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THURSDAY
October 12, 2000
Volume 107 ~ Issue 34
12 pages
AY l ^Wx\ * 1CilOk'l k’i 4; WIIY
ay cadet quits Corps after hostile reactions
Marc Wade
a/lcca(ri)tamu.edu
Jess Wade
Vocal Music
Memorial Student Center
jess@stuact.tamu.edu
K Nicole Walker
Student Life
312 YMCA
845-5826
nicole\v@srudcntlifc.tamu.«ti |
Carol Walther
Women’s Studies
306 Academic Building
845-7994
csw0366@acs.tamu.edu
Valory Wangler
valoryw@hotmail.com
Scott Ward
Residence Life
Appelt Hall
845-1249
bignasty@tamu.edu
!y Brady Creel & Marium Mohiuddin
Tie Battalion
Unlike the sunny beaches of California,
[exas A&M and the Coips of Cadets are not
welcoming haven for all. That was the ex-
jrierice of one student who entered A&M
id the Corps as a sophomore in August and
ild his outfit he was gay.
S I The cadet, who witl be called John in the
picle, is a four-year veteran of the military
iom southern California. About three weeks
| ago, he informed members of his Corps out-
pi that he is gay. But, problems did riot arise
1 for John until Monday, when fellow mem-
■ersofthe Corps w alked past the Memorial
■tudent Center (MSC) brec/cw ay and saw
liiin sitting at an information table for the
Jeremy Wasser
Veterinary Physiology &
Pharmacology
1261 VMA
162-4655
wasser@cvm.tamu.edu
tobert D. Wells
Iducational Psychology
dw 1479@unix.tamu.edu
lethany Whetstone
bw58l4@labs.tamu.edu
renda White
terling C. Evans Library
52-49 4 7
vhitc@tamu.edu
incy J. White
jmputer Science
15-0994
white@tai.tamu.edu
:nevieve Wilcox
tsidence Life
ieve@tamu.edu
arcus Wilkerson
2-2241
t@pnx.com
ronica Y. Williams
sidencc Life
onica@tamu.edu
talie R. Wilson
Fadden Hall
.'7418@Iabs.tartui.edu
ira A. Wimberley
dent Life Orientation
YMCA Building
-5826
nbcrley@tamu.edu
;ela Winkler
lent Activities
Koldus
7514
nkler@tamu.edu
vVinniford
;eofthe VP for Student Alfa®
Floor Rudder Tower
4728
@tamu.edu
ifer M. Witkowski
ess2000@tamu.edu
fer Woodson
i-Gary
ie@tamu.edu
m Wright
it@tamu.edu
ida Wu
da_wu@yahoo.com
/ L. Yeager
istry
Chemistry
136
-@mail.chem.tanui.edu
Yendell
:nce Life
y@tamu.edu
Youree
lue@tamu.edu
'u
u@hotmail.com
. Zdziarski
: Life
Idus
11
itudentlife.tamu.edu
’. Zionts
onal Psychology
ton 704F
7
itamu.edu
ehlke
of Business
hner
2
otmail.com
ing sessions are
iay, 29 October
:30-9pm. TO
nui.edu or call
7.
[nternships
each Aggies
ie ropes in
Washington
hiblic Policy among
tew A&M programs
fiv Brady Creel
the Battalion
The old adage “get your foot in the
loor” might change to'“get your whole
:g in the door” at Texas A&M as the
ublic Policy Internship Program
PP1P) officially lifts off.
“We need more Aggies in Washing-
bn, D.C.,” said Manda Rosser, PP1P
oordinator and,a student development
oordinator for the office of Honors
programs & Academic Scholarships.
1 She said needing more Aggies in
AVushington was the consensus among
officials in Washington, D.C., and
administrators when the pro
gram began its development phase
bout 18 months ago after A&M Pres
ident Dr. Ray M. Bowen took a trip to
Vashington, D.C.
Rosser said Bowen set aside an en-
lowment of $2 million to start sending
iggies to Washington D.C.
Rosser said the PPIP is designed to
nd the best fit for the students in the
iternship program, find them intern-
hips, give them academic credit and
ive them a stipend to help them pay
or expenses.
In addition, she said, most agen-
ies employing interns probably will
iay them.
“If we are going to send good-qual-
ty students, they should be willing to
ompensate for that,” she said.
Rosser said a selling point of the
irogram is the chance for students to
;et hands-on experience.
“These internships are less than 20
fercent clerical,” she said. “You’re not
’oing to be just answering the phone or
loing the mail. You’re going to be in
ommittee meetings, doing research,
aking notes, helping make decisions
tnd really seeing the workings of pub
ic policy.”
Students from all majors are wel-
ome to apply for the PPIP. Students
iced not be in the honors program, but
nust be at least a junior with 60 credit
lours when the internship happens and
lave a GPR of 3.0 or higher.
