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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 1999)
_ MONDAY June 5, 1999 Volume 105 • Issue 163 • 6 Pages College Station, Texas sports • A&M archery coach Frank Thomas will be an assistant at the Pan-American Games. PAGE 3 today’s issue News 6 Battalion Radio Tune in to 90.9 KAMU-FM at 1:57 p.m. to hear how a local project is helping Bosnian refugees in Bryan-College Station. opinion • R.C. Slocum’s new contract is an example of how schools favor athletics over academics. PAGE 5 10.6 Gabriel Ruenes/Thi. Battalion Market drives Slocum deal BY CARRIE BENNETT The Battalion R.C. Slocum’s acceptance of a 7-year, $7 mil lion contract means the Texas A&M’s head foot ball coach will now earn the same amount per year as the University of Texas’ head football coach Mack Brown. see Related Column on Page 5. Texas A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen said the decision to raise Slocum’s salary was similar to the decision to raise the salary of a person in any field. He said Slocum’s salary was judged against those of his peers to en sure his salary was comparable to those of other coaches at schools in the Big 12 and Big 10 Conferences. Slocum’s income includes a base salary of $300,000 a year, money from TV and radio appearances, a housing allowance and shoe contract. Last year the A&M football program generat ed more revenue than that of the University of Texas and drew in additional funds through ad vertisements, sponsorships and donations from the 12th Man Foundation. Don Powell, chair of the Texas A&M Board of Regents, said the decision is based on the coach ing market, and the market sees a head coaching position as valuable. “It is critically important that you have head coaches, whether it be basketball, baseball or any woman’s sport, that represent A&M in both wins Faculty raise promotes teaching BY CARRIE BENNETT The Battalion As part of Texas A&M’s Vi sion 2020 goals which stress the importance of teaching, all A&M faculty, excluding associ ate provosts and anyone of a high rank on the administra tion scale, have received a 6 - percent salary increase and the staff has received a 1-percent increase. Because of the lack of funds, there were concerns that deans. administration, and possibly re searchers would not receive the raise, but Texas A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen provided an average 6-percent increase to faculty to promote teaching as well as research. This salary increase was provided by state funds and the additional $4 extra per se mester credit hour added this year to tuition costs. However, there was not enough money in this pool for all faculty to re ceive the 6-percent increase. which applied to every faculty member on payroll by June 1, 1999. Janis Stout, dean of faculties and associate provost, said the 6-percent pool will provide raises to deans and associate deans and administration un der them, but will not include administration ranked higher. Stout said provosts and associ ate provosts will not be includ ed in this salary increase. see Faculty on Page 2. and losses, but also in their character and atti tude,” Powell said. Wally Groff, athletic director for A&M, said A&M is expected to earn $10.6 million in rev enue from ticket sales for the 1999-2000 A&M football season. He said additional income will come from TV advertisements, sponsorships and $3.5 million in contributions from the 12th Man Foundation. For the 1997-1998 fiscal year, The University of Texas brought in almost $7.8 million in ticket sales. An additional $473,000 was earned from “game guarantees,” payments made to the visit ing team for expenses incurred at away games. Texas Tech University brought in approxi mately $4 million in revenue from ticket sales in the 1997-1998 fiscal year, as well as bowl-game revenue in excess of over $1 million and televi sion revenue of about $5 million. Bowen said A&M’s football program brings in 75 percent of the total revenue of the A&M ath letic department. see Slocum on Page 2. j/Thk B' ump stiot jnesday^ 1 Aggies to assist with Mexican agriculture plan BY SUZANNE BRABECK The Battalion 11 In an effort to improve the agricultural conditions in the ^ Eross-border region of Mexico fend Texas, the faculty of the Uni- ■ -*4/)J/ersidad Autonoma de Tamauli- I w* as ' nv ' te d Texas A&M Universi- py and numerous universities in Vlexico to work together to cre- 2spion$ ite a cooperative project to both weapons! reserve natural resources and ;ecurity j! mprove livestock conditions, ities 3$ | In 1992 the Univerisidad Au- acongtf :onoma Agriculture department to surf# md the Texas A&M University • secretst' System collaborated with