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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1977)
Page 8 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1977 age 51 ■Ti fcit* 5vS Vlai -ab o s Cex OC Ml . ,A jipl ind ip^t squ is cb? tal: Aft tio sit m< E> toi Ilf! Pi ic G Ai oj ei 'tY n it k c ri • I j. , 1 1 ri Too many bosses spoil the industry By JEANNE LESEM United Press International Industry should get rid of half its bosses, says behavioral psychologist Alfred J. Marrow. “Adults are quite capable of handling their lives out side their homes, at their jobs,” Marrow said in an interview. They need fewer supervisors and mana gers, not more. “It’s very true,” Marrow said. “A good manager will come to a work group if he has a problem. ” If a shirt manufacturer’s custom ers are returning merchandise be cause the collars are crooked, he said the people who make the shirts are more likely than management to identify the problem quickly if they get together to talk about it. pany in Hartford, Conn., that got about 50,000 pieces of mail every morning. One person was assigned to slit the envelopes, starting at 6 a.m. When a meeting was called to discuss the frequent turnover of em ployes in that job, one worker suggested that the starting hour be changed to 7:30, and the one person to a team of four to five. duties the remainder of the day. That’s called “job enrichment.” More American companies are turn ing to it because surveys show it’s number one on employes lists of importance: “not wages, not hours. They are fifth, sixth, seventh,” Mar row said. tives that will be good for the com pany, first discuss them with your co-workers. “Get together as many people as you want, but don’t coerce any to join you. This is not what a guidance committee is for. As president of the American Board of Professional Psychology and former Commissioner of Human Rights of New York City, he’s heard the complaint from work-, ing people over and over again: too many bosses. But if the boss comes on as an adversary, bawling them out for bad work and threatening to or actually firing some, the remaining workers will probably react angrily and work will suffer. He recalled an insurance com- The solution worked. Marrow said, because one person was no longer stuck with a boring and lonely job for four to five hours. The work got done in one hour, and the people who did it were then given more varied and interesting clerical Job enrichment and employe par ticipation gain the support of top or ganizations because they are good for production and reduce staff turnover, he said. For employes who have not yet discovered they can actually influ ence management, he suggests: If you have a problem or objec- “If you have six in 10 who are will ing to speak to the boss, you’re likely to be successful. Tell the others, “we won’t involve you, but you’re welcome to join us later if you want to.” Marrow said it is best for all who share the same views and objectives to be present when the presentation is made. “A spokesperson almost always gets back to a one-to-one basis again,” and loners are losers, he said. You have to give each person a sense of involvement, although a group that gets beyond 25 persons puts many in a passive position that isn’t good. One big corporation solved that problem by calling meetings of 20 persons each, for a total of400 meet ings of one hour each over about three months. Marrow said it cost the company about 8,000 produc tion hours and $40,000 in time lost, but if it resulted in one per cent im provement in company prod, it saved the company moret,, t million in costs. At the beginii this century, two indu, engineers recommended simplification to increase pt, tion. “It took us 50 years to fim that doesn’t work,” Marrowsaj “Most stress in people^ comes from their jobs. Pro! solving and job enrichment are ventive medicine. They elii stress. “People in jobs are just bi,, to realize that a good salan enough to pay for heartbreak job.” Houston s ZZ Top goes national United Press International I guess,” said Billy Gibbons, tugging on his pearl-gray ostrich skin cowboy boots, “You could say we’re living the Texas myth — right up front for the world to see. I mean, we grew up with it and it seems natural — but it comes off differently in other places. “We want to have the biggest — and the best — show there is. And if that’s not the Texas image, nothing is.” Gibbons is guitarist for ZZ top, a sequined, cowboy boogie trio from Houston, and by far the most popular rock ’n’ roll band in the Lone Star State. Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill, and drummer Frank Beard draw crowds num bering in the hundreds of thousands to their infrequent home state appearances. In the past two or three years, ZZ has been spending a good deal more time on the road out side Texas than in — largely in an effort to combat its image as a “regional” band. Their current show is called “Takin’ Texas To The World,” a mammoth road production that has so much equipment and props it requires a half-dozen semi-trailer rigs to carry it all, along with an incred ible live menagerie that includes a buffalo, a Longhorn steer, a buzzard, and a rattlesnake, all of which appear on stage before or during the show. Such overwhelming gimmick ry could lead many observers to suspect that the band has so little to offer musically that it must make up for its limitations with showmanship. Well, the showmanship is there, all right — but so is the music provided that you get-off on the blues and blues-based rock n’ roll, because that’s all ZZ Top plays. Gibbons is a gifted guitarist with the kind of stage instinct that lets him play an audience nearly as effortlessly as he hand les his guitar. Theirs is an exciting, driving brand of boogie on stage, but ZZ and producer-manager Bill Ham have always had difficulty in the recording studio. Now, however, they have come-up with the album that could do it all — establish the band nationally, and prove that they can make cohesive Ips that capture at least some of the stage excitement. It’s called “Tejas” London PS5-680, and although the album as a whole is a bit low-key than ZZ live, the play ing, the songs and the recording quality are all several notches above anything the band has done before. Give a listen — ZZ Top may bring Texas to you. ‘Bandstand’ to celebrate 25l By VERNON SCOTT United Press International HOLLYWOOD — Dick Clark was the baby-faced emcee of “American Bandstand” almost a quarter century ago and today he remains the baby-faced host of the indestructible music show. Clark hosts for two hours of ABC-TV’s prime time Feb. 4 a celebration of the 25th anniversary of “Bandstand” which, along with Lawrence Welk and a couple of soap operas, is among television’s longest running shows. Adult viewers who have acciden tally tuned in over the interminable run of the show can see nothing has changed. Not the rampant acne. Not the indecipherable lyrics. Not the ear-splitting amplification of electric guitars. v Even Clark’s expressionless Texas A&M University Town Hall Young Artist Series PRESENTS DAVID GRIMES CLASSICAL GUITARIST . . an obvious perfectionist, A masterful variety of right- hand techniques lent an almost mystical air. . Los Angeles Times Workshop Wednesday, January 26, 8:00 P.M. Rudder Theater FREE workshop! Bring your guitar and join the fun! RECITAL • Thursday, January 27, 8:00 P.M. Rudder Theater TICKET PRICES: A&M STUDENTS: FREE W/ACTIVITY CARD NON A&M STUDENT DATE: 1.00 GENERAL PUBLIC: $2.50 m/c Tickets and info available MSC Box Office, First Floor Rudder Tower, 845-2916. Nation’s “gambling epidemic” spreading United Press International BOULDER, Colo. — The United States is in the midst of a “gambling epidemic,” says a University of Col orado sociologist who has spent 10 years studying gambling in America. “There’s no swine flu epidemic, but there’s a gambling epidemic and there’s more to come,” said Tomas Martinez, who has interviewed hundreds of gamblers and watched them wager. “But it could take maybe 10 years until government policy recognizes it.” Martinez said recent studies indi cate there are four million to 10 mil lion compulsive gamblers in the United States. He said such com pulsive gamblers wager for the same reason alcoholics drink or drug addicts use heroin—to get high. “Compulsive gamblers usually find that nothing else turns them on like gambling,” he said in an inter view. “It makes them feel alive. It excites them. “Like drugs or stealing are for other people, it’s an exciting thing like nothing else in the world. It be comes an addiction.” He says gamblers often see them selves “as having prestige, perform ing daring and forceful actions.” He said one would imagine himself as an international gambler with inter national money backing him. “Since compulsive gamblers are reasonably adept at playing, they could and do play for long periods of time—often until