Driving course offers
benefits says Shanks
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1977
Page 3
By PAT EDMONDSON
Automobile accidents and the in
crease of cars on the road are “wak
ing up” local citizens, and some are
learning the skills and techniques of
defensive driving.
The National Safety Council De
fensive Driving Course is sponsored
by the Bryan-College Station Op
timist Club and the eight-hour class
is held approximately once every
month.
“The public is becoming very
aware of the class and the benefits
they can gain from it,” said J. D.
Shanks, Optimist Club Coordinator.
Shanks said the purpose of the
course is to teach the driver the
basics behind the wheel.
“There’s no mystery about it,” he
said. “Everybody has driving
habits—some are good and some
are bad. This course points out the
bad things and tries to show the in
dividual how to improve his driving
habits and skills.”
The course, which costs $10, also
is offered by the College Station
Lions Club and the College Station
Safety Council.
The National Safety Council
recommends that classes be limited
to 35 persons a session.
“We have an average attendance
of 25 per class,” Shanks said. “If we
should exceed 35, we would have to
get special permission to conduct a
class that large.”
Classes are conducted in a school
setting. Students view defensive
driving films and study newspaper
clips of automobile mishaps.
“We use visual aids of people
driving under actual conditions,”
said Shanks. “This helps the driver
become more alert when he’s be
hind the wheel.
Shanks said the course teaches
the driver to recognize dangers he
would not expect to cause wrecks.
“Slick roads, chugholes in the
pavement, poor car condition and
any number of things can cause an
accident. “All of these go together,
and when you least expect it, they
can gang up on you.”
Those who complete the course
can receive a 10 per cent reduction
on automobile insurance,
“The insurance companies
throughout the United States rec
ognize this as a benefit, and
willingly give you a 10 per cent re
duction on your insurance,” he said.
The course must be repeated after
three years, however, for the reduc
tion to remain in effect
Shanks said the defensive driving
course is becoming a trend in Bryan
and College Station.
“We advertised on the radio and
in both newspapers and the re
sponse has been great,” he said.
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Boston event attracts Olympians too
Aggie to run in marathon
D EUROPE
Well, it was there, so .
y David La Rue
Stacey Chapman found an easy way to beat the heat which
has come upon College Station lately. A quick dip in the fish
pond made the heat enjoyable.
'ook sale, reading sponsored
Texas A&M University’s Sterling
I. Evans Library will sponsor a book
Round Trip pie, a literary reading and a discus-
ion on publishing to celebrate Na-
onal Library Week.
I Thebook sale will be held Monday
Jt the south entrance of the library
fom 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Winners of the Texas A&M Uni-
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air fare.
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versity Poetry and Fiction Contest
(1976-1977) will read selections from
their work Tuesday at 8 p. m. in room
226 of the library.
“Publish or Perish,” a discussion
for authors and prospective authors,
will be held Wednesday in room 226
of the library at 10 a.m.
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804 Texas Ave.
The Boston Marathon begins at
noon Monday and will take more
than 2,000 of the world’s best long
distance runners through 26 miles
and 385 yards of the city in what
may be the country’s most grueling
footrace.
It hardly seems the place for a
53-year-old Texas A&M animal sci
ence professor, but Dr. James W.
Bassett will represent the Brazos
Valley Joggers Club.
He had “College Station, Texas”
added to the bottom of his T-shirt
advertisement this week just in case
someone in Boston was so provincial
that they didn’t know the where
abouts of the city.
“Many of the Olympic competi
tors show up for the event, so the
prevailing advice is to enjoy the race
and not try to set any records,” Bas
sett said. “Particularly since I’ll be
so far back in the starting field that
it’ll probably take three minutes of
running just to reach the starting
line.
“If I run I can eat anything I want
to,” he said. “As a matter of fact, as
far as I’m concerned the worst part
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of my training is the three days of no
carbohydrates before I begin my
carbohydrate loading. That means
no cake or cookies or ice cream; it’s
horrible.”
During those three days (which
started Monday for him) Bassett
eats a lot of dairy products, eggs and
meat while he decreases his daily
run from 16 to 6 miles.
Today and tomorrow he will run
two or three miles and begin eating
a lot of bread and potatoes. The pro
fessor will quit running Saturday
and Sunday and cold big bowls of
spaghetti to his diet. He will begin
Monday (the day of the race) with a
stack of hot cakes and granola.
Bassett ran in college but quit
until he was 46. Participation in a
noon-time exercise program got him
back on the track.
Bassett ran in his first marathon at
51 and this year qualified for Boston
by putting out a three-hour,
twenty-one-minute run in the
Houston Marathon.
“Of course, every year, as inter
est grows, there are more and bet
ter people running in these events,”
he said. “The first time I ran in the
Galveston Marathon I placed 75th.
The next year I cut 12 minutes off
my time and came in 90th. This year
I finished even eight minutes
sooner and was 135th.
“Ah well,’’ he said good-
naturedly, “all this is worth it if we
can encourage a few more people to
get out and try running with the
club or in exercise classes. Perhaps
if they see someone my age running
in the Boston Marathon, they’ll be
encouraged to try.”
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Aprtl 12-27, 1977 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily
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Box Office:
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A MOON TOR THfT
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Apr. 14 thru 16
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