the to the College of Agricul- itensified ;ural Systems to ^ichardsf ievelop a strategy ;cientist‘to improve agri- ultural conditions n the Lower Rio rande Valley. The project in- olves the amaulipan Biotic rovince, which xtends into three *1 fetates in Mexico and is dependent i-^Mpn cattle. I In Texas, 30 j^)/i|l^nilli° n acres of ——————— [h e Rj 0 G ranc i e plains and ausefot Coastal Prairies are the site of the n flight project. I Wayne Hamilton, director of the Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management at A&M, said the Rio Grande River sepa rates these areas them political ly but does not separate re sources. Dr. Manuel Pina, Texas-Mexico Initiative project director and a pro- iy ^estigalu ice 1996 has not ie and M rets toan f “There can be an improvement of the quality of people's lives on both sides of the border." — Dr. Manuel Pina Project director inch oft is taken: t: stiffen th parts years d Jed Junf —ce’s dei aircraft ^ . ttheeis lessor of agricultural education at I’tbenet A&M, said since the initial meet ings,representatives from both h buffet countries have attended work- R. Esnt shops on such topics as Manage- ationsc ment of Grazinglands in South theB-2t Texas and Northern Mexico. “Overall, collaborative efforts have been extremely good, al though they have been relatively uncoordinated and marginally supported with funds earmarked specifically for these purposes,” Pina said. “There can be an im provement of the quality of peo ple’s lives on both sides of the border.” So far, there have been three conferences which revolved around topics such as beef pro duction systems, reproduction, range animal nutrition, health ranch administration, brush and weed management, drought strategies and economics of range manage ment. The workshops also provide input which is being compiled to put together a draft proposal for long term funding for the project. The workshops are offered in both Spanish and Eng lish. “There is a 150- year history of in- teraction among people in this region.,” Hamilton said. "You could almost say they speak the same language.” Pina said the costs of the workshops are covered by vari ous donors. “We anticipate that no one donor will be able to support the entire thing, but may be willing to support part of it,” he said. W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Inter-American Development Bank are a few of the public and private institutions which have shown interest in the goals of these programs. see Mexico on Page 2. Rockets’ red glare BRADLEY ATCHISON/The Bai talion Spectators view the fireworks display at the George Bush Presidential Library Complex Sunday. Visitors who braved the rains were treated with the display, which was delayed for over an hour. Community celebrates 4th of July with fireworks display BY VERONICA SERRANO The Battalion The College Station Noon Lions Club’s 39th Annual “I Love America Celebration” on the grounds of the George Bush Presi dential Library Complex was plagued by rains throughout the course of the event, delaying the fireworks display and forcing some visitors to leave early. However, the occasional rumble of thun der or ribbon of lightning did not deter hundreds from gathering to hear the live music or participating in games. John Happ, chair of the Noon Lions Club’s “I Love America Celebration” com mittee, said the rain effected the number of people at the celebration, but the event was still a great success judging by concession sales. Happ said both Bryan and College Sta tion contributed funds for the $12,000 fire works display. The display originally was scheduled for 9:40 p.m. but did not begin until 10:30. He said the celebration usually is held at Olsen Field, but the new tennis courts pro hibited the use of fireworks. The George Bush Presidential Complex provided the organization with a solution when library officials expressed interest in hosting the celebration. The celebration began at 6 p.m. with a presentation of the American flag by an Army Reserves Color Guard as storm clouds gathered in the distance. Throughout the day visitors flocked to the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, which did not charge admission and extended its hours until 8:30 p.m. The library also provided shelter for drenched revelers when one of the first showers hit at 7:30 p.m. Many hid be neath the roof of the Complex, while oth ers took the opportunity to tour the mu seum. Elaine Nelson, an admissions clerk for the museum, said library officials had ex pected 10,000 visitors to the museum. She said the clerks were not equipped to esti mate the number of visitors. Other “freebies” available at the event included watermelon and small American flags.