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The Battalion
Serving the University community
oiVqI. 75 No. 112 USPS 045360 12 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, March 9, 1982
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A&M mails
out midterm
rades today
ACADEMIC DEAN S COPY
PRELIMINARY GRADE REPORT
by Rebeca Zimmermann
Battalion Staff
Midterm grades, what one college
an calls the signal of “mid-course
rrection time,” will be mailed today.
These grades are not recorded
lywhere on a student’s permanent
cord and are simply a way of letting
e student know where he stands in
courses, explained Harold L.
ice, assistant registrar for admis-
)ns and records.
Mid-semester grade reports are
ailed to a student’s local address. If
tudent’s parents request a copy, the
port will go to the student’s home
Idress. Final grades are mailed to a
ident’s permanent address.
Pace said midterm grades usually
e processed and ready to mail by 2
on the day departments turn
em in — in this case, today. The
me-consuming part of the process is
parating local and out-of-town
ailing addresses, which takes about
c hours, he said.
Lorraine A. Kitchner, staff assis-
nt for admissions and records, said
lany reports are returned because of
correct addresses. Because of the
large volume of reports mailed, those
returned are not mailed a second
time.
After receiving the grade reports,
Kitchner said, students should im
mediately check the classes and
grades listed on the report. Some
times a class that was dropped or
added may not show up correctly on
the report, she said.
If class errors are found, a student
should check with the records depart
ment as soon as possible, Kitchner
said. If an error is made on a grade,
the student should see the instructor.
If the student’s academic college uses
midterm grades for pre-registration,
an instructor must notify the college
of the change.
However, this is only for the acade
mic college. Since midterm reports
are not kept on file in the registrar’s
office, a grade change is not made
there.
The registrar’s off ice keeps copies
of the grades for two weeks, in case a
student does not get a copy. Copies
will be available Friday in the records
department of the registrar’s office.
Dr. Terry E. Shoup, assistant dean
(Oxv, t CCXIB'J
f|AM/ 4 \ ’ •HI -.1
\
2 ENGL
DOE, JOHN DON
SPRING
SEMESTER 1982
LXScR.PUvf *11.1
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!h n
■ •*
GPaOF
i
INTRO TO ANTHROPOLOGY
ANT El
201
3
0
c
3 !
6
0
INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY
BIOL
113
3
0
B
9
3
INTRO BIOLOGY LAB
BIOL
123
0
3
A
1 1
9
1
TECHNICAL WRITING
ENGL
301
3
0
A
3
12
2
REQUIRED PHYSICAL EDUC
P E
199
0
2
C
1
2
6
STATE l
LOCAL GOVT
POLS
207
3
0
F
<
9+
GPR 2
5000, HR 50, GP 125
14
11
33
TOTAL HOURS 55
GPR THIS T
ERM
2.3571
r
L
JOHN DON
123 MAIN
DOE
STREE'
COLLEGE STATION, TX 77840
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
COUEGE STAriON. TE x Af> 7/R4 I
GRADING SYSTEM
A Excellent, U Good, C fcnr
D E Fulling, I In, ..m'i.'I, !,
VVP Withdrew Passing, V/F Withdrew Far
S SuhsfiKtory, U Unsatisfoctoiy
P Pass, Q Dropped With No Penalty
0
AY /: /
GPR - Includes mid-semester grades
HR - Hours attempted at Texas A&M (including mid-term)
GP - Grade points for courses taken at Texas A&M (including mid-term)
TOTAL HOURS - Hours completed (not including this term) including
transfer work and credit by examination
The grades also are used to deter- said midterm grades are the only
of engineering, said the most signifi
cant use of midterm grades is for pre
registration, which will be held the
week of April 19.
For example, engineering students
who have mid-semester grade point
ratios below 2.0 are not allowed to
pre-register. Shoup said he feels mid
term grades are important because
they let a student know when it is
“mid-course correction time.”
mine if a student is qualified to order
a senior ring, Pace said.
Some student organizations re
quire certain midterm GPRs for
membership. For example, the Corps
of Cadets uses these grades for acade
mic officers’ reports, he said.
Mary J. Robertson, undergraduate
adviser in the College of Liberal Arts,
available indicator of a student’s per
formance.
Grade reports for liberal arts stu
dents with a mid-semester GPR below
2.0 or liberal arts students on scholas
tic probation are separated from the
other reports, she said. These stu
dents are sent letters advising them of
their status for pre-registration,
Robertson said.
Report
blasts
Soviets
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The United
States charged Monday that savage
Soviet artillery and air bombardment
killed hundreds of civilians this year
in attacks on Kandahar and Herat,
two of Afghanistan’s major cities.
