106 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
" - —^
Inesday • September 22, 1999
College Station, Texas
Volume 106 • Issue 18 • 14 Pages
ounseling center faces staff, fund shortage
BY STUART HUTSON
The Battalion
kudents seeking psychological
[stance at the Student Counseling
/ice (SCS) may face a wait of up
hree weeks because of a lack of
' and funding.
tede Birch, director of SCS and
[ychologist, said SCS employs 15
chologists, three counselors with
[;ter’s degrees, and one full-time
:hiatrist to help students with
)lems ranging from stress and
[iety to depression and suicidal
tghts.
lirch said SCS will require addi-
jial space and staffing as the num-
jof college students encountering
ital health problems both at
and around the country con-
Les to rise.
rThere have been increases in the
fibers of college students around
country who exhibit mental
[hanoma, and A&M is no excep-
Birch said.
le said students who come to
for help are assessed for their
1 of need for counseling. Stu-
its who need emergency assis-
|ce are helped immediately; how-
}r, students not needing
News in Brief
irvices to be held
>r engineering prof
[Daniel B. Fambro, associate de-
(irtment head for undergraduate
jdies in the civil engineering and
bociate profes-
[>r at Texas A&M
hd Class of '73
led Sunday at
lie age of 48.
Fambro’s
teaching and re-
\ search career
spanned . more
in 20 years,
the majority
[listime being spent at A&M. He
also a research engineer at the
is Transportation Institute.
Since 1990, Fambro directed
Summer Undergraduate Fel
ls Program, designed to attract
nation’s top engineering stu-
jts to A&M. He had just led the
jelopment of a new course to in-
puce new students to the civil en-
eering.
Fambro also served as a gradu-
j adviser in the department since
35.
le was past president of the
las Section of the Institute of
isportation Engineers and a re
lent of two major teaching awards
\&M — the Zachry Award for Ex-
[lence in Teaching and the Bird-
I Endowed Teaching Award in Civ-
[ngineering. Earlier this year, he
; named the Ruth&William Neely
'Chemical Fellow.
[Fambro earned his bachelor of sci-
pe and master of science degrees
;ivil engineering from A&M in 1973
1974, respectively. He earned
jPh.D. in civil engineering from the
jiversity of Tennessee in 1988.
[Funeral services are today at
a.m. at First Baptist Church in
Van.
emergency assistance will most like
ly face a three-week wait.
FAMBURO
INSIDE
aggielife
Blowing glass
J. Wayne Stark
Galleries features
delicate works of
art in glass
Page 3
sports
Glenn, Aggies look strong
olumnists discuss the state of
,ggie Football.
Page 9
opinion
•There’s more than one
Miss America
Possible new
qualifications for
ompetitors would
eflect reality.
Page 13
Batt radio
Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9 at
1:57 p.m. for details on the
Paul Christianson Awards.
Steve Strawn, the only full-time
psychiatrist working at SCS, said he
had already seen three people that
morning who, at some point, may
have committed suicide had it not
been for his intervention.
Strawn said that while he cher
ishes his job, it often presents diffi
culties for him because of the inten
sity of the situations he must face
coupled with what is sometimes a
problematic lack of resources.
“I think that the SCS really does
a good job with the resources that it
has but there are times when the
work demands become really too in
tense,” Strawn said.
Birch said while this staff is ade
quate for SCS’s current needs, he
would like to hire two additional
counselors, as well as expand the
SCS’s Website where students can
obtain self-help literature.
“The problem is simply funding,”
Birch said. “But then again, I don’t
know of any facility like this which
has adequate funding. ”
Birch said the problem of funding
stems from a cap placed on student
service fees by the Texas Legislature.
He said all funding for SCS comes
from these fees.
The cap is currently $150 per stu
dent. A&M charges $131, but Birch
said the University must maintain
the $19 gap in case the Legislature
mandates faculty pay raises, which
must come from student service fees.
Ronald Lutz, a psychologist for
SCS, said SCS will be instituting a
new “case staffing” system this se
mester in which each student who
requests help will be assigned to a
counselor who will then personally
keep up with that student’s therapy.
