The Battalion
i
Serving the Texas A&M University community
32 Pages in 2 Sections
Thursday, March 5, 1981
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
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enate recommends 1-hour traditions course
By TERRY DURAN
Battalion Staff
With attendance just barely over quorum, the student
senate acted on nine of 12 bills listed under old business in a
four-hour meeting Wednesday night.
sa B Senators were trying to clear up old legislation before
, ta Spring elections end the current session.
A “Housing Policy Alternative” bill combined 1) a request
to survey freshmen and potential Texas A&M students about
gpieir housing preferences with 2) an endorsement of a prop-
llllllli osed one-hour academic class for freshmen on Aggie tradi-
||ons. Debate arose as to whether an official class was approp-
Bate.
I “You can t legislate tradition,” some senators cried.
B The unamended bill was passed unanimously.
B B An amendment to the bill would have relieved intemation-
i al and out-of-state students from having to pay the normal $40
; out-of-state tuition for the course. However, technical prob-
ijems in the implementation of such a policy caused the motion
; to fail.
B Debate on a measure suggesting changes in some campus
traffic policies seesawed back and forth for 45 minutes before
the bill was approved. Speaker Pro Tempore Jeff Anthony
briefed the senate on discussions with University officials
about “policies to reduce traffic congestion in the central parts
, of the campus.”
The amended bill, as passed, recommended the University
master planning committee “close Spence Street to through
traffic and establish an adequate plan to accomplish this ...
measure.”
Off-campus graduate senator Fred Seals called the proposal
“a ludicrous stopgap,” although he said he favored the con
cept of prohibiting motor traffic from the central campus, as
did some others.
Some said they did not feel there is a significant traffic
problem on Spence Street, which runs from Zachry En
gineering Center to the Commons. The bill was approved,
39-27.
Another unanimously approved bill will request University
funds to set up storage areas for student organizations under
the two ramps on the west side of Kyle Field. A student
services committee spokesman said many organizations had
expressed interest in the idea.
Cost of setting up the two areas was estimated at about
$11,000; the funds will probably come from student services
reserves or Memorial Student Center bookstore profits, the
spokesman said.
More debate blossomed about an “Equal Opportunity
Housing” bill that would request the Board of Regents to set
aside one of the two new modular dormitories for male stu
dents. Both dorms are being planned to house female stu
dents.
Objections were raised because federal regulations require
an equal number of male and female facilities on campus; that
parity will not be achieved at Texas A&M until the two
dormitories now under construction are filled with female
students. An amendment to slate one modular for males and
change one currently-male dorm to female occupancy was
defeated and the bill was referred back to committee for
further study.
The senate killed three bills: one that requested the campus
police to revert to $5 parking ticket fines and return to multi
ple ticketing; a bill proposing support and expansion of the
Learning Resource Center in Heldenfels Hall; and the “All-
University Pre-Election Bash,” which would have set up a
“meet the candidates night” in G. Rollie White Coliseum
before student elections.
The last bill, however, was essentially replaced by a bill
which was placed on emergency status after its first reading
Wednesday night. The “Fountainside Chat” bill will give
students a chance to meet candidates for Student Govern
ment president and vice presidents. Residence Halls Associa
tion and Off-Campus Aggies officers and yell leaders from
noon until 3 p.m., March 30 — the day before elections.
In other action:
— Door-to-door dorm campaign hours were changed from
noon-10 p.m. to noon-9 p.m.
— The results of a student survey reported 63 percent of
those surveyed in favor of extending alcoholic beverage sales
hours to 2 a.m. seven nights a week.
— General Telephone has stopped enforcing the policy it
cracked down on late last week: Students may once again
make long distance collect calls without a long distance ID
number.
SI
ditor
Wing
opens
[ The Student Publications Board will
be accepting applications for summer
and fall editorships of The Battalion and
for the 1981-82 editorship of the Aggie-
land through April 3.
| Application forms may be obtained at
the Department of Communications
office, 301 Reed McDonald Building,
from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through
Friday and should be returned to Bob
G. Rogers, chairman of the Student
Publications Bqard, at 301 Reed McDo
nald.
| , t The Battalion summer editor will
serve from May 17-Aug. 31, while The
: pattalion fall editor’s term extends from
May 4-May 13 and Sept. 1- Dec. 18.
I The Aggieland editor wil serve the
entire academic year 1981-82.
Qualifications for Battalion editor
are: a 2.0 overall and major grade point
I; ratio at the time of taking office and
during the term served; at least one year
of experience in a responsible editorial
osition on The Battalion or a compara-
;ble student newspaper; or at least one
year of editorial experience on a com
mercial newspaper; or at least 12 hours
| of journalism including Journalism 203
| and 204 (Reporting and Editing I and II)
I or equivalent. The 12 hours must in-
| elude completion of or enrollment in
Journalism 402 (Mass Communication,
iw and Society) or equivalent.
