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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 1981)
Fhe Battalion Serving the Texas A&M University community Friday, October 9, 1981 College Station, Texas USPS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 The Weather Today Tomorrow High 74 High .. .84 Low 62 Low .. .64 Chance of rain. . . . . . 40% Chan ce ofrain . 20% Leaders fly to Cairo amid security concerns United Press International CAIRO, Egypt— Police battled Isla mic fundamentalists with submachine guns in a city south of Cairo, increasing concern for the safety of a U.S. delega tion led by three former presidents who flew to Egypt today for the funeral of slain President Anwar Sadat. Security officials said the fighting Thursday in the Nile riverside city of Asyut in the wake of Sadat’s assassina tion by alleged Moslem extremists re sulted in at least 10 dead and many in jured. Police beefed up their numbers to prevent disorders as crowds gathered for today’s sabbath prayers at the mos ques Sadat had put under state control last month in an attempt to curb fun damentalist groups. Before all three living ex-presidents left Washington Thursday evening for the Saturday funeral. President Reagan held a special ceremony at the White House. Secretary of State Alexander Haig will represent Reagan, who was convinced there was too much danger to attend the funeral. “On behalf of the country, I want to express a heartfelt thanks to presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter and Mrs. Car ter for undertaking this sad mission,’’ Reagan said. “Their presence in Cairo will express to the Egyptian people the depth of America’s grief and sorrow at the loss of a great leader and a beloved friend. ” National Security Adviser Richard Allen told Washington television station WDVN that their plane “will not be alone.” He did not elaborate on what might be escorting the plane, but did say extra precautions had been taken. Egyptian security sharply scaled down ceremonies to prevent any out break of trouble and to protect the inter national mourners — including Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. New enrollment standard will not be retroactive New look at MSC Bookstore Photo by Chris Lakics Brad Gottshalk, an agricultural economics major, is building a temporary sales counter for the first floor MSC Bookstore where the lockers have been removed. The counter will be dis mantled later in the semester to build offices and rearrange the candy counter. CS Council fixes maximum for wrecker service tow charge By RANDY CLEMENTS The College Station City Council set maximum charge Monday for ecker services towing vehicles from rivate parking lots without the owner’s nsent. Councilman Larry Ringer said charges for towing currently range any where from $47.50 up to $65 and that he [wassurprised no one was present for the public hearing to set the fees. zoning standpoint.” In other action, the council nomin ated Anne Jones and Jim Dozier to rep resent the city on the Brazos County Appraisal District Board of Directors. Nominations for the board positions will come from College Station, the Col lege Station Independent School Dis trict, Bryan, the Bryan Independent School District and Brazos County. By TERRY DURAN Battalion Staff Business and engineering students worried about their academic careers can breathe a little easier. Academic Affairs Vice President J. M. Prescott issued a memorandum to all faculty members Thursday saying higher standards for enrollment in junior level business and engineering courses would not affect students already enrolled at Texas A&M Univer sity, quashing rumors to the contrary. ”... requirements for upper level study in business administration and engineering will become effective when those students who enter in the fall of 1982 or thereafter reach the stage of taking junior level courses,” the memorandum states. Confusion about whether the policy would be retroactive began after the July 28 meeting of the Texas A&M Board of Regents. At the meeting the regents adopted policies to manage en rollment in the colleges of engineering and business administration and to raise entrance requirements for freshmen and transfer students enrolling in fall 1982 and thereafter. Included in Regent John R. Blocker’s unanimously-approved motion was one which limits enrollment in junior and senior level courses in the colleges of engineering and business administra tion. Business majors enrolling in junior level business courses must have com pleted 45 credit hours (at least 12 of them at Texas A&M), have an overall grade point ratio of 2.25 and have com pleted a prescribed block of 100- and 200-level courses. A minimum overall GPR of 2.25 will also be required for engineers to take junior level engineering courses. A 2.25 overall average and a 2.25 average in all engineering courses will be required to enroll in senior level engineering classes. However, the regents failed to in clude a “grandfather clause” — a clause which would exempt students already enrolled at Texas A&M from the raised grade requirements — in the policy statement. Consequently, rumors that the Re gents’ decision would be retroactive swung from grapevine to grapevine through students in the two colleges and across the campus, apparently fed by partial information and exaggeration as the semester progressed. Scuttlebutt ranged from the new standards being retroactive to informa tion that one or more engineering de gree programs were scheduled to be phased out. Officials in the college of engineer ing, however, said no plans had been made to drop any degree program. The memo issued by Prescott says the matter of raised standards for entr ance to junior level courses “is governed by University Regulation No. 37, which states in part: Tn meeting the require ments for a baccalaureate degree, a stu dent is normally expected to complete the course and hour requirements as outlined in the catalog in effect at the time of his or her entrance.’” Malon Southerland, assistant to the University president, said Thursday afternoon the colleges of business and engineering had interpreted the re gents’ action “as being retroactive.” “That interpretation,” he said, “got back to (Academic Affairs Vice Presi dent) Prescott and the president, and they disagreed, so Prescott came out with the memo.” As to why the original measure approved by the Board of Regents had no grandfather clause, Southerland said, “Sometimes things are done too