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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 2000)
January 28, 2000 Volume 106 ~ Issue 79 22 pages ~ 2 sections W * i WiVVAWtVMi'l =<: W114 ech faculty proposes running school paper BY MEREDITH HIGH! The Battalion Hhditorial control of all student publications ; Texas Tech University may soon fall directly junper the School of Mass Communications staff. A recent proposal from Tech’s School of Mass Communica tions’ Chairperson Dr. Jerry Hudson, calls for radical changes in the structure of all Tech student publications, including The Univer sity Daily, the student newspaper at Tech. fhe proposed changes include a university [ stiff "newsroom editor." who would also teach a I rep. >rting class. Work produced by students in the ould be published in The University Daily. ■The proposal claims that these stories would fretter written and “could possibly reduce the ^■tber of paid reporter positions.” “This goes against every principle I’ve been taught and strived for and that I’ve taught my reporters and editors,’’ Wayne Hodgin, ed itor-in-chief of The University Daily, said. “[It] could only mean trouble for Texas Tech and for student media across the nation.” The proposal also calls for an advertising director to teach an advertising sales class, and states that this will increase the advertising revenue for The University Daily. Other proposed changes include hiring two new university stafYmembers, a news director and an assignments director, who would also teach a broadcast journalism class that would report and produce a newscast for KTXT-TV, the campus television station. The proposal claims that “this arrangement will allow the school to expand its faculty base without new tenure-track positions.” “1 don’t think it’s a good proposal, and I won’t support it,” Dr. Jan Childress, director of student publications at Tech, said. “The inde pendent editor is too important to not let the stu dents be in control. We’ve been organized like “This [the proposal] goes against every principle Tve strived for and that I've taught my reporters and editors." — Wayne Hodgin The University Daily editor-in-chief (Texas Tech newspaper) we are now since 1963. Wc have nationally and state-wide well-respected publications and pro grams.” The proposal will be discussed at a meeting Feb. 4 at Tech. Hudson, Dr. Donald R. Haragan, Tech’s president and Dr. John M. Burns, Tech’s provost are scheduled to attend, but Childress said she does not know who else will attend. “1 can’t imagine that we wouldn't be able to provide input with a major change like this,” Childress said. “Hopefully, the meeting will be the opportunity to provide informa tion.” The University Daily's Website describes the newspaper as “an independent publication that seeks to fulfill the functions of any mass medium.” “As an independent publication serving the campus community. The University Dai ly maintains professional standards and ethics reflecting the best in American journalism and advertising, and staff members recognize not only the rights granted them by the First Amendment but also the responsibilities that accompany those rights.” According to Tech’s Department of Student Publications Website, the Student Publications Committee advises the department "under author ity granted by the president of the university.” The Website also states that the Student Pub lications Committee exists to support and pro tect a vigorous, socially responsible press at Texas Tech University. All student publications at Tech are current ly part of the Student Affairs Division, are con sidered non-academic student activities and have no official connection to the School of Mass Communications. Hudson, who drafted the proposal, could not be reached for comment on the recommended changes Thursday. At Texas A&M. the Student Media Board serves as “the supervisory and advisory agency for all student media.” The board reports to Executive Vice Presi dent and Provost Dr. Ron Douglas. “We have a long tradition of independent student media,” Dr. Barbara Gastel, chair of the Student Media Board and head of the journal ism department, said. “I have every expectation that this would continue.” The bylaws of the board state that “neither the general manager of Student Media, nor the news adviser, nor the Student Media Board, nor the head or faculty of the Department of Jour nalism shall determine the content of the stu dent media.” Hit me with your best shot CODY WAGES i» omplex, in pre| 'renchi the euanli ss o)lkdB urine the