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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 13, 2000)
ip nine ;e wed Consequently, some ret ■ sacrificed profit margin i competitive, i Chicago, one of thel7met; effected by the new regulati iverage price for a gallonoi e regular was $2.13, Lui . That price marks the firs' ecord that a city's overallav a for gas has topped $2, sCj y contrast, Phoenix camei ovvest average price witha •If-serve regular costing$1 .undberg predicted es might drop slightly incor ks, especially if the Organs; ^ ’etroleum I Exporting Cant EC) decides to increasepr« this month. Butthepriceri ie near last year's weighted; on June 11 of $1.19. • Punk Rock Local artists find support when starting new bands vN Page 3 Listen to KAMI) 90.9 FM at 1:57 p.m. for details about the 2000 Texas Republican Convention. • Check out The Battalion online at battalion.tamu.edu. Weather: Partly cloudy with a high of 92 and a low of 74. TUESDAY June 13,2000 Volume 106 ~ Issue 151 6 pages enate to present bonfire resolution to Bowen solution calls for taskforce to examine bonfire and determine possible modifications Maureen Kane The Battalion ■cording to the Aggie Bonfire resolution, which was . i , , atedby the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate t ■"•"■'g Y atest P r Y Si ftscussed Monday at the Senate meeting, "the Facul- e t ic lig lest on reco , ca j| s U p 0n President Ray M. Bowen to appoint ' i as ^ |e earliest time possible a task force to examine all as- r peak in 1981, Lundberp|j ofbonf |. e to determine whet h er bon fi re can be mod- 1 s ' nall0njl d to fully and completely address all concerns of the e, adjusted for inilatii nmission. If such modifications cannot be made, the >6, she said. Borce should suggest an appropriate annual substi- I he national average pnHvent." oline, including taxes,atsiv p^. suggested task force would consist of students, nps on I riday was $1.63pf:»r students, parents of students, administrators, fac- for regular, $1.72 for mid-'jrind community representatives, and the task force 1 $1.81 for premium. 1 Ipecifically address concerns involving "complete At fqll-service pumps, thea'B ’ s $1.93 for regular, $2.02fop de and $2.09 for premium. ^ safety, cessation of inappropriate behaviors and full and effective institutional oversight of bonfire." The Executive Committee justified this resolution by cit ing the Special Commission on the 1999 Aggie Bonfire Final Report that found structural flaws in the construction, lack of adequate knowledge among students making construc tion decisions and lack of adequate institutional oversight of construction. Also cited was the frequent criticism of bonfire "for its detrimental effects on the environment, behaviors in appropriate to this institution, and acts disrespectful to groups of people and other institutions of higher education." The report states "the inordinate amount of time spent on the building of bonfire has impinged on the academic performance of some students and has in others fostered a distorted view of student priorities and the meaning of the University experience." After the creation of the resolution was described, the resolution was read by Thomas Wehrly, speaker of the Faculty Senate. Wehrly said, "the Executive Committee used a multi-faceted approach in creating their resolution on the continuance of bonfire." In order to best represent the opinions of faculty members on this issue, individual faculty members were elected by their colleagues and directed to collect faculty input by whatever means possible. The sum marized information was sent to Bowen and formatted as a resolution. Wehrly concluded these remarks by stating that there has been a misconception by the public that the Faculty Senate is against bonfire. According to Wehrly, the Faculty Senate is not completely against bonfire "what the Execu tive Committee is against is bonfire in its present form." Opinions expressed by faculty members about the bonfire resolution varied. "Frankly, 1 think that this resolution is a waste of ef fort," said Norman Luttbeg, a professor of political sci ence. Later in the meeting, he said that, in his opinion, "the resolution is a half-assed solution to the problem. I can't imagine that the recommendation has any forward- moving motion." Luttbeg also said, "The University has never paid any attention to the faculty anyway." See Senate on Page 4. mmmer is at sho{ i 1 black. Of the county's 1,9(11 :ursor of AIDS — 1,549 im r-, d about two dozen black bait® tended recent trainingsesstefe omk Y\ Clff*C\ condoms and making refern-J. J began arriving one morning * down his scissors and conwI _, ~ ,M KimTrifilio s 1 \ and hit the play buttoni’T - z , d r K ' I The Battalion . , . Slightly more Texas A&M University students are choosing or rented the grim statoKl^^ 3 fell to a whisper. A bug’s life mr-W ig free condoms, Jacobs even fend their summer under the roofs of lecture halls with their ;sin book than did last year. . Don Carter, Texas A&M registrar, said the release of prelim- ? video on the HIV/AIDSep I, . 6 , , , , , 7 figures shows a minor increase of undergraduate and lent Clinton and US. Surge# | t 6 , , 6 Kite students taking summer classes. . The preliminary numbers for the first summer school term t u pio.,i, J5I students. Last summer there were 15,908 students, er all the safe sex talk wouldiT, , . ,1 . , „ tehas been a slight increase over the past several summers, ter said. "There has been a less than 1 -percent increase from me business, no one said anv‘i .,, » ,, ummer. We are trying to increase summer enrollment to en the load for students in the fall," Carter said. irter said most of the students enrolled this summer are ;raduate juniors and seniors who make up about 82 per- of the total number of students enrolled. iesaid."I just don't want son* 10 years saying, "Why didn' News in Brief liter said junior and senior students enroll in summer ■because it is a way for them to catch up. earthail2 |StlldentS are ^ US * : ^ r y' n § to stay with the program. Summer ® ■ ffican make them afford to take a lighter load in the fall and its central Tafo ivolved in all of the activities offered during the year," TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)-Ai irthquake shook central Tai" inday, causing rock slides ring more than 20 people, id seismologists said. No ere reported. The quake, with a prelimira' tude of 6.7, was centered lies north of