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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 1979)
THE BATTALION TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1979 Page 5 em oast ^Btorm faces ‘disaster’ By DILLARD STONE Battalion Staff K, Cam] d CambojH s alive her forme, '' a SUerriUA population increase along the Texas Gulf Coast, human nature, namese forrjd coastal geology would all make for a heap of trouble in the event lese Kyodja major hurricane, a Texas A&M University geologist said Monday. I Irom Pel, Dr. Christopher C. Mathewson, associate professor of geology, assy distrilJd: an oceanography seminar “what we re really looking at is a plan- plomats jid disaster.” people aiiijThe seminar was co-sponsored by' the oceanography department their (ig||d the Texas A&M Marine Fellows. are routedjThe great influx of northerners into the Texas Sun Belt has contri- I first deMted greatly to the potential casualty numbers in the event of a II alive. UP'j 01 ' storm, Mathewson said. ted that he/The storm surge of Hurricane Carla today would affect 150,000 troops a orc people in the Houston-Galveston area, and would inundate took com lterstate 45," Mathewson said. Interstate 45 is the only' thoroughfare leading inland from Galves- and Phi n Island, and Mathewson said this would hinder evacuation, unced a T ( lon’t think they could do it,” he said. ietnanu Human nature runs contrary to the idea of a hurricane evacuation, j 0Rnii athewson said. People mentally rebel against storm warnings in ttle I n Cerent ways, he said. Some think, “I paid $75,000 for this home, so it’s not going to blow to ' est |,a J’ w hH e others take the attitude that “it’s happened here once, i arrhel >d won t do if to me a g ain ” r | The most potentially harmful attitude is that of people who think , ve survived a big one, like Carla.” The fatal fallacy, Mathewson .! n " id, is that people who think this generally were 150 miles away from e storm’s landfall. Texas’s coastal geology would also be responsible for some of a trricane’s damage, Mathewson said. However, a hurricane s effects 11 aiK metimes alter the coast for up to 40 years. ny , gent Mathewson used as an example an area near Corpus Christi hit by clian Vi! Q |) Urr j canes j n the 1930s. itiona s ‘•g v 1973 a hypothetical land development, not hurricane- ment, J by theoStl cy, (noditoi ‘^Objective listeners Area hotline operating Dr. Christopher C. Mathewson warns the damage of a “good” hur ricane could do along the Texas Gulf Coast. Battalion photo by Lynn Blanco destroyed, would in fact be destroyed by' a process that was initiated after the hurricane cleared the land,” he said. Mathewson said hurricanes have four major means by which short-term damage is caused. Some hurricanes display only one major damaging aspect of the four: wind (Carla, 1961), waves (Celia, 1970), rain (Beulah, 1967), and tidal surge. “However, if we ever get a hurricane that puts Celia, Carla and Beulah together, we re going to have one marvelous planned disas ter,” he said. By KAREN ROGERS Battalion Staff A Crisis Hotline, sponsored by the Brazos County Mental Health-Mental Retaxdation Center, will go into partial operation this week in the Bryan-College Station area. Persons who need to talk to someone about their problems may now call the hotline at 779-2000. Eight volunteers who have com pleted an 18-hour training session staff the hotline. Th e hotline is state-funded through the Alcohol and Drug Abuse program at the MH-MR Center. Along with alcoholism and drug abuse, the phone operators have also been trained to respond to problems dealing with rape, child abuse and suicide. “It’s designed to help anybody that’s in some sort of life crisis that wants someone to talk to,” said Ralla Spotts, coordinator of the project. “We will refer them to some other agency such as Planned Parenthood or the Department of Human Re sources in the case of child abuse, if it is necessary. The persons answering the phones are more or less just objec tive listeners. “The trend at the Mental Health-Mental Retardation Center now is crisis prevention. We try to get to people before the crisis gets too severe,” she said. Volunteers are better than profes sionals, she said, because “when a person is feeling kind of down, we think he would feel better if they could talk to a regular person.” She emphasized that the volunteers are not professional counselors and that they are only there to listen and make referrals if necessary. Volunteers attend six three-hour sessions where they are trained in crisis intervention, communication and listening skills, and