Wednesday, June 2U)
Continued from Pa
into what is actually
e activity."
’is said such a difficulty®
last year's Greek Olympiai
sically, there was a breakdo,
minication between usandi
sity that resulted insomei
irv difficulties for us," hesi
dy Bregenzer, presidentof
a All Night and a sophom
ss that involve few high-i
es.
uess I'm pretty neutral on
she said. "It probablyw
our organization because
t do anything dangerous,!
, the fewer people that
le better. I don't really see
/e drawbacks."
Listen to KAMI! 90.9 FM at 1:57 p.m.
for details on the
New American Vision exhibit featuring
Jackson Pollock's paintings.
£ck out The Battalion online at
battalion.tamu.edu.
• New York's whiniest
New York police
protest of Springsteen song
unfounded, infringes on
singer's free speech
Page 5
Weather:
Partly cloudy with a
hiqh of 94 and a low
of 74.
THURSDAY
June 22,2000
Volume 106 ~ Issue
6 pages
57
VS
Con tin ued from Pap
a rewarned student borrow
ncrease and the steps toav,
rease.
is is the first 1 have heard at
rease. It's going to affect me
tely because I'm going tot
? (a loan) in the fall," Allen
f =f:1 * IftUw'l k’J =1 I *7
teport shows alcohol, drug problems
Jniversity officials say abuse, violations are not as bad as it seems
TEXAS UNIVERSITIES
LIQUOR LAW
illdliKF
1998- 1999
ACADEMIC YEAR
Maureen Kane
The Battalion
numbers in a recent report by the Chroni-
of Higher Education reflect that Texas A&M
iversity has a problem with alcohol and
ig violations.
Of the 29 four-year colleges and universities
:kman said he hopes alloJ cd in the report, all located in Texas, A&M's
it borrowers to consoln^’ 11 campus was reported to have the most al-
)ans before the interest ratf| olviolationsand the second-highest number
s will help borrowers beff ru 8 v ' 0 ' a * : ' ons -
e their debts iDuring the 1998-'99 academic year, A&M re-
dents who need more infomf ted 220 '‘qoor-law violations, whereas the
r to apply for a consolidated I ond - hi 8 hest rankin 8 sch ° o1 ' Southwest Texas
11 -(800)-575-7392 or go tolittf]
oanconsolidation.ed.gov.
teUniversity, reported ISlviolations.
Brent Paterson, director of Student Life, said
problem is not as severe as it seems.
Paterson said A&M's high number of alco-
violations could be explained by compar-
; the student populations of the schools that
re studied.
"We have close to 10,000 students on cam-
s. We have more students that live on campus
in those other institutions," Paterson said,
c He said he did not know of any other reason
the high number of alcohol violations at A&M.
Director of Security and University Police
Department (UPD) Bob Wiatt has another
explanation.
"When we issue a citation, we count that as
an arrest. That interpretation has been argued,
and this year a definition was adjudicated by the
Department of Education - these count as ar
rests. Many universities are not doing that, and
this is where there is a conflict because univer
sities are understating the problem," he said.
"Many universities interpret arrest as being con
fined in jail. However, the Department of Edu
cation defines arrest as stopping a person, that
person being detained, being identified, given a
citation and then allowing the person to leave."
Wiatt said he lists every citation he gives as
an arrest, in accordance with the definition of ar
rest given by the Department of Education.
"We're having to keep statistics on places
close to the University but off campus, like fra
ternity and sorority houses, that were previous
ly under city police jurisdiction. Now the De
partment of Education says that we control
those areas," Wiatt said.
Changes in federal reporting guidelines
passed by Congress in the fall of 1998 require col
leges to not only report crimes that occur not only
on campus, but those that take place close to
campus in contiguous areas — areas adjacent to
college campuses — as well. This new legislation
has created a debate between city and Universi
ty police over what areas are contiguous.
"We get a bunch of drunks as they cross Uni
versity Drive onto Texas A&M University prop
erty. UPD picks up all those clowns coming
across the street carrying booze in their hands.
