rofs share views on Spanish Civil War
Dave House, The Bai iaijon
t.Tom Mitchell, a modern
Id classical languages professor,
leusses Spanish women's orga-
tations at a symposium on the
lanish Civil War Wednesday.
By Erica Roy
The Battalion
Two A&M professors said the
Spanish Civil War helped start the
women’s movement in Spain and pre
vented a German Civil War in the
1930s at a symposium Wednesday
night in the John Wayne Stark Univer
sity Center Galleries.
Posters on display in the gallery
were brought by U.S. volunteers in the
Abraham Lincoln American Brigade,
one of the international brigades that
fought during the Spanish Civil War
against the Spanish dictator Francis
co Franco.
Dr. Tom Mitchell, a professor in the
department of modern and classical
languages, said liberal and modern
Spanish citizens fought against the
formal church teachings of negative
sexual messages.
“The projected divorce of the
church and state was not going to go
uncontested,” Mitchell said. “It
would in lead to the worst civil war
of all times.”
Mitchell said Spanish women’s po
litical organizations formed and
quickly became aggressive following
conflicts with the church.
Mitchell said the women groups
wanted equal rights for both sexes.
During the Spanish Civil War,
women known as “militianas” (mili
tary women) became figures in Spain.
Mitchell said posters depicting
beautiful women holding guns were
powerful recruitment tools of men,
but the majority of women soldiers
were in non-combat situations.
Some of these posters are displayed
in the exhibit.
See Views, Page 5
Dave House, The Battalion
Dr. Robert Shandley, a modern
and classical languages professor,
explains German influences in the
Spanish Civil War at a symposium
Wednesday night.
I
&M grads find success as legislators
By Graham Harvey
The Battalion
Graduates of Texas A&M can be
und in all walks of life — includ-
g government.
r According to the Association of
irmer Students, 12 state legisla-
Irsand two U.S. congressmen are
j liM graduates.
State Senator Jeff Wentworth,
ass of’62 and a Republican from
in Antonio, is one of the state leg-
lators who graduated from A&M.
Wentworth said he was most
dive as a cadet major in the Ag-
eBand. He also served as a se-
lior class representative to the
fMSC Council and chaired the
I’ho’s Who selection committee
olitf
1 !■
set i
for the Corps of Cadets.
"Being in the Corps and going
out in the field in practical warfare
taught me the value of persistence
and overcoming obstacles,” Went
worth said.
After graduation, Wentworth
worked for Army counterintelli
gence, became a legislative assis
tant for a U.S. congressman and lat
er went to Texas Tech Law School.
After serving as a Bexar County
commissioner and a state repre
sentative, Wentworth today prac
tices law and legislates in the Texas
Senate.
“I’m just damn proud to be a
graduate of Texas A&M,” Went
worth said.
Democratic U.S. Congressman
Chet Edwards is another A&M suc
cess story. A biographical memo
from Edwards’Washington, D.C., of
fice oudines his accomplishments.
Edwards, who currently serves
on the House Appropriations Com
mittee forTexas’ 11th District, grad
uated from A&M in 1974 with a de
gree in economics. He has received
several awards as a Congressman,
including the National Security
Leadership Akward, given by the
American Security Council for pro
defense voting in the 103rd Con
gress, and the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce “Spirit of Enterprise”
award, honoring his pro-business
legislative record.
Kyle Janek, Class of‘80, also is a
member of the Texas legislature. A
Republican from Galveston, he
serves the 134th District in the Texas
House of Representatives.
Janek said he was a resident
adviser for Aston Hall and an ac
tive Bonfire participant while at
A&M. He graduated with degrees
in zoology and premed and even
tually became a doctor, practicing
in Houston.
In Austin, Janek serves on the
House Committee on Public Health
and the House Committee on Busi
ness and Industry. He said his time
at A&M helped prepare him for
these leadership positions.
“The camaraderie and team
work of Texas A&M taught me the
spirit of getting things done,”
Janek said.
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plan 11
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Cold Feet
Ryan Rogers, The Battalion
Nelson Bums, MSC president and a senior international studies major, waits to be dunked during a Traditions
Awareness event organized by the Traditions Council.
Proposed curriculum rewrite causes uproar
qTexas Eagle Forum leaders
contend that the state's plan
will weaken academics.
