Montessori gives children
extra edge in education
See page 7
Shakespeare
brings out
laughter
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Texas A&M
Battalion
Serving the University community
75 No. 100 USPS 045360 18 Pages
College Station, Texas
Friday, February 19, 1982
« en:.- - -.
k
Poland lashes out
at Catholic Church
When The Lights Went Out
staff photo by Peter Rocha
These students probably thought that
they would get out of their exams
Thursday afternoon in the Chemistry
Building because of the power outage.
The professor changed that. See related
story page 6.
United Press International
WARSAW, Poland — Poland un
leashed its harshest attack in 12 years
against the Roman Catholic church
and reportedly readied a list of priests
to be arrested, some of whom have
urged resistance to martial law.
The criticism in a Warsaw Radio
commentary Thursday was directed
at local priests but hit hard at Polish
Primate Archbishop Jozef Glemp.
“It was the first such major attack
in 12 years,” said one source close to
the church.
The report criticized “irresponsi
ble statements by the representatives
of the Catholic clergymen of lower
rank” in connection with “religious
symbols put in public places, state in
stitutions and schools.”
“Sometimes it is done in a perfi
dious way,” the report said. “For ex
ample, in northern Poland one of the
priests appealed to parents to resist
the removal of the cross from schools
even if guns and cannons were fired.
“The appeal is perfidious and for
mulated in a tricky way and the whole
problem is made up since, starting
from 1961, by law crosses have not
been hung in state schools.”
The episcopate declined immedi
ate comment.
Last month Glemp criticized the re
moval of crosses from public places
and in several sermons he has spoken
in support of the more than LOGO
martial-law internees.
In West Germany, the Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung said Thursday in
a report attributed to a reliable source
in Warsaw, Polish authorities are
“preparing a dramatic escalation.”
“Polish security authorities have
compiled a list of priests in the whole
country who are to be arrested
abruptly in two to three weeks,” the
newspaper said.
Vandiver concentrates
on University finances
overnor, local leader
ant New Federalism
by Bill Robinson
Battalion Staff
Federalism, as proposed by
Jlent Ronald Reagan in his re-
jState of the Union message,
Trs to be gaining support among
s’ conservative leaders.
[agree with the proposal in con-
Republican Gov. William P.
|ents said in a speech given in
ler Theater Wednesday,
lie president’s proposal calls for
iates to take over the controver-
pasic welfare program, Aid to
iies with Dependent Children
the administration of fooji
These programs can be run better
|e state,” Clements said. “We can
|de better service to the reci
pients at a lower cost.”
The administrative costs of the
programs could be reduced by about
25 percent under state control, he
said.
Clements said the federal govern
ment must provide the money to run
these programs, while decreasing
their regulation over them.
However, the governor said Texas
won’t be able to develop a plan of
action until Congress has acted on
Reagan’s proposals.
“We are working to improve the
effectiveness and efficiency of the
state government,” he said. “We took
bureaucracy head-on and reduced its
growth.”
Rep. Bill Presnal (D-Bryan) agrees
with Clements on the concept.
“We would like to have control be
cause we could operate the programs
more efficiently than the federal gov
ernment,” Presnal said in a telephone
interview.
“The concept is something legisla
tures have been asking Congress for
over the years.
“There are some programs they
can run better than the state, but
others, such as food stamps, we could
run much more efficiently.
“We send a lot of money, to
Washington every year and get very
little of it back.”
Like Clements, Presnal said he
feels the state must wait to see what
Congress does to the program before
taking any action.
by Daniel Puckett
Battalion Staff
In a speech billed as a State of the
University address, University Presi
dent Frank E. Vandiver avoided dis
cussing recent events which have
brought the University to national
attention.
Vandiver spoke Thursday night
about the University’s need for a bet
ter graduate school, a better library
and more computers; conspicuously
absent was any mention of the con
troversy surrounding the hiring of
Athletic Director and Head Coach
Jackie Sherrill.
The Brazos County A&M Club
sponsored the speech; admission to
tne address and the buffet preceding
it was $9 a plate. About 200 people
attended the dinner in the MSC Ban
quet Room.
Vandiver emphasized the Univer
sity’s excellence as well as its needs for
improvement. Specifically, he discus
sed an undersized computer system,
an insufficiently funded graduate
program and an understocked lib
rary.
The University’s computer system,
Vandiver said, is its biggest problem.
While computer training should be
available to all students, the Universi
ty can accommodate about only 25
percent. The solution, he said, is
more money; estimates show the
school needs about $50 million over
the next four years with $ 10 million to
$20 million needed in the first year of
expansion.