Qualifications for Aggieland editor
a 2.0 overall and major GPR at the
ime of taking office and during the term
served; at least one year in a responsible
staff position on the Aggieland or
equivalent yearbook experience else
where.
Photo by Margo Bell
Catching rays, not footballs
More than just a place for football games, Kyle Field givqs Stewart
Krisch plenty of room to stretch out and absorb the sun’s rays.
A&Mmedschool to graduate
first physicians in 1981
A&M has state’s newest med school
Texas A&M College of Medicine receives
recommenda tion for full accredita tion
More
thefts
found
By BERNIE FETTE
Battalion Staff
An undetermined number of stereos,
speakers, and tools were stolen from 18
different vehicles in Parking Annexes 56
and 61 in West campus Friday night and
Monday night, the nights of the MSC
All Night Fair and the last home basket
ball game.
Lt. Josie Hoelscher, who is in charge
of investigations for the University
Police, said owners of some of the burg
larized cars have not yet been contacted
because the University Police doesn’t
have their current addresses.
These burglaries occurred on the
same two nights as the burglaries re
ported in Neeley Hall in which more
than $1,500 worth of jewelry and cash
were stolen from dorm residents.
Neeley Head Resident Hadley Hoff said
there is a possible connection between
the burglaries in the dorm and the theft
of a pass key on Feb. 27.
Hoelscher said the fact that officers
are involved with traffic problems after
basketball games may have made the
burglaries easier to pull offMonday. But
the officers were not busy during the All
Night Fair, she said.
Hoelscher said there is a possibility
the incidents of both nights were re
lated.
“We don’t know right now, but they
might be related,” she said. “They hap
pened at different times but they took
the same things.”
Hoelscher said no estimate has been
made of the losses in the parking lot
thefts, but the value of the stolen goods
isn’t the only consideration in this case
since windows in several of the vehicles
were smashed out to gain entry.
Also, some of the toolboxes on pickup
trucks were broken into. “All it takes is a
crowbar or something like that for the
toolboxes,” Hoelscher said.
She said the other vehicles may have
been broken into with the aid of a coat
hanger.
By WAYNE COOK
Battalion Reporter
On June 6, 1981 the Texas A&M Col
lege of Medicine will graduate its first
i physicians — the culmination of years of
work to establish a medical school at
sil Texas A&M University.
The first push for a medical school
began when people started realizing
how well Texas A&M prepared pre-med
students, said Dr. Elvin E. Smith, asso
ciate dean of medicine. The first tangi
ble efforts to create the College of Medi
cine were in the early 1970’s when Dr.
Jack K. Williams was president of the
t University, he said.
A plan was submitted to the Texas
College and University System Coordi
nating Board, the body authorized to
approve medical programs. The plan
called for a joint venture with the Baylor
College of Medicine where students
would study two years at Texas A&M
and two years at the clinical facilities of
Baylor.
In April 1973, the coordinating board
approved the plan, and in June the
school received its first funds from the
state Legislature. However, the medic
al school ran into problems.
The Liasion Committee on Medical
Education (LCME), the national organ
ization authorized to approve medical
schools, refused to accredit the prog-
1 ram. Smith said. He said the LCME
I thought the division between Texas
I A&M and Baylor would cause a lack of
> I consistency and undefined responsibil-
| ity. Without accreditation, the school
| was ineligible to receive federal
h| funding.
In 1974 a bill was passed by the state
Legislature which helped Texas A&M
overcome the problem — the Teague-
Cranston Bill. Introduced by Olin E.
Teague, a long-time supporter of Texas
A&M, the bill allowed the Veterans’
Administration to assist the state with
the establishment of new medical
schools.
In December 1976, the coordinating
board approved a new program for the
College of Medicine. The program con
sisted of two years study at Texas A&M
and two years study at Scott and White
Hospital and the Veterans Administra
tion facility in Temple. This plan gave
Texas A&M control over the entire
program and provided complete clinical
coverage. Texas A&M also received two
grants from the VA amounting to $17
million.
With a plan approved, the College of
Medicine began steps toward accredita
tion. First, a letter of reasonable assur
ance was submitted to the LCME con
taining detailed plans for the medical
school.
Then in 1977, the college admitted its
first students and was given provisional
accreditation, the usual status of a
medical school until the graduation of its
first class.
The last step in the accrediting pro
cess has recently occurred. A site survey
team visited the Texas A&M College of
Medicine to evaluate and pass on a re
commendation for full accreditation to
the LCME. The site team has recom
mended the Texas A&M College of
Medicine for four years of full accredita
tion , Smith said.
The LCME is expected to act on the
recommendation in June.
