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Accielife: Outdoor theaters provide summer fun • Page 3 Opinion: Title IX bad for A&M men's soccer • Page 9
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olume 108 • Issue 146 • 10 pages
108 Years Serving Texas A&M University
www.thebatt.com
Thursday, June 6, 2002
Field trip
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Christopher Knudsen, 5, and sister Laura
Knudsen, 4, perform operations on a life-
size electronic human body at the Children's
RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION
Museum of the Brazos Valley in downtown
Bryan. They were on a field trip with their
class from the Brazos Christian School.
Faculty senate responds
Proposal regarding Zey’s dismissal on agenda
By Don White
THE BATTALION
A proposal deciding the
Faculty Senate’s response to the
dismissal of tenured professor Dr.
Mary Zey because of plagiarism
will be on the agenda in hopes for
a resolution at its meeting
Monday.
Zey, a professor of agricultural
economics, was initially fired
after a University Investigation
Committee concluded she pub
lished information belonging to
faculty member Harland Prechel
and former faculty member John
Boies and attempted a cover-up.
That decision was reversed in
April when University President
Dr. Ray M. Bowen decided to
accept the recommendation of the
Committee on Academic
Freedom, Responsibility and
Tenure (CAFRT) not to fire Zey.
According to A&M rules, the
CAFRT has limitations to deter
mine whether or not a dismissal is
for a good cause. In March,
Senators amended the rules to
hold CAFRT members to a high
er standard and underscore the
extent of committee’s duties.
The proposal was originally
brought before the Senate at the
May ninth meeting but was sent
back to the executive committee
to be rewritten after objections
from Senate members.
Barbara Finlay, associate pro
fessor of sociology and senator
from the College of Liberal Arts,
said she agreed with the spirit of
the resolution but felt it was too
rushed and lacked the proper
background information to make
a valid decision.
“In my opinion, there was pla
giarism and Bowen admitted it
occurred, so he shouldn’t exoner
ate a person that commits that
since faculty members should be
held to high standards for aca
demic honesty,” she said. “But the
resolution itself was not well-
crafted.”
At the time, she felt the dis
cussion was going too fast and
motioned to table the proposal
until more information could
become available, she said.
Executive committee member
Michael L. Greenwald said the
committee put a lot of thought
and effort into the proposal and
was very sympathetic to Bowen’s
predicament of having to decide
Zey’s fate based on two commit
tee reports that were not com
pletely in agreement with each
other. He said he felt the proposal
was a compromise most people
can accept.
“We are absolutely committed
to academic integrity,” he said.
Greenwald felt the Senate
needed to make a statement since
the rest of the nation is watching
to see how the situation is han
dled, he said.
The ad hoc CAFRT committee
recommended amendments to the
University rules’ procedures for
See Senate on page 2
Commandant nominee
speaks at Forsyth Gallery
Tuition hike causes burden
By Kevin Espenlaub
THE BATTALION
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inancial demands placed on
esented faniilies, new fee increases are
in halft essential to increasing the
i securii)services and continuing the
ring, thei;academic progress of Texas
r guarW&M University, according to
externtuniversity officials.
genceaK The Academic Enhancement
unit- lee, set to take effect in the fall,
lei Razaijwill increase student tuition by
negotiatolpo per semester hour for all
nander ostudents who did not attend
ion AnrjA&M prior to or during the
;w secunjppring semester of 2002.
i officialf The increasing tuition rate
idition cfcontinues a trend of rising
costs at A&M. Tuition has
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increased over $5,000 during
the past three years for an aver
age student to attend a year of
schooling at the University.
According to the Texas
A&M financial website and
Director of University
Relations Cynthia Lawson, the
average cost for attending one
full year of school in the 1999-
2000 school year was $8,150
for a Texas resident. The esti
mated cost of one year in the
2002-2003 school year will top
$13,300.
These figures include
tuition, housing, food, trans
portation and other living
expenses, said Lawson.
“We are obviously con
cerned about the cost of educa
tion for all of our students,”
said Texas A&M Vice
President for Finance Bill
Krumm. “At the same time, we
have to move forward with our
University and the services we
provide. We cannot control all
of the factors that contribute to
what a year costs because there
are several instances, such as
housing and books, that the
University has no say in.”
The funds collected from
the fee are expected to con
tribute $8.8 million to A&M’s
revenue next year, of which
roughly 10 percent is expected
to be transferred to student
financial aid for graduate and
See Tuition on page 2
By Lauren Bauml
THE BATTALION
Unlike Maj. Gen. M.T. Hopgood, 07th
Commandant of the Corps of Cadets, who empha
sized his motto of “recruit, retain, and graduate,” Lt.
