aggielife
The
105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
TUESDAY
June 13, 1999
Volume 105 • Issue 168 • 6 Pages
College Station, Texas
• Internet addiction poses a
potential threat for online
computer users.
PAGE 3
today’s issue
News 2
Battalion Radio
Tune in to 90.9 KAMU-FM at
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teen apprenticeship program.
opinion
• Texas A&M’s summertime
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PAGES
ichigan group
eeks solution
or alcohol risks
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (U-WIRE)
4 As first-year students look for
ward to all of the exciting experi-
ejices college offers them, a Univer-
■ty of Michigan committee has
■eated more than 50 strategies to
Bake sure that high-risk drinking is
Inot one of them.
I Last week, the University’s
|inge Drinking Committee re
leased initial recommendations to
help curb risky drinking, particu
larly among first-year students liv
ing in residence halls.
I Royster Harper, interim vice
president for student affairs, said
the group’s proposals show a
ommitment to a change on cam
pus but that changing attitudes to-
y/ard alcohol
requires many
IdifferetU ap
proaches.
“This is a
omplex issue
ith multiple
lerspectives
|nd views on
low to get in
Iront of it,”
Jlarper said.
I I Former Vice
Iresident for
Student Affairs
Kaureen Hart-
rfprd charged
the committee with the task of de
veloping the report nearly a year
[ago.
I One of the strategies, aiming to
separate alcohol from socializing,
recommends the University pro
vide regular scheduling of non-al
coholic events on weekends.
I Committee member John
Mountz, a fraternity adviser at the
Office of Greek Life, said other
schools such as Pennsylvania
State University and University of
West Virginia have already imple
mented such programs.
I Mountz said the schools are of
a “similar size and nature” as the
yhiversity and “seem to be
p eased” with the program’s initial
results.
But some university students
wonder if such a program would
achieve the goal.
First-year student Sarah
Bbrgren said offering entertain-
“T/iis is a complex
issue with multiple
perspectives and
views on how to
get in front of it.”
— Royster Harper
U. of Michigan’s interim
vice president for student affairs
ment options may not be very ef
fective for preventing students
from drinking.
“It’s good for people that don’t
want to drink, but it won’t help
stop drinking. People that want to
drink will drink no matter what,”
Bergren said.
The committee of students,
faculty, and administrators also
suggested the possibility of hold
ing more classes on Friday morn
ings to deter drinking on Thurs
day nights. In addition, the report
suggests the university communi
ty consider parental notification
when students violate alcohol
and controlled substance laws or
policies. Although the University
does not have a
parental notifica
tion policy, the re
port recommends
beginning a cam
pus-wide dialogue
on the implica
tions of such a
system.
Engineering
first-year student
Cynasure Ross said
she thinks such a
system would
“keep people on
their toes and raise
the caution level”
about high-risk drinking. But Ross
said such a policy may be more ef
fective if used only for repeat of
fenders.
“It might defeat the purpose of
dealing with your own conse
quences,” Ross said.
The report’s release follows an
academic year with a number of
highly-publicized alcohol-related
incidents on campus and
throughout the state.
LSA first-year student Court
ney Cantor fell from her Mary
Markley Residence Hall window,
after she was seen drinking at a
fraternity party.
The committee also recommends
another committee be formed to in
sure more student input, and over
see the implementation of the rec
ommendations in the fall.
Harper said further work will
continue this fall when students
return to campus.
Faculty Senate OKs proposal
for independent Bush School
BY STUART HUTSON
The Battalion
The Faculty Senate passed a resolution yester
day supporting the George Bush School of Gov
ernment and Public Service’s separation from the
College of Liberal Arts.
Ronald Douglas, executive vice president and
provost for the University, had previously asked
the Faculty Senate to work out the logistics of the
separation.
This proposal outlined the process of hiring a
dean and his or her responsibilities of being in
charge of a full-time staff, school governance poli
cies, promotion procedures, tenure procedures and
allocation of financial resources for both the Col
lege of Liberal Arts and the Bush School.
Richard Stadelmann, associate professor of phi
losophy, said he is concerned that the separation
may lead to financial problems for programs and
faculty, which are currently parts of both the Bush
School and the College of Liberal Arts.
“It is practically impossible to know at this time
what the full financial implications will be,” he
said. “But one thing is for certain, there will be ex
tensive implications.”
