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Event c,i
&M prof’s future pending
owen to make final decision based on committee's report
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BY AMANDA SMITH
The Battalion
the Texas A&M tenure committee
polio, ak Friday that computer science
r, said-' Bfessor Dhiraj Pradhan should be
unteer red for misconduct.
ra ^ e - ,»he Committee on Academic
rtitiec Responsibility and
Bure’s (CAFRT) three-page re-
■t accused Pradhan of fiscal irre-
■nsibility, echoing the 1996 au-
■ accusing him of misusing
Ini/ersity property and graduate
■Bents to advance his private
I^^Biness interests.
MflB&M President Dr. Ray M.
LJLlWveti must review the commit-
Hs report, and Pradhan has a
aBnce to appeal the committee’s
^ptlision to the A&M System Board
L/Vitf Regents. Pradhan said he never
L i Bd University property or gradu
al students for his personal bene-
radhan was suspended in Au-
;ust 1997 after the A&M System
• udit in 1996 accused him of mis
appropriating more than $100,000
of University funds for his private
businesses and was remitted in
September 1998.
The
committee's
decision has
been the final
blow."
- DHIRAJ PRADHAN
tlO
Pradhan said he was not alerted
of any misconduct until 1997, five
years after he took the position of
endowed chair in the computer
science department.
“I had glowing reviews in 1997,
and then, I am suddenly hit with
accusations of being a crook or a
criminal,” Pradhan said. “Every
year [before that], they said 1 was
doing a great job. It is a great con
spiracy against me, and the com
mittee’s decision has been the final
blow.
“It is a shame for Texas A&M
University. ”
In CAFRT hearings last week,
Pradhan pled with the committee
to allow him to stay and dismiss
the charges against him. In its re
port on the 19-hour hearings, the
committee said Pradhan’s claims of
racial discriminations were un
founded.
Pradhan, a native of India, ini
tially claimed A&M officials dis
criminated against him and sought
his termination based on race not
on flaws in his performance.
Pradhan still claims the Univer
sity acted unprofessionally in pur
suing his termination effective July
1.
“This is a colossal mistake to ha
rass me,” Pradhan said.
In a separate criminal trial in
November, Pradhan pled guilty to
abuse of official capacity and was
ordered to pay restitution to the
state and to federal programs for
misusing government money.
Officials refused to allow Prad
han to stay another two years with
the University and resign in the
summer of 2001 in exchange for
him dropping the lawsuit against
the University.
In a March 7 e-mail to Bowen,
Pradhan asked him to consider set
tlement options.
“The appointments for some of
these [graduate] students carry a
commitment through August 31,
2000,” Pradhan said. “Let me
therefore assure you again of my
willingness to meet and discuss
possible settlement options. Termi
nating any University professor is
a very serious matter, and I hope
the University will proceed in a re
sponsible manner.”
Pradhan said he wanted the
two-year extension to finish the re
search he began with graduate stu
dents in September.
see Pradhan on Page 6.
Former President
Bush, wife to speak
BY EMILY R. SNOOKS
The Battalion
BUSH
Former Presi
dent George
Bush and former
first lady Barbara
Bush are
tonight’s guest
speakers for the
second event of
the Distin
guished Lecture
Series at the Presidential Confer
ence Center Auditorium at 7:30.
Gerald Farrell, a media commu
nications specialist for the Office of
University Relations, said the event
will be an informal discussion be
tween the Bushes and moderator
Peter Roussel. Roussel is a 30-year
friend of the couple and served as
the former president’s press
spokesman from 1969 to 1974. The
program will focus on the Bushes’
lives outside the political limelight
and events prior to and following
their four years in the White House.
Farrell said the Bushes are not
only one of Texas’ most-liked and
well-known couples, but they have
also become familiar faces around
campus since the openings of the
George Bush Presidential Library
and the Bush School of Govern
ment and Public Service in fall of
1997. Farrell said it is a rare oppor
tunity to have them making an ap
pearance together.
The event will take place in au
ditorium A in the Presidential Con
ference Center at the Bush Presi
dential Library Center. Due to a
large number of requests for tick
ets, an adjacent auditorium will be
available to view the program
through closed-circuit television.
