The Battalion
Volume 103 • Issue 125 • 12 Pages
The Batt Online: http:// bat-web.tamu.edu
Wednesday, April 9, 1997
accepting the Challenge
Childers draws on diverse experiences to serve as SBP
Dave House, The Battalion
Curtis Childers, student body presi
dent, served as the national president
lor Future Farmers of America.
By Erica Roy
The Battalion
People in Curtis Childers’ hometown of
Glen Rose, Texas, never doubted he would
win the student body president election, be
cause the citizens of this small community
near Fort Worth knew he was destined for a
successful future.
Jud Moore, Childers’ best friend since
preschool and a senior environmental design
major, said his mother was one of Childers’
grade-school teachers and she always said,
“There’s something special about Curtis.”
Moore said, since he has known the new
student body president, he has always been
involved in a variety of activities.
“He (Childers) has seen so many things,”
Moore said, “so he always has a story or a dif
ferent point of view.”
Childers’ involvement in leadership posi
tions is one of the reasons Moore said he will
be an incredible student body president.
“One thing that Curtis has is so much
experience, not that he’s a politician,”
Moore said, “but he’s been involved in so
many organizations.”
Ann Leslie, Childers’ girlfriend and a sopho
more agricultural develop
ment major, grew up with
Childers in Glen Rose. She
said the groups he has been
involved with strive to help
people, and his dedicated
work ethic also will help him
serve the Texas A&M stu
dent body.
“His love for people is
something I’ve never seen
in anybody else,” Leslie said.
“He has a way of seeing
what people need and get
ting that for them. That,
above all, will make him a
very memorable student body president.”
Childers served as the national presi
dent for Future Farmers of America in
1992, when he traveled throughout the
“Universities are
where people come
together, especially
A&M. This is a place
where people get their
minds opened.”
Curtis Childers
Student body president
United States visiting high schools and
universities. As a representative of 500,000
FFA members, he worked with the Depart
ment of Education to get education poli
cies enacted.
Childers said the work
he experienced in this
position will help him
during his term as stu
dent body president.
As FFA president,
Childers worked with a
variety of people across
the United States.
This experience
helped him see the dif
ferent values and beliefs
people have based on
where they grew up and
the situations in which
they have lived.
He said students have the opportunity to
meet different types of people when they at
tend college.
“Universities are where people come to
gether, especially A&M,” Childers said.
“This is a place where people get their
minds opened.”
Childers said a lack of diversity is one of
A&M’s negative points. He wants to start a
grassroots panel to focus on increasing di
versity at the University.
Through his work with FFA in high
school, the president-elect came to A&M as
a sophomore to visit. He said the adminis
trators in the College of Agriculture re
membered his name every time he re
turned. Their attitude was the main reason
he chose to attend A&M.
“The administration was very hands-on,”
he said. "When you have that kind of atten
tion, you already feel at home.”
Childers said he wants to encourage
more adviser and college involvement in
the students, because that is what drew him
to A&M.
See Childers, Page 6
Wider Pressure
Bill would withdraw state
ifunds for 'career students'
By Beniamin Cheng
The Battalion
So-called career students may end up
paying more for their education if a bill in
the Texas Legislature passes.
The bill would eliminate state funding
for college students with 170 or more
credit hours who have not obtained a de
gree. The bill would allow universities to
charge out-of-state tuition to make up
the difference.
According to a 1996 study conducted
by the comptroller’s office, 18 percent of
Texas college seniors had 170 or more
credit hours. The study also said the bill
would save the state $4.5 million.
Rep. David Swinford authore'd the bill,
which is currently in the House calendar
committee. If passed, the bill would go
into effect Sept. 1, 1997.
Swinford said college students in
Texas graduate with an average of 143
[credit hours.
He said allowing an additional 30 cred
it hours provides students with enough
flexibility to pursue their studies.
"We expect students to go through it
(college) and not become a professional
student,” Swinford said. “It’s a fair bill that
rewards people [who] use the system as
designed and it punishes people that
lounge around.”
The bill provides a number of exemp
tions for students with double majors,
students who have credits earned at pri
vate or out-of-state institutions, and
students in health professional degree
programs.
Ron Douglas, executive vice president
and provost, said a substantial number of
students at Texas A&M have more than
170 credit hours.
“It would provide decreased flexibility
for students to broaden their studies,”
Douglas said.
Mary Conoley, dean of the College of
Education, said the purpose of going to
college is more than just to get a job. She
said the bill would have a negative impact
because it prevents students from ex
panding their intellectual horizons.
“I don’t see the University as a factory
where we push people in and out,” Cono
ley said.
Don Powell, chair of the Board of Re
gents, said the bill has enough flexibility
for students to merit support.
“Students need to be serious about
pursuing a degree plan,” Powell said.
Regent Guadalupe Rangel said A&M
needs to differentiate between students
who are not serious about pursuing a de
gree and students who are taking longer
to get one. She said A&M should look at
individual cases.
“It would be a mammoth task,” she
said.
