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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 1977)
■y 11 K my 0 , 11 R In's. 1| The Battalion lol. 71 No. 70 ■10 Pages a We to| realise ofl ' A " dI 4] able to J 'Ti 1 youn g Iti, )(,u t Milie ,, bem hoped . ra )ly aromj a*' belter) L ‘ bliielwihM '’ H'titMi, r>t ul > f or 4 1 1 ' st () f my If, for Mike, ■ r himai *>' one of Ik ' Ver been, ■ By RUSTY CAWLEY DOWS ho»| Battalion City Editor > well business vs. small business, both lln iig government, plus some fire and b!o\'l ! bow the discussion of amend- ' v liiiiiMj S £ 0 f| ie city’s building code wan- Friday, December 9, 1977 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Inside Today: Aggie basketball team travels to Tulsa, p. 8 Peace Corps still going strong, p. 5 In-dorm cooking rules questioned, P 2 ode amendment keys on fire safety 'ills and ingj] during Thursday night’s meeting ni), t ' u f |tjie College Station City Council. m >wlf, aiMpresentatives of the Bryan-College P'ivilege B on Home Builders Association at- 0,16 fwiltBcd the meeting and questioned some miters IMp amendments proposed by various •bem all. |\ departments. |wo amendments particularly upset representatives. One would deny (ding permits for property without ;ing fire hydrants and paved roads. ; other would require sprinkler sys- in all buildings larger than 15,000 sq. feet. The first amendment concerns the ability of the College Station Fire De partment to extinguish fires in subdivi sions under construction. It would re quire that fire hydrants in the subdivi sion be in working order before the city issues a building permit. It also would require streets accessible to fire trucks and other equipment in any weather. Clyde Brothers, representing the buil ders association, argued that the amendment would place unnecessary re strictions on building in the city. He said he could recall only one construction site fire in recent years. But Councilman Gary Halter dis agreed. “The purpose of fire prevention is to stop the fire before it happens,” Halter said. “Just because there hasn’t been a rash of construction fires in the past doesn’t mean there won’t be.” Brothers insisted this was the problem of the builder and not the city. “If it goes up, he’s the one losing, not the city,” Brothers said. But the councilmen said the city will pay through higher insurance rates. “What we re concerned with is that you’re gambling with dollars other than your own,” said Mayor Lorence Bravenec. Then the discussion turned to requir ing sprinkler systems. Fire Marshall Harry Davis recom mended the change. The present code allows buildings 75 ft. or more from the curb to go without sprinkler systems, no matter what type of building or what size they are. “We don’t feel this should matter,” Davis told the council. “We still have to fight the fire. We still have to pay the higher insurance rates. “To effectively fight a fire, the fireman must enter the building,” Davis said. “This business of standing on the street holding a hose and lobbing water into a burning building went out with high but ton shoes. “Some of the city’s fire protection should be passed on to the builders.” But Brothers claimed the cost will be passed from the builders to the small businessman. “You’re going to put an extra burden on the small businessman,” Brothers said. “And you’re going to run up costs for consumers. “I’m not talking about the K-Marts or the Sears and Roebucks. I’m talking; about the little guy. He’s the one you’re going to kill.” While Brothers and the councilmen argued economics. City Manager North Bardell submitted another view. “We seem to be ignoring the human life factor,” Bardell said. “The sprinkler system should be used simply because it is safer.’ The council decided it would need a special work session to hash out the problem. Chemical engineers have few Ph.D.’s it by Jelll rterbad < Moslev ds By LINDA NORMAN [here is a definite shortage of Ph.D’s fhemical engineering, says Dr. Ken- i R. Hall of the chemical engineering brtment at Texas A&M University. Inly 308 chemical engineers in the feed States received doctorate degrees [976. The demand for them is great in li industry and the academic field, iDr. Charles D. Holland, head of the mical engineering department. Ihe Texas A&M department is feeling effects of this shortage because of in- itry’s demand for doctorate degree [lers in chemical engineering. |We have to compete with industry all time,” Holland says. And Hall says jor companies like Shell and Exxon Id doctorate degree holders in chemi- lengineering, they cannot find them. |0ur organization does share the belief there is a shortage of Ph.D.’s in lemical engineering, says a spokesman jExxon. “Any time there is a shortage, [prospective employers are compet- Recently, the A&M department lost a Illy member because a company of- pdhim a 25 percent increase in salary. both Holland and Dr. Richard E. omas, associate dean of the college of tegineering, say they feel A&M can compete with industry in starting salaries for doctorate degree holders. “On up the corporate ladder, the salaries won’t compare. As long as they stay fairly close, you can be competi tive,” Holland says. When the salaries become too different, people who want to teach may choose industry because they don’t want to accept a lower standard of living. Why is there a shortage? One reason, says Hall, is that industry is offering bachelor’s degree holders a starting salary of $1,550 a month. “It is fair to say that the demand for bachelor degree students right now is af fecting the number of students going into graduate study,” says J. M. Southerland, associate director of the placement office at Texas A&M. “They are more attracted by money than graduate study, and I think that’s regrettable,” says Thomas. He says he expects many of them to become un happy in a few years because they will not advance to high positions held by engineers with graduate degrees. “We’re reaping the consequences of what happened four or five years ago, ” Holland says. Trends will differ in the demand for doctorate degree holders. In uses will not run luring summer term By PEGGY EMERSON exas A&M University’s shuttle bus -’ice will not operate this summer be- se of financial losses incurred during it summer’s trial run. Last summer was just a trial, and it very, very costly. We lost approxi mately $16,800,” said Col. E. C. Oates, Buttle bus committee chairman at kM. “Not running buses will probably convenience some people. But if you in’t afford it, you can’t afford it.” |A&M has used shuttle bus services om Transportation Enterprises since 172. Last year was the first time the ises were used for summer school. A shuttle bus committee appointed by ates estimated that approximately 2,500 udents would use the bus service each Ission if it was