i
\The Battalion
Vol. 71 No. 61
10 Pages
Monday, November 28, 1977
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Inside Today:
Hitching rides to Everywhere,
U.S.A., p. 5.
Homicides due police study, p. 5.
Weekend guides to “what hap
pened,” p. 10.
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Forestry teaches tree
climbing
By CLAY COCKRILL
There is an art to climbing a tree, and
at, among other things, is what students
1 Forestry Science 420 are learning this
pester.
The three-hour course in arboriculture,
le science of shade tree care, will be of-
red for the first time in the spring at
exas A&M University in the upcoming
mester. Dr. Robert S. Dewers, who
aches the class, said it has been offered
ily twice previously; in the fall semester
f 1976 and this semester. He said the
lurse is being offered in the coming
■mester because of its high popularity
ith students.
FS 420 offers practical material for all
arks and recreation, horticulture, and
irestry majors. The course is not con-
emed with timber production, said De
ers, but centers around the care of trees
hieh are kept for aesthetic quality and
bade purposes.
Dewers said students learn the proper
ray to climb trees with ropes and safety
arnesses. Pruning, bracing and fertilizing
arge trees is also covered.
He said students get to observe opera-
ion of heavy forestry equipment, such as
be tree spade and the chipper. Dewers
xplained that a tree spade is a machine
rhieh can extract a tree from the ground
(ithout destroying its roots. The chipper
s used to cut up tree limbs into small
lieces which are more easily transported,
ic said.
Students also learn how to diagnose tree
llnesses and to estimate the cost of remov-
ng or pruning a large tree, said Dewers.
This makes the course ideal for students
(ho plan to go into the private nursery
Msiness, he added.
FS 420 consists of two lecture classes
done two-hour lab each week. Most of
he labs are spent at the Brazos County
Irboretum, said Dewers, which is adja-
entto Bee Creek Park in College Station,
in arboretum is a park designed for ex-
libiting trees. Dewers said tree physiol-
)gy is covered in the lecture classes.
“The course is a lot of fun, I think, be-
ause we get outside so much,” said De
fers.
Junior classification is a prerequisite for
the course, he said.
Battalion photo by David Keahey
Climbing trees is more than an escape for these students — it’s
part of Forestry Science 420, a course to be offered at Texas A&M
next semester. Jon Harrington, left, a graduate student in forestry,
and Gary Beacher, right, a forestry major, learn the proper way of
climbing. Beacher is president of the Texas A&M Forestry Club.
Grade point ratio
be over-rated
could
By KYLE CREWS
Some 716 students at Texas A&M Uni
versity post grade point ratios (G. P.R.s)
between 0.000 and 0.499 at the close of
each fall and spring semester.
There is also an average 679 students
whose ratios are 4.000 or better each
semester.
The remainder of the students at Texas
A&M have G.P.R.s somewhere between
these two extremes. Lately, critics of this
system have expressed skepticism over the
validity of G.P. R. s as an accurate indica
tion of a person’s scholastic achievement.
The mechanics of the system vary at dif
ferent schools. Texas A&M uses a scale of
four in calculating this ratio. G.P.R. is de
termined by dividing the number of points
earned in a semester by the number of
credit-hours taken.
A criticism of this method of rating stu
dents is that a greater number of students
nation-wide are making higher grades.
This rise in grades is supposedly causing
G.P.R.s to become consistently higher
and a less reliable form of judging a stu
dent’s academic performance.
“Grade-point inflation ’ is the term
commonly used to describe this situation.
Those who believe in it are convinced that
the G.P.R. is not as reliable as it once was
in separating superior students from the
rest of the class.
Statistics gathered by the registrar’s of
fice on campus show that the mean of the
G.P.R.s for the entire student body re
mained between a 2.485 and 2.536 for the
last six consecutive semesters. According
to their figures there has been an increase
of 5,083 students attending classes during
this period (fall 1974 through spring 1977).
Does the average Aggie with a 2.5
G.P.R. have the same motivation and in
telligence of other 2.5 G. P.R. students
across the nation? Is he or she really a bet
ter student than indicated by the ratio, or
are grades at Texas A&M inflated?
Gordon Echols, associate dean of the
Collece of Architecture and Environmen
tal Design said he has been concerned
about the possibility of grade point inflation
at Texas A&M.
“I have called this to the attention of our
department heads and faculty members
and I have asked them to be honest in
their evaluation of the student’s perform
ance,” Echols said.
Echols said the current policy of drop
ping courses with a grade of Q is a possible
factor when students have G.P.R.s higher
than what they would have if they didn’t
drop the course.
“We are making an effort to discourage
the use of the Q-drop. Unless there are
unusual circumstances prevailing, our
general policy is to advise the students to
continue courses they may be failing. Most
of the students who try to drop a course do
so around mid-semester, but we encour
age them to pull it out if at all possible,”
Echols said.