Rangel said the bill unfairly would hurt
students who change majors after their
first two years of study.
“I don’t think all the kinks have been
worked out of the bill,” she said.
The bill also would prohibit universi
ties from requiring students to complete
more than 120 credit hours to receive a
degree. A university would have to justify
a degree plan that requires more than 120
hours before the Higher Education Coor
dinating Board.
Swinford said this prevents universities
from increasing the number of hours in a
degree program and causing students to
have to stay in school lorfger.
Douglas said this provision would
cost A&M time and energy to justify de
gree programs that require more than
120 hours.
“In some programs, it would be hard to
meet what one needs to do in 120 hours,”
Douglas said.
The bill also would give students who
are Texas residents a $1,000 rebate if they
graduate within six hours of their degree
plan, if the student has paid more than
$1,000 in tuition.
Club offers amenities to all members
Reception hall provides convenient atmosphere for luncheons
By Laura Oliveira
The Battalion
The Faculty Club provides a reception-
style eating hall, available for anything
from luncheons to wedding receptions
for anyone affiliated with the University.
The club, which currently consists of
800 members, was established specifical
ly for faculty in 1988.
Since then, it has grown and become
available to Faculty Club alumni, former
students, non-classified and classified
staff and corporations or non-profit orga
nizations associated with the University.
There are 110 Faculty Clubs worldwide
and members have access to all of them.
Pennette Green, administrative secre
tary for industrial distribution, said the
department used the club Tuesday for a
luncheon for recruiters from Summit
Electric. She said the Faculty Club’s on-
campus location was convenient.
“We have a lot of professional devel
opment conferences on campus,” she
said. “So they can walk from the semi
nars and eat lunch and then just walk
right back.”
Green said the buffet setup makes the
luncheons quick and makes the food
four-star quality.
“I love the dessert,” she said. “They
have a brownie kind of cheese cake that is
really good.”
Reeta Maddox, assistant to the direc
tor of the Faculty Club, said the view
from the club in Rudder Tower provides
a pleasant atmosphere.
“When they (members of the club) are
showing off the campus, because we are
located on the 11th floor, it makes it easy
to see everything. We have a panoramic
view all the way around,” she said.
The club also provides an etiquette
class on eating.
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Ryan Rogers, The Battalion
The Faculty Club, located on the 11th floor of Rudder Tower, has a panoramic
view. It is available to Faculty Club alumni and former students or anyone affiliated
with the University.
Dr. Howard Hesby, a professor of ani
mal science, said it is admirable that the
Faculty Club has expanded the use of the
facilities for educational purposes. He
said the department of animal science
has benefited from the etiquette class.
“We do it to make them society-ready
graduates,” he said.
“They take 120 hours of technical
preparation, but they may not know how
to market themselves.”
The course costs $26 per person and
includes the class, as well as a seven-
course meal served in European or Con
tinental style.
During the year, the club also provides
a graduation reception open to all stu
dents and their families.
Graduates may invite an unlimited
number of guests, provided they have
reservations.
Maddox said the graduation reception
makes the day convenient for graduates
and their families because many come
from out of town and have trouble mak
ing party plans.
“We are here because of the students,”
she said, “and if we cannot open it up for
them as a thank you, what is the point of
us being here?”
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Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion
Sara Perry, a sophomore elementary education major,
takes part in the OPAS fund-raising event at Rudder
Fountain Tuesday.
Music hits the slopes
with Mt. Aggie concert
By Rebecca Torrellas
The Battalion
Music will, be back on the slopes today, as
MSC Town Hall hosts the second concert of
the semester at Mt. Aggie from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Rob Lewicki, chair of MSC Town Hall and
a senior psychology and English major, said
he is expecting more people at this concert
than attended the concert on March 4.
“It rained the first time and not as
many people went,” Lewicki said. “But the
people who went had big fun.”
Tonight’s events include music and free
skiing and equipment.
Lewicki said students are also encour
aged to bring sleds.
Members of the A&M Ski Club will be
on hand to assist beginning skiers, and an
emergency medical technician staff will
be present in case anyone is injured.
Sheila Dierschle, a Town Hall member
and a senior accounting major, said mem
bers from the bands Lewis and J.T. Stewart
will perform acoustic sets, and bands Grub
worm and Blue Earth will play full sets.
“It’s a fun thing with music,” Dierschle said.
Town Hall held the first concert to encour
age students to support rebuilding Mt. Aggie,
after hearing of plans for its destruction.
Lewicki said, unlike the first concert,
this concert is just for fun.
“We’re not having this for any political
reason,” Lewicki said.
Plans to rebuild Mt. Aggie on West
Campus are still being discussed.
The Battalion
INSIDETODAY
MONTANA MAN: Freshman pitcher
Courtney Weller was drawn to Texas
A&M and the state of Texas by A&M
Pitching Coach Jim Lawler.
Sports, Page 7
Aggielife Page3
State Page 4
Toons Page 6
Opinion Page 11