The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 23, 1997, Image 1

Texas A&M Newspaper Collection

The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 23, 1997, Image 1

Newspaper Page TextTexas A St M University \ ’YOUR WAY, 64 TODAY TOMORROW TH YEAR • ISSUE 39 • 12 PAGES COLLEGE STATION • TX See extended forecast. Page 9. THURSDAY • OCTOBER 23 • 1997 fell practice moved rom Grove to Quad Yell practice will be at the arches i the Quadrangle tonight at around . The yell leaders moved yell prac- :e to the Quad from the Grove to xourage a larger turnout. .awyer Hankinson ippointed justice DALLAS (AP) — Deborah G. Han- inson, who once represented sev- ral Dallas-area school districts in le fight against the Robin Hood tllfV ^ 00 ' fundin g system, was named J ted|iesday as a justice of the ;xas Supreme Court. E Gov. George W. Bush named the >mner special education teacher nd Dallas appellate judge to re lace Justice John Cornyn, who re igned after declaring he would sek the Republican nomination for ered Cam-tate attorney general, sted deliv- In making Ms. Hankinson the within tlieiird woman on the nine-member anel, Bush said she was known for itegrity and fairness as a judge on Directorie: , e Q 0ur t Q f Appeals, i up at 015 per copy with ' njr: ' n possible danger ob of lottery head is, contact where itors, tve. .ER rimp, ipies DALLAS (AP) — Lawrence Lit- /infs future as the executive di- ictor of the Texas Lottery might a in jeopardy. The Texas Lottery Commission light consider firing Littwin later lis month in a possible shakeup at id agency, The Dallas Morning ews reported Wednesday. The three commissioners are ex- 3cted to evaluate Littwin’s perfor- larice at their Oct. 29 meeting. Lottery spokesperson Marcy fleisch confirmed that a review f agency management was includ- d on the agenda. The commission will retire to Kecutive session to “deliberate ie appointment, employment, palpation, reassignment, duties, iscjpline or dismissal of the exec- tive director,” according to a leeting agenda. flan gets five years or investment fraud DALLAS (AP) — A judge who told University Park oilman he was lore dangerous than a crack co- aine dealer has sentenced him to i/e years in prison for fraud. U.S. District Judge Joe Kendall Iso fined W.D. “Bill” Brosseau. 100,000 and ordered him to repay 8 million he raised from investors in is speculative oil and gas ventures i Texas and Louisiana. More than 200 people in at aast 28 states put money into •rosseau’s operations, which U.S. •ecurities and Exchange Commis- ion officials have described as a yramid scheme. msm Students should be concerned about STDs, upcoming cold and flu seasons. See Page 3 L est sports enior Marcus Heard has ecome a force for the exas A&M Football Team. See Page 7 opinion lU •urton: Radio broadcast isputes involve dishonesty, nethical motives. See Page 11 -http://bat~web.tamu.edu look up with state and lational news through The Vire, AP’s 24-hour online lews service. Student Senate OKs policy change By Rachel Dawley and Colleen Kavanagh Stoffwriters The Texas A&M Student Senate agreed last night with a Faculty Sen ate subcommittee recommendation to change the co-enrollment policy of the University. A subcommittee of the Faculty Senate issued a report in September recommending a change in the Stu dent Rules manual concerning stu dents co-enrolled at Blinn College. The rule would require students planning to take courses at Blinn to get prior permission from the A&M department offering the equivalent course. This would verily no seats were available in the A&M class. Students then would be required to get approval from the dean of their college to take the class at Blinn. The current co-enrollment policy only requires students get approval from their dean before co-enrolling at another institution. Dr. Thomas Wehrly, chair of the Academic Affairs committee and a professor in the Department of Sta tistics, said there were seats available in large A&M classes, and the admin istration questioned if this was a re sult of co-enrollment. In January, a subcommittee on co-enrollment was formed in the Faculty Senate’s Academic Affairs committee. . After researching the issue, the group reported students co-enroll at Blinn because there are not enough seats in some A&M classes and be cause some students believe Blinn courses to be easier. Dr. Philip Yasskin, a mathematics professor at A&M, served on the sub committee. Yasskin said the report was not reflective of the opinions of the Academic Affairs Committee or the Faculty Senate because it has not been approved. “Basically, it is an academic issue,” he said. “A degree from A&M should mean that students are taking the quality of courses offered at A&M.” The subcommittee report said A&M’s tuition loss due to co-enroll ment was $307,200 per semester dur ing the 1996-97 school year. The committee researched the grade-point ratios of students who took a lower-level class at A&M and those who took the equivalent course at Blinn. The group compared the GPRs after both groups had taken the next class at A&M. He said the com mittee found students who took Blinn classes had lower GPRs. Aaron Bigbee, a science senator and a sophomore mathematics ma jor, said the Student Senate commit tee considers the research invalid. “The research is from the 1994-95 academic year and didn’t take into account many other factors, such as Blinn’s expanded campus and facili ties,” he said. The Faculty Senate Academic Af fairs committee said more research should be completed on the issue, and the report and recommendation were sent back to the subcommittee. Bigbee said the student commit tee also found there are many ad vantages to taking classes at Blinn, such as a smaller student-to-faculty ratio. Josh Hennessey, chair of the Stu dent Senate Academic Affairs com mittee and a junior accounting ma jor, said that if the policy is changed, the new policy will be difficult to en force. “Student requests