IThe Battalion
i Serving the Texas A&M University community
jj Vol. 74 No. 146 Thursday, April 30, 1981 USPS 045 360
^ 132 Pages in 2 Sections College Station, Texas Phone 845-2611
The Weather
Today
Tomorrow
High
88 High
89
Low
72 Low
73
Chance of rain
20% Chance of rain. . . .
. . . 20%
Maggie, an appropriately named cat for an A&M
student to have, travels with senior biomedical
sciences major Clyde Hughes. Hughes said that
Maggie does not usually go to classes with him,
but does enjoy the riding his bike with him.
Maggie is a 10-month-old tabby.
Tuition bill may slow
minority recruitment
United Press International
AUSTIN — Former Attorney Gener
al John Hill told a Senate committee
Wednesday that a bill doubling tuition
at state-supported colleges and univer
sities would hamper the efforts to attract
minority students.
Hill said that during his tenure as
attorney general he had difficulty re
cruiting minority attorneys because so
few studied at Texas institutions.
“We do have a problem in our insti
tutions with discrimination of minority
students,” Hill said, “and this would
only serve to worsen the problem.”
The bill, sponsored by Sen. W.E.
Snelson, D-Midland, would raise tui
tion for resident students from $4 per
semester hour to $8 per semester hour.
Tuition would increase 600 percent
for dental students and 900 percent for
medical students. The extra revenue is
earmarked for building construction
and increased teacher’s salaries.
Hill said the tuition increase would
cause a greater demand for financial aid
at the same time President Ronald
Reagan proposes drastically cutting fed
eral assistance to students.
Speaking in favor of increased tuition
was Jack Strong, a member of the in
terim committee that proposed the in
creases.
Strong said that with the increased
tuition and existing fees students would
be paying approximately 10 percent of
the cost of their education, adding that
tuition at Texas colleges is 46th among
48 states.
Strong also repudiated statements
that the tuition increase would cause
the most harm to minority students,
saying that the increase would free up
millions of dollars for grants.
Land Commissioner Bob Armstrong
said the increasing revenues from oil
and natural gas could be used as an
alternative to tuition hikes.
“We have lots of alternatives,” Arm
strong said. “Raising tuition really
ought to be the last thing we consider. ”
As in past hearings on the measure,
the Senate chambers were jammed with
hundreds of students, many wearing
red cards saying “Stop tuition in
creases.”
Nathaniel Adams, president of the
Texas Student Association, presented
the committee with 13,000 signatures
from University of Houston students
who oppose the bill.
Adams said his group estimated that
the increase would cause 17 percent of
the students in state supported schools
to drop out and cause 26 percent to take
fewer hours.
However, Strong said the interim
study committee estimated that only 5
percent or fewer students would be
forced out because of the higher costs.
Also appearing before the committee
were three University of Texas business
students who said they supported the
bill.
Patrick Hamner, a business student
who said he worked in the oil fields to
finance his education, said he felt stu
dents were being hypocritical in their
oppostion to the bill.
“I wouldn’t doubt that some of the
student here today in a couple years will
be here lobbying to decrease the taxes
that fund schools,” Hamner said.
Brady s brain has air leak
United Press International
WASHINGTON — White House press secretary James
Brady has been confined to his hospital bed in hopes a newly
discovered air leak in his bullet-damaged brain will heal
without need for a third operation.
“We’re in the position of watchful waiting,” said Dr.
Dennis O’Leary, a spokesman at George Washington Univer
sity Hospital. He noted such problems mend naturally in a
“vast number” of patients.
If Brady’s problem persists, however, “and if there is
evidence of additional leakage further diagnostic studies will
(assess) the potential need for further surgery,” the White
House said in a statement Wednesday.
Brady underwent surgery for removal of a portion of his
brain on March 30, after being shot in the head during the
attempted assassination of President Reagan.
He underwent a second operation last week to relieve
potentially damaging pressure from air seeping into the brain
through passages surgeons had hoped they had closed.
O’Leary said the latest leak was discovered Monday, and
added, Brady will be confined to bed for 10 to 14 days, with
his head elevated at 20 degrees.
Brady was sitting up and sipping iced tea when he “leaked
approximately four drops of fluid from his nose,” O’Leary said
in describing how the new problem was detected.
Skull X-rays showed a slight increase in air in the brain and
“absorption of most of the intracranial air,” O’Leary said.
“There has been no further indication of a spinal fluid leak. ”
During last week’s operation, Dr. Arthur Kobrine, Brady’s
surgeon, felt there might be a small leak at the brain’s base,
but was afraid if he entered the area the healing process would
be damaged, O’Leary said.