museunifE salaries to the hefc > Picasso's heirs,k* the family’s moti* r lather's name Of tune appears tohet! • Ill ilCCu. Picasso I state reprise l Claude and PakmPi of Francoisc GilotSti aughter of Mane-Thca laruichildrcn Mannarj bom to the artist's s* j neu said the lamil)'*j b> the ad. and su shin with Citroen. unty Center a volunteer" raining Class wili answenng the 21 Tg, on evenings/ "o area emergency ris compassionate >WPER volunteers $:00 - 9:00 pm 1,7, 8, Faculty ethics, concerns over bonfire not heard HOUSTON (AP) — Texas A&M faculty engineers con cerned about the stability of the school’s annual bonfire were eth ically bound to raise those fears with supervisors, the head of A&M’s engineering program said. CODY WAGES/Thf; Batfai.ion 5 and 28 Irate referee Ed Yancy attempts to retrieve a basketball from teasing Harlem Globe Trot ter Paul “Showtime” Gafney at Thursday’s performance at Reed Arena. C. Roland Haden, dean of the University’s Dwight Look Col lege of Engineering, said registered engineers’ professional code of ethics requires such action when public safety is at stake. “If they thought there was a problem, then they had a duty to do it,” Haden told The Dallas Morning News in a story published Wednesday. The 7,000-log stack collapsed on Nov. 18, killing 12 Aggies and injuring 27. Students have constructed and burned the tow er annually since 1909 as a precursor to the football game with the University of Texas. Haden said about 65 percent of A&M’s engineering faculty' are registered engineers. One former faculty member, T.J. “Ted dy” Hirsh, did voice concerns, according to a colleague. Hirsh, A&M’s former head of structural engineering, unsuc cessfully attempted to have administrators alter the design of the stack, according to a Nov. 19 memo by civil engineering profes sor Loren Lutes. Lutes wrote to A&M president Dr. Ray Bowen that others agreed with Hirsch’s belief that the bonfire design was only “mar ginally stable.” In an e-mail Haden sent to a colleague four days after the accident, he criticized former A&M faculty members who told a newspaper they had concerns about the safety of the bonfire stack. “My question to them would be simple: If you had pro fessional doubts about the design, why didn’t you go to a high er authority, indeed, the highest, to get your thoughts heard?” Haden wrote. Clinton: $350 billion tax cut WASHINGTON (AP) — Texas De mocrats cheered and Republicans jeered Thursday night as President Clinton ap peared before a joint session of Congress to deliver his final State of the Union ad dress, one chockful of CLINTON programs — some new, others repack aged from earlier ad ministration initia tives. The president’s fi nal-year agenda — which includes a $350 billion tax cut, a $ 110 billion expansion ofhealth care cov erage, prescription drug benefits and a plethora of other programs — stands little chance of being enacted, said Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas. “President Clinton apparently intends these final months in office to be spent buffing his image for history, but the torch is about to be passed to a new leader, and 1 believe that most of the old administration’s spending proposals should be, and will be, discreetly dis carded,” Gramm said. The Clinton agenda, countered the House’s third-ranking Democrat, Rep. Martin Frost of Dallas, amounts to “real solutions that will meet our priorities in the 21 st century, and they deserve serious con sideration.” Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, said “If anyone thought he was going to be a lame-duck president and just kind of limp along the last year, 1 think this State of the Union speech, which was very aggressive and covered a number of very important things that Americans are very much con cerned about, spoke volumes.” While acknowledging that Clinton “makes a great speech,” House Agricul ture Committee Chainnan Larry Combest, R-Lubbock, said the president has failed in past years to follow through on promises. “The proposals, i f they do come, look sub stantively different,” he said. Again and again during his 89-minute speech, Clinton bragged about America’s vibrant economy. “Next month, America will achieve the longest period of economic growth in our entire history,” he said. “We have built a new economy.” He gave partial credit for the rosy economy to Texan Lloyd Bentsen, who was Clinton’s first Treasury secretary and a key architect of the 1993 deficit-reduc tion package that the president said “be gan to put our fiscal house in order.” Bentsen’s successful effort