fatigued,” said Martinez. “Fatigue combined with overin dulgence takes its toll. Betting be comes irrational, and losing re sults.” He said compulsive gamblers come from all social classes and find forms of gambling suited to their preferences. Martinez said compulsive gambl ing, like any addiction, can lead to such consequences as loss of job, jail, family breakup and attempted suicide. He said the cure rate for chapters of Gamblers Anonymous is only about 10 per cent, and the cure is not necessarily permanent. boredom, his indifference to the cacophony and wild gyrations sur rounding him, remains precisely the same. But hold! Clark, an exceedingly bright and articulate man, says only he and the format are unchanged. “When I took over in 1956 Jerry Vale, Georgia Gibbs and Don Cor nell were the big music stars,” said Clark who was having lunch in a sports shirt. The only time he wears tie and jacket is on the show where he symbolizes the terminal square. “There was no rock and roll in those days. We played popular music, and were living in the age of Patti Page and Johnny Ray — both of whom, incidentally, will star in our anniversary show. Clark is convinced the music has improved, if only because there is so much more music around to choose from. But he’s not a critic and doesn’t select the songs played on the air. His own tastes run to the likes of “Misty,” which would probably clear the hall of the teen-agers who come to dance on the show “I’ve been the caretaker of the show. I’ve promoted it, fended off program assassins at the network who wanted to kill it, tinkerers who tried to ‘improve’ it, sold it to spon sors and protected it. “ ‘Bandstand’ can stay on indefi nitely as long as a caretaker is around to watch over it.” Ul The first star to emerge show back in the early 1! joni James. But virtually in of stars have appeared with! over the years and hundreds" 1 have been represented by music. “Our anniversary show wi Lire 112 stars,” Clark said will be performing live. Others be seen on tape or film. They sented the 50s, 60s and 70s.” Among the performers Ndllh Everly Brothers, Johnny Q Barry Manilow, Sonny andC Helen Reddy, Paul Anka, E VV John and David Bowie, ! ldards Williams will conduct a 25-[ band composed of some of the! pop musicians in contempi"’ music. Pat Boone, who, like Cli hasn’t aged a day since his birthday, will also appear show. Unit usTir is to S] Chubby Checker will be on to revive “The Twist” which! said is the all-time record hold length of time at the topd charts. The first television ap ance of the Jefferson Airplane be rerun, along with the “Bandstand” appearance ol Mamas and Papas. Film clips of the kids whoiii on the show 20 years ago, no their 30s, will be matchedu| recent footage taken of them "846-6 HELD OVER! The Greatest Discovery of Our Time § In search of Doah’s Hrk Copyright Sun Classic Pictures, Inc. ® 1976 1 i i i.-I I I II II 1 I I I I fHanor East 3 Theatres m 891-asorS LAWRENCE S HAIR STYLING SALON presents Lawrence & Marci A Duo Hair-Styling Team 822-1183 DAILY 7:30.9:30 6:05-7:55-9:45 "CAR wash:....where,between TJ’s "STEAK & MOVIES' Good For Any Show!! 7:00-9:20 IT'S THE MOST DO YOU LIKE MEETING PEOPLE FROM FAR AWAY AND HELPING THEM? SCONA-Student Conference On National Affairs Has A Deal For You! Sign up to be a SCONA host or hostess thru Friday, Jan. 28 in the SCONA Cubicle of the Student Pro grams Office in the MSC for an interview. Interviews will be held Monday, Jan. 31 —Wed nesday, Feb. 2. 1SI]DAILY 7 :20,9 : ._ A CAREER IN NAVAL AVIATION If You . . . • are mechanically inclined; • are interested in aviation; are looking for a challenging. Top of the Tower Texas A&M University Pleasant Dining — Great View SERVING LUNCHEON BUFFET 11:00 A.M. - 1:30 P.M. Each day except Saturday BankAmericaro $2.50 DAILY $3.00 SUNDAY Serving soup i? sandwich 11:00 A.M- - 1:30 P.M. Monday - Friday $1.50 plus drink Available Evenings For Special University Banquets Department of Food Service Texas A&M University “Quality First” meaningful career; are at least a senior, preferably in engineering, science, management or administration; are interested in applying your education, knowledge and skills in one of the most important and crit ical fields of naval aviation; Then, a Career . . . as a naval Aeronautical Maintenance Duty Officer may be just what you are looking for. See the Officer INFORMATION TEAM on Campus) JAN. 24-27 9:00 A.M.-3:00 P>1 At the MSC or call collect: (713) 226-4707