The Battalion
Vol. 70 No. 108
12 Pages
Tuesday, April 19, 1977
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
nrollment may level off;
ousing shortage cited
By DEBBIE LIGHTFOOT
Enrollment at Texas A&M University,
! fastest growing university in the nation
^ce 1972, may finally be leveling off,
tM’s dean of admissions and records
Wednesday.
iDean Edwin Cooper said that for two
Insecutive weeks this month the total
Imber of new students accepted for the
|l semester has been at least 100 fewer
pnfor the same time period last year. As
Ithe first week in April, 8,316 new stu-
Ants have been accepted, compared to
B473 at the same time last year.
|Although the difference is only 157 stu-
ints, this marks the first time in several
jars that there has been any leveling of
Irollment, Co6per said.
|“The biggest single factor (for the de
cline) is housing,” Cooper said. Although
there will be adequate off-campus housing
to accommodate all students being ac
cepted, the shortage of on-campus space
deters some eligible students from enroll
ing, he said.
“We hear people saying all the time that
housing is definitely a factor in deciding
whether they will attend,” he said. Most
new freshmen and their parents want on-
campus housing because of the conve
nience and lower cost, he said.
A&M’s enrollment increased by at least
2,300 each year from 1972 to 1976, reach
ing a record 28,038 last fall.
Cooper predicted there will be about
29,000 here this fall, despite the slightly
lower acceptance figures, because of
A&M’s high retention rate for freshmen.
The rapid growth has meant larger
classes, longer class days and some finan
cial problems, but there has been no at
tempt to limit enrollment by raising admis
sions standards, Cooper said.
“We have solid admissions require
ments that correlate with the academic
challenge here,” he said. “We admit only
those students who are able to survive
academically.
“As long as we have the facilities and the
faculty, we admit all who are qualified. So
far, we have been able to do that without
undue harm to the students or the Univer
sity.”
As many as 13,000 Aggies are in class at
any one time during the day. To accom
modate this number, the registrar’s office
has had to increase the size of classes and
to schedule classes at 5 p.m. when it
would prefer not to, Cooper said.
The rapid enrollment increase of past
years has also created a “jet lag” in finan
cial support from the state. Cooper said.
Appropriations are based on past enroll
ment and made for a two-year period.
Enrollment at A&M has grown much
more rapidly than appropriations and
other sources, including alumni gifts and
other state funds, must be used to make
up the difference, he said.
Despite A&M’s rapid growth, students
usually have little trouble getting the
classes they want. About 70 per cent of the
requests made during preregistration for
particular times and professors are hon
ored, Cooper said.
\Aston Hall wants to leave RHA
By RAY DANIELS
IThe Aston Hall Dorm Council last night
Ited to secede from the Residence Hall
psociation (RHA), “until such a time as its
IHA’s) archaic and discriminatory means
representation is remedied.
| Included was a stipulation that the sup-
urt of Aston residents be pursued
Jrough a written petition before present-
Igthe bill to RHA as an actual secession.
1 According to Marc Young, sponsor of
le bill, Aston wants RHA representation
ased on the number of residents, rather
lan the current one vote per dorm,
j Joe Nixon, newly elected RHA presi-
ent, said RHA changed its representation
|st month. At that time, representation
number of residents was defeated. In-
lead, it was decided to add one represen-
Itive for a total of two from each dorm.
The number of residents in each dorm
Itries from 60 for Hotard to more than 500
br Mosher. Each dorm has an equal
lumber of votes in RHA meetings.
Nixon said he had supported the repre-
entation by number of residents, not for
[le representative aspect, but for the po-
ntial of expanding RHA and its re-
:>urces.
“The idea behind RHA is not so much to
Icpresent groups of people, but to get
lings done for the campus as a whole,
lid Nixon. He stressed that nothing is
’reregistration
tarts Monday
it G. Rollie
Preregistration for the Fall 1977 semes-
ler will be held April 25-29. This year,
students will report with card packets to
C. Rollie White Coliseum instead of the
registration center, said Registrar Robert
|A Lacey.
I Lacey said that the bulletin of fall course
jolferings erroneously instructs students to
proceed to the registration center. The
tenter will be undergoing renovation.
Preregistration will begin at 8 a.m.
fpril 25 and end at 5 p.m. April 29. Only
[students currently enrolled for the Spring
|l977 semester are permitted to preregis-
ler.
Lacey explained that students should
begin by obtaining card packets at the of-
pce of their major department. When the
Jstudent’s course request card has been
|approved, he should report to the main
poor of White Coliseum to complete pre-
Iregist ration.
I No fees will be collected at that time. A
Istatement will be mailed to the student at
Ibis permanent mailing address around
Ijuly 15. Fees must be paid by Aug. 12.
I After remittance of all fees, the stu-
Idenfs class schedule and fee receipt will
|be mailed to him, Lacey said.
ever done to stifle accomplishments and
that no dorm or group is ever discrimi
nated against.
