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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 2000)
KINE may be cut from core curriculum !L, Afghanistan (Af >st passengers on ihan plane coweredii f others laughed, ir veils and receive; bod and drink from ,ere the relatives ofik ccording to some nages who retumei an. Seventy-threep lined home; 74 stayed in Britain ylum or considering lined Shamsullahsait goal \s as to seekai lives and their f< 1 more than 30 of tit plane were relatives Some passengers 0 were related, iana Airlines Boeint .ed Feb. 6, shortly he northern city of Mi fter a flight fromk, j umped out of their ig guns and knife: jacking ended Feb. er a standoff with Bs n airport outside L j ackers — 13 men ged in a British coi man with a stick hers to keep their hi their knees, the aid. ackers appeared to rcraft landed in Jn't know what was :ause we never knew I thought maybe political or therew ith the plane,"S Drop KINE 199 required hours from 4 to 1 Change KINE 199 courses to Health and Fitness courses which consist of 2/3 academic work and 1/3 activity Three of six social science hours may be taken as Humanities Include a minimum of two writing-skill classes for each major ROBERT HYNECEK I m Hum BY KENNETH MACDONALD The Battalion Sweating through math tests may be some thing that will never change for students at Texas A&M, but sweating through a racquetball or weight training kinesiology course may soon be come a thing of the past. A preliminary report by the Core Curriculum Review Committee (CCRC) recommends three hours of KINE 199 be cut from the core cur riculum, and that the remaining kinesiology hour he a 1 lealth and Fitness class which would consist of two-thirds academic work and up to one-third activity. According to the report, it was the commit tee’s opinion that “physical activity courses have no place within a core curriculum” be cause of the limited number of course hours in the core curriculum. Dr. Paul Parrish, chair of the CCRC, said this recommendation was based on 50 hours of meet ings with p committee of 20 faculty members in addition to time spent with student leaders, an email survey of former students and an open forum in the Memorial Student Center last November. “Over all, the students were more sympathet ic to the kinesiology than the faculty response,” he said. “Nothing said in the report is intended to di minish the value of physical education, but cours es which are physical and not academic don’t fit in with the core curriculum.” Parrish said the health and fitness course should teach students the value of physical activity rather than requiring students to be active for a grade. “We are all impressed with the Recreation Center, but the majority of the students do not take advantage of it on a regular basis. Seventy-five percent use it once a semester, 50 percent average once per week, but only 6 percent use it more than three times a week — which is what the Surgeon General recommends.” Dr. Robert Annstrong, a representative on the committee from the Department of Health and Ki nesiology, was against the idea of losing three core KINE 199 classes. “In all fairness to the committee, they ap proached the issue thoughtfully,” he said. “[But] of course, there was a lot of competing interest between the faculty on the committee.” Most of A&M’s peer universities have dropped the requirement. Of the 17 peer univer sities surveyed, only three had any physical ac tivity requirement. Armstrong said that the top 10 learning in stitutions in the country did not have the re quirement at all. Annstrong said that job loss is a possibility, but it is very unlikely because the plan would be phased in over a period of years. Because of a high rate of job turnover in the department, Arm strong believes the department could shrink by not replacing kinesiology faculty who leave dur ing this time span. “At top speed, if the recommendation went through, the change could possibly be seen as ear ly as the 2001 catalog, but that timeframe is real ly not realistic,” he said. The CCRC also recommended that three of the six hours now required in the core curriculum for social sciences be offered either as a second hu manities or social science class. The report said the idea behind this recommendation was to give the students more flexibility in their schedules. The report also recommends a bolstering of writing and communication skills across the cur riculum by including two classes within the stu dents’ majors which will “contain a significant amount of writing and attention to writing skills. Southerland reflects on bonfire aftermath Ready, aim . . . FIRE! lit SOUTHERLAND We had di- e, Shahbibi, was uht. She said sheimie ast kept cryingffityraj le Koran.” a stop was in Uzbfe h said the hijackers' : fusing to let small their scats. Then the .■ an emergency cond time when wet e was very afraidbect omething wrong wit said. “When it aid ‘God is great’.' Ka/akstan, the Moscow and finall the passengers were i drink, ackers gave preferei o their families, gif and water first andfl t Pepsis to their chili i said, ave all the Pepsis tot d we got what was! our country Pepsi is' a use it costs too it 1 passenger, who iie If only as Rokhai, 35 to 40 family men th the hijackers. Thf the aircraft, he said divided their pel everyone was afraid en and children»' ey threw off their bAl j their faces. 