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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 1977)
The Battalion Vol. 71 No. 40 14 Pages Wednesday, October 26, 1977 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 /^Inside Today: A light look at spirit and competition here and elsewhere, pgs. 10 and 11. A&M-UT game may be televised, p. 13. Review: “Robber Bridegroom,” p. 8. irector says fund not missing money lest By LIZ NEWLIN Battalion Staff he $3,000 “missing” from Campus is actually unpaid loans, said the fund jrman in an interview Tuesday. ie $3,000 is insufficient funds that , cl /t been paid back over a three-year /iod,"said Fred Pfeiffer, coordinator for [dent benefits and director of Campus est since November 1976. the Battalion published an article Oct. [stating Campus Chest books from 1974 pugh 1977 show a deficit of $3,000. “It’s not all in one chunk,” Pfeiffer said. “We call ourselves Aggies and go on honesty. The reason the loans were never paid back is be cause students took advantage of the loan funds. Nothing in the contract said he had to pay it back.” “The Campus Chest will keep a very low profile the rest of the semester,” said Robert Harvey, student body president. No money will be collected at home foot ball games in barrels the rest of the semes ter. Harvey said Monday $80 was collected at the first home game with Kansas. The Campus Chest will still make loans, Pfeiffer said. The maximum loan is $50 and payable in 60 days. Before Pfeiffer made the changes, loans of $100 due in six months were allowed. Pfeiffer must now approve each loan; under the old system, any member of the Student Government executive council could authorize a loan. Loans went unpaid because the papers were lost and students moved, forgot or tried to forget, Pfeiffer said. “The goal for this year is to get back all the money lent out,” he added. “There’s a jhoto l>y P:il O'M jser. The V,| the best a critical Ml lb ranked T( id the Longhii gainst rival It ranked iltli. r Dame met he Cotton owned the 1970, to w mpionship d Texas’ ■ next vear Fog lends somber tone In the heavy mist of a dark gray morning fog, the names of staff members who have recently died are placed under the central campus flag. lot of money that hasn’t been paid back.” He said in addition to loans made this semester are loans from last spring made when students were given six months to repay. People who owe Campus Chest are being traced, he said. In the past, the fund was in poor man agement, Pfeiffer said. “But because it was a new fund, nobody really understood how the Campus Chest should be directed — they let it go. ” Before, the chairman of the funds had no authority to collect loans. The contracts were not legally binding. Now they are. “Dr. John Koldus (vice president for stu dent services) agreed to let me block tran scripts and registration, if needed, because my money was not coming back,” Pfeiffer said. Each blockage must be confirmed with Dr. Carolyn Adair, vice president for student activities. Pfeiffer also requires enough information from the student to trace him, he said. “It’s all scare tactics to encourage them to pay back the loans.” He plans to send three letters: One before the loan is due, one when the loan is due and one a month after the loan is due. If the money is not repaid, he plans to block registration. Pfeiffer stressed that the Campus Chest is still giving loans and paying for flowers used at Silver Taps. “Campus Chest is not a loan fund for just anything. It’s for emergency reasons,” he noted. “The stu dents must work with me. That means pay ing it back.” Carter makes decision about U.N. sanctions United Press International President Carter says the United States has decided whether or not to support U.N. Security Council resolutions impos ing tough military and economic sanctions against South Africa. But, he won’t say what the decision is. Carter told reporters Tuesday his ad ministration had reached a decision on sanctions, but he did not disclose details. “I think we made the right decision,” he said. The New York Times today quoted ad ministration officials as saying Carter had decided "in principle” to vote for imposing arms sanctions on the Pretoria govern ment. The 15-member Security Council is considering four African resolutions. The demands include a full arms embargo and a ban on investments in South Africa. The ban would be in retaliation for the gov ernment’s crackdown last week on dissent. Carter said he was trying to coordinate the U.S. decision with America’s Euro pean allies and “also among friends we have among African leaders.” Carter said he had considered “various kinds of sanctions against sale of weapons, various degrees of economic sanctions’ and would now "modify the long-standing U.S. position against