“At the (RHA) meetings, I feel like I’m
at a Ku Klux Klan meeting and I’m black,”
said Young, an Aston resident. He said
this is because Aston is one of five south-
side dorms out of 21 dorms on cam
pus.The population of the south five is 33
per cent of the total on campus. They rep
resent 24 per cent of RHA.
Kevin Brady, Aston president elect,
said Aston doesn’t really want to leave the
RHA, but they’re willing to do it to get the
representation worked out.
Nixon said the move would not prompt
him to seek changes in the representative
system, largely since a change is currently
taking place.
“What will the proposed change accom
plish?” Nixon asked, “What goals do they
hope to achieve?”
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Nixon said he did not believe Aston
wanted the change just to help them
selves.
Brady said, “We re not going to lose
anything by leaving RHA. We’re not get
ting any benefits now."
Nixon said nothing definite is really
gained by the dorms, but that Aston will
miss the input on matters pertaining to the
whole campus.
RHA works with dorm policy such as
visitation,' cooking and services such as
board and laundry. It also helps provide
campus social activities, and administrates
the Quonset huts.
Battalion photo by Jim Hendrickson
New president pinned
Leadership of the Federation of Texas A&M University Mothers Clubs passed
Saturday to a new slate of officers led by Mrs. H. O. Pipkin Jr. (right) of
Woodsboro. She received the president’s gavel from Mrs. Don G. Kaspar
of Shiner, 1976-77 president. Representatives of statewide A&M Mothers
Clubs met on the campus in conjunction with Parents Weekend. (See related
story. Page 5.)
Gas allocation to ease shortage
unconstitutional, Briscoe says
United Press International
AUSTIN — In his speech to the nation
yesterday President Carter called on
Americans to sacrifice in light of the coun
try’s critical energy shortage. Gov. Dolph
Briscoe doesn’t want those sacrifices to fall
too heavily on Texas or other energy pro
ducing areas.
Briscoe said natural gas allocation, one
of the suggestions that has been made to
lease shortages in energy-poor areas of the
country, would be unconstitutional.
“I think it would be unconstitutional for
them to do it,” he said yesterday at a news
conference. “It would have a serious effect
on our economy. The allocation of intra
state gas would close Texas businesses
and put Texans out of work.”
The governor said he plans to return to
Washington to lobby the Carter adminis
tration against energy policies he said
would harm Texas and other petroleum
producing states.
While in Washington, Briscoe said, he
would meet with Bert Lance, director of
the Office of Management and Budget,
other administration officials and mem
bers of the Texas delegation.
Briscoe met with Carter and other ad
ministration officials Thursday, arguing
against gas allocation and for price deregu
lation. He shaqdy criticized proposals for
allocation of intrastate gas from
petroleum-producing states to interstate
consumers.
Briscoe said he was unhappy with many
proposals presented to the President by
his energy staff.
“The proposals go toward greater gov
ernment control of the energy industry
and higher taxes on products where they
are already too high,” he said.
“It’s a bureaucrats’ dream of bureauc
racy.”
Briscoe indicated he hopes to influence
the administration and Congress against
some of the proposals.
“The President has not accepted a
number of the recommendations,” he
said. “I am encouraged by the fact that
there are some changes being made in the
recommendations that are under consid
eration,” he said.
Briscoe said he is confident Carter will
not change his stand in favor of natural gas
deregulation.
Blaze kills unconfirmed number
Galveston fire levels city block
Fling
'in in the rain
This just goes to show that the postal service isn’t the only thing not
stopped by rain, sleet and dark of night. This is one of a trio of hearty souls
at Texas A&M University who didn’t let this weekend’s monsoons affect
their Frisbee flinging.
United Press International
GALVESTON — A fire that killed an
unconfirmed 10 to 12 persons and leveled
a downtown hotel and a furniture store
was brought under control today, accord
ing to the Galveston County Sheriffs Of
fice.
A dispatcher for the sheriff s office said
the fire was under control about 6 a.m.,
but firemen remained at the scene be
cause it was still “smoldering.”
The Central Hotel erupted in flames
about 2 a.m. and Star Furniture Co. next
door also caught fire.
“The hotel and the furniture store are
no more,” the dispatcher said. “Both of
them just collapsed.”
A spokesman for John Sealy Hospital
said 16 persons had been treated there for
bums and smoke inhalation, including two
firemen. The hospital official said several
of those treated were injured when they
jumped from the building.
The spokesman for the sheriffs office
said although 47 persons were known to
be living in the hotel, it was not known
how many escaped.
“We don’t know how many got out but
we know some of them did,” the spokes
man said.
“If s an old, old building. At least 60
years old.
“There is a hotel on that corner, a drug
store and furniture store. Actually the
hotel is more of a flophouse.”
Officials called for help from fire de
partments from six surrounding cities to
fight the blaze.
