\egents promote three, appoint one
e Battalion
Wednesday, January 25, 1978
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Inside Wednesday
The Domino Principle, page 2
Burp...pages 10 and 11.
Basketball teams are on the road,
page 12.
William G. Locke
omtruction contracts
'proved by Board
By LEE ROY LESCHPER
Battalion Staff
Following what is becoming almost a
habit, Texas A&M University’s Board of
Regents has promoted three University
administrators and appointed a fourth.
The board has made administrative
changes in five of its six meetings in the
last nine months.
Dr. Fred J. Benson, dean of the College
of Engineering since 1957, was appointed
University vice president for engineering
and non-renewable resources in yester
day’s meeting. The regents created that
position during their September meeting.
Dr. Thomas T. Sugihara, professor of
chemistry and director of the University
Cyclotron Institute, was named dean of
the College of Science. Ed Davis, director
of University management services, was
promoted to assistant vice president for
business affairs.
William G. Locke, a former vice presi
dent of the Limbeck Corporation, Hous
ton, was appointed assistant director for
administration for the Texas Agricultural
Experiment Station.
The appointments, made by University
President Jarvis Miller and approved by
the board of regents, are effective Feb. 1.
Sugihara, Davis and Locke all fill positions
left vacant by earlier promotions.
The board created the vice president for
engineering post which Benson assumes,
along with a vice president for agriculture
position which has yet to be filled, at their
September meeting. President Miller re
quested those positions in an effort to
coordinate the research and public service
programs of those two areas.
Benson joined Texas A&M’s civil engi
neering faculty in 1937 after earning his
master’s degree from Texas A&M. In addi
tion to being dean of engineering for 20
years, he had directed the Texas Engi
neering Experiment Station since 1959.
Now vice president of the University Re
search Foundation, he directed that or
ganization from 1963 to 1977. The Kansas
native received his undergraduate degree
at Kansas State University.
Dr. Sugihara became head of the Uni
versity Cyclotron Institute in 1971 after
four years on the Texas A&M faculty.
A native of Colorado reared in Southern
California, Sugihara earned his under
graduate degree at Kalamazoo College in
Michigan and master’s and doctorate at the
University of Chicago. After post-doctoral
work at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, he joined the faculty of Clark
University in Massachusetts, where he
was chairman of that school’s chemistry
department before coming to Texas A&M.
Davis joined the University business af
fairs department in 1972 as assistant direc-
Ed Davis
tor of management services. He became
director three years later. A 1967 graduate
of Texas A&M, he earned a master’s de
gree from the University in 1973. Before
he joined Texas A&M’s staff, Davis served
four years as a U.S. Army intelligence offi
cer. Davis was Corps cadet colonel his
senior year at Texas A&M.
Dr. Thomas Sugihara
Locke entered private business in 1969
after a 21-year military career, joining the
Dallas-based Wyly Corporation. The 1948
West Point graduate joined Limbeck Cor
poration in 1975. The Arkansas native
earned a master’s degree in 1964 from the
Harvard School of Business Administra
tion.
is guai
t of
: §3.5 million in contracts for con
ation and improvements within the
A&M University System were
hied by the system’s board of regents
Jday.
P'o-thirds of the appropriations, in one
j|2 1 million contract, went for construc-
J of a new classroom-laboratory build-
|at the system’s Moody Maritime Col
in Galveston.
:xas A&M University projects ac-
Ited for most of the remaining approp-
Jons. The board allocated $474,411 for
“tiiled design work on an academic and
[e|ncy building at the University,
iduled for completion in 1979. The
story building, future home of the
tlish Department, College of Business
ministration and Texas Transportation
[itute, is expected to cost $16 million.
Incan. Dining Hall will receive
'SO in improvements under a con-
|t the regents awarded to R. B. Butler,
of Bryan. Campus improvements in-
King additional lighting, improved
pities at the Firemen Training Center
storm drainage expansion near G. Rol-
White Coliseum were covered in a
1,675 contract awarded to Jordan &
Woods General Contractors of College
Station.
The board allocated $58,158 for installa
tion of a sprinkler-type fire protection sys
tem in the basement of the Memorial Stu
dent Center. A fire in the basement of the
Center last summer heavily damaged ma
terials stored there, but did not damage
the Center itself.
Preliminary design work for 10 new
married student apartment buildings was
approved under a $20,612 appropriation.
Some board members had earlier ques
tioned construction of the new apart
ments. But after touring present married
student apartments Sunday and Monday,
the board agreed to continue plans for the
apartments.
The fifth and sixth floors of the Univer
sity library addition now under contruc-
tion will be completed as soon as possible,
thanks to a $161,400 appropriation from
the board. Originally the interiors of those
two floors were to be left unfinished.
