Page 4
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, February 20, 1973
THE BATTALD
the
‘Engineering And Society’ To Dispel A Myth
II
The myth that our society is
plagued by technology for tech
nology’s sake has been a painful
thorn in the side for engineers
and scientists. The College of En
gineering will offer a course next
fall that will seek to dispel that
myth through education and un
derstanding.
The course, Engineering 301,
“Engineering and Society,” will
be tuned to the non-technical ear
of the student engaged in the
humanities, and Dr. Richard E.
Thomas and Dr. T. J. Kozik of
the College of Engineering stress
that the course will not try to
make engineers out of liberal arts
students.
“They will not even have to
look at an equation,” Dr. Thomas
said. “What we will do is present
the case for engineering and tech
nology through a series of case
studies from which the students
will hopefully understand the de
tails of the technology-society in
terfaces.
“The course will also include an
examination of the influence of
private and public policies in shap
ing technology and, through it,
society,” he continued. “We will
try to show the students that en
gineers and scientists are more
than quiet men buried in a world
of slide rules and math. We will
try to show the students that the
engineer and scientist is human,
that he cares about the well-be
ing of mankind, and through his
efforts, life is improved.”
Dr. Kozik said the course will
provide background to the student
in technology assessment, the
fairly recent practice in the sci
entific and engineering community
of studying what effects would
result from a new system or de
vice before it is created.
“Thirty years ago,” he said, “if
someone wanted to build a dam,
they built it. Now, in-depth stud
ies are made by the engineer and
scientist on the effects the dam
would have on the environment
and life structure before a single
scoop of earth is removed.”
Dr. Kozik said that technologi
cal assessment had evolved to a
very crude but rigorous art, and
that more efficient methods were
being found to integrate different
opinions from different sources
and foreseen long-range effects of
proposed projects.
“Technological assessment
doesn’t necessarily mean anything
will be done,” he said. “Even po
liticians have assessment teams
working for them, but advice
from these teams is not binding
in the decision-making process.”
The new engineering course is
a revision of a coui-se by the same
name and number. The first
course, according to Dr. Kozik,
was on a defensive posture.
“We wanted to present the ter
minology of the engineering and
scientific world so that those
who criticize technology could do
so intelligently. What the revised
course will do is show the human
ist how he and the technologist
can work together to improve our
way of life.”
“Engineering students take so
ciology, political science and oth
er humanities com-ses,” Dr. Thom
as pointed out, “so they are ex
posed to the humanist point of
view. We feel the problem between
the scientific world and the hu
manist is the lack of exposure
of the humanist to the engineer
ing point of view.
“This course will enable hu
manities students to see our
viewpoint,” he continued, “and
will enable students from both
disciplines to talk to each other
concerning problems within our
technological society in a knowl
edgeable manner.
“The course will also take a
philosophical posture,” Dr. Thom
as said. “The humanities should be
concerned with all phases of the
quality of life, but not one from
that area of study has approached
us to find out what we as engi
neers and scientists are doing
with the quality of life. Their
viewpoint is restricted to hearsay
and sensationalism. We hope this
course will show to them that we
do care about life, and that our
efforts are directed entirely to
sustaining life in an improving
manner.”
The non-technical course will
histories of nuclear power
use
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Family & Adult Sections.
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BOSTON <A>) _ Public broad
casting has launched a nation
wide! “Children’s Crusade” to
build a constituency to save
“Zoom,” billed as America’s only
television show written and per
formed entirely by children.
The crusade was extended to
Public Broadcasting System —
PBS — television stations na
tionally this week after a 10-
day appeal in six New England
states which drew 30,000 cards
and letters.
“Zoom,” a 30-minute, daily pro
gram completing its second year
on most of the 230 Public Broad
casting System television stations,
is facing a cutback in funds from
the Corporation for Public Broad
casting. This left “Zoom’s” spon
sors $1.8 million shy of the funds
necessary to produce a full 52-
show season this year.
“We know we are going to
have to go to the corporations
and foundations for that kind of
money,!’ said John Kerr, a fund
raiser at WGBH in Boston, the
station which produces “Zoom.”
