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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1998)
URNING BACK TIME |£XrtsAe^M Department Archaeology unearths wonders ^Indent-assisted digs. ilELIFE, PAGE 3 HOLDING HIS OWN • A&M linebacker Warrick Holdman bursts out ofDat Nguyens shadow. SPORTS, PAGE 7 CHECK OUT THE BATTALION ONLINE http://battalion.tamu.edu TUESDAY October 13, 1998 Volume 105 • Issue 33 • 10 Pages 'fall 13 [ )>escaoi; m allcyi Jayhawlt 160 hi total Ai hisseak'- ion 105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY me re, ’.execu Bowen to review Pradnan report Corps unit adopts alcohol-free policy BY AMANDA SMITH The Battalion f committee reviewing the cir- stances under which Texas University professor Dhiraj han was placed on adminis- e leave is expected to submit ortto University President Ray en early this week. m Ashlock, executive director niversity Relations, said he is rtain when the committee will /erits report to Bowen, a meeting held last Tuesday, ix-member committee did not action after hearing presenta- |s by Texas A&M General Coun- icott Kelly and Pradhan’s attor- Gaines West. Pradhan was placed on admin istrative leave in August 1997, but was allowed to return to the Uni versity this September. Pradhan came to Texas A&M in 1991 as the highest endowed chair in the computer science de partment. The position granted Pradhan relatively unrestricted discretion of the endowment funds for research. Pradhan, the University’s highest-paid computer science professor, continues to earn $182,000 a year. A 1997 University audit accused Pradhan of misappropriating more than $100,000 for the benefit of his two personal businesses. Pradhan, a native of India, said ongress approves l&M ag research grants .OMflBll jrbackB BY BETH MILLER The Battalion [he 1999 Agriculture Appro- Jtions Bill recently approved U.S. House-Senate confer- committee will provide a eportion of the funding need- )Uwo Texas A&M agricultur 'search projects. hese studies we been very strumental in wiping Texas] ice/Ve disaster re ef during the state drought/' — Ron Knutson ■A irector of Agricutural and Food Policy Center The bill entitles A&M to 4,000 for research to be con- fed by the Agricultural and id Policy Center concerning the lets of the 1996 farm bill on ns and ranches in major agri- tural regions of the country and 10,000 for the Critical Plant Ge- ic Resource Research Project. Ron Knutson, director of the | icultural and Food Policy Cen- psaid the research project con ning the 1996 farm bill involves fitinual testing funded by the jernment since 1993. The bill ogrants A&M extended funding for the project. Knutson said the project in volves computer-simulated models of samples of farmland from vari ous regions of the country. Changes in government policy that affect agriculture are tested at the center. These include tax policy changes, domestic farm programs implemented and environmental policy changes, Knutson said. Knutson said federal funding is essential for the continuation of the project. He said the center has been re porting the data collected from the research to congressional agricul ture committees since the project began, and he believes the re search has proved to be useful. “The studies have been very in strumental in [helping Texas] re ceive disaster relief during the state of drought,” Knutson said. The $250,000 the project will re ceive in federal funding will serve to determine the effect of diet on dis ease prevention and treatment. Congressional committees grant colleges federal funding for projects through a series of steps including review of requests re ceived by the colleges, judgment of the merit and worth of projects, and analysis of the merit of the re search conducted by the colleges prior to the request. In a press release. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said she believes A&M received the grant in response to the work it has done in the past. “Texas A&M is known for its world-class research in these ar eas, and this bill acknowledges the excellence of that work,” Hutchison said. acuity Senate discusses Itering core curriculum BY PATRICK PEABODY The Battalion Yesterday afternoon the Faculty ate met to discuss budget and iculum matters. The State of Texas passed a bill to ndardize university core curricu- , and have a 42-hour core cur- Ulum. Texas A&M has led the against this, and has won in form of the Harlan Act, which al- s 48-hour curriculums with the 'Proval from the Board of Regents. In a letter from Don Brown, Stas Commissioner of Higher Ed ition, to Diane Kaplan, Faculty Hate Speaker, Brown thanked id congratulated the Faculty Sen- on their work. want to express appreciation you and all members of the as A&M University Faculty Sen- fetor taking your time to review ie proposed new statewide poli cies on core curriculum and fields of study, and to provide us with your counsel,” Brown said. The University has until Sep tember 1999 to comply with the new state legislation. Evelyn Tiffany-Castiglioni, co chair of the Senate Core Curricu lum Oversight Subcommittee, pre sented the proposed new curriculum to the Senate. “We were looking at how to come into compliance with these rules so what the Core Curriculum Oversight Subcommittee did was operate under the assumption that we were going to get a 48-hour cur riculum,” Tiffany-Castiglioni said. “We then looked at our curriculum to make the most minimal changes comparable at the time to get us into compliance.” There were two recommenda tions given by the Oversight Sub committee on the new core cur- the accusations against him are prompted by racism and filed a lawsuit against Texas A&M for vio lation of his First Amendment rights and discrimination. In a separate investigation, Pradhan faces a third-degree felony charge of abuse of official capacity for using more than $20,000 and less than $100,000 of University funds for his per sonal gain. The University is expected to review the possibility of Prad han’s termination early next year. West said. A 12-member Committee on Academic Freedom, Responsibility, Tenure and Promotion would re view termination. BY MANDY CATER GRAEBER The Battalion Beginning today, two units of the Corps of Cadets will be offi cially alcohol-free. Company P-2 is joining Squadron 12 by adopting a no-al- cohol policy for its members. Bryan Hager, commanding offi cer of Company P-2 and a senior industrial distribution major, said the decision was based on the im age the commanding officers wanted to present. “This decision is basically up to the leadership of each outfit,” Hager said. “They have to decide which di- Hammering things out MIKE FUENTES/Tme Battalion Eddie Nash, a freshman journalism major and a member of Corps Company E-l, flattens bottle caps near the Quadrangle on Monday morning in preparation for the Texas Tech football game. The long-time tradtion of freshmen wearing spurs made from bottle caps was changed to the Tech game when Texas A&M stopped playing Southern Methodist University. 