tea
' f 0 n New %f
1 Uenvp,,,;),'
. env er«f;
: ru pp°f^
ln g Punter (i.
ft“ d S
( L P4rcl
Baalists,
11 will be ^
“PPionwbkl
Playoffs. K
are elimjj
t er record^
J 5 in
Han Diego
( i Miami,
/er'
nd CleveQ]
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
Monday, December 17, 1979
College Station, Texas
Vol. 73 No. 74
14 Pages
Campus United Way
drive hits 63 percent
The final amount collected by the 1979 Campus Un
ited Way totaled $47, 279, according to a release
from Don Hellriegel, campus chairman. This
amount is 63 percent of the $75,000 for the campus.
hah move to Panama angers Iranians
United Press International
ONTADORA ISLAND, Panama —
deposed shah of Iran spent his first day
'anamanian exile Sunday on Contadora
md, a millionaires’ hideaway that once
: the setting for Panama Canal treaty
'otiations.
ingered by the shah’s departure, the
dent holding 50 Americans hostage in
Qj U.S. Embassy in Tehran said Saturday
" hostages would definitely be paraded
hre an Islamic court as spies.
j ources sa i c l the exiled monarch, his wife
eight others had moved into the holi-
home of Samuel Lewis, the brother of
[briel Lewis, Panama’s former ambassa-
■ to Washington.
The sources said the residence was one of
belonging to wealthy Panamanians on
[e remote tropical Pacific island, 35 miles
of Panama City, with a permanent
mlation of only some 200 people and one
-room luxury hotel.
he island, sources said, is promoted as a
sn for snorkeling, scuba diving, sailing
[fishing. The island also has casinos, golf
rses and tennis courts,
e chief of security for Panama’s Na-
alGuard, Col. Manuel Antonio Norieg,
charge of guarding the shah, moved a
tingent of soldiers to the island, author-
s said.
hah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi left San
tonio’s Lackland Air Force Base Satur-
^ and flew to Panama, ending a two-
mth visit to the United States that led to
izn*
Ub
the seizure of 50 hostages at the U.S.
Embassy in Tehran.
Iran’s revolutionary Islamic government
announced Sunday that as a result of the
shah’s departure from the United States,
trials of the hostages as spies would begin
sometime before Christmas or New Year’s.
Panamanian President Aristides Royo
Saturday said his country had granted poli
tical asylum to the shah “to contribute to
the solution of the world crisis.”
“He (the shah) comes to Panama without
restrictions as to time and without condi
tions from Panama and his stay will not cost
the Panamanian people anything. Panama
is a hospitable country and the shah will be
well received. He will not be a cause for
problems in Panama,’’ Royo said.
The shah, in a television interview,
thanked authorities for his invitation,
saying, “I hope that your country will al
ways have a future of happiness with pros
perity and progress.”
Panama’s decision to accept the shah fol
lowed a marked improvement in relations
with the United States after the Oct. 1
turnover of the Panama Canal.
The shah had lived in Mexico for five
months, from June 10 to Oct. 22, when he
went to New York for cancer treatments.
But Mexico’s sudden Nov. 29 announce
ment that the shah was not welcome to
return left the fallen monarch without a
home in exile until Panama accepted him.
The shah, accompanied by his wife,
Empress Farah, flew out of Texas secretly
Saturday morning and by mid-afternoon he
had settled into a hotel on the Pacific Island
of Contadora — 35 miles from Panama
City.
“The government of Panama has stated
its hope that the provision for a place of
residence for the shah in Panama will help
to bring about a peaceful resolution of the
present crisis,” White House spokesman
Jody Powell said.
Although administration officials indi
cated they hoped the departure would
mean freedom for the 50 Americans still at
the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iranian mili
tants holding the diplomats said it now is
certain they will be put on trial for spying.
The final authority on the matter.
See related stories, page 11
however, was Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, and he had no immediate com
ment.
Pahlavi’s dramatic departure occurred
just as the World Court at the Hague ruled
Unanimously that Iran must release the
hostages.
The court has no power to enforce its
ruling, but it is part of the United Nations
and a statement issued at the White House
said the United States hopes the U.N.
Security Council will “deal with any failure
by Iran” to comply with the decision.
The deposed monarch arrived in New
York from Mexico Oct. 22 for cancer treat
ment and gall bladder surgery. His arrival
sparked the seizure of the U. S. Embassy in
Tehran and the taking of American hos
tages by radical followers of Ayatollah
Ruhollab Khomeini.
The radicals demanded the shah’s extra
dition as ransom for the hostages, saying
Pahlavi must be tried for crimes against
Iran. But President Carter refused to talk
with the Iranians about the shah until the
American hostages are released.
