- The Battalion - - The BattaUon
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TUESDAYMARCH 26, 2002
VOLUME 108 • ISSUE 117
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TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
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Prospective student John Keese watches an introductory film, "Legacy of Excellence," about the A&M campus along
with his mother, Michelle Keese.
Student participation makes
video a winner at Telly Awards
By Jessica Watkins
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M's “Aggie Impact,” a
video for prospective students at the
Visitor Center in Rudder Tower, was
klected as a winner in the 23rd annual
felly Awards.
Brian Wright, co-producer and
videographer in the Office of
University Relations, said student
involvement in every step of the
production process made the video
a winner.
“We knew from the start that stu
dent involvement would be Vital to the
success of the project,” Wright said.
“The students were really helpful
in coming up with ideas for things to
shoot. One student knew someone
who was proposing under the
Century Tree, and so we got to record
the whole thing with the Ross
Volunteers there. There is no way I
nor anyone else at University
Relations could have known about
that,” Wright said.
Wright said students were recruited
to help with the video from the
University Relations office and the
Visitor Center.
“We wanted to take advantage of
their knowledge and expertise. They
directed the crews to where they could
get good shots. We needed people who
knew campus well and those are the
people who give tours,” Wright said.
Wright said students who were
recruited to be interviewed were
deeply involved in the University.
“We sent out information With
student leaders on places and times
students could meet to be in the
interviews. We also just walked
around with the crew and would see
students studying or talking and
would ask if they would participate.
See Video on page 10
Growing pains
Panelists discuss race and
historical mindset of students
A cartoon in the Jan. 14 issue of The
Battalion that many called racist raised
many important issues at Texas A&M.
The cartoon portrayed an overweight
black mother, wearing an apron and
curlers and scolding her son for receiv
ing a bad grade. The mother warned
her son his bad grades would lead to a
job in airport security.
In reaction to the issues raised. The
Battalion invited a pane! of student
leaders ranging from the student body
president to leaders of the
International Student Association, the
African-American Student Coalition
and the Young Conservatives of Texas
to convene to discuss racial and cultur
al issues at Texas A&M.
The result is a three-part series on
diversity and culture at A&M from
students with diverse points of view,
but who ail agree they are proud to
be Aggies.
Part one focuses on the past racial
and cultural issues at A&M. Part two will
cover present issues affecting the campus
and part three will cover the future.
By Christina Hoffman
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M began 125 years ago as
an all-male, white, military college,
built on military traditions. Even with
the changes and differences at the
University since 1876, the core values
remain. Students still sing about
“Texas-A-M-C” more than 50 years
after the college became Texas A&M
University and first began admitting
women, non-military students and
greater numbers of minorities.
As the school continues to grow and
diversify, student leaders wonder if past
issues will disturb the A&M campus.
Student leaders wondered aloud
about the environment at A&M, and
how students reacted to The Battalion's
BATTALION RACE ISSUES PANEL
Lyndon Pryor
AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENT
COALITION PRESIDENT
Samecia Bloomfield
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CULTURAL
PROGRAMS COORDINATION
Mariano Castillo
EDITOR IN CHIEF OF THE BATTALION
Adrienne Aguirre
COMMITTEE FOR THE AWARENESS OF
MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURE CHAIR
Schuyler Houser
STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT
Brandon Hepburn
MSC BLACK AWARENESS
COMMITTEE CHAIR
Tyler Dunman
YOUNG CONSERVATIVES OF TEXAS
Pablo Rodriguez
STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION
DIVERSITY REPRESENTATIVE
Jarry Ho
MSC ASIAN CULTURES EDUCATION
COMMITTEE CHAIR
Eberhard Laepple
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
ASSOCIATION REPRESENTATIVE
Mairtin OMuirgheasa
CORPS OF CADETS REPRESENTATIVE
Barry Hammond
MSC EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
FOR DEVELOPMENT
Source: The Battalion
CHAD MALLAM •THE BATTALION
Jan. 14 cartoon that many called racist.
Some leaders expressed concern that
more students were not visibly upset
about the cartoon.
Seeking to understand
The history of A&M and the identity
of its students shape the way current
students perceive others and react to
events like tht*cartoon, panelists said.
Daniel Hernandez, associate vice
chancellor and panel moderator, said
each individual is shaped by the histo
ry and culture from which he or she
comes. He said understanding these
factors will help students understand
the cultures on campus and the events
See Panel on page 5
ck&M, UT Faculty Senates seek cost-cutting
measures
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By Amy Dosch
THE BATTALION
Faculty senates from both Texas A&M and the
iversity of Texas discussed ways for each uni-
^ersity to cut budgetary costs at their annual joint
acuity Senate meeting Monday.
