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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 2000)
MONDAY January 24, 2000 Volume 106 ~ Issue 74 16 pages \U Senior Aaron Jack celebrates with Aggiefan^vhTc-t — - — - s-; ^ The senior scored five of his n points down the st t ? rmec * cour f after A&M’s victory Saturday. Bottom left: Jack drives the ball inside for f Our freshman starters that faced off aoajnct thP retc h. Bottom right: Freshman Tomas Ress takes it inside on the cowboys. Ress was one scnsi me senior dominated OSU line up. PHOTOS BY GUY RODGERS/Tm BaTTAI ion Aggies upset 12th-ranked Cowboys 64-59 BY JASON LINCOLN The Battalion The Aggie freshmen didn’t know better. The four rookie starters for the Texas A&M men’s basketball team were too young, inexperienced and brash to realize the magnitude of play ing the No. 12 team in the nation. That lack of knowledge played right into the hands of A&M coaeh Melvin Watkins as his young cast defeated No. 12 Oklahoma State University, 64-59 on Saturday. A late second-half surge in free throws and second-chance points car ried the Aggies to their first win over a ranked opponent since a 1987 victory over Texas Christian University in the first round of the Southwest Conference tournament. The Aggies went on to win the tour nament. Since then, A&M has lost 29 straight games to ranked competition, including three games since Jan. 8. “We were just trying to get one. That’s all we wanted.” A&M freshman point guard Jamaal Gilchrist said about defeating a ranked team. After losing to three ranked teams in a four-game stretch, the Aggies had reason to celebrate as many of Reed Arena’s 5,563 fans stormed the court to celebrate the biggest A&M victory in 13 years. The Cowboys (14-2; 3-1) received their first conference loss after winning the last eight meetings against the Aggies. “It’s a great win for Texas A&M...,” OSU coach Eddie Sutton said. “Don’t get me wrong. I'm disappointed that we lost, but I have to take my hat off to Texas A&M.” Oklahoma State was coming off its biggest win of the season, a 73-65 win over No. 14 University of Texas on Wednesday. The veteran-laden Cowboys were not prepared for the attack of the young Aggie lineup. A&M’s freshmen came out early, with the guards keeping Ok lahoma State in reach despite die Aggies 2-10 free-throw shooting and a 22-12 rebounding deficit. After OSU had built an eight-point lead early in the second half, A&M was on the verge of letting the game slip away. But a time-out by Watkins reju venated the Aggies, who came out on a 13-2 run to take the lead and turn the momentum of the game. “We were in a dogfight. We were fighting for our lives,” OSU point guard Doug Gottlieb said. “If you get a young team and let them hang around they think they can beat you. When in reali ty we should win this game. “A young team like that doesn't know that you’re better than them. They got rolling, thought they could beat us. If you have confidence, believe you can beat somebody — anything can happen.” Oklahoma State would capitalize on A&M’s lack of shooting from the line to stretch back out to a five point lead with five minutes remaining. Gilchrist was not ready to let down, stepping up to take the pressure shots for the Aggies. “I wanted to get fouled to take some of the pressure off the other guys that were missing,” Gilchrist said. “I felt like See I'psi t on Pave 12. See the basketball column about the men’s basketball game against OSU on page 11. nt Mubarak, the ( da III and i gyp!; . Mohammed Tani? i, he will travel hi Hint Sinai, said to) doses received t e of a famous Gres cry. St. Catherine. : lest manuscripts ! it was found, tcry houses reliesi Egyptian believed! in the fourth cent? ry. n Paul’s first trip to; usltm country. Prc hided Tunisia, Le- lamer Faculty Senate debates grade distributions on Internet BY MATT LOFTIS The Battalion ■ Students may no longer be able to view pro fessors’ grade distributions on the Internet, de pending on the effect of an upcoming Faculty Senate recommendation on Texas A&M Uni versity’s policy. I An upcoming recommendation by the Fac ulty Senate may determine whether information will be collected or available in any form. ■ “Ever since we’ve been going to school We’ve been told that our grade was the only evaluative method we had to show that we’ve mastered the knowledge,” Will Hurd, student body president and senior computer science ma jor, said. “So, the grades given in class are very im portant,” “I would hope a professor would stand be hind the grades that they give in the classroom, and if for some reason they are afraid of the grades they give in the classroom being made public, then there is a problem,” Hurd said. Kenn Harding, Chairperson of the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee, said the issue is currently under discussion in the Acad emic Affairs committee. Hurd said the Student Government Associ ation has taken an active role in supporting the collection of grade distribution information, through the launching of a Website aimed at providing full information on each professor’s classes. The site includes information on professors’ awards, grade distributions, core syllabi, stu dent evaluations and comments from the pro fessor on the course.