The PPIP was in its trial phase for
he 2000 spring and summer semesters
ut is beginning “full force” this fall,
dosser, said the five interns who par-
icipated in the pilot program were re-
illy successful.
One intern chose to extend her in-
emship and is still in Washington, D.C.
“A lot of times that happens,”
See Intern on Page 2.
my
SHIP PROGRAM
1HATURHS:
• FULL- TIME INTERNSHIPS
IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
• () HOURS OT ACADEMIC
CREDIT AWARDED AT
'TEXAS AtVM UNIVERSITY
Students must have
at least a fumor
IIP. classification
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered
Aggies (GLBTA).
As of Wednesday, John is no longer a
cadet, a decision he made of his own volition.
“I got absolutely ripped by my buddies,”
John said of the outfit’s response to his pres
ence at the GLBTA table. “I was called an
embarrassment and disgrace to my outfit and
the Corps. I have never been made to feel
worse and more ashamed of who and what I
am than I did [Tuesday].”
The dissension did not come from his up
perclassmen, outfit commanders or Corps staff.
It came from his “buddies” and forced John to
make the decision to leave the Corps. Yet he
still advocates participation in the Corps.
“As much as I love the Corps, it is not my
Pulling strings
“/ was called an em-
barrassment and dis
grace to my outfit and
the Corps. I have never
been made to feel worse
and more ashamed of
who and what I am...."
— "John"
a former Corps member
who requested anonymity
right to create a situation where there is ani
mosity. I am not bitter toward the Corps or my
outfit. I did it for them, not for me,” said John,
explaining his decision to leave the Corps.
He said the response of some of his outfit
members was “very hostile — bordering on vi
olent.” John said one of his female buddies said
he “disgraced her” and “made her look bad.”
John said he does not want the Corps nor
his outfit to look bad, but he wishes that peo
ple would understand him and others like him.
“What happened to me was a result of mis
understandings and fear,” he said. “People
should have told me how they felt a long time
ago and not waited for something to happen.”
John said his openness with his sexual ori
entation was an understanding with the rest
of his outfit: He wanted to be in control of
what people knew about him and that it was
not his outfit’s place to tell people about it.
“They can’t understand it because they
don’t get it up here,” he said, pointing to his
head. “A lot of times, they refuse to believe
that it is not a choice and that we are made
this way.” ^
Major Doc Mills, media relations coordi
nator for the Corps of Cadets, said the Corps
and its administration are part of the Univer
sity and the Corps is bound to the same poli
cies of the University, but could not comment
specifically about the case.
“I am not going to speculate on this case
because I do not have knowledge about it,”
See Corps on Page 12.
Gore criticizes
Bush’s record
Candidates call on Yasser Arafat
to end Middle Eastern violence
STUART VILLANUEVA/Tm Battalion
Andrzej Grabiec, a member of the Western Arts Trio chamber music group, rehearses on
the violin before a performance at the Presidential Conference Center.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) —
A1 Gore criticized Gov. George W.
Bush’s record in Texas in debate
Wednesday night, saying he blocked
hate crimes legislation and presides over
a state that ranks last in health insurance
for families. “We care about our people
in Texas,” Bush shot back, and said the
state spends $4.7 billion a year on the
uninsured alone.
In the waning moments of their sec
ond 90-minute clash, Bush said Gore
had misrepresented several facts in their
first debate, and that prompted an un
usual apology from the vice president.
“I got some of the details wrong,”
the vice president responded softly. “I’m
sorry about that, and I’m going to try to
do better” in the future.
The two men met on a stage at Wait
Chapel at Wake Forest University with
less than four weeks remaining in their
close, volatile race for the White House.
The atmosphere seemed more congenial
than when they debated last week in
Boston, and when it ended, Bush
mouthed the words “good job” to his ri
val as they shook hands.
The calendar calls for one more
pre-election debate, next Tuesday in
St. Louis.
It was a debate in two parts: the first
half a polite conversation about for
eign policy, the second half a more
pointed series of disagreements over
domestic issues.
Gore and Bush both called on Pales
tinian leader Yasser Arafat to restrain the
violence rocking Israel. The vice presi
dent also called on Syria to “release
three Israeli soldiers that have been cap
tured” by Hezbollah militia forces dur
ing more than 10 days of violence. Both
men stressed support for Israel.
When asked by moderator Jim Lehrer
of PBS about the Middle East, Gore said,
“We need to insist that Arafat send out in
structions to halt some of the provocative
acts of violence that have been going on.”
Bush, given a chance to answer the
same question, began by saying that in
times of tension overseas, “We ought to
be speaking with one voice. I appreciate
the way the administration has been
working to calm the tensions.”