to co-enroll have been turned down in the past,” he said. “They have gone ahead and taken the classes at Blinn, and A&M had to recognize the credits.” If co-enrollment requests are turned down, the students can take the classes during the summer wher ever they choose, Hennessey said. Hennessey said the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is pushing universities to accept cred its from recognized junior colleges. Pole position DAVE HOUSE/The Battalion Junior redpots TJ. Saari, an agriculture business major, Gabe Perez, a construction science major, and Nathan Buschow, a general studies major, set the drill to dig a hole Wednesday for one of Bonfire’s four perimeter poles. Commission formed to address diversity issues in higher education Staff and wire report A coalition of Texas university and col lege leaders, including Texas A&M Uni versity System Chancellor Dr. Barry B. Thompson, announced Wednesday they have created a commission to promote di versified student bodies at Texas schools. “It is imperative for us to find ways to ensure the students attending Texas col leges and universities reflect the popula tion of the state,” Thompson said in a press release. The 24-member Texas Commission, made up of community leaders from across the state, will focus on how institu tions can increase minority enrollment without the affirmative action programs outlawed by the Hopwood decision . Eight Texas higher education entities ap pointed three people each to the commission. The A&M System appointed Dr. Perry L. Adkisson, chancellor emeritus of the A&M System and professor of entomolo gy at A&M; L. Lowry Mays, chair and CEO “It is imperative for us to find ways to ensure the students attending Texas colleges and universities reflect the population of the state.” DR. BARRY THOMPSON CHANCELLOR TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM of Clear Channel Communications Inc. and a former regent of the A&M System; and Ron Kirk, Dallas mayor and a former Texas Secretary of State. Please see Commission on Page 2. Tour wraps up visit to Texas A&M campus By Amanda Smith Staff writer Texas A&M students took advantages of games, free prizes and samples from corporate sponsors at the Glamour “In- Sync” College Tour Oct. 21 and 22. Texas A&M was one of 10 universities on the tour sponsored by Glamour and was featured in the October issue of the magazine. Deborah Blangiardo, senior merchan dising editor, said the tour received strong support from students and Texas A&M Food Services, who sponsored the event. “It (the tour) is in conjunction with our college issue [in October],” she said. “We recognized the colleges that we featured in the magazine on our tour. It brings the pages of the magazine to life.” Misty Mitchell, a junior biomedical sci ence major, said she decided to take ad vantage of the free samples. “They had a large variety of products that would interest students,” she said. “The tour seems to have brought a lot of students out despite the cold weather.” Blangiardo said the college tour focus es on educating students about different products on the market. Please see Tour on Page 2. Jerry Gaston By Colleen Kavanagh Staff writer Dr. Jerry Gaston, vice president for administration at Texas A&M, has high expectations for the future of Texas A&M. “Within the next 10 years, I see A&M firmly established in the list of the top 10 public universities,” he said. “People will know of A&M because of its many academic accomplishments.” Gaston coordinates Facility Planning Human Re sources, University Police Department, Food Services, Research Park, the Department of Parking, Traffic and Transportation Services, the Graphic Arts Center, Easterwood Air port, the Physical Plant, the Faculty Club and the developing child care center. Gaston said these departments work not for themselves, but for students and faculty “Our goal is to provide the best service possible to support the missions of this uni versity,” Gaston said. Jeanette Pharris, assistant provost at A&M, worked with Gaston before he became vice president for administration at A&M. She said Gaston established a positive rela tionship with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. “Dr. Gaston always made sure a proposal was accurate and well-researched before he sent it to the board,” she said. “He made sure facilities here were up-to-date and space was well-utilized for the best benefit of this institution.” Please see Gaston on Page 2. PROFILE: Gaston Alice Gonzalez By Brandy! Brown Staff writer Although Alice Gonzalez stays busy with her duties as speaker of the Student Senate, she believes it is important to save time for friends, family and the community. Gonzalez, a junior agricultural major, said her high- school principal and agricultural teacher taught her helping others can be rewarding. “Their dedication to all students made me realize how important the people in our lives are to helping us accomplish things,” she said. “So now if I have the opportuni ty to be of service to someone, I follow their example. It instilled in me the importance of taking a personal interest in students and those you have the opportunity to guide.” Gonzalez is employed by the FFA, an agricultural youth organization, to present personal development conferences to high-school students across the nation. She speaks for the FFA eleven weekends a year. Gonzalez said that these weekends provide her with something different from her average day. “Sometimes when we do the same things every day, we are pushed into routines,” she said. “It is easy to forget about the outside world and to lose sight of the big picture when you spend your days in a little office dealing with similar problems day to day.” Please see Gonzalez on Page 2. Gonzalez

Texas A&M Newspaper Collection

Texas A&M Newspaper Collection

The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 23, 1997, Image 1

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