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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1969)
Che Battalion Vol. 65 No. 15 College Station, Texas Wednesday, October 8, 1969 Telephone 845-2226 4 Admit ‘Bombing,’ iReceive Suspensions ' yards foil ie extra ii 'the ack witlil and siiml Four freshman cadets have ad- Imitted setting the explosion that Irocked the Cadet Corps area early (Tuesday and have been suspended |by the university today. Dean of Students James P. [Hannigan said the youths signed [statements admitting their roles in igniting a box of plastic-type explosives in the Corps dormitory area. The 2 a.m. blast shattered 31 windows in four dormitories. Wal ter H. Parsons Jr., director of the Physical Plant, estimated the damage at $2,325. No injuries RoomShortage Is Now Over, Madeley Says The student housing problem at Texas A&M has been solved, according to Housing Manager Ulan M. Madeley. Students were placed on a vaiting list for dormitory space |n August, he said, and most have been assigned rooms. Madeley noted that only 50 names remained on the list when jthe Housing Office began as signing rooms on a first come, ^irst served basis last Wednes- ay. “Most of these students never fame in and some may not even registered,” Madeley said. [‘Only three people have checked vith this office in the past two veeks. “We will have vacancies throughout the year, he said, and [they will be assigned to the first persons who apply. We don’t really expect to assign too many more rooms, however.” He said that most of the stu dents who had been on the wait ing list have applied for day student permits and are living off campus. Some of these have sub-let apartments or trailers, he add ed. A check of College Station motels showed no students regis tered. A check on available dorm space is scheduled for today and any empty rooms will be as signed beginning Thursday. The number of rooms, if any, is un certain, Madeley said. Applications for rooms will be taken by civilian counselors Kir by Blevins, Robert Chapman, Larry Rice, Jack Thomas and Don Williams. were reported. Dean Hannigan identified the students as Christopher R. Tully, 18, nuclear engineering major from Canyon; Stephen D. Cer vantes of Port Isabel, 18, major ing in marine transportation; William K. Chambless, 19, aero space engineering major from Hobbs, N.M., and James D. Hunt ington, 18, electrical engineering major from Snyder. The dean said the youths will have a right to appeal the sus pension before the university’s faculty-staff Appeals Committee. Dean Hannigan noted there had been some speculation the inci dent might have been the work of anti-ROTC individuals. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” he observed, noting that all the students were mem bers of the Corps, “and we are very pleased to find that our rec ord of strong support for ROTC remains unblemished.” “We cannot imagine anyone being so stupid as to bring ex plosives onto the campus,” the dean remarked, “and we’re glad we are not going to have these stupid individuals with us any longer, endangering the lives of other students.” Assistant Campus Security Chief iMbrris A. Maddox credited members of the Corps of Cadets with providing the key informa tion leading to the identity of the four youths. Maddox said the cadets related the information to their civilian advisers, who in turn worked with campus security officers. Officers said Tutty told them that he and Cervantes were the ones who ignited the explosives. and Will Debut for ’69-70 t Texas Tech Saturday I The trumpet fanfare “recall” bf the “Aggie War Hymn” Satur- jlay in Lubbock will herald the first of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band’s six football game appear ances in 1969. The sound and precision half- fime performance for which the Iggie Band is renowned will be presented by 287 cadets, the larg est group assembled by director Lt. Col. E. V. Adams, dean of Southwest Conference directors. “This will be the largest group narched by the band in my 24 Reasons,” commented Adams, who will send 279 members in 23 12-man ranks onto Jones Stadium turf for the 7:30 p.m. A&M- Texas Tech game halftime per formance. An eight-bus caravan will de part College Station at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, have a lunch stop in Abilene and arrive in Lubbock at 4 p.m. The evening meal will be with the West Texas A&M Club at the Lubbock National Guard Armory near Jones Stadium. The band will stadium at 6:30. move into the Departure will be immediately after the game, with arrival back at College Sta tion at about 5 a.m. Sunday. West Texans may recognize several members of the military organization. Maroon Band Com mander Richard G. Sanchez’ home is San Angelo and 37 others come from West Texas, the Panhandle or neighboring parts of New Mexico. The Tech game performance will be one of the Aggie Band’s latest- starts, due to A&M playing its first five games on the road. The officers said Tully also in formed them that he and Cham bless, his roommate, experiment ed with the explosives Saturday in a field south of College Sta tion. He said they conducted four test firings, with no damage oth er than flying dirt. Maddox said the explosives had been stored in Huntington’s car. Tully told officers he obtained the explosives last summer near Canyon. A&M officials confiscated all remaining explosives. The explosion, set off at the base of a tree between Dormito ries 1 and 2, shattered glass from more than 200 feet away. Two eight-foot tall windows, one in each of the two recently completed lounges nearest the explosion, were damaged. One was cracked at the base and the