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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 8, 1981)
IVol. 74 No. 152 [14 Pages Battalion Serving the Texas A&M University community Friday, May 8, 1981 USPS 045 360 College Station, Texas Phone 845-2611 The Weather Today Tomorrow High 85 High 86 Low 64 Low 64 Chance of rain 20% Chance of rain. . . . . . . 20% Awards recognize 'acuity achievers By DENISE RICHTER Battalion Staff twenty Faculty Distinguished Achievement Awards, total- I jver $80,000, were presented Thursday at a University- i faculty meeting. he purpose of the awards, presented annually since 1955, recognize outstanding achievement by members of the is A&M University faculty and staff. wards were presented for achievement in teaching, re- ch, individual student relationships, continuing educa- or extension and achievement as a member of the staff or inistration. fifteen awards are funded by the Association of Former lents. In the past, the awards were worth $1,000 each, /ever, this year they were increased to $5,000 each, i addition, the Amoco Foundation funds four awards of fljOOO each to recognize outstanding teaching. Kne award of $2,500 was given to a professor chosen by the nnie Stevens Piper Foundation. This award is designed to lor Texas’ outstanding professors. Sach winner also received a watch and a plaque. Distinguished Achievement Awards for teaching were pre- itedto: Dr. Albert L. Ford, associate professor of physics; . Paul G. Harms, associate professor of animal science and ura Kitzmiller, assistant professor of health and physical .ration. \lso, receiving awards for teaching were: Dr. Syed A. qi, associate professor of veterinary microbiology and para- jlogy; Dr. Campbell W. Pennington, professor and head of : Department of Geography and Dr. James Robert Wild, istant professor of plant sciences. Research awards were presented to: Dr. Charles K. Chui, jfessor of mathematics; Dr. Peter S. Rose, professor of fiance and Dr. David R. Schink, professor of oceanography. \wards for individual student relationships went to Dr. rolyn Adair, director of student activities and Bob G. Ro- rs, professor and head of the Department of Communica- ns. Achievement awards in continuing education or extension re given to Dr. Samuel N. Cotner, extension horticultur ist, Texas Agricultural Extension Service and Robert W. ftermann, Hill County extension agent. ■Administration-staff awards were presented to Robert L. Boone, coordinator of vocal music and Pete L. Rodriguez, Herations manager for the Department of Chemistry. ■Amoco awards for outstanding teaching were presented to: b. David Armstrong, associate professor of educational cur- Bulum and instruction; Dr. John Hoyle, professor of educa- lOnal administration; Dr. George W. Kattawar, professor of fiysics and Dr. Gary Potter, professor of animal science. ■The Minnie Stevens Potter Foundation award was given to Dr Ron Darby, professor of chemical engineering. For the teaching, individual student relationships and administration-staff awards the student council of each acade mic college solicits nominations from all clubs within the college and from individual students within the college. Of these nominations, the council submits two names to the college’s executive committee which may add its own recom mendations to the list. The names are then submitted to the awards selection committee. The student council is allowed to make only one nomina tion for the individual student relationships award and only one name may be added by the college’s executive commit tee. In addition, one nomination may be submitted by the Graduate Student Council, the Residence Hall Association, Student Government, the Corps of Cadets and the Memorial Student Center Council. Each University vice president may submit two nomina tions for the administration-staff award. Nominations for the Distinguished Achievement Awards in research are made by faculty members and submitted to the dean of the college. The dean and the executive committee of each college may then select one nominee to be submitted to the selection committee along with the other nominations. Each academic dean and continuing education or extension service director submits one nomination for the award in continuing education or extension. The selection committee is made up of seven students, 17 faculty members and two former students. The identity of the selection committee is kept secret. Individuals who are nominated for awards or administra tors with the title of department head, dean, director, assis tant vice president, associate vice president, executive vice president and president are not eligible to serve on the selec tion committee. To be eligible for these awards, a faculty member must have completed five years of service at Texas A&M at the time of the nomination. A recipient of a Distinguished Achievement Award is not eligible to receive another award of the same category until four years after he received the last award. An award winner can receive an award in another category the following year, however. The awards were presented at a University-wide faculty meeting, the only one held during the year. Before the presentation of the awards, Dr. J.M. Prescott, vice president for academic affairs deemed the 1980-81 school year a success but recognized that the large number of stu dents and crowded conditions this year had not been the best possible working conditions. Prescott said some relief for the crowded conditions, yet he predicted that a minimum of 35,000 students would attend Texas A&M in the fall. 