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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 9, 1998)
Weather Today INSIDE Aggielife ... see Page S Opinion ... see Page S UGH LOW Tomorrow UGH LOW 104™ YEAR • ISSUE 167 • 6 PAGES TEXAS ASM UNIVERSITY ■ COLLEGE STATION. TEXAS Next Week Front Page: Textbook buyback in summer is considerably less than in the fall and spring semesters. THURSDAY • JULY 9 • 1998 anel discusses justification of teaching controversial literature wn rod;! sen lyin By Mandy Cater Managing Editor A panel for the 1998 Advanced Place- hent (AP) Institute in English dis cussed teaching sensitive literature Wednesday morning. Yesterday's discussion focused on is sues such as how to justify teaching sen sitive literature and administrative Sook banning in schools. Dr. Jimmie Killingsworth, professor <f)t English and co-director of the Insti- ite, said he has had complaints about irriculum since he was a first-year haduate student, but he maintains his Support of literary freedoms. "I am a long-time advocate of free [speech and democratic principles of |laissez-faire with respect to literature," illingsworth said. The panel discussed methods of inding a balance between teaching lodern literature and being account- [ible to school communities. Ronda Brandon, panel member and in English teacher at Ross Sterling High School, said teachers have to question /hy they are using particular books. "Teachers have to ask themselves if uiz kid using a book is inappropriate just be cause it's controversial or if they are us ing a book just because it's controver sial," she said. School is a safe environment and to work some of these issues out in a classroom rather than a street corner is a public service.” — Dr. Jimmie Killingsworth professor, Department of English Brandon said teachers who cannot articulate their intentions open their curriculum up to criticism, and some times, formal challenges to books. According to the American Library As sociation, hundreds of formal challenges to materials are filed each year. These chal lenges are not just personal opinion state ments to literature, but rather, persons re stricting access to others. The ALA Web site said the primary targets of challenges are sex, profanity, violence and racism. Brandon said it is important for edu cators to include a broad historical per spective and determine whether cur riculum is age appropriate. "It is important to remember most of the books considered classics today were controversial at the time they were published," Brandon said. Bryan Bohom, panel member and department chair of English at Ross Sterling High School, said the AP pro gram is in a position to expose students to literature that is often questioned in other classroom settings. "AP does have a mantle where par ents consider it college-level work," Bo hom said. Killingsworth said he is opposed to the idea of a vocal minority determin ing curriculum choices in public schools. He said since so much modem litera ture is about emotion, teaching the subject will require dealing with controversy. "School is a safe environment and to work some of these issues out in a class room rather than a street corner is a public service," Killingsworth said. AP is a cooperative educational pro gram among high schools, universities and the College Board. AP courses are designed to give students a taste of col lege while simultaneously receive the opportunity to earn college credits. The Institute is a week-long series of workshops and presentations designed to help middle and high school teachers improve their AP English classes.This is the seventh AP Institute sponsored by the Department of English. Most Frequently Challenged Books 1. Goosebumps Series R.L. Stine 2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain 3.1 Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou 4. It's Perfectly Normal Robie Harris 5. The Chocolate War Robert Cormier 6. Catcher in the Rye J.D. Sal inger 7. Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson 8. Forever Judy Blume 9. My Brother Samis Dead James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier Source: American Library Association, 1996 s JGraduate student appears on ‘Jeopardy’ game show larmeda urihj Indta- By Jennifer Jones Staff Writer ho is Lore Guilmartin? Answer: A Texas A&M graduate student who will nested com pete on a segment of "Jeopardy" Ifiisttiii today at2 p.m. on KCEN-TV (channel Uarrf ponTCA Cable). Guilmartin, an anthropology [lice(jj graduate student and residence hall l)ldoD« director for Wells Hall, landed the spot after a trip to Los Angeles. IntoffiR A friend and I went to California and they were having tryouts so we thought it would be fun," she said. "We didn't think anything would come of it, just a fun story to tell our friends. But when I got home, there was a message on my answering ma chine saying I had made it." Guilmartin said she felt relatively prepared for the game show. "I've done College Bowl for almost 10years through the MSC so I studied that and made some other lists," she said. "Plus, there were more popular culture questions that you really couldn't study for." 1 he hardest part of the game show, Guilmartin said, was learning the buzzer system. "It took me almost half the show to figure out how to work the