Page 2 THE BATTALION TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 20, 1973 Tan*#*** asr ThFu?T a* r/AffS" sywxoirt- Bait Commentary Best Grading Yet Texas Southmost College, a school about which few people have ever heard, has an innovative grading system this year under which a student can reject low grades for class and laboratory work. The purpose of the program is to place responsibility directly on the student to decide for himself whether or not he wants to retain a particular grade on his permanent record. The plan could be implemented at our University with adequate study and preparation by student leaders and administrators. This is provided that we can get the Registrar’s Office to mail grade reports to only the right people—as we were told before midterm that this would be done. The Brownsville college’s new system gives students the right to petition for rejection of specific semester grades and request the substitutes of a “non-credit” notation that will not lower a student’s overall grade point average. Students must petition for rejection of a grade within 14 days after the end of semester. Also, students can enroll initially for non-credit status or petition for it later. We have something similar to this with the pass-fail system. However, students can’t have the grade later if it is good and their minds change. Another plus for the new system is that students can enroll in elective courses without the threat of a low grade lowering their grade point average. In graduate school or in medicine and law, a single grade requirement can exclude a student from admission. The TSC system will allow all students to take a subject again without having the earlier, lower grade on his record. For instance, why should a student be saddled with grades he or she may have received under the duress of a family tragedy? Under the system we have, if a student fails or withdraws failing from a course, the hours are figured in with the rest of his grades, even if they were unnecessary electives for a degree. Students have to enroll in the course again to erase the F or WF notation. For vet students and those with medicine and law goals, this non-credit system would surely be a feather in their cap if they changed their minds along the way in planning for their futures. They would, of course, have to answer all other qualifications to proceed. The development of the idea should be watched by our administrators and students—it could have valuable effects on the futures of our graduates and post-graduates. Lease Line— Rent Increase Announcement Should Follow State Laws the special clause in your lease re quires the landlord to give you 30 days notice before raising the rent. The lease is a legal contract and is binding on both parties, so your manager has no choice but to follow its stipulations. Since the Federal Government itself has no equivalent laws con cerning housing, its subsidized housing comes under the jurisdic tion of state and local laws. It is just as though an individual from another state-owned apartments in Bryan-College Station. That non-resident would still be re quired by the city to uphold the local housing codes. If you find the new rental rates will be too high for you, you would be wise to take advantage of that one-month notification clause. You can notify your man ager that you plan to move out at the same time at which you are notified by her that your rent will increase in one month. This way, you will completely avoid the in creased rental rates, and you will have one month to find a new place to live. i Question: My roommate an I are freshmen, but because of the limited dorm space in the fall and the shortage of apartments in this area at the beginning of school, we were allowed to live in South- gate Village which is actually fed eral housing for low-income fam ilies. Our lease will expire in Jan uary and the manager has told us that we can stay there but she will have to raise the rent. Is there any way we can keep our current low rates ? Answer: No, legally, after the lease expires, the landlord can raise the rental rates. Southgate Village should be commended for being so respon sive to the University’s needs and for making exceptions to allow several groups of unmarried stu dents to live there as the local apartments became filled to ca pacity. The Spring semester should see this area with about 90 per cent of the apartment oc cupied, versus the near 100 per cent occupancy of this semester. It should not be necessary to have Southgate Village still allow un married students to live there. The space would be more appro priately and more justifiably fill ed by low-income families and should at least be made available to them. Battalion By BARB SEARS The following questions come from cases which the Fair Hous ing Commission is currently hand ling. Question: My husband and I have been living in Southgate Vil lage which is federally subsidized and thus has reduced rent for low- income people. I have recently gotten a job and the rent will subsequently be adjusted. The manager said she would begin charging the increased rent on Dec. 1, although the lease states that when the tennant leaves or when the landlord raises the rent, there must be one month’s no tice given. Considering this, can the manager then raise rent in two weeks ? Is the federal govern ment required to follow state and local laws ? Answer: The manager cannot legally raise your rent on Dec. 1. Texas law requires that the rental rates of written leases be main tained throughout the period de signated on the lease, but allows rent to be raised in oral contracts following one month’s notice. In your case, and in the case of uni versity married student housing, Cbe Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of the University administration or the Board of Directors. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated by students as a University and Community newspaper. LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed and show the address of the writer. Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim Lindsey, chairman; Dr. Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr. H. E. Hierth, W. C. Harrison, Randy Ross, T. Chet Edwards, and Jan Faber. Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising: Services. Inc, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is published in College Station, Texas, daily except Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods, September through May, and once a week during summer school. MEMBER The Associated Press, Texas Press Association Mail subscriptions are $3.50 per semester; $6 per school year; $6.50 per full year. All subscriptions subject to 6% sales tax. Advertising rate furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous origin published hferein. Right of reproduction of all other matter herein are also reserved. Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas. EDITOR MIKE RICE Assistant to the Editor Rod Speer Managing Editor ' Greg Moses News Editor T. C. Gallucci Sports Editor Kevin Coffey Ass’t. Sports Editor Ted Boriskie Listen Up BAC Actions Called Cowardly! Editor: I am a black graduate student in the department of biology, and I would like to express my dis gust with the vicious statements and cowardly actions of the rep resentatives of the Black Aware ness Committee. I am not a mem ber of the BAC and know little about their activities, however it is clear that they did a poor job of research in gathering informa tion for their ill-advised press conference. I have been a student at sev eral universities (both black and white), have been a member of the faculty at three Black col leges, and have served as a grad uate teaching assistant at TAMU for two and one half years. While one might argue that the policies and environments of other insti tutions are irrelevant to the prob lems here, I feel that they pro vide excellent parameters for as sessing success. With regard to channels of communication and overall academic environment, I believe TAMU to be far superior to any of the institutions with which I have been associated. I feel that the committee’s al legation that TAMU is “a racist institution” with “an unsuitable environment for the education of tomorrow’s leader” to be irre sponsible and unexcusable. The time has long since come when the “BLACK BROTHERS” stop holding todays administrators ac countable for yesterdays oppres sions. I would like the univer sity community to know that the statements of the BAC in no way express the unanimous opinions of the black student body. David W. Washington ★ ★ ★ Editor: I find it interesting that this paper considers it a personal in sult that the black student lead ers did not take the time to find out what Dr. John Koldus and the rest of the system could do for them before they held their news conference. Considering the University’s past reaction time to black ideas, I would say the BAC was justified in pro ducing all the stimulus it could. This paper and the rest of the University should be taking as a personal insult, the fact that the leaders of BAC did not feel the system would help them unless pressured, not that they did not bare themselves to it. And, if the BAC does not ring with organi zation, I would not be too critical; it resounds with ideas (which from reading your paper would appear to be more than the Stu- CADET SLOUCH by Jim Earle fcf tfr dent Government does). The demands of BAC, as i ported in the Battalion, see;! pretty much justified, although| do concede that some of tlitj| ideas about quotas smack of i merical chauvinism. Over all, think that what the BAC hasdj manded should be adopted; i ed, not with the attitude of sul cumbing to radical demands l;| with the idea of moving into the mainstream of control porary thought. John D. McFarlin ★ ★ ★ Editor: On behalf of the Student of Texas A&M University, 1 wisil to express my deep disappointl ment in the performance of tiJ Rice University Band durinl half-time at last Saturday game. I felt that the perform ance was in extremely poortastfl for a University hosting a Southf west Conference game. Randy Ross, Presidrot| TAMU Student Body £ /jo\/ 73 “With every new blister, I of an environmentalist!” find myself becoming more OPEN TIL « INITES T Self-Service 1TOO T#xas Av«itue 9 PM JLay~l-jG$p$p SHOES Sunn y ,and shopping Center OPEN ALL DAY THANKSGIVING FOR THIS SALE (8:30 A.M. - 9:00 P.M.) WAREHOUSE DAMAGED! OPEN ALL DAY iTHANKSGIVING!' Sale Starts Wednesday JUS SOME SLIGHTLY DAMAGED SOME ALMOST PERFECT ALL PRICED TO CLEAR! ARRIVED!! FROM THI PAYLESSI WAREHIOUSI IN AUSTIN! AND OTHER PAYLESsI STORES IN TEXAS! c ASSORTED LADIES & GIRLS SHOES /, )' PAIR AND UP (Con posed to t fore do i towards that can < ly go int added, “T WA One day . «c per Mi *1- 4 p.m. wc Will do tj , m. and all Typing. C AMU 1 Copies of this were sent til Rice University President, Nor I man Hackerman and StudeJ Body President, Douglas Appling, Hackerman offered his apologiesl to Dr. Jack Williams Monday rii| telephone. We expect that “Tl Mob” w on’t be doing what it ddl Saturday to the Aggies f