Vol. 71 No. 15
14 Pages
The Battalion
Wednesday, September 21, 1977
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
P.E. courses will be
pass-fail this spring
By ROBIN LINN
Texas A6cM University students now
can take required physical education
courses pass-fail with the designation of
Satisfactory (S) or Unsatisfactory (U).
The change was made by the Academic
Council Tuesday to give students more
grade options for the four semesters of re
quired physical education.
According to the new regulation, a
grade of S will he given to students who
make C or above in the required P.E.
courses with the hours not affecting their
overall grade point ratio.
A grade of U is given for grades below
C. There is no distinction between a D or
F under the U grade.
If a student makes 69 or below, a U will
be given and computed into the semester
GPR as an F.
Dr. Carl Landiss, head of the depart
ment of health and physical education,
said the Unsatisfactory-Satisfactory grade
system was set up for students who want to
take P.E., but do not want the course to
affect their GPR.
He noted that not many students make a
D or F in the required physical education
courses.
Landiss said most students would be
better off to take the required P.E.
courses on a grade basis because many
raise their GPR with the required courses.
The new system was met with mixed
reactions by students questioned about
the change.
Troby Hoffaeker, a senior education
major said of the grading option, “I don t
think it should be pass-fail, people
wouldn t try. The grade point system
motivates people to learn.”
Rand Lindsly, a junior nuclear engi
neering major, said he was in favor of the
change.
Tf you want to shoot for a 4.0, you don't
have to worry about P.E. dragging you
down.
Landiss said required P.E. courses are
structured for the beginner, and added
that each person in a class will have differ
ent abilities.
Under the Pass-fail system, only credit
is given for the hours, not grade points.
Israel warns Syria,
fighting continues
/^No
uit;
FTD y — Floriculture Teacher Delivers
James L. Johnson, Professor of Floricultui'e, transferred flowers from
the floriculture greenhouse to the classroom Tuesday, where his Horti
culture 203 students will observe demonstrations on principles of design
in flower arranging. Battalion photo by Jo Ella Dixon
United Press International
Israel has warned Syria to stay out of
south Lebanon but offered to act as a
peacemaker in the fighting between Pales
tinian guerrillas and Israeli-backed
Lebanese.
Israeli warjets swooped over the area
Tuesday and the Lebanese, backed by Is
raeli artillery fire, fought to cut off a main
supply route to a strategic Palestinian hill
stronghold near the border, reporters in
the area said.
“Any escalation in the situation in the
south will be Israel’s fault,” Syria’s official
press said.
UT unhappy
all Ei
litsfc"
,[
jhl
'lit
c.It.
I.j:
House painted in ‘Aggie colors’
By STEVE MAYER
The University of Texas is kinda upset
with us.
The Texas A&M Development Founda
tion plans to paint one of Austin’s most
historic homes. . . you guessed it. . .
maroon and white.
But it’s not an effort to represent the
Aggies.
“The Daily Texan was upset when they
found out we (the Heritage Society of Aus
tin) were going to sell the house to A&M,’
Elaine Mayo, a spokesman says. “Then
they called later when they found out it
was going to be painted maroon and white.
They were furious.
Joe H. Moore, class of ’38, purchased
the 1885 Victorian house last January and
donated it to the A&M Foundation. The
Foundation is the vehicle by which alumni
make capital gifts to A&M.
“The home was given to A&M with the
understanding that if we don’t have a
functional use for it, then we can sell it,”
Robert Walker, vice-chancellor for de
velopment says.
However, plans are under way to re
store the two-story house to its original
appearance, he says.
Architects have determined the original
colors were maroon and white, Mayo says.
“Many Victorian homes used ijnaroon trim.
It was very popular.”
Walker says the second floor will proba
bly be used as offices for some A&M oper
ation such as an extension service or re
search program.
He estimated restoration will take one
to two years.
The Henry Hirshfeld home, at 303 W.
Ninth St., is eleven blocks from the U.T.
campus.
Hirshfeld, one of Austin’s outstanding
citizen’s and founder of the Austin Na
tional Bank, moved to the city before the
Civil War. After fighting in the war, he
returned and built a cottage on the prop
erty in 1875. In 1886, he built the two-
story house adjacent to it.
In Tel Aviv, the state-run radio reported
Israel had warned Syria through the
United States to keep its peacekeeping
troops in Lebanon out of the southern
border zone.
Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin
told reporters in Tel Aviv that Israel was
ready to take on the role of peacemaker in
the the war-torn region.
Reporters in the area said the Syrians
were staying north of the imaginary line
about 17 miles from the Lebanon-Israeli
border, beyond which Israel has said it
would consider Syrian intervention a
threat to its own security.
Palestine Liberation Organization
leader Yasser Arafat, however, accused Is
raeli artillery of “barbaric bombardment”
of Palestinian positions inside Lebanon
and sent urgent appeals to Arab leaders.
serious injuries
Schoolbus overturns
Thirty-two members of a Cameron
junior high women’s volleyball team were
taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital last night
after their bus overturned on FM 2818
near the Bryan city limits.
All were treated and released to parents
who were notified by Department of Pub
lic Safety officials shortly after the acci
dent.
“There were a few broken bones and
minor lacerations,” said Dr. T.O. Walton,
who treated some of the injured. “Thank
God the injuries were not real serious.
