Battalion
3(1 172 No. 84
Pages
Monday, January 29, 1979
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Short course for would-be politicians:
Beginning Campaigning 101
The League of Women Voters
explained guidelines for a suc
cessful political campaign at a
forum in Bryan Saturday. They
gave tips on campaign staff or
ganization,' filing reports for the
government, advertising and
poll-watching. See pages 6 and 7.
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By SALLY DREYFUS
Battalion Reporter
Vhen Ken Pfeil returned to his dorm
safter the Christmas holidays, he
a letter informing him that a routine
Wnance check had been done by area
Faml a street sign had been found in his
I
he letter was from Ron Blatchley, act-
director of student affairs and asked for
student’s voluntary assistance in re-
ine the stolen sign.
_, along with 150 other students, was
I to return a sign to his resident ad-
commanding officer or area office —
Ifstions asked.
letter was left in the students’
us.Blatchely said, because he wanted
ist all governmental agencies in ob-
ing their rightful property,” and he
he didn’t want any Aggies to be ar-
d for possession of stolen signs,
don’t believe they have a right to
our room without our being there.
latchley said, “We have a right and a
xmsibility to confiscate stolen proper-
We are in charge of operating state
ItS and, pV an( f we are charged with operat-
needs B residence halls.” ,
■irding to the Texas A&M University
P nce 8all Staff Manual, a student’s
/Stems Ban t be entered by a staff member
Bi emergency exists or is believed to
■ invitation is extended by one or
-|ibf the room’s occupants
I staff member has cause to believe
al'iolation of university rules and reg-
ons is occurring
‘ntry is necessary to provide room
ling and maintenance.
Bpom is not the student’s room at the
of the semester,’ said Ron Sasse, as-
lt| director of student affairs for hous-
■he student isn’t paying rent but can
fttuff there. That’s why when we
interim housing people are charged,
illy West, a Moses Hall residence
■ was upset that they came into my
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room, It’s none of their business to go in
and look around at what I’ve got. I feel like
as long as I’m living there it’s my room.”
Sasse said, “We do a lot more than we
have to. We treat it as an individual’s
abode, but at the same time it’s state
property.
West feels, as other students do, that
“the maintenance deal was just a guise to
look for signs.”
Sasse said, “We did go in for mainte
nance. There wasn’t a pretense. We sur
veyed the rooms (for maintenance) and if
we saw a sign, we left the letter.”
Some resident advisers have their own
feelings on the subject. They said they felt
they should have been told about the sign
situation so they could inform the people
in their halls.
“The guys felt maintenance or staff
could search their rooms without their
knowing about it,” said Glenn Rex, an RA
in Davis-Gary. “They didn’t tell me about
it and the guys got kind of mad. Like I let
them down.”
Assistant North Area Coordinator, Paul
Henry said, “The timing was bad. We
couldn’t inform the students ahead of
time. We do tell the RA s to tell people
ahead if possible.
Many students who received letters
about the signs are upset. Many feel as
though their privacy was violated.
One student, Mary Pat Scroggins said,
“Where is the limit drawn as to how much
that room belongs to me?”
According to Carol Zeigler, District En
gineer for State Department of Highways
and Public Transportation, 138 signs were
replaced in 1978 in Brazos County because
of vandalism, at an average cost of $25.
“Signs that are stolen are there for a
very important reason, so for a safety pur
pose we need the signs,’ Zeigler said.
Graduating seniors have a tendency to
steal highway signs that have their gradua
tion year on them, a Department of High
ways and Public Transportation official
said.
“Last year we had to replace the High
way 78 sign quite a few times,” he said.
Taiwan Ags ‘hurt’
by recognition
Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
The thrill of victory
David Mynarcik shouts encouragement to himself while lifting 462
pounds of dead weight during Saturday’s Texas Teenage Powerlifting
Championship. Mynarcik, a 17-year-old, 147-pound native of West,
Texas, won the 148-pound class championship. The championship will be
featured in the Battalion’s weekly magazine Focus this Thursday.
roject to be completed next spring
New married student complex approved
By CATHY TERRELL
Battalion Reporter
hew married student apartment eom-
ihas been approved by the Texas A&M
versify Board of Regents, in part to re-
cethe World War II army barracks now
ising the couples.
