Aggielife: One man's trash • Page 3 Forum: Student apathy is hurting A&M • Page 9
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
Volume 110 • Issue 61 • 8 pages JH^HBHHHHHB www * thebattalion net flHHHHHHHHHBB Friday, November 21, 2003
‘We need to move forward’
Anderson: A&M shouldn’t he afraid of change
Panel opens diversity dialogue
By Lauren Smith
THE BATTALION
James Anderson, Texas A&M’s
vice president and associate provost
for institutional assessment and diver
sity, said transformative leadership
will take the University where it needs
to go, speaking to a packed 601
Rudder Conference Center Thursday
morning.
“The higher education institutions
that are really moving forward are the
ones that are not afraid of change,” he
said. “Transformative leadership, not
risk-aversive leadership, allows a
higher education organization to think
and move forward as it needs to. We
need people who don’t patronize, but
are able to empathize.”
Anderson was the keynpte speaker
for the 2003 Higher Education
Diversity Conference. The theme for
this year’s conference is “A Culture of
Excellence: Leadership and Diversity
in Higher Education.”
Anderson moved into A&M’s new
position on Wednesday. He comes to
the University from North Carolina
State University, where he served as
vice provost for undergraduate affairs
and professor of counselor education.
Anderson said he foresees the
future covers of any magazine to fea
turing student leaders from a universi
ty who were formerly combative but
came together.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people
think this office will change diversity
... that is impossible because it is a
shared effort,” Anderson said.
Anderson referred to the University
of Michigan several times throughout
his speech as a place that “took a
stand,” but said he did not want this
University to be a University of
Michigan. Earlier this year, the
Supreme Court ruled that the
University of Michigan could use race
as a factor in admission.
See Anderson on page 2
After putting out a fire at Sausalito Apartments on Harvey
Road Thursday afternoon, firefighters begin their
investigation into what started the fire. The fire damaged
almost eight apartments, four of which were totaled. Two of
the apartments were unoccupied and the rest of the residents
escaped unharmed. The Citizens Assist Response Team has
made arrangements for the residents to receive shelter until
they are relocated or can move back in.
Suicide bomber kills 27 in Istanbul
By Louis Meixler
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Suspected al-Qaida suicide
bombers blew up trucks packed with explosives at the
British consulate and a London-based bank Thursday,
killing at least 27 people and wounding nearly 450. The
twin attacks coincided with President Bush’s state visit
to Britain.
The blasts, just minutes apart, were the worst terrorist
bombings in this Muslim nation’s history, and marked the
second attacks in Turkey to be blamed on al-Qaida this
week. On Saturday, bombers struck two Istanbul syna
gogues, killing 23 people.
Turkey’s security forces were put on highest alert, and
the army briefly deployed soldiers in the streets. Arab and
other world leaders were swift to condemn the bombings in
Turkey, NATO’s only Muslim member and a close ally of
the United States and Israel.
British Consul-General Roger Short and his personal
assistant, Lisa Hallworth, were among the dead.
British Foreign Minister Jack Straw, who rushed to
Istanbul, said he was aware of 13 deaths at the consulate,
including one other Briton. Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler
put the total at 16.
“Once again we are reminded of the evil these terrorists
See Bomber on page 2
rl
wl
John C. Livas • THE BATTALION
James Anderson addressed a full Rudder Auditorium
Thursday night at the Third Annual Texas A&M Diversity
Symposium: An Evening of Dialogue.
By Lauren Smith
THE BATTALION
As diversity consultant
Frances E. Kendall said Thursday
that “no one wants to be tolerated,
but only treated honestly,” the
audience gathered in Rudder
Theater for the Third Annual
Texas A&M Diversity
Symposium broke into applause.
“To say ‘I am going to tolerate
you’ is saying I am better than
you,” Kendall said.
Kendall was on the panel for
the symposium along with James
Anderson, who recently assumed
the position of vice president and
associate provost for institutional
assessment and diversity for the
University; Hector Gutierrez,
A&M’s first Hispanic Corps of
Cadets Commander and business
man and Cynthia Rodriguez-
Rocha, director of diversity for H-
E-B. The moderator for the panel
was Karan Watson, dean of facul
ties and associate provost.
Each panelist made a few introductory
statements before the floor was opened up
for audience questions. Although some
questions were directed to the panel as a
whole, most people were interested in talk
ing to Anderson about his plans.
When Watson pointed out that
Anderson “hasn’t even been here (A&M)
for 48 hours and has already been accused
of many things,” Anderson laughed in
agreement.