Brady is alert, eating well and talking, and continues to
watch television, read newspapers and have telephone con
versations, O’Leary said.
Task force studies security
controls in residence halls
S!
6-2111
iril 31
9:45
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Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part
Battalion series on the report of the residence
hall security task force to the Texas A&M Uni
versity director of student affairs.
By JANE G. BRUST
Battalion Staff
Master key control and security awareness are
two areas of concern for residence hall security,
says the report completed by a task force of Texas
A&M University’s department of student affairs.
The task force report has been passed on to
Ron Blatchley, director of student affairs. Ron
Sasse, associate director of student affairs, said
he and Blatchley will review the committee’s
recommendations over the summer to decide
which, if any, new policies or programs will be
implemented for the fall.
Problems with lost keys are not uncommon.
During the 1979-80 academic year there were
729 lost room keys and 602 keys have been lost
during the current academic year.
Earlier this year, a resident adviser in Neeley
Hall lost a pass key, a grand master to doors in
Neeley and Hobby halls. A subsequent theft of
$1,500 in jewelry and cash in Neeley led to the
replacement of locks in the two halls. This pro
cess cost the University $3,500.
Two pass keys were lost during the 1979-80
academic year, three have been lost this year.
Glenn Ferris, supervisor of housing opera
tions, chaired the committee that studied resi
dence hall security. The committee was com
prised of five student affairs professionals, three
head residents and one student representative
of the Residence Hall Association.
Included in the committee’s report are survey
results from Texas A&M students and personnel
from other universities, as well as a summary of
residence hall security problems from the view
point of the University Police Department.
“We do not have a good system of key control
for our residence halls,” the summary says. “A
new system needs to be developed so that a
minimum number of keys are distributed; and
that those keys only fit one or two halls.”
The task force report said, “It is significant to
note that 90 percent of the institutions we sur
veyed changed locks each time a key was lost.”
At present locks in Texas A&M residence halls
are not changed when keys are lost.
Task force recommendations include the fol
lowing items:
— lock changes when room keys are lost if
keys are not found in 30 days
— increased charge from $5 to $25 to any
student who loses a room key
— tighter control of pass keys among staff
members
— increased charge from $25 to $35 to any
staff member who loses a pass key
— continued change by individual halls to the
Falcon lock system within five years
— on-duty staff in residence halls during
spring break. (At present, residence halls are left
open during spring break for students who re
main on campus for that vacation period, but
residence hall staff members are not required to
stay on duty.)
The report’s cover letter, written by Ferris,
says that although master key control is poor and
there are too many lost keys to dormitory rooms,
the Falcon lock system found in several resi
dence halls, including the Corps-style dorms, is
adequate.
Falcon locks will be installed this summer in
new modular dorms A and B as well as in Hart
and Walton halls. The report says advantages of
the Falcon lock system are the facts that keys are
more difficult to duplicate, lock cores are remov
able and can be changed easily and keys are
coded so that lost keys can’t be associated with a
particular dorm room. Cost would be between
$18 and $26 to change a lock each time a key is
lost.
“It would be most expensive and time-
consuming for locksmiths to accomplish this
work, but if we are to have good security in our
halls it is most necessary for this to be done,” the
report says.
University Police Chief Russ McDonald said
one problem with security of possessions in resi
dence halls is the fact that students don’t report
missing items soon enough to do any good. He
said jewelry is often stolen and sold before the
owner files a report with the police.
Between September 1980 and March 1981, 63
burglaries of dorms and buildings were reported
to the University police. Gold jewelry totaling
$2,500 was reported missing from Krueger Hall
this semester.
Security surveys were given to 500 men and
500 women who live on campus, Ferris said. The
committee tabulated the responses from 78
women and 270 men, a small sample of the
10,000 students who live on campus.
Of those responses, a large majority of women
and a larger majority of men feel their posses
sions are safe in their rooms. Three-fourths of
both the men and women responding lock their
doors when they leave their rooms.
by
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Budget hearings called ‘pleasing’
System proposal tops $40 million
By LIZ NEWLIN
Battalion Staff
“Pleasing” was how agency officials
described budget hearings earlier this
year. They should have called them
profitable.
State agencies in the Texas A&M
System will receive $40.8 million
more in funding during the next two
years — more than a third of the cur
rent level — if proposals by the House
Appropriations Committee are signed
See page 12 for the House
Appropriations Committee re
commendations for some of the
state agencies in the Texas A&M
System.
into law. The agriculture and en
gineering agencies are based in Col
lege Station but have offices state
wide.