The Iranian students released some
black and women hostages, leaving 50
Americans captive at the embassy.
Iranian students staged demonstrations
in the United States, and angry Americans
shouted them down in counter demonstra
tions as tensions grew over the crisis.
The shah was moved to Lackland Air
Force Base Dec. 2 amid tight security and
secrecy.
The official Pars news agency quoted the
militants as saying that spy trials for hos
tages held captive for the past six weeks are
now “inevitable” because the shah’s depar
ture meant the United States could no lon
ger be forced into extraditing him to Iran to
face trial.
In the first reaction by a government
official, Finance Minister Abol Hassan Bani
Sadr, considered the Islamic regime’s most
moderate figure, also said, “We must hold
this trial.”
The armed militants occupying the U.S.
Embassy issued a brief statement through
Pars saying that spy trials for the Americans
would be “the minimum step” taken
against the United States for allowing the
shah to go to Panama instead of sending
him back to Iran.
“Now that the ex-shah has left the U. S. A.
for Panama, the trial of the U.S. hostages in
Iran is inevitable,” a spokesman for the
embassy militants said.
“This is the minimum step we will take, ”
the spokesman said, adding further com
muniques would be issued later.
Despite the militants’ reaction, diplo
mats said the final word on whether or not
the Americans will be tried as spies — a
charge that carries the death penalty —
would have to come from Khomeini him
self.
Sheikh Sadeq Khalkhali, Iran’s senior
Islamic judge, told reporters earlier Satur
day Khomeini had not yet decided whether
to try the hostages as spies.
But he added if the trials be held then
“the trials of the hostages will be the trial of
President Carter.”
Iran, which boycotted the U.N. court’s
hearing, did not immediately comment on
its ruling, which it had served notice in
advance that it would not heed.
The anger over the shah’s departure
appeared to upset what diplomats earlier
said were hopeful signs that Khomeini and
the militants in the embassy might be sof
tening their position on the crisis, which
dragged into its 42nd day Saturday.
Foreign Minister Sadegh Ghotbzadeh
meanwhile reported in a letter to Khomeini
Saturday that preparations were going
ahead to convene an international commis
sion of “anti-imperialists and anti-zionists”
to “investigate” alleged American spying
activities in Iran.
He reiterated Iran’s intention of drag
ging at least some of the hostages before
that panel for interrogation. The purpose of
that questioning, he said, would be “to in
form the world about the extent of Amer
ica’s crimes and expose the corrupt moral
ity of international expanionists.”
For the captives themselves, there was a
bit of Christmas cheer — several thousand
pounds of it in fact — but it was waiting at
Tehran’s Intercontinental Hotel to be deli
vered.
Christmas cards by the thousands — sent
by Americans of all ages and from through
out the United States — poured into the
hotel, where reporters covering the Irnian
crisis said they would collect and begin
delivering them to the embassy on
Monday.
The cards came from children, from
elderly people, from students, teachers
and Americans from all walks of life.
Nearly all were addressed to “Our fellow
Americans” and they all expressed the
hope that the hostages would be home for
Christmas.
A card designed and signed by Ray Kish,
who said he was 10, summed up the feel
ings of Americans young and old.
“Dear fellow Americans,” Ray wrote, “I
hope they let you go for Christmas, cause if
they don’t it won’t be Christmas.”
Halhouty tells 935 graduates
not to let others think for them
m\
i graduate student gives his opinion.
Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
By LAURA CORTEZ
Battalion Staff
Michel T. Halbouty, consulting geolog
ist and petroleum engineer, told 935 Texas
A&M University degree candidates Satur
day democracy in the United States will
only exist as long as people participate in
public and political affairs.
“This country is crying out for leadership
at all levels of government. You owe it to
the country to use your prestige and intelli
gence,” he said in his commencement
address at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Halbouty, a recipient of the Texas A&M
University Distinguished Alumni Award,
urged the graduates not to let “the other
fellow” do their thinking for them.
He also said that the concentration of
power is destructive.
“Never underestimate the influence of
an individual or of an organization in public
affairs,” Halbouty said.
During the last decade, he said, federal
agencies increased more than 400 percent,
and that has resulted in the federal govern
ment becoming more involved in the affairs
of society and of the economy.
Halbouty urged the graduates never to
forget “the law is made for the people and
not the people for the law. ”
In ceremonies Friday night, Texas A&M
President Jarvis Miller conferred degrees
upon 995 graduates, making the total num
ber of December graduates 1,930.
In his commencement address, Harold
J. Haynes, board chairman for Standard Oil
Company of California, told Friday’s gra
duates that over-regulation has become the
“Achilles heel” of our economic system.