Soil toil
BRADLEY ATCHISON/The Batvai.ion
Cole Watson, of Colorado City, removes a soil sample from a
drilling truck Tuesday on Joe Routt Boulevard. The sidewalk near
Wellborn Road has been blocked over the last two weeks as the
drilling crew took samples in the area. The information will be used
by engineers to design a tunnel that will run under Wellborn Road.
Board, chancellor meet
GRAVES
BY BRADY CREEL
The Battalion
The Texas
A&M Chancellor’s
Student Advisory
Board (CSABJ will
meet today for the
first time with
A&M’s Chancellor
Gen. Howard
Graves, to discuss
restricting student
financial aid and other current issues
for the schools in the Texas A&M
University System.
CSAB is comprised of the stu
dent body president and a student
representative from each of the in
stitutions in the system. The pur
pose of meeting is to provide Gen.
Graves, the top-ranking adminis
trator for the System, with infor
mation about each campus’s spe
cific needs.
CSAB, Gen. Graves and the
Texas A&M Board of Regents will
meet today at 11:30 a.m. for a lun
cheon meeting at the John Con-
nally Building.
The purpose of CSAB is to gener
ate scholarships and internships and
to produce quality opportunities for
students to achieve higher education.
Student Body President Will
Hurd, a senior computer science
major, said this is an important
time for concentration on student -
related issues within the System.
“This is an incredible time to
capitalize on the collective wisdom
of student leaders from various
parts of the state to discuss the na
ture of higher education in the state
of Texas,” he said.
The highlight of the agenda of the
CSAB delegation for this year will be
its trip to Washington, D.C., to lob
by Congress concerning student-re
lated issues.
see Board on Page 2.
A&M honors retiring counselor Dobrovolsky
BY AMANDA SMITH
The Battalion
Texas A&M will bid farewell
to Dr. Nick Dobrovolsky of the
Student Counseling Service
(SCS) at a retirement reception
today from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in
MSC 145 in his honor for his ser
vice as a psychologist.
Dobrovolsky began working at
A&M in the Department of Educa
tional Psychology in 1975 and con
tinued as an intern until 1978,
when he began his work for SCS.
“When I came to Texas A&M, I
was interested in career counsel
ing,” Dobrovolsky said. “That’s
what I did my dissertation on, and
later I became more interested in
hypnosis. I am a counseling psy
chologist and have a different way
of looking at mental health, looking
at the strengths of an individual. ”
Dobrovolsky plans to continue
to operate his small practice, which
specializes in habit control, eating
behavior and biofeedback — a
measurement of body responses
like hand temperature, muscle ac
tivity and brain activity.
During his years with SCS, Do
brovolsky was awarded the Presi
dent’s Meritorious Service Award in
1994, served as president of the Bra
zos Valley Psychological Association
in 1983 and 1996 and served as vice
president for the Central Texas Soci
ety of Clinical Hypnosis in 1992.
As a psychologist, Dobrovol
sky’s interests include career coun
seling, hypnotherapy, counseling
and psychotherapy, stress manage
ment education, relationship coun
seling education and consultation
and outreach.
Dr. Wade Birch, the director of
SCS, said Dobrovolsky’s expertise
in the areas of hypnosis and
biofeedback have aided the Univer
sity community.
“He has really contributed in
several areas [like] relaxation and
biofeedback services,” Birch said.
“Not every campus has services
and equipment for that. Knowing
how to relax is important to stu
dents, no matter what problems the
student may have. ”
see Counselor on Page 2.
“This may not eliminate a wait
ing list,” Lutz said. “This will offer
more of a chance that a student will
be personally contacted each week
instead of being shuffled around
from counselor to counselor with
weeks between sessions.”
Birch said SCS has been autho
rized to hire another psychiatrist to
help alleviate Strawn’s workload.
“A psychiatrist is a medical doc
tor who can prescribe medicine and
tends to see the cases who require
more in-depth therapy,” Birch said.
“They tend to get burnt out a little
more quickly because of this con
stant exposure to extreme cases. ”
Strawn said though his case load
may be extreme, he enjoys his job
and values each person he has the
opportunity to help.
Volunteer Fair to help
students help others
BY ROLANDO GARCIA
The Battalion
When Bowie Hogg helps paint houses for the
needy, the junior business management major believes
he is providing more than just a fresh coat of paint.