System administration, responsible
for coordinating the agencies and the
Texas A&M campuses, would also get
a boost — 17.4 percent over the cur
rent budget the first year of the bien
nium and 27 percent the second year.
The 1981 System budget of $1.1
million was supplemented by about
$1.6 million from the Available Uni
versity Fund. System officials say the
Board of Regents must decide
whether the 1982 and 1983 budgets
will be supplemented again.
Committee recommendations for
the agencies are 34.5 percent above
the current budget for the first year
and 42.9 percent higher than current
for the second year. The agency
budgets for 1981 total $52.7 million.
The agencies are the Agricultural
Experiment Station, Agricultural Ex
tension Service, Engineering Experi
ment Station, Engineering Extension
Service, Texas Forest Service, Rodent
and Predatory Animal Control Service
and Texas Veterinary Medical Diag
nostic Laboratory.
Rep. Bill Presnal, D-Bryan and
chairman of the House Appropriations
Committee, was happy to point out
that his committee granted the full
requests from the experiment stations
for both agriculture and engineering.
Under the proposal, the agriculture
experiment budget will increase 36
and 42 percent over its current $19.3
million budget. The engineering ex
periment budget will increase 44 and
57 percent over its current $3.5 mil
lion budget.
The increases are planned to fund
more research. The engineering ex
periment station, for instance, would
fund research not included in the cur
rent budget at Prairie View A&M Uni
versity ($415,638) and in engineering
design graphics ($135,690). More
money for the agencies, including
some matching funds, will come from
federal and private sources.
The specific money amounts from
the state, however, must still be de
bated on the House floor, then in a
conference committee to smooth out
differences with the Senate appropria
tions bill. The governor has the last
chance to change the budget — by
veto of individual items.
The Senate Finance Committee
has still not released its proposals,
with just five weeks left in the session,
but they are expected to soon.
Texas A&M System
Category
Current
1981
Proposed
Aug. 31, 1982
Aug. 31, 1983
Chancellor (plus housing allowance
and supplement)
All other general administration
46,800 . . . .
. . 1,085,625 ....
51,600
1,278,607
54,200
. . . . 1,384,728
Grand Total
. . 1,132,425 . . . .
1,330,207
.. . . 1,438,928
Supplement from Permanent Regents can supplement this budget again,
University Fund 1,600,000 (appx.) but have not announced any decision.
180 slots to be filled
on A&M committees
By TERRY DURAN
Battalion Staff
Pick a committee — any committee.
Application deadline for 180 student
slots on University committees is 5 p. m.
Friday. The positions are open to any
student with a 2.25 overall grade point
ratio or above.
“The important thing,” says Student
Body President Ken Johnson, “is to
have student representation. We re for
tunate to have what we have, but we
have to take advantage of the opportun
ity to have our say.”
Of 69 University committees dealing
with various facets of academics, stu
dent services or business affairs, 37 have
one or more student members. Johnson
said Tuesday that applications will be
reviewed by himself, 1980-81 Student
Body President Brad Smith, University
committees coordinator nominee Julie
Walshak and executive vice president
nominee Jeff Bissey.
Johnson said he also hopes to have
help from representatives of student
organizations in sorting through appli
cations. Those selected will be pre
sented to the full senate for confirma
tion at its last meeting of the semester
May 6.
Walshak and Bissey’s positions, along
with other executive branch appoint
ments, still must be confirmed by the
student senate. However, Johnson said
he anticipates “no great controversy”
over the appointments.
Other executive branch appoint
ments pending senate approval include:
— Judicial Board chairman: Greg
Hood
— Communications director: Lilly
Dollinger
— Comptroller of accounts: Dina Vil
lareal
— Assistant comptroller: Mark Hack-
field
— Director of freshman programs:
Vicki Younger
— Election commissioner: George
Crowson
— Continuing programs coordinator:
Sue Vito
John Hawrylak has been nominated
for Traditions Council president
through an interview process.
Johnson targeted several university
committees — including the Memorial
Student Center Council, the shuttlebus
operations committee, health center
advisory committee and the traffic
appeals panel — as probably being
pivotal in the coming year.
Johnson urged all students “willing to
make a commitment of time and ener
gy” to stop by the Special Programs
Office on the second floor of the MSC
and fill out an application for a com
mittee.
“We need representation from all
walks of student life,” he said. “The
more people that apply, the better
chance we have of getting all the vacan
cies filled with the best people and of
making sure our voices are heard.”