THURSDAY
November 12, 1998
Volume 105 • Issue 55 • 12 Pages
A clone named Missy
Scientist in
cloning project
addresses students
n genetic methods.
BY AMANDA SMITH
The Battalion
The lead scientist on the Missyplicity
project said Wednesday cloning is im
portant to improve methods of milk pro
duction, pharmaceutical development
and reducing animal populations.
Dr. Mark Westhusin, a professor of vet
erinary physiology and pharmacology, is
leading the group of Texas A&M scientists
and researchers in a $2.3 million effort to
clone Missy, the dog whose DNA will be
used to produce the initial offspring.
I Westhusin talked to students from TYi
ill lift thesaipBeta National Biological Honor Society
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about the history of cloning, the new
methods and the potential benefits of
cloning livestock and other animals.
Westhusin said cloning the sheep Dol
ly caught the attention of the world and
reinvigorated attention to cloning efforts.
“It set into motion a tremendous
amount of discussion and excitement,”
Westhusin said. “It brought (cloning) into
the limelight. More people know about
Dolly than any other species around the
world. Some people thought we would
never be able to clone animals, and the
story was picked up by every newspaper
and station around the world.”
Dolly was not the first successful ef
fort at cloning, Westhusin said.
Westhusin described the first efforts
at nuclear transfer in 1938 and experi
ments with frogs, mice, sheep and cattle.
Westhusin said the most recent advances
in nuclear transfer and cloning projects
involve genetic engineering.
“Genetic engineering is driving
cloning,” Westhusin said. “It is why Dol
ly is here. We still have a lot of work to do. ”
Westhusin is currently working on the
Survey: Women
faculty experience
discrimination
Eric Newnam/The Battalion
Dr. Mark Westhusin answers ques
tions after delivering his lecture on the .
cloning of animals Wednesday evening.
Missyplicity project with fellow Texas
A&M researchers Dr. Duane Kraemer and
Dr. Robert Burghardt.
“I do not have a lot to say about the
Missyplicity project,” Westhusin said. “We
are just getting started with the project.”
see Cloning on Page 2.
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BY AMANDA STIRPE
The Battalion
The Residence Hall Association
>n Clark, diti passed emergency legislation to
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support Student Senate as they
lobby for the installation of on-
lligence fejlcampus washers and driers which
can be operated with Aggie
Bucks. The machines have been
purchased but not installed.
Residence Life will test the use
of Aggie Bucks for washers and dri
ers in certain machine locations un
til the program is fully instituted.
Substance-free housing com
mittee meetings to discuss the cur
rent situation will be Wednesday,
airstrikes ^fNov. 18 in 707 Rudder from 5 to 7
p.m.; Friday, Nov. 20 in 507 Rud
der from 3 to 5 p.m.; and Monday
Nov. 30 in 707 Rudder from 5 to 7
p.m. The committee has had about
900 substance-free housing sur
veys returned.
Chris Baumbach, chair of facili
ties and operations for RHA, said no
residence hall holiday lighting will
be seen on campus because the
lights would not be put up until Dec.
1, giving only 16 days for students
to view them until winter break.
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Jeremy Frampton, a senior psychology major, helps David Yeates, a junior
management major, top-off first level of stack Wednesday afternoon.
BY MEREDITH HIGHT
The Battalion
Fifty-nine percent of
white female faculty sur
veyed for a campus-climate
study of Texas A&M report
ed they experienced some
form of discrimination.
The study, “Perspec
tives on the Climate for Di
versity: Findings and Rec
ommendations for the
Texas A&M University
Campus Community” was
conducted by the Univer
sity of Michigan at the re
quest of A&M.
The discrimination in
cidents were broken down
into three categories: ha
rassment or actual reports
of threats because
race/ethnicity or gender;
general reports of discrim
ination; and reports of ei
ther of these incidents to a
University authority.
