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.
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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
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