Page 6 THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1981
Local / State
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Commandant’s receptionist is a 29-year veteran
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By CINDY GEE
Battalion Staff
“Commandant’s office. Butch
speaking, ” has been heard at 845-
2811 for nearly 30 years.
Juanita “Butch” Tewell prob
ably knows more about the Corps
of Cadets than anyone. For more
than 29 years she has been the
receptionist at the commandant’s
office, but she said she plans to
retire soon.
“She’s the old veteran,” said
Todd Hedgepeth, Corps public
relations sergeant. “She knows
how everything works. When I
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get letters from high school
seniors interested in the Corps, I
send them to her. She always
knows what to do.”
Tewell contends she is shy, yet
she meets and talks with many stu
dents and parents.
“When freshmen have to come
in, they’re scared,’’ she said.
“They’re afraid that their military
appearance might not be right, or
that they’ll forget to salute. We try
to put them at ease. Whatever it is
they need, we make an effort to
help them.”
Her help includes keeping files
on the cadets, making phone calls
for them, occasionally typing their
letters, keeping a scrapbook of all
Corps events and articles, and,
most of all, counselling.
“When they used to starch
their uniforms, they’d be so care
ful not to get any wrinkles in it that
they’d ask me to push the button
on the water fountain for them,”
she said.
The blue-eyed, gray-haired
woman said she loves working
with students.
“I’m associated with the cream
of the crop,” she said. “They’re a
bunch of sweethearts. I get notes
and letters from them a lot, and
some even bring their babies back
to see me.
“I’ll really miss that,” she said,
sighing, remembering that she
plans to retire in the near future.
The commandant’s office has
seen quite a few changes.
For the first 10 years Tewell
worked for civilian commandants.
She said that office has become
more regimented since changing
to military commandants.
“They brought in a sergeant
major who ran the office,” she
said. “He told the secretaries to sit
at their desks and not talk to each
other, so we just wrote notes and
passed them with the mail.”
Tewell, who has worked for five
commandants, said she thinks all
bosses should see the movie “9 to
5” — a movie about three secretar
ies who revolt against their tyran
nical boss.
She said she has had to stand up
for her rights as a woman at Texas
A&M from the time she was a part-
time student through her years as
a secretary-receptionist.
“I took some business law in
1962,” she said. “The first day of
class the professor said he had
three rules; I remember two. One
was if you go to sleep in class, you
get an F and you can’t return.
Three was T just don’t like women
in my class.’”
She said she was the only female
in the class. The men used to
arrange their seats so nobody
would have to sit by her, she said,
until one day they decided they
needed her help.
“I’m not a women’s libber, but I
sure believe in women’s rights. If
everybody paid their tuition, ev
erybody ought to have the same
rights,” Tewell said.
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The commandant’s secretary
was around when women were
first accepted into the Corps.
“I thought the first year they
looked like a bunch of little
orphans, but they’ve improved,
and so have their uniforms. I think
the young ladies have done a good
job of making their place,” she
said.
She said if she would have had
the opportunity to join the Corps
when she was in school, she
wouldn’t have because “it takes a
certain personality to go in the
Corps, male or female.”
But, other than accepting
women, Tewell, said she hasn’t
noticed too many changes in the
Corps as Texas A&M has swelled
from 7,000 to 31,000 students.
The cadets are still as patriotic
as they used to be, she said.
“When they leave this Univer
sity, they’re prepared to do some
thing for their country,” she said.
“I get really excited when they
come in and they’re excited be
cause they just got their orders. I
haven’t seen that attitude change
even since Viet Nam.”
And, “Every year the sopho
more class says that they make it
too easy on the fish,” she said,
shaking her head. “I don’t believe
it.”
One change she noted was the
frequent use of nicknames. It is
difficult to file something for
“Red” Smith, when he might be
listed under Albert Henry Smith,
she said.
“I don’t think the quality of stu
dents is changing,” she said. “It’s
their environment that makes
them more casual. ”
Tewell said she is especially
proud of the Corps scrapbook that
she keeps. Another one of her en
deavors was creating a file for Re
veille, the only female with a file
for many years. She said she did it
because she thought it was neces
sary, but when word got out, it
became kind of a joke.
Serving under five commandants at Texas A&M University in
29 years, Juanita “Butch” Tewell has seen the University grow
from 7,000 to 31,000 students and watched as women joined
the school and Corps. She said she is not a “women’s libber\
but she is for women’s rights.
“Quite a few clips went in when
she bit the official at TCU,” she
said, laughing.
Tewell said although she will
really miss her job, she is looking
forward to the time when she and
her husband Tom, who works at
the University Printing Center,
can travel more. They’re planning
a trip to Alaska and many trips to
see their seven grandchildren, she
said.
Though many personnel
changes have kept her job in
teresting, she advises students not
to try and keep a job as long as she
has because, she said, “Everytime
you change, you improve.”
Legislation for uniform
state training pushed
JJijited Press International
‘' AUSTIN — A group oFlegisla-
tors sald today they will push for
legislation establishing a State
Personnel Standards Board to re
vamp the uniform training proce
dures and compensation for state
employees.
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Flanked by several legislators
sponsoring the bill, Paul Wroten-
bery, director of the Governor’s
Budget and Planning Office, said
the legislation would be the big
gest overhaul of state personnel
policies since 1961.
Wrotenbery said the proposed
board would provide uniform
minimal standards for state em
ployees in compensation, classifi
cation, management development
and job evaluation.
The turnover rate for state em
ployees for the last two years has
been 28 percent and the cost to the
state has been $42 million,
Wrotenbery said.
He said he could not estimate at
this point how much it would cost
to implement the bill.
The bill is the result of a study
made by 20 corporations and state
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volunteeers and is part of the gov
ernor’s Management Effective
ness Program.
Sen. Ed Howard, D-
Texarkana, said the bill is an
attempt to bring equity into the
state personnel system.
“We do have employees who
are underpaid and overworked,”
he said. “This bill gives manage
ment a tremendous tool. It sets
up a training program that will
help agencies put in place a sys
tem of standards throughout the
agencies. ”
Rep. Tom Uher, D-Bay City,
said the bill would bring some cen
tralization to personnel policy
programs, “where we have prog
rams that can be established, butit
leaves room to work within the
guidelines for their own specific
needs.”
Rep. Wilhelmina Delco, D-
’Austin, said that although she
strongly favors a centralized per
sonnel agency, she is comfortable
with this bill.
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Wrotenbery said nine of 12 ma
jor state agencies supported the
bill, but the Texas Department of
Corrections, the Parks and Wild
life Department and the Water
Resources Department had some
reservations.
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is accepting applications for the following Council positions:
"Vice President of Public Relations ^Director of Procedures
"Director of Advertising & Publicity ^Coordinator of Projects
"Director of Budgets and Planning *2 Coordinators of Programs
"Director of Development Finance
The following Directorate Chairmanships are also open for application:
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MSC OPAS
MSC Amateur Radio
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MSC Political Forum
MSC Camera
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MSC Town Hall
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MSC Travel
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All students are encouraged to apply if they are interested in developing their
leadership skills. Deadline for applications:
Thursday, February 26, 5:30 p.m.
Pick up applications in Room 216 of the MSC.