IATTMi
^ ^ Wednesday, June 23, 2004
he Battalion
)lume 110 • Issue 157 • 6 pages
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
SPORTS:
Get a recap of the
Texas Aggie baseball
team’s 2004 season.
Page 3
www.thebatt.com
PAGE DESIGN BY: RACHEL VALENCIA
1 \
U d
^8cM Faculty Senate names Fike speaker-elect
By Chelsea L. Sledge
THE BATTALION
John Fike, speaker-elect of the Texas A&M
F|iulty Senate, has led an interesting life. He
w rked at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in
Clpe Canaveral, was employed by NASA in the
BdOs when man first landed on the moon and he
lo es riding trains.
“Last spring break, we took the Freshman
* Maming Committee to London,” said Martha
Loudder, former speaker of the
Faculty Senate and accounting
professor. “And all he did was
ride the trains!”
Fike, an associate professor
for the Department of
Engineering Technology and
Industrial Distribution, was
recently named the first speaker-
elect of the A&M Faculty Senate.
Next year, Fike will serve as speaker of the
FIKE
Faculty Senate. In addition to presiding over
meetings, this title deems the speaker a represen
tative of the entire A&M faculty.
There are three components of the University
— the faculty, the administration and the student
body. The Faculty Senate is similar to the Texas
Legislature in that proportional numbers of fac
ulty representing each college make up the
Senate. The Student Senate and the Faculty
Senate make recommendations to the adminis
tration, which is the governing body of the
University.
“We are very fortunate in that we have an
administration that believes in shared govern
ment,” Fike said. “They don’t always make the
decisions we like, but at least they’re good about
listening.”
The Faculty Senate deals with issues such as
parking, salaries, standards for grading and new
courses and degree programs. Most importantly,
See Senate on page 2
Cheer up!
DAVE MORRIS • THE BATTALION
ol Over 600 junior high and high school cheerleaders from around the state Association. During the camp's weeklong run, the cheerleading squads
s wel gather at the Texas A&M Student Recreational Center basketball courts divide into intermediate, advanced and elite classes based on the squads'
■ vill Tuesday for a cheerleading camp put on by the Universal Cheerleading skill level,
rvicenf 1
A&M health school
gets accreditation
By Shawn C. Millender
THE BATTALION
After a five-year evaluation
process, the Texas A&M
School of Rural Public Health
received full accreditation
from the Council on Education
for Public Health.
The process began in 1999,
and the school was granted pre
accreditation status in 2001.
The school is now one of 36
public health schools accredit
ed by the organization and the
only accredited school of rural
public health in the nation.
The school’s goal is to
improve the health of commu
nities with an emphasis on
TEXAS A&M SCHOOL OF
rural and underserved popula
tions, according to the school’s
Web site.
The accreditation will last
for seven years, the maximum
duration granted. CEPH
accreditation is an endorse
ment that adds value for grad
uates, prospective students,
the school and prospective
employers.
Dr. Nancy Dickey, president
of the Texas A&M Health
Science Center and vice chan
cellor for health affairs, said
she was proud of the school.
“This is a superb recognition
of how hard and effectively the
See Health on page 2
RURAL PUBLIC HEALTH
Received full accreditation from the Council on Education
or Public Health.
-The evaluation process took five years
-A&M now has the only accredited
school of rural public health in
the nation
-The school's research dollars have 1
increased to $6 million annually
-The accreditation will last for seven
years, the maximum duration granted
T
Will Lloyd • THE BATTALION
Source: GIRO SUMAYA, DEAN, SCHOOL OF RPH
Brian Wills • THE BATTALION
/thor Harold I. Gullen signs copies of his book, "First Fathers" in the rotunda of the
orge Bush Presidential Library.
‘First Fathers’ know best for their sons
By Suzy Green
THE BATTALION
The main characteristic that fathers
of United States presidents have in com
mon is their pursuit of happiness, said
Harold Gullen, author of “First Fathers:
The Men Who Inspired Our Presidents,”
Tuesday at the Bush Museum Issues
Forum to an audience of 50 people.
“First fathers care more about high
achievement than politics or high
office,” said Gullen, who recently
appeared on C-SPAN’s “Book T.V.”
