tardy
jrecip
J.S
r lake
>s -•
sfer
rty
ilk:
I
rink
unit
'2 i)
5?
TO
Top
of the
News
Campus
adeiB CHARLES S. MOTT Founda
tion Fellowships for graduate
studies in community education are
now being offered at the Center for
Community Education. The 12-
month fellowships offer $400 to
$600 a month with awards contin
gent on a candidate’s degree status,
professional experience and demon
strated community education lead
ership. Information may be ob
tained from the College of Educa
tion. Letters of interest are due
Feb. 15.
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY stu
dents attending school on the GI
Bill must present fee slips to cam
pus Veterans Administration offi
cials by Jan. 31 in order to continue
receiving educational benefits. Slips
should be presented to the VA rep
resentatives at Ramp B, Hart Hall
to insure continued payment in the
spring semester.
TOM CHERRY, former vice
president of Texas A&M University,
was named assistant to North Texas
State President C. C. Nolen last
week. Cherry was vice-president of
business affairs at A&M from 1962
to 1976.
THE ANNUAL THREE-WEEK
EXECUTIVE Development
Course sponsored by the College of
Business Administration began yes
terday in Rudder Tower. About
50-60 executives are attending in
tensive training for persons ex
pected to receive major promotions.
A 9 a.m. panel on energy from the
viewpoints of utility companies, in
dustry and banking will keynote the
event.
Texas
CONGRESSMAN OLIN E.
TEAGUE has been re-elected to a
third term as chairman of the Sci
ence and Technology Committee in
the House of Representatives.
Teague, who is currently hos
pitalized for amputation of his left
foot, said Wednesday that the com
mittee would begin hearings on the
(iation’s space program and energy
needs immediately after receiving
President Jimmy Carter’s recom
mendations.
LITTLE OPPOSITION has been
I voiced so far to a proposal to build a
$1 billion gas-cooled nuclear power
^generator in the Panhandle, Dr.
Vaughn Nelson, associate professor
! and head of the physics department
at West Texas State University in
) Canyon said. The gas-generator —
'• the first of its kind in the nation —
will be the topic of a seminar next
| month for legislators and state offi-
I cials.
BROWN & ROOT, INC., the
world’s largest engineering con
struction firm, no longer has a pres
ident. A medical examiner ruled
I yesterday the chief executive officer
committed suicide Sunday. Con\-
pany officials say they know of no
motive for Foster Parker’s suicide.
A company spokesman said Monday
there was no apparent connection
between Parker’s suicide and a
grand jury investigation into Gulf
Coast offshore construction pricing
| practices of Brown & Root.
TEACHING LOADS for college
professors will be studied by a
seven-man subcommittee in Austin.
Rep. Bill Presnal, D-Bryan, named
Rep. Walt Parker, D-Denton, to
head the appropriations subcommit
tee. University of Texas officials say
Legislative Budget Board proposals
for enforcing teaching load re
quirements would cost the school
millions. Many school officials com
plain they would be hurt by Gov.
Dolph Briscoe’s proposal to require
professors to teach an average of 12
classroom hours a week.
National
TV CRIME PROGRAMS such as
“Kojak” and “Baretta” are teaching
prisoners how to be better crimi
nals, according to an inmate serving
a life term at the Marquette Prison
in Michigan. He said that the pris
oners take notes as they watch and
6:51) keep them for future reference.
Nine out of ten prisoners inter
viewed said they had learned new
tricks from the shows and were im
proving their criminal expertise by
watching the crime programs.
HEALTH AUTHORITIES in
Los Angeles declared an outbreak of
potentially fatal measles an
epidemic yesterday. One death has
been blamed on measles, au
thorities said, and the number of
cases is running seven times as high
as in the years before 1976.
weather
Sunny and cool today with a
high in upper 50s. Fair and cold
tonight with a low in mid-30s. In
creasing cloudiness tomorrow with
a high in low 60s. Precipitation
probability zero.
AST SCf
onus
ioW
The Battalion
Vol. 70 No. 63
10 Pages
Tuesday, January 25, 1977
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
First black joins A&M regents
By LEE ROY LESCHPER Jr.
Texas A&M’s Board of Regents
reelected its board officers and welcomed
two new regents to their first meeting this
morning.
Board Chairman Clyde H. Wells, vice-
chairman Richard Goodson and Secretary
Robert Cherry were unanimously re
elected by the board. Wells and Goodson
are members of the board and Cherry is a
special assistant to University President
Jack K. Williams.
Newly-appointed regents John Blocker
and Dr. John B. Coleman, the first black
to serve on A&M’s board, were welcomed
to the board with re-appointed regent H.