(etii'f
e#
i r n!l
[ ofits
AUSTIN (AP) — A proposed state curricu-
jj tn rewrite is tainted by a national effort at
wmbing down” schools that includes putting
Udents to work early, a Texas Eagle Forum
ader charged Wednesday.
But Marc Tucker of the National Center on Ed
ition and the Economy—described by the con-
rvative Eagle Forum’s Stephanie Cecil as push-
r . ga plan that would weaken academics — said
sgroup actually is working to strengthen educa-
m around the country.
“We would have virtually all the kids in the Unit-
States meet academic standards that are way
ove (current) high school graduation standards
any state,” Tucker said in a telephone interview,
cusing the Eagle Forum of purposely misrepre-
nting his group’s work.
Whether standards advocated by the NCEE are
opted around the United States is up to state and
Jal officials, Tucker emphasized.
Texas and Tucker’s group are linked through the
w Standards Project, a joint effort of the Wash-
Pon-based, non-profit NCEE and the Universi-
ofPittsburgh’s Learning Research and Develop-
en t Center.
rod 111
:VV d 1 '
The state has spent $1.6 million on mem
bership dues for the program over several
years. Officials said payments were suspended
recently after conservative board members
backed by groups including the Eagle Forum
raised questions about the project.
The State Board of Education this week is con
tinuing its consideration of the curriculum rewrite.
Backers describe it as an effort to make academic
standards more rigorous while giving schools lee
way in how they achieve the standards.
Ms. Cecil and others criticize a proposal by
Tucker to give students a “certificate of initial mas
tery,” although that idea has not been advocated
by Texas education officials.
Tucker said this proposal would identify the
countries with the most stringent standards in var
ious subjects, look at what their students are re
quired to know by age 16, and require U.S. students
to meet that standard by the time they graduate
from high school.
“That is an academic standard that is way above
what is now expected by any state of their students
as a high school leaving standard,” Tucker said.
U.S. students could begin trying to pass an exam
to prove they have met that standard at age 16, earn
ing a certificate. They then could go into a rigorous
college preparatory program or into technical or
professional preparation program, he said.
Ms. Cecil said the national center’s work would
result in “dumbing down academics by replacing
a strong emphasis on core academics with hun
dreds of training courses...”
“Under the Marc Tucker plan, four years of rig
orous academics (in high school) have been
squeezed into two. For the second two years, stu
dents will focus on career programs which have in
terpersonal skills, personal qualities and work in
volved in them,” she said.
Ms. Cecil said the agenda is reflected in a de
crease in the number of math and science
courses under the proposed curriculum, while
she said the number of career and technology
courses have increased.
Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie
Graves Ratcliffe, however, said the rewrite would cut
the number of career and technology courses avail
able to schools from about 400 to 263. She said some
courses were combined, while some that were ex
perimental or had low enrollment were dropped.
Mrs. Ratcliffe said a couple of science cours
es were eliminated either because of low en
rollment or weak content. She said some other
courses were combined, and some were placed
in a different category.
As part of an effort to stop any influence by the
“Tucker agenda” and support board members
who have spoken out against it, Ms. Cecil and her
group are organizing a march on the Capitol.
The march will begin following a board vote on
the proposed career and technology course cur
riculum scheduled for Thursday, Ms. Cecil said.
► MSC Great Issues
Panelists debate
church, science
By Jackie Vratil
The Battalion
Science vs. Religion. Six pan
elists representing various reli
gious views explored the interac
tion of scientific research and the
church Wednesday night in the
Memorial Student Center, spon
sored by MSC Great Issues.
Natalie Berger, programs coor
dinator and a sophomore com
puter engineering major, said the
program was prompted by the
Pope's recent declaration that
evolution is in agreement with
biblical beliefs.
“The recent cloning argument
was also one of the reasons we
thought this presentation would
be appropriate,” she said.
“We just really wanted to bring
in different outlooks so people
would have a broader sense of the
issue (the conflict of religion and
science).”
Dr. Jon Alston, program moder
ator and a sociology professor, be
gan the presentation with a brief
introduction of each speaker. Al
ston said the conflict between reli
gion and science arises when each
discipline begins to deal with each
other’s subject matter.
“They (religion and science)
are not mutually destructive,” he
said. “Rather, they can coexist.”
