University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, September 4, 1992 Page: 1 of 6
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Lamar University.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
'No confidence/ claims Faculty Senate
^Separate resolutions name chancellor, regents; faculty vote by Tuesday
i By Michael Wright
UP staff writer
*
In a rare but not unprecedented
move in higher education, the
*- Lamar-Beaumont Faculty Senate on
u Wednesday passed a resolution stat-
ing its lack of confidence in the
► Board of Regents of the Lamar
, University System and a second res-
olution expressing its lack of confi-
* dence in the leadership of
t Chancellor George McLaughlin.
The vote on each resolution was
* almost unanimous, with 27 in favor
* of the resolution concerning the
board (2 opposing and 1 abstaining),
and 27 in favor of the resolution con-
cerning the chancellor (1 opposing
and 2 abstaining).
“The Faculty Senate did discuss
what we consider a crisis in academic
leadership,” said Kathleen Murray,
Senate president. “We feel very
strongly that we do not have suffi-
cient, experienced academic leader-
ship at the present time."
The Senate also resolved to put
the two resolutions up for vote of all
full-time faculty. Endorsed ballots
must be returned to the senator in
each college by noon Tuesday. If a
majority of the faculty voting
respond affirmatively, the resolu-
tions will be sent to state officials in
the hope that they can help resolve
some of the problems the faculty per-
ceives to be present at Lamar.
Murray said that these officials
include the governor, lieutenant gov-
ernor, speaker of the Texas house,
the chairman of the higher education
committees in both the Texas house
and senate, the commisioner of high-
er education, the chairman of the
Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board, Sen. Carl Parker
and local state representatives, the
Council of State University
Chancellors and Presidents, the
COFGO State Office' and presidents
of other Texas university senates, the
state office of the Texas Association
of College Teachers, and the
Chronicle of Higher Education.
By putting these resolutions
before state officials, Murray said,
faculty hopes to force an investiga-
tion that could solve the problems
Lamar faces regarding academic
leadership and campus autonomy.
In responding to the Faculty
Senate action Wednesday,
McLaughlin said in a prepared state-
At press time, Chancellor
George McLaughlin was
meeting with the Academic
Council of Deans.
ment that there was no problem with
academic leadership on the
Beaumont campus. “It is unfortu-
nate,” McLaughlin said, “that some
faculty feel there is not sufficient
academic leadership. Along with a
capable interim president, Brock
Brentlinger, ... I feel the deans and
Idoux says ousting due to
his refusal to pay Barbre
By Michael Wright
UP staff writer
- John Idoux said that he was fired
from his post as executive vice presi-
dent of Academic Affairs and
Student Services because he refused
to sanction the payment of $10,000
.to former women’s basketball coach
;A1 Barbre. Idoux also said that on
-March 18 he was told he would not
-be functioning with the full respon-
sibilities of his office, but was asked
by Interim President W. Brock
Brentlinger to resume the execution
of that office with the approval of
Chancellor George McLaughlin.
Barbre resigned under pressure in
April 1991 after being confronted
• with allegations of NCAA rules vio-
lations. He was paid the $10,000 last
spring.
Idoux, who filed a lawsuit against
Lamar Tuesday alleging violations of
his constitutional rights, said he was
approached by McLaughlin after
assuming the office of interim presi-
dent with a request to authorize the
$10,000 for Barbre.
“The first time it was mentioned
-to' me, my response was ‘I don’t
- understand,”’ Idoux said.
Idoux said McLaughlin never
gave any rationale concerning the
payment other than that it was some-
thing the chancellor and the board
wished to do.
He said that after researching
Barbre’s employment status with
Lamar he refused to authorize the
expenditure because the university
had no contractual obligation and the
board had not voted to give the
money to Barbre.
“The facts are that I, as chief
executive officer, having a public
trust and fiduciary responsibility,
was asked to make a payment to an
ex-employee for which no one
could present me any documenta-
tion,” Idoux said.
“I think that’s irresponsible, I
think that’s unethical.”
Idoux said making the payment
to Barbre would have been a viola-
tion of his duty as chief executive
officer of Lamar-Beaumont.
“The chief executive officer of
an institution, particularly a public
higher education institution, has
fiduciary responsibility. In a public
institution it’s a public trust. Those
aren’t just words that sound good,
it’s a public trust, and we all have
that
“The public trust means to
spend those resources entrusted to
you in a way that has been
approved by the approving process
set up by our government, which is
the normal budget process, or to be
able to account for those by the
public action of your governing
board, who are the ultimate boss,
or via a contract obligation that one
takes on before the fact that
would have a binding effect,”
Idoux said.