other, completely blown out. Most of the damaged windows were on the third and fourth floors. Dormitory 1 had 14 win dows blown out and Dorm 2 had 11 windows shattered. Farther away, Dorms 3 and 4 each had two windows broken. Fish Involved In TCU Affair Now Identified The A&M freshmen who grab bed two Texas Christian Univer sity coed cheerleaders during last Thursday’s Fish-Wogs football game have been identified by the Commandant’s Office. “The responsible ones have been identified,” Col. Jim H. Mc Coy, commandant, said this morn ing, “and appropriate disciplinary action is being initiated.” McCoy declined to give the names of the freshmen because, he said, he could see no reason for doing so. He also refused to say what “appropriate disciplin ary action” was, claiming that the information did not need to be made public. The incident occurred last Thursday when the freshmen grabbed the cheerleaders, lifted them up, and tried to carry them away. The girls, kicking and scream ing, were released by the stu dents, all clad in Cadet Corps uniforms, after about 15 more cadets ran from their seats in the stands and ordered the group to put the cheerleaders down. DRESS RIGHT The ranks of this Rider Collee ROTC class are brightened by a female addition, Jean Ann Sarnowski. The 20-year-old senior did not let her preference for peace candidates prevent her from joining the student military. (AP Wirephoto) Trash Service Criticized By College View Residents By Tim Searson Complaints about garbage col lection being too infrequent and the number of disposal units be ing too few have been made by the residents of student apart ments in College View and Hensel. “Come see for yourself,” said Mrs. Peter Kersting, whose hus band is a senior industrial tech nology major from Waco. “The smell is irritating and the area around the trash cans is thick with flies. The view from our front window is one of 40 full garbage cans.” The Kerstings live in College View, where most of the com plaints seemed to originate. Another resident of College View, Kenneth R. Wilkin, senior agricultural journalism major from Bossier City, La., said, “I believe garbage is supposed to be collected five days a week, but it’s more like three or four times. This is especially bad in our building because two families must share the same trash can.” Charles C. Haltom, student apartment manager, said collec tion in College View is on Mon day, Wednesday and Friday. Collection for Hensel is made every Tuesday and Thursday, he said. “I had no idea that there have been any complaints,” said Hal tom. “Naturally there was a build-up during September when new residents were moving in, but on my daily tours through the areas I haven’t noticed any prob lem areas.” However, students in Hensel, such as Owen C. Hofer, chemistry graduate student from Bridge- water, S. D., believe more fre quent collection is needed. “We either need more trash cans in Hensel or more collection days than the two we have now,” said Hofer. “I must admit that garbage collection has improved from the situation of last year, though.” Students living in the new buildings in College View also have their complaints. “More trash cans are needed for our building,” said William K. Ohlmeyer, senior architecture construction major from Yazoo City, Miss. “Twelve families must share six cans and it sometimes isn’t enough. However, one good point is the construction of pens which keep the cans out of sight and improve the looks of the area.” Haltom mentioned that in some cases residents have not used receptacles in the area and he has had to employ utility workers to police for loose paper. He felt that the work they had done in keeping the garbage rack clean was commendable. “If there are any complaints,” said Haltom, “they should be made to the Student Apartment Office so that we will be made aware of any problems.” Students and Faculty Give Their Views iComputer Registration A ‘Monstrosity,’ A ‘Blessing’ s. j By Dale Foster [Battalion Staff Writer Three things used to be sure [bets for Aggies: taxes, death, [and long registration lines. Gone [now are the lines and along with [them one of Cadet Slouch’s an nual gripes. In their place is something call- fed computer registration, accom- [panied by a multitude of com plaints and alternately called a [“monstrosity” and a “blessing” [by faculty, staff, and students. Director of Registration, Sched ules, and Space Don Carter not ed that there were unanticipated problems since this was the first time for fully automated registra tion to be used for a fall term. The system was initially applied I in January of this year. Despite the obvious “bugs” of I the new registration method, the consensus of 25 faculty and staff members interviewed was that the faults are temporary and can be worked out in due time. “Maybe . . . , in the next ten years,” one professor emphasized as a footnote. A secretary in the Registrar’s University National Bank "On the side of Texas A&M.” —Adv. Office believed the basic prob lem was a matter of not under standing the system. “At the moment, we have more questions from students than un der the old system,” she said. “In time, they will understand the process better, and we will be able to explain it better, too.” The biggest objection of the faculty seemed to be that they were not informed enough on reg istration progress in other de partments. “When I sign up a boy, I don’t know what sections are full in other departments,” noted one faculty member. “Because of this, the computer will reject the stu dent’s entire curriculum, and we have to start over from scratch.” Most of the praise for the computer system came in the form of