He also said the United States ought
to call on Arafat “to have his people
pulled back.”
' Gore defended the administration’s
handling of Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
Bush, whose father was president dur
ing the Persian Gulf War, declared that
the “coalition against Saddam is unrav
eling ... sanctions are being violated.” If
Saddam is developing weapons of mass
destruction, he said, “There are going to
be consequences if I’m president.”
Gore, who has been buffeted by alle
gations that he embellishes the facts,
readily offered a mea culpa after Lehrer
raised the issue in a question to Bush,
and the governor read from a 1988 staff
memo to then-Sen. Gore to be careful
about getting facts right.
“I can’t promise I will never get an
other detail wrong. I can promise you I
will do my best if I’m elected president,
I will work by heart out to get it right for
the American people,” Gore said.
Asked if he was satisfied with the ex
planation, Bush said, “That’s up to the
American people, isn’t it.’’
October named for fire prevention
By Maureen Kane
The Battalion
On Oct. 1, five College Station
residents faced the reality that their
house had burned, destroying
everything they had. However, the
question remains: How prepared are
students for a fire?
The Bryan and College Station
fire departments, as well as the
Brazos County Precinct Fire De
partment, are posing this question
as part of Fire Prevention Month
this October.
In its 60th year, national Fire Pre
vention Month commemorates the
Oct. 9, 1871, Great Chicago Fire,
which left 100,000 people home
less, 17,400 structures burned and
more than 250 people dead.
Bart Humphreys, public infor
mation officer for the College Sta
tion Fire Department (CSFD), said
this year’s theme is “The Great Es
cape,” which stresses the impor
tance of home exit drills.
“The majority of fire deaths occur
in the home because people aren’t
prepared to escape,” Humphreys
said. “We give them information to
help them plan in advance for this
type of emergency. Hopefully, we
can prevent it, but if it does happen,
hopefully, they can get out alive.”
Because a large percentage of
Bryan-College Station residents are
students and, many live in apart
ments, Bryan Fire Department
(BFD) and CSFD will hold a mock
apartment fire on Tuesday to edu
cate residents about the importance
of preparing a fire escape plan for
their homek.
Apartment #413 in the Plantation
Oaks complex on Harvey Road will
be the site for the mock fire. The
atrical smoke will be used to simu
late a fire in the apartment. After a
simulated emergency call to the 911
dispatcher, the fire departments will
demonstrate their emergency re
sponse and rescue methods. ,
• “When we do these simula
tions, we do them really safely us
ing a smoke machine,” said Cindy
Giedraitis, public information of
ficer for CSFD. “It’s purely the
atrical smoke.”
The purpose of the mock fire is
to demonstrate how easily a fire can
start in an apartment and to give res
idents information on how to pre
vent fires.
Other activities associated with
Fire Prevention Month are the
World’s Largest Fire Drill and the
Fire Safety Expo on Saturday from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lowe’s Home
Improvement Warehouse.
The World’s Largest Fire Drill,
STUART VILLANUEVA/The Battalion
Dustin Melting, an employee at the
with participation of local radio and Brayton Fjre School/ refi || s fire e xtin-
See Fire on Page 6. guishers for use in training drills
Students, administrators share, eat at bug banquet
COLLEGE STATION (AP) — Steamed
crickets and baked mealworms provided a
juicy feast Wednesday for a group of sur
prised Texas A&M administrators who could
not recall approving Bug Tasting 101 as a
course offering.
The Aggie officials thought they were at
tending a science class to improve interac
tion with students, but instead found a bug
banquet prepared by entomology professor
Roger Gold.
“I think they’re very tasty,” said William
Krumm, controller and vice president for fi
nance. “I think the worms are my favorite.
They have that nice chewy taste.”
Charles Sippial, vice president for admin
istration, seemed to prefer crickets.
“If it came down to it, I guess I could sur
vive on insects out in the wilderness,” he said.
“But I don’t think I’ll ask my wife to have a
plate of these ready tonight.”
Gold offers the bug tasting once each se
mester, to point out how tasty, vitamin-rich
and full of protein insects are.
Like it or not, they are a steady part most
Americans’ diets, he said.
/guess I could sur
vive on insects out in
the wilderness. But I
don't think III ask my
wife to have a plate of
these ready tonight"
— Charles Sippial
vice president for administration
“A box of raisins you buy at the store is full
of insect parts,” Gold said. “On average,
there are 10 or more insect parts for every 8
ounces of raisins.”
The average peanut butter and jelly sand
wich has about 56 insect parts in it, he said.
“The point is, just about every piece of
food we eat has insect parts, and the govern
ment knows this,” Gold said. “The Food and
Drug Administration realizes it’s impossible
to eliminate all insect parts from food, so they
have set down maximum standards allowed
for food products.”