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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 1980)
■ { The Battalion 0(9 Vol. 74 No. 10 16 Pages Serving the Texas AddVf University community Friday, September 12, 1980 College Station, Texas USPS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 The Weather Yesterday Today High 93 High 93 Low 72 Low 71 Humidity. . . . 57% Humidity . . . 60% Rain .. 0.0 inches Chance of rain. . . ... none 00 reshman class looms as largest ever 06 ee nexpected seniors ipset projections ss 06 06 Si By LIZ NEWLIN Battalion Staff When official figures are in next week, Texas A&M University will probably have the largest freshman and senior classes in its history. Another record has already been set by total enrollment, which is ex pected to go beyond last Friday’s count of 33,313. Using a computer projection, administrators expected about 32,090 students, or an increase of 760 over last hill. They were sur prised when the increase was more than 1,900 students. Official enrollment will be deter mined Tuesday, the 12th class day, so all figures here may change slight ly. Computer print-outs of classes show about 33,900 schedules proces sed, but that figure counts students who registered twice, didn’t pay fees or didn’t show up. Dr. Bill Lay, director of admis sions, expects the freshmen class to go well over the 5,000 mark, but he won’t know for sure until next week. The computer prediction appa rently missed the most in its forecast of the senior class. Mel Lasell, associate director of the Office of Planning and Institu tional Analysis, explained that the class size prediction comes from a “cohort survival rate’ based on the last three years. Normally the senior class is about the size of the previous year’s junior class. This year the computer forecast the 1980-81 senior class would be 98 percent the size of the 1979-80 junior class. Instead, it is about 106 percent of last year’s junior class, an error of 8.6 percent, or 500 students. Lasell doesn’t know yet where the extras in the senior or other classes came from, but he suspects the eco nomy for two reasons: 1) the tight job market encourages students to get more education, and 2) many stu dents have to work while they’re attending school. The part-time work, he said, forces them to take lighter academic loads and turns many into “fifth- year’’ seniors. The average semester load was 14.17 hours in 1975, he said. It dropped to 13.81 hours in 1978 and 13.68 last year. Dr. Charles McCandless, associ ate vice president for academic affairs, agreed with the economic theory. He added that Texas A&M’s reputation, which led to enrollment jumps during the ’70s, is still causing growth. “Our image in the ’60s was a fac tor,” he said. “People knew classes were going to meet and that we did not have campus disruption.” Once more students came, he said, they influenced others to come. “We became kind of the ‘in’ school,” he said. That still persists, he said, especially since Texas A&M has sought out outstanding high school students through the Presi dent’s Endowed Scholars Program and other new scholarship programs. McCandless didn’t think the unex pected increase had caused any big problems this fall. “We’ve had one of the smoother starts,’’ the vice president said, although additional sections were opened in some courses. “Walking around campus, traffic has not seemed much heavier.” Fall enrollments for the College Station campus, Texas A&M University 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 79 80 (est.) Information from the Registrar’s Office. Enrollment on the main campus of Texas A&M Universi- 1960s. Then, during the 1970s, the totals added up to the ty increased steadily and somewhat slowly through the fastest growing university in the United States. Other totals up, down; UT at 46,200 Texas A&M isn’t the only univeristy in the Lone Star State with a higher enroll ment this fall. Preliminary figures show the University of Texas in Austin has about 2,100 more students than it had last fall. That addition makes UT’s total about 46,200. Mel Lasell, associate director of the Office of Planning and Institutional Analy sis at Texas A&M, said the University of Houston also gained students. Enrollment there is up about 1,600 from last fall, for a total of 30,000. Texas Tech University is down about 500 students, Lasell said, for a fall total of 22,600. One other school that apparently lost students is Southwest Texas State Univer sity in San Marcos. Enrollment there is about 15,500, or about 400 less than last fall. North Texas State University in Denton stayed even, he said, with about 17,300 students. Lasell cautioned that these figures are only preliminary. The schools make their official counts on the 12th class day for the Coordinating Board, Texas College and University System, which oversees public higher education in Texas. A spokesman for the Coordinating Board in Austin said its analysis of enrollment won’t be ready until mid-October. Last fall 330,869 students enrolled in public senior colleges across Texas, according to the Coordinating Board. Total college enroll ment, including private schools was 651,715 students. The agency predicted an increase this fall of about 5,000 students in public senior colleges. ran; Muskie letter ‘nothingnew’ United Press International mian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr Thursday there was “nothing new” in tary of State Edmund Muskie’s re- tpetter to Iran and he charged the Un- IStates has hampered his efforts to win ^release of the 52 American hostages id for 313 days. Bani-Sadr’s remarks, in an interview ith All India Radio, were made as he him- Jfcame under growing fire for his moder- iposition in the hostage crisis. The militants holding the hostages ined in that criticism and vowed once that their captives will not go free Bi iOGs delayed to avoid possible overpayment J 3 W (0 until the United States apologizes to Iran and returns the shah’s wealth. The Indian radio quoted Bani-Sadr as saying the United States was making it “im possible” for Iran to free the hostages. The State Department said Wednesday that it was willing to discuss the apology demand with Iran but was not prepared to offer one. But