When they come across the street, that's our
property, our jurisdiction. Northgate is in
CSPD's jurisdiction, not ours. To go across the
street (Northgate) and get picked up by UPD
would be duplicative," Wiatt said.
Wiatt said he does not think A&M's alco
hol problem is more serious than any other
university.
"We have no more serious alcohol problems
on this campus than any other institution and
are no worse or better than any other institution.
Students all over this campus and elsewhere do
this, and every campus has the same problem
with alcohol," Wiatt said.
Danny Shaha, coordinator for Student Judi
cial Services (SJS), described what is entailed in
processing student alcohol and drug violations.
"We hold hearing, adjudicate violations that
happen on campus by any student enrolled at
A&M. When an incident is reported to the of
fice by police, we assess if there is enough in
formation to charge for a violation. If so, we
will charge a violation, then the student has the
opportunity for a pre-hearing. We then set up
a hearing, during which the student is found
responsible or not responsible," Shaha said.
"If a student is responsible, sanctions are ap
plied. The sanctions rank from a warning to ex
pulsion from the University, and they occur for
any violation in higher or lower degree de
pending on the case. We try to make it an edu
cational process. If the student is found not re
sponsible, the file is shredded, but we keep a
record of the incident. We do not associate the
student's name with the incident."
According to Shaha, there were 43 alleged
alcohol violations during the summer of 1999,
and 120 during the fall of 1999.
He also said the number of violations is
small in relation to the student population at
Texas A&M.
"I don't see A&M as having a larger issue
with alcohol than other campuses, but we do
have some education to do with our stu
dents," Shaha said.
Spinning wheel .
id States
been able to fully enjoy
: prosperity," Jones said,
les pointed to the Child
h Insurance Program,
?d funding for child careij
ams that discourage teenf#
as examples,
nd most importantly, is the
1 improvement in the state's*
m system, which in the
s the best way to help chi
e poverty," Jones said,
t Samantha Smoot, exec#
:or of the Texas Freedom
, said Bush favored a veri ,;
CHIP bill passed lastlegi*
icssion that would not
ed as many poor children
irrent program.
T O
ow
: Systems
;ht school
Research team analyzes
diversity on A&M campus
Vicky Andrews demonstrates the use of a spinning wheel to spin wool for the Brazos Valley Em-
broider's Guild of America at the College Station Library. The group meets on Monday nights.
on
port
122
om
Easily
awarded
student lor
(24 hr.
'etroleum majors decrease
motny affects enrollment in engineering programs
Joseph Pleasant
Aircraft rei'i
The Battalion
’etroleum engineers are few in
award notic* timber and in high demand. As
Private thft od industry changes, fewer
advanced ^dents are choosing the petrole
training engineering route.
nrollment in Texas A&M's
department of Petroleum Engi-
Pilot Shop e|ring dropped from 1,619 stu-
FAA ers in 1983 to 230 in 1999.
approvedCharles Bowman, head of
school petroleum engineering depart-
Un tent, said the number of students
VA eligible . ,
ee- ing a degree in the field of pe-
^oleum engineering varies from
Benefits
year to year because student en
rollment tends to be a function of
the job market.
"We have seen a falloff in the
last two years; it tends to track the
oil market," Bowman said.
He said that after a year of low
oil prices and corporate downsiz
ing; the number of students enter
ing the department decreases.
Bowman said A&M currently
recruits students in high school
to enter the field of petroleum
engineering because of the low
enrollment. ’
In an attempt to increase inter
est in petroleum engineering.
Bowman said the department usu
ally draws its students from the
Houston area, where the oil in
dustry is more widely understood.
Bowman said the nature of
A&M's admissions process also af
fects the department's ability to se
cure students.
"This is a very competitive
school, and some students [who]
are qualified for the petroleum en
gineering program do not get in,"
Bowman said.
Amy Omar, reservoir engineer
See Petroleum on Page 2.
Kim Trifilio
The Battalion
In Spring 1997, a research team ana
lyzed the Texas A&M University campus
climate for diversity. This study was a
step toward attracting more diverse stu
dents to A&M.
