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Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Wednesday
May 4, 1977
State colleges striving for excellence
By EDWARD FULTON
United Press International
Texans from another, harder culture,
struggling to write a constitution within
the chaos of Reconstruction, paused to
make a curious, far-sighted demand on fu
ture generations.
During that autumn a century ago amid
thundering renunciation of the state’s
“Carpetbag Constitution,” politicians in
Austin wrote this phrase: “The Legislature
shall, as soon as practicable, establish, or
ganize and provide for the maintenance,
support and direction of a University of
the first class....
Three months later the people of the
state of Texas ratified the constitution and
with it the plea that sons and daughters
born in more stable times might receive
an education.
In 1881 the Legislature, ignoring those
who said state money should be spent on
more profitable ventures, established the
Agricultural and Mechanical College of
Texas. Two years later the University of
Texas System was organized in Austin.
One hundred and two years had passed.
Today Texas taxpayers support 23 senior
colleges and universities, five upper-level
universities, three upper-level learning
centers, 47 community college districts
operating 55 campuses, one technical insti
tute operating four campuses, five medical
schools, two dental schools and one
maritime academy.
Private organizations—usually
churches—opened colleges and institutes
which, after decades of failure, growth,
merger and reorganization, resulted in 38
more senior colleges and universities,
seven junior colleges, two medical
schools, one dental school and two medi
cally related learning centers.
Clearly, the generations responded to
the call for a university.
However, that was only half of the
promise. There was, and is, the last
clause: “...OF THE FIRST CLASS.” The
forefathers demanded excellence, and all
of the oil under the piney woods could not
buy it.
High school counselors, teachers,
politicians, college presidents, graduates,
students, professors and instructors from
throughout the state agree on one primary
fact: somewhere within the maze of Texas’
higher education system, excellence re
sides.
Those who curse any university educa
tion have one definition of excellence. The
intellectuals at the Lyndon B. Johnson
School of Public Affairs at the University
of Texas in Austin have another.
Farmers, saved from financial ruin be
cause a new strain of wheat survived a
frost, find excellence in the research de
partments of the stunning university
which began as Texas Agriculture and
Mechanical College.
Jazz buffs look to the North Texas State
University music department.
Slouch
by Jim Earle
EA/U-*
HA 1 * 4-~ r7
NOW THAT YOU’RE A FORMER STUDENT, I’M SURE
THAT YOU’LL BE WORKING TOWARD IMPROVING OUR
UNIVERSITY, MAKING CONTRIBUTIONS TO TH’ BUILD
ING FUND, AND SEE THAT OUR MONETARY PROBLEMS
ARE TAKEN CARE OF!”
Minorities, deprived intellectually by a
debilitating culture gap, thrive at the
black and brown colleges.
Those who believe the nation’s wood
lands are part of the national heritage look
to the forestry department at Stephen F.
Austin University in Nacogdoches.
Excellence within a university, then,
occurs only when the requirements of the
culture which supports it are met. Texans,
only a generation away from an agrarian
society, have branded the state’s colleges
with their own idea of “excellence” and
those ideas vary widely throughout the
estate.
However, discussions with dozens oi
people in the field show that there is no
“Harvard of the South,” no so-called pres
tige university — despite the claims of
Rice University, the University of Texas,
Trinity University, Austin College or
Texas Tech.
Editorial
Why not? Because until a few years ago,
there was no demand for one.
But there are many hints of the kind of
excellence associated with the traditional
northeastern and West Coast prestige
schools.
That excellence is the new direction
many universities in Texas are following
during a decade when they are examining
themselves more and more. Legislators
are again suggesting that the phrase “...of
the first class” be analyzed and then held
up in front of each school like a mirror.
Even now, many educators believe the
gifted student does not need to leave
Texas to receive all the education he re
quires. All educators believe that by the
turn of the century higher education in
Texas will be equal or superior to that of
fered in any other section of the country.
And all the same educators believe that
everyone’s definition of excellence will
exist, somewhere, in Texas.
Apology to TMA
A story was featured in the April 28 edi
tion of The Battalion concerning problems
experienced by entering female cadets at
the Texas Maritime Academy. The story
related various instances in which women
at the Academy underwent undue har-
rassment by the male cadets during the
co-eds’ first year.
Reports received indicate that this may
have been the case three years ago when
female cadets entered the school, but a
further look into the situation as it now
exists shows that there is little, if any, con
flict between male and female cadets at
Galveston.
A review of the story and conversations
with TMA officials and students show that
The Battalion did not present a fair repre
sentation of student life at TMA. Although
references to today’s equitable and amica
ble lifestyle were made in the story. The
Battalion agrees that insufficient attention
was given to this fact. TMA has pointed
out certain fact errors concerning the his
tory of the school. Persons quoted in the
story have complained that their quotes
were taken out of context and used to mis
represent the Academy. After listening to
tapes of the conversations with some of the
female cadets, the editor also agrees that
without adequate play being given to
present conditions at the school the article
presents a biased and outdated view of the
Academy.