Bani-Sadr said he did not believe that Muskie’s letter to Iranian Prime Minis ter Mohammed Ali Rajai, which called for negotiations to end the crisis, “would make any difference to the hostage issue. There is nothing new in it,” he said. Kuwait Radio quoted Tehran Radio as saying the militants will not release the captives unless the United States apolo gizes for its past “behavior” and returns the wealth of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who died in Cairo in July. Rajai earlier demanded the United States “repent” before negotiations could begin on the hostage crisis. In another statement broadcast Wednes day by Tehran radio, the militants attacked those who did not support the “divine act” of taking the hostages. Without mentioning Bani-Sadr by name Bluegrass starts Saturday noon in Bee Creek Park — but obviously referring to his recent remarks that the crisis had hurt Iran — the militants accused moderates of lacking the “courage” to stand up to the United States. The struggle between BaniSadr and Ra jai threatened to indefintely delay Parlia ment’s debate on the fate of the hostages. Bluegrass bands from across the Lone Star state are scheduled to perform in a festival this Saturday at Bee Creek Park. The festival, which begins at noon, is free. The city of College Station is sponsoring the Bluegrass Festival, and it may become an annual event. Bands from Brazoria, Wellborn, Dallas and Lolita were invited. Food will be available, and the bluegrass music will last until dark. By Wayne Cook Battalion Reporter Some Texas A&M University students who rely on Basic Edu- Jjjm Opportunity Grants to help pay their educational costs ave not yet received their money. Students who applied for the federal grants from June 1 (the gdate for the Fiscal Office) through delayed registration, did have the amount of their Basic Grants deducted from their fee ments. ny student whose Basic Grant was not deducted from their slip will receive the Basic Grant around October 1,’ said Direc- of Financial Aid Dr. William E. McFarland. The checks will be ibuted through the Fiscal Office. McFarland said the reason for the time delay between the date e payments are due and the date students receive their money is Jnoid any overpayments to students. The amount of a grant is 4sed directly on the actual cost of a student’s education, and takes into account tuition, room and board plan, and miscellaneous expenses. Due to the large number of students who go through drops and adds or change their room and board plans, many student’s fees have to be revised, thereby increasing or decreas ing the amount of their Basic Grant, according to McFarland. “It would be really almost useless to award the funds now, and then have to go out and collect if too much was paid, ” McFarland said. If a student is experiencing financial difficulties while waiting for Basic Grant money there is aid available through the Short- Term Emergency Loan Program, according to McFarland. The maximum amount of loan is $750 which should be helpful in tiding a student over, said McFarland. The average Basic Grant is $900 to $1000 for state residents and $1,600 for out-of-state students. urkey coup a threat to buffer United Press International ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey’s armed fees seized control of the country late hursday and arrested the prime minister ' a bloodless coup, but pledged to restore adiamentary government once they have lamped out terrorism that has killed 5,200 eople this year. The leaders of the takeover said Turkey will honor its commitments to the ■Mi Atlantic Treaty Organization. ^KlGen. Kenan Evren, 62, chief of staff of 5ijjShe armed forces, said Prime Minister jlHi'uleyman Demirel and the leader of the lain opposition, former Prime Minister i05<blent Ecevit, were in “protective cus- '^Hy- J>i Martial law was declared in all of Tur- >viey s 67 provinces, and Evren said all poli- parties were abolished and a nation- “ curfew was in effect. ■he National Security Council com- Bed of Evren and the commanders of the By, navy and air force will lead the nation of 43 million, most of whom are Moslem, to civilian rule, “when peace and order of the state are restored,” the balding general said. In an apparent move to ease fears among Turkey’s allies, Evren, a Korean War veteran, called the coup “an interim arrangement” and said Turkey “would hon or all its international obligations toward NATO and other existing agreements. ” In a 30-minute speech over the national radio, Evren related the litany of the na tion’s recent instability, its weak economy and the mounting terrorism by left-and rightwing extremists. He disclosed that terrorist attacks had killed 5,241 people in 1980 alone, well over the official death toll of 1,700 released by the Demirel government. In contrast, Evren said, the Turkish war of independ ence in 1919-23 cost 5,713 lives. He also noted that during 14,740 people have been arrested this year alone for right- or left-wing terrorism. Besides Demirel and Ecevit, Evren said Necmettin Erbakan, leader of the Moslem fundamentalist National Salvation Party, and Alparslan Turkes, leader of the ex treme rightwing National Movement Par ty, were all taken into custudy “to protect their lives.” Evren said many other deputies had been taken into custody, but added that none would be held responsible for his poli tical activism. But he said the deputies may face trial for what he termed activities “against the law and constitution.” The takeover came after two warnings this year by Evren and the commanders in chief of the army, navy, air force and police in which they charged that “anarchists and separatists” were “rehearsing for a general uprising. ” They called for a combined effort by De- mirel’s rightist Justice Party and Ecevit’s socialist Republican People’s Party to con trol the internal security. One Wet Walker Photo by Dave Einsel Junior yell leader Chris Walker leads a few yells at the Fish Pond after being taken there by Corps freshmen Thursday night. Tradition dictates the yell leaders re ceive a dip in the pond after Thursday night yell prac tices following a football victory. Walker and the other yell leaders leave today for the Texas A&M-Georgia football game.