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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
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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
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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)