But before help is sought, Kerr
says, public broadcasting is going
to the people the program serves:
children aged 6 to 12 and their
FDA Recalls Frozen Foods
Feared Containing Botulism
WASHINGTON The Food
and Drug Administration Monday
night said Stouffers Food Co. was
recalling some frozen foods that
could contain mushrooms con
taminated with botulism toxin.
Earlier Monday, the FDA an
nounced a recall in Michigan of
frozen pizzas made by a firm
which received canned mushrooms
from a lot known to be contami
nated with the bacteria.
In a statement, the agency said:
“Stouffers continues to recall
four products that could contain
mushrooms from the United Can
ning Corp. These products are
frozen green beans and mush
rooms, frozen escalloped chicken
and noodles, frozen tuna noodle
casserole and frozen cream of
mushroom soup.
“Stouffers expects to complete
their recall by the end of Tues
day.
“FDA has no evidence that
any of these Stouffers’ products
are contaminated, but on the ba
sis of present knowledge all must
be considered suspect.
“FDA and Stouffer urges per
sons who have purchased any of
these products since Feb. 7, to re
turn them to the stores where
they were purchased.”
The spokesman said Stouffers
had received mushrooms from
known contaminated lots distrib
uted by United Canning of East
Palestine, Ohio.
But the spokesman said he did
not know where the Stouffers
frozen foods had been distributed.
He said their recall had been un
derway since Friday. The Stouffer
plant which received the mush
rooms is located in Solon, Ohio.
The spokesman said Stouffers
has chntacted two-thirds of the
outlets handling the escalloped
chicken and noodles and the tuna
noodle casserole but he said there
was no information on the other
two products.
On December 7th, the Civil Aeronautics Board Abolished Youth Fares
Please cut out and mail the letter below to let
Congress know where we stand and that
proper legislation is in order to
correct this injustice
now!
ACT NOW
Dear Congressman:
Please take action to save the Youth Fares and Discount Fares which have recently been
abolished by the Civil Aeronautics Board.
I would appreciate it if you would also write the CAB and request that they delay enforcement
of this decision until Congress has an opportunity to act on this important question.
Some 5-million students traveled using this discount fare in the past year. This contributed
over $400-million to cover fixed costs of the airlines. These carriers can be presumed to have
a full grasp of the marketing considerations involved and are, at least, as interested as the
CAB in dropping any useless discount fares. Yet, an overwhelming majority of the airlines who
participated in the CAB investigation are in favor of these fares.
Millions of students have purchased their Youth Fare identification cards with the belief that
the cards would be valid until their 22nd birthday. Now the cards are being abruptly cut off by
the CAB’s decision.
As one of millions of young voters, I respectfully request that you act to pass legislation that
will allow the CAB to discriminate on the basis of age by keeping Youth Fares. I will be anxiously
awaiting the results of the coming legislation concerning this matter.
Mail to:
CRADF
(signature!
(Coalition To Retain Air Discount Fares)
413 East Capitol Street, S.E.
Washington, DC 20003
(address)
(city, state & zip)
Co-Sponsors
The National Student Lobby and Continental Marketing Corporation
parents. “We’re going to try to
get tangible evidence of our pub
lic’s support,” Kerr says.
Ten days ago, WGBH broad
cast a “Zoom Alarm” saying the
program was in danger and ask
ing for photographs and letters
of support from New England
children and their parents.
Through last Friday, Kerr said,
30,000 have arrived.
The sponsors said appeals for
“Zoom” would begin Monday or
Tuesday in New York and Chi
cago, later in the week in most
other metropolitan areas and in
following weeks on stations out
side large metropolitan areas.
“Zoom” uses Boston-area chil
dren aged 9 to 12 as performers.
The children spend 22 weeks on
the show and then are replaced.
The performers get their parts
at auditions mainly on the basis
of their “flexibility and an ability
to get along with other children,”
said Cheryl Bibbs, the program’s
talent coordinator.
They spend 13 hours a week
at the studio. Miss Bibbs said
the show might take up time the
children would otherwise use for
studying, but said: “We think it
helps them in school. They be
come more interested in school
because their artistic and special
abilities are brought out by par
ticipating.”
All material used is submitted
by children. It langes from corny
jokes (“This is my nose. How do
you spell it? I-T, silly.”) to home
movies showing children at work
or play around the country.
