Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1996)
I Pag[ a/ • September^ ipants talked to students, but not iccted every studt active, rfloricultural majotj member of the Sfi n Institute of taid his organizatioi 1 receive a low m inbers, but he i recruiting even this gotten a lot of pq he said, “andifl! the people we’ve actually show upi s, I’ve done m ie said. The Battalion tlume 103 • Issue 7*14 Pages Tuesday, September 10, 1996 The Batt Online: http://bat-web.tamu.edu S OB i&M makes top 50 University changes By Matthew Flume The Batt alion iexasA&M is ranked one he best national univer- es by U.S. News & World aort magazine. Ihe magazine, in its Sept. 9 in indication to hij getting out and uning more educati j in can avoid victr knowing who tl ut with, never I unattended and is, he said. I your instincts,; t/.schmar said, pnol is legal ini ith America andi used as a pre-si . It is illegal in the! ven for prescriptioi ise of the United v to Mexico, Rohyp inuggle in and pos intities. etimes. trast, he said the! b is constantly 5 s - ’s enjoyable about a| that people are i up new things,” hel inating thing aboutlf university is that itn i said he is pleasedj uickly Douglas tbout A&M and bec| it. a solid academic, ad irofessor, a finei id a kind gentlem id. i said he has heard o liings about Dough e tell me, ‘It’s won ind such a greatadi veil as a fine rmcfci id. "He impressespeop j commitment studies.” imited tics Come to our eapassforalpotcha 1. Vale t. ni> i-rsitv 2. Frinmon t. 2. Harvard t nivrrsitv 4. Duke l nivt-rsitv 5. M.l.T. Ifi. Kh, i iniversitv 48. (iie)T<?xmn V&M L’aivft, slh - ‘. >tl<x.. naliim; fJwrjtui Institute <rf issue, surveyed 229 schools concerning several different factors to determine which school ranks the best overall. Rankings were based on factors such as SAT/ACT scores for incoming fresh men, financial resources, selectivity of admissions and graduation rate. Texas A&M tied with the Georgia Institute of Technology for 48th place, making this the first time A&M has been ranked in the top 50 of the annual U.S. News survey. A&M was the only public institution in the Southwest to rank in the top tier of the Best National University category. Rice University, ranked 16th, was the only other uni versity in Texas to receive honors as a top 50 school. Dr. Ray Bowen, A&M pres ident, said A&M’s rankings pleased him. “I’m thrilled to death with the survey,” Bowen said, “I’m not sure about the methodol ogy [of the survey], but I like the results.” Two of Texas A&M’s indi vidual colleges also ranked well. The College of Business Administration ranked in the top 25 in the nation. Dr. A. Benton Coca- nougher, dean of the A&M College of Business Administration, said the ranking reflects the hard work the faculty has put into the college. “We think that [the sur vey] is certainly a recogni tion of a great deal of time and effort and resources that have gone into making our undergraduate pro gram, what we think, is one of the best in the country,” he said. The College of Engineering also took high honors, tying with four other schools — including Rice University — for 16th place. The U.S. News article said studies were done on differ ent undergraduate programs because more students are choosing a school based on its undergraduate reputation. The magazine ranks the business and engineering programs because they tend to be the most popular among students. health care policy Foreign students will be required to have coverage By Brandon Hausenfluck The Battalion Comprehensive health insurance will soon be required of all international stu dents enrolled at Texas A&M. By Spring of 1997, it will be mandatory for all international students to hold an insur- ► See Editorial, Page 13 ance policy that meets certain minimum requirements. At a cost of $476 annually, the policy must include at least $50,000 in medical benefits per accident or illness, $10,000 in medical evacuation coverage, and $7,500 to cover the cost of transporting the body if the patient dies. Dennis Corrington, chairman of the imple mentation task force on mandatory health insurance for international students, said the mandate will benefit international students. “Our primary concern was that indigent health care is not available to international students,” Corrington said. “If they (interna tional students) have a catastrophic situa tion and they do regain their health, it will put them in a bad financial situation. They need to understand how the system works so they don’t assume they are taken care of.” Corrington, who also serves as director of the Student Recreation Center, said some international students come from countries where socialized medicine is the standard. See Health, Page 6 Stew Milne, The Battalion Freshman Elmir Alchmedov takes a break by playing Area 51 video game in the MSC Monday afternoon. Faculty Senate reviews tenure By Wesley Poston The Battalion The Texas A&M Faculty Senate introduced a proposal for post-tenure review Monday, fol lowing a Board of Regents man date to create such a policy. The Board of Regents man dated that each institution in the Texas A&M System craft its own policy for post-tenure review. The Board will consider the individual policies once each school has submitted a recommendation. Currently, all faculty mem bers are subject to annual per formance review both in and out of the classroom by individual department heads. However, Faculty Senate Speaker Steve Oberhelman said in a previous interview that the Board of Regents has been look ing to implement a more rigorous evaluation for tenured faculty. “[The regents] have the mis conception that there are incompetent professors at A&M,” he said. “The proposed policy makes a good case for the importance of tenure.” Oberhelman said the Senate needs to make it clear to parents, students, legislators and regents how well the faculty of A&M has been