Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1982)
Jackie’s big plans See page 15 ie food e coad ve time progn is six-ye year don of i 1 guan with t! HH ■ Texas A8dVI ■ ■ ■ ■ The Battalion Serving the University community /ol. 75 No. 79 USPS 045360 18 Pages College Station, Texas Thursday, January 21, 1982 ►e* TS In the midst of hustling to class many students have found - themselves hustling to bookstores in search of textbooks and study aids. Debbie Hart, a junior biomedical science major from Temple, helps Leslie Shives, a junior sociology major from Lufkin, and Charlie Jumper, a senior industrial distribu tion major from Lufkin, find their books in the MSC Book store. leport says oil industry underpaying United Press International WASHINGTON — The public is :ing gypped as much as 16 percent n federal oil and gas royalties — esti- " at $5 billion this year alone — ause federal lease management Ibeen a failure, a special commis- 'it said today. The panel, appointed by Interior etary James Watt to investigate ic royalty underpayments and oil theft, issued a final report conclud ing the agency’s royalty management has been a failure for more than 20 years. “Because the federal government has not adequately managed this mul ti-billion dollar enterprise, the oil and gas industry is not paying all the royalties it rightly owes,” the report said. It said the country can no longer afford such mismanagement of ener gy resources because petroleum royalties have risen from less than $500 million in 1971 to more than $4 billion last year. The commission, chaired by David Linowes, said this year’s estimated tot al royalty take of $5 billion will esca late to $8 billion in 1985 and $14 bil lion in 1990 for a total collection of $90 billion during the current de cade. The report said the commission’s six-month probe backed up a 1979 General Accounting Office finding that 7 to 10 percent of rightful public royalties went unreported and uncol lected. It also said security experts inter viewed by the commission projected additional losses of 3 to 6 percent from outright theft of oil from leased fields. Mine method under review United Press International GRETHEL, Ky. — The bodies of seven men killed in a massive explo sion at a southeastern Kentucky fami ly coal mine were brought to the sur face today, and officials feared a con troversial dynamite technique may be blamed for the disaster. The violent blast tore apart a build ing 500 yards from the mouth of the RFH Coal Co. No. 1 mine “like paper boxes” Wednesday, hurled parts of a coal conveyor belt into distant treetops and blackened the surround ing hillsides. Among the dead were four family members believed to be co-owners of the small mine 8 miles south of Grethel in Floyd County. Stanley listed no official cause for the Grethel disaster, but there was speculation a mining technique called “shooting the solid” — drilling holes in mine surfaces, filling them with dynamite, then setting off the charges to break coal free — may ultimately be blamed. He said there also may not have been enough “rock dusting,” a way of keeping explosive coal dust down. As rescuers searched in vain for survivors Wednesday, Stanley along with United Mine Workers President Sam Church and Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. promised immediate investiga tions into mine safety. Church said he would ask the UMW’s policy-making arm to study the possibility of banning the method because it requires so many explo sives. He also said he may seek Ken tucky legislation outlawing the prac tice. U.S. gets Allies to limit exports United Press International PARIS — The United States won unanimous support from its allies Wednesday night for tighter controls on exports of technology to the Soviet bloc but failed to halt West European plans to help build a Soviet natural gas pipeline. The top-secret meeting of the Control Committee on Trade with Communist Countries ended with members agreeing to a U.S. demand that they revise outmoded proce dures for controlling exports of tech nology that could be used for military purposes by the Soviet bloc. No details of the accord were given. U.S. officials refused to comment directly on the meeting of Japan and all 15 NATO nations except Iceland, but acknowledged there was opposi tion to Washington’s plea for France, Italy and West Germany to abandon their $10 billion pipeline deal with Moscow. f SC budget finalized Service fee utilization increases by Nancy Weatherley Battalion Staff Ajl3.8 percent increase in the allotment of student ‘vice fees for MSC Council and Directorate programs sapproved Wednesday night in the 1982-83 program- tg budget. tfowever, some Council members expressed concern ((some of the thousands of dollars being alloted to kus programs and committees did not benefit a ma- ity of students. Last year’s budget used $193,611 in service fees. This ir the figure was increased to $216,624. The total rking budget is $1.38 million . Todd Norwood, vice president of finance, said Coun members expect to raise $1.17 million through ticket in the coming year, with a net increase of $23,013 last year. me MSC committees which received service fees, as the travel and video committees, are specialized, icting a small segment of the student body. Ken Johnson, student body president, appealed to fel- jCouncil members on behalf of students who don’t ize programs funded by the fee allotment. Specialized committees and events, programmed for a limited num ber of students, are funded by the service fees of all students. In contrast, MSC Director Jim Reynolds supported an increase in service fees for the Outdoor Recreation Com mittee. He said a market for a high scale endeavor for the committee (which is fairly