In the move faculty members probably
consider most important each year, the
board approved promotions for 109 Uni
versity and Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station faculty members and granted te
nure to 78 faculty members.
Students won’t get benefits
of new wage law until later
By TERRI HUFF
Texas A&M University students em
ployed on campus will not receive im
mediate benefits from the new minimum
wage law, according to H. Ray Smith, di
rector of personnel for Texas A&M.
The minimum wage for staff employees
moved to $2.65 Jan. 1, but it remained at
$2.30 for the 2,500 to 2,700 student work
ers. Funds appropriated for the university
by the Texas Legislature during their last
session was for a two-year period from
Sept. 1, 1977, through Aug. 31, 1979.
“They did not allocate their funds based
on a minimum wage situation,” Smith
said, “so the result is when we go from
$2.30 to $2.65 for staff employees, suffi
cient funds are not left to pay for such in
creases on the student side.
A 1976 Supreme Court decision re
moved universities from minimum wage
guidelines, so technically the University is
not required by the federal goverment to
pay the federally accepted minimum wage
to either staff or students. However,
Smith said, “We feel it’s essential on the
staff side for all of our regular employees to
be recruited, trained, and retained if we re
to have a continued efficient operation of
the university. To be competitive on the
staff side we have to stay up with the fed
eral minimum wage because all of our
competitors by law are not exempt as uni
versities are.”
The Texas A&M staff miniumum wage
will rise again Sept. 1 of this year to $2.90
per hour. At that time, however, the stu-
ower rates unprofitable
Banks stop giving loans to students
dent employees will also receive an in
crease.
Their minimum wage will move from
$2.30 to $2.50 and the University also will
begin paying 5.85 percent of their social
security contribution.
“We are talking about a 14.5 percent
increase in the minimum wage Sept. 1 for
students,” Smith said. “The 5.85 percent
increase in social security will make the
students’ salary go from $2.50 to approxi
mately 2.64 per hour,” he said.
The state appropriates funds for the
running of the University, but certain
areas on campus must generate their own
funds such as the management services
area, which includes food services, and the
student services areas, Smith says. “To in
crease the minimum wage for our student
labor to $2.65 Jan. 1 and to $2.90 Sept. 1
as we did on our staff side would result in
an increase in cost in the food service area
alone of an estimated $100,000 and in the
dormitory operation area, $80,000. The
result would be higher rates,” he said.
Smith said that no one making $2.65 or
above before $2.65 became the new
minimum wage had received a raise as of
yet. “We probably have some less than de
sirable situations on campus at this point,”
he said. Persons earning $2.65 who may
have had some seniority while the
minimum wage was still $2.30 now are
making only the minimum. “Some of these
persons may be unhappy at this point, but
again because of the availability of funds,
we simply could not maintain consistency.
Starting Sept. 1, and through the years we
hope to maintain this proper balance,” he
said.
Smith said that as positions on campus
become vacant his office would make sure
these positions are needed before they are
refilled. However, he said there were no
plans at this time to eliminate any position
should a vacancy occur.
Also, there are situations on campus in
which part-time non-student employees
are performing the same duties as student
workers, Smith said.
By CHERYL HICKMAN
iirrently in Bryan and College Station,
ks have stopped lending to students
ough the Federally Insured Student
in Program.
ederally insured student loans are low
jterest, long-term loans made through
ks. They have no relation to the Texas
l&M University funded Hinson-
■zlewood loans although both of these
■ms must be applied for through the
|lniveristy Financial Aid department and
[ust be university approved.
Federally insured loans are based on in-
idual need. Under the program, an un-
rgraduate student can borrow up to
P,500 each academic year with a
laximmn total loan of $10,000. This loan
[raws seven percent interest and gives the
rrrower up to 10 years after graduation
for repayment.
However, the low interest rate, the
large amounts of money, the long repay
ment period, and a nationally high default
rate make these student loans unprofitable
for most banks. The banks could make
more money using these funds to make
higher interest, short term loans. There
fore, most banks either set aside relatively
small amounts of money to be used in the
program or they don’t participate in the
.program.
“In a way, this is public relations work,”
said Al Bormann, assistant director for the
Texas A&M Student Financial Aid De
partment. Bormann said that many banks
make these loans in hopes that the borrow
ing student will eventually become a per
manent depositor with the bank.
“So they take the chance that even if
they lose money on the federally insured
program they can make it back through
their depositors,” said Bormann.
Many banks, however, do not take this
position. “A lot of banks are real profit
oriented and when they’re in a situation
that might cost them money, they get out
of it,” said Bill Landiss, a loan officer at
University National Bank.
