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.