1 the y bad,” Shamsullah' stan is strictly Isle J women who aretf interact. liah said the hijai !y with several ff® i “and the women'" 1 and not worried P 1 .Hitset of the hijai •eports that 36 men" family were aboard ding a woman who ■d in Mazar-e-Sharil lah denied that there ird. Rokhai agreed, a of the 13 names f h court was found of st at the Ariana 0 bul. ial there said the ad len given false name lah and Rokhai spot ted Press at the airp^ esday before finall) : Mazar-e-Sharif. dan’s ruling Ta! ! ed that the asylum^ tied, and promise 11 mnished. Minister WakilAh 1 has warned Britain him to people wM not political reft!? trage hijackings. BY MEREDITH HIGHT AND STUART HUTSON The Battalion While the Special Commis sion on the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse may he done with its work by March, Aggies may never fully heal from the tragedy. Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. J. Malon Southerland said the collapse is still on Ag gies’ minds. think [the collapse] is completely in our consciousnes reel contact with every student injured, some eas es multiple times. About 85 percent of those in jured have routine contact,” he said. “If access to me is useful, that's a priority. The time is going to be made. Student Coun seling Services (SCS) has their own thing go ing. I'm confident that a number of students are availing services.” Southerland said most of the students di rectly affected by the collapse are in the same social circle. “Bowen and I had supper with Bill Davis [one of the injured students] in the Commons and three of the others we wanted to speak with were there,” he said. “[The injured students] are comfortable with being back in school in most cases. They feel good. They connect with friends and associates, plus being busy with friends and school helps.” ‘But once you’re involved in a tragedy, you 1’tknow what will trigger that memory. You ’t go to the Bonfire benefit concert and be triggered. The strength of everyone to gether is very good,” he said. “The Association of Former Students had a re ception for the families of the injured students. It was a very powerful event. It’s the natural emo tion and moving forward. “One of the lasting impacts is that all of us are less likely to take individuals for granted,” he said. “It was an important loss, not with unim portant consequences.” “Because of this, thousands of people are Bonfire police records, statements available More than 150 statements collected by the University Police Department (UPD) shortly after the 1999 Aggie Bonfire col lapse will soon be made available to the general public by Texas A&M’s General Counsel. Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. J. Malon Southerland said he is concerned that the students who gave the state ments— previously unavailable because of their connection to a UPD investigation — may have assumed the statements would be kept confidential. These students may now be inundated with calls from various media outlets. “We just want to give these students a heads up, and let them know that they should use their own judgment in how much and in what ways they communicate with the media,” Southerland said. “These students have no obligation to talk to anyone.” Southerland said he hopes these stu dents will continue to work with the Special Commission on the 1999 Aggie Bonfire. “We are concerned that these stu dents will be confused." he said. “These calls might impact them in a negative way, but we continue to want anyone with any information to help in the in vestigation." Kroll Associates consulting firm will handle any further interviews necessary for the commission’s work. going about their business in a slightly differ ent manner. No, slightly is the wrong word, people have been affected from just slightly all the way to significantly different ways than they were,” he said. “An important part of the process is deter mining the cause. We hope the commission can identity those cause or causes. It is essential to the next process of evaluating the next steps.” See Southerland on Page 2. .,M MvM ' . m-m, •. ‘h-ir .• SS*** V-r « T,-**,'. JT. *’ ... „ V •. V* •'? ' . ' r : .V.< AV..-'*, ;> * - . ... „ ■ ■ ♦ ./ t , W -X . ■ . ; , ... * • ‘V * ’• rv'S.fe- ELIZABETH O’FARRELL/Iiif Bahai ion Sophomore sports management major Matt Severs, of the Army ROTC program, demonstrates how to shoot his rifle on the hand grenade assault course Wednesday. Pradhan seeks resolution from A8dVI BY BRADY CREEL The Battalion Fonner Texas A&M en dowed professor Dhiraj Prad han claims Texas A&M still holds on to some of the same racial grudges that he believes to be part of the prejudiced history in the state of Texas. “Texas A&M had me jailed on trumped-up charges of using the copy machine,” Pradhan said. “Bizarre it may sound — ■K PRADHAN I but this is the old South. They don’t like me, so they sent me to jail.” Pradhan, who at one time was the highest- paid computer science professor at A&M, said although it has been years since original allega tions were brought against him by the Universi ty, his case remains unsettled and A&M refuses to offer any kind of compromise. However, according to an April 30, 1998 article in The Battalion, Pradhan declined an offer from the district attorney earlier that month, which would have offered him four years deferred adjudication with a $5,000 fine and restitution of $30,000. “This is no offer to me,” Pradhan said in the article. “1 do not want to put distance between my self and Texas A&M, but [the University] is us ing the district attorney to indict people like me.” Last week, Pradhan said he was looking for employment outside of the United States but had to forfeit job interviews in Europe and India be cause his passport was seized on Dec. 17, 1999 and has not been returned. He currently resides in College Station. See Pradhan on Page 6. Gasoline prices to rise NEW YORK (AP) — As Lydia Gamos filled up her fuel