The graduate school is also in trou
ble, Vandiver said. Fewer and fewer
graduate students, especially in en-
photo by Todd Woodard
Dr. Frank E. Vandiver
gineering and other business disci
plines, are entering graduate degree
programs. Instead, they are going
into the business world, where they
can earn more.
He said the graduate school needs
more money to fund graduate stu
dent stipends and a first-rate faculty.
Another necessity is the expansion
of the library. The Sterling C. Evans
Library contains about 1 million
volumes; Vandiver said it needs about
4 million. Although the state Legisla
ture allocates money specifically for
the library, it is not enough for the
University’s needs, he said.
To meet those needs, he said, the
University must protect the funds it
receives now and raise millions of dol
lars more.
He said the Legislature must be
persuaded to pay for the University’s
computers, and to preserve the pre
sent structure of the Permanent Uni
versity Fund.
The PUF is a permanent endow
ment from the state of Texas; its cur
rent assets are about $1.5 billion. That
money is invested and the income
from that investment, the Available
University Fund, is split, one-third to
Texas A&M and two-thirds to the
University of Texas.
But Vandiver confined his speech
mainly to financial matters. Missing
from the address was a discussion of
Texas A&M’s policies and leadership,
which came under fire recently when
Sherrill was hired and Head Coach
Tom Wilson was fired.
Sherrill signed a contract reported
ly worth more than $2 million, and
became one of the highest-paid em
ployees of an American university.
The amount of Sherrill’s contract and
the method of his hiring have been
the subject of national publicity.
The abruptness of Wilson’s dismis
sal also stirred up local controversy;
Vandiver himself twice offered to res
ign over the handling of the affair.
However, Thursday night he
avoided any mention of the incident
or of his own resignation offers. He
also failed to mention the hiring
freeze and cutback on department
operating expenses which he ordered
just before Christmas.
Instead, he spoke of his plans for
an international conference on food
and water, which he said will meet
here in 18 months. He said the con
ference will further the University’s
attempt to become a world-class insti
tution.
iniature city teaches safety to kids
KEEP
RIGHT
■m'jk
wT
■
V.
JP 1 ■
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Daisy Garrett, left, Jermey Burns and
Robin Benning rest after pedaling and
| talking through Safe City. With its stop
signs, U-turn signs, stop light, railroad
photo by Michele Rowland
warning, and miniture aluminum buildings,
Safe City behind Oakwood School is the
ideal “city” for a police officer to teach
children about safety.
by Amy Polk
Battalion Reporter
Children of College Station learn
safety rules through experience when
they visit a miniature city on Timber
Street, one block south of Jersey
Street.
Safety City contains street signs,
street lights and small buildings re
sembling area businesses and organi
zations. It includes one and two-lane
streets, a cul-de-sac, left-turn lanes,
railroad tracks, a school and a city
hall.
“We want to make the children,
more responsible pedestrians and
bicyclists,” said Danny Stribling, dire
ctor of Community Education.
Kindergarten through fourth
grade students attend Safety City
once a year. Stribling said approxi
mately 1,800 students “wait all year to
get to go.”
The students begin the program
with a classroom lecture on safety
from their teacher. A College Station
police officer comes to the classes for
one day and speaks to the children for
about an hour.
At the completion of classroom in
structions, students spend 45 minutes
with a police officer and volunteers at
Safety City. The children either walk,
ride bicycles or ride specially de
signed Safety City vehicles through
the streets of Safety City. After
finishing the program, the children
receive a Certificate of Completion.
The entire project was donated by
various organizations. Traffic signals
and signs were provided by the Texas
State Department of Highways and
Public Transportation. The College
Station Independent School District
donated the land and a “little red
schoolhouse,” and the city of College
Station gave $15,000. Area businesses
and organizations donated structures
to serve as city buildings.
Some schools such as Bryan and
Brenham used Safety City with help
from a grant furnished by the High
way Department, Stribling said. He
also said they have received out-of-
state requests to send audio and video
tapes about the unique project.
The program officially opened on
Oct. 5, 1978 after the College Station
Safety Committee requested that a Bi
cycle Safety Curriculum for elemen
tary-aged children be developed.
A policeman is present at all times
to help the children. “It gives the kids
an opportunity to relate to policemen
in a positive attitude,” Stribling said.
Safety City is not used during the
winter, but Stribling said it will start
operation again in March.
The curriculum is altered slightly
each year so the children will benefit
from new experiences each time they
participate in the program, Stribling
said.
inside
Classified 14
Local 3
National 8
Opinions 2
Sports 15
State 4
What’s Up.. 10
forecast
Today’s forecast: Partly cloudy
skies with a high near 70; low
tonight in the low 50s. Saturday’s
forecast calls for more of the same,
with a 30 percent chance of rain.