’he project was also approved Friday by
Texas College Coordinating Board.
’he 88-unit project will cost slightly
re than $3 million.
he new complex, designed by Robert
Boyce, architect for Texas A&M’s plan-
g division, will require low mainte-
ice and be energy efficient.
ere will be either 10 or 11 buildings
eight apartments in each, according
le bid costs received, Boyce said. Each
irtment will be identical, with a bath-
m, kitchen and two large windows.
Ivery apartment will be “furnished”
thjsix movable furniture units designed
Boyce.
■ here will be storage, bookcase and
ski units. Space on the back of some
units will be covered with synthetic carpet
so that pictures may be hung on them.
Units will be roughly six feet tall and four
feet wide.
“This has never been tried before,
Boyce said. “I expect scrutiny from other
universities because this does reduce
some building costs, such as wall and par
tition costs.
“The flexibility of these apartments is
unique; it’s hard to debate it. The couple
can arrange the units however they see fit.
The units will be on piano casters and may
be pushed into a study, sleeping or
entertainment arrangement.”
Boyce said he thought this was a very
feasible lifestyle for people who don’t like
to be confined to one interior.
The apartments’ front windows will face
the direction of the prevailing wind. The
front window, which is about 16 feet long,
will open across the bottom. The opposite
window can be opened from the top or
bottom for increased ventilation.
Boyce developed a model room with
prototypes of the mobile units which the
Board of Regents viewed before approving
the plan.
Bids will open on the construction Feb.
27. Completion is expected within a year,
meaning they should be finished in spring
of 1980, Boyce said.
Rent for the apartments will be decided
by the Board of Regents.
The new complex is part of a plan that
has been under consideration for at least a
decade, said Ken Nicolas, manager of the
married student housing. The complex
was needed to house students displaced
because of the destruction of some College
View Apartments housing married
couples.
College View Apartments is the name
given to converted military barracks
brought to Texas A&M in eight sections
from air bases in Texas and reconstructed
in 1946.
The barracks were first used by return
ing war veterans and their families and
have been housing married couples ever
since. “They have served their purpose a
thousandfold,” Nicolas said, but their time
is over.
“The barracks were only built as tempo
rary buildings and had an expected life
span of three years. They are potentially
hazardous because they have the original
plumbing and wiring and they are suffer
ing from dry rot and termites.”
The barracks have been taken down at a
rate of four buildings per year for the past
five years. Of the original 409 apartments,
192 remain.
Nicolas said there are eight vacancies
this month in College View, but that the
barracks are still popular with some stu
dents because of the price. Rent for a
two-bedroom furnished apartment is $93 a
month.
“Some students, after looking at the
barracks, come back in the office, throw
the key down disgustedly and leave,”
Nicolas admitted, “but many others de
cide that for the low rent it’s not too bad.
But their condition is so deteriorated that
they really have to go. If there was a fire, I
don’t know how long it would be before
the whole complex would be burned.”
By MERIL EDWARDS
Battalion Reporter
Many of the approximately 100
Taiwanese students attending Texas A&M
University expressed anger and hurt at
President Carter’s decision to normalize
relations with mainland China.
“Some were quite angry and others
were hurt,” said Corkey Sandel, Interna
tional Admission advisor. “Most of them
were hurt, though. It was a blow to their
national pride, a rejection by an ally and
friend. They considered America number
one and felt a real closeness.”
One of the students who talked with
Sandel was Po-Lin Chin, 27, president of
the Chinese Students Association, a social
organization on campus.
“I was more hurt than angry at Carter’s
decision,” Chin said. “He showed little
concern for the well-being and rightful
freedoms of the 17 million people living in
Taiwan.”
The United States and China recog
nized each other and established diploma
tic relations Jan. 1. At the same time, the
United States terminated diplomatic rela
tions with Taiwan.
A number of Texas A&M Taiwanese
students participated in a peaceful demon
stration against Carter’s decision at Manor
East Mall in Bryan over the Christmas
holidays.
Chin said he does not know of any other
planned activities or demonstrations in the
area of on campus.
