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The Battalion
r ol. 102, No. 163 (6 pages)
Serving Texas AdrM University Since 1893 THE BATT ON-LINE: http://bat-web.tamu.edu
Thursday • July 11, 1996
outherland names commandant
Maj. Gen. M.T. "Ted" HopgoodJr. will lead Corps
By Ann Marie Hauser
The Battalion
Marine Maj. Gen. M.T. “Ted” Hop-
good Jr. has been selected from three
candidates to fill the position as com
mandant of the Corps of Cadets.
Hopgood said he is looking forward
to the challenge and can hardly wait to
get started.
“I’m excited and feel honored to
have been selected,” Hopgood said. “I
want to continue the great job Maj.
Gen. Darling did.”
Hopgood is replacing retired Air
Force Maj. Gen. Thomas G. Darling,
who stepped down June 1, to become
executive director of the University’s
Corps Endowment Campaign.
Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice pres
ident for Student Affairs, called Hop-
good yesterday in Virginia to offer him
the position, and said he feels good
about the decision.
“We were looking for an energetic,
vigorous person who had demonstrated
leadership abilities,” Southerland said.
“But also someone who had demonstrat
ed an understanding of what a universi
ty in a university community is.”
Hopgood graduated from Texas
A&M in 1965.
He went on to become a highly deco
rated veteran who served three tours
in Vietnam and was awarded the Fhir-
ple Heart for wounds sustained in com
bat. He also participated in Operation
Restore Hope in Somalia.
As a Marine Corps officer for 31
years, Hopgood has been stationed in
numerous command and staff positions.
Currently, Hopgood serves as presi
dent of the Marine Corps University in
Quantico, Va.
Blake McKinney, the recruiting
sergeant and a junior biomedical sci
ence major, said the Corps was pleased
with Hopgood’s appointment.
Hopgood graduated from
Texas A&M in 1965. He cur
rently serves as president of
the Marine Corps University in
Quantico, Va.
“He was our number-one man,” McK
inney said. “I could not be happier.”
Karl Koehler, the Corps staff re
cruiting officer and a senior education
major, had the opportunity to meet
each candidate and was impressed by
all of them.
“Every one of them had different tal
ents and advantages,” Koehler said. “But
I liked Maj. Gen. Hopgood the best.”
The new commandant said he was
looking forward to continuing the empha
sis on education as the Corps’ top priority.
In addition to his amazing creden
tials, Koehler described Hopgood as a
personable and approachable man
who was outspoken about the impor
tance of grades.
He said Hopgood talked about an
“open-door policy,” where students are
welcome to speak with him on an as-
needed basis.
Hopgood will assume his duties
shortly before the fall semester as the
officer in charge of the 2,200-member
Corps of Cadets.
“We expect him to be here in mid-
August,” Southerland said. “I look for
ward to working with him.”
H*I*T
ME
WITH
T
ag, you’re it!” chil
dren would yell as
they ran around
backyards, play
grounds and other
areas for a good game of
sneak attacks.
Nowadays, a computerized
voice emitted from fitted body
gear tells an individual his or her
continual status in an updated
version of the childhood classic —
the once popular laser tag games,
which declined in popularity dur
ing the ’80s.
At its inception about 15 years
ago, the game was called Photon,
and it was widely popular in major
cities such as Houston and Austin.
But Photon did not last long for
two reasons. First, customers
were charged about $20 for a 15-
minute game. And second, it cost
close to $1 million just to open a
gaming facility.
Tom Meinecke, president of
TJ’s Laser Tag, said that a laser
tag arena in College Station
would be good for the town as
well as the students.
“College Station is a good place
and the right size.” he said. “You
get a lot of repeat customers.”
At the beginning of Photon’s
plunge into the gaming industry,
people were fighting over patents
See Fire Away, Page 3
Admissions board to look at
changes in light of Hopivood
By Jason Brown
The Battalion
Texas A&M’s admissions policies
may change radically because of the
Hopwood decision and the recom
mendations of the Admissions Advi
sory Board, an administration offi
cial said Wednesday.
Dr. William Perry, dean of facul
ties and associate provost, spoke at
an MSC Political Forum program
yesterday. He said Hopwood will
challenge the University to maintain
a diverse student body while comply
ing with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeal’s reversal of the 1978
Supreme Court case Bakke vs. Uni
versity of California Regents. Bakke
upheld affirmative action in public
university admissions.