sanctions. The council is not expected to take any decision on the sanctions before Friday. The United States, which has re peatedly vetoed attempts to slap sanctions on Pretoria, has halted shipment of major armaments to South Africa since 1963. It still supplies material such as light aircraft and rescue equipment. Administration officials predicted the United States would try to close the re maining loopholes through which South Africa buys arms, primarily from Israel and France But they said it was unlikely the United States would support a crippling economic boycott. South Africa spent about $1.35 billion in U.S. trade in 1976 and the United States bought about $900 million in South African exports, mainly diamonds, wool and gold. Washington is seeking a course of action that would satisfy black Africa’s demand for punitive measures against Pretoria without disturbing Western efforts to negotiate independence for South West Africa (Namibia) and to end the five-year guerrilla war in Rhodesia. Nigeria, black Africa’s richest and most powerful nation, Tuesday demanded an arms and oil embargo against South Africa and a curbing of foreign investments in re taliation for the government’s arrest of black leaders and shutting down of two black newspapers. Nigerian Foreign Minister Joseph Garba urged the West to take “prompt and effective measures to arrest the present deterioration of the situation. “Our delegation will not be satisfied with a mere condemnation of the arrests, acts of brutality, repression and ter rorism,” Garba said. “This has been done several times without any satisfactory ef fect on the regime in Pretoria.” SWC Spirit Beat the hell out of? By KIM TYSON Battalion Staff Some may boast of prowess bold Of the schools they think so grand. And they do. But some schools express their school spirit in ways that, to some Aggies, border on the absurd. Rice University and the Univer sity of Texas are classics, at least as far as A&M rivals. Rice spirit is the unusual, or so say its students. They say their goal is to be different. During cheerleader elections, for example, some candidates try to look peculiar to win votes. One cheerleader even does a trick re sembling a crab walk on hands to amuse the crowd. But what, then, is Rice Spirit? “It’s not an outward feeling of Wow, we go to Rice — let’s tell everybody,” says Carter Davis, Marching Owl Band (MOB) drum major. He says when he tells people he goes to Rice they either ask him where the school is, or tell him how bad the football team is. “Football is something to do on Saturday nights in the Fall,” says Phillip Rosegrant, the Owl mascot. “It’s a good cheap date. “People aren’t dedicated to com ing to the games. The MOB does their show and yells a lot but there is nothing on campus to compare to A&M’s traditions.” The closest thing to a yell practice is Thursday night at Willy’s Pub when everyone gets drunk together, he says. But interschool competition is fierce. “One hundred and twelve per cent of the student body participate in intramurals,’’ Rosegrant says. The big event of the Rice year is Rondolet weekend in the Spring. This weekend is highlighted by a beer-bike race, which some say is more important than football. Each "college” or dorm complex has two teams: one to chug down a beer and one to race bikes. Both men and women compete, everyone indulges. A few years ago the event was heralded by a hang-glide entrance by some of the participants and an Olympic horn salute. “Even people who don’t care other times get excited when their college competes,” cheerleader Nancy Hayward said. Rosegrant said he couldn’t think of many Rice traditions. (See “Eeyore,” page 10.) itsl departments use computer simulation^ Students . By PHYLIS WEST ^COMMANDER OF THE UNITED STARSHIP You, ISE > FIRST, ... WE WANT YOU TO lRnvV 1HAT YOU ARE IN SPACE, THE FINAL H p v IIER SO MAKE CAREFUL RECORD OF rKvX YAGES OF THE STARSHIP ENTERPRISE. I vr R 96 YEAR MISSION TO WIPE OUT THE ;7„ ^ON 39 DATFTD RATTTT P r'RTTTSPRS MAK- ssion K-p TrW’ 39 da TED BATTLE CRUISERS. MAK- \n t !’ DALAXY SAFE FROM MOM, APPLE PIE AVf, GIRL YOU LEFT BEHIND. YOU WILL hTfdti SUPPor T ing STARBASES. WHEN THE eItt RISE DOCKS AT ONE (IS POSITIONED \n m? 0NE ) IT IS RESUPPLIED WITH ENERGY f PHOTON TORPEDOES . . . For pod SC 'n nee ~ Rc ti° n buffs, it’s just another Star Trek , f° r students enrolled in some courses, it’s a f > n decision-making. kack e P ar t ments at A&M use computer simulations C stl| dents in fields ranging from agriculture to Enl r P ° litical scie nce. Jnie th* 10n ® ames the calculated moves of a chess [j n L ., e ris k- s of gambling in a casino and the pizzazz of P T J'[ al1 game. itone ^ ar gaming simulation is quite common , many . l UniVerS iti es across the nation, says Wally e Parti ^ rac ua I e assistant in