1IIV riculum. The first recommendation was that the six hours of required hu manities be divided into three hours of humanities and three hours of vi sual and performing arts. The recommendation would move the core curriculum foreign language and computer usage re quirements to other categories. see Senate on Page 2. Local PFLAG chapter hosts open house BY AARON MEIER The Battalion The Bryan-College Station chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) showed its support of Coming Out Week with an open house last night at Friends Con gregational Church. The program opened with a moment of silence in honor of Matthew Shepard. Shepard, a Wyoming college student, died yes terday morning after being assault ed, robbed and tied to a fence in near-freezing weather Oct. 7. A video produced by the Houston chapter of PFLAG titled “Always My Kid,” was then shown to the audi ence of about 30 members. Follow ing the video, an informal discussion rection they want the outfit to go.” Hager said although the com pany has not had any major alco hol-related incidents this semester, company members’ non-compli ance with the rules regarding al cohol use prompted the decision. “We (commanding officers of P-2) told them (the cadets) at the first of the year if there were any alcohol-related incidents, they would go ‘dry deck,”’ he said. Hager said the decision was not a moral one, but rather a result of the contact between upper and lower classmen in the unit. “It was pretty much a decision made because of the close interac tion between cadets who were over 21 and those under 21,” he said. Squadron 12 was the first Corps unit to adopt the alcohol-free policy. John Johnson, Squadron 12 commanding officer and a senior electrical engineering major, said the policy was adopted to make the unit more professional. “The dorm is both our home and our workplace,” Johnson said, “and you are not allowed to bring alcohol into the workplace. ” Johnson said Squadron 12 used other military institutions as ex amples for its decision. see Corps on Page 2. Moore exchanges ideas with journalism students BY AARON MEIER The Battalion Mary Moore, democratic nomi nee for the Texas District 5 senato rial seat, gave journalism students at Texas A&M a chance to interview and exchange ideas with a candi date for political office. Moore spoke to the Journalism 408 Mass Media and Public Opin ion class Monday afternoon. This semester the course is focusing on civic journalism and its impact. Dr. Kristie Alley Swain, instruc tor for the course and an assistant professor of journalism, said the course was created in part as a re sponse to increased voter apathy. “The goal is to find the con cerns of the citizens and take these concerns to public officials,” Swain said. The class recently completed its research into 11 areas of the Brazos County community. The class looked at issues such as on-campus parking, education, diversity is sues, date rape and voter apathy. The students presented their findings to Moore and posed-ques tions to the candidate. Although Moore said the prob lem of crowded parking lots is a matter ultimately left up to the Board of Regents, she mentioned several alternatives to construct ing parking lots and garages. So lutions such as improved bus sys tems or restricting freshmen and sophomores from parking on campus were discussed by Moore and members of the class. “This has been a problem even when I was teaching here back in ’82,” Moore said. One of the cornerstones of Moore’s campaign has been edu cation. Moore said she thinks the current education system as man dated by the state is too constrict ing to educators. “What you are honestly seeing right now is the system training an educator and then turning them into a classroom and telling them, ‘Oh by the way, you will teach the TAAS test for six months; all of you in the state of Texas will be on ex actly the same page on the same day; and you are going to have reams and reams of paperwork everyday,’” Moore said. When one student raised the is sue of violence in the classroom, Moore stated that many teachers are unable to ensure disciplinary ac tions against students are enforced. “It is difficult when a teacher sends a student to the principal, and five minutes later the student comes back.into the office saying, ‘You can’t do anything to me,’” Moore said. “Our teachers are pow erless. They need to know that their discipline will be backed up by the state. ” With the 1996 Hopwood deci sion barring race-based admissions policies in Texas public schools, Moore said a factor-based admis sion policy needs to be instituted. “Things such as a student being the first in their family to attend col lege or their parents being below the poverty level or if they worked through school all need to be taken into account,” Moore said. “They aren’t asking for a handout. They are asking for an opportunity.” MIKE FUENTES/Thk Battalion Bobbie and Bob Merrifield show their support at Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) open house Monday night at Friends Congregational Church. was held for audience members to learn more about PFLAG. The national organization of PFLAG was founded in 1981 as a grassroots organization whose mission statement is to promote “the health and well-being of gay, lesbian and bisexual persons, their families and friends.” The local chapter of PFLAG was founded in 1995 and is co-chaired by Pam Koeffler and Jerry. It is one of 450 chapters worldwide and one of 12 chapters in Texas. see PFLAG on Page 2.