'wo outfits on probation By DENISE RICHTER Battalion Staff 1 Companies M-l and E-2 in the Texas iA&M University Corps of Cadets have )een placed on probation for the 1981- 12 school year. j Corps outfits are placed on probation |s a result of academic or disciplinary jroblems. If the grades or the behavior don’t improve by the end of the proba- ionperiod, the outfit can be disbanded. When an outfit is disbanded, its nembers are scattered throughout dif- erent units within the Corps. ; The most recent disbanding of an Outfit took place following Final Review last year. L-l, the Lone Star Company, was disbanded because of reorganiza tion within the Corps, Col. James Woodall, Corps commandant, said. The trigon, the military advisers for the Corps, are responsible for any dis ciplining of units. All probations must be approved by the Corps comman dant. However, Trigon officials and the commanding officers of Companies M-l and E-2 refused to explain why the out fits were put on probation. “This matter is strictly between the commandant’s office and the Corps,” Woodall said. Mitch Meyer, commanding officer of Company E-2, said: “It happens all the time. We’ve had a lot of trouble over the last four years. We started out anti- Waggie and we’ve progressively gotten worse. “The Trigon got upset with us — one more mishap and no more outfit. But, we’ve been threatened a million times before,” he said. Ray Hengst, commanding officer of Company M-l, would not comment on the reason his outfit was put on proba tion. Besides disbanding an outfit if it does not improve by the end of its probation period the Trigon could replace the commanding officer, replace all officers or extend the probation period. Dr. Carolyn Adair, director of student affairs, speaks with a faculty member following the presen tation of 20 Faculty Distinguished Achievement Awards Thursday in Rudder Auditorium. Adair was recognized for outstanding individual student relationships. Reagan says big victory House approves budget United Press International WASHINGTON — House leaders have been issued marching orders by a majority of their members — give Presi dent Reagan the budget cuts he wants to restructure the government and strip down social programs. But many congressmen who stood by Reagan to approve his budget blueprint show signs of wanting to change those marching orders when the time comes to put actual cuts in place. Over the emotional pleas of Demo cratic leaders to save programs “that made America great, ” the House voted, 253-76, Thursday to endorse Reagan’s $688.8 billion spending plan for fiscal 1982. Reagan, in a statement issued by the White House, called it “a resounding victory.” He said Americans have been telling the government for years to put its house in order, and, “Today, the people have been heard.” All 190 Republicans supported the budget, as did 63 conservative Demo crats. During debate, some members said they were backing Reagan for symbolic reasons. They maintained the budget measure was only a broad outline and they would work to revise it in the months before funds are actually appropriated this fall. But House Speaker Thomas O’Neill, D-Mass., warned they were taking a “meat ax” to the social legislation of the past 50 years and said the country would come to regret it. O’Neill threatened to make House members live with the budget they accepted — cuts and all. Democratic leaders also warned a steamroller had been started that would be hard to stop. In lobbying House members, Reagan promised moderate Republi cans he would be receptive to small changes as specifics of the budget are nailed down. Requests for such changes — aimed at softening the effects of harsh budget cuts — no doubt will pour in soon after the House vote and the administration will have a struggle keeping its victory from being eaten away. While Republicans savored victory in the House, the Senate opened debate Thursday on its own version of the budget, a $699 billion measure also de signed to fit Reagan’s specifications. Debate was to continue today, with a final vote in the Republican-controlled Senate expected early next week. Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., rank ing Democrat on the Budget Commit tee, said, “You can tell from the atmos phere here they’ve got the votes. There is no question about it.” Differences between the two mea sures will be worked out later, complet ing the first phase of budgeting for the fiscal year beginning Ocf. 1. Thursday’s vote was the first phase of Reagan’s economic recovery plan that the president has made the centerpiece of his administration. The Reagan budget, as modified and sponsored by Reps. Delbert Latta, R- Ohio, and Phil Gramm, D-Texas, man dates $36.6 billion in permanent cuts to be made by legislative committees. The House Budget Committee’s Democratic alternative called for $42 billion in cuts, but only $15.8 billion of them permanent. The remainder would have been made through reductions in annual appropriations. The alternative plan proposed restor ing almost $8 billion in funds the admi nistration wants cut from social prog rams in 1982. The budget vote in the House was by far Reagan’s biggest victory of his 3V2- month-old presidency. It was met with cheers and shouts by Republicans at the moment they knew it would pass. Couple eases housing shortage by boarding over 250 Aggies Mary Lancaster, at left, takes a moment to share a story with a few of the 40 students that live at “Lancaster Place.” Mary and her husband W.B., Staff photo by Brian Tate have been housing Texas A&M students for 11 years. They now have 10 houses around Dexter Street, south of the campus. By DENNIS PRESCOTT Battalion Reporter No one knocks on the door before entering the home at 303 Dexter in College Station unless, of course, the visitor has never been there before. The yellow three-story structure is the home of W. B. and Mary Lancaster and the centerpiece of a network of houses owned by the couple. The Lancasters are completing their eleventh year of housing Texas A&M University students. Over the years, about 260 students have lived there. At the present time, there are 10 houses, all in College Station, occupying 40 students. The rules are straightforward and clearly stated. The prospective boarder signs a contract, stating prior know ledge and intent to obey all the rules, so there is no danger of a misunderstanding. The curfew for females is midnight on week nights and 2 a.m. on weekends. Males should be in by a “reasonable hour,” according to the contract. The Lancasters are known affectionately as Ma and Pa to most, and Ma said that the rules are not a big problem. “We have people that live a certain type of lifestyle. These are well-rounded, Christian people,” she said. The couple, parents of three children themselves, started their enterprise mainly because of a lack of housing for women at Texas A&M. In September of 1970, the “Lancaster Place” was open for business. There were three houses with 18 occupants. At that time, three meals a day were part of the boarding plan, in addition to fur nished rooms and laundry facilities. The Lancasters no longer serve meals, however, be cause doing so would violate the area zoning laws. Ma said that mealtime was a great time for fellowship, and she regrets that they can no longer provide that ser vice. The student residents now get together for a once-a- month meal. Ma compared their first boarders with the students of today. “Our first students were excellent academically. A lot of them were on scholarship. Some of them didn’t fit in to our environment though. ” She said that they still attract excellent students who are very active in church and community activities. Naturally, in eleven years time many bizarre activities have occurred around the boarding house. However, the story Ma and Pa like to tell best, occurred April 1, 1974. A former resident, Arlene Griffis, was on her way back to her room one night when she encountered a young man wearing only a pair of sneakers. “He said that some of his buddies had put him out, and he didn’t know where he was,” Griffis said. She said she didn’t believe him because he was making no effort to cover himself, except for his face, which was covered by a T-shirt. She said he then asked for a towel to cover himself with. “I went inside and called Ma and told her to tell Pa and the boys to get up there as fast as they could. ” When they got there, she said, the streaker tried to run away, but two boys who lived there caught him. As a result of the incident, Griffis has become legendary around Lancasterville. “Arlene was very cool,” said Pa. “She kept him there long enough for the situation to get under control. Ma summed up her feeling about the experiences of all the houses with one word — enlightening. “One of the most rewarding things in life is to watch a person grow over four years, she said. “I see people come through here that I know will take charge in life. They really are the leaders of tomorrow. ” Ma said she would someday like to write a book about their experiences with college students. “It would be a shame to not write down what all has happened here,” she said. No doubt the first 260 copies will go quickly if a book is indeed published someday.