The fathers of presidents are diverse
in background and social class, but all
of them inspired and motivated their
sons in different forms, Gullen said.
“I can’t think of any father who did
n’t make some contribution in some
way to his son,” he said.
Even the worst fathers, such as those of
presidents Fillmore, Clinton and Lincoln,
influenced their sons, Gullen said.
For example, former President
Grant’s unimpressive father forced him
to go to West Point, a decision that led
to a much better life than Grant would
have had otherwise, Gullen said.
The only father who specifically
wanted his son to become president was
Joseph Kennedy, Gullen said. However,
Kennedy’s second oldest son, John, was
actually his third choice to take the
position after himself and his oldest
son, Joe, failed to achieve it.
Many presidents greatly respected
their fathers.
Reagan declared his father, a shoe
salesman, the strongest man of principle
he had ever met, Gullen said.
Jefferson saw his father as the exam
ple of what he wanted the new republic
of the United States to be, Gullen said.
Gullen is the author of other books,
including “Faith of Our Mothers,”
which is about the mothers of American
presidents.
iOard reviews A&M s performance
By Natalie Younts
THE BATTALION
The Texas Legislative Budget Board is
jommissioning a review of Texas A&M to
pjll gather opinions of students, faculty, staff
and alumni on the University’s manage
ment and performance.
MGT of America Inc., a national higher
ducation consulting firm, is conducting
ti e review. As part of the review, MGT
held an open forum from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Ifuesday in Room 301 of Rudder Tower.
Seven notepads, each labeled with a dif
ferent category, were posted on the walls of
Bie room, where markers were available for
writing comments.
Alvin Larke, professor of agricultural
jducation, wrote his comment with an
range marker on a pad titled “University
vemance and Leadership.”
“Someone really needs to be accountable
)r the hiring of faculty,” Larke wrote, “You
nnot depend on search advisory commit-
es. They are composed of the majority
race and they seek to hire their own.”
The open forum was just one part of the
review, which began May 15, said Mary
McKeown-Moak, MGT project director for
the A&M review.
She said student focus groups will be
chosen by the vice president for student
affairs. The students will be asked about
class availability, their experience at
A&M and whether A&M is contributing
to their success.
“We definitely want to get more student
input than we had today (at the forum),”
McKeown-Moak said.
A&M President Robert M. Gates, vice
presidents, deans, department chairs and
other administrators will also be inter
viewed, she said.
“We’re asking them about how their
offices function and how decisions are
made and how resources are allocated,”
she said.
McKeown-Moak said MGT is
See Board on page 2
Suicide attempts at prison came
after new general takes charge
By Matt Kelley
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Three
months after a get-tough general took
command of the Guantanamo Bay
prison for terror suspects, prisoners
began a flurry of suicide attempts,
according to military records.
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller took
over as commander at Guantanamo
in November 2002 after interroga
tors criticized his predecessor for
being too solicitous for the
detainees’ welfare.
Between January and March
2003, 14 prisoners at Guantanamo
tried to kill themselves, according
to Pentagon figures. That’s more
than 40 percent of the 34 suicide
attempts by 21 inmates since the
prison was opened in January 2002.
Our concern is that
the totality of the
conditions at
Guantanamo ... may
have... pushed people
to attempt suicide.
— Alistair Hodgett
member, Amnesty International
Miller is now in charge of all mil
itary-run U.S. prisons in Iraq, a job
he took after news broke of beatings
and sexual humiliations last fall at
the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
Miller had visited Abu Ghraib in
August and September and recom
mended interrogation techniques
that military lawyers said had to be
modified to comply with the
Geneva Conventions on treating
prisoners of war.
Human rights groups say the sui
cide attempts at Guantanamo Bay
may be evidence that conditions
there amounted to torture.
The Bush administration calls
the men “enemy combatants,” sim
ilar to traditional prisoners of war
but not subject to the guarantees of
the Geneva Conventions against
torture and other abuses. The
administration contends their treat
ment nevertheless is humane.
“Our concern is that the totality
of the conditions at Guantanamo —
starting with the prolonged detention
See Suicide on page 2