Chin said the people of Taiwan knew
something was going to happen, but did
not expect it this way, nor so quickly.
“For seven years Nixon and Ford were
negotiating with China, Chin said. “For
some reason they could not come to terms.
Why Carter, why now, I do not know for
sure. The conditions materialized, I sup
pose.
Chin said he does not know what will
happen now. “We ll keep buying weapons
from the United States as long as possible.
Since we are not officially recognized
anymore, we can only hope the agree
ments made will be carried out.
Chin said his family in Taiwan is fine.
“I’ve received letters and phone calls from
home. They are good as usual. They are
not afraid and neither am I.”
Sandel said many of the Taiwanese stu
dents were concerned about their status in
the states.
“A&M has not heard anything official,”
he said. “I called the Immigration and
Naturalization Service in San Antonio and
they told me there would be no immediate
change.”
Sandel said students were concerned
about passport revalidation and visa ap
proval.
Chin said he does not know if any prob
lems will arise over his passport revalida
tion.
“There will not longer be an American
consulate in Taiwan to approve their stu
dent visas,” he said. “They will have to go
elsewhere to have them approved. These
are some of the hazy areas that will have to
be worked out.”
The majority of Taiwanese students at
A&M are in graduate programs. Sandel
said they tend towards chemical engineer
ing and chemistry.
Chin is a graduate student in industrial
engineering. “I see no immediate change
in plans,” Chin said. “If all goes well, I will
finish my program in one and one-half
years.”
“The Chinese are often better than
Americans in math, science and physics,”
Sandel said. “Their education in Taiwan
stresses these areas.
“We have a system of education here
that the Taiwanese and others are willing
to buy,” Sandel said. “Education is an ex
portable product. Our best way to help,
our best foreign aid policy, is to educate
their people.”
If Chin gets a job after graduation, he
said he will stay in the United States.
“There is a good working and educational
environment here,” Chin said. “I would
like to work here, at least for a few years.
It is easier to get a job in Taiwan if you
have a couple of years experience in your
field.”
“A large percentage of the Taiwanese
students remain in the United States,”
Sandel said. “Many seek immigrant status.
The standard of living here is better, and
the job market is good. It is hard for them
find jobs at home.
Festivities
begin Aggies
Ram year
Sunday marked the beginning of the
Chinese New Year. The “Year of the
Ram, which promises prosperity and an
easy life, has begun.
The Texas A&M University Chinese
Students’ Association sponsored a New
Year’s Eve celebration dinner Saturday in
the Memorial Student Center.
The Free China Night was open to all.
The program billed the dinner “a symbol
of friendship and freedom for over 30
years. Let’s keep it that way.
Guests were encouraged to come early
to see a picture exhibition, a culture and
antique display and an arts and crafts sale
organized by the Chinese students.
In addition to the display, the Chinese
students prepared and served the meal,
which included egg rolls, sweet and sour
pork, pepper steak, fried rice and Chinese
style salad.
After dinner, the show began. First, a
student wearing a large smiling mask per
formed the heavenly God blessing, which
bestowed a blessing to all for the coming
year.
Next, an all-male group sang several
Chinese folk songs.
They were followed by seven members
of the Austin Kung Fu Club who demon
strated the self-defense moves as an art of
strength and beauty and one of martial
techniques as well.
The leader of the group split wood
blocks and bricks with his fist and also with
a kick.
Skills of the brush pen were evidenced
by the time and precision put into a
Chinese painting and calligraphy demon
stration. The work was accompanied by a
Chinese instrumental melody.
Some of the women in the Chinese Stu
dent’s Association modeled Chinese dress
ing in the different historical periods from
the Chou dynasty to the present. While
modeling the Costumes, they performed
some classical dances.
As a finale, the students who organized
the Free China Night invited those who
knew the words to the Chinese “Happy
New Year” to sing along and clap their
hands.
Profits from the dinner will go to help
Vietnam refugees.
James Wang prepares for his kick, left, during the
Kung-Fu demonstration at the Free China Night
Saturday. Displaying incredible speed, he then
executes his kick breaking one cement block. Wang
Battalion photos by Kayce Classe
then broke two cement blocks stacked together.
Please see the related story this page.