“It may sound kind of corny, but I think it’s like a
fresh coat of paint on life,” Hogg said. “It’s rejuvenat
ing to see that there are people out there willing to
work like this to help them.”
Students will have a chance to learn about com
munity service opportunities at the Volunteer Oppor
tunities Fair today and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. at the Bonfire site.
Lori Salter, adviser for student activities, said the
fair, which is sponsored by the Volunteer Services Cen
ter, will feature more than 20 organizations from the
Bryan-College Station area students can join, includ
ing such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Habitat
for Humanity and Planned Parenthood.
Hogg, a coordinator for the Big Event, an annual
Texas A&M one-day volunteer service project, and also
a mentor with Helping One Student To Succeed
(HOSTS), said volunteering is a constructive way for
students to spend their free time.
“There’s no better satisfaction in life than helping
those in need,” Hogg said.
He said HOSTS allows college students to help
children struggling in school by tutoring and be
coming a mentor and friend to an elementary school
student.
“As someone who has done well in school, I think
torfayand tomorrow
-from 10am to 2pm at the
polo fields
-more than 20 volunteer
organizations will attend
ROBERT HYNECEK/Tiii; Battalion
a college student can be someone these kids look up
to as a positive role model,” Hogg said.
Jeff Rogers, projects coordinator for the Alpha Phi
Omega service fraternity and a senior speech com
munication major, said his work with the Special
Olympics was memorable.
“These kids have to overcome so much just to be
there,” Rogers said.
“I was a hugger at the finish line, and to see those
kids so excited, no matter how they finish, it’s the best
experience I’ve ever had.”
Salter said in addition to the volunteer fair, students
can access the Volunteer Services Center’s Website to
find an organization that suits them.
see Volunteer on Page 2.
Ball State University honors
Battalion, Aggieland works
BY AMANDA SMITH
The Battalion
Six Texas A&M students and
their work published in Texas
A&M’s newspaper. The Battalion,
and its yearbook. The Aggieland, re
ceived awards for their graphic art
works in the 1999 College Graphics
Reporting and News Art Competi
tion sponsored by the Philadelphia
Inquirer and Ball State University.
Michael Price, the competi
tion chair and the graphic jour
nalism coordinator at Ball State
University, said the Department
of Journalism at Ball State Uni
versity and the Philadelphia In
quirer joined three years ago to
provide a competition to recog
nize visual arts in media pro
duction and education.
“Part of the reason we under
took this with the Philadelphia In
quirer is to recognize excellence in
graphics reporting and news and to
promote the fundamentals of visu
al journalism in student media,”
Price said.
Price said he hopes the compe
tition will lend more attention to
graphic art and photo illustration in
news delivery.
“My hope is that they would be
given equal thought in considering
the telling of a story,” he said.
“North by Northgate" won third place
and was designed by Guy Rogers,
Robert Hynecek and Mike Puentes.
“Sometimes the best way to tell a
story is to show it.”
Entries totaled 278 for the 1999
competition, compared to 174 en
tries in the 1998 competition. Of
the entries, 87 received awards.
Nine awards were claimed by
A&M students.
The graphic arts awards recip
ients from A&M represent rela
tively young talent. Robert
Hynecek, a graphic arts awards
recipient and a senior biomedical
science major, started working
with the graphics at The Battalion
in Fall 1998.
Hynecek said the results of the
competition are more exciting, in
light of the competing schools.
“Texas A&M doesn’t even have a
fine arts department, and we placed
against Ball State University with a
competitive graphics department,”
Hynecek said. “I think it is a big re
ward to have people just point out
[graphics] from the paper.”
Guy Rogers, an awards recipient
and a sophomore agricultural jour
nalism major, started working with
the photography desk at The Bat
talion in Spring 1999.
“I got involved with photography
because I wanted to create more vi
sually pleasing art,” Rogers said.
Mark McPherson, an awards re
cipient and a senior environmental
design major, started with The Bat
talion in Spring 1999.
In reviewing the entries. Price
said the judges initially determine
whether the entry meets the com
petition’s criteria for the individual
entry, the content of the graphic or
the illustration, the degree to which
a graphic or illustration advances
its story, the visual appeal of the
graphic, the accuracy and the writ
ten components accompanying the
graphic.