“As a new change agent in an institu
tion, one of the things I look for is how that
organization has prepared the community
for the change,” Anderson said. “It is
important to have a real sense of what you
are going into.”
When the question of why diversity is
important on college campuses arose, each
panelist was eager to answer it from their
perspectives.
Gutierrez said Texas is rapidly chang
ing and experiencing an explosion of
minority populations.
“Texas A&M does not reflect the state,
to the extent of the growing Hispanic and
African-American populations,” he said.
“A&M can be a leader in educating this
population, and it is not about quotas but
developing programs to help.”
See Symposium on page 8
Student Senate amends
senator recall process
By Sarah Walch
THE BATTALION
The Student Senate Wednesday amended
the Student Government Association consti
tution so that any student wishing to recall a
senator would have to be a member of that
senator’s constituency and provide a reason
that the senator was not upholding his office.
Lindsey Shanklin, senator and senior
marketing major, said her concerns about
the recall process were addressed by the
amendment. Shanklin said she was con
cerned that the student body could abuse
its power.
“We could potentially face takeovers,”
she said.
Chief Justice of the Judicial Court and
sophomore business major Daniel Jones
said the amendment was intended to ensure
that political ploys would not be able to shut
the Senate down in the future.
Sen. Jared Janacek, a sophomore general
studies major, who had previously ques
tioned the intent of the bill, said he now sup
ported the bill. Janacek said it would protect
the privacy of senators and prevent baseless
recall attempts.
Student Services Chair and junior man
agement major John Mathews said the recall
was the one method guaranteed to the stu
dent body to assure that senators satisfied
their expectations.
“The process is already made to filter out
baseless claims. Mr. (Mark) McCaig’s recall
failed,” Matthews said, referring to an
attempt to recall a senator made by a student
earlier this semester.
Speaker of the Student Senate and junior
philosophy major Matthew Wilkins
announced the formation of the Speaker’s
Task Force for Preserving Aggie Traditions.
Students interested in adding their com
ments about the campus master plan, Texas
A&M’s 50-year plan to improve the layout
of the campus, can add their comments at
the Senate’s Web site.
Wilkins said he encouraged students to
come to the task force’s Nov. 23 meeting at
5:30 p.m. in 205 MSC.
Student senators had already voiced
some concerns to Associate Vice President
for Administration Mary Miller at the Nov. 5
meeting. Senators questioned the absence in
the master plan of a location for a bonfire
and the addition of trees around Simpson
Drill Field, where 51 currently stand to rep
resent those Aggies who lost their lives in
World War I.
Rodney Weis, Transportation Services
director, spoke about trying to make depart
mental improvements. Weis said lot-specific
parking is a key part of his future parking
plan. Weis also said he plans to reduce the
roughly 6,000 reserved spots on campus to
allow more people access to half-empty lots
closer to classes.
Weis said he will make all permits iden
tical except for the lot number.
Weis said the appeals process will remain
in place. He said the Appeals Board for cita
tions is entirely composed of students at this
time, who attempt to review each situation
from the viewpoint of the student and the
officer.
In conjunction with his visit, seven
senators introduced a bill to endorse TS’s
See Senate on page 2
Corps freshmen forbidden to leave residence halls
By C.E. Walters
THE BATTALION
Corps of Cadets Commander Will McAdams issued
a call to quarters for Corps Brass Weekend, an event
that is symbolic of freshmen students’ full acceptance
into the Corps, said Justin Woods, public relations offi
cer for the Corps of Cadets and senior speech commu
nications and English major.
The call to quarters coincides with Student
Bonfire’s scheduled burning of an off-campus bonfire
on Saturday. The call prevents any freshmen from
leaving the their residence halls from 7 p.m. to 10
p.m. on Saturday unless they have a University-
approved excuse.
“Fish may sign out of Call to Quarters only for aca
demic endeavors and events held by official student
organizations,” Woods said in a statement released
Thursday.
Woods said the call to quarters was not intended to
interfere with the off-campus bonfire and that the
Corps of Cadets held last year’s Brass Weekend at the
same time.
“These events for the coming weekend were
planned one year ago,” Woods said in his statement.
“We agree that what students do on their own time is
their own business.”
Woods said the event is the culmination of a six-
week process but is also representative of a semester’s
worth of work.
“All Corps events for the evening would have to
be canceled in order for freshman cadets to have
the opportunity to attend bonfire,” Woods said in
his statement.
Woods later said these events included eating
See Corps on page 8