R. A. Lacey, University registrar, said
the Q-drop policy has allowed many stu
dents to remain at Texas A&M.
“The current policy allows students to
wait until the sixth class day after mid
semester grades are posted to decide if
they want to drop a class,” Lacey said.
Dwayne A. Suter, associate dean for the
College of Agriculture, said the G. P. R. is
over-rated in importance by many stu
dents looking for a job after they graduate
from college. He said he felt a student’s
development of leadership qualities is
equally important as the G.P.R. in most
professions.
“The G.P.R. is meaningful only when
it is used as a comparison to other students
G.P.R.s at similar universities. It should
not be compared to graduates of 10 to 15
years ago from the same school,” he said
Suter said a certain percentage of the
student population will usually have per
sonal problems attributing to grade
standings.
“A person may have a 3.0 one semester
and completely bomb out the next semes
ter,” he said. “I think that this may be the
reason for some of the very low grades that
some upperclassmen have in a given
semester. ”
An average 221 seniors have posted
G.P.R.s below a 1.000 at the close of each
semester since fall, 1974.
Associate Dean of the College of Liberal
Arts Diane Strommer said these figures do
not necessarily indicate the number of
seniors at Texas A&M who are doing
poorly.
“It is possible that a student may have
started here and made very low grades or
dropped out that first semester. The stu
dent may have then transferred to another
school and then returned to A&M their
senior year,” she said. “If this is the case,
they would be considered seniors due to
their credit-hours by transfer, but they
would retain their miserable first-semester
G.P. R. ”
Strommer said grade-point averages
from other colleges and universities are
never figured in with a student’s G. P.R. at
Texas A&M.
“My talks with job recruiters indicate
that people hiring A&M graduates seem to
value the grades given here as a fair indica
tion of the student’s performance. How
ever, the tendency lately lias been less or
grades and more on other factors, such a‘
extracurricular activities,” Strommer said.
“I don’t think that the present Q-drop
policy is that big a problem. There are
many good reasons for having Q-drops,espe
(See Critics, page 8)
. Upperclassmen: good tickets still eluding them
I
D
V!
liter:
We would like to know who in the hell is
Wing all the good football tickets. . .Af-
rthree years at AirM we should be able
'■get better seats. We are all juniors and
ice been sitting in the horseshoe since we
m freshmen.
-Letter to the Battalion
By CAROLYN KEMMERER
Juniors sit in the horseshoe, freshmen in
le bleachers and sophomores somewhere
6 between. Trying to get a good seat in
yle Field has been one of the major prob-
ms many Texas A&M University stu-
ents have had to contend with this foot-
all season.
Increased student enrollment and more
eople wanting to see the team are some
aasons for increased attendance at A&M
lotball games, says Joe Young, a student
epresentative of the athletic council.
Twenty-three thousand student coupon
ooks were sold for the 1977 football sea
son, meaning that about 79 percent of
A&M’s student popidation intended to go
to every home game. Most of these stu
dents preregistered for coupon books at
the end of the spring semester or during
summer conferences, thus guaranteeing
themselves a seat in Kyle Field. However,
the location of a student’s seat is not as
easily guaranteed.
Wally Groff, assistant athletic director
for business affairs, attributes the seating
problem to the large number of tickets
picked up on Monday, when seniors and
graduate students are eligible to get their
tickets. Groff says that while the number
of tickets picked up on senior and graduate
day has increased, the number of tickets
picked up on sophomore and freshmen
day has decreased considerably. He added
that ticket pickup on junior day has not
decreased by much. More seniors are tak
ing underclassmen to football games as
guests, Groff says.
When the guest policy began, students
were only allowed to bring one guest. The
Student Senate’s present policy allows
students to pick up as many as 10 student
tickets on the days they are eligible to
draw tickets. However, half of the coupon
books must be of that day’s classification.
Currently there is a proposal before the
Student Senate concerning reducing the
number of tickets a student may pick up
from ten to six. Groff agrees that there
might be a need to change the ticket dis
tribution system, adding that the athletic
department will do whatever the Student
Senate wants if “humanly possible.
The section reserved for students and
their guests is on the east side of Kyle
Field, from the 50-yard line north. Groff
says there are no cases of alumni sitting in
the student section, nor can a student buy
a full-priced season ticket book usually
sold to alumni. Seats on the track are sold
to the general public.
Groff says the Kyle Field expansion
would provide adequate seating for several
years to come. He adds that he doesn’t
foresee any students left sitting in the
MY
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Irish gunmen hold six
9 people hostage in Dublin
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about $3 million in a series of spectacular
holdups this year.
“We may have bagged them at last, a
police source said.
The drama began Saturday afternoon
when the gunmen were surprised by
police in the middle of a holdup at a
wholesale supermarket.
The gunmen, some of them in their
British firefighters still
striking despite deaths
United Press International
DUBLIN, Ireland — Eight Irish Re-
itiblican Army gunmen armed with a
iub machinegun, shotguns and a hatchet
(eld six people hostage in a Dublin
upermarket for 13 hours this weekend.
