The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, June 03, 2002, Image 1

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    Sports: Spring sports wrap-up • Page 3 Opinion: Board of Regents controversy • Page 7
Volume 108 • Issue 143 • 8 pages
108 Years Serving Texas A&M University
www.thebatt.com
Monday, June 3, 2002
Board of Regents call emergency meeting
By Christina Hoffman
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M Board of Regents
called an emergency meeting to be held
either this Thursday or Friday in order
to appoint an interim president at
Prairie View A&M University.
At that time, they will also officially
appoint the new president for Texas
A&M University, said Erie Nye,
Chaimian of the Board of Regents.
On May 11, in a special open ses
sion meeting, the Board of Regents
named Robert Gates as the sole presi
dential finalist. In accordance with state
law, the Board needed to wait 21 days
before officially naming Gates as the
next president of Texas A&M.
“We needed to call an emergency
meeting to name an interim president
(at Prairie View A&M), so we decided
to take care of the final decision on
Gates also,” Nye said.
Nye said they will consider and pos
sibly name Dr. Willie Tempton as
interim president of Prairie View.
Tempton is currently serving as
the acting president of Prairie View
and also previously held the position
of vice president for finance and
administration.
Nye also said the meeting will most
likely be a phone conference because of
the difficulty of gathering all the
Regents members on short notice. He
did not confirm whether the meeting
will be held Thursday or Friday, but the
Board will give notice early this week.
“It is pressing that we hold this
emergency conference because we
need to confirm the interim at Prairie
View,” Nye added.
Concerning Texas A&M’s next pres
ident, Nye said it is most likely that
Gates will be named as the next presi
dent of Texas A&M.
Even if Gates is officially named as
the new president this week, he will not
begin service until August 1. Nye said
Gates has other obligations that he must
attend to before permanently beginning
at Texas A&M.
The Board asked President Dr. Ray
M. Bowen to extend his stay until the
end of July, because of Gates’ delay.
Bowen was originally set to step down
from the presidency by June 30.
“The Board asked me to stay until
August, otherwise they would have
needed to appoint an interim,” said
Bowen. “I am not making any major
decisions concerning the University.
If any major decisions arrive I will
talk to Gates about them when he
takes office.”
Bowen said this is only assuming
Gates is named president because
Gates still remains the “sole finalist.”
Bowen is happy with Gates as the
final candidate, but he did not favor one
candidate over another. He said all the
presidential candidates held exceptional
qualifications for the presidency.
“I am pleased with Gates and the
work he did at the Bush School,”
Bowen said. “To be fair to all the can
didates, I did not favor Gates over any
other candidate, we had several top
notch candidates.”
Prairie View president
retires after agreement
By Melissa Sullivan
THE BATTALION
Emerging from the shadows of law
suits and controversies, Charles A.
Hines, president of Prairie View A&M
University, announced his retirement
after eight years as president effective
September 1, 2002.
“1 have been talking with Dr. Hines
for sometime about the future of Prairie
View,” said Howard
Graves, Chancellor
of the Texas A&M
University system.
“In May we had
some focused discus
sions about his future
and those discussions
led to an agreement
he would retire. We
provided him a fair
band generous retirement agreement.”
Hines had a shaky tenure at Prairie
I View, where he frequently disagreed
I with faculty members who claimed he
[ retaliated against them for criticizing
i his administration policies.
Last year he was sued by physics
[ professor Dr. Dennis Judd, who
I accused Hines of retaliation for efforts
I to have him fired and for causing Judd
| to lose .a $673,000 U.S. Energy
I Department grant.
I In April, six current and former
employees of Prairie View A&M
a University filed a discrimination law-
I suit alleging they were punished for
criticizing Hines.
HINES
Hines’ administration has undergone
a major transformation since he first
became president in 1994. Among his
many achievements, Hines cites an
increase in student enrollment from
5,400 to more than 6,800, an increase
in the university’s endowment from $4
million to nearly $30 million and built,
at no expense to taxpayers, a $38 mil
lion housing complex that can accom
modate about 60 percent of the on-cam
pus population.
“Dr. Hines has provided leadership
to Prairie View A&M University for
almost eight years, nearly twice as long
as the average university president’s
term,” Graves said. “I am grateful for
his dedicated service to the Texas A&M
system and wish the best for him and
his family in his retirement.”
Hines and Graves signed an agree
ment on May 18, indicating that Hines,
the regents and officials of the system
and university may not make “critical
or detrimental” remarks about each
other in private or public forums. Any
future claims by private parties will be
waived as well.
In addition, Hines will be paid
$400,000 in a separation agreement
with the Texas A&M system.
As president, Hines earned an annu
al salary of $176,000 a year and
received a $40,000 housing allowance
for his home in Houston, A&M system
spokesperson Ann Kellett said.
See Hines on page 2
Moving in
RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION
Preparing to organize his belongings, Danny Davis, a ing at Schuhmacher hall for the first and second sum-
senior physics major, unloads the last of his things in mer school sessions. Students began moving in this
his new dorm room on Friday afternoon. He will be liv- past weekend for the first five week summer school ses-
Indian, Pakistani leaders head
for summit, peace talks unlikely
NEW DELHI, India (AP) — As the Indian
and Pakistani leaders headed to a summit where
they are unlikely to talk peace — or even talk at
all — India’s defense minister said Sunday that
his nation will not be “impulsive” and sought to
ease fears of a nuclear war.