The Battalion regrets that TMA has suf
fered unfavorable publicity because of the
article. Certainly such was not the paper’s
intent. To students and faculty of TMA,
The Battalion extends its apologies and
invites the Academy to utilize the
Readers’ Forum for another look at TMA.
Letters to the Editor
Police need to admit mistakes
Editor:
In response to the recent letter (John
son April 27, 1977) regarding episodes with
the K. K., I would like to relate an experi
ence I had.
A letter was sent to my house stating I
owed three tickets with late charges ($30).
Knowing my innocence (aren’t we all?),
and armed with the knowledge that the
used car I had recently purchased be
longed formerly to an Ag, I went to the
station to get the matter fixed. When I got
there the polite secretary asked when I
bought the car. I told her and she said the
tickets had all been written after the date
of my purchasing the car. I asked to see a
copy of one of the tickets and lo and be
hold she was right, but the make of car was
a V. W. which I do not own. I told her this
and we argued it awhile and she finally
said go talk it over with Chief Luther.
He said, “Pay them!” We argued it a bit
and finally I went to see a sergeant (Hamil
ton, I believe). He checked the registra
tion from the license number on the tick
ets and sure enough, it was for a V.W.,
registered to a Mr. Ryan, but a Mr. Ryan
in Knippa, Texas. I didn’t even know
where in the hell Knippa was. I told him
“I’m from Houston not Knippa, check it
on your records.” He believed me and
said he would take care of it and not to
worry. No apology!
Now I know the K.K. are busy, and
they get alot of people trying to weasle out
of fines. They must see a high percentage
of “2 per centers,” but hopefully they will
learn not all Ags are like that and hopefully
they will learn to apologize when they are
wrong.
— Dan Ryan ’77
P.S. Knippa is about 20 miles east of
Uvalde.
Problem solved
Editor:
I have been following the intemational-
student-tuition battle with a mildly de
tached interest. Last night a solution came
to me, as if in a vision. The key words in
this solution are to be Sacrifice and
Equity: Americans should sacrifice for
many reasons and International students
should be treated equitably for many rea
sons.
Americans, especially Texans, should
Sacrifice because they have been excep
tionally blessed with natural resources and
talents, because the Free Enterprise sys
tem only works when its most successful
competitors practice charity, and because
the Free World needs a moral leader.
International students should be treated
equitably because they are the only ones
who can truly devleop their own nation’s
resources and talents, because they ob
viously need Charity to bring them out of
Poverty, and because they are needed to
promote the morality of Freedom through
out the world.
My proposal is that we charge Interna
tional Students exactly one-half the mark
up on education that their countries charge
us on their primary export. By doing this,
we ensure that Americans are sacrificing
for the benefit of all foreign students
and that the students will be treated as
equitably as their nations treat us. I give
two examples to show how this scheme
works:
Scotland sells us shoes at a 20 per cent
mark-up. We sacrifice one-half, or ten per
cent, so all Scottish students should pay 10
per cent more for education than Texans
do.
OPEC nations produce oil at 18 cents
per barrel and sell it to us for $18 per bar
rel. This is a mark-up of 1000 per cent. We
sacrifice one-half, or 500 per cent, so all
OPEC students should pay 500 per cent
more than Texans.
One can easily see that a third key
word. Incentive, is added to the solution.
Nations that already treat us equitably will
not have the further incentive to do so. Na
tions that are not treating us equitably will
gain an incentive to do so. Surely these
nations cannot believe that a continued
U.S. trade deficit of sixty billion dollars
per quarter is equitable. Such nations will
be reminded that they cannot run mines,
oil wells and factories without expert
technicians. And all nations will be re
minded that Charity begins at Home.
— Richard Saunders, Jr.
Graduate Student
Males put down
Editor:
Referring to an article in The Battalion,
April 28, 1977, “After three years women
are earning places at the Texas Maritime
Academy.” The writer knows little about
the Academy. It seems when news writers
cover a story on TMA, they always inter
view the same people and end up with the
same BS stories. They all put the male
cadet down or don’t mention them at all.
I would hold reservation in stating the
fact that women are accepted at the
Academy as equals by the majority of the
male cadets. Whenever there is heavy
work to be done or when sharp cadets are
needed for a special job, I have yet to see a
co-ed cadet selected.
—Robert K. Baker ’77
C Company Commander, TMA
Top of the News
Texas
Terrifying kidnaping ends in Texm
A terrifying four-day experience for a young woman and herl
baby son has ended with the charging of an ex-convict for kidnaping!
The FBI said yesterday Dennis Oliver Ross, 26, of Glendale, ArizJ
had been charged with kidnaping Ethel McNeir and her son, How-
ard, from a St. Louis department store and then forcing her to drivel
with him to South Texas. Ross, a resident of the St. Louis area, was!
arraigned on kidnaping and firearms charges by U.S. Magistrate!
Norman W. Black, who set bond at $100,000.
