Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 1977)
lot the Wod have slowdj u> still cause! key the mil ie tackle-bill is a yearajj es againsll >5 yards nisli yards Iasi St he Battalion ol. 71 No. 43 Pages Monday, October 31, 1977 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Inside Today: Dow cuts university grant, p. 2. Murphy shines again, p. 3 Walker options for a win, p. 8 \ the spice ofl >rd to A&l it been prim n which til t. the Aggies igh spots asl (Highest p| natter yeffl 11. tiff Ingineers’ GPRs drop yen though SATs high ing) is playia way to ease| ■ hectic ( break like Evonij ladbreaksl I think I i lybody in 4 1 mv husie ■st Hills,' he Slims i now, I( o play Wo doesn’t -year contn BY KYT.E CREWS Thirty seven percent of the freshmen gineering majors at Texas A&M Univer- posted G.P. R. s under 2.0 at mid- piester. This is despite the fact that the erage Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) am score for freshman engineering stu nts this year was 1200 — 400 points her than the University’s requirement In admission. ■This was one of the items discussed at the College of Engineering Industrial Representatives Committee meeting held on campus October 27-28. The semi- yearly meetings are designed to bring in dustry into closer contact with higher edu cation. “We are not getting the same quality freshman and sophomore education as we did 12-15 years ago,” said Fred J. Benson, dean of the College of Engineering. He said the major problem contributing to the tate Guard: way o beat high costs i remain bus ie Wig) ml Rosie (i And thenli )eeeinberai By KEVIN PATTERSON Some out of state students have found a mis of bypassing high tuition rates at Ixas A&M University — bv joining the ■xas State Guard (TSG). Because of a provision in the state laws, out of state student who joins or is a mberof a military component is treated i resident of the state for purposes of ition. For the majority of those taking Ivantage of this, the savings are substan- PRIZES ertsoni > An out of state student who is taking 15 Burs and joins the TSG can save more an $500 a semester. The TSG’s 50-member local unit, Char- p Company, is composed almost entirely students and has a long waiting list of it of state students. “Anything that will save me this much is orth one night a month,” said Jeff miglin, a junior at A&M. Pranglin, a Mississippi resident, found out about the SG from other out of state residents who ere members. "To deserving men and women we are lie to offer compensation and financial isistance with their fees for their services the state,” said Col. Ira Scott, group immander of the TSG in this area. Scott went on to list the basic goals and lutiesofthe TSG. The TSG assumes the leofthe National Guard whenever they ie called out, plus during the summer hen the guard is on training manuevers. During these periods the 3,000- lember TSG provides security to all ar- lories and equipment. In addition, the TSG assists the National luard on request in civil disaster evacua- ion and relief. A company of TSG, consisting of 15 enlisted personnel and two officers, is as signed to each armory in the state. Each of these companies is responsible for their particular area and therefore has a quicker reaction time in the event of disaster. Members of Charlie Company, the local TSG unit, received such disaster prepared ness training as riot and traffic control in struction, administered by the Bryan Police Department. The students who get in have to main tain certain requirements or else lose their benefits. These requirements include mandatory attendance at the monthly meetings and training, a good uniform ap pearance and cooperation. “If they miss a meeting they better have a very good excuse or they will be out, said Pranglin. The benefits are a good incentive to keep the students there, because without their exemption they will have to pay the additional out of state fees to the Univer sity. Charlie Company is the largest unit in the state and a new TSG ruling will limit future out-of-state students to five percent of the total strength of a company. To many out of state students this will be sad news. “I was just a little too late,” said a sophomore from Virginia. The new limitations will also create a manpower pinch until unit strengths bal ance out. “Until attrition opens some slots now filled, there can be no more enlistments of out of state students in this area and this is bound to crimp us a little, said Scott. “We won’t he quite as effective in the fu ture because there is now a quota. freshmen’s low grades is the difficulty they are having with their required math courses. Benson said the enrollment in the un dergraduate college has increased from 4,913 in 1976 to 5,526 in 1977. He told the industrial representatives that if this in crease continues, they will be forced to teach classes at night in order to have enough classroom space. Dr. Ned Walton, associate research en gineer for the college, told the representa tives at their first meeting Thursday that the U.S. Government requires statistics on the races of students in the college. He said that other federal laws prohibit them from gathering information directly re lated to racial classifications. “Our official statistics come from the Registrar’s Office, but since so many stu dents don t indicate their race on their pre-registration cards, these figures aren’t too reliable. For example, their records show that there are 56 blacks enrolled at the University, and we know that there are more than that,” Walton said. Walton said that during pre-registration for the spring semester, card checkers would make sure that students have checked either ‘American Indian , ‘His panic’, Black or ‘Other’ on the appropri ate forms. Representatives from companies such as General Dynamics, Cameron Iron, Dow Chemical Company and Gulf Oil attended the two-day meeting. The new Doctorate of Engineering de gree now available at Texas A&M was dis cussed by the group at their final meeting Friday. The previously established PhD pro gram in engineering was compared to the new doctorate degree. The industry rep resentatives agreed that the new program prepared students better for their type of work. The practical training and electives that are included in the program were cited as strong points. One company rep resentative urged Dr. Richard Thomas, associate dean, to keep the program flexi ble so that it can benefit a larger number of students. In order to hear student suggestions for course offerings, the industrial representa tives asked that they he given the oppor tunity to meet informally with senior-level students at the next meeting, scheduled for April 1978. Spook house aiming