* “Grade distribution alone is not an accurate metric for understanding the particular acade mic environment in a particular classroom,” Hurd said. “It’s a combination of all those factors that are beneficial to students.” Hurd said taking a full package of this in formation together would provide students with the clearest look at their classes. Student government is concerned with whether or not grade distribution will continue in any capacity. Some staff members feel that students will "'Grade distribution alone is not an accurate metric for understand ing the particular acade mic environment in a particular classroom. f, — Will Hurd Student Body President misuse the information provided to take class es only considering the grade they expect. Ken Poenisch, associate dean for the College of Science, said that grade distributions can be misleading to students trying to decide what they will get out of a class. “If students are making the decisions based on who gives the highest grade, that’s a prob lem,” Poenisch said. Ron Douglas, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, said that both the leaders of the Student and Faculty Senates have been encouraged to reach an agreement on whether or not grade distributions are a good idea. Douglas said the recommendation would move to achieve the goal of ensuring A&M has the best undergraduate academic program pos sible. At the earliest, Faculty Senate will not dis cuss grade distributions until their February meeting. :ott inues A&M professor finds alternate theory to (AP) - A group :rv over an alliaitf .'mlin party andthC iterday that the bovi| m "fl 1 * continental dritt ition lawmakers - BY STUART HUTSON The Battalion e first session oftf Tuesday debated* ig yesterday but fl ew strategy. || Research by Texas A&M Oceanogra- IV began after tb phy Professor William Sager may put a the ( omnuini; new spin on the theory of continental drift ip of acting Pro — or at least a new roll, s supporters — stli Sager said that approximately 84 mil- ommunist Gennad! lion years ago, the earth’s weight distribu- aker. tion suddenly changed, causing the planet dime, the standof to roll about 20 degrees southward, a the Duma, electtvchange that would move modern-day I Washington, D.C., to the latitude current- xtedly strong f ly occupied by Cuba, remlin forces had if Sager’s research, published in Fri- parliamcnt would!; day’s issue of the journal Science, indi- ic reforms that had' c ates this shift took place over a period ions Communist-d °f about 2 million years, a time span is. w hich Sager says is just the blink of an nlin’s readinesstoV eye in geologic terms, mgtime foes has if Sager attributes the rapid movement to Putin’s reform pte as hill ofmass in the earth's magma caused mergetically condtf cither the introduction of cold matter dioiiid be carried oil®' 0111 ® le eart lTs crust or a surge of hot mat- i| and with govern- k’ 1 horn the earth score. \ilin said at a Cal • lis theory seems to contradict a pop- u 1 ' ular notion among geologists that a slow- s coverage of the f mate. H er polar shift resulted from a redistribu tion of weight caused by continental drift, the motion of the earth’s crustal plates over a liquid layer of magma. “The information we have collected indicates that continental drift alone probably cannot account for these changes,” Sager said. “Continental plates currently move at about one degree every million years. Even though the plates were moving faster back then, they still wouldn’t account for this rapid ofa shift.” The theory’s apparent contradiction has already brought forth some dissent ing opinions from geological community. “They are suggesting something quite challenging,” John Tarduno, a professor of geology from University of Rochester, said last week in an interview with the As sociated Press. “Personally, 1 think there is a possibil ity that they have underestimated the er rors in producing the data set.” Although Sager admits there is a de gree of error in his observations, he point ed to similar, independent findings report ed by a team of geologists in France RUBEN DELUNA/I 'he Battalion headed by Professor Michel Prevot from the University of Montpellier. “Prevot’s research results were almost identical to mine in many instances,” Sager said. “Although he was focusing on a shift which occurred over 100 million years ago.” Sager worked with Dr. Anthony Kop- pers, a researcher from the Scripps Insti tute of Oceanography, collecting infor mation about magnetic fields contained in di fferent layers of rock at several sites around the globe. News in brief Clinton proposes $31 billion for college fees Washington (AP) —President Clinton proposed a $31 billion plan Thursday to make college educa tion more affordable and upbraid ed Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott for suggesting that no major legislation would be enacted this election year. The centerpiece of the propos al was a $10,000 tax deduction to help millions of Americans pay for tuition, books and university fees. “When we make college more affordable, we make the American dream more achiev able," Clinton said. "Members of Congress who have been in their districts under stand that education is the top pri ority for most Americans,” White House press secretary Joe Lock hart said. "I think there will be a political cost for those who want to walk away.” When Clinton’s $30 billion “Col lege Opportunity Tax Cut” is fully operational in 2003, a family earn ing $120,000 or less annually could receive a tax deduction of up to $10,000 for tuition, fees and job-related training. Alternatively, taxpayers could seek a maximum credit of $2,800 a year. A similar proposal sponsored by Schumer died in Congress last year. Mrs. Clinton noted that average college tuition has doubled over the past 20 years, outpacing median incomes. "This touches Americans in all incomes from all walks of life,” she said. While the White House accused Republicans of threatening to put politics ahead of progress, officials played down the political benefits of the event to Mrs. Clinton’s cam paign and noted that she has long advocated education initiatives. The president’s proposal includ ed $35 million for the college Com pletion Challenge grants, designed to spur college dropouts to return to class; $40 million for a new ini tiative to help minorities pursue five-year dual-degree programs in fields where they are under-repre sented; and $716 million for Pell grants. Clinton also will seek a com bined $400 million increase for ini tiatives such as the Gear Up pro gram, which helps disadvantaged youths stay in high school; TRIO, which helps them stay in college; and Job Corps, a national educa tion and job training program tar geted at impoverished youths. • OSU win only start of Watkin's plans Page 11 • "Internet IntoxicatioS^ J defense dcije^P not hold wa? ter , Page 15 —igtirmre Listen to KAMU 90.9 FM at 1:57 p.m. for details on a new scholarship.