C. Bell.
Local radio and television representa
tives paid particular attention to Coleman,
whose appointment has been questioned
by State Sen. William T. “Bill” Moore,
D-Bryan. Moore had earlier questioned
Governor Dolph Briscoe’s appointing re
gents from the same city. Coleman and
Blocker are both from Houston.
A&M President Williams, looking fit,
trim and recovered from his bout last
summer with heart trouble, listened
quietly to discussion during the meeting.
It was his first since his first heart attack
last June. Williams told several students
proudly before the meeting that he has
lost 30 pounds since June.
Chairman Wells reported that the re
gents were considering possible changes
within the A&M System’s administrative
organization, but he said no decision on
specific changes would be made until a
later meeting.
The board approved a program estab
lishing a center for research and education
into America’s free enterprise system. The
center will provide pre-college, college,
continuing education and pure research
programs on the free enterprise system.
Members of the board emphasized that
the center will be funded through sources
DY
Law requires facts
on school aid, costs
By SUSAN RIFF
A new federal law has been enacted to
provide students with important legal
rights and valuable information, according
to Claudia Kerbel, consumer information
specialist with the Texas Agricultural Ex
tension Service.
The Educational Amendments Act of
1976 requires colleges, trade schools,
training schools and junior colleges to
provide accurate information about their
financial assistance programs and costs,
Kerbel said.
“This should give students more infor
mation so they can choose a school
adequate to their needs instead of their
emotions,” she added.
“Part of the reason for passing the
amendment was that students were not
paying their loans back,” Kerbel said.
“The school must state that the loans are
not scholarships and must be paid back.
“Texas A&M University pretty well
complies with the law. It’s a unique
school,” Kerbel added.
She explained that information on the
costs of tuition and fees, books and
supplies, room and board estimates and
any additional fees such as laboratory fees
must be provided.
Other information that must be in
cluded is the refund policy of the school
for fees paid and the academic programs
offered, Kerbel said.
“The school can give descriptions that
indicate the school’s quality, such as the
number of faculty and students and the
number of degrees received by students,
as long as they are factual,” Kerbel added.
A&M University releases all required
information and states the University’s
policies on refunds and other matters in
the catalog explicitly, according to Student
Legal Advisor Kenneth M. Robison.
“The main problem is that students
don’t read it,’ Robison said.
“If a school refuses to give the student
this information, he can report it to the
Department of Education,” Robison
said. “The complaint will be investigated,
which usually takes years, but eventually
the school may be denied financial aid if
they have broken the rules in the amend
ment.”
BLOCKER
other than state funds. In proposing the
center Regent Gene Reynolds reported
that the Former Students’ Assn., the
A&M Development Foundation and the
A&M Research Foundation have already
agreed to give the center $300,000.
The regents approved a number of con
struction projects affecting A&M. These
include the annual renovation program to
repair A&M dorms during the summer
and preliminary work for renovations on
A&M’s Agronomy Building, a clinical sci
ences building at the A&M vet school, and
conversion of Legett Hall from dorm to
office space.
Regent H. C. Bell said he had been told
before the meeting that student residents
of Legett Hall have petitioned the board
to delay their decision on renovating
Legett. Bell said that only a preliminary
study on the feasibility of converting the
dorm would be approved now and any
construction work on the building would
not begin for at least a year.
Bids for improvements in Duncan Di
ning Hall and replacement of A&M’s
Horse Barn and Arena were also ap
proved.
The board also granted official approval
to two fees that graduate students have
been paying, without board sanction,
since 1970. Those are $27.50 and $15 fees
graduate students are charged for mi
crofilming dissertations and binding dis
sertations, respectively. University Sys
tem Executive Officer Clyde Freeman
told the board a recent university audit
never been ap-
COLEMAN
revealed the fees had
proved by the board.
Dr. Alvin Thomas, president of Prairie
View A&M College, made a plea to the
board for help in preventing budget cuts
the state legislature is now considering fdr
all of Texas’ state universities.
Thomas told the board that legislative
cuts to smaller colleges, like Prairie View
can have disastrous results on the pro
grams they offer. He said the legislature is
considering cuts for all schools on the basis
of limited job opportunities available to
graduates of larger universities, when
Prairie View’s predomitably black
graduates are in great demand.
Housing plans announced
Freshmen to get priority
By KIM TYSON
Next fall’s crop of Texas A&M Univer
sity freshmen will be given top priority
when it comes to assigning about 6,000
students to dormitory rooms.