specialized) does exist. The service fees represent a prop for the committee so that they have the funds to grow, he said. Students pay a service fee of $2.80 per semester credit hour. Part of the fee is to be used to help lower the cost of attending MSC programs, according to the Texas A&M catalog. In spite of the controversial discussion, Council mem bers approved each individual committee and program budget without amending any service fee allotment. “Input on questions about the student service fees are good because we’ll get the same questions from the Stu dent Government Finance Committee,” Norwood said. The approved budget will be sent to the finance com mittee, as well as to Dr. John J. Koldus III, vice president for student services for approval. tiffer honor requirements o into effect for May grads By Becky Swanson Battalion Reporter Seniors graduating this May will be ie first students affected by tougher 3nor graduate requirements. I The requirements were changed (theTexas A&M Academic Council November 1977, to take effect this mester. (Until this semester, students could aduate Cum Laude (with honors) ith a 3.250 grade point ratio, but ivuhe status requires a 3.500 GPR. ^he loftier honors requirements also been raised. The following a list of the old and new require- ts: Cum Laude: 3.250-3.499 raised to 0-3.699 ^lagna Cum Laude: 3.500-3.749 d to 3.700-3.899 umma Cum Laude: 3.750 or bet- aised to 3.900 or better, r. Thomas W. Adair III, a mem ber of the Academic Council when the changes were approved, said the proposal originated in the Student Senate as a way to deal with the large number of honor graduates. However, the registrar’s office does not keep records of the number of honor graduates. To be eligible for graduation with honors, undergraduate students must enroll in and complete a mini mum of 60 semester hours preceding graduation from Texas A&M, according to the University’s under graduate catalog. Assistant Registrar Don Gardner said transfer work affects honor gra duate status. Grades transferred from other institutions are converted to the University’s four-point scale, and averaged into the student’s GPR, he said. “Where a lot of students get in trouble is on transfer work,” Gardner said. “A lot of students forget that transfer work is included. Anything less than an A can only hurt (honor graduate status). A lot of students lose their honors on transfer work.” Students expecting to graduate with honors should mark the approp riate honors slot on the left side of the degree application when they com plete their cards at Heaton Hall. Gardner said a student’s last semester is included in his final GPR. During the process of clearing stu dents for graduation, the registrar’s office pulls the files of honor gradu ate candidates, he said. After gra duating seniors’ semester grades are in, the office computes GPRs for each student, he said. On the Thursday before gradua tion, a “clear list” is posted in front of Heaton Hall. Honor graduates are posted on a separate list at the same place and time. Final semester busy period for A&M graduating seniors by Carla Sutter Battalion Reporter The professor looked up from his roll sheet and asked, “How many gra duating seniors are in this class?” Twelve hands shot up eagerly. May 7 and 8 — the end is near. To graduate, though, isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are invitations to order, degree applications to file, caps and gowns to purchase. Remem bering to do everything can help make that special day more enjoyable. Invitations — The last day to order invitations is Feb. 1. Invitations can be ordered in 217 MSC between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. “That’s only two weeks away and we’ve only had a few drifting in so far,” said Faye Yeates, supervisor of the Student Finance Center. He en courages graduating seniors to order their invitations as soon as possible to avoid long lines and possible delays. The cost of invitations varies according to the order. The maroon souvenir invitation is $3, the card board souvenir invitation is $2.50 and the plain French fold is 60 cents. One hundred name cards can be purch ased for $6.50. The invitations should arrive April 12, Yeates said. They can be picked up in the MSC Browsing Library. Degree Applications — All gra duating seniors and graduate stu dents must make a formal application for their degrees by Feb. 15. To file a degree application, all undergradu ate and graduate degree applicants must pay a $15 fee at the fiscal office in the Coke Building. Undergraduates then must take their fee receipts to the registar’s office in 105 Heaton Hall and fill out degree application forms. Graduate degree applicants must take their fee receipts to the graduate college office in 125 Teague Research Center. Caps and Gowns — The MSC Bookstore will begin selling caps and gowns April 1. A bachelor’s cap and gown costs $ 11 and a master’s cap and gown costs $12. Students also are encouraged to take care of any financial or educa tional problem as soon as possible, said Robert Smith, controller of accounts in the Fiscal Department. Such matters include unpaid bills, parking tickets, insufficient funds and overdue library books. Hotel accommodations — Those students who have not yet made hotel reservations for parents and relatives should start airing out the sleeping bags because area hotels and motels are completely booked. inside Classified . .. page 8 Local page 3 N ational.... .... page 11 Opinions . . . page 2 Sports .... page 15 State page 5 What’s Up . . .... page 10 forecast Today’s forecast: Mostly cloudy and warm with a 40 percent chance of rain. High today in the mid-70s; low in the mid-60s. There is a 50 percent chance of rain tonight and tomorrow.