The results show how students, fac
ulty and staff experience A&M. More
than 90 percent of faculty and staff agree
that "diversity of the student body is im
portant to the educational process," and
more than 90 percent of all campus
groups agreed with the statement that
"diversity is good for A&M and should
be actively promoted." Also, over half of
the campus groups rated the Texas A&M
climate as both "friendly" and "compet-'
itive." At the same time, groups were
likely to characterize the climate as sub
stantially inclusive and non-racist.
The University publishes a campus
climate update three times a year to pro
vide information on how the University
is making improvements of diversity on
campus.
Dr. Mark Weichold, associate provost
for undergraduate programs and acade
mic affairs, said the Academic Affairs
Committee was created as a result of the
campus climate study.
"We are to provide the provost and his
staff with ideas and give recommenda
tions on how to make the campus more di
verse. We have very good discussions and
we should come to a conclusion in about
two or three meetings. We are still at the
brainstorming stage," Weichold said. "The
Academic Affairs Committee is not a per
manent committee."
Becky Petitt, coordinator of diversity
education, said the Diversity Training In
stitute is another program that teaches
new skills to people involved in diversity
education.
"The purpose of this program is to in
crease effectiveness in encouraging people
to appreciate diversity. Here at A&M, we
are leaders of multicultural education. We
teach skills on diversity education," Petitt
said.
Petitt said U-ACT, University Aware
ness for Cultural Togetherness, is a stu
dent organization that was created be
cause Multicultural Services wanted to
acknowledge the diversity on campus.
"U-ACT started in 1994 with a purpose
to educate about different cultures. The
campus climate study validates the work
that U-ACT does. In the study, respon
dents said they valued diversity, and the
students were very interested in learning
about that," Petitt said. "I know of at least
four other universities that now have pro
grams similar to U-ACT," she said.
Petitt said the Diversity Training Insti
tute is primarily focused on faculty and
staff members who work in multicultural
education.
"We continue to be leaders because we
use the campus climate study and show
that you can use that data to drive the way
we do our teaching and training. Not
many institutions have done anything of
this caliber," she said.
Carolyn Sandoval, assistant coordina
tor of diversity education, said the Diver
sity Training Institute is open for people
nationwide to come and learn how to de
velop multicultural programs.
"We give them hands-on tools to work
with. We also give them an opportunity to
learn how they fit in a multicultural soci
ety. At the institute we talk about our cam
pus climate study and give them ideas
how to drive their initiative," she said.
Sandoval said many universities have
modeled the programs at A&M.
"A&M is very progressive in our di
versity programs. It really puts us on the
map. We are probably one of the best kept
secrets. I think people are surprised and
very pleased with what we have here,"
Sandoval said.
Findings also conclude that most of the
students surveyed indicate that diversity
and multicultural awareness programs
help prepare students to function in a di
verse work environment.
Miguel Salazar, a junior history ma
jor,said he thinks the campus is diverse
and students have many opportunities to
get involved in organizations that pro
mote diversity.
"We have students that come from all
over the place. I know there's programs
like ExCEL to get students involved in di
versity, and I think it gets promoted a lot.
1 have a lot of friends who go to it and they
are pretty excited about it. The programs
are all there. You just have to go out and
look for them," he said.
The study showed that African-Amer
ican students are most likely to indicate
encountering discrimination and harass
ment, but less than 5 percent reported
such an incident to a proper University au
thority. The study also examined the
source of discrimination. The main source
of discrimination for undergraduates ap
pears to be other students.
"I have never felt discriminated
against here at A&M, but 1 have friends
who have," Salazar said.
The study also revealed low levels of
participation among Caucasian students
in organized opportunities to learn about
diversity. Only 35 percent of Caucasian
students report participating in cross-cul
tural activities, and less than 10 percent at
tended Whoopstock.
Vicki Romine, a junior international
studies major, said she does not think the
campus is diverse.
"I don't think the campus is diverse,
at all. That is not what A&M publicizes,
though," Romine said. "1 have never
heard of programs like Whoopstock un
til just now."
Satisfaction at Texas A&M
Percentage reporting
"Very Satisfied" or
"Somewhat Satisfied"
Curricular Focus on
Racial / Ethnic Diversity
Overall Satisfaction