Only two banks in Bryan-College Sta
tion will participate in the federally in
sured program. Those two banks, Univer
sity National and City National, have
loaned out all of the funds they have avail
able for the program. They will not be
making any more federally insured stu
dent loans until enough money from re
payment of outstanding loans becomes
available.
Under the program, these loans are in
sured by the Department of Health, Edu
cation and Welfare so if the student de
faults, the lending bank is repaid by the
federal government. However, if the bank
has a high default rate “the goverment can
punish them and not pay back 100 percent
of the loan,” said Bormann.
First National Bank in Bryan dropped
the federally insured program in
November 1977, for this reason. Orlan
Weatherford, senior vice president of the
bank said, “We turned in a couple of bad
reports on paybacks.”
Bormann suggested that anyone in
terested in a federally insured loan should
look for a lender bank in his home town.
“Loans are usually made available to kids
through their parents’ bank,” said Bor-
Concepts not needed
to graduate, Lacey says
The Aggie Wrestling Team won against Richland College, one of
the best wrestling teams in the state, 45-10. There were five for
feits by the Richland team because of injury. Number 1 - Larry
Aggie wrestlers win 45-10 ph.,.b y K.„He„„.
Johnson in the 134 pound class won by a score of 7-4. Number 2 -
John Sweat in the 142 pound class won by a pin in only 31 seconds.
(Related story, page 13.)
By LIZ NEWLIN
Battalion Staff
Physical education instructors misin
formed students when they said the course
known as Concepts is required for gradua
tion.
Registrar R. A. Lacey and Dr. C. W.
Landiss, head of the health and P.E. de
partment, agree that Concepts is not
necessary to graduate.
P.E. instructors have been told of the
clarification, said Emil Mamaliga, head of
required P.E. and elective activity pro
grams.
Student academic advisers will be
notified through a change in the schedule
of classes.
Both offices encourage students to take
the course, which will be renamed “Physi
cal Fitness Evaluation.”
The name “Concepts ’ is taken from the
book used in the course and does not
adequately describe what students study,
Mamaliga said.
“We urge that they take it,” he said.
“We just feel the student is the loser.”
Topics in the course include body struc
ture and physiology, fitness, exercise,
cancer detection, back care and car
diopulmonary resusitation (CPR). A
swimming test and physical fitness evalua
tion also appear in Concepts.
“We feel they need to be given this in
formation someplace,” Mamaliga said.
“Many don’t understand how unfit they
are. Awareness is the basis of the course. ”
The Academic Council, which sets re
quirements for graduation, states four
semester hours of P.E. are needed for
physically able students. Concepts is not
mentioned specifically. That regulation
has not been changed in at least four years,
said Dr. Tom Adair, secretary of the coun
cil and acting head of the physics depart
ment.
Generally, students complete P.E. 101,
102, 201 and 202 for the requirement. Be
ginning last semester, students who
signed up for P.E. 101 were assigned to
Concepts. When classes became full, the
computer had instructions to place them
in P.E. 102 and reassign them to P.E. 101
later.
But the registrar cannot tell from a stu
dent’s transcript whether or not he has
taken the course.
“All we re interested in for graduation is,
‘Do you have four semesters in P.E.?’”
Lacey said. “If it’s less than four, then we
find problems, not before.”
Campus buses
not equipped
for handicapped
The new intra-campus shuttle system
that operates daily has offered most stu
dents a taste of mass transit. But there are
still those that are unable to take advan
tage of the system.
The buses, rented from Transportation
Enterprises, Inc. of Austin, are not equip
ped to handle handicapped students.
Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,
sect. 504, university sponsored activites
and programs should be made accessible
to all students. This includes the intra
campus shuttle buses, said Don Gardner,
local Texas Rehabilitation Commission
representative.
The buses could be modified by the
addition, of a hydraulic lift. The student
would roll onto the lift, be elevated to the
level of the bus, and wheel on in.
Howard Perry, associate vice president
of student services, discussed the matter.
The intra-campus shuttle system is
presently on a trial basis. Funds for the
system have been taken from the student
services fee reserve and Texas A&M
Bookstore profits.
The decision will be reached at the end
of the month as to whether or not the
buses will run on a full-scale basis. At this
time, the situation for the handicapped
will also be taken into consideration.
The Student Services Committee is
aware of the responsibility of providing
this service for handicapped students and
is presently looking into the cost of modify
ing the buses. Perry said.
As an alternative to modifying the shut
tle buses, a “vehicle-on-call has been
suggested to serve the handicapped stu
dents, Perry said. This woidd involve a
van that would be available to take wheel
chair students around campus.
if
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