Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 1998)
Texas A & M University S I wlS m ^ TODAY 170 Ml 45 69 54 TOMORROW TH YEAR • ISSUE 86 • 12 PACES COLLEGE STATION • TX MONDAY* FEBRUARY 9 *1998 oncert schedule poses conflict for some students led school program aims l) boost minority enrollment n w*» wl. =*~ By Robert Smith City editor Texas A&M University student leaders have voiced complaints that the University Athletic Department scheduled a concert at Kyle Field that will disrupt the A&M Senior Ring Dance. Ring Dance, which will be in the Rudder complex, and the concert, featuring country & western singer Mark Chesnutt, are scheduled April 25. Doors open at Ring Dance at 8 p.m. The concert is set to begin at 7. Curtis Childers, student body president and a senior agricultur al development major, said the sound from the concert may inter fere with Ring Dance. “It’s not so much whether we can or can’t hear it, but the Ath letic Department doesn’t care if they’re going to ruin our event,” Childers said. Wally Groff, director of the Athletic Department, said the Athletic Department has not re searched whether the sound from the concert will be heard in Rudder, which is just across the street from Kyle Field. “We haven’t tested it, but I can’t imagine it being a problem,” he said. The concert marks the first live music concert at Kyle Field, and all of its proceeds will bene fit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bra zos Valley, the Harvey Little League and the Still Creek Boys & Girls Ranches. John David Crow, director of De velopment for Athletics, and Mark Dennard, former Texas A&M and Miami Dolphin football player, are organizing the benefit concert. Groff said the concert was planned after Crow asked him for permission to use Kyle Field, and he was not aware of the Ring Dance date when he scheduled the concert. “We made no attempt to over lap the concert with the activities of students,” he said. “But, there are student activities almost every weekend in the spring. It's not the first time two things have gone on in the same night.” Student leaders said the Athletic Department should be subject to the same activity regulations as student activities organizations, but Groff said he disagreed. Please see Concert on Page 12. scribing a cure Colleen Kavanagh Staff writer Se Texas A&M University Sys- <ast week announced its early ptapce and admission pro- Mt to the Texas A&M University ge pf Medicine, and Universi- dministrators and students 3 on at least one thing — the Tam will help bring doctors to ^ that most need them, ne program, Partnership for ary (.are, is open to students of hnic backgrounds, but the pro- l requires that applicants live in al or medically under-served of the state. The first students e program will be enrolled as jrgraduates in September, r. Elvin Smith, associate vice idem for health affairs instruc- d administration, said the pro- i is designed to help medically 3r-served areas of the state and iase the enrollment of minori- n the medical school. Thepartnership is a very innov- app roach to try to provide doc- br the underdeveloped rural ar- fTexas,” he said. ‘A&M is the first ol in Texas to try this, and the ram is in every way consistent the Hopwood decision, y Virtue of the existing geo- hic distributions of A&M’s ols, we expect to have more mi les,” Smith said. “The program is iesigned specifically to recruit mi- ies, but if under the program, we ien we will be pleased with that.” :udents in the program will plete their undergraduate c at one of the participating System Universities. Stu dents who maintain at least a 3.5 grade point ratio and complete the required undergraduate courses are automatically admitted to the Texas A&M University College of Medicine upon graduation. They do not have to take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), nor do they have to wait until their senior year of graduation to know “ We are the first school in Texas to decide not to use the MCAT for this special program.” Dr. Elvin Smith Associate vice president for health affairs instructional administration if they have been accepted to medical school. Smith said that because the use of the MCAT in the admissions process almost reaches a level of religion, de ciding not to use it under the program caught everyone’s attention. “We are the first school in Texas to decide not to use the MCAT for this special program,” he said. “When the program is fully oper ational, one half of the class will be under the MCAT program now, and the other half will be under the new program.” Paul Cohen, who works for Princeton Review, said even though people at the Princeton Review help prepare students for the MCAT, they applaud A&M’s decision of not re quiring some students to take it. “Above all else, we are student advocates,” he said. “As part of the process of admission, these tests are unfair. They don’t do well pre dicting success in school and as doctors.” Cohen said there is a definite dif ference between someone who scores a 20 and someone who scores a 36, but, in general, the tests are misused. “The MCAT is used as a cut-off, rather than just one of many tools for admission," he said. “Really top students are denied admission be cause of the test. They still go through rigorous classes and are ex pected to make top grades. They shouldn’t have to prove themselves through a false test.” Medical school student Nahille Natour said she thinks students should still be required to take the MCAT even if it is not used in the admissions process. “For one, it’s an endurance test,” she said. “If you can’t sit through it, it should be a clue that med school isn’t for you. It also helps integrate all of the sciences you’ve had so far that you’ll need as a doctor.” Natour said at first, current med ical school students were upset about the program. Please see Enrollment on Page 12. &M ready to kick off first lexual Responsibility