“None of that existed, and it
certainly would be irresponsible
for the chief executive officer to
make that payment”
See IDOUX, page 6
At press time
T.E. Moor, chairperson of the
Lamar Board of Regents, said at a
4:15 p.m. press conference
Thursday that the Faculty Senate's
claim there is no academic leader-
ship on the Lamar-Beaumont cam-
pus is "categorically not true."
Attending the press conference
in addition to Moor were regents
Amelic Cobb, C.W. Conn, Wayne
Reaud, and Mike Ramsey, and
Chancellor George McLaughlin:
"This is a dark day in the history
of Lamar University," McLaugh 1 in
said, referring to the no-confidence
resolutions passed by the Faculty
Senate Wednesday (see story
above).
McLaughlin said John Idoux,
former executive vice president of
academic affairs, did not tell him on
April 2 that his (Idoux’s) resignation
was null and void. McLaughlin fur-
ther said that he gave Idoux no rea-
son to believe that his resignation
was rescinded.
: The regents said their accep-
tance of Idoux's resignation was
owing to lack of confidence in him.
Reaud said the board had lived up
to its part of the bargain regarding
Idoux, by waiting until Aug. 31 (the
end of the fiscal year) to accept his
resignation,
Moor said the Faculty Senate
claim that there is a lack of communi-
cation between the board and the fac-
ulty is not true.
"There definitely has not been a
lack of communication between this
Board of Regents and the faculty, the
administration, the student body or
the staff,” he said.
"Mrs. Cobb has chaired a commit-
tee for three-plus years that was
designed it was the Liasion
Committee — on the single purpose
of improving communications with
the faculty and with the staff and
with the student body. And we
thought we had accomplished that.”
He said this committee had met
with these groups each academic
yeas.
"Further, each of us, and proba-
bly other members of the board of
regents, have met with the faculty
at our homes, in their homes, on
Saturdays, at nights, and I'm terri-
bly disappointed to find out that
this communication gap was such
that we didn't know that this action
was contemplated at this time. It
seems to me that they should have
discussed it with us if they were
indeed complying with the intent of
what we were trying to do and com-
municate."
Moor said Lamar has been trying
to expand its recruiting, and the
senate’s actions can only hurt that
effort
He said the senate's resolutions
could delay the presidential search.
Reaud said that the senate s
actions were based on one side of
the story.
"1 believe," he said, "the faculty
is marching down, today, an incredi-
bly irresponsible road."
—- From staff reports
Rhodes Scholarship applications offered
By Kenneth Vincent
UP staff writer
Lamar students interested in con-
tinuing their education at a British
university may find the means to do
so in the LU history department.
Applications for Rhodes Scholarships
at Oxford University are available in
the history office at 0-57 Maes
Building. Anyone wanting more
information on the scholarships may
contact Howell Gwin, professor of
history, at.880-8530 or in 103 Maes
Building.
Despite the availability of this
opportunity, only one student from
Lamar has applied in the last four
years. Gwin says that he feels the
lack of student interest does not
stem from a feeling of inferiority but
from the facts that Lamar is not a lib-
eral arts oriented institution and
overseas study is not part of the stu-
dent agenda. He believes that sev-
eral of his past students could have
competed for one of the 32 scholar-
ships available in the United States.
A scholarship recipient must be
an unmarried 18- to 24-year- old
with a bachelor’s degree. An appli-
See SCHOLARSHIP, page 6
‘Potts announces Fall Fest activities at SGA meeting
By Joy LeBlanc
4 UP staff writer
* At the first Student Government
♦Association meeting of the year,
*Billye Potts, assistant director of
Student Organizational Services,
presented plans for Cardinal Fall
♦Fest, which will replace festivities
^that once surrounded football sea-
son.
4
“We’re hoping this carnival is
going to be a big community-build-
ing, big traditional event which will
happen year from year,” Potts said.
“There’s going to be a lot of things
going on.”
The carnival will fall on the
weekend of Oct. 30-31 and will be
held at Gladys City. The recreational
sports department is planning a Fun
Run for Saturday morning, the
Setzer Student Center Council is
planning entertainment and another
group is planning a haunted house,
Potts said. A Safe Candy Trick or
Treat will also be held Saturday
evening for community children.
For a small fee, student and com-
munity organizations may open
booths, where they will be able to
set up activities. The organizations
will be allowed to charge for their
activities and keep all of their profit.