offered. jWe had about 10,000 students 'Inrolled the first summer session and ibout 9,000 the second session,” said •onald D. Carter, associate registrar. Five hundred sixty-seven shuttle bus asses were sold the first session and 262 le second session. Passes were sold for 6 each session and student service fees ubsidized the bus service. From these figures, it is estimated that about $3,402 was made off pass sales the first semes ter. Costs to run the buses that session were approximately $7,850. “The bus service would have been dis continued after the first session, except some students moved where they did because the buses were running,” said Oates. “Five buses ran every 30 minutes the first session. The second session we cut back to three buses running once an hour.” “If students find out ahead of time that the buses won’t run this summer, maybe they will make arrangements for trans portation or move closer to the univer sity,” Oates said. “I estimate that we will have 10,000 to 11,000 students for the first summer ses sion in 1979 and 9,000 to 10,000 for the second session,” said Carter. “These are strictly guesses based on past experi ences.” “There will be problems with people not getting to park as close as they would like this summer but there won’t be a problem with adequate spaces,” said Col. Tom Parsons, director of campus traffic and security. 1970 and 1971, there was a stronger de mand for chemical engineers with a bachelor’s degree. But in 1974 and 1975, the Ph.D. demand returned. Enrollment in the chemical engineer ing department at A&M has increased more than anywhere else because enrollment in chemical engineering has increased across the country says Hol land. Plus, A&M s overall enrollment has increased. There are now 830 students in chemi cal engineering at A&M. Only three or four years ago there were less than 300. Three teaching positions in the chemi cal engineering department are held this year by visiting professors. Holland says these positions, plus two or three others, will have to be filled next year. The department is hiring for some permanent positions, and then getting visiting professors to fill in until enroll ment begins to level out, Holland says. But according to Thomas, chemical engineering is a special case. In engineering as a whole, there is no shortage of applicants for teaching pos itions. Classes are now being scheduled at noon and throughout the afternoon be cause of the increase in students, and the sections are always filled, Holland says. “We’ve already gone as far as we can go in increasing the size of classes,” he says. The maximum size of classes in chemical engineering, 30, is now deter mined by the number of seats available. The increase is making courses easier to get, because the department is offer ing courses more often than before. “We offer every course at least two or three times a year,” says Holland. “So far, we re not looking at night classes.” Will some of the bachelor degree hol ders in industry come back and go to graduate school? This is desirable, but seldom happens, Thomas says. Once someone starts climb ing the corporate ladder, it’s difficult to quit and go back to school. There is some indication that better students are going to graduate school to get a master’s degree. Hall says. “We can only hope a certain percentage will go on and get a Ph.D.” Dear Santa Fawcett-Majors Battalion photo by Phyllis Lee Moore Hall residents John D. Smith and Spencer Shawhan make last minute pleas for better grades to their patron “Santa.” Smith and Shawhan join other residents of the second floor Moore in inter-dorm competition for the “Best Decorated Hall.” The prize was a keg of beer. Academic Council approves calendar By GLENNA WHITLEY Battalion Staff The academic calendar for 1978-79 was approved Thursday by the Texas A&M University Academic Council, but semester-end due dates for final grades were deleted and will be decided later by administrators. The calendar suggested a Saturday 5 p.m. deadline for the fall semester, while the spring semester deadline is Monday, 10 a.m., after finals. These are also the current deadlines. A motion was made that the fall deadline parallel the spring deadline, giving professors more time to grade final exams. Bill Lacy, Texas A&M Registrar, said the Saturday deadline was needed be cause of the large amount of paperwork necessary to receive, process and mail grades to students before the Christmas holidays. One reason given for processing grades before the Christmas holidays (thus re quiring the early deadline) was that stu dents on academic probation could know their grade status in time to make prepa rations to attend another school, if neces sary. Solutions suggested included schedul ing exams so that large classes with Russians expanded more during Vietnam, chief says non-objective tests could take exams early in the week. Another was changing the computer program used to process the grades to allow for staggered input ting. At present, all grades must be re ceived before any are processed. The Council also changed the registra tion date of the first summer session to Monday, June 4 instead of Tuesday. Class now will begin on Tuesday. Students will only have a week be tween the last summer session and fall 1979. The term ends Aug. 17 and classes start a week later. U ; Traffic slows behind an old church transported south on Pinfeather Road Thursday. The church is being moved to College Station A change of spirits and will be converted into a beer garden. Battalion photo by Jana Hazlett United Press International DALLAS — While the United States was involved in the Vietnam war the Soviet Union made great studies in in creasing its military power, says the Army Chief of Staff. Consequently, Gen. Bernard W. Rog ers said Thursday, arms limitations talks with the Russians have taken a greater importance because of their increased war-making capabilities. Rogers said the Soviet Union ex panded their military power “severalfold” while the U.S. was involved in Vietnam, making significant and steady additions in nuclear, sea and air power. “And they have enlarged their ground forces by 30 divisions to about 170 total,’ Rogers told the Dallas chapter of the As sociation of the U.S. Army. “This 30- division increase is more than the total number of divisions in our total army, both active and guard. ” Rogers said the United States’ major strategy is to make conventional military forces more important in an effort to avoid a nuclear confrontation. He said the Army would continue to stress readb. ness for an extended war. - - ' •' Rogers said the United States will con tinue arms reductions talks with the Soviets while strengthening its conven tional war capabilities. The Soviet Union also is an economic threat to the United States in the world market. Roeers said.