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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1980)
BaTTAIION ^ a&M University community Serving the Texas Wednesday, December 10, 1980 College Station, Texas USPS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 The Weather Yesterday Today High 58 High 58 Low 39 Low 38 Rain , 0.10 inches Chance of rain... ... none ^ ***' C ttc’* V v tVv ^v- £*£V* \Vs« ?ir' "‘A* '• w l SsO ■ \a - ‘rtft-ssSasss .eX/tfa .~eSS*&' ' 'A ,\f^ V0" t'lfoo tw^ V" .. ot^Tl^W v ' 4 \0^ »' , <a<® "■^ ■ K misprint in the 1980-81 Undergraduate catal„ E l ists F being worth five grade points. Thirty tho,,s!„j f'o\«* , 'jS<i>- . J>S^- V v ld - Tl 'i"> thousand of ^ave been .#» Staff phpto by Greg Gammon them. The error was nnT!?^ ^ to P co P* e requesting was not noticed before it was nrinted Tj "W n ° n °ticed before it was printed. ndergraduate catalog mistake akes an F worth aiming for BY KATHY O’CONNELL Battalion Reporter With finals just around the comer, ere’s always a last minute panic by [Students to figure out their GPRs. What san they do when that dreaded “F” fi res in the average? But this semester, a misprint in the 80-81 undergraduate catalog makes it look like getting an F could be a lucky thing. On page 22 of the catalog an F is fsted as receiving five grade points per emester hour. If this were true, stu- lents could take 15 hours, flunk every course and still come out with over a |0. Sue Matula, director of catalog publi- ation, said she doesn’t know how the isprint occurred. J Its just one of those things that happens when the pages are printed.” Matula said she received about 20 calls asking if she was aware of the mis take. Most of the calls were from profes sors at the University. Matula and her co-worker Linda Bus by said they took a personal tally on the number of calls that came in. “We got a kick out of the people who called,” Matula said. Busby said she was sure some stu dents looked at the misprint with wish ful thinking, but knew it wasn’t true. Matula said a few people xeroxed copies and sent them to her office. She said she even got a letter from Dr. J. M. Prescott, vice president for academic affairs, who asked if they were aware of the mistake. Probably the most humorous re sponse they got was from a professor who said he heard “people talking about grade inflation, but this is ridiculous.” Busby said 70,000 copies of the cata log were printed and approximately 30,000 were mailed to people who re quested them, “so somewhere out there 30,000 people are noticing the mis take.” Matula said she noticed the mistake’a week after the catalog was published, but there was nothing she could do ab out it, except make sure it doesn’t hap pen again. She said it would have been a more believable mistake if the zero was changed to a nine but she has no idea how a five got there. Matula added, “Just say we do it like they do in a golf game: the lower the score the better.” Soviets to remain in Afghanistan United Press International NEW DELHI, India—Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev was to meet today with Prime Minister Indira Ghandi amid Soviet assertions that its troops would remain in Afghanistan and calls by India for an early “political solution” to the year-long crisis. The talks were the second held by the two leaders since Brezhnev’s arrival Monday on a four-day state visit, and came at a time of heightened international tension over Soviet troop move ments on the Polish border. Poland was not discussed by the two leaders, but Soviet information chief Leonid Zamiatin, responding to questions by reporters, dismissed fears of a possible Soviet invasion of Poland as American hysteria. “This is more White House hysteria which it has encouraged in almost every month for three years on one subject or another. It’s time it came to a stop,” Zamiatin said. Turning to issues raised in talks between Brezhnev and Gandhi Tuesday, Zamiatin said Moscow had no intention of withdrawing any of its 85,000 troops from Afghanistan — but neither would it send more troops to the embattled central Asian nation. “The reasons for our coming to Afghanistan are not vanishing, but on the contrary are intensifying,” Zamiatin said. He singled out outside interference in Afghan affairs by the United States, Pakistan and China as the chief reason for the Soviet military presence in Kabul. But later, in a rare briefing with a group of Western reporters, Zamiatin acknowledged that