“To revitalize the tremendous produc
tive potential of this great nation, America
will need the spirit symbolized by the 12th
man — the willingness to participate if cal
led upon,” he said.
Haynes graduated from Texas A&M in
1947, and is a recipient of the Disting
uished Alumni Award.
Seventy-seven of the graduates received
military commissions from Rear Admiral
Paul C. Gibbons Jr., U.S. Navy Chief of
Naval Education and Training, in cere
monies Saturday.
Michel T. Halbouty
Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
he night-time exam blues
Use of standardized tests at Texas A&M broadening in freshmen and sophomore level course
By JETTIE STEEN
Battalion Reporter
Standardized exams in freshman and
iophomore level courses at Texas A&M are
lothing new — in fact their use is
broadening.
Standardized or common exams are of
wo types, one of which all the questions
are exactly the same and the other which
measures the same abilities on an equiva
lent difficulty level but questions are not
identical.
The math and biology departments have
mplemented common exams into their
freshman course curricula this fall. Howev
er, the chemistry department at A&M has
used the standardized exam system for over
seven years in their first year program.
Due to the large number of students in
generalized freshman courses, said Dr.
Rod O’Connor, professor of chemistry,
there isn’t any other kind of exams one can
give. He said it is not a matter of choice but
one of necessity.
The necessity stems from there not being
enough manpower to grade individualized
exams and no budget allocations to grade
the exams other than by computer.
“I’m not sure you could find enough peo
ple qualified to grade the exams if you did
have the money,” O’Connor said.
This fall there are approximately 5,000
students in Chemistry 101, 102 and 106.
These students are given exams that test
abilities on equivalent difficulty levels.
According to O’Connor, there are 18
forms of each exam with 26 variations of
each type of exam question used on the 18
forms.
Standardized testing doesn’t make the
course material any easier for students,
O’Connor said. It does, however, make it
easier for some people to get a better grade
than they would otherwise because, “a
lucky guess is just as good as knowing what
you’re doing,” he said.
O’Connor said some students do poorer
on the multiple choice exams because they
can’t get any partial credit. They may set up
a problem right and punch wrong numbers
on a calculator. They miss the question as
much as the guy who didn’t know anything,
he said.
O’Connor said to justify giving common
exams, one must clearly specify what stu
dents are to be responsible for, to spell out
the objectives of a course.
If students are willing to work they can
learn the right material for a particular ex
ams in a reasonable amount of time. Other
wise, a student may have so much material
due to undefined objectives, he ends up
spinning his wheels and learns nothing,
O’Connor said.
Students could learn more if an indi
vidualized exam could be used but that is
an impossibility, he said.
The math and biology departments have
also found giving individualized exams im
possible due to increasing course loads.
These two departments began using com
mon exams this fall in their introductory
courses.
Dr. William L. Perry, associate profes
sor of math here, said the mathematics fa
culty came up with the plan, however, it is
not new as it is used in many different
universities.
“We decided to implement the system
because we noticed a difference in difficul
ty of exams across sections and we thought
it would be fairer to the students if every
one took the exact same exam,” Perry said.
“There are 1,800 students enrolled in
Math 102, college algebra, and if you are
going to give a common exam you don’t
want to be giving one at 8 a. m. and one at 4
p. m. because there could be statistical diffi
culties.”
Therefore, a common time had to be set
for which the exam would be given. Perry
said this is a major drawback of the system
as many students work at night and there
are many courses now being offered at
night.
“We have to give the exam at night be
cause so many hours of the day are used up
and there is no one place large enough and
available to give the exam in the daytime,”
he said.
Students are assigned to one of two exam
periods on Wednesday night according to
their section numbers. Students are
allowed to change the exam period if they
have work conflicts or other valid excuses.
The math departments gives three, one-
hour exams during the semester which are
multiple choice, identical question tests.
Only the correct answer is acceptable — no
partial credit is given because the exams
are graded by computer.
These exams are designed by the 12 in
structors of the 18 sections of college algeb
ra. In three committees of four members
each, the faculty rotates duties of the exam
make-up during the semester. One makes
up the exam, the second critiques it and the
third proofreads the exam, has it copied
and at the exam site at the proper time.
“We did not decide to give common ex
ams to lower our Q-drop rate which is is
probably the highest in the university —
we just thought is would be fairer to stu
dents,” Perry said.
“So far this semester, the scores have
been more uniform and we know now that
we have all the mechanics of such a system
done. The averages across all the sections
have not varied more than five points so I
think its been fairer than in the past and in
that sense achieved our objectives,” Perry
said.
