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THE BATTALION
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1979
Page3
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Silver Taps
• • •
Continued from page 1
E come a victim of large numbers.
1 No one could have predicted the
i growth the University would ex-
Iperience, he said, just as no one
[could predict the increased mo-
ibility of the student body.
J “It sounds gruesome, Laine
i® I said, “but it is a fact that more
■ people are going home more
' I often, and the chances for a stu-
. lrn Prov«jH dent getting killed are greatly in-
lce ~isi I crea!i ed. At the first Silver Taps
lnin gpei» Lj there was a nassive number of
I people in attendance, 5,000 or
Iso.” But attendance steadily de-
I creased from there, he said.
.. ii lnB I Cadet Cominander of the
1( j a vinii I c 0I p S ft;]] D u g a t said that having
Vk-'l" 31 ' I ^>l ver Taps almost every other
1 e ^ ( j a ^ iTuesday night was inconvenient
h Ipftt ^ or stu( ^ ents an d partici-
? pants. The proposed change
rve , 0Bllli would be academically more be-
H* 1 * a . r f t ' ,s neficial, he said.
The firing squad of the Ross
Volunteers is the student organi
zation responsible for scheduling
and performing the Silver Taps
ceremony. The memorial is the
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sole function of the firing squad.
Pruett said he felt the proposed
change would reinforce the im
portance of the ceremony.
However, he said, “even if it got
to the point where they held Sil
ver Taps every night, the Ross
Volunteers firing squad would al
ways be ready to carry out their
duties.”
The most prevalent argument
against changing Silver Taps is
that holding the ceremony once a
month would tend to depersonal
ize the memorial.
Perie Pitts, senator for off-
campus Ward 4, said that accept
ing the bill would be “changing a
tradition for the institution. But
this particular tradition is for the
person, not the institution.”
Changing Silver Taps to in
crease attendance will not make
the ceremony more meaningful,
he said. The Aggies who take the
time to come to Silver Taps be
cause they want to remember a
student who is gone are the ones
who give the ceremony its impact
and importance, he said.
Pitts added that holding the
ceremony only once a month
would increase the chance of Sil
ver Taps being held for more than
one person at a time.
Laine said that he was aware of
this argument, but he pointed out
that the first memorial held in the
fall is usually for seven or eight
people who die during the sum
mer, and of the ceremonies held
this semester several of them
have been for more than one
person.
Laine added that when a family
attends Silver Taps they see the
ceremony as being held for their
own son or daughter, not two or
three people.
“And even if Silver Taps is only
held once a month, that is still
four times a semester,” Laine
said, “which is quite a few times. ”
“Silver Taps is such an honored
and cherished tradition and it is
as much for the students attend
ing as for the student being re
membered,” he said.
Another consideration in
changing Silver Taps is the effect
it may have on the family of the
student being honored, said Oif-
Campus Aggies President De
bbie May.
The situation could arise where
the ceremony would not be held
until over three weeks after
someone dies, she said, and it
would be hard on the family to go
through an additional or pro
longed period of grief.
One final argument against
changing Silver Taps is that the
regular scheduling would not eli
minate all the scheduling con
flicts that do arise, said Pitts.
However, Laine said he felt it
would help. Having intramurals
going on during Silver Taps, as
was the case at the ceremony
Nov. 20, could be more easily and
consistently avoided if a special
night once a month were set aside
for Silver Taps.
Ronnie Kapavik, student body
president, said that because
changing Silver Taps is such an
emotional issue, arguments on
the question will be mixed and
the issue will not be settled in
everyone’s mind. It is important
that students be involved in the
making of this decision, he said.
Study of zooplankton starts
Oceanographers at Texas A&M
University have begun year-long
study of trace metal accumulation by
zooplankton, the sea’s microscopic
smorgasbord.
Zooplankton were chosen for the
research because they represent a
basic link in the marine food chain,
say researchers. The $35,000 project
sponsored by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration
and is meant to determine how tiny
particles of organic and ihorganic
matter suspended in the water affect
the pattern of metal uptake.
Using seawater collected off the
Texas coast, Dr. B.J. Presley and
Dr. Paul Boothe hope to tell federal
authorities responsible for regulat
ing waste dumping the extent to
which particulate matter influences
the sub-lethal accumulation of cad
mium, mercury and lead by zoo
plankton.