Afghanistan was “a difficult matter for us.” “The appearance on our southern border of a state that would be hostile to us and endanger our security — not thousands of miles away but right on our doorstep — herein lies the crux of the matter,” he said. In her talks with Brezhnev, Gandhi insisted on an “early, peaceful political solution to the Afghanistan situation which will ensure the sovereignty, independence and nonalignment of Afghanistan,” an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said. Carter s campaign chairman honored at the White House United Press International WASHINGTON — President Carter and Vice President-elect George Bush led members of both parties Tuesday in needl ing Robert Strauss for his part in the 1980 election — but praising him as “a builder of America. ” More than 1,000 persons paid $1,000 each to attend a tribute to Strauss, Carter’s campaign chairman who served the presi dent during the past four years as inflation adviser, trade negotiator and Mideast negotiator. The proceeds -— $1.2 million in all — went to the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in Strauss’ native Texas. Carter said he wanted early in 1980 to win re-election and then go home to Plains, Ga., “Bob has helped me achieve half that goal,” Carter said to laughter. Carter quoted Johnson in praising Strauss: “The American people are tired of wrecking crews, they want builders. ” Then Carter added: “Tonight we honor a builder, a man who knows how to bring people together, to see what united people.” Also present were Texans Bush and for mer first Lady Bird Johnson, along with California Gov. Edmund Brown Jr. As the audience laughed and applauded, Carter kept up his string of one-liners. “As you may know, Bob Strauss was in volved in the presidential campaign this year,” Carter said, while the audience laughed again, “despite what he would tell you now.” “He’s done a lot of memorable things to me — I mean for me,” Carter said. Carter recalled President John F. Ken nedy’s statement after the Bay of Pigs, “Victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan.” Carter recalled what Strauss told a reporter recently. “I understand he did a fair job as presi dent, but of course, I never knew the man personally,” Carter quoted Strauss as saying. The audience laughed again. Strauss, who was Democratic national chairman during Carter’s 1976 campaign, later served the president as inflation advis er, Middle East negotiator and internation al trade envoy. Strauss, for once, was mellow. “For the first time in my life, I have nothing to say,” he said. “I know of nothing that could give any body more pride than to be in the White House surrounded by family and good friends and to let the whole world see the warmth and friendship that exists between Helen (his wife) and myself and a splendid president and a gracious and lovely first lady,” Strauss said. duncil OK’s final quizzes for seniors By DEBBIE NELSON Battalion Staff tarting in Fall 1981, Texas A&M Uni- sity instructors will have the option of 'ing final quizzes to graduating seniors, Academic Council decided Tuesday. [The present policy of exempting gra ting seniors from regularly scheduled I examinations will still he followed, iwever, if an instructor wishes to give gree candidates a final look-over, he can Jedule an exam for graduating seniors |y, as long as their grades are turned in the Registrar’s office deadline. (Much discussion on the issue still re ted in the acceptance of the Academic grams Committee-recommended alter- jtive. Dr. J. M. Prescott, vice president for demic affairs, said exemption from finals not a gracious parting gift, it’s adminis trative convenience. The registrar needs a little time to fill out the diploma to hand it to the student when he walks across the stage.” Brad Smith, student body president, said, the student senate last week voted against the proposal, because it would give seniors one additional test before dead week. “It’s not so much that the policy is bad, ” Smith said, “but it does open up doors for abuse.” Smith said if instructors schedule their last major exam two or three weeks before the final, seniors to be given another test, (possibly equivalent to a comprehensive final), would have little time to study for it. Other council members said that many seniors skip the last week or two of class because they will not be tested on that material. In other action, the council formally approved a list of degree