The “Zoomers,” as the show’s
stars are known, produce a play
each week and often give excerpts
from other productions, all of
which are mailed in by their peers
across the country.
Party games are exhibited,
poems are read, stunts are per
formed and lifestyles of children
in different areas of the country
are depicted, Miss Bibbs said.
“It’s an exchange of American
cultures and the things that chil
dren do,” she said, adding that
it was the only PBS program
geared to elementary-aged school
children.
plants, computers and privacy,
the SST, the Wired City and stu
dent-selected topics to bring to
light the role of research in deter
mining the nature of technologi
cal advances.
Two major variations from nor
mal course format are planned in
the presentation of the course.
First, the classroom presentations
will include talks by experts in
several specialty fields of tech
nology.
Second, student involvement in
oral presentations will be promot
ed through team debates. The
teams formed from the class will
be allotted time to research a
given topic and to prepare their
arguments. The class, after listen
ing to the arguments, will be
challenged to select a course of
action related to the debate.
The course, intended for jun
iors ami seniors majoring in
areas outside engineering, holds
special importance in a clear un
derstanding of the factors which
shape technological process with
special concern for individual and
institutional roles, and the impor
tance and difficulty in prediction
of short and long term societal
reactions and the need for joint
action by technologists and hu
manists.
Dr. Thomas said the course
would be a learning process for
student and professor alike. Plans
for enlarging the course to a
two or three semester course of
study will develop from the inter
est shown for the first course,
“We want to know what the
non-technical student is think
ing,” he said, “and we want to
know what he hopes to gain from
a course such as this. We do not
want to talk over his head, we
want to inform him of our posi
tion on technology and hope he
will use this information to make
his judgments and decisions about
technology in a more mature, edu
cated manner.”
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1:30
Science Provides Insight,
Say SCONA Speakers
i
FOR
BEST
RESULTS
TRY
BATTALION CLASSIFIED
Science is providing mankind
more and more insight into man’s
psychological and biological in
fluences, scientists Jack L. Mi
chael and Paul Saltman agreed
here Friday.
Further developments will make
it possible to reduce birth de
fects, biochemically select a ba
by’s sex and the color of its skin
and hair, treat diabetics so the
body produces required insulin or
have “100 Picassos, 100 Einsteins
or 100 Charles Mansons,” reported
Saltman.
“The technology is sticky, but
the possibility is approaching,” he
told 166 delegates to the 18th Stu
dent Conference on National Af
fairs.
“Knowledge of how to make bi
ological modifications has produc
ed some tight sphincters, because
people are worried it might fall
into the wrong hands,” added the
University of California at San
Diego vice president and biochem
ist.
Michael, psychology professor
at Western Michigan University,
said developments of the last 30
years have made behavior modi
fication possible, to the point that
“government agencies are becom
ing increasingly sophisticated in
their use.”
“We have the technology for
controlling behavior, and under
stand variables enough to do it
on a limited basis,” he said. But
it is unpopular for a number of
reasons, primarily because “peo-
ble cherish personal responsibility
and individual freedoms. Any re*-
straints on choices are considered
morally wrong, in fact, undemo
cratic.”
Michael said implications for
SCONA XVIII is that refusal to
control conditions leads to “cha
otically developed controls.”
Saltman indicated there are no
pat answers, “except to challenge
you to fully develop your intel
ligence so you may question eve
ry act of faith. Dogma prohibit
search, and limits what man can
learn about himself.”
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TOWN HALL - ARTIST SHOWCASE
Presents
The San Antonio Symphony
Victor Alessandro, Musical Director
IN CONCERT WITH
THE SINGING CADETS
OF A
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY N
THE BRYAN-COLLEGE
STATION
COMMUNITY SINGERS
ROBERT L. BOONE, DIRECTOR
JAMES MATHENY,
DIRECTOR
PROGRAM
Festive Overture, Opus 96
Ode to the Virginian Voyage
Shostakovich
Thompson
INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Opus 36
Tschaikowsky
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21,1973-8:00 P.M
G. ROLLIE WHITE COLISEUM
A&M Student $1.00
A&M Student Date $1.50
Artist Showcase Season
Tickets Honored
Other Students $2.50
Patrons $4.00
No Reserved Seats
TICKETS & INFORMATION—MSC STUDENT PROGRAM OFFICE
845-4671
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