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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2002)
Sports: Cardinals mourn death of pitcher • Paqe 3 Opinion: MTV deserves to be sued • Page 7 THF RATTAT TON ou Volume 108 Issue 155 • 8 pages 108 Years Serving Texas A&M University www.thebatt.com Monday, June 24, 2002 T? Kollmai } ER CC’s of! phrase ass t'ncy root an checks found out i, finally,ci he Office o! Advi 'i&M, stud still be w their Met UPD investigation finds no criminal hazing By Christina Hoffman THE BATTALION Brazos County Attorney Jim Kuboviak reviewed the University Police Department’s (UPD) prelimi nary investigation results stemming from allegations of hazing involving Corps of Cadets members of A- Battery and decided against any crim inal charges, said Bob Wiatt, director of UPD. The University will continue the investigation in order to determine if the hazing incident was in violation of any University rules. Wiatt said. UPD began an investigation June 17 after photographs of Corps members, found on the Aggieland computer serv er June 11, showed a man being stripped, blindfolded and duct taped. Wiatt said Kuboviak reviewed the photos and preliminary results and determined that the hazing incident was not a criminal matter. The preliminary investigation included interviews with eight people who indicated consensual action with no injuries or complaints, Wiatt said. “There were no elements of criminal hazing,” Wiatt said. “[Criminal hazing] either has to be against a person’s will or cause injury.” The investigation also found that the pictures were taken during two separate incidents on April 3 and 22, Wiatt said. The investigation also found the incidents of April 3 and 22 to be com pletely separate from another incident in late April when authorities caught several juniors from the Aggie Band in Hensel Park with sophomores blind folded and their hands duct taped behind their backs. Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. J. Malon Southerland said the University will begin its investigation next week after UPD turns over the case. “The case investigation will be handled by the Department of Student Life and the student conflict resolu tion center with a representative from the Commandant’s office,” Southerland said. The University will issue charge let ters and conduct hearings as needed during the investigation, he said. The University Student Rules list a detailed definition of hazing on- or off- campus and any sanctions involved from a violation of the rules. Southerland said he cannot specu late on what sanctions may or may not be issued because there is great varia tion in the rules and punishments. on series. :lief is e only prc not. Tla Vet Schoo iany other- &M Stud: lal school Medicine try' Tej; be obtains pamphlets s about d to taki ssional $c : ilso he anal skillsl ■ a better id in a prol personal" alk in fro- mpassion:. the jor ark on. reports c A and Ilf i out r ; n AhL Flight training RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION Certified flight instructor and senior economics major Jordan Hans steps into a multi-engine Piper Seneca at the Easterwood airport in College Station. Hans trains future pilots with the Piper Seneca and other entry level planes such as a Cessna 172. Administrators want dismissal from federal Bonfire lawsuits against them Staff & Wire Reports , Texas A&M University ladministrators want to be dis- jmissed from federal lawsuits jfiled against them in response to Ithe 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse. I However, the plaintiffs say the ladministrators should not be Ireleased because they deliberate- jly placed students in harm’s way. I The recent court filings will jbe considered by a federal judge jin Galveston who is reviewing Iwhether six wrongful death and jinjury lawsuits can proceed against A&M administrators, including outgoing President Dr. Ray M. Bowen and four other school officials. A ruling is expected by the end of next month. The Bryan-College Station Eagle reported Sunday. Plaintiffs in some of the law suits say A&M administrators intentionally limited their over sight of the project and its design to avoid legal liability for any accident. “Knowing they had put star ry-eyed students in charge of this dangerous campus project, the defendants deliberately pro vided no supervision,” the plaintiffs claim. The administrators’ defense attorneys claim collapse vic tims’ families cannot prove their claims and that school officials are immune from the lawsuits. The Bonfire tradition was sus pended after 12 Aggies died and 27 others were injured when the massive 59-foot, wedding cake- style stack of more than 5,000 logs collapsed on Nov. 18, 1999 as students worked to construct it. The lawsuits name Bowen, J. Malon Southerland, the schools’ vice president for student affairs; John Koldus, former vice president for student affairs and Russell Thompson and William Kibler, both of whom worked as Bonfire advisers. Bowen said he and the other administrators involved in the lawsuit were advised by their lawyers not to comment on any issues concerning the legal proceedings. The lawsuits also name for mer red pots and top student leaders as defendants. The Texas Attorney See Lawsuits on page 2 THEYf an is g° i: 13 years / Junior H Student Counseling Services offers new workshop for new students, parents •s to We* be li veS ears oW- ;ing s in Ho u> ‘ te is y you n g° eS School’ turns 1- “If i!ive : Walters r r )f journal'' lntemati f By Ruth Ihde THE BATTALION The Student Counseling Services (SCS) will be offering an Open House this summer to students attending the New Student Conferences. Every Monday and Wednesday, the SCS will start a new work shop for new students and their parents. This will allow the students and parents to be introduced to the center and receive information regarding the benefits and services of the center, said Dr. Maggie Olona, the director of SCS and a counsel ing psychologist. The workshop is two days long and was designed to make the students feel comfort able with coming to the center whenever they need help with their first year at Texas A&M, she said. The SCS is also starting a new transition group for