The spokesman said the hotel was a
five-story, red-brick structure. The area
was described as a rundown, older district
of the central city.
Silver Taps tonight
Silver Taps ceremonies will be
conducted tonight at 10:30 for Texas
A&M University graduate student
Oral B. Crawford III, 29.
Crawford, who died March 27 in
his hometown of Springfield, Mo.,
was a Ph. D. student in economics
and a research assistant.
He was the son of Dr. Oral B.
Crawford Jr. of Springfield.
Eastertvood reports few air mishaps
By DAVE TEWES
Battalion Staff
Facilities and personnel for regulating
[ air-traffic safety at Easterwood Airport may
not be faultless, but accidents there are
! limited.
Several pilots and air-traffic controllers
Weather 1
Partly cloudy and mild this after- I
noon and evening with a 10 per
chance of Isolated thunder
showers. High today in the low
80s. low tonight in the upper 60s.
High tomorrow in the upper 70s.
Continued cloudy and mild'tomor
row with a precipitation probability
.•>af 40 per eem
> —
who frequent Easterwood say general
safety at the airport is at least average.
“I think it could be rated alongside most
airports,” said Kenneth D. Antley, air-
traffic control specialist at Easterwood.
“We are probably the smallest community
in the state with a (control) tower, with the
exception of Plainview.”
Truett Smith, Easterwood Airport man
ager, said there was only one accident last
year and one so far this year involving air
craft. He said there were no injuries or
deaths in either mishap.
Bobby Clay, chief of the tower, said that
there were two or three accidents last year
among the 92,000 total airport operations.
The biggest concern involving aircraft
safety is spotting and accurately locating an
aircraft, said Robert Cotte, air-traffic con
trol specialist. Air-traffic controllers must
rely on the pilot to provide an accurate
position report because Easterwood has no
radar.
Absence of radar frequently pose prob
lems for pilots familiar with Easterwood.
Some pilots mistake Texas World Speed
way or a nearby abandoned airport for Eas
terwood.
Controllers may not even see an aircraft
until it has almost landed if the weather is
bad, said Ricky O. Warren, air-traffic con
trol specialist at the airport. There is no
way of knowing where an aircraft is if the
pilot miscalculates his position, he added.
J.M. Lewallen, a pilot for 11 years, said
having a radar would be convenient but not
practical.
“Having a radar would certainly be safer,
but it’s just not cost-effective,” Lewallen
said. “If they had to give a radar to every
airport the size of Easterwood, we’d be
taxed out of our homes. ”
Responsibilty for keeping aircraft safely
separated rests with the pilot in most cases,
Cotte said.
“He (the pilot) is the final person who is
responsible for the separation of his aircraft
under visual flight rule (VFR) conditions,”
Cotte said. “When the aircraft is flying in
strument flight rule (IFR), air-traffic con
trol provides separation from other air
craft. ”
Pilots should be alert for other aircraft
even when flyiny IFR, Cotte said. This is
called the “see and be seen” rule, he said.
Another safety concern involves the con
troller giving pilots precisely worded in
structions . Misuse of words may have
caused the crash of two Boeing 747 jets
killing 579 persons in the Canary Islands.
“If he (a pilot) calls and is ready for take
off and we cannot issue clearance at that
time, we tell him to hold short,” Antley
said. “We try never to use hold clear of
runway’ or ‘advise when clear of runway’.
This prevents the pilot from thinking the
runway is clear when it isn’t.
Although student controllers practice at
Easterwood, there is always a qualified
controller present.
Susan Stroud, a flight instructor for
Brazos Aviation, said the student control
lers talk on the radio too much. She said
they try to present too much unnecesary
information to the pilot. The student con
trollers agree that they may make occa
sional errors.
“They will carry on an extended conver
sation trying to get you to realize the posi
tion of another aircraft,” Stroud said. “That
aircraft isn’t really in close enough prox
imity to cause a problem.”
This is common at many airports and is a
basic fault of most controllers, she said.
Easterwood controllers make no more mis
takes than other controllers with the same
level of experience, Stroud added.
Keeping words to a minimum is some
thing that comes with experience, Warren
said. A controller tries not to talk anymore
than he must because that air time may be
needed later.
“The more you work with civilian traffic,
the more you cut down on your phraseol
ogy,” Warren said. “In slack time when you
don’t have much traffic, you use more
phraseology.”
When air traffic is minimal, the control
ler has more time to provide assistance to
the pilot, he said. Warren emphasized that
controllers must reduce conversation when
there is considerable traffic.
Howard Chamberlain, Texas A&M Uni
versity Flying Club director, said another
key aspect related to safety is the pilot’s
competency.
“The biggest problem relative to safety is
the individual pilot operating in and out of
Eaaterwood,” he said.
If a pilot isn’t familiar with standard pro
cedure, he may upset the flow of traffic,
Chamberlain said.