the recreation and parks Mati ( tnt ^ Ill ustr ates the role-playing involved in av yT' ^ tu d en ts may never have to destroy a klin- j) j d a supernova or travel through a space storm, U( Ws 11 Sa ^ S tRat s °l v * n g these problems could help Wh, S " n P rove their decisions in their own lives. i^ ecic hng to torpedo a Klingon Battle Cruiser, Meulpr ro l e ~playmg as star fleet commander, risks a Each 1 K)n ' n target’s position, ndoif, ( ecision * s followed by one of many possible jjjj a ^ t<,rn puter responses, he says. After the student jj^t vv ° r Pod ( ) j computer decides randomly if the lat the^ l9 ' wasn’t, the computer might suggest xin av U),n ! nanc Ier and his crew abandon the ship as •ON shId ,e: “• • • ABANDON SHIP . . • ABAN- AlLsIpP ■ ' • SERIES ENTER-BLITZ INTIATED. YTKRPric AUTO-OVERRIDE INSERTED. nr KISE COMMANDER AND CREW ESCAPE learn decision-making IN SHUTTLE CRAFT . . . ENTERPRISE REDUCED TO SUB ATOMIC PARTICLES . . .” In other words, the computer calls the shots. “A better name for gaming simulation is experiental learning,” says Dryden. But the word “gaming” suggests chance. Dryden calls this a sort of Monte Carlo because a student can never be sure how the computer will re spond to his decision. Dryden quickly points out that the Star Trek simula tion isn’t emphasized as a learning tool in the depart ment. It only serves to demonstrate the decision-making process involved in various programs, he says. Whether students spend a few hours playing star fleet commander or the administrator of a municipal recreation depart ment, the effect, according to Dryden, is the same. No-Name City The development of No-Name City is underway in the recreation and parks department. “We are using gamjng simulation for a brand new game that attempts to program a computer for student interaction. We are trying to expose students to a model built of Boulder Colorado, ” or No-Name City as he pre fers to call the area, Dryden says. The Star Trek simulation was used to develop the pro gram, which relates directly to the department. The idea, again, is to make students handle decisions like those they’ll confront on the job. Hypothetically, students will become administrators, working with only so much money and only so much time — a situation not unlike the real world, Dryden says. A student seeking aid in solving hypothetical problems shouldn’t be surprised to find the terminal trained with common courtesies. The computer may begin by print ing out, “Good morning, sir,” and asking to assist the student. But computer back-talk, so to speak, isn’t unusual either. If the student makes an incorrect decision (in his hypothetical administrative role), the computer might suggest the possibility of the student looking for a new job, Dryden says. A student might make a mistake in judgment that causes the destruction of the starship Enterprise. One computer’s response shows that its pro grammer has a sense of humor: “YOU HAVE BEEN SENT BACK TO STAR FLEET COMMAND. YOU ARE NOW IN COMMAND OF A NEW STARSHIP, THE FAIRIE QUEENE.” Yet computers don’t answer all students’ questions. “Computers leave enough curiosity in the student’s mind to continue in his digging in the library or talk with other professionals at A&M and other campuses,” Dry den contends. At this point, it becomes “fun” because students can continue to do research. The gaming simulation has been temporarily called Rags (Recreation Administration Gaming Simulation.) “We’ve been afraid to name it in case it falls on its face,” Dryden says. All the bits and pieces of Rags have been put together, and it’s in the process of being tested now. But computers can’t do all the work. The possibilities presented by a computer would be hard to match by a human being. But people must interpret the data, Dry den said. Professors are beginning to find that students can learn more if they put aside their pencils and papers sometimes. A computer allows the student to go beyond the writing on the blackboard to the types of problems they might face on their jobs such as . . . testing hypoth eses in political science, analyzing a school of fish in wildlife and fisheries sciences, determining the innova tiveness of students in agricultural education or lengthy math problems almost impossible to do by hand in geo sciences. However cumbersome, some instructors have come to depend on the use of computers for teaching. Without computers, says Dr. Harry Zenner Jr., professor of the business of analysis and research department, “it would be like trying to teach a student to drive without a car.” Computer simulation games may let you try your luck as the commander of the Starship Enterprise or planner of “No Name City.” The games are used in various university departments to give students experience in decision-making.