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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1980)
Battalion Lubbock Esin Serving the Texas A&M University community n. tonight in 1ft: :30 p.ra. tonijl, ated Pittsbu^ , m nobstm lege Station. : meets Moodt le plays No.9i ■d Tidehaven plays Garrisnnj Vol. 74 No. 69 Monday, December 8, 1980 College Station, Texas USPS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 The Weather Yesterday Today High 65 High 75 Low 53 Low 40 Rain .. 0.00 inches Chance of rain. . . .. 80% inority policy adopted ill By LIZ NEWLIN Battalion Staff policy to promote minority enrollment at Texas A&M £rsity was adopted Friday by regents for the Texas University System. l Department of Health, Education and Welfare — ie Department of Education — has long been re- ig desegregation in public universities in Texas and er Southern states. No report has been issued for but state officials have said in the past they do not [t the report to be favorable. Frank W.R. Hubert, chancellor of the System, |Stmday evening the policy was adopted to manage |on the minority recruiting program, e re aware of the national scene and that HEW or iepartment of Education is looking at a number of lern states,” he said. “But we took this action volun- ji to implement a plan to manage our own minority ^M$MjM^cnjjiting program.” —-“is that mean that if the System doesn’t move to ise minority enrollment, then the federal govern- might? lafs quite true, ” the chancellor said. He was enter taining guests of the System and could not talk further. Sources in Washington have gone so far as to say the department is drafting a report that will order Gov. Bill Clements to “desegregate” the state’s public colleges and universities, under threat of losing all federal aid. One goal of the System-wide policy is to cut by 50 percent the difference between the proportions of white and minority (black and Hispanic) students who enter Texas A&M, Tarleton State and Texas A&M at Galveston. The policy aims to reach that goal within five years. Under another objective, Prairie View A&M would attract more white students. Regents charged Hubert with preparing a detailed plan to implement the policy. In a prepared press release, Board Chairman Clyde H. Wells said the plan does not lower or change the academic standards of the System. “All students of the Texas A&M University System must be able to meet the existing standards for admission to, retention in, and graduation from the academic prog rams offered,” he said at the meeting, which was held at the ranch he manages near Granbury. “This policy does not establish quotas. It calls for a good faith effort to expand equal educational opportunities.” Wells said the effort at Prairie View would be a general improvement, including the physical plant, the quality and range of programs offered, the qualifications of the faculty, student services and financial assistance. Now Prairie View is in a major building program, total ing more than $50 million for projects in progress or completed within the past 10 years. Texas A&M, for its part, began a minority recruiting program last year. A preliminary plan also presented to the regents includes stepped-up minority recuitment and leasing WATS lines for no-cost calls to answer questions about admissions and related topics. Regents also authorized the establishment of an energy affairs center at Prairie View and dicussed long-range plans for the System’s academic institutions, including a detailed review of the five-year master plan for Tarleton State. The Prairie View energy center is planned as a regional facility for teaching, research and public service with emphasis on the impact of energy on minorities. ^1 % V "" m , IBi L if : list Congress readies for bloody fight 4. United Press International ISHINCTON — The lame duck 96th |ess is still fighting over civil rights but eager House members of the [7th Congress already gathered today fy caucuses. I run for House Republican leader typically bloody fight. The Demo- jffered less glamorous contests. [Tuesday the Democrats will snag the Reg. ! 9, 1 Reg. V Reg. ! Reg. : Reg. 1 Reg. ! 32, ! h Esther, ill Dec. 23, as! limelight with a fight over proposed new House rules that would make it more diffi cult — if not impossible — for conservative Republicans to ram their ideas through Congress on such issues as busing and abor tion. House Republicans, who will be stron ger in numbers but still a 243-192 minority in the new Congress, were to chose be tween Reps. Bob Michel oflllinois and Guy Van Jagt of Michigan to replace the retiring ish Camp chairman pplications open John Rhodes of Arizona as House minority leader. In the Democratic caucus Speaker Tho mas “Tip” O’Neill of Massachusetts and Majority Leader Jim Wright of Texas are certain to retain their posts. Leading candi date for the No. 3 leadership position — majority whip, which is the same as assis tant majority leader — is Rep. Tom Foley of Washington. The Democrats will save their fighting for Tuesday when they consider several housekeeping rules that would make it more difficult to force issues out of commit tee and onto the floor, and to pass riders that are attached to House-passed bills by the Senate. The Senate will be controlled by Republicans 53-47 next year. One of the proposed rule changes would require a two-thirds majority to force a bill out of committee and onto the floor by means of a discharge petition. Republicans already are assuming they will use such a petition to force action on constitutional amendments to ban abor tions and school busing for racial integra tion purposes because the Judiciary Com mittee, which handles all constitutional amendments, is headed by Rep. Peter Rodino, Dem.