Although UT and A&M are state universities,
y 22 percent of their budget comes from the
slat e ; which is subject to all state regulations and
frictions, said Michael Granof, a UT Faculty
e co-chair.
UT has appointed a task force, composed of
faculty and university administration, which will
be responsible for cutting $20 million from the
university’s budget.
“This committee marks the starting point.
There are many more committees to come,”
Granof said.
Suggestions for cutting costs have arisen from
the UT task force including reducing paperwork
and analyzing faculty productivity through post
tenure review.
The A&M Faculty Senate took the opportunity
to discuss ways in which they are interested in
cutting costs of the University. The Faculty Senate
is looking at ways to trim administrative waste
through an allocation of resources, said Tom
Blasingame, A&M Faculty Senate co-chair.
“The journalism department is a good example
of an area in which we did not plan for such sub
stantial growth,” Blasingame said.
The Faculty Senate hopes to avoid problems of
this kind in the future by doing a better job of allo
cating its resources, he said.
A&M’s Faculty Senate is discussing an evalu
ation process through which it hopes to determine
how the staff and faculty spend the majority of
their time and how helpful their work is on each
of the following levels: personal, department, col
lege and University, Blasingame said.
“The fee increase was agreed to as a ‘have-to’
situation,” Blasingame said. “The proceeds will be
used to strengthen the infrastructure of the school.”
Swim’s generosity unmatched
Professor encourages students to help others
B Y Brittany Hooten
the battalion
Three years ago, Keith Swim, a
e ssor at Texas A&M, made a
J U est °f his students: to help a for-
i,, r ,indent’s ailing mother by send-
her get- W eii cards,
wim read the name aloud and
9 stu dents the mother was suffer-
idea h" 11 ^ reast cancer - H e had no
d ‘ tle en ormous response his stu-
den ! s would have.
She still has a dresser drawer full
Sa j^ ar s tBe kids sent to her,” Swim
foor f C c *' n § ^at she received many
Sent e ut k e pt only her favorites. She
Ande 6 rema ‘ n * n g cards to M.D.
Kcvcl^ 11 ^ 0813 ^ 1 ’ where t he y were
hocro ,• ^ 0r tBe children who were
>Wized, Swim said.
m er ^ ln | ^ ee P s in touch with the for-
the ro U ent anc * family who made
“Request.
0 $e^ U J US t can ’t imagine what
Dahr S ^ f° r Ber ” S w im sa id-
ism m ' a ^ >enton ’ a senior journal-
s wim ,aj ° r anc * a Former student of
anybody Sa ' C ' ls willing to help
^bevonHm iS „ h ' S j° b ’ but he goes
a that, Denton said. “He’s
the type of person to say, Tf you
need help, let’s sit down together and
work it out.’”
Swim has lost track of the number
of requests for get-well cards he has
received over the past few years, but
said he has received more than 10
this semester. He said he never knows
how many cards the sick receive, but
his students’ generosity makes him
proud to wear his Aggie ring.
a
It doesn’t happen
very often, hut it
makes the whole thing
worthwhile
— Keith Swim
professor at Texas A&M
He gives all the credit to the stu
dents.
“These are people they don’t even
know. They’ll get their pens out and
write it down. It’s amazing,” he said.
“It just shows you what kids are like
at this place. I might have had the
idea, but they did it, and they came
back and asked to do it again.”
Two weeks ago, after reading
another name in class, a girl brought
a card to Swim after class ended.
“She must have been carrying it
around. It’s amazing,” he said.
A colleague of Swim’s, Senior
Lecturer Lisa Hubacek, said his work
with the cards is indicative of him as
a person.
Hubacek said two years ago she
became pregnant unexpectedly. Her
baby was due in mid-September, but
her fall schedule was already set.
“He volunteered to fill in for me
while I was on maternity leave for no
pay,” Hubacek said.
Swim graduated from Texas
A&M in 1977 with a degree in zool
ogy and wanted to teach after gradu
ation. His parents, both educators,
urged him to attend law school
instead. He continued his education
and earned his law degree from Texas
Tech University in 1980.
Swim began teaching at Texas
A&M in 1989 while practicing law.
Since then, he has scaled down his
See Swim on page 2
Bush Meeting
President Bush meets His Eminence
Archbishop Dementrios, primate of
the Greek Orthodox
America on Monday.
KRT CAMPUS
Church of
IKSID15
Sci|Tech Pg. 6
Making foods
friendlier
New technology kills food
pathogens
Sports Pg. 7
Carry a big stick
Freshman Gregory leading
A&M’s offensive assault
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