The closed-circuit television sig
nal will be made available to Texas
A&M residence halls and other
campus locations on Channel 83 of
the University’s cable system. All
remaining tickets are free and avail
able at the MSC box office.
With
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in East
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A&M’s Military Weekend
bouses on honor, ethics
'adets address problems, solutions
d myf<
BY NONI SRIDHARA
The Battalion
s ' ie 01 Cadets representing five military insti-
Lonl! ilions throughout the nation met on
[enee- Ignpus this weekend for Military Week-
Lillins nt; and participated in roundtable dis-
:haine> iigions addressing honor and ethics,
ick wfuBiet training programs and gender inte-
;everalfaiion.
Lackcetifcordon Harwell, a senior geography
|HBjor in Corps of Cadets Company P-2,
oneoflid the cadets did not strive to find res-
l Willi; ilutions to the common problems but ex-
to de«ed each other to various ways of han-
other Hing the issues.
■Harwell said another major discussion
o menf'Wic was the honor code,
ut sheiB"Our school has the honor code ‘Ag-
her fep s do not lie, cheat, or steal and do not
derate those who do,’ and we pretty
)Utbein|i ch l et d stand like that,” he said,
ny dad ■Harwell said the cadets discovered
1 |, v I,;, ome of the other schools were more
efeirinsF'active j n th e i r stance on the honor-
-otheraff 6 issue.
he AflflBr cJf ^ r y n dones, vice chair for Military
Weekend and a junior history major, said
the honor code became an intense dis
cussion.
“All Aggies know our honor code, but
a major question you have to address is
to what extent you can stick to it and
when you can make exceptions,” she
said.
“Are you going to let a good person get
a second chance?”
Jones, a member of P-2, said she and
the other cadets learned how different
schools deal with hazing. She said A&M
has to follow the Texas hazing laws, but
the Citadel in South Carolina is exempt
from its state’s laws because it is a mili
tary institution.
Other events included a military ball
and a military review which Jones said
one of her best experiences from this
weekend was interacting with the women
cadets from the Virginia Women’s Insti
tute for Leadership.
“Sometimes we end up putting our
selves in a tunnel,” she said, “but 1
learned that different places make differ
ent people. ”
Spring T.H.I.N.G
addresses traditions
BY NONI SRIDHARA
The Battalion
SALLIE TURNER/Thk Battalion
Christine Watkins, a junior mechanical engineering
major, Trey Wooten, a freshman agricultural busi
ness major, John Sommers, a freshman general stud
ies major, and Bob Mayton, a freshman mechanical
engineering major, march in the Military Review Friday.
Freudian Slip, the
Century Singers and the
Aggie Wranglers were
among those presenting
Texas A&M traditions in
a storyline at the first an
nual Spring Traditions
Helping Ignite New Gen
erations (T.H.I.N.G.)
sponsored by the Tradi
tions Council.
Dr. Ben Welch, direc
tor of the Department of
Student Activities was
the master of ceremonies
at Spring T.H.I.N.G. In
his opening remarks,
Welch commented on
the strong traditions at
A&M.
“Texas A&M is built
upon tradition,” Welch
said. “It is what binds us
together as Aggies.”
Freudian Slip began
the show by demonstrat-
JP BEAT07?he Battalion
Bill Youngkin, Class of
’69, speaks about the
history of A&M’s yell
leaders.
ing some of the first tra
ditions through a comical
skit, informing the audi
ence of the official
“Howdy” greeting and
the class wildcats, which
started in the 1870s.
Bobby Tbcker, Class of
’79 and a representative
of the Department of Stu
dent Activities, spoke
about the Aggie ring,
which was established in
1879.
“Pride is recognized in
many ways,” he said,
“but the ring is the best
of all because it symbol
izes what it means to be
an Aggie.”
Tucker told the audi
ence that one trait every
one would take with
them after leaving the
University is noticing the
ring on others.
“Whether you are
walking around campus
or down the halls of Con
gress, it will become
see Spring on Page 6.
against
d, “and
humait
aportto
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in Acttt
es to
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ndonesian association
rins I-Week talent show
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BY AMANDA STIRPE
The Battalion
set at
International Week ended Friday with
talent show and dress parade in front
Irnore than 2,000 spectators.