to attract 'older kids’ By TOUMONAVA MULLINS The bloody corpse rises from his coffin and warns you not to enter the house of terror. But your black-hooded guide with the skeletal face urges you on. Inside, the whirling time machine lands you in an erie cavern. Voices cry out in the dark. Frankenstein’s monster feasts on a live head of lettuce and bloody eyeballs. The torture chamber and alien room hold still more frightening surprises. It’s all happening tonight in the old con demned metal house on the corner of Luther and Montclair, in College Station. The house is open from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. This spook use is aimed at the older kids — high school and college age, says Dale Gulick, project coordinator and roaming goon in the cave room. “I don’t recommend anybody under the sixth grade come,” he said. The event is sponsored by the Wesley Foundation, the college-age portion of the A&M United Methodist Church, Gulick said. “The entrance fee of $1 will lie divided between the Wesley Foundation and the church,” he said. “Unless we have 450 people visit, we won’t break even.” The spook house opened Friday night. There, about 40 people stood in line, with their dollar bills: Nearby, lay several freshly dug graves. Nervous laughter could be heard after each dreadful moan and scream from the house of terror. The younger children held hands. “We re taking them through in groups of five or six,” Gulick said. Inside, a con trol house monitors the groups where abouts at all time. “We have about 30 people working each night,” said Gulick. Chris Hinds, guides chairman, said plans for the event started six weeks ago. The group has been working on the house for the last three and a half weeks. New seal for the Academic The new look of the Academic Building’s rotunda was dedicated Saturday morning under the direction of Andie Duffie, senior class president. The Class of‘78 gift, a mosaic of the University’s official seal, lies below Texas A&M’s replica of the Liberty Bell. Michael Murphey; a crowd-pleaser every time By J. WAGNER TYNES With three successful concerts at Texas UtM tucked under his belt, Michael -lurphey may be on the way to becoming mother Aggie tradition. Murphey apparently offers Aggies a lersonality and type of music perfectly uited to their desires. And, judging from omeof Murphey s comments, A&M suits I ini well, also. Murphey arrived just late enough Fri- ky (7:30 p.m.) to make the show’s or- tanizers, the Town Hall committee, a Ut ile edgy. But backstage after the show, ivith a satisfied crowd pouring from the building, no one seemed ready to com plain. The small crowd that waited outside Murphey s dressing room door was a little more quiet than everyone else. Murphey had risen a little closer to God in their eyes that night, and they were about to meet him. Occasionally, the door would open and someone would come out. Murphey s son, Ryan, 7, would run through the crowd holding comic books or wife Caroline would stroll through looking for one thing or another. When Murphey finally appeared, everyone seemed embarrassed, including Murphey. He sidled down the line of autograph-seekers, shaking hands and smiling. He called Ryan over for an introduction to two young girls. Ryan was unimpressed and the girls were too absorbed in Mur phey. Ryan said hi and was gone. Mur phey smiled and moved to the next per son. After a few more signatures, Murphey met reporters in a locker room with only one long bench to sit on and a row of loc kers to lean against. He seemed happy and not ever slightly tired. He answered all the questions sin cerely and readily despite the fact that he’d probably heard most of them a few hundred times before. The credit for the success of his show, he unabashedly gave to Town Hall. “The program council here works about as hard as any I ve ever seen,’ he said. Yum, yum, yum They may not be Graham Kerr and Julia Child, but these two gourmets do prove the old adage to be true: You are what you eat. In this case, gross. This pair, and their many friends and relatives. may be observed at a spook house on the corner of Luther and Montclair in College Station tonight from 7:30 to 10:30. Battalion photo by Kathy Curtis “The people who sell the tickets and put on the show are very well organized.” He was only willing to take part of the credit for the audience’s response, al though he failed to say what other reason could explain why they called him back for two encores. He simply noted that the same thing has happened two times be fore. “I’ve worked hard to put on the best show that I possibly can here and they come back because of it, whether or not I had a hit,” he said. He noted that Aggies also support his music in other ways. “The album sales down here are the best per capita of any place in the world,” he said. Someone asked whether he planned to attend midnight yell practice, which was about to begin. “I’ve already had my yell practice,” he replied. Murphey said he thought the Texas music scene has changed for the better since he moved to Colorado to escape being identified too strongly with progres sive country music. “What’s taking its place is many differ ent forms of music,” he said, “and there’s actually more music going on here now than there was five years ago.” Murphey credited his special success at A&M to an overall school philosophy that closely corresponds to his own. “It’s not a pretentious school,” he said. He told of an article he had read which rated various colleges and which, he said, had been unfairly slanted against A&M. He said he wrote an indignant letter de fending the school, but it wasn’t printed. About that time, a Town Hall worker walked up to Murphey and extended his hand, “Mike, thank you very much, we really enjoyed it. Come back to see us. God bless you.” As the guy left, Murphey said, “There’s a good example right there, you know. That guy’s not gonna walk in and start running down some philosophical business or law trip on me or try to ask me some deep philosophical question. And yet, he’s probably just as smart as anyone in an Eastern university.” Murphey said his next album. Loner’s Paradise, to be released in January, will be simpler and more band-oriented than pre vious albums. After the interview, Murphey said goodbye to all the reporters and treated them as if they were old friends. Then he headed back out into the hallway where a few more fans waited for autographs. As he signed pieces of paper, once again project ing that soothing charm, he turned to one of the Town Hall organizers. “Over a ten-year career, there’s a lot of peaks and valleys,” he said. “And this has always been a peak.” Michael Murphey . . . . . . another Aggie tradition