comments on the advan tages it provides for students. Being able to pre-register al lows the student additional time at the end of the summer before he comes back to school. He al ready knows what his courses are and what sections he has been placed in. New students, who couldn’t pre-register at the designated time in the spring, were also able to avoid the last minute rush by pre-registering at summer orientation conferences, as 2,300 did. All students have more time to counsel with their faculty ad visers on choice of subjects. A departmental secretary added that with computer registration, students have an equal chance to receive a particular course and section. “Because of the random selec tion of the computer,” she said, “the system is totally unbiased.” Consequently, the impartial as signment of courses spawns an other big complaint about “too much fairness.” “Uniform approach should be made throughout the University to the order of registration, with first priority given to graduate students and seniors, next to jun iors, then sophomores, and final ly freshmen,” noted one faculty adviser. The sentiment for a system of priorities was echoed by a grad uate student and part-time in structor who felt that the rejec tion of a course line-up by the computer could conceivably delay the graduation of a student. “The priority by class could be achieved by running packets through the computer in order of class, thus giving those with the least time remaining the first shot at limited courses,” he the orized. Carter nullified the possibility of a graduation delay by explain ing that the registration limit of a particular course could be rais ed or the student’s faculty advi ser could allow him to substi tute a course. A few instructors also felt that priority could be given within each class according to grade point ratio. Most staff members interview ed believed that a method could be established to permit students to submit preferences for class schedules. The computer would be programmed to follow the stu dent’s preferred schedule as long as space remains. “At present, the student has absolutely no choice of when he takes a class or which instruc tor he gets,” commented an ad viser. “With the approval of his dean on the basis of a letter from his employer, a student is presently allowed a choice of sections if he works,” the registration director said in reference to priority Bryan Building & Loan Association. Your Sav ing Center, since 1919. BB&L -Adv. scheduling. Some faculty registration rep resentatives believed) that the ad vantages to the students come at the expense of faculty and staff members, specifically in the area of time involvement. “In some cases, fewer people are doing more, but I believe this is our job,” said Carter. “We are here to accommodate the students and make it as easy as possible for them.” Those that said that both the fall and pre-registration periods were too long believed that the same work could be done in a shorter period of time. Whereas the faculty advisers used to spend only two complete days register ing students, the procedure is now spread out for two weeks. “The period is too long,” grum bled one professor, “when I sit in my office for two or three hours without having a student come in to have his curriculum approv ed. Then at the last minute there is a big rush to beat the dead line.” Carter noted that the time ele ment could be licked if individ ual departments would schedule students to meet with their fac ulty adviser at assigned times, as some departments already have. “Otherwise, Aggies will be Ag gies and will wait until the last minute,” he said. On the positive side, a secre tary for the Admissions Office expressed delight that their part in registration has been taken away, and an entirely different staff is hired just to handle the processing. “As an employee, I definitely like computer registration because it doesn’t involve as much work,” a Records Section clerk added. “But, from a student’s point of view, I prefer the old way.” Suggestions for improving the system include establishing a no ticeably higher penalty for late registration, since the current penalty has little deterrent effect and increases the rate of late reg istration. “Out of 14,000 students, we had 4,00 wait until this fall to register,” Carter said, agreeing with the idea for a penalty. “Most of these were students who could have pre-registered last spring.” A proposal was also offered to begin fall classes on Wednesday with Monday and Tuesday of that week to be used only for making adds and drops. “This would ease the consider able burden of drops and adds during the first two class days which are almost useless any way under the present system,” noted the faculty member. “I think we need something like this,” concurred Assistant Registrar Joel L. Franke, “to solve the problem of students not being able to attend classes from th first day, although many students do make an effort to come in with adds and drops before classes begin.” “We were better organized this year because we had more space in which to operate,” he added. One professor offered another suggestion and said that the mid semester grade reports should be discontinued and replaced by de ficiency reports. “A deficiency would be report ed by the instructors on all stu dents with a “D,” or less, 10 days before the beginning of the pre registration period,” he explain ed. “Any student with one or more deficiency reports would not be admitted to pre-registra tion procedures.” Whatever its drawbacks and advantages, computer registra tion is here to stay. FIRST BANK & TRUST—Home of the Super C D - 5% interest compounded daily.