Mount Yu,Taiwan^ it mountain, about 180 miles? ie capital, Taipei, the Central ureau said. The U.S. Geological Surve;. B i, Colo., which uses a diffefo lan the Central Weather Burea- .ired the quake at 6.2. b Taiwan's Disaster Rescue aid more than 20 people were! 1 the early morning quake,w it by falling rocks on-moua' ighways or falling objects at 1 See Summer on Page 4. .’Summer School Total student enrollment Total student enrollment Undergraduate students Juniors and seniors 15,908 16,051 11,546 9,494 April Conkey, a wildlife and fisheries doctorate student, collects water striders at research park for a project in her aquatic entomology class. The project requires students to gather a collection of various insects. eview board to oversee sociology department research Cyra Gatling The Battalion „ , , ^[Department of Sociology at State radio reported thataC, A IT . . . , , r > A&M University has taken the lured when it was thrown on I , , , , . , , ... ' tiye to work hand-in-hand with radle by the quake. istitutional Review Board (IRB), The quake was followedbV ' ird made up of A&M profes _ ?rshocks with magnitudes^ f aculty/ staff and stude nts that nd 5, the Central Weather Bo vv| research conducted involv- All the quakes, including! uman test subjects, vere considered aftershock"lereview board will affect Soci- nagnitude earthquake that^ 220, Methods of Sociological d the region in September,ffih and Sociology 420, Ad- v 400 people and destroyi^d Methods of Sociological Re- ands of homes. b,ls well as any other class that Seismologists at the bureJ 1 with research using humans, s not unusual for aftershockisearch involving humans is pri- najor earthquake to continty |sed to study behavior. hi research is mostly paper and I or behavioral," said Dr. Richard fear or more. Miller, director of research service ad ministration. "Behavioral research looks at people's opinions about things, like classes." Physical research is only used by the A&M Medical School, which is separate from Texas A&M, to test medicine or the use of new devices. There are a series of steps that must take place before any subjects participate in the research. "There are forms on the Website that need to be filled out," Miller said. "Regulations, forms and the neces sary steps are on the Website." Once all the forms are filed, the board must make a judgment on whether the research experiment is safe for human subjects. Miller said that after filling out the required forms, a subcommittee and a com mi ttee^review the protocol and make necessary corrections. Eventu ally the protocol wifi meet the re quirements to be used for research. “The hoard has a list of criteria that needs to be met concerning certain sensitive subjects, such as alcoholism” — Carol Albrecht professor of sociology "The single objective of the IRB is to protect human subjects," Miller said. "Many universities are experi encing difficulties with human re search and Texas A&M has a clean, ethically sound IRB Human Research program." The IRB works as a part of Texas A&M and is only available to A&M faculty. Some sociology professors agree that working in cooperation with the review board is a positive way to en sure safety in case there are any legal concerns. "This is a safeguard I appreciate," said sociology professor Dr. Carol Al brecht. Miller said some subjects for re search are fairly sensitive, and the de partment wants to be empathetic to those sensitivities. In order to do so, the IRB has created a list of criteria that all surveys must meet to ensure the subject will not be affected. "The board has a list of criteria that needs to be met concerning certain sensitive subjects, such as alco holism," Albrecht said. "The Review Board has been extremely cooperative and helpful." Along with the IRB, professors in the sociology department want to make sure that anyone used in re search is protected. "I want to see my fellow Aggies and anyone else taken care of," said se nior sociology major Trissa Campbell. Before students conduct an exper iment or begin their research, the See Sociology on Page 4. Districts seek teachers from abroad Cyra Gatling The Battalion As the academic school year draws closer, school districts across the country are faced with the difficulty of finding ed ucators in the United States, forcing them to broaden their search to other countries. A national shortage of an estimated 200,000 teachers each year has compelled districts to broaden their search and re cruit teachers from overseas. The Bryan-College Station area does not currently have the same kind of shortage that other cities in Texas have; however, it does recognize that there is a lack of teachers in Texas. , "Texas certainly has a lack of quality, well-certified teachers to meet the needs across the state," said Eddie Coulson, ex ecutive director of human resources for the College Station Independent School District (CS1SD). The shortage of teachers could be caused by more than just one factor. "In Texas, there are several factors causing the teacher shortage," said Dr. Jane Conoley, the dean of education at Texas A&M. "The population in Texas has grown, we have a bubble of baby boomers who are retiring and the pay and prestige isn't what many want." Many teachers eventually leave the teaching profession after a few years, cre ating a further decrease in educators. "The factors get worse," Conoley said. "Half the people leave [education] after their first five years. A&M has a good record; 80 percent are still teaching after 5 years." Not all areas throughout the state have been affected by the shortage of teachers available. "The areas that are hit the hardest are the metropolitan areas and the rural areas because of their location," said Coulson. For a while, Texas was importing teachers from other states that had a sur plus. Now those states are experiencing a shortage, forcing school districts to go abroad, Conoley said. "This is dangerous because there are less well-qualified teachers recruited. They have little or no teaching back ground and no preparation for their subjects." The recruitment of less-qualified teachers negatively affects the education that students are receiving. "This is a threat to the quality of the classroom," Conoley said. "This is one of our biggest issues." The overall shortage of teachers is throughout the United States, however, Texas is one of the most affected states and there are several contributing factors. See Teachers on Page 4.