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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1996)
y • November/ ltrs 5afe Schools Act removes violence So ' AUSTIN (AP) — Texas teachers say their mmmmmmmmrnmM The Battalion r I 1 4 TP 1? 1. .1 Sh Wednesday Page 7 November 20, 1996 LONDON $225 V plents are behaving better since the Safe Uk ols Act was passed last year, lersaid."I'mnoi * n informal survey of about 950 Texas personality. : Hhers revealed that threats of violence, as- produce." lulls, abusive language and theft have gone the details wi-owu since an initial survey in 1993. available, Bel] t The survey was released Tuesday by the bought to eel ex lis Federation of Teachers, ids’ $43.75 mil] |he law lets teachers remove violent or act with Sani isfuptive students from their classrooms ey Jr.’s S8, ru l place them in alternative education underhij digrams. It also calls for automatic re year deal with lov al °f students who commit violent or ru; -related offenses. ‘[Teachers are telling us that they finally gte J0S6 aVt a to °l the y can use to keep order in the lalsroom and prevent future disruptions,” I With alC aid ^ en ' Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, on ^■’he Texas Association of School Boards has aid some of the language in the act needs to >e fclarified. ^■'he law needs to be clearer about what tanpens to students who are placed in alter- lative education programs and are later ex tolled because of repeated misbehavior, said oe Ramos, assistant director of governmental relations with the association. Ramos said the law also needs to ensure that a hearing is held to allow those classified Chrysler minivan case postponed raffic offei \. Fla. (AP) ■ a Gold Glow tor the Pittsb s chargedwi hoi violatioi a scene of ana i I lighwayPat 2, was “visibly I from the war icn trooperspi )und a gramo; cans of beer, £ ftlALLAS (AP) — A $27 million Ft. HarryMototatje civil case regarding the safe- ually mentio y of rear liftgate latches on oaseball pla Chrysler minivans has been shift- lieve him, :d to federal court after a juror nks said. "If;contacted a defense attorney as- lo a field sohiociated with the automaker, o of the road*; Lawyers for Stevi Weston, a 15- ad no pants rear old paralyzed former cheer- lui last played eader suing Chrysler in the East 1995, is cha:.Texas town of Palestine, moved ■ scene ofan Tuesday to withdraw their state bile undertii awsuit against Chrysler and refile 1 possession t in federal court. was release :-The move came after Chrysler ugh Count old the state court that Rodger ter Circuit JudTraham, a juror impaneled Mon rich set bailaiday, had contacted his personal Kissimmee Attorney, who works for a local v he was near irm representing Chrysler, id refusedto Although both sides agreed the m or provide mef contact probably had noth- mkssaid. ng to do with the minivan mat- “Teachers are telling us that they finally have a tool they can use to keep order in the classroom and prevent future disruptions.” Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos as problem students the opportunity to pre sent their case. In May, a San Marcos judge ruled that part of the Safe Schools Act was unconstitu tional because it denied students due process of law by removing them from regu lar classes to alternative education programs without formal hearings. Fifteen-year-old Timothy Nevares had been accused of throwing rocks at a car and injuring the passenger while he was off-cam- pus. Nevares’ father filed a lawsuit in Hays County district court after the school district told him Timothy was being sent to the alter native school. A provision in the Safe Schools Act pro vides for hearings based on on-campus inci dents but not those that take place away from school. Robert Nash, spokesman for the Texas Fed eration of Teachers, said Nevares was given the opportunity to explain his actions even though a formal hearing was not held. “We take issue with his (U.S. District Court Judge James Nowlin’s) interpretation of the law,” Nash said. ‘‘We are in favor of due process, we believe the law provides for due process now, but if further clarification needs to be made, we support it.” Barrientos, who introduced the bill in 1995, said he is willing to work to clear up some of the language in the law. “I