Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1977)
[ gaining 4| rc %, hm. )'• If tie s 81 yards .000 yards ! «y and has 1,® - only 4 ^CAA di yards in -onferentr goals, i ' n the tnt j e to Kvlfi eal( The Battalion Vol. 71 No.640 8 Pages Thursday, December 1, 1977 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Inside Today: Mid-East peace talks on the confer-' ence agenda, p. 2 Who keeps peace in Kyle Field? p. 2 Ags host SW Louisiana Cajuns, p. 7 ill for more federal judges gets House okay onal United Press International [WASHINGTON — The House An # ciar Y Committee Wednesday ap- 11 \ loved a bill to enlarge the federal judiciary u j post30 percent and allow President Car- r to appoint more judges than any of his le Robert pdecessors. Pintle The bill would allow Carter to fill the ocketsinto aposed 110 new district and 35 new cir- r d Calvin; it court positions with Democrats after ;ht years of Republican rule. But the bel added to the Senate-passed version amendment calling on Carter to make lections on merit, not party. Another amendment urged him to name lalified women, blacks, Hispanics and her minorities to the bench. This ompted Rep. William Cohen, R-Maine, suggest Republicans are in even worse ape when it comes to getting judicial and osecutorial appointments from Carter. Rep. Jack Brooks, D-Tex., the second- jI ilting Democrat on the committee, was of the only two members to vote against bill, charging the panel abidcated its ance to take polities out of the judiciary ) pointsfo ien it added more than 30 judgeships to bill after it came out of a subcommittee. This is one of the best classic examples I logrolling,’ he told his colleagues. Since Senate usually controls the nomina- sand confirms the nominees, he said, bis would have been an excellent oppor- ftty for the House to create judgeships the basis of merit alone instead of just lorating this Christmas tree. Brooks said, “If you write a book on how ingress legislates, you ought to have a apter on this bill. ” The sponsor of the merit amendment, ip. Romano Mazzoli, D-Ky., conceded lepresident has disappointed me” by not ing his campaign pledge to make ap- intments on a merit basis. The proposal calls on the president to set idelines for the nomination of judges on id early P Houston 'eak witb New Tori y an on, ] He 1 rth quarter 1 an insnr. lovichead: idH 'st halfleaJ merit, but allows him to ignore them by notifying the Senate in writing of his rea son. The amendment applies only to new ap pointees and their successors, not to sitting judges or their successors. Rep. Don Ed wards, D-Calif., sponsor of the minority- appointment measure, said only 1 percent of federal judges are women and only 4 percent are blacks. He said his proposal is not a matter of quotas or goals, but “it re minds the president he should consider sex and race” in naming judges. The Senate version of the bill provides for three more district judges — it has nine positions the House doesn’t have and the House has six positions the Senate doesn’t. It also provides for adding a new circuit court of appeals by splitting the huge 5th circuit, stretching from Georgia westward through Texas, into two. Attorney General Griffin Bell — a former justice in the circuit — and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman James East- land of Mississippi want the division, but panel chairman Peter Rodino, D-N.J., ruled an amendment to adopt the Senate language non-germane because the House bill deals strictly with numbers of judges. Court gives women right to sue spouse for damage st bis tea 11 wasitf left rs ( j nts 95 bbery [-Mart United Press International AUSTIN — Since 1886, Tefcas wives had been forbidden by law to file damage suits against husbands who intentionally caused them physical harm. But Wednesday the Texas Supreme Court abolished the legal doctrine, thus granting married women the right to sue or be sued without the joinder of the husband. In the court’s unanimous opinion in a case involving a Corpus Christi doctor con victed of negligent homicide in the shoot ing death of his wife, Justice Charles Bar- row said the doctrine of interspousal tort immunity had unjustly worked against wives. “We recognize fully the importance of the family unit in our society and that peace and tranquility in the home are endowed and inspired by higher authority than statutory enactments and court decisions,” the court ruled. “However, we do not believe that suits for willful or intentional torts would disrupt domestic tranquility. The peace and har mony of a home which has already been strained to the point where an intentional physical attack could take place will not further be impaired by allowing a suit to be brought to recover damages for the attack. ” The new interpretation of the state law would apply only in cases involving injuries that occurred after March 1, 1971, the date Mrs. L. D. Bounds of Corpus Christi was shot to death. Mrs. Bounds’ children filed two suits against Dr. L. D. Bounds, one seeking damages for the wrongful death of their mother and the other seeking to deny Bounds proceeds of an insurance policy on their mother’s life. The Supreme Court ruled the children could file the wrongful death action against Bounds under the new interpretation of the law. But the court sent the case back to the trial court for a new hearing because at the original