quickly. Then what happens is that some things get left out, and the fallout from that is that somebody has to go back and clarify things.” Dr. Robert H. Page, dean of the Col lege of Engineering, says “about 90 per cent” of the engineering classes this semester are overcrowded. Twelfth class day engineering enrollment fi gures show 11,418 students, up from 10,214 in the fall 1980 semester. Page said some lab classes are “run ning junior and senior labs at the same time, which poses something of a safety problem.” Sometimes, he said, up to one third of the students in a lab cannot participate because of overcrowding. However, under the new standards, the student with over a 2.0 GPR — needed to stay in good standing with the University — but under a 2.25 “will not be dropped,” Page said. Instead, they will be able to take anything but upper level engineering courses. “They will have the opportunity to raise their grades, and then enter (the upper level courses) when they have a 2.25. They’re not being cut out. “We just don’t have the space or the faculty to keep on going like we’re going,” he said. Page said he thought the reason be hind the regents’ decision was “to main tain the quality of the program. “This will be extra motivation for someone just getting by academically to raise their grades. It might be hard on the student who’s just squeaking by, but it’s hard on the top students too, when the classes are so overcrowded,” Page said. The same problem — overcrowding — exists in the College of Business Administration, Dean William V. Muse said. “Enrollment has grown faster than resources,” he said. “It’s a problem in terms of having enough faculty, space and other things needed to respond to that level of enrollment. “The student-faculty ratio has gotten out of hand,” Muse said. “It’s above what we like to have and what the accre ditation people like us to have. We have to reduce the rate of growth, so our resources can catch up and we can re duce the class size to a level that’s man ageable.” Bright asks Target 2000 to plot A&M growth | No maximum fees were set for tow- ;ing from private parking lots with police officers present and towing from public property. City Manager North Bardell said these towings required the wrecker ser vice to be on 24 hour stand-by for 'emergency calls and that the city should •not set fees. ; The standard charge for the emergen cy calls is $47.50, Bardell said. Most of the complaints about over charging come from the towing of vehi- j cles from private parking without the E owner’s consent, he said. The council postponed setting the fees two weeks ago at the request of wrecker service owner Sparky Hardee. Hardee requested the postponement so that he could supply the council with financial papers showing his justifica tion for what he charges. i However, Hardee was not at the pub lichearing and has not brought the pap ers to the council or city staff. In other action, the council also changed the ordinance requiring per mits for having a garage sale. The ordinance states that signs adver tising a garage sale may be posted only on the property of the person having the garage sale. A garage sale also may not exceed 72 hours and may not be held more than once in a six month period. Violating the ordinance carries a max imum fine of $200. Bardell said half the people having garage sales don’t get permits and en forcement is difficult. I The ordinance gives us proper con trol without having permits,” he said, i and lets our people investigate on a By DENISE RICHTER Battalion Staff The chairman of the Texas A&M Sys tem Board of Regents Thursday asked members of the Target 2000 Project to study the economic, social, political and technological trends facing the System and to determine a long-range “road map for the University to follow. Speaking at the organizational meet ing of the project, Regent H.R. “Bum’ Bright told members to examine tradi tional values as they set goals and objec tives for the year 2000, but to be open to new ideas “because the greatest organi zation is one that has the flexibility to meet ... change.” The Target 2000 Project, a planning study encompassing the four academic institutions and seven major service agencies of the Texas A&M System, is scheduled for completion and presenta tion to the Board of Regents in Decem ber 1982. The project will be funded by dona tions from foundations, corporations and individuals. Total cost of the project is an estimated $500,000 — about $150,000 has been raised. Bright said at a Sept. 21 meeting of the Brazos County A&M Club. The project’s structure was designed by John Blocker, vice chairman of the Board of Regents. The 230-member Target 2000 Pro ject committee is divided into three task forces: one dealing with the four acade mic institutions, one dealing with the agricultural agencies and services and one dealing with the three engineering agencies and services. Each task force will be divided into four work groups of which each will deal with one of the following areas — prog rams, clientele, resources or organiza tion and management — of the institu tions or agencies that fall under the scope of the task force. Work groups will meet today in Rud der Tower. Speaking at Thursday’s meeting, Blocker told the group to “be aware of historical perspectives and still be will ing to break from habitual patterns of thought. ” The Target 2000 Project will “speci fically shape the future of Texas A&M and all its parts, ” Blocker said. Because of the wide scope of the University, members of the group have the “oppor tunity to relate the future of the Univer sity System to the future of the state of Texas,” he said. Issues facing the Target 2000 Project include possible means of limiting en rollment at Texas A&M University while promoting growth at Prairie View A&M University, Tarleton State Uni versity and Texas A&M University at Galveston and the preservation of the Permanent University Fund. The PUF is an endowment fund shared by the University of Texas Sys tem and the Texas A&M System. Speaking at the Target 2000 execu tive committee meeting Sept. 25, Sys tem Chancellor Frank W.R. Hubert said the PUF plays a vital role in the support of “this mega-buck conglomer ate of higher education. “We hope that growing out of this study will be a network of support and assistance that could be used in the pro tection of the PUF, he said. Staff photo by Creg Gammon Regents Chairman H.R. “Bum” Bright, John Blocker and System Chancellor Frank W.R. Hubert (1 to r.)