This is an important question
since most of the trace metals in
wastes dumped into seawater are
associated with the particulate mat
ter, not the water itself, said Boothe.
Presley, who has conducted other
dumping effect studies for NOAA,
said wastes and trace metals have an
easily measured short-term effect on
particulate matter, but that it is not
known if this effect is dangerous for
the zooplankton.
The two Texas A&M scientists
hope results of this and other long
term studies can provide some
answers since contamination of zoo
plankton has implications for other
rungs in the food ladder.
To measure the minute amounts
of metals involved, the oceanog
raphers will have to depend on such
sophisticated techniques as com-
partmental analysis and gamma ray
spectroscopy.
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exas Public Employees Association
Ags represented by un-union
For Your Complete
Christmas Shop
By EILEEN WALL
Battalion Reporter
Since Aug. 29, there has been an
nployee association — but not a
ion — for Texas A&M University
[aff members.
The Texas Public Employees
isociation represents employee in-
st
ccording to its bylaws, the asso-
iation will “never become affili-
ted with, become a part of, or
ndorse any labor union/'
terests, but says it wants nothing to
do with unions.
I According to its bylaws, the asso-
feiation will “never become affiliated
, ffith, become a part of, or endorse
any labor union.”
■ Local TPEA chapter President
Jim Phillips said there are two main
ifferences between the TPEA and a
nion. First, he said, membership in
te association is voluntary, and
;cond, TPEA operates on a state-
ide, rather than a national, basis.
Dues are another major difference
etween the two groups. TPEA dues
re $13 per year, while, according to
its members. At its August 1979 con
vention, the association reaffirmed
this policy in a resolution presented
to Governor Bill Clements.
Collective bargaining is against
the law in Texas, so unions must use
other means to accomplish their ob
jectives. Dave McNeely, in an arti
cle on unionization in Texas, said
political means is one way the union
tries to achieve its goals.
McNeely said the union becomes
actively involved in elections in
order to bring pressure on the Leg
islature, which determines state em
ployees’ salaries.
McNeely said collective bargain
ing is not needed for raises and be
nefits.
The TPEA has been representing
chapter, some University staff mem
bers participated in the local high
way chapter of the TPEA, Phillips
said, but since that chapter’s work
ing conditions are different from
University staff, it was felt the staff
needed its own chapter.
Phillips said this is the first time
in 103 years that the University
staff has had a voice. He said he
feels they are ready for a chance
to speak out.
The Texas A<b-M chapter, which
started with 17 members, has
now grown to about 60 members
and is increasing, said President
Jim Phillips.
Phillips said this is the first time in
103 years that the University staff
has had a voice. He said he feels they
are ready for a chance to speak out.
Ray Smith, director ofTexas A&M
personnel department, said that the
University has always has had and
“open door policy” with employees
and added that employees have
“never been bashful” in approaching
them.
University policy on the new
TPEA chapter, he said, is one of
“absolute neutrality.”
“We neither want to hinder nor go
out of our way to assist them,” he
said.
They do not want to help the
TPEA, he said, because the adminis
tration does not want employees to
feel that they have to join the TPEA
in order to be heard.
They don’t want to hinder the
TPEA either, he said, and discour
age staff from becoming members.
The TPEA chapter has not
approached the administration with
any proposals yet, Smith said.
Tie TPEA dictates in its bylaws
hat no strike action will be taken
iy its members. At its August
979 convention, the association
eaffirmed this policy in a resolu-
ion presented to Governor Bill
'lements.
m
PEA Executive Director Gary
Hughes in an earlier interview,
American Federation dues would be
minimum of $96 per year.
The two organizations also take
ipposing viewpoints on the subjects
if strikes.
The TPEA dictates in its bylaws
hat no strike action will be taken by
public employees since 1946, and
currently has approximately 32,000
members.
The Texas A&M chapter, which
started with 17 members, has now
grown to about 60 members and is
increasing, said President Jim Phil
lips.
Phillips, an electrical technician in
the electrical engineering depart
ment, said the chapter’s main goals
right now are to build membership
and to open lines of communication
between the association and the
administration.
There are 6,000 TPEA members
here, Phillips said. The more mem
bers the chapter has, the better the
cross section of opinion will be rep
resented, he said.
Before the formation of the local
/ ia / o^ 2C<i
•07
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