community resources. Representatives from community agencies such as Plan ned Parenthood and the Texas A&M University Personal Counseling Center lecture at some of the ses sions. The students also participate in role-playing where one is the cal ler and the other the phone operator. They' are given a hypothetical situation and are asked to respond to it. Twenty to 25 volunteers are signed up for the next training ses sion scheduled to begin Jan. 24. Another session will be scheduled if more people volunteer, Spotts said. “When they have completed the training program, we hope to have the hotline operating 24 hours, 7 days a week,” Spotts said. Several of the volunteers are psychology students at Texas A&M who say tbey want experience work ing with people and their problems before graduating. “I enjoy psychology' a lot and the hotline provides the perfect oppor tunity to work with people. It 11 also provide me with some experience for when I graduate and go looking for a job,” one volunteer said. ewer country boys are enrolled i ag colleges, survey shows is vowed to; army in a Vietnamei ibodian red ive of (lit r icultural schools are not full of a handful r y boys anymore. Today, city national , r s are in the majority, ing to tin f exa .s A&M University survey Agency J82 students at 14 of the na- United largest agricultural schools in security C ?s a large influx of metropolitan fourth d school graduates into agricul- rhethertk fields. mdemn searchers say 35 percent of all bodia and dull ural students come from anoi s troopopolitan areas which have the Solvations of 50,000 or more while veto an) who grew up on a farm or its pro! represent 30 percent. The ning students came from small 5 or,cities with populations I'• 50,000. ^ Cl Th study also showed that the students were not influ- 1 to study agriculture by their * ■ -Bool counselors and teachers, VfHiat scholarships were not im- ■ t, st of the students were attend- K liege without the aid of stu- Jns. Almost one-third of the nts felt they' would go on to ate school or get a professional iH oHlie® mo1 e T5 percent of the nts reasoning their starting Is would be less than $13,000 felt compelled to achieve a r degree. 2 explanation for the trend of ■hooled students entering ag- with the : jre ’ s the young adult’s desire ise econoiifr 6 fronfl hfe in the city, ac cording to Texas A&M researchers. Dr. Arthur Cosby, a rural sociologist and study leader, says there is a clear preference of coun try life to city life. The vast majority of the agricultural students, (more than 85 percent), ranked living in the country as being important in their life after graduation. Less than 3 percent wanted to re turn to living in a city of more than 500,000, even though originally 12 percent had grown up in that envi ronment. “It seems to be part of agricul ture’s appeal,” says the researcher. “When asked why they went into agriculture in the first place, 60 per cent said it was because they wanted to live in the country, Cosby ad ded. At Texas A&M, which has the largest single-campus agricultural school enrollment in the country in cluding 5,382 agricultural majors, approximatley 22 percent were raised on farms and ranches. How ever, 21 percent came to the Uni versity from cities of over 500,000 population. There was a similar enrollment pattern at other universities in the South and Southwest. Cosby says agricultural enroll ments remarkably follow a normal cross-section of demographics in the United States. “Agriculture is literally becoming a mass-culture phenomenon. It cer tainly is no longer under rural domination,” Cosby said. In the study, the 2,382 students were tested and interviewed from the following universities: Auburn, Clemson, Louisiana State, North Carolina State, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Florida, Tennessee, Ken tucky, Arkansas, Virginia Tech and Georgia. High school background or family owning land was not an overriding factor in going into agriculture, re searchers reported. The study revealed that more than half of the students majoring in agriculture never had an agriculture class in high school. “It’s interesting, but not surpris ing," Cosby said. “You wouldn’t ex pect a wide seleeiton of agriculture- related courses being available in Dallas or Houston.” The Texas A&M Tae Kwon Do Club Presents KARATE DEMONSTRATIONS — REGISTRATION ROOM 256 G. Rollie White Coliseum 7 P.M. EACH NIGHT MONDAY-THURSDAY JANUARY 15-18 Demonstrations & Classes By: Steve Powell 3rd Degree Black Belt Texas Karate Champion Nationally Recognized Competitor & Instructor For Information Call: 846-3013 I