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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 1979)
Il > , 26-12 °pen ' defeatej eadeniy, f I The Battalion hI Sa " Al, « tts l)urg(le[ ts '• Childtes; 1 > 39-3"^. d Clyde, eaten fcyi, "oosolidaW, :28 7 - S. Bonji iwood, 27| Ballinger, te n by ill open 2. ity, 12-6 a Vernia, d Union s defealed Glen Soa 5-6 7. Kni II, 12-68, 6-0 9. 41-610. t, 12-7 Vol. 73 No. 28 16 Pages Wednesday, October 10, 1979 College Station, Texas USPS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 r Sea school name change forbidden by state office By ANGIE JONES Battalion Reporter State Attorney General Mark White has ruled the Texas A&M University Board of Regents cannot change the name of Moody College to Texas A&M University at Galveston. Bob Heath, chairman of the Opinions Committee, explained that the Moody College name was established by statute and could only be changed by the Texas Legislature. The Opinions Committee gives legal opinions to questions posed by state offi cials. In this case, the Attorney General asked for an opinion in response to a query by the Coordinating Board of Texas Col leges and Universities about the authority of the Board of Regents to change the name of Moody College. “It (the opinion) did not specifically mention Texas A&M University, but it was one of the institutions affected,” Heath said. . Dexey Luchoni, Moody College direc tor of operations, said that although the institution is now going by the new name and has changed the letterheads on corre spondence with other institutions, the at torney general’s opinion really won’t affect them. An interpretation of the opinion must first be made by the Board of Re gents, he said. The regents have not met yet to discuss the attorney general’s opin ion. The Moody College name change, along with eligiblity of the institution to receive construction support from the Permanent University Fund, were included in Senate Joint Resolution 7, sponsored by Sen. A.R. “Babe” Schwartz during the summer legislative session. After passage by the Senate, SJR-7 was modified in the House of Representatives and did not come back up for a vote. Then it was thought the Board of Re gents could authorize the name change as part of an administrative reorganization at the Moody campus. “I included the name Texas A&M Uni versity at Galveston because there is no unit in the University of Texas System that is named ‘blank college,’ Schwartz said. “In the first place, it is a denial of the uni versity status of those graduates.” Schwartz emphasized that students of Moody College receive their degrees from Texas A&M University and should be entitled to the same status as any other Texas A&M graduate. '-y- • • • ■ > mw ] Student Services to sponsor program on alcohol abuse Follow the bouncing cowboy :kei Convict cowboy Weldon Byrd somersaults off a hind Bars.” The prison rodeo, held every weekend bucking bull during the first performance of the in October, will be featured in the Focus section of Texas Prison Rodeo last weekend. Byrd was all- Thursday’s Battalion, round champion of last year’s “Wildest Rodeo Be- Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr. By CAROL HANCOCK Battalion Reporter A program to curb alcohol abuse by stu dents is in the making at Texas A&M Uni versity. Through residence halls and off-campus groups, Student Services administrators hope to educate students on alcohol and its effects. The program is part of a statewide “rlutnher of hot checks on the increase By FLOYD WILTZ 338(1 Battalion Reporter "There are 173 students at Texas A&M —diversity who are living on borrowed N^s^y.lltne. or more accurately, borrowed f|^»ney. And their time, like their money, almost run out. ifI|ilRobe rt Smith, assistant director of Texas PlpitM University’s fiscal department, said a list of 173 students who paid their iMB tionwith C '1 1CC ^ S and have not made ^pl^pood on them. Unless the tuition is paid Smith warned, these students could themselves dropped from the Univer- rolls by the end of October, number of hot checks written in SIw ’ fazosCounty and at Texas A&M is on the l|K|||Herease. The tuition checks represent ||||||| only about 2 or 3 percent of the total ||lli®[ n iimber of hot checks received by Texas Smith said. A query to local mer- S^Siiil'onts showed that the number of hot they receive each month went up in September, when students returned to town. During the 1977-78 fiscal year there were 5,440 bad checks returned to Texas A&M. During 1978-79 fiscal year, 6,281 hot checks were returned, reflecting an increase of 15 percent. When the University receives a re turned check a written notice is sent to the student advising him to pay the debt within 15 days. If the check is not paid within that time, another notice is sent to the student. Smith said about 50 percent of the students pay the bad check — plus a $15 penalty — after receiving the first notice, and another 25 percent pay after the second notice. Smith said. A Texas A&M student or employee is put on the University’s permanent bad check list after two hot checks are re ceived. This prevents the student or em ployee from using any of the University’s check cashing facilities. In the case of Uni versity employees. Smith added, Texas A&M may hold their paychecks until the amount is paid. This information is not lbiwarded to the Brazos Comity business community. “A lot of these people know the money is not in the bank when they write the check,” Smith said. Patti Swanson, who handles hot checks for Gibson’s Discount Center, said the store received approximately 45 hot checks in September. “We have to be very cautious toward the end of the semester,’’ she said. “Stu dents are leaving and they clean out their accounts and clean us out.’’ Gibson’s requires students to present a driver’s license Texas A&M identification card to cash local checks. Ken Broach of Broach Oil said his com pany could consider refusing to accept checks if the number of bad checks his service stations receive continues to in crease. Terry Morris, manager of the Kroger Family Center in Biyan, had noticed an increase in returned checks since the be ginning of school this fall. The annual amount of hot checks totals in the thousands of dollars, Morris said. Students will usually pay their bad checks after being notified, several busi nessmen said. They noted that students comprised about 20 to 30 percent of the hot check writers in their businesses. When a deliquent check is not paid after written notices have been sent, most busi nesses will turn the matter over to the county attorney’s office. The county attor ney’s office publishes and distributes a list of the names weekly. In addition, County Attorney John Barron Jr. said he will pros ecute passers of bad checks. program recently launched by the United States Brewers Association. Monica Christen, assistant area coor dinator, said the program will take a teach ing approach, not a prohibiting one. “We want to stress that alcohol isn’t bad but can damage the human body if it is abused’ she said. The extent .of the program depends on funds available, Christen said. She and Dr. Maurice Dennis,, an assistant indus trial education professor, currently are working to obtain a grant from the Na tional Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Al coholism (NIAAA). Christen said if they get the grant, the alcohol program could include films, speakers, workshops, posters, and pam phlets. If the grant is denied, the program will be more limited, she said. Information is being compiled from other universities that have alcohol pro grams, Christen said. The Texas A&M program will be set up with this informa tion and results of a Texas A&M survey in . mind, she said. The grant proposal has to be turned in to the NIAAA by Nov. 1, Christen said. She said she hopes to have more definite plans for the program by January. The statewide program is part of a na tional program to broaden alcohol aware ness by the Association. The need for a program in colleges was shown in a Florida survey. The survey of nearly 300 colleges nationwide showed 81 percent of the stu dents drink alcoholic beverages, the majority of whom drink moderately. Fraternity houses were shown to have the highest level of alcohol consumption. Jess Yaryan, an Association consultant to Texas colleges, said many Texas schools either have or are interested in an alcohol program. The Association will publish a quarterly paper to keep colleges informed and to give them new ideas, Yaryan said. The in teraction between schools is important to the Association’s national goal, he said. Standing room only for Saturday’s game By MERIL EDWARDS Battalion Staff I Even an Aggie win against University of Houston may not be enough to appease some of the more unfortunate fans stand ing on the track or watching the action on cjosed-circuit TV in G. Rollie White Col- iseum. Wally Groff, assistant athletic director for business affairs, said 64,000 tickets nave been sold for the A&M-Houston football game. The stadium capacity is ply 57,000, so that leaves 7,000 ticket lolders with no place to sit. “We ll probably run out of seats in the stands sometime Wednesday,” Groff said. “Then we ll start selling standing space on the track. We re planning to sell tickets to 3,000 students to watch the game from the track.” Groff said three areas will be roped off for standing room. Both sides of the field from the bleachers at the south end to the 30 yard line will be designated for standing students. The third area will begin at the northeast end of the field and extend from the horseshoe to the 40 yard line. While tickets for track space last, Groff said students have three options: stand on the track, watch the game on closed- circuit TV in G. Rollie White Coliseum or receive a refund of $4.25 for their ticket. “I’m sorry students have to bear the brunt of the stadium not being ready,” Groff said. “I hope that they can look ahead to the future bright spots of good seats.” One bright spot for Saturday’s game is that there will be temporary concession trailers on all three levels, Groff said. For students with seats in Kyle Field, EAST TEMPORARY GATE For Use by East Side Ticket Holders ONLY ^West Side Ticket Holders Enter NORTH End n i——1 n RAMP 4 To: All Levels 0 o CO ^Lower Level Gate 1 ► and TEMPORARY FENCE Not Accessible to Public ^NO ENTRANCE RAMP 2 To: Middle Level Upper Level ^West Side Ticket Holders Enter NORTH End \ Elevators \ ^ Access to Elevators \ \ ONLY WEST \ NO ENTRANCE the first question is how to get to those seats. Groff said almost all students will be sit ting on the east side. He said all east side ticket holders must enter the temporary gates at the southeast corner of Kyle Field to reach their seats. Fans on the west side, in the horseshoe, in the bleachers and on the track will enter at the north end of the stadium through gates one, two, three and seven. “About 80 percent of the crowd will use the north end,” Groff said (see diagram). The next issue is safety. The University safety men, the campus police and H.B. Zachry Construction Co. are all working to make a potentially dangerous Kyle Field safe for the day. “All the equipment will be blocked off,” Groff said. “Temporary fences and bar ricades will be constructed. Nothing will, be left dangerous. Zachry Co. is very safety conscious. We ll all be taking every possible precaution. “Beside every barricade or dangerous area, an officer will be stationed just in case someone does try to go through the off-limits areas.” University Police Chief Russ McDonald said 20 or 30 additional men will be com ing in from Bryan to help out with stadium security. “Well station the officers throughout the crowd to prevent injuries and acci dents,” McDonald said. “Our main con cern will be to protect the kids running around on the west side.” And finally, where is there room to park? Groff said about 800 parking spaces have been lost due to the stadium expansion. “It’s going to be tough finding a place,” he said. “Students should park on the outer parts of campus. Guests won’t have any idea where to park.” Looking ahead to the three remaining home games, Groff was more optimistic. He said 4,500 more seats will be available for the SMU game Nov. 3 and additional seats will be added in time for the Arkan sas game Nov. 17. “The entire stadium, 71,600 seats, has been sold out for the Texas game Dec. 1,” Groff said. “So we sure hope Kyle Field will be ready by then.” Battalion photo by Lynn Blanco Aggie Blood Drive Joel Malone, a junior civil engineering major, was the first donor in the Aggie Blood Drive. Blood can be donated from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the second floor of the Memorial Student Center today and Thursday.