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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1980)
ck (KILL) -Allen-Bron; nd (] <1 & 1 OAI k K a (KNALi, hita Falls (I IN SWC- The Battalion Baylor besi : Arkansas, as Tech 3k' Serving the Texas A&M University community Vol. 74 No. 64 ’ Monday, December 1, 1980 DSPS 045 360 10 Pages College Station, Texas Phone 845-2611 * The Weather Yesterday Today High 73 High 78 Low 55 Low 55 Rain . 0.00 inches Chance of rain. . . ...none \eagan silent on cabinet United Press International LOS ANGELES — With his Cabinet selections well Eder way, Ronald Reagan says his first order of business ■president will be to tackle the nation’s economic prob- Ks. jConfirming top aide Edwin Meese’s statement that he chosen some Cabinet members, Reagan is continuing guessing game by refusing to disclose their names. J’T’m not ready to say that we’re ready to announce lames,” he told reporters on his return Sunday from Palm iirings, where he spent Saturday night with old friends Ifrom political and Hollywood circles. ■When asked if he anticipated an early summit meeting pith Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev, Regan re lied, "Well, I think for the first few months, anyone in position ought to concentrate on our economic prob- jns and getting started on that. ” IBrezhnev met last week with Sen. Charles Percy, R- , the incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee [airman. Percy said he recommended in a weekend telephone call to Reagan that new strategic arms limita tion talks begin as soon as possible. Asked when he thought he could turn the economy around, Reagan said, “I don’t know how soon. It took a long time to get into this mess, but we’re going to start; we re going to start soon.” Continuing his talent search, Reagan said he planned to begin telephoning prospective Cabinet members today. There were indications that those under consideration already are undergoing FBI and financial checks. Outgoing press secretary Lynn Nofziger told reporters Reagan hopes to send the names of his Cabinet members to the new Congress in January, even before he is inaugu rated, so that members of his team will be confirmed quickly, and he can hit the ground running. Nofziger also said he expects the White House to be run by a “triumvirate” of three top advisers. They are Edwin Meese, who will counsel Reagan on policy and the issues; long-time trusted aide Mike Deaver, who will function as an appointments secretary; and newcomer James Baker, who as chief of staff will handle the day-to-day operations. “I visualize it will be pretty much of a triumvirate, ” said Nofziger. Reagan has yet to name Nofziger s replacement, who will become White House press secretary. At the Los Angeles airport Sunday, Reagan and wife Nancy bid a fond farewell to Nofziger, who is returning to private life as a political consultant in California. In a final interview, Nofziger drew a picture of Reagan’s presidential style. He said tbe president-elect is very self assured, has his priorities straight, knows how to sort out the important from the unimportant, and does not feel compelled to spend loftg hours in the office. He also said he does not expect Reagan to make many trips abroad. But he said that Reagan will be returning to his California, especially his ranch near Santa Barbara. “He’s in love with that place in the mountains, ” Nofziger said. No holiday today for win over Texas Classes were scheduled as usual to day, despite Texas A&M University’s 24-14 football win over the University of Texas. Aggies received a day off from classes after last year’s victory, and many be lieve the unscheduled holiday is a tradi tion. Dr. Charles Samson, acting presi dent, said classes were to be held today. “We simply cannot make a habit of missing a full day of classes every time we beat UT,” Samson said, “and I’m enough of an optimist to think that we will have many more such victories in the future. “I’m not necessarily saying we ll make a habit of whipping the Longhorns, but I will point out this is the second win in a row, the fourth in the last six games in our series. I’m pleased to say it’s no longer such a rarity that we feel compel led to take an extra day off to celebrate. ” Samson concluded, “We savored last year’s win all year, so let’s do the same this time.” The extra-day-off tradition was fol lowed during times when the Universi ty’s class schedule called for the fall semester to end in mkbjanuary. University officials said the current schedule, which calls for final exams in two weeks, leaves no room for any extra time out from class. our years on gridiron leaves some degree-less By JENNIFER AFFLERBACH Battalion Staff ler spending four years becoming inti- Jately acquainted with a pigskin, some col lege football players never even see a sheepskin. ■Football players often spend four years of Bgibility at a college, concentrating on lotball, and then leave without receiving a ■gree. ■Ofthe 68 Texas A&M University football Evers who lettered at least two years from 1974 to 1977, 26 are registered with the ■sociation