to push the leg islation through a skeptical Congress “sparked our long boom,” Clinton said. “Lloyd Bentsen, you have served America well and we thank you,” he told the 78-year-old Bentsen, who was in the House chamber as one of first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 10 guests. Some Republicans said the adminis tration — and Clinton — deserve little credit for the nation’s economic boom. Bryan swing into action >pe,c.ia\ -Cof 'Nicklaus to design new 27-hole course Vcar BY JASON LINCOLN The Battalion ■£oUou)ivu ^ Z4 ^ Z6 [ri i 3 Texas A&M University and the city of Bryan are launching a new partnership that melds the ex-, citement of Aggie athletics with economic pros perity from tourism dollars. The Bryan City Council unveiled the final land plan for Traditions Golf and Country Club at Univer sity Ranch Wednesday. ■At the center of tin partnership is the future home of the Aggie golf team — a 27-hole /OH.S, course featuring the signature design of world-renowned golf pro and course designer Jack Nick laus and his son. Jack Nicklaus II. ■The course is expected to be come a premiere NCAA golf venue because of its focus onl the A&M campus and the end CoalN.7 varsity golf teams, in addition to Nicklaus’ signa ture touches — a first for a college course. 41 Traditions is the first signature course in the nation to be designed by Nicklaus at the request of a college team. “It’s going to be a tremendous asset for the men’s and women’s golf team,” A&M men’s golf coach Bob Ellis said. “It’s going to give us a Nick- laus-championship-designed golf course and some first class practice facilities, all within two miles of campus. This has the potential to be a tremendous tool for our teams.” Nicklaus, who has over 70 tour victories 18 wins at “majors,” is widely consid- :d in the golfing community as the golfer of the century,” being named such by Golf Magazine, among others. Since his illustrious pro career, the golfer has become one of the pre miere course designers in the world, with his courses hosting over 300 stops by pro-circuits worldwide. “Jack Nicklaus is arguably the best designer in the world and, without argument, the greatest golfer of all time,” Ken Kasten, a senior vice president with Club- Corp, said. Currently Nicklaus and his son have only eight co-designs. Despite the signature design of the course, the size of the project and the future opportunities for Traditions Golf & Country Club FEATURES: Signature 27 hole course designed by Jack Nicklaus and Ns son Jack Nicklaus II • Variable elevation, mature trees, and unique water features • 180 room hotel & 15,000 sq. foot conference center & 1000 + homes Separate practice center, offices, and locker room for A&M golf team Expected to open in fall 2001 with 1 - Golf Club 2 - Hotel yfi 3 - Toimn Center construction beginning this summer • Estimated value at 275 million • Focused membership to A&M alumni along with Brazos Valley residents • Comparable prices to current dubs INSIDE Story- Wedding The A-Z guide on he big day. • Men's and women's swim teams prepare for LSD Page 7 RUBEN DELUNA/I iik Battalion the community, A&M and the Aggie golf team remain the focus for Traditions. The course will feature exclusive practice fa cilities for the A&M golf team including a driving range, practice holes, training stations, offices and locker rooms. Meanwhile the 27 holes will pro vide a challenging environment that should help make the Aggies one of the best prepared teams in the NCAA. The Nicklaus design will also serve as an in valuable recruiting aid for future Aggie teams. “It helps from a recruiting standpoint,” Ellis said. “But even more it helps from an experience standpoint because our practice facilities would be so demanding — making competition on oth er courses less of a challenge.” The excitement about the possibilities Tradi tions will bring to the Bryan-College Station com munity, the University and Aggie golf is begin ning to simmer throughout the Brazos Valley. “The team is so excited about the prospect [of a home course] and it is really helping recruiting already,” A&M women’s golf coach Jeanne Sutherland said. “It’s excited everybody. “It will be even better when we see it start to take place.” While A&M currently utilizes a number of the courses and facilities throughout the community, it has no permanent home with separate facilities. See Golf on Page 10. • Unfit Parents? Should homo sexuals be able to adopt chil dren? • Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9 at 1:57 p.m. for details on Texas Stock Index. ib