Participants were judged on partici-
£ c are l . ,
n u., Ration in the week s events, creativity, en-
you cotf 03 * n t ' ie cultural displays, items in the
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ternational buffet and performances in
[talent show and dress parade.
[The five-best groups in the talent
kv division were Indonesian Students
sociation, Brazilian Student Associa-
p, Puerto Rican Student Association,
ilippine Student Association and India
Sociation.
MThe five-best international groups in
niirsn jie dress parade were Chinese Student
St
one,
pendiC
imittee i
and#!
exual isociation, India Association, Indian
dent Association, Mexican Student
sociation and Vietnamese-American
dent Association.
Donna Hafil, a senior industrial engi-
sring major and judging and awards
te to doctor for the International Student As-
iation, said this year’s show was the
>n, arn
ae Ham i
ector l |
Lobby 1
eful
best she has seen in three years.
“The judges told me that it was hard to
judge, and they wanted to give an award
to everyone,” Hafil said. “The coordina
tion was better, the clubs practiced a lot,
and they were better ready to perform.”
Additional clubs that participated in
the talent show were Mexican Student
Association, American students who
performed an Austrian folk dance, Chi
na Student Association, Uzbekistan Stu
dent Association, India Student Associ
ation, Venezuelan Student Association,
Azerbaijan Student Association, Arab
Student Association, Japan Club, China
Club and Turkey Student Association.
Additional Clubs that participated in
the dress parade were Japan Club,
Bangladesh Student Association, Turk
ish Student Association, China Club,
Arab Student Association, Philippine
Student Association, African Student As
sociation, Brazilian Student Association,
Indonesian Student Association,
Venezuelan Student Association and
Kazakhstan Student Association.
The winners were announced at mid-
Math, science symposium draws
high-school students, teachers
BY SAMEH FAHMY
The Battalion
CARING CASAS/ run Battalion
The Brazilian Student Association
performs “Manha de Carnaval” at Fri
day’s talent show.
night at an awards ceremony at the Ra-
mada Inn, which lasted until 2 a.m.
Hafil said the grand finale, which in
corporated all participating countries,
generated a standing ovation from the
crowd before the show ended. She said
screen dancers were placed throughout
the stage while the rest of the organiza
tions threw confetti at the crowd.
Students, faculty and staff
at Texas A&M presented sem
inars, tours and workshops
Saturday at the Texas Alliance
for Science, Technology and
Mathematics Education 12th
Annual Youth Symposium de
signed to encourage high-
school students to further
their science and math edu
cation.
The symposium attracted
more than 1,300 high-school
students and teachers to the
MSC.
Dr. Robert James, profes
sor of science education in the
Department of Educational
Curriculum and Instruction,
said the symposium was de
signed to encourage science
literacy.
“Science knowledge and
understanding is useful in
everyday life,” he said. “It’s
important to being a good
consumer and solving real
problems.”
James said another goal of
the symposium was to give
high school students an op
portunity to interact with re
search scientists.
“It’s a good opportunity for
kids to not only meet other
students but to meet college
students and faculty mem
bers,” he said.
Meena Balgopal, project
coordinator for the Texas Al
liance, said the symposium is
a valuable learning experi
ence for participants.
“Kids that attend the sym
posium already have an inter
est [in science and math],”
she said.
“This supports their inter
est and exposes them to new
areas and fields.”
Events at the youth sym
posium included a lecture on
AIDS by Dr. James Wild, pro
fessor and head of Biochem
istry and Biophysics, and a
lecture on lung anatomy by
Dr. Larry Johnson, professor
of veterinary anatomy and
public health.
Students at the youth sym
posium toured the A&M cam
pus, KAMU, the floriculture
greenhouses and the George
Bush Presidential Library and
Museum.
Lectures for teachers in
cluded using insects to teach
elementary- and secondary -
school science, using
oceanography to teach sci
ence and using museums as a
teaching resource.
The Texas Alliance is a
consortium of businesses and
educational institutions that
works to improve science,
technology and mathematics
education.
: 1