Those who reported be-
mg discriminated against
said 41 percent of discrim
ination comes from other
faculty, 35 percent from
students and 22 percent
from residents of Bryan
and College Station.
Dr. Barbara Finlay, di
rector of Women’s Stud
ies, said the results indi
cate a problem.
“That seems very seri
ous,” she said. “It’s a sig
nificant number that
should be investigated fur
ther to see what the nature
of the problem is. It does
indicate that there may be
a real problem.”
Dr. Janis Stout, dean of
Faculties, associate provost
and the highest-ranking fe
male administrator at
A&M, said the number is
reflective of society and
not cause for concern.
“It shows that we are
like our society in gener
al,” she said. “The Univer
sity has worked very hard
to create an equal-oppor
tunity workplace. Every
year, we get a statistical
study of faculty salaries
comparing male and fe
male, ethnic majority and
ethnic minority. We do not
see any systematic dispar
ity now.”
Sherry Yennello, chair
of the Women’s Faculty
Network, said the Uni
versity has made
progress but has room
for improvement.
“I feel the Women’s
Faculty Network can play
a part in terms of provid
ing networking and com
munity,” she said. “The
University has the re
sponsibility to hire
women and to empower
them. That will help
change the culture.”
see Women on Page 2.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Student assaulted
at Bonfire site
A female student was physical
ly assaulted at the Bonfire site on
Oct. 31.
According to a University Police
Department report, the victim was
holding the Centerpole line when
several individuals from another
outfit began pushing and pulling
her in an attempt to make her
break her grip. The victim released
her grip when her belt broke, and
the subjects then carried her a
few feet before dropping her on
her back.
Later, when she was standing
away from the line, “two individu
als tackled her and began punch
ing her with closed fists. Two oth
er individuals came to her aid and
pulled the assailants off of her,”
the police report said.
The investigation is currently
in progress.
Series to discuss
non-traditional Ags
Gender Issues Education Ser
vices is hosting a brown-bag
lunch forum today at 11 a.m. to
discuss the status and role of
non-traditional students at Texas
A&M.
Non-traditional students are
students who are older than aver
age-age students. These students
may have families or other differ
ences than traditional students.
The discussion may include how
non-traditional students adapt to
college life.
The brown-bag lunch forum is
an informal discussion held by
GIES. They hold a brown-bag fo
rum every Thursday to discuss
campus issues.
Fatherhood lecture looks to stars
-^Tibetan monk to discuss Buddhism Lessons of the past
Amistad descendant speaks on history, love
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BY KRISTIN STOCKTON
The Battalion
Dr. Douglas Brooks, assis
tant professor of English,
gave a lecture entitled “Star-
gate: The Crisis of Father
hood in the Age of Hyper
text” last night at a meeting
of the English Language and
Literature Society.
Brooks showed clips from
the movie Stargate, starring
Kurt Russell, and associated
them with his theory that fa
therhood changes whenever
a new technology is intro
duced. Brooks.’ theory is that
the goal of male human his
tory is to be able to reproduce
without a maternal figure.
Brooks said every time
writing technology has moved
forward, fatherhood has un
dergone a drastic change.
Brooks gave several examples
to explain his theory.
In one example he uses
Ra, the sun god from Egypt
ian mythology. Ra produced
his son, the first son in Egypt
ian mythology, without a ma
ternal figure. Ra was also the
inventor of hieroglyphics, the
first form of writing.
Another example of
Brooks’ comes from Greek
mythology. Cadmus is a god
who produced the sun as
well as the first son (his own
son). Cadmus killed a moth
er dragon and planted its
teeth in the ground. The
teeth grew into two things:
soldiers and the letters of the
Greek alphabet, a form of
writing technology.
Another example comes
from current-day experi
ences. In the age of comput
ers, the newest writing tech
nology, the idea of cloning
has been introduced. Brooks
said man may soon be able to
reproduce without the help
of a maternal figure.