Douglas said many of the programs and facul
ty will continue to be funded as they currently are
for three years to allow time for their finances to
properly be budgeted.
Members of a Senate ad hoc committee who
reviewed the original senate proposal dictated the
appointment of a director and associate director
for the Bush School, instead of a dean and asso
ciate dean, until at least six full-time faculty mem
bers have been appointed to the school.
William Marlow, professor of nuclear engi
neering and a member of the ad hoc committee,
said it seems inappropriate to appoint a dean with
out a faculty already in place.
Douglas said he thinks obtaining a high-
quality faculty will be a difficult task if the fac
ulty does not know the quality and character
istics of the dean for whom they will be
working.
According to the proposal, the dean will be ap
pointed through a nationwide search conducted
by an advisory committee consisting of A&M fac
ulty members.
Peter Rose, professor of finance, said he thinks
the proposal was being rushed through the senate.
“It is not as if I don’t support the proposal,” he
said. “But I think it was passed without due con
sideration.”
Muddy showers
ANTHONY DISALVO/The Battalion
John Norton (left), a sophomore at Texas Lutheran University, Jonathan Davis, a senior at A&M Consolidated High School, and
Nathan Davis, a freshman at Consol, brace themselves for a splash at the corner of Joe Routt and Wellborn roads following heavy
rains Monday.
Camp offers look
media program
BY VERONICA SERRANO
The Battalion
[High-school students interested in journalism are getting
elimpse of the journalism program at Texas A&M through
e department’s week-long J-Camp.
[The eight students participating in J-Camp have come
rom across the state to gain insight of the mass-media pro-
glms offered by the University such as print, radio and TV
)roduction.
■ Ron George, J-Camp director and The Battalion adviser,
iaid the program was the brain child of Dr. Charles Self, head
)f the journalism department. George said J-camp was some-
llng he “definitely” wanted to do since he joined the jour-
lalism department in January.
■ “[Self] didn’t have to ask me to volunteer,” George said.
I He said many people are taking part in the program
ranging from professionals in the field of journalism, in
cluding former students who now work in the journalism
Slid, to current staff members and students at the Univer
sity. The students will tour various media outlets in Bryan-
College Station, including The Bryan-College Station Eagle
and radio and TV stations.
| George said the J-Camp students will be able to obtain
CODY WAGESyi m Baitalion
Guy Rogers, a sophomore agricultural journalism major,
instructs a group of high-school students in photo editing
Monday as part of the J-Camp program.
hands-on experience with the equipment A&M students use
in their journalism courses.
“[J-Camp students] will be able to do all the things we can
do in this department,” George said.
see J-Camp on Page 2.
Summer cinema
MSC Film Society nears end of season film schedule
BY NONI SRIDHARA
The Battalion
What About Bob? and One Crazy Summer
will close out the MSC Film Society’s summer
showings.
The film society will show What About
Bob?, starring Bill Murray and Richard Drey-
fuss, tonight at 9 at Rudder Fountain and
One Crazy Summer, an ’80s film starring
John Cusack and Demi Moore, next Tuesday
night.
Before each of these films, there will be a
five-minute presentation by the executives of
the film society in which they tell the audi
ence entertaining or little-known facts about
the film or actors in the film.
The MSC Film Society is divided into four
main components: Aggie Cinema, a produc
tion subcommittee, a film lecture series and
the Texas Film Festival.
Ryan Whitworth, vice-chair of the film so
ciety and a senior biomedical science major,
said the film society is made up of students
who have a love for movies.
“The members of the society are devoted
to appreciation of film as an art form,” he
said.
The society features Aggie Cinema during
the spring and fall semesters, which shows re
cent film releases and classics.
At the beginning of the year, each of the so
ciety’s members submit a list of what movies
they would like to see as part of Aggie Cine
ma.
Members of the film society then vote on
what films they will present from this list.
Whitworth said during the year they also try
to bring a few “sleepers,” lesser-known
movies.
“We try our best to get as diverse movies
as possible for a diverse population,” he said.
He said something new they are trying to
incorporate into the society’s regular season
this upcoming year is to show a Muppets
movie and encourage the service organiza
tions on campus to bring children from the
community to the showings.
see Films on Page 2.