The Battalion
)lume 103 • Issue 103 • 8 Pages
The Batt Online: http:// bat-web.tamu.edu
Friday, February 28, 1997
enate alters structure of caucus groups
Caucus leaders will be
ippointed by Senate
officers to attend Internal
[ffairs meetings as
non-voting members.
By Erica Roy
The Battalion
■TheTexas A&M Student Senate changed
its structure to make senators more re
sponsive to their constituencies, but did not
^uce the Senate’s size Wednesday night.
(The Senate officers will now appoint
each caucus leader rather than have the
caucus elect its leader.
A caucus is a constituency group, such
as academic colleges and residency areas.
The appointed caucus leaders must at
tend the Internal Affairs meetings as non
voting members, and inform their caucus
es of the issues addressed at the meetings.
Leaders are also responsible for establish
ing contacts with major organizations in
the leaders’ constituencies.
Speaker Chris Reed, a senior finance ma
jor, said centralizing the caucus groups will
improve the Senate because it will enable
senators to work together as a caucus group
to represent their constituencies and find
out the student body’s opinion.
Eliot Kerlin, Student Services Commit
tee chair and a senior finance major, said
the caucus system will provide anoth
er way making senators account
able to their constituents.
Kerlin said this bill is the
first step in effectively im
proving the Senate.
“It’s more of a journey than
a destination,” Kerlin said.
“We’re on the road to success,
but we surely haven’t arrived.
This is a start.”
Other changes in the
bill include:
• Choosing Senate commit
tee members through applica
tions. The applications must in
clude a list of goals and ideas for the
committee during the year.
• Giving External Affairs the power
to implement an absence policy to
guarantee attendance at organi
zational meetings other than
the Senate, such as the Board
of Regents or Faculty Senate.
Reed said mandatory at
tendance at external func
tions can improve internal
parts of the Senate.
“It (mandatory atten
dance) was important for the
Senate internally,” Reed said.
“If we (the Senate) start having
visibility... it really can have an
impact on the decisions made.”
The original bill introduced to the
Senate would have reduced the size of
the Senate by eliminating some residency seats.
Northside and Southside would each
have had two senators, and off-campus
seats would have been reduced to nine.
An amendment was passed striking
these parts of the original bill.
Reed said that reducing the size of the
Senate would force candidates to run on
a platform.
“By reducing the number of senators...
we will be able to stop them from playing
the numbers game,” Reed said.
Drew Howard, a college of science sena
tor and a senior math major, said the Sen
ate could lose valuable input from senators
if the Senate were reduced.
See Senate, Page 2
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Making Change
Amy Dunlap, The Battalion
Shelby Kimball, a sophomore speech communication
major, contributes to the Special Olympics drive organized
by Alpha Phi Omega.
Cadets share ideas at roundtable
Corps members from U.S., Mexico discuss military issues
By Benjamin Cheng and
Joey Jeanette Schlueter
The Battalion
Colorfully decorated uniformed
cadets from the United States and
Mexico converged on Texas A&M as
Military Weekend commenced
Thursday in the MSC.
Approximately 150 cadets from uni
versity and military corps will attend
roundtable discussions covering haz
ing prevention, integration of corps
programs and goals of the corps.
Highlights of Military Weekend in
clude the Combat Bash to be held
tonight at 9 and a March-In Saturday at
10:10 a.m.
Yvette Espinoza, chair of Military
Weekend and a senior international
studies and political science major, said
the roundtable discussions offer equal
footing and an opportunity for cadets
to suggest improvements to the corps.
“It is a four-night and five-day con
ference where cadets from all over the
country and Mexico can share ideas
that are pertinent to military institu-
► Kappa Alpha Psi
tions,” Espinoza said.
A highlight of the weekend is the
breaking of international boundaries by
including cadets from the Heroic Mili
tary College in Mexico City, she said.
Cadet Corporal Roberto Carlos
Giron Marban said this is the first time
he and four other cadets have been to
the United States.
“My partners and I are glad to be
here,” Marban said. “We are having fun
at A&M, and we are looking forward to
sharing our ideas.”
The main subject of yesterday’s
roundtable discussion was hazing and
how to prevent it.