candidates ex pected to graduate December 12 and 13. The council also awarded posthumous degrees to Robert W. Ellison and Gehrig D. Feuge, who would have received de grees at this semester’s ceremonies. Approval of an academic honors designa tion for College of Medicine Graduates with a 3.5 grade point average was also approved. A new curriculum in marine fisheries was approved for Texas A&M University at Galveston. Before implementation, the proposal will be submitted to the Coordi nating Board for approval. After the meeting, council members heard a report from an Ad Hoc Computer Steering Committee on the progress of computing at Texas A&M. The committee, set up last November, has examined Texas A&M and other Uni versities to determine this University’s needs and deficiencies in computing. The report recommends other commit tees of administrators and faculty be formed to set up a campus-level organiza tional structure. Committees will then decide needs for computers, such as when and where com puters will be placed. Eventually, the committee hopes to have a networking project that could tie together computers all over the campus for better utilization. Significant graphics, word-processing and type-setting and com puterized instruction would also be possi ble once a computer system is set up at Texas A&M. Graduate list posted in Heaton Thursday The only thing left standing between seniors hoping to graduate this Friday and Saturday and that long-awaited di ploma is a little black dot. A list of all seniors who have applied to the registrar’s office for a degree this semester will be posted outside of Heaton Hall Thursday at 8 a.m. If the student has been cleared to graduate, a black dot will appear by his name. If the student has not been cleared, there will be a notation next to his name saying where to go to clear up his obligation. Students have until 5 p.m. Thursday to clear up all academic and financial obligations. If a student misses the deadline, he will not graduate and must reapply next semester to receive a de gree in May, said Donald Carter, associ ate registrar. n n nn 1 *11 ^ man obsessed with John, who stalked the Beatle idlllUil j dCCUSCCI Killer: and even got his autograph just hours earlier United Press International pW YORK—John Lennon’s accused killer, held today under 4-hour suicide watch in a hospital psychiatric ward, was a pudgy security guard so obsessed with the former Beatle that he led out from his last job as “John Lennon.” Mark David Chapman, 25, of Honolulu, stalked his idol for ee days and got Lennon’s autograph only hours before gunning h down Monday night “in a cool, calm, rational and intelligent nner,” prosecutors charged at Tuesday’s arraignment. Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, mother of their 5-year-old son, in, said there would be no funeral service, but a “silent vigil” [uld be held later this week for friends and fans who wished to Iray for his soul.” JHundreds of stunned rock fans, many crying, held a vigil in the p outside the Dakota apartment building where Lennon lived, atle drummer Ringo Starr was mobbed, with fans frantically |iching his hair, as he slipped through the crowds after visiting 10. Lennon’s look-alike 17-year-old son by a previous marriage, [lian, arrived from London Tuesday night, but it was not known jeither ex-Beatles Paul McCartney or George Harrison planned jeome to New York. In Manhattan Criminal Court Tuesday, Lennon’s accused killer od mute as he was charged with second-degree murder and lered sent to Bellevue Hospital for 30 days’ observation be- ise of his history of mental problems and suicide attempts. 4 former hospital print shop worker and security guard in waii, he had no police record. His attorney Herbert Adlerberg described his client as a very ifused individual,” who was hospitalized for mental problems Honolulu in 1977 after he rigged a rubber tube to the tailpipe of f s car, ran it inside the car and rolled up the windows in an tempted suicide. This defendant is not fully cognizant of what is happening to lib at this time,” Alderberg said. Assistant District Attorney Kim Hogrefe said authorities had “a very strong case” against Chapman for the “premeditated execu tion of John Lennon. ” Witnesses told police that Chapman dropped a .38-caliber gun after shooting Lennon and stood quietly by, reading a copy of “Catcher in the Rye” until police arrived to arrest him. Asked if Chapman had committed the slaying, Adlerberg told