The Battalion
Vol. 73 No. 46 Monday, November 5, 1979 USPS 045 360
10 Pages College Station, Texas Phone 845-2611
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Texas by „
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|.rea MDs oppose
advertising
By PAMELA RIMOLDI
Battalion Reporter
lam Bryan-College Station doctors are
M|itled by the Federal Trade Commis-
fT VI |’s i uling last week which ordered the
dlprican Medical Association to allow
sicians to advertise,
d like to have a blue-light special on
ave topls piidectomies complete with a guaran-
tliat you won’t get the same appen-
quarterllh next week or you will get your
d likely p iey back, said Dr. Barney Davis, a
pite a sliSKpsyehiatrist in Bryan.
:ussion sir'avis’joke serves to point out what he
rgh loss, ks is one of the problems of letting doc-
’est pml advertise: There is a lot of room for the
Landn misinterpret,
good. Hel e : lifted the ban because it said
m Sundavfw 1 on advertising in the AMA s code of
inningb, cs prevents the consumer from leam-
' the ha: a h°ut the type and cost of available
ndav butB’ which, in turn, reduces competi-
a while i en< h to fix prices illegally,
ut as well' av lS sa i ( l people look lor ability and
‘d the insi^r i n a doctor; a doctor cannot give the
e or quality of his work through an
irtisement.
1 r. dohert Stone, Dean of the College of
«Sine at Texas A&M University, also
said it is extremely difficult for a doctor to
advertise without misleading the public.
“Each patient has a unique case and so a
standard price cannot l)e predicted because
the treatment might be different in every
case,” Stone said.
Most doctors are in the profession
primarily because they want to help
people, Stone said, not because they want
to make money.
“When doctors advertise, you wonder
what their primary motive is, he said.
Most doctors are busy enough anyway,
Stone said, and a desire to attract more
patients might lead to an “assembly line”
basis of treatment, with a temptation to do
unnecessary operations.
Another problem. Stone said, is that a
good doctor usually treats more difficult
cases than less qualified physicians. There
fore, a good doctor may have fewer patients
who recover than one who handles only
simple cases.
Dr. Mark Lindsay, an eye doctor in
Bryan, said he always wondered if the
competition that would be created be
tween doctors through advertising might
encourage a “reverse price war.”
People equate price with quality,
1 see |
ie gar 4 7 »
idvtser program
, drink $
Overhaul, survey
Lindsay said, and they might think a doctor
with low prices gives low-quality treat
ment.
Dr. Clyde Caperton, a local der
matologist, said he also thought advertising
might increase the price of medical care
because if doctors spend money on adver
tising, eventually the consumer will end up
paying for it.
Advertising is not necessary, said Dr.
Phil Davis, who specializes in internal
medicine.
“ If I do a good job, people will hear about
me and I’ll have a practice,” Davis said. He
said putting his name and specialization in
the phone book and hanging out his
“shingle” in front of his office should be
enough.
“It’s below our profession to advertise,
said Dr. Frank Anderson, also an eye doc
tor in Bryan. Advertising implies a business
element to the profession, Anderson said,
and lowers its image in the eyes of the
public.
Dr. Clarence Kemp said he knows al
most eveiy doctor in Bryan and not one of
them that he knows of intends to advertise.
The AMA will ask the U. S. Court of Ap
peals to reverse the FTC’s ruling.
needs
shows
By DONNA JONES
Battalion Reporter
flu academic adviser program appears
'inn !l| an( l in n eed of an overhaul, a survey
* m y iduoted at Texas A&M University last
jge Stift: indicates.
The survey also showed many off-
—ipus students to he dissatisfied with
survey was t;iken by Charles Powell
the office of vice president of student
jpb's.
Students responding to the survey com
ini 1 more about academic advisers than
yllid about any other subject.
Bie greatest need at Texas A&M is that
:areer counseling, said one student re
use. “Academic advisers are very ill-
iilped to assist students in such matters,
■cademic advisers are the closest to our
)blems, and should have a genuine
Best in us, at least inform us where we
■et help in our future careers, since
f| what we are here for.
■other student said, “My only com
int is that my adviser has not been help-
in assisting me in choosing a degree plan
llectives for that degree plan.
Still another student complained that all
the services on campus had met his needs
except in the area of planning future
courses.
“I found it hard to get good advice on
which courses to take during the summer
session and what difficulty I could expect
out of each, he said.
One criticism which seemed to sum up
many students’ feelings said, “My
academic adviser is lazy and unconcerned
about my needs.
Powell, who conducted the survey, said
new emphasis needed to be placed on stu
dent contact and less on research. He said
this should help resolve at least some of the
problems with the academic advisers.
Another problem area indicated by re
sults of the survey concerns the services for
off-campus students.
Additional effort is needed to reach the
off-campus students in order to make them
aware of services offered them at Texas
A&M, and the service as a whole needs
improvement, evidence from the survey
suggested.
Of the students who have used the off-
campus student organization, 71 percent
are dissatisfied with the help they received
there.
Off-campus students are also concerned
with housing. Ninety-one percent said they
had trouble finding an inexpensive place to
live.
Most students want smaller classes, and
some even want to limit the enrollment at
the University.
“I don’t see any problems here now, ex
cept for the growing number of students. I
think the best way to avoid problems in the
future is to limit the enrollment,” one stu
dent said.
The number of teacher’s assistants teach
ing classes is too high, according to 97 per
cent of the students surveyed. Most of the
students didn’t feel they could learn as
much from a teacher that was still working
on his own degree.