The student organization booths
will cost $25, but $10 will be refund-
ed if the area is cleaned up.
“We’re really going to do a big
publicity push in the Beaumont com-
munity and get them to come out
and participate,” Potts said. “We
think it’s going to build some tradi-
tion here.”
In new business, SGA
secretary/treasurer Lana Leake sub-
mitted General Resolution-F92-01,
which, if passed, would give SGA’s
official support for Cardinal Fall
Fest. The resolution also urges all
students, faculty, staff, community
leaders and members to support the
efforts involved in the carnival.
The resolution will be discussed
Sea SGA, page 6
department heads are providing
strong academic leadership and will
continue to do so in cooperation with
the new president.
“Certain faculty members have
said that they own Lamar, when we
are all aware the taxpayers of Texas
own Lamar,” McLaughlin said.
“They feel they are not employees,
and they want to run Lamar.
“It is absurd for them to take the
position that they have, when they
don’t know the facts and they have
not asked me the facts.”
See SENATE, page 6
Dean confident
about business
accreditation
By Tracy Harbin
UP staff writer
Beheruz Sethna and the faculty
of the College of Business are confi-
dent that the American Assembly of
Collegiate Schools of Business will
find that they are committed to the
high quality of education required
for national accreditation. Six years
have passed since the last accredita-
tion, and it is time for a reaffirma-
tion.
The College of Business has
been accredited nationally by the
AACSB since 1980 for the under-
graduate program and since 1986 for
the graduate program.
“We believe that the kind of
work we do here is outstanding,”
said Sethna, dean of the College of
Business. “We believe we are doing
a very fine job in the mission of edu-
cation of our students. Accreditation
simply adds an external stamp of
approval.”
The process for accreditation is
challenging. Only about 22 percent
of business schools across the coun-
try are accredited by AACSB.
A school candidate must first
write a Self-Study Report detailing
mission and objectives, admissions,
faculty, curriculum, and library, com-
puter and financial resources. A visit
from the AACSB is the next step.
Four visiting deans review every
aspect of an institution.
“I feel very proud of the quality
of education that occurs in the
College of Business, period,” Sethna
said. “It is good to have an external
stamp of approval like AACSB
accreditation that indicates that in
addition to our own belief of high
quality we also have a national body
that says we have high quality. I still
maintain that our high quality is
internal and occurs by virturc of
what we do in our offices, in our
class rooms, with our students and
our faculty.”
Internal signs of quality include
feedback on student evaluations and
the fact that many of the faculty
members publish. Accreditation is
simply one more way that excellence
in education can be shown.
4
Campus Survey
What are family values?
4.4
By Tracy Harbin
\jP staff writer
^Family values are among many
issues today that are difficult to
♦define. When asked to share what
family values mean to them, Lamar
’students and faculty gave the follow-
ing responses.
“Honesty and trust. It’s a way of
Mife and the way you want to turn out
to be. It sets morals in your life, and
makes you set goals. If you don’t
4have family values, you don’t have
^really anything at all. They mean a
lot to me.”
j Lauren Shipper
, Splendor freshman
^ “In my opinion it’s a respect you
♦have within yourself, and it is your
part in what it takes to make a better
family. It is helping each other in the
family.”
Patricia Aparisio
Beaumont freshman
“It is growing up with two parents
and making sure you don’t become a
criminal or something. Trying not to
stab anybody in the back when they
ask you to do something.”
David Battistoni
Galveston junior
“Unity, love, respect for each
other, respect for each individual in
the family. It is being able to work
together.”
Reginald Marbrough
Beaumont sophomore
“Family unity, love and trust. It is
having something in common and
belonging together. The pinpoint of
that would be a lifelong marriage. My
parents have been married for 26
years. That makes a big deal in the
family unity. If your parents love each
other, everybody else loves each
other, too.”
Walt Lombard
Beaumont sophomore
“Being with your family and
spending time with them.”
Laurie Petty
Beaumont sophomore
“I come from a big family. We
were raised that your siblings and
your parents are the best friends
you’ll ever have. Your family will
never forsake you. Like they say,
blood is thicker than water.”
Derek Vanmetre
Vidor sophomore
“A family that does things togeth-
er and functions as a unit as opposed
See SURVEY, page 6
‘Don’t be fooled’
An Elvis impersonator representing the Bush campaign sings a block away
from a rally held for Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton in Austin.
A
i
*
|
V
i
1
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Bankston, Mark. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, September 4, 1992, newspaper, September 4, 1992; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500334/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.