l&M’s Riverside Campus to deter-
line the severity of soil contamina-
tion thought to have resulted from
Jovemmental practices when the site
vas used by the military.
Brown and Root Environmental of
Houston, under contract with the U.S.
limy Corps of Engineers, will conduct
ab tests of soil and ground water for
Wo to three weeks.
Charles Darnell, A&M Physical
^lant energy manager, said the tests
ire part of a federal government pro-
’ram to investigate and clean areas
isedby military base agencies.
“It’s a good thing that the federal
[ovemment is taking responsibility for
be old field sites,” he said. “It’s com-
Qendable that they are taking steps to
ome out and remedy problems that
bey may have caused.”
Mary Jo Powell, associate director of
University Relations, stated in a recent
press release that the Riverside Cam
pus was considered for testing because
it is the site of the former Bryan Air
Base, a World War II U.S. Army Air
Corps facility.
Mark Simmons, chief of the Environ
mental Design Branch of the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers Ft. Worth District
office, said the Corps of Engineers has
investigated formerly used defense
sites, or FUDS, for 10 years because of
a congressional mandate to do so.
“It has been our task to see if there
are any environmental problems left
behind by the government,” he said.
“We look at any Department of Defense
property that has been surplused, re
gardless of size. We’ve studied quarter-
acre lots to multi-thousand acre sites.”
Simmons said his office conducts site
visits and researches drawings, maps
and reports of nearly 200 test areas be
fore determining if a clean-up is needed.
See Soil, Page 8
MOSAIC gives
attitude adjustment
to sexism, racism
By Courtney Walker
The Battalion
Workshops on communication skills,
management and new technologies can be
found almost everywhere on the Texas
A&M campus.
But a team of campus wide staff members
will soon serve as facilitators for a different
kind of workshop — a workshop on attitudes.
Through the Department of Human Re
sources, any University department or orga
nization can request a workshop about cul
tural stereotypes and opinions.
Maximizing Opportunities for Staff to
Achieve an Inclusive Campus workshops
will begin this month and will be organized
by full-time staff members of several cam
pus departments.
During the workshops, staff members
and facilitators will discuss stereotypes,
See MOSAIC, Page 8
Students to vote
on constitution
Student Government s constitution expired
and was added to the run-off elections ballot.
By Kasie Byers
The Battalion
After realizing the constitution
under which it operates expired
Sunday at midnight, the Texas
A&M Student Government decided
to place a referendum on Thurs
day’s run-off elections ballot for stu
dents to approve or disapprove the
current constitution.
The constitution states that
“every two years the Student Gov
ernment Constitution will be placed
in the general student body elections
for approval by the student body.”
Since the constitution was ap
proved March 31, 1994, its two
years have ended.
Matt Mayfield, Student Senate
rules and regulations chair and ju
nior animal science major, said
that if taken literally, the Student
Government is now operating
without a constitution.
If the constitution had been ap
proved during last week’s elec
tions, Student Government would
have avoided its current dilemma.
However, Mayfield said the consti
tution does not Specify the referen
dum cannot be included in the
run-off elections.
“The referendum should be in
the general election, but the consti
tution doesn’t really specify which,”
he said. “If you were to follow the
constitution in literal terms, really,
right now. Student Government
doesn’t have a constitution.”
Student Government has deter
mined that run-off elections can
be considered a part of the gener
al election.
Gary Buffington, Judicial Board
chair and management information
systems graduate student, said that
although the constitution has liter
ally expired, Student Government
is still an operable organization un
der University regulations.
“Under University Regulations,
an organization’s constitution must
be ratified internally for them to be
recognized,” he said. “(The clause
for students to approve or disap
prove the constitution in a referen
dum) was put in the constitution
just so students would have input
on their Student Government.”
A copy of the constitution will ac
company the referendum on which
the students will vote.
Buffington said if the referendum
See Constitution, Page 6
UH regents vote to
combine chancellor,
president positions
Board members said the decision was made
to eliminate redundancy within the system.
HOUSTON (AP) — University of
Houston System regents voted
Monday to merge the jobs of chan
cellor and main-campus president
into one CEO-style position, a deci
sion long feared by some at the sys
tem’s three satellite campuses.
Board chairwoman Beth Morian
said the management restructuring
is part of an overall strategy to
smooth decision-making within the
four-university network and begin
paring the system bureaucracy.
“Our new structure will make
us more streamlined and more ag
ile,” Morian said. “It will eliminate
redundancy and unnecessary bu
reaucracy.”
Current Chancellor William P.
Hobby and UH President Glenn A.
Goerke, whose contracts run
through August 1997, will remain
in their posts as regents search for
someone to fill the newly created
post, Morian said.
A search committee should be
formed by the end of this month, and
regents hope to fill the new post by
the time Hobby’s contract expires.
Hobby, a former Texas lieu
tenant governor who took the chan
cellor’s job last year to provide a
stabilizing force, has said he would
not be interested in the new post.
The job of chancellor/president
will manage and oversee both the
UH system and the main university
campus in Houston, reporting di
rectly to the Board of Regents.
Little else about the new struc
ture has been decided, including
the critical question of how UH-
Clear Lake, UH-Downtown and
UH-Victoria will relate with the
system office and the main campus.
The autonomous satellite cam
puses now report to the chancellor.
“I know that everyone wants an
instant answer as to how this new
structure will run,” Morian said.
“No one here today is in a position
to answer those questions. And I
believe that if we did, we would be
asking for a disaster.
“The final implementation of this
structure will be developed by all of
us working together to determine
the critical questions and the ap
propriate answers.”
Hobby said a steering committee
will meet later this month to begin
discussing specifics.
Both he and Morian promised
the new structure doesn’t mean less
See UH Merger, Page 8