Deputy Secretary of State Walter
Stoessel also told the Senate reports
from Afghan detectors and refugees
indicate more than 3,000 people died
in Soviet attacks with lethal chemical
weapons between 1979 and 1981.
“Thousands of innocent civilians
have been killed or maimed as the
Soviets and the puppet Afghan army
have destroyed villages and crops,
strewn anti-personnel mines over
trails and inhabited areas, employed
lethal chemical weapons and forcibly
impressed young Afghans in the
armed forces,” he said.
In briefing the Senate Foreign Re
lations Committee on the situation in
Afghanistan, Stoessel said the Krem
lin so far has rejected U.S. proposals
for serious discussions in Geneva on a
political settlement of the crisis.
Such a settlement would include
terms for a Soviet w ithdrawal, he said.
uto workers
repare for
ontract talks
United Press International
[■DETROIT — United Auto Work-
& leaders, who have given Ford
Motor Co. up to $1 billion in return
fo job security, say the attitude has
I an ged about contract concessions
d may reopen negotiations with
B o automakers this week.
I American Motors officials and the
it non were scheduled to meet in Mil-
Mtukee Monday to discuss possible
r negotiation. The UAW’s 290-
n ember General Motors Council w ill
fleet Thursday in suburban Dear-
b)rn to vote on whether to resume
negotiations to reopen the contract
lith the No. 1 automaker.
I LAW President Douglas Fraser
has said that with council approval,
■gotiations with GM could begin as
I rly as Friday — a day after the vote,
e predicted the talks could be com-
eted within a week.
Officials said the AMC discussions
I ould center on what sort of benefits
Bid job security the automaker will
J offer in return for employee accept
ance of a proposal made by AMC last
III.
At that time. AMC asked workers
B> invest 10 percent of their wages for
months to raise SI50 million to-
I ard a SI billion product develop-
lient plan. T he firm said at the time it
Bmld start repayment to the workers
|l 10 percent annual interest as earlv
1 1983.
Ray Majerus, UAW secretary-
treasurer, said the UAW’s American
Motors Council w ill decide after the
meeting whether to reopen the ex
isting contract.
Echoing Fraser’s prediction about
GM, he said negotiations with AMC
could begin immediately after final
approval was given.
Fraser is expected to attend the
AMC talks.
Anticipated rank-and-file opposi
tion to a new GM contract was blamed
in part for the breakdown of talks in
January. Seven Flint locals, which
provided more than 13 percent of all
the votes cast at the last GM Council
meeting and were reluctant to accept
concessions, already have guaranteed
their support for new talks.
But faced with continued plant
closings and an increasing number of
layoffs, those workers and other
opponents have softened.
“The attitude has changed drastic
ally out here, just in the past couple of
months,” said Jim Osborne, president
of UAW Local 1292 at the Flint Fisher
Body plant.
Osborne was a foe of UAWGM
talks w ho has changed his mind.
“I don’t have any problem now in
supporting a resolution to go back to
the table.”
Fraser has cautioned that GM
should not expect employee conces
sions greater than those contained in
the recent 31-month UAW-Ford set
tlement.
A personal or Constitutional dilemma?
Abortion perspectives offered
by Laura Williams
Battalion Staff
Almost every one of the 150 per
sons gathered in Rudder Theater
Monday night supported something
heard in an in-depth discussion on
abortion.
Janice Frieve, executive director of
the I exas Action Rights Abortion
League, received a standing ovation
after discussing abortion as a personal
dilemma. She said the issue of abor
tion is one of personal concern, rather
than one of public concern.
In contrast. Dr. Joseph With
erspoon, director of the National
Right to Life Committee Inc., pre
sented his views on abortion as a pub
lic, legal dilemma, maintaining that
personal beliefs are overridden by
Constitutional intentions.
Abortion denies a human being the
right to life, a right that the United
States Constitution was founded on,
said Witherspoon, a professor of law
at the University of Texas.
“Abortion is a problem of para
mount proportions for all people of
our society,” he said. “Abortion is a
crime against the unborn child, the
mother and society."
However. Roe v. Wade, a January
1973 Supreme Court case, states that
a woman has the constitutional right
to have an abortion.
“Americans should be terribly con
cerned about how- the Supreme Court
has used the Constitution to make a
ruling such as in the case of Roe v.
Wade,” Witherspoon said.
Janice Frieve
He said that even pro-abortion law
scholars say the case lacks support.
“This law says that the pregnant
woman has the right to abort the un
born child at anytime during pre
gnancy, that the unborn child is not a
person and does not possess the capa
bility of meaningful life,” he said.