Hit surrendered without any loss of life.
Police said Sunday the surrender may
lave broken up a gang that has stolen
United Press International
LONDON — Britain’s striking fire
fighters are vowing to hold out past Christ
mas if necessary in their already two-week-
old strike for a 30 percent pay increase.
“Our members see this as a fight to the
death,” union leader Dick Foggie said
Sunday.
But political sources said the striking
firefighters, on strike for 15 days, may soft-
on their demands when their pay runs out
at the end of the month.
The firefighters, who have never before
talked off the job, have no union strike
hind, and the political sources said this
Week could be a turning point in the walk
out.
“Without strike pay they know they
have a grim Christmas in store,” Foggie
said. “But they are prepared to accept it.
The government is trying to starve us out
but we won’t budge an inch.”
Three people died in fires this weekend,
pushing the death toll during the past two
weeks to 24.
Strike leaders were gathering in London
today to discuss their campaign for a pay
raise that is 20 percent above the govern
ment’s anti-inflation ceiling, and repeated
their vow to hold out for the full increase.
The government has offered an im
mediate 10 percent raise and a cutback of
hours to the 35,000 firefighters.
About 10,000 strikers Saturday marched
with their families through London to
Prime Minister James Callaghan’s official
residence at 10 Downing Street.
teens, fired a volley of shots at the police
and then retreated to a second floor store
room, dragging nine shopkeepers with
them as hostages. Three of the hostages
were quickly released.
Roman Catholic Bishop James
Kavanagh, brought in to mediate the
siege, said the gunmen held out because
they thought they would be “ill treated” if
they surrendered.
“We were able to convince them that
they would be perfectly safe,” Kavanagh
said.
Police Commissioner Edmond Garvey
described the surrender of eight of the
men Sunday and the safe release of their
six hostages as “very satisfactory.”
A ninth member of the gang was cap
tured by police before the hostages were
taken.
Garvey said the hostages during the
13-hour siege had been in “extreme
danger because the gunmen “were all
nervous young men and not trained in the
use of weapons. ”
The gunmen surrendered shortly after
midnight Sunday.
“They all looked disheveled and dis
traught. There was not much fight left in
them,” a police spokesman said.
“We made no promises at all,” said
Kavanagh. “We just pointed out the
hopelessenss of their position.”
Shopkeeper Patrick Ward, one of the
hostages, said one of the gunmen gave him
a bullet to keep before he surrendered.
“Keep it as a momento,” the gunman
said. “It’s the best way to be given one.”
bleachers after 14,600 seats are added to
Kyle Field by 1979. But the growing
number of students graduating and be
coming alumni should also be taken into
consideration.
Ticket prices provide 70 percent of the
athletic department’s gross income and are
set by the department. Groff says the de
partment operates within the confines of
the Southwest Conference, which sets a
minimum ticket price. The athletic de
partment set the student ticket price at
half the regular ticket price, on a recom
mendation from the Student Senate. Stu
dents have no other iljfluence in setting
ticket prices, although they are involved in
ticket distribution, says Groff.
For the past four years the athletic de
partment has been reducing the amount of
financial support from Student Govern
ment student service fees. This year was
the fourth year of the plan to phase out the
use of student service fees and the athletic
department received $50,000 from stu
dent government. Groff says he assumes
that next year the athletic department
won’t get any Student Government funds.
He said the athletic department is prob
ably making more money selling coupon
books than if it continued to rely on stu
dent service fees.
With the lack of student service fee
support next year, student ticket prices
will be raised. A student coupon book will
cost about $20 next year and students will
also be charged admission to see basket
ball and baseball games, says Groff.
Bonfire: a tradition upheld?
Tradition has been upheld in at least
one respect last weekend. As told in Aggie
folklore, if the Bonfire center pole remains
standing after midnight, the team will beat
UT. If it falls before 12, the Aggies lose.
Not only did the pole fall early Friday
night, but it fell hard.
It seemed the Bonfire had just begun,
and the crowd of about 20,000 was still
waiting for the outhouse on top to begin
burning, when the center pole leaned to
the south and fell unceremoniously into
the burning stacks below. About 10 min
utes later, the logs of the first stack came
loose from the supporting wire and fell
into the middle of the stack. The top stacks
followed the descent, creating a jumbled
mass of coals and flames where the Bonfire
once stood.
The collapse of the fire had several ef
fects on the spirits of the diverse crowd.
The cameras still clicked, the old Ags still
felt good about being “home” for the Bon
fire. But there was some discontent ex
pressed by students about the collapse,
and what it predicted for the next day’s
game.
On the positive side, no serious injuries
were reported Friday night and the Col
lege Station Fire Department reported no
other fires caused by the blaze.
A strong north wind whipped the 1977 Bonfire into a one-sided blaze as some 20,000 watched Friday night.