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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.