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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1981)
The Battalion Serving the Texas A&M University community Vol. 75 No. 23 Thursday, October 1, 1981 USPS 045 360 32 Pages In 2 Sections College Station, Texas Phone 845-2611 The Weather Today High 92 Low 65 Chance of rain 20% Tomorrow High 90 Low 68 Chance of rain 20% Faculty mentors help with student problems By NANCY WEATHERLEY Battalion Staff Mentor is defined in the dictionary as “a wise and trustful counselor or teacher. ” Mentors are what Shirley Black, assistant professor of history, says she wants University faculty members to be. “Everyone is a mentor in a way,” Black said. “Everyone should be able, willing, eager to counsel students, whatever the problem.” This ideal is what faculty members in the University Mentors Program are trying to achieve. "This specific group of professors is saying that, ‘y es » 1 really like to work with students, ” Black said. “These specific professors are sup posedly trained to let students know of any place students can go with a problem. ” Black emphasized that any professor, picked by a student, might be able to help the student, but the Mentors pro fessors are trained to make referrals to appropriate University services such as the Academic and Personal Counseling centers, the student legal advisers and financial aid officers. To help participants learn how to deal with students and their problems. Men tors is offering evening discussion groups on “Improving the Mentor’s Skills ’ every month during the school year. The first meeting is scheduled for Oct. 6 in 105 Harrington. Dr. Nick Dobrovolsky, a psychologist at the Per sonal Counseling Center, is scheduled to speak. “Dr. Dobrovolsky will be discussing how we can identify really troubled stu dents we are not trained to handle,” Black said. "When we have a student with a spe cific problem that we aren’t capable of handling, we will be able to identify where this student needs to go for help. ” The Mentors program began in the spring of 1980. Dr. R(k1 O’Connor, professor and di rector of first year chemistry, started the program alter he realized professors sometimes didn’t know where to send students that were coming to them with problems, Black said. “Rod O’Connor was counseling stu dents in all kinds of things, ” Black said, “and the counseling of academic prob lems and of personal problems, which are really one in the same, kept overlap ping. So, his problem was where do we as professors send them.” Mentors formed so that professors could better handle the students they come in contact with. “What Mentors comes down to is whether faculty are going to spend their time helping and counseling students and being better teachers, or are they going to spend their time doing re search, writing books. Black said. “I don’t see why there has to be a separa tion. ’" Black recalled an article published in the Fortnightly, a University newslet ter for faculty and staff in which Dr. J.M. Prescott, vice president of acade mic affairs, addressed the issue of whether teachers should concentrate on research or student relations. “1 propose that we attempt to make the genius ... of Texas A&M a marriage of a caring and humane, but rigorous, undergraduate program of education and a first-rate research and graduate- level institution,” Prescott wrote. Black said about (30 professors came to monthly meetings in the spring of 1980. In 1981 attendance increased to around 200, she said. This year, due to publicity setbacks, not all of the Texas A&M faculty mem bers have been notified, but Black already has received approximately 50 responses. Colombian student adapts to A&M’s excitement Staff photo by Greg Gammon Peace and tranquility Senior Environmental Design major Sam Swan found a quiet place to relax Wednesday afternoon under the tall columns of the Systems Building. Facing the East Gate entrance to the University, the Systems Building houses the Texas A&M University System Chancellor’s office, the College of Agriculture, and other University offices. By ANNE OLIVER Battalion Reporter Spending two years of college at one campus and then transferring to a fore ign university eight times as large as your own can be quite an adjustment. Juan Gaviria, a civil engineering ma jor from Colombia, has found himself in this situation, but he says the shock doesn’t measure up to the excitement of being at Texas A&M University. As a participant in the International Student Exchange Program for college students, Gaviria will attend the Uni versity for one year. “I’ve always thought it would be in teresting to study in the United States, so when my college began taking appli cations for the exchange program, I im mediately applied," he said. Originally, 25 Colombian students applied for the program. “After two months, they selected eight of us and sent our applications to Georgetown University in Washington — where the program is administered, he said. “Eventually, five of us were chosen and sent to various colleges throughout the United States.” The 20-year-old junior said leaving his family and friends behind to come to a strange country was not easy, but he wants to take every advantage of the educational opportunity he has been offered. “Now that I’m settled, I really like it here, but it did take some time getting adjusted,” he said. “This school is a lot bigger than mine. The first day of clas ses I was wandering around in the pour ing rain with a wet map of the campus trying to find all my buildings.” Gaviria said he also found some