Monica Ashour, campus min
ister for St. Mary’s Catholic
Church, began her presentation
Amy Dunlap, The Battalion
Monica Ashour, campus minister
for St. Mary's Catholic Church,
discusses the relationship between
science and religion.
with a quote from Albert Einstein.
“Science without religion is
lame,” Einstein said. “Religion
without science is blind.”
Ashour continued address
ing the relationship between
the two.
“Religion ensures science is
compatible with the natural
law,” she said. “Once science
crosses that line, religion steps
in. Otherwise religion has no say
in science.”
Ashour used the analogy of
two overlapping circles to illus
trate her point.
“One circle is faith and the oth
er is reason,” she said. “They in
teract only at certain points.
Where they do not interact, they
ought not.”
See Panelists, Page 5
Record rain brings
mosquito invasion
DALLAS (AP) — They send kids
running inside on warm Texas
summer days, ruin poolside family
reunions and hamper outdoor bar
becues — and this year they are
back with a vengeance.
Researchers say record rains will
mean thousands of bloodthirsty
mosquitoes are poised to invade
Texas cities.
And while the little bugs are usu
ally just an itchy nuisance, health
officials say the pests can carry dis
eases like encephalitis that make
the population boom a serious
health threat.
“If you’re a mosquito you couldn’t
ask for a better year
than this one,” said
Jim Olson, an ento
mologist at Texas
A&M University.
“Heavy rains have left
a lot of stagnant wa
ter and that’s where
many mosquitoes lay
their eggs.”
The larger threat,
Olson said, comes
from flood water
mosquitoes, which
lay eggs in or near depressions in the
ground in anticipation that rain will
flood the areas.
Olson says that for two years,
thousands of eggs from the flood
water species have been dormant in
Texans’ yards, drainage pipes and
community parks — waiting for a
spring like this one.
“I call them instant mosquitoes
... just add water,” Olson said. “And
the past few months have added
plenty of water.”
In Houston, R.P. Jones, an ento
mologist working for the city’s Mos
quito Control Department, is
preparing to lead a public and pri
vate war against the insect invasion.
Every morning he walks out of
his suburban home, swatting away
mosquitoes before heading to work
to direct 30 vehicles and 60 workers
in the fight to control the pests.
“We’re already getting swamped
with citizen complaints and we
know this summer is going to be
worse,” he said. “It’s going to be a
war — and unfortunately the ene
my is designed for survival.”
Usually, South Texas cities like
Corpus Christi, Victoria and Laredo
get hit hardest by mosquitoes. But
this year, because of heavy rains,
North Texas cities may be worse off.
The sprays commonly used to
fog neighborhoods require the tiny
insecticide droplets to come into di
rect contact with the insects and
killing them. But this year, Texans
will hold fate in their own hands.
“Now is the time to start empty
ing out dog bowls, cleaning
drainage pipes and throwing out
old plants,” Olson said.
Although mosquitoes are lead
ing the charge, the wet breeding
grounds are resulting in a pre
dictable parade of fire ants, black
flies, fleas, outdoor cockroaches
and termites.
F. Bradleigh Vinson, a fire ant spe
cialist at Texas A&M University, said
Texans can expect the fight against
the perennial picnic spoilers will be
especially tough to fight this season.
“Fire ants do well
in wet conditions
because the soil is
easier for them to
till, making produc
tion of their mounds
easier,” Vinson said.
“The water also car
ries ants to places
where they should
n’t be and they de
velop new colonies.”
Meanwhile, sev
eral species of ter
mites are taking advantage of the
moisture to lay their claim.
The voracious, rapidly rfiiiltiply-
ing Formosan termites have been
identified as a problem in all five
Gulf Coast States. As they leave
wooden walls to set up new
colonies, their swarms look like a
cloud of dust from a distance.
The termite clouds already have
led dozens of people to B&G Chemi
cal in Dallas.
“People are coming in to try to
get rid of the flying ones without re
alizing that the flying ones mean
their walls must be infested,” said
John Villareal, an employee of the
insecticide business.
The Battalion
INSIDETODAY
Cay Awareness: m
The A&M campus
must face gay issues
head-on.
Opinion, Page 9 1
Aggielife Page 3
Toons Page 5
Sports Page 7
“If you're a
mosquito you
couldn't ask for
a better year
than this one.”
Jim Olson
Entomologist, Texas A&M