As for the improvement of grades due to
the use of standardized exams there are
conflicting results. The math department is
predicting no significant changes in grade
distribution. However in the chemistry de
partment, they have experienced a 50 per
cent cutback in the number of F’s and Q-
drops.
Both departments claim that common
exams are set up to be-fairer to and students
and both said their programs would con
tinue as such as long as they received
approval.
To receive approval for a common exam
proposal, a department must first file a
petition with the dean of that college and
then the proposal goes to the Vice Presi
dent for Academic Affairs, Dr. John Pre
scott.
According to Dr. Charles McCandless,
associate vice President for Academic
Affairs, Prescott places two stipulations on
the proposals before approving them:
— A student has to have released time
from regular scheduled classes equivalent
to the time of that exam.
— Every student has an option to take a
make-up exam at another time if there is a
legitimate conflict such as work or a univer
sity excused absenses.
“There is a common body of knowledge
that should be diseminated among all sec
tions of a course and common examinations
increase the probability there will be a uni
formity of material covered in all sections, ”
McCandless said.
In most cases there will be a better exam
formulated, he said.
“However, if some professors begin to
teach only for the examination, that is a
prostitution of the system of testing,”
McCandless said.
Dr. Garland Bayliss, vice president for
academic services, said the complaint he
has heard most often of common exams is
the scheduling problem and the conflicts
the scheduling creates.
Despite the complaints. Perry said, the
testing would continue in the math depart
ment.
“As long as I am in charge of college
algebra and we can receive approval, tbis
new testing system will continue in our
department,” Perry said.
Farmers’ costs rising faster than prices
United Press International
Prospects are bleak for the state’s far
mers and ranchers in 1980 because produc
tion costs are rising faster than the prices
producers receive, an economist says.
Dr. Carl G. Anderson, a marketing eco
nomist for the Texas Agricultural Extension
Service at Texas A&M University, says
cow-calf operators may do better than most
producers next year, however, because
fewer calves are available. Demand, he
said, should keep calf prices near levels
attained this year.
But Anderson said ranchers battling
drought in south and southwest Texas are
not expected to share that prosperity and
are dispersing their entire herds.
He also predicted a sluggish fed cattle
market in 1980 due to increased pork and
poultry competition and a national reces
sion that may decrease beef demand.
An abundance of hogs, broilers and tur
keys is expected to depress prices in those
markets until latter 1980, when a possible
reduction in supply may bolster things, he
said. Lamb prices also may be slightly low
er than in 1979, Anderson said, because of a
sizeable meat supply and an expected slight
increase in U.S. lamb and mutton produc
tion.
Virtually no price fluctuation is exhected
for cotton and grains, Anderson said, but
soybean prices could dip because an in
crease in world soybean consumption this
year failed to offset a supply increase.
Vegetable, fruit and nut production also
is up, evidence of lower prices to come in
those markets, he said.
U.S. farmers paid $1.16 in 1979 for the
same supplies that cost them $1 a year be
fore.
“For irrigated farming in Texas, the in
crease will be much higher because of ris
ing fuel and energy costs,” he said, adding
there is no relief in sight.
“Early this fall, prices paid by farmers for
fuels and energy were 44 percent higher
than a year earlier. Prices for tractors and
other machinery were 11 percent higher,
and for building and fencing, prices were
up 10 percent.
“Interest rates on narm mortgages had
jumped 25 percent during this period,”
Anderson said.
Federal investigators say high degree of racial
segregation exists in Texas state universities
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Federal investiga
tors have found a high degree of racial seg
regation in Texas state universities, it was
reported Sunday.
The New York Times said a 400-page
report by the investigators is being re
viewed by the Department of Health, Edu
cation and Welfare in Washington, D.C.
The newspaper, quoting officials in
Texas and documents obtained under the
Freedom of Information Act, said the in
vestigators found that the student bodies
are heavily white or black at most Texas
state colleges.
“At most of the 38 state-supported senior
colleges and universities and 47 commun
ity colleges in Texas, the student body is
either overwhelmingly white or over
whelmingly black,” the Times said.
As an example, it said there were only
721 blacks and 2,277 Hispanic-Americans
compared to 28,213 white undergraduates
during the 1976-77 school year at the Uni
versity of Texas in Austin.
The newspaper said the minority per
centages fell far short of actual represention
in the population of Texas — 12 percent
black and 18 percent Hispanic.
The Times said the report could provide
a political dilemma for President Carter,
hurting his standing in the state if the admi
nistration begins desegregation action
against Texas.
Under the law, the government is requ
red to withhold federal funds from segre
gated colleges. The administration has yet
to go that far, but it has forced several states
to overhaul their higher education systems.