tank, she re fueled her complaints about rising gas prices. The homemaker grudgingly paid Si.45 per gallon to gas up her Honda in Houston. “It certainly does hit you in the pocket” she complained Tuesday. The hefty prices at the pump have Gamos holding her driving to a mini mum “until it gets a little cheaper.” She may be in for a long wait. Prices that now average $ 1.41 a gal lon in the United States could stay high into the summer travel season. Some analysts even predict pump prices up to Si.60 and $1.70 per gallon before the problem eases. Americans already are talking about curtailing their driving just as resorts and other vacation spots are starting to gear up for summer. Gasoline prices have been rising steadily since last March, when the Or ganization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut crude oil production by 7.5 percent, or more than 2 m i 11 i on bar rels a day, to try to boost prices that had fallen to 12-year lows. Fears that gas prices will go even higher were raised Monday when the price of crude oil futures closed at $30.25 a barrel — topping $30 for the first time in nine years. Analysts believe that OPEC will come under increasing pressure — es pecially from industrialized nations such as the United States — to raise produc tion at its next meeting in late March. Roger Diwan, managing director for global oil markets at The Petroleum Fi nance Co. in Washington, expects OPEC will increase oil production 1.5 million to 1.7 million barrels a day. But because inventories at refineries already are low, “that won’t be enough to bring prices down dramatically and change the gas outlook in the United States.” Part of the problem is that U.S. re fineries normally increase production of gasoline during the first three months of the year in anticipation of higher sum mer demand. That is not happening this year because the high crude prices and short supplies have prompted many re finers to cut back operations. Ahead of the OPEC meeting next month, the Clinton administration is starting to lobby oil producers to boost output.The rise in crude has also pushed up heating oil prices this win ter. The average retail price for heating oil has nearly doubled over the last year to $ 1.66 per gallon, up from 86 cents in January 1999, according to the U.S. Energy Information Association. So far, the Clinton administration has resisted tapping the 580 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help increase the supply and bring down prices. B-CS Planned Parenthood clinic marks one year anniversary INSIDE BY JULIE ZUCKER The Battalion Over 200 abortions have been performed at Planned Par enthood of Houston and Southeast Texas’ Bryan clinic since it opened one year ago. “We’re not bad people,” said Debbie McCall, director of commu nity service at Planned Parenthood in Bryan. “No one is for abortion. Sometimes it is the only choice these women have.” According to Planned Parenthood, 1.5 million women in America with unwanted pregnancies choose abor tion. Most of those women are under the age of 25 and are unmarried. A Planned Parenthood poll found 74 percent of voters under 30 say it is important to insure access to abortion. McCall said Planned Parenthood has been in Bryan for 22 years, but sin,ce the new clinic performs abor tions, protests have gotten worse. “February is the worst time for protesters because of Roe v. Wade. They are peaceful to a point, but they have become more rowdy,” McCall said. McCall said protesters line the street with posters and have begun to write license plate numbers down. “They know where we live, and they send letters to parents saying their children have been to our clinic, whether it is for an abortion or not. Some kids take their friend’s car, and then they get into trouble,” she said. STUART VILLANUEVA/Thk Battalion Father Dean Wilhelm leads Bryan-Col- lege Station residents in prayer in front of the Planned Parenthood on E 29th Street. Today is the one-year anniversary of the clinics opening. McCall said more protesters show up on Tuesdays and Sat urdays, when doctors perform abortions. “They have no right to judge and harass people,” she said. “They stop traffic and may cause an accident. The yelling and screaming do not help. No one knows the woman’s decisions.” Lauren Guide, executive director for Brazos Valley Coalition for Life (BVCL), said the clinic does not pro vide all of the information to the women, and the sidewalk counselors are there for support. “Wc have people called sidewalk counselors that line the street when people go into the clinic,” Guide said. “We encourage women to look at other resources such as adoption, crisis pregnancy programs and churches. They are murdering by taking innocent lives of the unborn babies. Planned Par enthood definitely doesn’t tell the pa tients everything.” Guide said BVCL’s goal is to offer healthy options for both women and their unborn children. “Our goal is not to run Planned Parenthood out of the city. We just want to offer information and education about the prob lems abortions cause. A good option never includes the de struction of another human being,” she said. McCall said abortions are only five percent of Planned Par enthood’s services. “We provide health care, mostly. Men and women come in See Parenthood on Page 2. Double tandard in a ottle, baby Page 9 • Art of Anthropology Students get credit for course by volunteering for museum. ^JJage 3 • Spaning generations Women scien tists look to pi oneering lead ers. • Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9 at 1:57 p.m. for de tails on a proposed use for the bonfire logs. Check out The Battalion online at battalion.tamu.edu.