of Former Students as gradu- [ates. ■What happened to the other 41? Some pent on to the pros, some went into the Pork force and some went back to school. Idenn Bujnoch chose the pros. After Eying four years on scholarship for Texas greM, he was drafted by the Cincinnati ttngals, where he is in bis fifth season. ■Bujnoch, who “came pretty close to gra- |uating,” said of Texas A&M: “The school good, but it was hard. I was there for one Bason, to play football. Let’s face it. Foot- players are not known for their bdying. mnon causes fight at game By MARCY BOYCE I Battalion Staff ■ Two freshmen in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets managed to escape serious injury in a fight that took place during the football feme Saturday when they tried to fire a ■nnon guarded by several University of lexas students. I Traditionally the cannon guards, the UT Silver Spurs, discharge the cannon at the ginning and end of each game, and each be the Longhorns score. I An attempt by about 20 cadets to fire the arded cannon near the end of the game turday resulted in a fight involving sever- UT Silver Spurs and two Texas A&M Budents, University of Texas Police Lt. IF. Rush said. I Students began running down from the Bands when the fight began, but were liirned back by UT police, Austin City bice and officers from the Department of ublic Safety. No one involved in the incident suffered 5rious injury. Rush said UT Police apprehended the TO freshmen cadets, but later released ftem without pressing charges. UT Police id not detain anyone else involved in the icident, he said. The names of the two Texas A&M stu- lents have been released to Dr. John Kol- jbs, vice president for student services, bo will decide whether or not disciplinary ction will be taken, Texas A&M Universi- s Acting President Dr. Charles Samson aid. A similar attempt by freshmen in the brps to fire the cannon at the Aggie- -onghom football game last year was suc- tessftil. However, Deputy Corps Com- nander Dave Rencurell said it is not a tra- lition within the Corps. “Degrees aren't meant for everyone, ” Bujnoch said. “You find the best way to make money, whether through a college degree or a job or whatever.” Bujnoch works for himself during the off-season selling beer in the Conroe and Huntsville area. Another Aggie in the pros, Cody Risien, has a different attitude toward the degree he hasn’t completed. “Now that I Took back on it, I wish I had devoted more time to academics,” said Ri sien, who is playing his second year with the Cleveland Browns. Risien said football interfered with his studying, but added, “That was my fault. It shouldn’t have. Maybe if I had made some sacrifices ...” He plans to return to Texas A&M in the spring to work on the 24 hours he needs to graduate. He said he definitely wants his degree in building construction to come from Texas A&M. Like Risien, Charles Marshall said he wishes he had taken better advantage of his education at Texas A&M. Marshall played one and a half years with the New York Jets after completing his four years of eligibility at Texas A&M in 1977. After he was cut from the Jets, Marshall played for a year with a team in Canada. Now he is working in a warehouse in Dallas and hoping to play with the Houston Oilers next season, he said. However, “football is not a guaranteed thing, ” he said, and not as important to him as completing his education and getting a job. Marshall is 40 hours short of finishing his degree. He said he plans to go to school in Houston first to bring up his grade point average, but would prefer to receive his degree from Texas A&M. Bucky Sams never made it to the pros although he said he had planned to play more football after college. He went on to complete his degree and is a district super visor for an oil and gas firm in Spring. “I will always miss (football),” he said. “The highlight of my life was playing foot ball for A&M.” Sams said he would have gone on to get his degree even if he had been drafted by the pros. “That degree’s probably one of the most important things in my life,” he said. “If you’ve got that sheepskin, it means a lot. Too many athletes rely on the draft and don’t get drafted. They don’t have the grades to stay in school and end up being bums.” Sams said football often conflicted with his classes. “Five or six hours a day was football,” he said. “We’re out on the field learning plays while others are studying.” But, Sams said, there is a definite need to “mend the old dumb jock syndrome. ” David Brothers agreed. “It wasn’t just football on my mind all the time,” he said. Brothers, who completed his football eli gibility in 1979, is still attending Texas A&M and plans to graduate in December or May. Jimmy Hamilton said football was his main concern at first. “That’s why I didn’t graduate on time,” he said. “I realized football is just not ev erything. I learned that my junior year, too late almost.” Hamilton, who needs nine hours to gra duate, sat out this semester to raise money to pay for school. He is working as an atten dant for a skin diving division in Louisiana. He said he