“Approximately 70 per cent of projected
(dormitory) vacancies will be assigned to
Proposal to cut research funds
By JOHN W. TYNES
Battalion Staff Writer
Organized research at Texas A&M Uni
versity could suffer a financial setback if a
proposal submitted to the Texas legisla
ture by the House Appropriations Com
mittee is passed.
An appropriations bill introduced by
House Appropriations Committee Chair
man Bill Presnal, D-Bryan, calls for a $.6
million cut in organized research at A&M.
“I don’t think at this point that it’s any
thing to get too excited about,” said Pieter
Groot, special assistant to the vice presi
dent for academic affairs.
He said the bill refers to organized re
search, which presently represents $1.2
million in a $47 million total research
budget.
Cliff Lancaster, assistant vice president
for budgets, said only research directly
funded by the state would be affected.
Groot said the money received from the
state does not actually support new re
search. It is used, he said, to begin work
that may later qualify for federal funding.
“What you have seen so far are only
recommendations,” he said, adding that
the bill probably will undergo many
changes before it is passed.
“We have no idea what the outcome will
be,” he said.
Groot said he was unsure what pro
grams would be affected if the bill were to
pass as it stands.
“There’s no way to predict what would
be hurt the most,” he said. “The new pro
grams might start falling off.”
Rep. Bill Presnal, who introduced the
bill, said the purpose of the action on re
search is to determine the actual value of
organized research.
“I’m quite impressed by the way I find
Texas A&M spending its funds on or
ganized research,” he said. “I’m not so
impressed with the way I find those funds
used by other institutions.”
Presnal said the bill would give college
administrators the opportunity to' attend
the hearings and defend the merits of the
organized research program.
“We re not saying that all organized re
search everywhere is over-funded,” he
said. “The point is, it needs to be cleared
up.”
He said he is trying to seek more infor
mation on organized research so he can
see what is justified in the way of state
funding.
Presnal established a special subcom
mittee to look at four areas: organized re
search, teaching loads, off-campus classes
and small classes. The subcommittee will
suggest action dealing with each of the
areas, he said.
incoming freshmen,” said Glenn Jennings,
assistant director of student affairs, who
estimates a possible 1,750 vacancies for
next fall. He added that the remaining 30
per cent will come from the waiting list.
We were getting to a point where no
freshman would be allowed to live on
campus,” explained Jennings. He said this
was due to, the large number of students
wanting to get on campus from off campus.
The new policy comes at a time when
6,000 students are on the University wait
ing list.
For students living off campus, it may
be easier to find an apartment next fall and
possibly cheaper, said Tommye
Morehead, coordinator of Hassle-Free, an
off-campus information organization.
“Supposedly, there’s a shortage of hous
ing this year, but next year it will not be
that way,” Morehead said.
Construction of the Lexington Apart
ments, Potomac Place, Sundance Apart
ments and several duplexes will aid the
housing shortage. The Oaks, Willowick,
Treehouse and Bee Creek apartments are
also planning to complete new additions.
“I hope it will bring a more competitive
market, Morehead said. She added that
with the addition of surplus housing there
will be a possibility of a reduction in rates.
Charles E. McCandless, University di
rector of academic planning and services,
predicted an end to the off-campus hous
ing shortage with the completion of 1,000
apartmemt units that would house an es
timated 2,500 Aggies next fall. McCand
less added that although A&M predicts an
enrollment of 29,687 for next fall, up from
the 28,036 of last September, the in
creased housing will help cover the in
crease in enrollment.
“We think there may be 1,000 more
units and at 2.5 people per unit that would
more than take care of the increase, he
added.
Another on-campus housing policy is
also in effect. Students can now apply 15
months in advance for housing for the
semester they will be entering A&M. This
program, effective Oct. 20, 1976, separates
applying for housing from applying to the
University, said Jennings.
“There were so many variables involved
in admission procedures,” Jennings said.
Transcripts, SAT scores, the mail service
and the early decision program let some
apply earlier giving them an advantage for
getting on-campus housing, he explained.
People who plan to attei .1 A&M can
apply now for spring, 1978 on-campus
housing and may apply beginning June 1
for fall, 1978. Present A&M students can
apply at any time; however, the housing
office has stopped accepting applications
for fall, 1977 because of the Ion', waiting
list.
Jennings added that the assignment of
those in the Corps is not affected by these
policies since these students are directly
assigned to one of their 10 dorms.
—
; ■::. ' ■ ■
Soft blue skies: a
bit of good weather
Yesterday’s thin clouds on the
blue winter sky formed a back
ground for the Academic Build
ing on the A&M campus.
The scene presented quite a
contrast between the building,
the symbol of academic
endeavor at A&M, and the
beautiful weather, which made
it very difficult to study.
V.