Barmaid helps arrange ruse
Police in Houston said yesterday the barmaid, who felt sorry
for murder suspect Vernon McManus, helped arrange his escape
and then helped authorities catch him. McManus disappeared dur
ing jury selection in his trial for the murder of his former secretary’s
mother and father in return for part of the insurance money. Police
said the barmaid agreed to help McManus arrange a ruse to makeit
appear he had been kidnaped or killed. Investigators quoted heras
saying she supplied him with a syringe used to squirt blood across
the front seat of his car, accompanied him to abandon the caronal
dirt road north of Baytown and helped him leave misleading clues.
She later informed police McManus had fled in a silver and maroon |
Monte Carlo, officers said, and other information suggested
could be found in Jacksonville Beach. Officers said McManus, who!
has a wife and daughter in Baytown, had “a way with women”:
their awareness of that helped them capture him in the beachfront |
motel room of a young woman vacationing from Ohio.
More money spent on mixed drinks
Texans spent 23.8 per cent more money on mixed drinks dur
ing the first three months of 1977 than during the same period of |
1976, State Comptroller Bob Bullock said yesterday. Mixed drink
tax collections for the first quarter of the year totaled $12.5 million,
compared to $10.1 million during the same three months of 1976.
The tax — collected by the Alcoholic Beverage Commission —
represents 10 per cent of all gross receipts from the sale of mixed
drinks. Bullock said his office sent checks totaling $3.6 million to
300 cities and 190 counties as their share of the tax revenue. The
state keeps 85 percent of the mixed drink tax.
Nation
Kent State victims remembered todau
Four students killed seven years ago at Kent State University
are being remembered today in public and private ceremonies by I
their parents and former classmates, as well as current students who]
were just junior high schoolers on May 4, 1970. Allison Krause,[
Jeffrey Miller, Sandy Scheuer and William Schroeder were shot to
death by National Guardsmen trying to put down an antiwar deni I
onstration triggered by the U.S. invasion from Vietnam intoCam-j
bodia. Students angered by the KSU administration’s refusal to|
cancel classes planned to boycott classes today.
Economist expects output increase\
White House economist Charles L. Schultze has predicted a
growth of up to 6 per cent in American’s total real output this yearj
and “a slightly lower — but still healthy — rate of expansion
1978. President Carter’s principal economic adviser conceded in
his speech yesterday before the American Society of Newspaper!
Editors convention that government regulations also have intro!
duced uncertainty into business calculations. Earlier yesterday, the|
editors heard from President Carter, speaking via telephone, who!
told them the Soviet Union is “many years away” from developingaj
weapon that could neutralize U.S. missiles.
Mondale to travel to Europe
Vice President Walter Mondale will travel
to Europe this month for talks with South Afri
can and British leaders to demonstrate “direct
White House involvement” in the Rhodesian
issue. The trip will be Mondale’s first major
assignment since President Carter named him
coordinator of U.S. policy in Africa. Mondale’s
10-day trip to Europe was announced by the
White House yesterday. He will leave Wash
ington May 14, visiting Portugal, Spain, Austria,
Yugoslavia and Great Britain, and return to
Washington May 23. It will be Mondale’s second
overseas trip on behalf of the new administration. A few days afterl
Carter took office, he dispatched Mondale to five European allies j
and Japan.
MONDALE
Murderer questions death of victim
An 18-year-old youth now serving life in prison for murder has |
asked the Massachusetts Supreme Court to decide if his victim was
legally dead when doctors turned off his life sustaining equipment. I
The high court could be the first in the nation to decide whether an I
absence of brain waves, not heart failure, signals death. Seigfried|
Golston, 18, of Boston is serving a life sentence for the murder of!
Ronald J. Salem, 34, of Medford. Salem was pronounced dead inf
August 1975, one week after he was beaten over the head with a
baseball bat. Salem, in a coma, was kept on life sustaining equip-1
ment at Boston City Hospital until doctors decided he had suffered I
“irreversible brain damage.” Colston’s lawyer told the Supreme
Court yesterday there was a possibility Salem could have lived if the
“plug had not been pulled. ” He said if Salem was still alive under
the heart-death standard when the life sustaining equipment was J
removed, then his client could not be guilty of murder.
World
Five hundred students slaughtered
Ethiopian troops and peasants slaughtered up to 500 students
this past weekend in possibly the bloodiest incident in a rising j
campaign of terror against antigovernment forces, witnesses said
yesterday. Many of the bodies were stacked in huge piles and others |
were dumped in a mass grave just outside Addis Ababa. Many were
mutilated. The leftist military government, threatened by several
armed insurrections around the country and underground opposi
tion in the capital, is waging an all-out war against its opponents. It
has launched another campaign to raise a peasant army to fight a |
“people’s war” against Eritrean secessionists in the north, reminis
cent of last year’s ill-fated peasant march to Eritrea.
weather
Mostly cloudy, warm and humid today and tomorrow with a 20 percent
chance of thundershowers today and a 30 per cent chance tomorrow.
Expected high today in the mid-80s. Low tonight in the low 70s. High
tomorrow in the mid-80s.