Many of the students said they felt the
preparation for college given in high school
is inadequate, since 91 percent of the stu
dents said they were dissatisfied with the
preparation they had received.
Results from the survey indicate Aggies
are concerned with doing well academi
cally and finding a suitable career after
graduation. Overall, however, they said
they were satisfied with conditions at Texas
A&M and their roles as students.
Crazy contest
had Ags doing
almost anything
By KATHLEEN McELROY
Battalion Reporter
What went on Sunday afternoon on the
Texas A&M University parade grounds was
not the Olympics. It wasn’t even close.
It was “Almost Anything Goes,” a con
test featuring more than 400 Aggies compe
ting in strange games.
The event, sponsored by the Residence
Hall Association and the Off-Campus Ag
gies, is based on an old syndicated televi
sion game show in which teams might have
dressed up as chickens and raced with
greased watermelons under their wings.
While the Aggie version was not that
off-the-wall, it was far from orthodox for the
43 participating teams.
The first game was “Walk the Plank,” a
backwards run across a board about a foot
off the ground while blindfolded opponents
threw wet sponges.
“Orange Pass” was another game, the
object of which was to pass an orange from
chin to chin while holding a tire around the
waist.
The degree of competition in “Almost
Anything Goes’ varied — some teams
practiced for the contest, while other teams
met each other for the first time a only a few
minutes before the games started.
The winners of this year’s contest were
Carol’s Crushers, coached by Carol Price.
Some of the team members explained why
they won: “Teamwork and no practice,”
offered one player, while another said,
“Lots of booze, fast women and loose men.
Second place went to the “M. D. North-
siders,” coached by John “Cotton” Clark.
Finishing third was Roger Ferguson’s Stu
dent Affairs team.
This is the third year for “Almost Any
thing Goes ’ at Texas A&M, and the first
year RHA and OCA co-sponsored it. Each
team paid a 50-cent entry fee to buy
equipment for the games.
sponge sprays water through the air during Saturday’s “Almost Any-
ing Goes” competition. The contest, sponsored by the Residence Hall
Association and Off-Campus Aggies, pitted co-ed teams against one
another in a wide, weird set of games. In this event, blindfolded team
embers throw wet sponges at opponents walking backwards along an
elevated board. Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
Angela Sluschewski and Bryce Eubanks didn’t have
to wait until they were Texas A&M University stu
dents to wear Corps of Cadets uniforms. Wandering
around Kyle Field’s track during the A&M-SMU
football game with their miniature suits and salutes,
they look almost “Old Army” already. For more on
the game, see pages 7 and 9.
Battalion photo by Sam Stroder
Local notables ‘kidnapped’
in Greek United Way drive
By DEBBIE NELSON
Battalion Staff
Fraternity and sorority members spent
Friday afternoon trying to raise money to
ransom several community leaders who
had been kidnapped.
But the hostages were all willing victims.
They were participating in a fundraising
event, the All-Greek Citywide United Way
Kidnap.
Those who were captured were held in
Manor East Mall while their abductors
sought donations from motorists at interse
ctions and in parking lots.
The event was sponsored by the College
Station Panhellenic and Interfraternity
Council. It raised $2,900 between 1:30 and
6:30 p.m., almost $1,400 over the goal of
$1,500.
Sorority coordinator Debbie Donnell, a
member of the Alpha Phi sorority, said she
was surprised the community was so
generous. This is the first time, she said,
that all the Greeks have worked together
for a community charity instead of compet
ing against each other.
Donnell said the group is happy with the
results of the kidnap. She and fraternity
coordinator John Cox, of Sigma Chi, had
worked on the plans for over a month.
Money collected will go to the 18 United
Way agencies in the Brazos County Area,
Donnell said.
Aggie football player George Woodard,
Texas A&M basketball coach Shelby Met
calf, and the owners of the Dixie Chicken
were a few of the celebrities who were held
in the shopping mall, where friends and
community people donated from $10-$50
for their release.
Evidently some people are unaware the
fraternities and sororities existing in Col
lege Station, Donnell said. Several people
at the mall reception who saw the signs
promoting the “All Greek” kidnap thought
the participants were of Greek national ori
gin.
While the reception-kidnap was going on
at the mall, groups of 15-20 Greeks asked
for donations from motorists at six Bryan-
College Station intersections. The crews
took their money to the mall at 90-minute
intervals. It was counted and a running
tabulation kept.
“They were bringing in buckets of $200-
$500 from each area,” Donnell said. The
average contribution was a dollar.
There were a few problems with over-
enthusiastic collectors. Donnell said the
police asked collectors at the intersections
to move to parking lots because they were
going out into the street when traffic was
moving.
The Greeks cooperated, Donnell said,
but some businesses refused to let the col
lectors stay on their parking lots.
“A couple of people in the community
didn’t want to support us,” Donnell said.
“It kind of ticked me off.”
Most of the collectors, Donnell said,
went out on their shifts thinking it was just
something they had to do, but once they
started getting such a good response from
donators, they got excited about it.
Battalion photo by Lynn Blanco
Katy Ganter, 2, and her sister Jennifer, 4, each gave 2 cents in ransom
money to Deborah Donnell, sorority coordinator of the All-Greek
Citywide United Way Kidnap, for the release of their father, Don
Ganter. The event was Friday afternoon at Manor Fast Mall. The
Greeks raised $2,900 for the United Way campaign.