By WAYNE COOK
Battalion Reporter
Texas A&M University’s College of
Medicine, the state’s newest, has been
recommended for four years of full
accreditation by a national site survey
team.
The team’s recommendation is ex
pected to be acted on in June by the
Liasion Committee on Medical Educa
tion (LCME), said Dr. Neal Gault Jr.,
site team chairman and University of
Minnesota dean of medicine.
The LCME is the national body au
thorized to accredit medical schools.
The 40-member organization draws
membership from the American Medic
al Association and the Association of
American Medical Colleges. Accredita
tion is important to medical schools be
cause only accredited colleges may re
ceive federal funds, explained Dr. Elvin
E. Smith, Texas A&M associate dean of
medicine. There is a tremendous stigma
associated with unaccredited colleges,
he said.
The recommended four years of full
accreditation pleased school officials be
cause even established medical schools
often receive only five-year accredita
tion, Smith said.
“Much of the credit for the recom
mendation belongs to Dean Stone,”
Smith said, “his membership on the
LCME and experiende with estab-
lishing new medical schools is invalu
able.” Dr. Robert Stone is the Texas
A&M dean of medicine.
Until the College of Medicine is fully
accredited, it is under provisional accre
ditation — the usual status of new
medical colleges until the graduation of
the first class, Smith said.
“They (LCME) want to look at a
finished product,” he said.
The College of Medicine graduates
its first physicians June 6, 1981.
Texas A&M’s program allows stu
dents to apply for admission during
their sophomore year in college, and
involves two years of classroom instruc
tion at College Station plus two years of
clinical training in Temple at Scott and
White Hospital and the Veterans Admi
nistration facility.
Smith said a site survey team consid
ers curriculum, faculty, financing, phy
sical facifities, and student accomplish
ments when evaluating a medical col
lege.
The site team was particularly im
pressed with the support for the prog
ram by the Texas A&M University
Board of Regents, he said.
Not only have the regents indicated
they support adequate funding for the
College of Medicine, Smith said, but
they also favor an emphasis on high
quality rather than size.
Present enrollment in the College of
Medicine’s is 126, with each entering
class having 32 students.
“We feel that number (32 per class) is
conducive to personal development and
learning,” said Dr. William E. Ward,
Texas A&M associate dean of medicine
in charge of student affairs.
Although the Texas A&M medical
school is relatively new, Ward said
attracting top students is no problem.
The College of Medicine received
approximately 700 applications last
year.
“We re competing well with other
schools...many students are impressed
with the friendliness of the A&M cam
pus,” said Ward.
Smith said he hopes the yearly
acceptances can be raised to 48 by Fall
1983.
A favorable aspect of the Texas A&M
College of Medicine is the high teacher
to student ratio. Smith said. The college
has 42 full-time faculty members, for a
ratio of one faculty member for every
three students. Total faculty for the Col
lege of Medicine exceeds 400 with part-
time faculty included.
One requirement for accreditation
was the construction of permanent faci
lities. The College of Medicine has been
temporarily located in Teague Research
Center. The Medical Sciences Build
ing, under construction on the east cam
pus across from the Veterinary Medi
cine Complex, meets this requirement.
The building will include classrooms,
teaching labs, faculty and administra
tion offices, and faculty research space.
Total project cost, including equip
ment, is $19.6 million. The building is
scheduled for completion in January
1983, and is currently running four
months ahead of schedule. Smith said.
Besides Gault, the LCME site team
include Dr. W. Warren Point, director
of medicine and assistant dean at West
Virginia University; Dr. Tamarath Yol-
les, associate dean for continuing educa
tion at the Stony Brook School of Medi
cine Health Sciences Center; and Dr.
Allen W. Mathies Jr., dean of medicine
and vice president for health sciences at
the University of Southern California.
Teachers
to receive
notices
United Press International
HOUSTON — A spokesman for the
University of Houston says the school
will carry out its threat to fire any lectur
ers and teaching assistants who fail to
appear at work by the end of the week.
Administration spokesman George
Magner said Wednesday although the
number of teachers calling in sick was
down from the day before, several early
morning classes had to be canceled.
Up to 200 teaching assistants refused
to come to work earlier this week in a
dispute over low pay, but more and
more now appear to be returning to the
classroom.
The assistants are demanding an in
crease from their present $350 a month
take-home pay to at least $850, and said
they will stay out until school officials
negotiate in good faith.
Chris Rampacek, a teaching assistant
in the physical education and health de
partment, said school officials were
given three weeks since the last sickout
to make plans to pay increases, but it
appeared there had been no progress.
Magner said the university has
offered the teachers an across-the-board
5.1 percent pay increase, but they can’t
offer any more money until the state
Legislature gives the university more
funds.