U.N. staffers in India and Pakistan have been
ordered to send their families home, while the
United States and other countries have advised
their citizens to leave amid fears that the stand-
Nuclear war within reach
/ With India and Pakistan both possessing nuclear weapons
S and the means to deliver them great distances, any conflict
f \ could quickly escalate, resulting in millions of deaths in both
countries.
1,550 ml.
112 ml.
ITT1I||M : . -iso mi.
i 372 mi
%:?//
Missile
ranges:
—* — India
—- — Pakistan
• Cities over
500.000
A gni 1 Agni 2 Prithvi 1 Prithvi 2 i Hatf 2 Hatf 3 Hatf 4 Hatf S
69.3 66 28.2
2,200 2,200 1,760
1,550 2,170 93
495 330 165
INDIA
"Single warhead ""up to 1,650 lbs.
26.2 I 28 33
1,100** i 1,100 1.100
155 i 112 180
248 I 660 n/a
39.6
2.200
372
660
52.5
2.640
930
8.250
PAKISTAN
SOURCES: Associated Press: Pakistan Armed Forces; Jane's information Group
off— punctuated by daily shelling and gunfire
across the line that divides Kashmir — could
escalate into war between the nuclear-armed
neighbors.
Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes,
speaking at a security conference in Singapore,
assured the world his country “will not be
impulsive” despite what he called heavy public
pressure for military action against Pakistan,
which India accuses of responsibility for
attacks on its soil.
“We don’t see the makings of any kind of an
escalation that takes one to the extreme,” said
Fernandes, who reiterated India’s pledge to
avoid first use of nuclear weapons. “There is no
way India will ever use a nuclear weapon other
than as a deterrent,” he said.
Pakistan, which has a smaller military, has
not ruled out a first strike, but Pakistani
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in an inter
view with CNN on Saturday, said that no “sane
individual” would let tensions between the two
nations escalate into a nuclear war.
Musharraf has said for months he wants dia
logue with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, but Vajpayee says he will not hold talks
until Pakistan puts an end to cross-border attacks
earned out by Islamic militants based in Pakistan.
Fernandes said a meeting between
Musharraf and Vajpayee at a summit that starts
Monday in Almaty, Kazakhstan is not possible.
“I do not see that possibility at all, because if
there is to be any kind of talking then the cross-
border terrorism has to stop forthwith,” he said
in an interview with The Associated Press.
Most of the cross-border attacks are in
Kashmir, a divided Himalayan province
claimed in its entirety by both India and
Pakistan.
Hopgood retires, candidates
coming to campus this week
By Christina Hoffman
THE BATTALION
Two prominent candidates for the 38th position
of Commandant of the Corps of Cadets will be
interviewing on Texas A&M’s campus during the
next two weeks. Maj. Gen. M.T. Hopgood offi
cially retired from his position as the 37th com
mandant last Friday.
Lt. Gen. John Van Alstyne, Class of 1966 will
be on campus this week meeting with the selection
committee, faculty, students and Corps personnel.
He currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Military Personnel Policy in
Washington, D.C.
Lt. Gen. Randolph House, Class of 1967, will
arrive the week of June 10-14, said Major Doc
Mills, spokesperson for the Office of the
Commandant. House recently retired from the
U.S. Army in 2000.
One of these two finalists will most likely be
named as the 38th commandant during the sum
mer, said a spokesperson from the Department of
Student Affairs. Dr. Wynn Rosser, assistant vice
president for the Department of Student Affairs
was not available for comment.
Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president of student
See Commandant on page 2
New band director announced
By Don White
THE BATTALION
The Fightin’ Texas Aggie
Band will march to the beat of a
slightly different drum this fall.
Dr. Timothy Rhea was
announced as the Director of
University Bands in a press con
ference on May 21.
Rhea is the fifth permanent
band director and succeeds
Col. Ray Toler, who announced
his retirement in November
2001. Toler served as band
director for 14 years. Rhea has
served with the Aggie Band for
10 years, including briefly
serving as the assistant director
of university bands.
Rhea said that he plans no
major changes in the Aggie
Band, but he would like to start
a push towards improving the
band’s facilities.
“When you possess the great
reputation
this band pro
gram enjoys,
you must
work hard to
maintain
those things
that have
made you
successful in rhea
the past,”
Rhea said. “Although there are
always small improvements that
can be made in any organiza
tion, I am not aware of any
major changes that need to take
place in our current band pro
gram.”
Two other directors, Lt. Col.
Jay Brewer and Lt. Paul Sikes,
will continue their service to the
Aggie Band, he said.
“Although I will be the direc
tor of the Aggie Band, we
approach that group as a team
effort,” Rhea said.
Dr. Bill Kibler, associate vice
president for student affairs,
served as co-chair for the com
mittee that chose Rhea. He said
that Rhea brought the most
comprehensive package of
experience and academic skills
to the position.
See Rhea on page 2