terms used by Texas A&M students confusing at first. “Texas A&M students seem to have their own private vocabulary,” he said. “The first week of my classes, everyone was always walking by and saying how dy’ to me. I had no idea what they were trying to tell me. After a while I figured out that they were just saying hello. ” Student trades A&M for Holland castle By DENISE RICHTER Battalion Staff Few Texas A&M students living in residence halls or apartments would iompare their housing accommodations to a castle. But, this semester at least )ne University student can legitimately all her home a castle — she is living in >ne as she attends the Netherlands School of Business in Holland. Brenda Linn, who was selected for he International Student Exchange ’rogram for 1981-82, is enrolled in a inance program in the school based in Sreukelen, a city between Amsterdam tad Utercht. “A couple of years back, I went to the United Kingdom and ever since then, Ive wanted to go to school overseas,” dnn, aTexas A&M junior finance major rom Dickinson, said in an interview >efore she left for Holland. “Because of iSEP, I’m finally getting to do it. ” Mona Rizk Finne, study abroad coor dinator with the University Internation al Services office, said, “ISEP is a pilot program — it just opened at Texas A&M this fall. We feel it’s an excellent oppor tunity for our students to get an oppor tunity to study overseas.” ISEP is administered through Georgetown University in Washington. Texas A&M is the only state university in Texas that participates in ISEP. “(University) participation in ISEP is by invitation only,” Finne said. “Dr. Miller (former Texas A&M president) worked on the program a year before A&M was accepted.” In the case of student exchanges, par ticipating colleges and universities have dual roles as hosting and sending insti tutions. Each institution advises ISEP of the number of students it wishes to exchange. Applicants apply to, and are selected by, their home institution. The exchange student w'ho is attend ing Texas A&M through ISEP is Juan Gaviria, an engineering major from Col ombia. ISEP participants pay the normal cost of tuition, fees, room and board at their home institution, regardless of the fees at their host institution. In addition, students who are regis tered at their home institution during their year abroad are entitled to all grants, scholarships and financial aid they would receive if they were attend ing their home university. While enrolled in the Netherlands School of Business, Linn will take gra duate-level courses in European poli tics, the philosophy of business ethics, European organizations and business law. “I had to take graduate courses so they would transfer back to A&M,” Linn said. “But, the classes there are structured the same way they are at Texas A&M. Twenty-four of the 30 cre dit hours I’ll be taking will transfer back to A&M. I’ll even be using two of the books used for business courses here. ” Linn prepared for her stay in Europe by studying the European political sys tem and the Dutch language. “I’ve tried to keep up with the politic al system and what’s going on so I’ll know what’s happening when I get there,” she said. “I know a lot of people will be anti-American but I can’t go over there and expect to americanize Europe. I’m going there to learn. “I’m still preparing myself mentally. There will be a lot of things I’ll miss. When you go overseas, you learn to appreciate what you have in the United States. Gaviria said it seems to him that Texas A&M students always are laughing and having fun. “It’s a lot diffe rent from in Colombia, he said. “They joke around more here. I really like it. And they’re always making those ‘who op noises. It took me a while to figure out what that meant also. ” Gaviria said he firmly believes there are valuable educational opportunities for students at Texas A&M. “Universidad de Los Andes, my school in Colombia, is considered a very good school. ” But, he said, the school’s lab facilities are inadequate and the in structors aren’t always the best. “The classes (at Texas A&M) have very good labs and the teachers are great. It’s really interesting,” Gaviria said. Noting other differences, the Col ombian student said there are tremen dous economic differences between Colombia and the United States. “There are great differences between the social classes in Colombia — many poor and few rich,” he said. “Here in the United States, most of the people seem to be very middle class. ” Although Gaviria can point out many differences between living in the Un ited States and living in Colombia, he said when it comes to students having a good time there are a few differences. “The parties I’ve been to here are very big, bigger than any I’ve ever been to in Colombia, but what goes on at them is about the same, he said. “We listen to the same music: and drink a lot of the same drinks. " Gaviria did say, however, that he needs to learn to conn try-western dance. After completing his year at Texas A&M, Gaviria will return to Colombia and the Universidad de Los Andes where he said he plans to finish his undergraduate education. However, he said, he is seriously considering return ing to Texas A&M for graduate school. “I’m really impressed with the Un ited States and the people I have met here,” he said. “This is something not many students get to experience and I plan to learn everything I can from it.” Staff photo by Greg Gammon Juan Gaviria, a 20-year-old exchange student from Colombia, works on a project for his Journalism 315 photography class. I j | i i i i i i l