Gen. Van Alstyne said he wants to bring the Corps
into a more integrated position among student life.
Van Alstyne, one of two candidates for the 38th
Commandant of the Corps of Cadets, spoke Wednesday
afternoon regarding his candidacy for the position left
void after Hopgood’s retirement on May 31.
Van Alstyne, Class of 1966, currently serves as
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military
Personnel Policy in Washington, D.C. After serving
in the U.S. Army for 36 years, he feels the only thing
that could pull him away from his current position is
Commandant at Texas A&M.
He wants to continue his goal to make a contri
bution to his family, students in the Corps and youth
of America, and feels being the Commandant at
A&M will allow him to do this. He said his pur
suance of the position is with the purest of heart, and
he has “no ulterior agenda.”
“I feel I can make a contribution to this
University. I am overcome with excitement and
invigorated to work with [A&M students],” he said.
Van Alstyne said every Corps member should pos
sess three traits — understanding of self and pure
heart, consideration of every opinion but ability to
make tough decisions in times of crisis, and being
able to focus on the leadership development of others.
He said leadership development is the course of
choice for youth in Texas, and A&M has potential
to have an edge in leadership development.
Van Alstyne also said he intends to push the
future of the Corps to focus on “basic leadership
recruiting, retention, and convincing young
RANDAL FORD - THE BATTALION
Lt. Gen. John Van Alstyne speaks at an open
forum at the Forsyth Gallery about being a candi
date for Commandant of Corps.
Americans that being part of the A&M system will
push them towards their goals.”
He added that in order for the Corps to be suc
cessful keepers of the Spirit, they must realize the
intentions and needs of those they are preserving the
Spirit for.
oventry takes office, wants to bring unity to A&M community
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BRIAN RUFF • THE BATTALION
student at the Memorial
< S- pZ ZLs diversity to A&M.
By Jessi Watkins
THE BATTALION
During his term as student body pres
ident, Zac Coventry, a senior agricultur
al development major, said he hopes to
develop a sense of unity among the stu
dent body of Texas A&M University.
“My number one priority is to bring
the diversity of individuals we have
here at A&M together as a family,”
Coventry said.
Coventry hopes to accomplish this
primarily through the Fall Activities
Council (FAC), he said.
In April, students were given a survey,
sponsored by FAC, listing several
options being considered to take the
place of Bonfire in the fall.
The main event will be the Bonfire
Skills Challenge, a series of activities in a
field day-type event Wednesday before the
Texas A&M-Texas game, Coventry said.
“It is a day of competition with a fes
tival atmosphere. There will be bands
playing and that night we would try to
bring in a big name band,” he said.
Coventry said he will also use a tra
ditions partnership to accomplish his
goal of student body unity.
“We brought groups together to dis
cuss traditions, the goal being to have
consistency among the traditions we
profess,” he said. “For example, there is
a debate on the exact date that Muster
began.”
Coventry said he also plans on help
ing the new University president adjust
to Texas A&M and make sure student
concerns are heard by the new president.
“One issue on the horizon is the new
university president,” Coventry said.
“One of my priorities is working with
Dr. Gates, when he is appointed, on his
transition to the university and voicing
student opinions and passions to him.”
One way to accomplish this is to have
more access to the student body, such as
an easy-to-find link on the web, he said.
Coventry also voiced his concerns on
the challenge students face with the
future of Bonfire.
“I think the most important charac
teristic about Bonfire is it brought
Aggies together,” he said. “It brought
current students and former students
together.”
Coventry said Aggies should not
divide into groups of different opinions.
Instead, he said, they should work
together to bring Bonfire back in the
future.
“I think an off-campus Bonfire would
be counter productive to the unity of the
student body. I do understand the pas
sion of those involved with Bonfire, but
it was based on unity.”
Coventry said he plans to take the
approach of, “All that matters is what we
do as a team,” in his interaction with the
student body.
“I’m an external type of leader. If I’ve
been chosen to serve people I should be
out there with the people, not in my
office,” he said.
Coventry hopes while he serves as
president people will see how A&M is
unique compared to other Universities.
“My philosophy is the characteris
tic that sets A&M apart from many of
the colleges in the nation is our peo
ple. Our academics, athletics, and the
services we offer our students are first
class,” Coventry said. “But what really
sets us apart is the people. At Texas
A&M people go out of their way to
make people feel at home. It’s about
teamwork and making us feel like we
are part of a family.”