s of the i iscussed w s last vveel n, the Uni Icohol ^search dings Misleading irehers at Texas A&M Uni- ' say they have disproved a Hfic belief that alcohol’s into- hg effects are due in part to a fical called acetaldehyde which iced by the body from al- ig brain wave patterns from journals, biologist William im and graduate student » Mikeska reported that doses Jtaldehyde, at levels even r than those normally occur- ter heavy drinking, caused no • of intoxication. p results, to be published in mth’s Science magazine, serious questions regarding alcohol research methods, said. ;se methods often employ one-shot doses of acetal- i instead of a continuous infu- |imulating steady drinking, present study has not ruled |!2,he possibility that acetal- may create the physical ad- m occurring in chronic al- sm. ture intoxication research i be directed at alcohol, not shyde, the researchers said. SPECIAL CREATION — OR ORGANIC EVOLUTION??? How did man get to be man? Some say an omnipotent, omniscient God “specially" created mankind "in His image" — ex nihilo creation, fiat creation. Others say man is the result of millions of years of evolutionary development — the accidental product of chance and environment. Sir Julian Huxley once commented that Charles Darwin, through the theory of organic evolution he advocated, had “removed the idea of God from the sphere of rational thinking." The Bible says “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Who is right? What are the evidences (scientific, philosophical, etc.) for or against organic evolution and special creation? Does either theory purport to substantiate itself with sound evidences which can be investigated by an open-minded person? Or are these “open and shut” cases with little left to be said? If you are a person who thinks organic evolution to be true; If you are a person who thinks special creation to be true; If you are a person who wants to link the two together as truthful through “theistic evolution”; If you are a person who is withholding judgment until more evidence is available — then perhaps this is for you. On January 17, 1979 a new course on Christian Apologetics and Christian Evidences is being offered for people who are looking for answers to questions about God's existence, Jesus’ Sonship, the Bible's inspiration, Special Creation vs. Organic Evolution, and many other such questions. This course, which is taught on the college level, meets each Wednesday evening from 6:00 until 8:00 P.M. It is not a course in church doctrine; rather, it is a course designed to investigate and examine the evidences which stand behind the Christian faith. It is a course for anyone who would like to see these evidences presented in an objective manner. The course meets each week of the regular TAMU semester (except holidays) at the building of the A&M church of Christ (across the street from the A&M Consolidated High School Building) at 1001 West Loop South. The course lasts 15 weeks. There is no charge whatsoever for the course. A textbook is provided free of charge to each participant, as well as a large volume of written handout materials. There are no term papers required, or oral presentations. The class is conducted in the discussion/lecture format, with ample time given for discussion. The teachers are: Bert Thompson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, TAMU, and Ken Lawrence, sophomore Biomedical Science major. We invite you to join us as the course begins on January 17, 1979 at 6:00 P.M. Everyone is welcome! For further information feel free to call Dr. Thompson at 696-7513 after 5 or Mr. Lawrence at 845-3439. ANNOUNCING: THE T-SHIRT OF THE WEEK Each week this semester Loupot’s will feature a T-Shirt of the week, with a big 10% discount on any shirt bought with that decal. 10% DISCOUNT Ask about THE CARD” good for even more savings on Loupot’s T-Shirts. And remember our group discounts on custom T-Shirts. LOUPOT’S BOOKSTORE NORTHGATE- ACROSS FROM THE POST OFFICE ET el efl We’re Here to Serve You ★ Used Books e- ° v CALCULATORS e° from Texas Instruments INCORPORATED ■VI-59 NOW WAS $299.95 $ 209 95 Plus $20.00 worth of free soft ware through February, 1979, from Texas Instruments. *<L l % +c, <s> iP (SSf. 0 ny ★T-Shirts NOW ★ Full 2 Week Refund Privilege OPEN DAILY 7:30 — 6:00 MBA WAS $124.95 *89 95 WAS $70.00 ■vv *1 NOW WAS $60.00 *38® j The football team gets Its news from the Batt. At The Southgate 696-2111 (Across from University Police) ROTHER’S NOW $54® We also carry All Chargers, Battery Packs & Accessories for Tl & HP Calculators. - Avoid The OOKSTORE Hass,e - p,enty of Parking