trial the jury was not permitted to consider Bounds’ claim he was acting in self defense at the time his wife was shot. Farmers meet today to gain momentum Senate wants lew ticket policy By LIZ NEWLIN Battalion Staff Tickets for away football games may be awn in lots of six instead of 10 next year if e Texas A&M Athletic Department fol- ws the recommendation passed by the iident Senate Wednesday night. Scalping” football tickets may be legal :very FOR ivelrj ton Fri. sss£ Dorm students to be polled about laundry Dorm residents are scheduled to be polled today on an on-campus laundry service and possible options to that service, including installation of washers and dryers. - The eight-question poll, de veloped by the Student Government committee for student services, will ask if residents favor washers and dryers in dorms and how much they would be willing to pay for them. It will be distributed through resi dence hall advisers, and Corps unit commanders. Other questions on the poll include laundry service options such as combinations of clothes allowed, as well as a possible increase in price, says Vicki Young, vice president for student services. Results trom the survey should be ready next week, Young says. Briscoe ensures exchange policy United Press International AUSTIN - Gov. Dolph Briscoe has rtgned a proclamation guaranteeing Texas vill participate in the United States- Mexico prisoner exchange treaty, saying he •opes it will help in the rehabilitation of criminals. Under the terms of the agreement at east 12 Mexican Nationals imprisoned in Texas Department of Corrections will be ransferred to prisons in their native coun in Texas, but the senators want to stop the practice and decided that fewer tickets per student will deter students making “a fast buck” off each other. Allowing more groups of students to attend away games was another cited reason for decreasing the number of tickets per draw. Because six people fit into most cars, that number was chosen, said Joe Young, chairman of the athletic ticket distribution committee. The change must still be approved by the Ath letic Department. Funding a monthly column in the Battal ion for Student Government news was also approved in the last and longest session of the semester. Student apathy and ignor ance of Student Government projects are results of lacking knowledge, the resolution states. The Senate marked $350 for the spring-semester column, which will “strive to better publicize its services, projects, and proceedings for the benefit of the stu dent body.” Stuart Kingsberry was approved as comp troller for Student Government after the position was approved by the Senate. Stu dent Body President Robert Harvey re quested creation of the office to establish a bookkeeper under the SC executive branch. An interim group, appointed by Harvey, is keeping fiscal records of the semester but has not set the books in order, he said. In other business, senators joined the Brazos Valley Better Business Bureau, amended their ’77-’78 budget and ap proved a measure to date all future copies of the Student Body Constitution and by laws. Election regulations revisions were passed. A resolution concerning building use fees for student teachers or interns not at tending class on campus was postponed until the next Senate meeting, Jan. 25. United Press International IRVING - Farmers threatening to termi nate the nation’s food supply in 14 days say a mass rally this week will demonstrate to the government, and the public, that their strike plan is gaining momentum. A spokesman for the American Agricul ture movement said Wednesday, farmers from Washington state already were arriv ing at Texas Stadium - the home of the Dallas Cowboys professional football team - for the rally today and Friday. He said organizers were expecting at least 1,000 farmers and ranchers to attend. “We’ve been getting reports they’re coming from Colorado, Oklahoma, south western Arkansas, Austin and Kansas,” said Colorado strike organizer Keith Thomas. “We don’t know how many or anything but logistics wise, we couldhandle up to 1,000. “We expect farmers and ranchers from all over the United States. A lot of them will be just key people from the movement but some are sending contigencies of 20 and some as many as 200.” Thomas said the rally, which will feature more than 60 country-western performers from noon to midnight Thursday and Fri day, is being held to raise public support for the protest called to put pressure on the federal government for 100 percent parity for farm-products. “I personally made sure I told all the key leaders in United States about the rally,” Thomas said. “We thought it would be ap propriate right now and we needed some point in time tt> get all the key people to gether to map our strategy from Dec. 2 until the strike date at midnight Dec. 13. * Thomas said the American Agriculture movement, which began nine weeks ago in Colorado Springs, Colo., has grown to more than 1.5 million supporters. He said while Congress may not meet before Dec. 14 to vote on 100 percent parity - the price for farm goods that he said would bring producers a fair rate of return - both Presi dent Carter and the secretary of agriculture could grant the parity before then. Battalion photo by Ken Herrera Taking shape Originally an aluminum skeleton, the Memorial Student Center Christmas tree dons