thing. If anyone ever says they couldn't w ork the buzzer, believe them —^ they're not lying." As for the stress of television, Guil martin said it did notreally phase her. "1 didn't even notice it; it all goes so fast, there really isn't time to worry." Once she finished taping Jeopardy in April, Guilmartin said she was a lit tle nervous about the show. "At first I was a little worried after the taping," she said, "but once I came home, everyone was really supportive and have all been really nice. When the show airs, a bunch of us are going to watch it in the TV lounge." The best and worst part of com peting on Jeopardy were intermin gled, Guilmartin said. "It was great to have the opportu nity to make money," she said. "But then there is also some stress and pres sure. When it's all over and you see that a different decision would have made several thousand dollars more, it 7 s overwhelming." Although competing on Jeopardy may seem out of reach for many A&M students, Guilmartin said it is not re ally that unrealistic to be picked for the game show. "Real people can get on. You don't have to be a freaky, smart per son. If you are a normal, everyday person, you can get on. Just go for it and try." Lore Guilmartin, Too hot to handle MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion Calvin Jefferson, a contracted welder, repairs some acid lines at the Physical Plant Wednesday afternoon. News Briefs an anthropology graduate stu dent, was a contestant on a segment of “Jeopardy” in April. The game show segment she appeared on is scheduled to broadcast at 2 p.m. today on KCEN-TV. Guilmartin is also a residence hall director for the Department of Residence Life. from staff and wire reports Kenneth J. Meier appointed Puryear Professor in Liberal Arts Company shut down, made to repay students Photo By brandon boiaom/The Battalion Kenneth j. Meier, a Texas A&M University professor of po litical science, has been appoint ed the Charles Puryear Professor in Liberal Arts. The endowed professorship is named in honor of Charles Puryear (1 860-1940), the first academic dean at A&M. College of Liberal Arts fac ulty members are chosen for this honor on the basis of their record in scholarship and teaching. "Ken Meier is easily one of the top political scientists in the na tion," Charles A. Johnson, pro fessor and head of the Depart ment of Political Science, said. "Professor Meier's research ana lyzes public policy empirically and tells us much about that area of political science. "Because his work is so in fluential in the discipline, many of his colleagues rank him as one of the best con temporary scholars in the ar eas o f public policy and pub lic administration." Meier came to A&M from the University of Wisconsin-Milwau- kee where he was a professor of political science and faculty as sociate of the Univesity of Wis consin System Institute on Race and Ethnicity. He earned his B.A. in 1972 from the University of South Dakota and received his Ph.D. in 1975 from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. His areas of interest are Amer ican politics, public administra tion and public policy. Meier is the author or co-au thor of 10 books, 20 book chap ters and monographs and 85 ar ticles and essays. He has served as editor of the American Journal of Political Sci ence and is currently on editorial boards of American Politics Quar terly, Social Science Quarterly, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Journal of Socio-Economics and Administra tion and Society. AUSTIN (AP) — A New Jersey company that sold debit cards to college students in Texas and 34 other states has agreed to shut down and turn over money to stu dents in a settlement with the state attorney general's office. The "Campus Card," sold for $25 by University Student Services, was falsely advertised as making card holders eligible for discounts at schools nationwide. Attorney Gen eral Dan Morales said Wednesday. Morales joined other states in re quiring University Student Services to refund money to students who purchased the card. Morales said re funds or their uncashed checks will be sent to 347 Texans. An official-looking letter mailed to high school seniors April 8 from the company's Na tional College Registration Board unit in Princeton, N.J., reads: "The Campus Card is the student iden tification card issued to all regis tered college students. It is re quired for many services and purchasing privileges at whichev er college or university your stu dent chooses to attend." An accompanying brochure shows a sample card with "Univer sity of Michigan" written on it. The company's Internet Web site fea tured the names of hundreds of oth er schools until April 23, when it shut down the site amid complaints from college representatives. The card has no connection to the colleges and universities listed in its marketing materials, compa ny founder Matthew Levenson has said. Solicitations were sent to about 1.8 million high school seniors and college students nationally. Morales said. About 5,580 students bought the cards. Under the settlement, the compa ny will turn over $67,025 in cash plus uncashed checks to anyone who purchased the card. Other states participating in the settlement include: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Is land, South Dakota and Utah.