reporters, “He did shoot him, yes.” Chapman’s motive, however, remained a mystery. The stocky, dark-haired young man had been ecstatic when he got Lennon’s autograph only hours before the shooting. Fans mourn ex-Beatle s death United Press International Hundreds of mourning fans lined sidewalks outside record stores Tuesday before the business day began to buy John Lennon’s "Double Fantasy” album. Candlelight vigils and memorial services paid tribute to the slain musi cian. Lennon’s last album, recently re leased, was to be pivotal in his re- emergence into public life. One cut appropriately was titled “Starting Over.” But the comeback ended quickly. Lennon was shot to death Monday- night in New York and a 25-year-old Beatles’ fan was charged with his slaying. Radio stations, deluged by phone calls, played Beatles music back-to- back. It was little solace for a sleepless night. In San Francisco, the mecca that attracted thousands of disillusioned young people in the 1960s, disc jockeys wept on the air. “The shock is unbelievable. It’s the first rock V roll assassination,” said Ruth Whitmore, director of advertising for station WRIF in Detroit. Lines formed even before some re cord stores opened Tuesday. Store man agers reported albums by both Lennon and the Beatles were sold out. A cold wind whipped at Howard Pau ly, 28, as he stood in a long line outside Tower Records in San Francisco to buy the “John Lennon-Plastic Ono Band” album. Pauly said he would “never be able to say ‘Thank you, John Lennon.’ It was like saying goodbye to an old friend.” In Chicago, downtown record stores reported the sale of Lennon and Beatles records made up 85 percent of their morning business. Record stores in Baltimore reported being sold out of “Double Fantasy” within three hours. Customers in search of Lennon re cords were knocking on the door at Eli’s records in Casper, Wvo., before the store opened. A customer at another Casper record store ordered a full Bea tles collection. But even those making the money weren’t happy. “It’s the wrong way to sell records,” said Bill Abbott, Chicago distribution manager for Capitol Re cords Inc. Barbara Gesshel-Green, who was waiting in a line of Philadelphians to buy Lennon’s album, said she and her family “sat in front of the TV last night and cried.” Baltimore station WIYY-FM pro vided a sympathy card for fans to sign, and later to be sent to Lennon’s wtfe, Yoko Ono. About a thousand people signed Tuesday alone. Candlelight vigils were held in Dal las, Fort Worth and San Antonio. One of the largest, in San Antonio, attracted 3,000 people dressed in everything from blue jeans to three-piece suits. They carried lighted candles as they Friends who grew up with him in Decatur, Ga., described him as an ardent Beatles’ fan who “played records all the time” and learned to play the guitar in high school. Like his idol, Lennon, he married a woman of Japanese descent and reportedly had Beatles’ music played at their wedding. At the time of his arrest, he was wearing wire-rimmed glasses similar to Lennon’s and was carrying dozens of Beatles’ tapes. When he left his last job as a security guard-maintenance man at a Waikiki vacation apartment Oct. 23, he signed out on the logbook as “John Lennon” and told fellow workers he was going to London, said Mike Bird, who replaced Chapman. Prosecutors claim Chapman borrowed a substantial sum of money—of which $2,000 was found on him — “for the purpose of coming to New York City to do what he has done.” He stalked Lennon for three days in New York before getting the musician to autograph a record album as he left the Dakota Monday night to go to a recording studio, where he was finishing work on a new album. Paul Goresh of North Arlington, N.J., who photographed the signing, said Chapman told him, “John Lennon signed my album. Nobody in Hawaii will believe me.” When Lennon left, however, Chapman urged him to stay and wait for the singer’s return, Goresh said in a copyrighted New York Daily News story. “He said: Td wait. You never know if you’ll see him again. It’s possible he could go to Spain or somewhere tonight and you’ll never get your album signed.” Hours later, police say, Chapman gunned down Lennon. The British rock star died in a police car before he reached the hos pital. The Chief Medical Examiner ruled Tuesday that Lennon was hit with four bullets, two of which entered the left back, passed through the left chest, striking the left lung and exited from the body.