-N.J., a foe of such amend ments. ■ Cowboys and clowns Staff photo by Becky Swanson “Cowboy the Clown” knew he was in Aggieland Saturday when he and others from Shriner’s “Clown Jewels” group of Houston entertained the crowd at the Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade. His large yellow-red hat was decorated with a sign: “This hat only looks orange.” By BARBARA LYNCH Battalion Reporter Student Y Fish Camp is set to ex- I again for the Class of ’85, says Fish Ip coordinator Venita McCellon. lie camp, consisting of four sessions ingfour days each, is held every August e Lakeview Methodist Assembly in jstine. It provides freshmen entering i A&M University a chance to get ac ted with Aggie traditions and with other before fall classes begin, lecamp features presentations on such is as setting personal goals and de- inggood study habits. It’s a combined between students, faculty and admi- itors to get the freshmen initiated into ge life, McCellon said. Cellon, a junior from Diana, said the ier of freshmen who want to partici- lin the fish camp is growing. Last fall groups of freshmen traveled to the P; this year the camp’s coordinators and jtors are expecting to take four groups, fe just hate to turn people away,” ellon said. “But there are always more |le who want to go than we can accom- te.” Even with the addition of a fourth >pen inly, from ier rour and >eal I group, McCellon says there will still be some freshmen who won’t get to go. About 2,240 freshmen, 560 more than last year, are expected to attend the 1981 camp, and additional counselors will be needed. There will be 560 counselors next year, picked from among upperclassmen who apply for the positions. The counselors work one-on-one with the freshmen, and McCellon said there will be about four freshmen to every upperclassman. Coun selor applications open Jan. 25. The 1977 Fish Camp was the first to expand to two camp groups, and last year’s camp pioneered the three-group trip. There will be four individual camps with in each camp group; each camp is headed by a chairman and subchairman, and it con tains about 150 freshmen and 35 counse lors. Applications for the 32 chairman- and subchairmanships opened Dec. 1, and will close Friday at noon. A list of those to be interviewed for chairmen and subchairmen will be posted on Tuesday, Dec. 16. McCellon said anyone who has been to Fish Camp as a counselor at least one year is eligible. Report could have additional benefits Re-accreditation includes self-study By ROBERT R. GREEN Battalion Reporter Texas A&M University is about to take a long, hard look at itself as it prepares to face re-accreditation. Although Texas A&M expects to be re accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1983, the required self-study before the accreditation team’s visit is “a trmendous opportunity for us to have an in-depth look at ourselves,” said Dr. Charles McCandless, associate vice president for academic affairs. Accreditation means that “other institu tions view your institution as one worthy of membership” in their ranks, McCandless said. For the student, he said, attending an accredited university like Texas A&M means that “you don’t have to validate your course work if you tansfer to another school.” Re-accreditation takes place every ten years, with an SACS team visiting the cam pus and investigating the programs, courses and services it provides, as well as other aspects like organization and re search. Texas A&M is required to perform a self- study before the accreditation team’s visit, McCandless said. The self-study commit tee, which will be made up mostly of faculty and staff members, will look at the same areas as the accreditation team, he said. McCandless said that while A&M is ex pected to be re-accredited, the self-study is still important as a way of examining the University’s priorities and needs. “If we’re going to go to the time and effort and expense, then we really ought to get as much out of it as we can,” he said. The committee will give its report to the re-accreditation team when it comes to the campus, McCandless said. The SACS team makes an evaluation of its own, and Texas A&M responds to the evaluation, he said. “We’re not obligated to make changes that they recommend,” McCandless said, but “we are obligated to respond why we are not going to” if Texas A&M should de cide not to follow SACS suggestions. Several important changes followed the last self-study and re-accreditation, McCandless said. “Our new library came about much more rapidly” because of the process, he said. The self-study helped show “how pressing the need was,” he added. The post of vice president for student services was also created as a result of sug gestions in the last self-study, McCandless said. The self-study committee is expected to be named during the spring semester, McCandless said. The study itself will be gin in Fall 1981 and is to be completed by the end of Spring 1982. The re accreditation team is expected to make its visit during 1983. “We should really be ready to go in pret ty high gear by the beginning of the fall semester,” he said. The self-study will probably follow “a very similar format” to the one, with each college evaluating itself and an overview of the entire University being prepared as well, he said. Quiz files offer glimpse of what future might hold Corps, library are just two places where old