believe there are some measures that should be clarified,” Barrientos said. But he said efforts should be focused on implementing the law in all Texas schools, “not trying to fix what isn’t broken.” Of the teachers who participated in the in formal survey, about 35 percent said their schools are enforcing the Safe Schools Act. Paris Frankfurt Madrid Amsterdam Rome $225 $265 $275 $275 $295 Fares are each wav from Houston rased on a roundtw pur chase. Fares do not include federal taxes os PFCs totalng BETWEEN $a-$4S, OERENDNG ON OESTMATION OS DEPARTURE CHARGES PAID ORECTIV TO FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS. FARES ABOVE ARE VAUO FROM NOV. 1 TO DEC. IS AND YOU CAN STAY FOR A YEAR. We have SiUDBvfrA’ouTH tickets for $375 ROUNCTOP TO ANYWHERE N THE U.S.A! We can get a Eurailpass to you in ONE DAY VIA FED Ex. CALL US TODAY! Travel to Europe for ThankscivingI Council Travel 2000 Guadalupe St. * Austin, TX 78705 512-472-4931 http://towto.ciee.org/travel.htm EURAILPASSES AVAILABLE BY PHONE! AMSA PREMEDj (American Medical Student As sociation) TASKFORCE MEETING & ELECTIONS • Women in Medicine • Bioethics • Nutrition/Preventions • Child & Adolescent RUDDER 410 8:15 PM For more information: Harvey@tamu.edu ter, the plaintiff’s attorney Mikal Watts of Corpus Christi said he didn’t want to risk jeopardizing his client’s case. Watts said he anticipates a trial next spring in U.S. District Court in Marshall. Chrysler has faced a steady stream of lawsuits stemming from accidents involving latches installed on more than 4 million 1984-1995 Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Caravan and Ply mouth Voyager minivans. More than 130 people have been ejected from the rear of the minivans during crashes, and at least 37 of them died, according to a government database of consumer reports. Many of the lawsuits against the automaker have been set tled out of court. Plaintiffs’ at torneys and Chrysler say the Palestine case will be the first decided at trial. To help in the case, Chrysler hired the two-man Palestine law firm of former mayor Jackson Hanks, where Philip Fletcher is the only associate. Graham di vulged before he was selected as a juror that Fletcher had represent ed him in a divorce case. Chrysler’s lawyers told state District Judge Jerry L. Calhoon on Tuesday about a brief exchange between the pair outside of court a day before, after Graham was sworn in as a juror. Watts’ request for a mistrial was denied. He then moved to withdraw the case, a request Cal hoon granted, and later filed it in federal court. Watts said he was not accus ing Chrysler of jury tampering in the case. “I don’t know that Chrysler did anything wrong,” he said. “But we were not willing to take a chance on a very strong case both for this girl’s future and the future of the cases of hundreds of other vic tims across the country whose cases are in line after this one.” Chrysler’s assistant general counsel, Kenneth Gluckman, strongly denied any hint of wrongdoing and sdggested Watts withdrew the case too quickly. “It really was a complete non- event — this guy (Graham) didn’t do anything,” Gluckman said. “I think it’s just an excuse for the plaintiff not to try this lawsuit at this time because they don’t want to. They did not think Chrysler would try this lawsuit.” MSC L.T. Jordan Institute for International Awareness w l Fellows Program presents Daxa Patel The Religion & Culture of Costa Rica: a Costa Rica—Es Pura Vida Wednesday, November 20, 8:30 p.m. MSG Room 230 For more information call 845'8770 or e-mail: ji'fellows@msc.tamu.edu L Persons with disabilities please call 845-8770 to inform us of your special needs. You’ve got a lot to grin about when you use AT&T or an AT&T Universal MasterCard®. Like an AT&T True Rewards® Member Benefit Card. Just flash it and: • Sam Goody/Musicland gives you a 15% discount on CDs and cassettes. • “TCBY”® Treats gives you a freebie after you buy two. • BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO® makes your third movie free when you rent two.* •Amtrak lets your companion travel for 25% off. But True Rewards is just one part of our special college package. Here are some more: AT&T Tine Reach* Savings A’l&T WbrldNet '’ Service AI&T Universal MasterCard. 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