They were fortunate.”
The team, from O. J. Thomas Junior
High, was returning to Cameron from a
game with A&M Consolidated Junior
High when coach Janice Swope reportedly
lost control of the bus at about 7:40 p.m.
Swope said she looked into the rearview
.mirror to check on a sick student.
“The next thing I knew, we were out of
control,’ she said. "The bus swerved off
the road and I couldn’t get back.
“All I could think was don’t hit the
brakes. ”
Swope and some of the students said the
bus turned over twice. But DPS inves
tigators said it rolled three-fourths of a
turn.
The girls either crawled out of the bus
or were pulled out, according to a DPS
report.
“I just looked up and we were turning
flips,’ said Georgia Mae Freeman, 14. She
was treated for a sprained right arm.
“We started swerving back and forth,
then turned over about two times,” said
Christy Widner, 13, who suffered a bro
ken right arm. “Everybody was scream
ing”
DPS investigators said no other vehicles
were involved in the incident.
Reagan Brown, Texas Agriculture Commissioner
(left), was honored Tuesday with a birthday cele
bration at the Bryan Civic Auditorium. The
auditorium was filled with many friends from the
commissioner’s days with Texas A&M. (See related
Story page 5.) Battalion photo by Susan Webb
‘Ramp construction meets needs of handicapped
Uphill slope to learning
The Reed McDonald building will soon be acces
sible to people in wheelchairs. Previously, stu
dents with a class in the building couldn’t attend
without rescheduling of the class in another build
ing or forcing the student to take another class.
BattaHon photo by Jim Crawley
BY MARGIE KOVAR
Debora Golla, a Texas A&M University
journalism major, has to take the back
entrance into the Reed McDonald build
ing, where she has her journalism classes.
The sophomore from Houston is not try
ing to sneak in unseen. She is confined to a
wheelchair and because the stairs in other
parts of the building make it impossible for
her to reach an elevator, she must enter
the building through the press area. When
she came for registration she had to be
carried to the first floor elevator by two
journalism professors.
This will not continue for much longer
because the University is constructing two
wheelchair ramps outside the building.
There are other buildings that cannot be
entered by students in wheelchairs; one of
them is Francis Hall.
“If I ever had a class scheduled in there
I couldn’t take it,” Golla said recently.
"There is no way for me to get in.
This situation should not occur, accord
ing to Don Gardner, counsellor at the
Texas Rehabilitation Commission at Texas
A&M.
“One of our purposes is to see that
classes are moved if they are inaccessible
for anyone enrolled, Gardner said.
Other services performed by the com
mission include setting up a special pre
registration period for handicapped stu
dents and payment of their tuition and
fees.
“Our concern doesn’t lie solely with
making buildings accessible, but also vari
ous University programs,” Gardner said.
“And so far every professor has been more
than willing to work with handicapped
students.”
The alterations that colleges and univer
sities throughout the country will have to
make are required under section 504 of
the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
The act bans discrimination against physi
cally, mentally or psychologically disabled
persons.
The 504 regulations went into effect
June 3, at which time University President
Jack K. Williams appointed a committee to
conduct a self-evaluation of the University
in regard to section 504.
Cynthia Irby, head of Affirmative Action
and chairman of the committee, pointed
out that much has already been done years
ago to meet the needs of the handicapped
students.
“Presently the committee is preparing a
report of the additional needs and re
quirements that will be turned in to Chan
cellor Williams in December,” Irby said.
“Plans are being made to alter existing
structures, and the blueprints for build
ings being constructed include plans for
necessary facilities such as ramps.”
Irby said that, though section 504 is
making the requirements official, “the in
tent by the University has been there for
many years.”
Jerry Don Easley, chairman of Students
Concerned for the Handicapped, agreed
that Texas A&M has made progress in
making facilities and programs available
for disabled students.
“In 1973 when I first came here there
were only three wheelchair ramps; now
there are ramps everywhere,” Easley said.
“Back then I was the only wheelchair
student and everybody did everything he
could for me, which included building
some wooden ramps,” he said.
There are still some barriers for the 14
wheelchair students enrolled now.
"Phones and water fountains are coming
along slowly,” Easley remarked. “There is
one phone in the Memorial Student Cen
ter near the registration desk which has a
long cord but the phone is still too high to
reach to dial unless you really stretch.”
Other buildings that pose problems for
students confined to wheelchairs include
the Coke Building, Rudder Tower and G.
Rollie White Coliseum.
“Whenever I want to look at my rec
ords,” Easley said, “I have to call to the
Coke Building ahead of time and tell them
when I’ll be there so someone can bring
my records outside for me to look at.
"The registrar’s office is in the process of
moving to the new registration center in
the Old Exchange Store,” Easley said.
"That building is easily accessible.”
The theater and auditorium in Rudder
Tower have also created problems for Eas
ley.
"In the theater we have to sit in a kind of
a throughway at the back of the room
where people are often milling around.”
he said. “But in the auditorium there is no
place at all for wheelchairs,” he said.
Easley also noted there is no way for
wheelchairs to get to the second floor
classrooms in the Coliseum.
“The University took immediate action
and is working on the problems," Easley
said. "But all of this takes time. At least
people are aware there are disabled stu
dents on campus.”