exams are kept on file for reference By SHERRY A. EVANS Battalion Reporter hen that next all-important test comes up, instead of depend- olely on notetaking, textbooks and tutors, quiz files just might he answer. )uiz files are located in Dorm 2, the reserve section of the ling C. Evans Library, the basement of Heldenfels, A-l :ge and the Commons area. he Texas A&M University’s Corps of Cadets has a quiz file ted in the guardroom in Dorm 2 which is open 24 hours a day, :n days a week. om Langford,, Corps scholastic officer, said each outfit in the ps works 72 hours a semester at the quiz file. A senior, junior, wmore and freshman are on duty at all times, he said, his quiz file contains tests primarily for courses below the 300 and are donated by students, ach outfit is specialized, Langford said, and has its own quiz However, Langford said, someone looking for a particular could hopefully find what he wants in the main quiz file in m 2. angford said the Corps quiz file is available to any student, lents must leave their I. D. cards when they take a test out and keep the test as long as they like. Not any quiz file is totally complete,” Langford said, but “we to maintain a constant flow of tests into the file.” nlike the Corps quiz file, which contains tests turned in by ients, the quiz file in the reserve section of the Sterling C. ins Library accepts only texts that are turned in by Texas A&M hers and professors. If (professors) want to have their quizzes available, we’ll put n on file for whatever sections they want,” said Paul White, H supervisor. “We don’t decide what goes on file.” he file contains quizzes for about 50 courses with about 30 hers contributing. Some, but not all, of the quizzes have the ^ers and there are several solutions for regular class home- k, Some teachers have made their class notes available augh the quiz file. )r. David H. Stewart, head of the English department, said he s not feel students receive any kind of special advantage in ag the quiz file tests to determine how a teacher will test, wart said he feels it is a teacher’s responsibility to let a student w what he will be tested on. )r. Huey L. Perry, assistant professor in the political science aartment, said he feels quiz files are “quite useful.” Perry said ■■I ^ illlSX ,,, mmmmrn Roger Drew, a freshman aerospace engineering ma jor, checks through the Corps quiz file in Dorm 2 for an there are often sections of the course material that a teacher does not lecture over, so students should be able to get “some idea as to what aspect (of the material) the professor is likely to emphasize. ” The library reserve file is operated by student employees as well as full-time library personnel and the file is open during the library’s regular hours. Staff photo by Greg Gammon old chemistry test. The Corps maintains an active file of old tests for many classes offered on campus. A student must turn in his I. D. card when taking out a quiz. The time limit is two hours and the quizzes may be taken anywhere in the library. The Learning Resource Center (LRC), located in the basement of Heldenfels, operates much like the library reserve quiz file in that it does not keep on file quizzes turned in by students. “All the material we have is given to us through the depart ments and supplied by the professors,” said Ginny Moreno, an T RC emnlovee. The LRC contains old exams, quiz answers, selt-paeed prog rams, tutorial material, 8-mm films, reference textbooks and lec ture notes, Moreno said. The LRC also has some items for sale, such as staff reviews, problem solutions and professors’ notes. Dr. Rod O’Connor, head of Texas A&M ’s first-year chemistry program, said he is in favor of students using the quiz files, although that depends on how similar the old tests are to the ones the students are taking currently. About 2,500 students use the LRC’s facilities during a week and Moreno said anyone is invited to come in just to study. The LRC is open from 7:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday and 3:30-6:30 p.m. on Sunday. Material can be checked out for two hours with an I.D. card or driver’s license. The A-l lounge quiz file on the north side of the Texas A&M campus is presently being operated by five women’s dormitories: Hobby Hall, McFadden Hall, Fowler Hall, Keathley Hall and Hughes Hall. On a rotation basis, the halls keep the quiz file open from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, with each hall taking a different night. Debbie Trumble, Fowler scholastic chairman, said anyone is invited to use the file, but it is mainly for north area students who make use of the quiz file. Usually only students contribute old tests to this quiz file, but Trumble said, “I haven’t had anybody turn (tests) in at all this semester.” Peggy Yamasaki, another A-l lounge quiz file worker, said the file is “time-consuming to organize, but I feel it should be up dated. Yamasaki has found tests in the file dated back to 1969. Trumble said the file contains the most material in the science area, but that there’s “usually something for everybody.” Students may check out material with an I.D. card and must bring the material back before the quiz file closes at 10 p.m. The Commons area also has a quiz file that is operated in cooperation between Krueger, Mosher, Dunn and Aston halls. Although “not very complete, John Klepper, Dunn scholastic chairman, said this quiz file gets “plenty of use. ” The file contains mostly lower level courses, Klepper said, and especially those in the areas of physics, math, chemistry, biology and history.