freshmen to discuss issues in stu dents' lives and how they can ease the shift from high school to college. Olona said the goal of the Student Counseling Service is to assist students in achieving as much success as possible while attending A&M. Olona said the SCS stays in tune with the students’ changing concerns through email, the suggestion box located in the center, or general issues that are discussed with the volunteers at the center. The SCS tries to provide help with cur rent issues as well, such as deaths of family or friends, rape and other crisis situations. “Providing direct service is the number one thing,” Olona said, “We try to stay responsive to what’s happening.” In order to improve the SCS this fall, it is trying to hire staff with doctorate degrees, she said. However, personal counseling is not the only service offered by the SCS. The SCS also provides help with choos ing a major, study skills improvement, career planning and crisis intervention. The SCS will also offer a new computer program called Pinpoint. Olona said. The Pinpoint software is designed to aid students in finding potential interests regarding college and careers. The program is set up to look like the inside of an airplane, and students listen to conversations going on among passengers on the plane. The computer makes suggestions on what the student may be interested in based on where the student chooses to sit and whom they choose to sit by. The SCS also offers the Discovery pro gram, which helps students learn about fields they might enjoy. The program is designed like a building with different halls for students to enter, Olona said. Each hall represents a different option students can choose to learn about them selves, which occupation they might enjoy, the education plan that is best for them and their plans for work. Based on which hall they choose, the user is asked specific multiple choice ques tions which are interpreted by the computer to give the students an idea of what they will benefit most from, Olona said. New Commandant for Corps named By Jessi Watkins THE BATTALION Lt. Gen. John A. Van Alstyne, Class of 1966, was named the 38th Commandant for Texas A&M’s Corps of Cadets on Thursday afternoon. Van Alstyne, currently the deputy assistant secretary of defense for military personnel policy, will succeed Maj. Gen. Ted Hopgood. Hopgood retired May 31 after serving six years as Commandant. Van Alstyne said after work ing in the Army for 36 years, the only thing that could take him away from his current position is serving as the Commandant at Texas A&M. “I feel I can make a contribu tion to this University,” Van Alstyne said. “I am overcome with excitement and invigorated to work with |A&M students].” Van Alstyne said he intends to push the Corps to focus on “basic leadership, recruiting, retention and convincing young Americans that being part of the A&M system will push them towards their goals.” “The search committee had extensive interviews with both individuals during the course of three days of interviewing,” said Texas A&M Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. J. Malon Southerland. “We had two terrif ically outstanding candidates. “General Van Alstyne was offered the position. We look forward to his leadership and new perspective.” Van Alstyne will arrive on campus approximately two weeks 2002 semester begins and before the Corps resumes full operations. Southerland said the exact date Van Alstyne will assume his new duties has yet to be final- Van Alstyne graduated from A&M with a degree in business administration. He received his masters of science in military science from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in 1975 and later received his masters of art from the U.S. Naval War College in national security and strategic studies in 1986. As deputy assistant secretary of defense for military person nel, he established and com manded the Department of See Corps on page 2 before the Fall VAN ALSTYNE Faculty, staff survey results now available By Lauren Bauml THE BATTALION The 2001 Faculty and Staff Work Life Satisfaction Surveys (WLSS) are now available to the public via the Internet. 7 The Office of the Dean of Faculties and Human Resource Department have joined with the Computing and Information Services and Office of Measurement and Research to produce a survey so the faculty, professional and support staff of Texas A&M can voice opinions concerning needed reform on campus. The overall consensus, which stems from a similar survey administered in 1999, is that A&M is not holding the strong minority faculty members needed to diversify its staff, said Dr. Karen Watson, dean of faculties. '4 She said there is a growing number of uncomfortable work environments being produced. Thirteen percent of current staff and faculty members cited an experience of discrimination within the past year, compared to 12 percent in 1999. y ^ Less than 50 percent of faculty and staff members feel minori ties are respected by peers, students and the administration. This creates a building obstacle when recruiting minority staff mem bers, Watson said. “Only 16 percent of those surveyed felt A&M did not need to increase the number of minority faculty members.” said Watson. "The University is not specifically to blame, but rather the community.” „ It is a shame because A&M is losing the option of having respected faculty and staff members, she said. Watson said both the faculty and staff departments received two increasingly personalized surveys, which focused on the level of satisfaction with regard to a range of issues that are important in the recruitment and retention of faculty and staff members. The results of 1999 differed from those of 2001 with only minor, upward shifts in general satisfaction with pay, balancing family and professional life and choosing to stay in their current position at A&M. “(Otherwise) the aspects of the survey that people were dis satisfied with in 1999 are still found to be problems in 2001,” Watson said. It is difficult to determine what has and has not changed because each change is done by department, Watson said. This j survey will help determine any necessary reform across the j entire campus. j