John Stone of the U.S. Coast Guard
Academy said the number of hazing in
cidents at the Coast Guard Academy was
reduced by handing out more severe
punishments for breaking hazing rules.
“It’s not really necessary because
you can get your point across without
hazing,” Stone said.
Shasta Bateman ofTulane Universi
ty said the integration of the student
body and the Corps of Cadets atTulane,
combined with a short orientation ses
sion, prevents many of the hazing inci
dents other institutions encounter.
Jonathan Dues of the U.S. Military
Academy said discipline should be ad
ministered in an objective manner.
“Make sure you’re correcting the
problem and not the person,” he said.
Sean Nowlan of Auburn Universi
ty said the fear of being disciplined is
not the most effective tool in instill
ing character. >
“In the middle of battle they’re going
to be more afraid of dying than getting
an article 15 (a disciplinary action),”
Nowlan said.
Jim Harrison, Cadet Col. and a se
nior business analysis major, said re
ducing hazing incidents involves rec
ognizing the chain of command and
learning from other institutions.
“Professionalism is paramount,”
Harrison said.
Corps Commandant Maj. Gen. M.T.
“Ted” Hopgood Jr. said the Corps at
A&M has reduced hazing incidents by
increasing awareness of the problem.
“Hazing won’t be tolerated in the
Corps of Cadets,” he said.
Olympiad to feature African dance
By Shikonya Cureton
The Battalion
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity will step
into action for the 8th annual Greek
Olympiad Saturday at 7 p.m. in Rud
der Auditorium.
The Greek Olympiad is a perfor
mance of dance called step.The dance
originated in Africa as a means of help
ing tribal groups communicate and set
tle disagreements. Step was first per
formed by pledges at black universities
to impress their big brothers and sisters.
It then became a form of entertainment
on college campuses.
This year’s Greek Olympiad will
feature between 12 and 15 perfor
mances lasting from 10 to 12 min
utes each from different universi
ties around the state including
Prairie View A&M and the Universi
ty of Houston.
John Thoppil, vice-president of
Kappa Alpha Psi and a senior bio
chemistry major, said the Greek
Olympiad is a competition to unite
Greek organizations on campus and
around the state.
“The purpose of the step show is to
show unity between the Greeks and
for entertainment,” he said. “It is a
friendly competition among the fra
ternities and sororities because we
have a common goal, which is to ser
vice our community.”
Vince Allen, a Kappa Alpha Psi
member and a senior business analy
sis major, said each group adds a
unique perspective to the perfor
mance as an expression of how the
members see themselves as a whole.
The students performing will be
judged on originality, precision, au
thenticity and overall stage perfor
mance by eight judges representing
different/Treek organizations.
“The performance is an expres
sion of the fraternity or sorority,”
Allen said. “For instance, the Kappas
are caners because the cane is a sym
bol of power.
“We believe that how the person
handles their cane while performing
is how they handle power.”
To Kappa Alpha Psi, the
Olympiad is more than entertain
ment, Allen said.
Proceeds from the show will fund
scholarships for motivated high
school students in the Bryan-College
Station area who show an interest in
higher education.
Education officials look into allegations
v Accusations ofTAAS
I testing irregularity
prompt investigation
of two school districts.
AUSTIN (AP) — Allegations of
cheating on Texas’ academic skills test
ire under investigation at two school
listricts, and 20 students’ reading
scores were invalidated at a third dis
trict because of teachers’ mix-up.
■ “Overall, we have very, very few
iroblems, but every test administra-
|ion there are accusations about some
|ind of testing irregularity,” Texas Ed-
Ication Agency spokeswoman Deb-
lie Graves Ratcliffe said Thursday.
The Battalion
INSI DETODAY
HILL; The quest to
reinstate public prayer
neglects Christian
theology.
Opinion, Page 8
Debriefing
Aggielife
Sports
Page 2
Page 3
Page 5
The TEA will review school officials’
probe of the allegations and deter
mine if further investigation is need
ed, she said. “We take test security
very, very seriously.”
Ratcliffe noted, however, that few
school districts typically are involved
in complaints about the Texas Assess
ment of Academic Skills, given to 1.8
million students annually.
This week, the TAAS was adminis
tered to students in grades four and
eight and in high school.