doing. “People hear that professors only teach six hours in the class room per week,” he said, “and they ask, ‘What else do they do?’” The speaker compared the time professors spend in the classroom to a minister spend ing three hours in a pulpit per week and a lawyer spending five hours in a courtroom. “Each professor spends five hours a week in committee work and 12 to 15 hours preparing for class on top of the time spent See Faculty, Page 6 tudent Senate to slate fall agenda re ms lekwondo ~id meet Monday! Tuesday/Thursday ? first week! Come "ind out more by *ber Services Desk 62-3995. urse of classes * the Texas ~se! er 5 p.m. daily) ay/Sunday $11.00 n fees: ziturday/Sunday ziy/Sunday $16.00 Senators propose a bill to involve students with faculty ting. By Melanie D. Smith The Battalion The Texas A&M Student Senate will outline the issues it plans to address when it approves its legislative agen da during the group’s first fall meeting Wednesday. The Senate will also dis cuss the impact of student evaluations on faculty members. Items on the proposed agenda include campus child care, increasing the visibility of Student Senate meetings, and the possibili ty of adding an art depart ment to the University. Chris Reed, Student Senate speaker, said the agenda will not prohibit the Senate from addressing issues not already included. “This resolution does not limit us to addressing only those things on the legislative agenda,” Reed said. “But it is our promise that we will address those things, in addition to any others that may arise.” A bill will be submitted Wednesday to increase the impact of student evalua tions on professors. The Professor Quality Assurance Bill calls for the use of student evaluations to determine tenure and salary increases. The proposal also solicits student involvement in the faculty hiring process. Jill Jackson, a co-sponsor of the bill and a senior international studies major, said she would like students to be involved in the hiring and evaluation process. “When you choose a new administrator, there is always a student on the panel,” she said. “As far as I know, stu dents are not involved with faculty. I thought, since they affect us most directly, it would be beneficial to have student involvement.” Jackson said the proposed bill is not a criticism of the professors. “We want them to know that we would support a high priority to be placed on salaries, and the distribution of tuition to reflect that prior ity,” she said. Silver Taps The solemn Silver Taps cere mony will be conducted tonigh t in memory of eight A&M stu dents who have died since May. I he memorial ceremony will be held at 10:30 p.m. in front of the Academic Building. This month’s ceremony is in memory of the following stu dents: Joe B. Davis, a senior computer science major from Lamesa; Bonnie C. Richards, a senior interdisciplinary studies major from Wimberley; lames E. Lich-Tyier, a senior geography major from Kerrville; Go Shibata, a senior management major from Japan; Graciela Rodriguez-Aragon, a graduate student in clinical psychology from Houston; Jose M. Ibanez, a junior construction science major from Falcon Heights; Khema S. Jules, a freshman educational health major from Killeen, and Bobby W. Lassiter, a poultry science grad uate student from College Station. In keeping with the tradition of Silver Taps, which dates back nearly a cen tury, the campus will be hushed and darkened at 10:20 p.m. In memory of each deceased stu dent, the Ross Volunteers honor guard will fire a volley salute and buglers will play a special arrangement of “Taps.” The tolling of the Albritton Tower bell signals the end of the ceremony. he Battalion TODAY ilative Art C Visual Arts ery hosts mother- ighter art exhibit [High Oct. 5. Aggie life, Page 3 sists Duo ah Mensik and India Robertson dify setter position A&M Volleyball. Sports, Page 9 dtime ;ar: The University uld quit regulat- residence hall isitation hours. Opinion, Page 13 Cartoonist draws his way out of life’s mazes By Matthew Flume The Battalion Brad Graeber’s love of drawing has taken him from selling animal drawings on the elemen tary school playground to drawing editorial car toons for the Conroe Courier and The Battalion. Graeber, Battalion cartoon editor and a Stew Milne, The Battalion Brad Graeber has been drawing for years. junior English major, drew his first cartoons in third grade. To him, it was an easy way to get out of assignments. “All I had to do was draw pictures on my homework,” Graeber said, “and the teacher wouldn’t realize how bad my work was.” Graeber said he even used this trick to get out of math tests. He would draw on his answer sheet, and the teacher thought it was creative. Graeber’s road to success has not always been so easy. He drew cartoons for his high school paper in Tomball, but the position only lasted about two weeks. The principal edited his cartoons — which criticized school policies — because they were deemed offensive. During Graeber’s tenure with the Conroe Courier, he managed to offend people to the point of dropping their subscriptions. Such incidents did not affect Graeber, he said. He keeps all of his “hate mail” in a file with his cartoons and uses them for motivation. Graeber does not restrict his artistic talent to cartoons. During his spare time, he enjoys drawing portraits. He said he also enjoys oil painting from time to time. Brad joined the American Association of Editorial Cartoonist, but soon found that a career in drawing could become tiresome, “especially on the days when nothing happens.” “If I am going to draw editorial cartoons for a living, I want to do it in a small town where I can make a difference in the community,” he said. This is part of a four-part series profiling the cartoonists of The Battalion. UtSHylTo frLUSTbo You To po VIHAT VlAHT •Y WAtf •me fbofLt mcnzffit'f SJcmSwS VlAMf TteYSfc YOU VO V.n L |^ T WWVT