Because of this gross misinterpre
tation of Constitutional rights, With
erspoon said. Right to Fife groups
have been seeking legislative mea
sures to protect the unborn child who
has reached seven months of age, un
less it is necessary to protect the
mother medically.
Witherspoon, who has been a
member of Right to Life groups for
11 years, said the formation of such
groups in reaction to the court’s deci
sion supports beliefs that abortion is a
big problem.
Right to Life groups have prop
osed to Congress a Human Life
Amendment, which says the unborn
child is a person and should have the
appropriate rights.
The proposal cites the 10th and
14th Amendments to the Constitu
tion and will prohibit any woman
from having an abortion except to
protect the life of the mother, With
erspoon said.
4 aking another perspective, Frieve
said the issue of abortion is not one of
legality, but personal and private con
templation.
“The Abortion Rights League is
not a pro-abortion organization,” she
said. “We do advocate that every'
woman have that choice.”
Noting that 22 percent of the
women interviewed in the early 1940s
had illegally aborted a child, Frieve
said abortion has not become a prob
lem in response to the Roe v. Wade
case.
“Many think the case brought on
the wave of abortion, but it has been
an issue long before this,” she said.
“Outlawing abortion will not end it,
but only make it more dangerous for
the woman.”
Interpretation of the Constitution
becomes emotional and religious in
the case of abortion because there is
no biological agreement, Frieve said,
adding that such interpretations
erode Constitutional rights.
“If you don’t think abortion is
right, don’t have one,” she said. “But
don’t impose those beliefs on other
Dr. Joseph Witherspoon
people whose entire futures are at
stake.
“Abortion is not controversial.
Abortion is personal. Abortion K
made controversial by people who
oppose it and insist on keeping it con
troversial.”
The program entitled, “Abortion:
Both Sides,” was sponsored bv the
MSC Great Issues Committee.
#1
judge orders
jBell to give
back money
" United Press International
AUSTIN — Southwestern Bell
Telephone Co. must begin refunding
|23 million to Texas customers April
11 unless the company can get a court
rder delaying the action, a judge
led.
Travis County District Judge
lume Gofer Monday rejected a Bell
equest to delay the refunds. The re-
unds were ordered because Bell im-
ilemented a S246 million rate in-
rease in October 198 1 while the Pub-
k Utility Commission was consider-
nt» the phone company’s request for
ligher rates.
University budget relating
to faculty Vandiver’s topic
University President Prank E.
Vandiver will speak Wednesday to fa
culty members on “The Budget and
Its Impact on the Faculty.”
A discussion will follow Vandiver's
address, which begins at 4 p.m. in 601
Rudder. The event is part of a meet
ing of the Texas Association of Col
lege Teachers.
Vandiver said Monday night that
his speech will probablv focus on the
way the budget is formulated and on
the effects of the present budget.
Just before Christmas, Vandiver
ordered a hiring freeze and a cutback
in some operating expenses. The aus
terity move also included a request
that all departments submit plans for
dismissing employees if layoffs be
came necessary.
Vandiver said the austerity mea
sures were necessary to make Univer
sity procedures more efficient and
economical. He added that the money
saved would mainh go toward impro
ving the University’s computer sys
tems.
The measures caused some con
troversy among faculty and staff
members earlv this vear. but Vandiv
er explained that the layoff plans
were onlv contingency plans. He said
the hiring freeze was intended more
to make administrators careful about
their budgets than to stop hiring
altogether.
Study puts A&M’s political
science department 10th
The Texas A&M Department of
Political Science has been ranked 1 Oth
in the nation by a Southern Illinois
University study.
The studv is based on the number
of articles, written bv professors at
each school, which were published in
sev en political science journals from
1978 through 1981. said Dr. David
Hill, assistant professor of political
science.
Dr. Charles Johnson, associate
professor of political science, said the
national journal of the Professional
Political Science Association, official
journals of each region in the United
States and the American Political
Quarterly are the seven journals used
in the studv.
Hill said the study is a measure of
productivity and published research.
It does not include international rela
tions publications or the number of
published books.
Although an earlier studv, made bv
another group, ranked Texas A&M
44th in the nation. Hill said the stu
dies are comparable.
Johnson said some of the previous
studies included onlv schmils with
political science doctoral programs
which I exas A&M does not have.
The University of Michigan, w hich
has a doctoral program in the political
science department, was ranked first
in the nation.
inside
Classified 8
Local 3
National 7
Opinions 2
Sports 9
State 5
What's Up 12
forecast
Today's forecast: Partly <ioud\ and
warm with a high in the niid-TOs:
low tonight in the inid-3(K.
Wednesday’s foretasi talK fm a
high in the upper 70'.