Students must pass the high school
exit-level test to get a diploma. The
TAAS also is used to gauge school dis
trict performance.
. Cheating allegations have been re
ported to TEA concerning Silsbee In
dependent School District, 81 miles
northeast of Houston, and Grapevine-
Colleyville ISD, northeast of Fort
Worth. The reading mix-up occurred
at Mesquite ISD, near Dqllas.
The alleged incident at Silsbee ap
parently is related to school districts be
ing given flexibility by TEA concerning
the days they administer the TAAS. That
was done because of students’ involve
ment in basketball playoffs and the
Houston livestock Show, events whose
timing districts don’t control.
Under the regular schedule, the writ
ing portion of the TAAS was to be given
Tuesday, the math portion Wednesday
and the reading portion Thursday.
Under the flexible schedule, school
districts had to keep the writing test on
Tuesday but could give the others any
time between Monday and Saturday.
Schools weren’t allowed to change
the time of the writing test because it
contains only one question and
there is no backup exit-level writing
test if problems are discovered, Rat
cliffe said.
At Silsbee, it is alleged that students
who took the exit-level math test Mon
day looked ahead in their test book to
see the writing assignment, she said.
The word was then allegedly
spread to at least one student in a
neighboring school district, and ulti
mately reported to TEA, she said.
Silsbee school officials alerted by
TEA investigated immediately and
have already submitted a report to
the agency, said Superintendent
James Lang.
If cheating is found to have oc
curred, scores could be invalidated
and students would have to take the
test again. The exit-level test next will
be administered in May.
“Certainly we’re concerned about
it,” Lang said. “We’re talking about all
of our sophomores taking the writing
portion of the test.”
At Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, four
staff members were placed on admin
istrative leave with pay after allega
tions that some learned of the specif
ic writing assignment on the TAAS test
administered at a middle school.
It was originally alleged that one or
more teachers then prepared their
students for the assignment. But late
Thursday, Ratcliffe said it was unclear
whether any teacher shared the infor
mation with students.
Conference to shed light on
presidential communication
By Kevin Cummings
The Battalion
Radiation, deforestation, the spotted owl and
other issues concerning presidential communica
tion will be addressed in Texas A&M University’s
third annual Conference on Presidential Rhetoric,
being held today through Sunday.
The Center for Presidential Studies and the
George Bush School of Government and Public
Service have sponsored the conference since 1993.
Dr. Martin J. Medhurst, professor and associate
department head of speech communication, an
ticipates representatives from over 45 different
universities around the country and participants
from more than 30 states.
“This is one of the many ways that the Center for
Presidential Studies reaches out to scholars from all
around the country to try to underline the impor
tance of studying the American presidency as an in
stitution,” Medhurst said. “Bringing people to Col
lege Station is away of underlining Texas A&M as the
leading center for studying the presidency.”
Tarla Peterson, an associate professor of speech
communication and conference coordinator, said
she is interested in selecting participants who not
only are well published, but also can bridge across
academic disciplines.
“We have invited people from [the] depart
ments of English, architecture, communications,
humanities and environmental science,” she said.
“Often the current controversial issues in the real
world aren’t divided into the neat little academic
segments we have on campus.”
J. Robert Cox, professor of communication
studies at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill and chair of the national Sierra Club’s
Board of Directors, will deliver the keynote address
Friday on environmental policy and the Clin
ton/Gore White House.
Medhurst said he is looking forward to the
keynote address.
“It’s going to start off with a real bang with
Robert Cox’s paper and the two respondents,”
Medhurst said.
“The two who are responding to it aren’t known
for mincing words, and there will probably be
some fireworks right off the bat.”
Other speakers discussing the policies of vari
ous presidential administrations include:
Lawrence Prelli, University of New Hampshire;
John Nelson, University of Iowa; and Christine
Oravec, University of Utah.
Roundtable discussion topics this year include
the relationships between presidential rhetoric
and the influence of nongovernmental groups on
science policy and attempts to limit the role of
such groups in political decision-making.
Medhurst said the quality of the discussions is
dependent on the participants.
“It’s a matter of getting the right combination
of expertise and chemistry,” Medhurst said. “We
think the people participating on the roundtable
[discussions] have both academic and practical
experience. . . and will have some interesting
things to share.”
See Conference, Page 2