its traditional garb. Mary Kay Luther, head of the MSC Council Christmas tree committee, said the frame for the tree was made in a machine shop on campus last year. Noble Fir tree branches were shipped from Oregon and tied to the skeleton to form the 20-foot tree. Coordinating Board begins study present system of Q-dropping on By DONNA SCHLABACH Students may soon have less time to Q-drop classes. The current Texas A&M University policy, which allows students to drop courses without record, as late as eight weeks into the semester, may be re vised. One reason for the proposed change is that the Coordinating Board, Texas College and University System, has begun studies to determine how many students actually finish the courses they are enrolled in on the twelfth class day, says Edwin Cooper, dean of admissions and records. The coordinating board presently provides funds to A&M and other state universities based on the total number of student credit hours on the twelfth class day enrollment. Cooper said Wednesday that if the board decided to change its funding base from the twelfth class day to the last class day, A&M would lose a substantial amount of money in funding. Dr. William Webb, deputy commis sioner of the coordinating board and head of funding, said the board is not considering a change in funding procedure. “We are just interested in collecting data from the universities that will tell us how many students are finishing the courses they are enrolled in on the twelfth day,” Webb said. Cooper said he will appoint a subcom mittee of the Academic Operations Com mittee (A. O.C.) this week to study the Q-drop policy. He said the subcommittee will be cjomprised of students, faculty memebers, and selected A. O.C. members. The purpose of the committee will be to look at the Q-drop system from the stu dent, faculty, and staff viewpoints, and then present its findings to Cooper. The Q-drop benefits students in that they can drop courses through the week after mid-term grade reports, regardless of what grade they have, without being penalized. The symbol “Q” is assigned in lieu of a grade and is not computed in stu dents’ grade point ratios. Cooper said other problems with the present Q-drop system include classroom scheduling. He said scheduling problems double when students Q-drop courses. “Most people don’t realize it, but there are less than 200 lecture rooms on the A&M campus. When you’re trying to put 29,000 students into 200 rooms, it can be pretty difficult. Cooper said many classrooms that are filled to capacity at the beginning of the semester become half empty by the end of the semester due to students Q-dropping. Thus, a reduction in Q-drops could mean that fewer classroom seats would be wasted. “From my own standpoint, I can see The prisoner exchange program was es tablished under terms of the U.S. - Mexico risoner Exchange Treaty signed earlier this month by President Carter. ~Briscoe said he also hoped the program a'ould improve U.S. - Mexico relations and stablish closer cooperation between the nations’ law enforcement activities. Briscoe said he would review the cases of ich offender individually and consider all dors to determine if the transfer would contribute to the prisoner’s social rehabili tation. His head cushioned by a textbook and his eyes covered by a copy of Reader’s Digest, Steve Davis takes a snooze outside the Harrington Osmosis? Center Wednesday. Davis is a freshman general studies major. Battalion photo by Boland Ramirez both sides of the Q-drop argument,” Cooper said. “At this point, I don’t have any preference for or against changing the present policy. I will wait until the A.O.C. subcommittee presents its report to me. ” The A. O.C. is comprised of the assistant and associate deans of each college and the coordinators of various university pro grams. A.O.C. members differ in their views on the Q-drop situation. One member, P.C. Limbacher, as sociate dean for student affairs in the Col lege of Education, said there are two philosophical approaches that can be taken in regard to the Q-drop policy. One approach, he said, is that Q-drop is a device to prevent students from failing courses. Limbacher said that if this is the intended goal of Q-drop, students should be allowed to Q-drop until the day before final exams. He said the other approach is that Q-drop is a device designed to prevent stu dents from being stuck in classes for which they were not adequately prepared. Lim bacher said this was the original purpose of allowing students to Q-drop. With this ap proach as the goal, he said, he thinks stu dents should not be allowed to Q-drop after the twelfth class day. “The key to the latter approach is im proved advising so that students wouldn’t be in the position of being unprepared for classes,” Limbacher said. He said he favors this approach. A.O.C. member Ned Walton, assistant dean of engineering, said he thinks the present Q-drop policy is much too liberal. “It’s a bad habit that many students get into,” he said. “It (Q-dropping) costs the students and taxpayers a lot of money and I think it’s a needless waste of money.” Walton said he is in favor of moving the Q-drop date to an earlier point in the semester. “We are a quality institution and Q-drops contribute to grade inflation and all sorts of undesirable things,” he said. Students are getting higher (See Board, page 5)