Week | By Amanda Smith Staff writer College students are at greater sk for exposure to sexually trans mitted diseases and unplanned egnancies than any population oup in the United States, ac- Ming to studies released by the S. Deptartment of Health and uman Services. Ms part of a national effort to in- ase awareness of sexual respon- [bility, the Texas A&M Department |f Student Health Services will join • niversities across the nation to ck off the first Sexual Responsi- ility Week, Feb. 9 to 13. Margaret Griffith, assistant ealth education director of [ealth and Human Services, said udents need to import respon- I lability into relationships. fStudents often do not think bout the seriousness of long- rm relationships,” Griffith id. “Some students do not ink about sexual relationships terms of STDs and pregnan es. When I talk to students, ey are thinking (of sex) in rms of pleasure, enjoyment d physical contact.” “Aggie Luv Lines”, scheduled r Feb. 10 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. 'me MSC flag room, will provide tudents an opportunity to talk bout sex and relationships. Di. Buzz Pruitt, a health and ki- jesiology instructor of a survey Urse on human sexuality, said Aggie Luv Lines will provide an outlet for students to ask ques tions and receive answers about relationships. “Sex is a subject that is often only talked about in locker rooms,” Pruitt said. “We are going to talk about it in the Flag Room. We spend lots of time communi cating about sex in sign language. We want to eliminate some signs and add some words.” Pruitt and Griffith will lead the “Aggie Luv Lines.” “Aggie Luv Lines” will feature Student Body President Curtis Childers, Yell Leader Brandon Neff, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority President Shannon Leggington, Brandon Casteel of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Stacy Sykora of the A&M volleyball and track teams. Pruitt said that students in his classes do not know as much about sexual relationships as they may think they do. “College students are pretty vulnerable,” Pruitt said. “College students tend to think short-term as far as relationships are con cerned. If students want to be more responsible, then they must be more responsible with their behavior. A lot of people avoid in formation. If you are going to be sexually active, then you need to be informed.” Griffith said some A&M stu dents are abstaining from sex, but she said communication is im portant in any relationship, sexu al or not. “There are students at Texas A&M who are abstaining from sex,” Griffith said. “However, some people rush into relation ships. We are very good at having sex but not good at talking about it. Communication about sex is so important.” Sheila Looney, a member of Aggie REACH (Representatives Educating About College Health) and a junior community health major, said that talking is impor tant to any sexual relationship. “Talking about sex is very se rious,” Looney said. “(Many) students need to be more re sponsible. You need to use a con dom or protection (if you are having sex).” Planned Parenthood will offer free HIV testing on campus. Beu- tel Health Center offers testing for STDs year round. “If anybody has unprotected sex, then they need to get checked out,” Griffith said. “Chlamydia and gonorrhea (STDs) are the leading causes of infertility in the United States.” Griffith said that the signs for STDs may be undetectable un til the condition is so severe that it results in infertility. In a report released in 1997 by the Texas Department of Health, people aged 18 to 24 accounted for about 58 percent of reported cases of gonorrhea. Hoop dreams JAKE SCHRICKLING/The Battalion Chris Varnell, a junior construction science major, goes up for the dunk outside the Student Recreation Center Saturday. Approved doctoral plan to focus on three areas of speech communications By Colleen Kavanagh Staff writer The Texas A&M University Speech Communication Depart ment will admit its first Ph.D. class in Fall 1998. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved in January the proposal for a doc toral speech communications program at Texas A&M. The Uni versity of Texas at Austin is the only other Texas university with a similar program. The program will focus on three areas: health communication, or ganizational communication and rhetoric and public affairs. Dr. Linda Putnam, dean of the Department of Speech Commu nication, said that graduates of the program can become profes sors, communication specialists and researchers. “Speech communications is not like a business school where everyone gets an M.B.A.,” she said. “It’s a program where stu dents have a career path in high- level management and research.” Putnam said A&M is one of the few land-grant public universities that does not have a speech com munication doctoral program. “This program has a very prag matic land-grant focus,” she said. “Every citizen can use communi cation to solve problems.” Dr. Steve Rholes, associate dean for faculty affairs, said that by approving the new program, the state has recognized that the programs and faculty at Texas A&M are qualified to build a strong speech communications doctoral program. Rholes predicted that the pro gram will strengthen A&M’s na tional reputation. “Looking at the universities recognized as leading universities around the country, almost all of their departments have been granted the authority to have doctoral programs,” he said. “We are one step closer to being a member of that company.” INSIDE — aggielife Continued popularity of Beanie Babies fueled by adults, students alike. See Page 3 sports Aggie Baseball Team opens 1998 season with 3-game sweep. See Page 7 HHHHHHp llMiWBmilil*l Parekh: Press coverage of recent presidential problems shows dark side of media. See Page 11 http://battalion.tamu.edu Hook up with state and national news through The Wire, AP’s 24-hour online news service.