“Imagine you’ve been building
houses since 1978 with a hammer
and nails, and someone’s taken the
hammer away," Perry said. “We now
have to find another tool.”
Perry, who chaired the Admis
sions Advisory Board, said the Board
See A&M, Page 6
A&M set to host Diversity Institute seminar
By Amy Protas
The Battalion
On Saturday, faculty and staff
members from 29 universities will
convene at Texas A&M for a
meeting of the Diversity Institute,
sponsored by the Department of
Multicultural Services-Office of
Diversity Education.
Sheri Schmidt, coordinator of
diversity education, said the insti
tute is a seminar for trainers in
diversity education.
“We’re going to teach staff
members to go back to their cam
puses and provide workshops and
other learning opportunities for
their campus community,”
Schmidt said.
Diversity education highlights
the cultural differences existing
among students.
“Diversity education provides
opportunities for students to
learn about each other,” Schmidt
said. “This is in terms of cultural
differences. There are many cul
tural dimensions to an individual
— race, gender, religion, socioeco
nomic status, sexual orientation
and even the region they’re from.”
The Institute was created two
years ago by Schmidt and Kevin
Carreathers, director of the De
partment of Multicultural Services.
“We determined there was not
a training opportunity for higher
education professionals like this
one so we decided to create one,”
Schmidt said. “This is becoming a
new field on campuses. We realize
there is a need to educate stu
dents in this way to prepare them
to enter the work force.”
The four-day Institute focuses
on stereotypes, cultural identity,
facilitation skills and relations
with university administrators.
Carreathers said he wants the
participating universities to learn
from A&M's example of diversity
education.
“The Institute allows A&M to
share with others throughout the
country some of the diversity edu
cation initiatives that have been
successful for us,” Carreathers
said. “I think one of the skills and
strategies to develop is enhancing
their own programs.”
Tanya Williams, a volunteer
with the Institute and a Class of
’94 graduate, said both A&M and
the visiting universities will bene
fit from the seminar.
"Diversity education pro
vides opportunities for
students to learn about
each other."
— SHERRY SCHMIDT
coordinator of diversity education
“For A&M, it’s a value to have
people from across the country
come to talk about diversity is
sues and how they affect our cam
pus as well as theirs,” Williams
said. “For the participating uni
versities, it is an opportunity to
come together with colleagues
and bring new ideas and new
ways to work with students.”
Schmidt said the Institute
serves two purposes in educating
the participants.
“Some are coming specifically
to find out about peer education
programs like University Aware
ness for Cultural Togetherness
(UACT),” Schmidt said. “Some are
just coming because they want to
learn how to do these programs at
things like new student orienta
tions and student government
training.
“A&M is pretty far ahead in
providing resources and staff time
for diversity education,” Schmidt
said. “Our campus is so large and
our staff is so specialized, we are
able to do that.”
With diversity gaining impor
tance in education and the work
place, workshops are becoming
more commonplace throughout
the nation.
Schmidt said the Institute is
significant because diversity edu
cation will help people succeed in
the business world.
“Diversity is an important di
mension of being a leader,”
Schmidt said. “It is important to
be able to make the most of rela
tionships with people different
than you. It maximizes the poten
tial of a group when the leader of
the group is culturally literate.”
Netanyahu demands
stop to terrorist attacks
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a
tough speech to Congress lay
ing out conditions for Mideast
negotiations, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
declared Wednesday that Syria
and the Palestinians can stop
terrorists from attacking Israel
and demanded that they do so.
His vow never to give Arabs
control over any part of
Jerusalem brought Republi
cans and Democrats alike to
their feet applauding.
The American-educated
prime minister looked at home
in the House chamber as he
walked up the center aisle and
grasped outstretched hands.
His wife, Sarah, looked down
on the scene from the family
section of the gallery.
Netanyahu had to wait five
minutes before the applause
died down and he could start
his address to a joint session
of Congress.
“If I could only get the Knes
set to vote like this,” he began,
referring to the often fractious
Israeli parliament.
Netanyahu’s speech mixed
pledges to continue pursuing
peace with Israel’s Arab
neighbors, with demands that
the Arabs do more to make
the region secure from terror
ist attacks.
“We cannot, we dare not for
get that more men, women and
children have lost their lives to
terrorist attacks in the last
three years, than in the entire
previous decade,” he said.
“We are ready to resume ne
gotiations with the Palestinian
Authority,” said Netanyahu,
adding that his newly formed
government was prepared to
“engage Syria and Lebanon in
See Netanyahu, Page 6