“We are about to enter an
age in which the prime goal of
male human history is about
to be realized,” Brooks said.
Brooks said there are three
see Stargate on Page 2.
BY ANDREA BROCKMAN
The Battalion
The Lama K. T. Shedrup
Gyapso, a Buddhist monk and
the director of the San Jose Ti
betan Temple, will visit Texas
A&M this week to lecture on
Buddhism and meditation.
The lectures are sponsored by
theTAMU Buddhist Association.
The Lama was born and raised
in Southern California was an or
dained Christian minister and
served in the U.S. military.
After meeting a Buddhist
teacher, he converted to Bud
dhism and several years later
Was ordained as a monk, Then
he spent six years in Asia.
Nathaniel Rich, president of
the TAMU Buddhist Association
and a sophomore philosophy
major, said while in Asia, the
lama traveled with some of the
greatest living Buddhist teachers,
such as the Dalai Lama.
Rich said it is a rare opportu
nity to have a Buddhist monk
visit Texas A&M.
“We are excited and hope
people of all religions or no reli
gion come out to the lectures,”
he said.
^Mostpeople do not
realize Buddha lived
and taught 500years
before Christ and his
public ministry in North
India lasted 45 years.”
- NATHANIEL RICH
PRESIDENT, TAMU BUDDHIST
ASSOCIATION
The first lecture tonight is an
introduction to basic Tibetan
Buddhism.
Rich said he hopes the second
lecture Sunday will attract more
people because it is the most
general and will deal with basic
world views the Buddha taught.
“Buddha’s teachings re
mained the same for 2500 years,”
he said. “Most people do not re
alize Buddha lived and taught
500 years before Christ, and his
public ministry in North India
lasted 45 years.”
Rich said Buddhism is one of
the world’s oldest organized reli
gious communities and there are
now about 350 million Buddhists
in the world.
The third lecture on Monday
night will deal with meditation.
Rich said meditation has noth
ing to do with religious belief.
“Anyone can do it,” he said.
“It is simply about calming and
cultivating the mind.”
The Lama will speak tomorrow
at 8:30 p.m. in 502 Rudder, Sun
day at 7 p.m. in 502 Rudder and
Monday at 7 p.m. in 504 Rudder.
BY MELISSA JORDAN
The Battalion
Samuel Pieh, great-great grand
son of Joseph Cinque, leader of the
Amistad ship revolt, issued the chal
lenge to A&M students to take more
responsibility for keeping justice pre
sent in society.
Pieh spoke on the historical legacy
of the Amistad trial and said he want
ed to give a human face to the event.
“For me, as a direct descendent of
Amistad, I want to share the human
element of the event,” he said, “so
that we can understand the relation
ships not only of our past, but also
of our present and future.”
Pieh said love is the cause of a great
many things, including Amistad.
“Love itself can be directed to dif
ferent things, different places and
different people,” he said.
Pieh said many forms love exist: the
love for knowledge, love for freedom,
love for inclusion and love for money.
“The Amistad is about people
who had love for material things,”
he said.
Pieh said the people involved in
the slave trade were so consumed by
their love for money and material
things they had lost their consciences.
“Their spiritual foundation was
completely destabilized,” Pieh said.
Pieh said the spiritual foundation
was the most important thing that
upheld Joseph Cinque and John
Adams, who fought for justice in the
Amistad case.
“It doesn’t matter whether you
have blond hair or African hair,”
Pieh said. “There is a spiritual foun
dation in all of us at all times.”
Pieh said teamwork is vital to
promoting civil society in our di
verse world.
Jake Schrickling/Thi: Battalion
Samuel Pieh, the great, great
grandson of the man who lead the
Amistad revolt speaks Wednesday.
“Within this diverse world, there
is unity that is presented in all or
ganisms,” Pieh said. “If love is the
reason Amistad came to be, could
love also be the reason we should
not let Amistad come to be again in
our society?”
see Amistad on Page 2.