handles the diving equipment and “keeps them alive under water.” “I’m going to try to get my degree first, then try out again (for football),” he said. Dale Meggas, a research assistant for NCAA, is critical of the practice of analyz ing college football players who don’t gra duate. “Just because someone plays football he’s supposed to graduate,” Meggas said. Football players are put under a micro scope, he said, and “scrutinized when they fail.” “Other people don’t graduate either, but we don’t study them. Tom Snyder never graduated, but he’s making lots of bucks. “If (football players) get a chance to go pro, they go. They don’t turn it down just because they haven’t finished their de gree.” And just because someone graduates does not mean he will be successful, Meg gas said. “A player may not want to go to college, but he’s given a free ride with a scholarship, so he goes,” he said. “Then if he decides it’s not for him after all after a year or two and quits, he’s criticized.” Neither the Texas A&M University Athletic Department nor the Southwest Conference keeps statistics on the gradua tion rate of football players, because the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits release of information on whether a student graduates unless written permission is given by the student. It is also difficult to keep track of those who come back later to complete their degrees, a spokesman for the Texas A&M Athletic De partment said. NCAA also has no records of the number of football players who graduate. However, Dr. James Maxey of American College Testing has just completed a survey for NCAA to determine the graduation rate over a five-year period of time of males who entered college in the fall of 1975. Maxey said he has not analyzed the data yet, but hopes to have some results by Christmas. Maxey said he previously conducted a similar survey just on athletes who won varsity letters. That survey showed that athletes graduate at a higher rate than the average males of the class, he said. Retail-store Santas may become scarcity Turkey trot Staff photo by Greg Gammon Freezing temperatures Thanksgiving morning didn’t dampen the spirits of these runners as they set out for a three-mile run in the annual “Turkey Trot.” More than 150 persons showed up for the 8 a.m. event, which began at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The runners followed a route down Jersey Drive, around the the Texas A&M golf course and finished back at G. Rollie White. Certifi cates were presented to the finishers at the end of the race. For more pictures on activities over the Thanksgiv ing weekend, including the Texas game, see page 5. United Press International DALLAS — The desperate state of the economy will be felt in many areas this Christmas, including one that many may feel should be exempt from the fickled curve of the corporate profit chart — Santa Claus. Western Temporary Services, which in the peak years of 1975 and 1976 placed 180 Santas in some of Dallas’ leading retail out lets, this year reports just 30 of their over weight men in red and white suits are lis tening to the pleas of children. “Some guy sitting at the top with a pencil and paper is thinking, ‘Where can I cut expenses?”’ said Dean Reynolds, a Santa for the last eight years who this year is teaching others the tricks of the trade. “(Some stores) see Santa as a liability instead of an asset. ” Some of the top stores in the area, such as Sears, Joske’s and Dillards, have indicated they will either just have Santas on weekends this year or will bypass the tradi tion altogether. “Many stores are letting the malls they are in take the responsibility of getting a Santa,” Reynolds said. “But I can remem ber when the mall and all the large stores in it would have Santas, and the lines of chil dren waiting to see them still were long. ” At $10 per hour, the going rate for a rent-a-Santa, Reynolds can understand why some businesses might find St. Nick a luxury item they can do without, but he quickly protests that the profit column might be helped at the expense of the holiday. “Without Santa Claus, Christmas is no thing but crass commercialism,” the full time insurance man said. “Santa is a catalyst to the Christmas spirit. When you’ve got someone in your store like him spreading good cheer, and everyone’s laughing and smiling, then it adds to the spirit of the season. ” Reynold said he got into the Santa busi ness when he was out of work and his for mer mother-in-law was combing the want ads for a job “even you could do. ” “I wasn’t too crazy about kids to begin with,” he said. “And the suit was hot and uncomfortable. You couldn’t see because of the wig and beard. The chair was some thing out of a torture chamber, and you’ve got kids crawling all over you. They kick you in the stomach and step on you in other not-so-friendly spots.” In time, however, he said he got the hang of being a topnotch Santa and de veloped several rules for himself and other Santas going out to the stores. The first rule is to make no promises. “Our job, basically,” he said, “is to pass the buck onto the parents.”