Battalion
Serving the University community
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, June 29, 1982
IT
Y!
)
staff photo by Peter Rocha
And It Didn’t Even Hurt
Junior Douglas Stohz, a computer
science major from Cullowhee, N.C.,
takes his turn giving blood in the
ey
parked by the Rudder fountain. The
drive continues today.
--Academic Council sets
alendar, clarifies rules
iy
ED
by Rebeca Zimmermann
Battalion Staff
— The American Association of Uni-
Ifcrsity Professors voted to remove
Texas A&M from its censure list at its
Iriday meeting in Washington, D.C.
■ Dr. Charles McCandless, acting
pice president for academic affairs,
Ipld the Texas A&M University
Academic Council at Thursday’s
eeting that the recommendation
as being made.
Texas A&M had been placed on
e censure list in 1968 after the
AUP decided the University had
flailed to follow academic due process
[ in the dismissal of Dr. Leon Gibbs, a
■trofessor in veterinary medicine.
BDibbs was a tenured professor.
Also during its meeting, the
cademic Council approved the
reposed 1983-84 academic calen-
ar. The 1983 Fall Semester will be-
in Aug. 29. The last day of classes
ill be Dec. 9, and finals are sche-
uled for Dec. 12 to 16, 1983.
Classes for the 1984 Spring Semes-
iter will begin Jan. 16, spring break
will be March 12 through 16, classes
will end May 4 and finals are sche
duled for May 7 through 11. Com
mencements will be May 4 and 5 and
Final Review is scheduled for May 5,
1984.
Summer sessions in 1984 will run
from June 4 through July 11 and
from July 12 through Aug. 17. Sum
mer commencement will be held Aug.
18, 1984.
The council also made several
changes and clarifications in the Uni
versity Rules and Regulations.
The graduation gradepoint re
quirement now states “the undergra
duate student must complete with at
least a C average all undergraduate
course work attempted at Texas
A&M University.”
The policy on repeated courses was
clarified with the addition of “the ori
ginal grade will remain on the stu
dent’s permanent record, and both
grades will be used in computing the
GPR. Credit for each repeated course
may only be used once toward degree
requirements.”
‘Gloomy’ prospects
for Beirut solution
United Press International
BEIRUT, Lebanon — PLO leader
Yasser Arafat huddled with Lebanese
leaders today seeking to avert an all-
out Israeli assault on west Beirut and
the threatened “liquidation” of his
organization.
Sources close to the meeting said
prospects for a political settlement
appeared “gloomy,” but Israeli Prime
Minister Menachem Begin indicated
there might be a resolution without
having to “storm their last redoubt.”
There was no official word on the
negotiations, which started shortly
before midnight at the residence of
Prime Minister Chefik Wazzan.
But unofficial sources said the
Lebanese were reporting to the Pales
tinian delegation on talks Monday be
tween President Elias Sarkis, Wazzan
and U.S. envoy Philip Habib.
They said a major obstacle was
convincing Israel to move its troops
back from Beirut, enabling the Pales
tine Liberation Organization to nego
tiate “honorably” without the threat
of military pressure.
Arafat reportedly agreed Monday
to Israel’s key demand to evacuate
most of his 6,000 guerrillas trapped in
west Beirut. But officials warned
numerous details remained unsolved
and Israel may invade the last PLO
stronghold if a full settlement is not
reached soon.
Begin’s Cabinet Sunday called on
all the PLO guerrillas in west Beirut to
surrender their weapons to the
Lebanese army and leave Lebanon
under Red Cross escort. The Cabinet
specified Syria as the destination, but
did not bar an “alternative route.”
Israeli Defense Minister Ariel
Sharon told Israel’s Arabic television
service Monday Israel was very close
to achieving the liquidation of the
PLO. He said the guerrillas in Beirut
were hopelessly surrounded and ex
pressed hope the problem be solved
without another drop of blood being
shed.
Sharon told the Foreign Affairs
and Defense Committee of the Knes
set (the Israeli parliament) he thought
there was a “good chance” the guerril
las would leave Beirut by sea.
Israeli Radio Monday quoted Be
gin saying: “there is reason to hope
that the government’s offer for the
removal of the terrorists from Beirut
and its environs on fair terms will not
be in vain, and then there will be no
need to storm their last redoubt.”
A high-ranking Lebanese govern
ment official said new proposals sub
mitted to Habib by Wazzan and Sarkis
called for one or two brigades of
Palestinian fighters to be incorpo
rated into the regular Lebanese army
and for the remainder to be rede
ployed elsewhere.
Under this plan, the PLO leader
ship would “relocate” its headquar
ters at an as yet undetermined loca
tion outside Beirut.
The latest Israeli-declared cease
fire apparently held into its fourth
day Monday, although three Israeli
soldiers were wounded Sunday night
in a guerrilla ambush in Israelioccu-
pied Damur.
Arafat Monday addressed a
morale-boosting message to his
troops. “You are stronger than their
planes, their whole navy, their tanks
and their rockets,” the Palestinian
news agency Wafa quoted him saying.
“This revolution continues until vic
tory.”
Dismissing as ridiculous stories re
ports that thousands of Palestinian
fighters would leave Beirut under a
white flag, Arafat said: “What they
(the Israelis) fail to achieve militarily
they will not achieve through the
media or any other means.”
For the second time in two days,
Israeli planes rained leaflets over
Beirut, urging residents to flee for
their lives because “time is running
short.”
“The more you delay,” the leaflets
said, “the more you expose your life
and the lives of your loved ones to
danger.”
reached soon. and for the remainder to be rede- danger.”
2 VP posts eliminated
in streamlining effort
by Terry Duran being considered at System level; he “This reorganizatr
Incomplete course work must be
completed “before the end of the next
fall or spring semester in which the
student enrolls in the university.”
Drug paraphernalia has been
added to the list of forbidden items to
have, manufacture, sell or use on Uni
versity property.
Also, policies for readmission to
the University following dismissal or
suspension were specified.
When a student has been dismissed
from the University, “readmission to
the University may be possible in the
future, but no specific time for a deci
sion is established.”
A student who has been suspended
“is not guaranteed readmission at the
end of such period of time, but is
guaranteed a review of the case and a
decision regarding eligibility for
readmission.”
Other action taken included the
approval of 16 new courses and the
filling of vacant positions in Academic
Council committees. Student repre
sentatives were named to five of the
committees.
by Terry Duran
Battalion Staff
University Vice Presidents Charles
H. Samson and T.R. Greathouse have
resigned, effective Thursday, as part
of an administrative streamlining
effort.
University President Frank E.
Vandiver said Monday he requested
and received the resignations, elimi
nating the two posts, in order to
“achieve greater efficiency and eco
nomy and make the administration
more responsive.
“I hope we can get a little quicker
turnaround time on things that need
to get done,” Vandiver said.
“We’re trying to cut down on ex
penses and people throughout the
University. We can’t do it on the facul
ty level if we don’t do it in the adminis
tration first. It’s not fair.”
An announcement in May said
reorganization at the vice presidential
level was being considered, although
University officials declined to say
who would be affected.
Vandiver also said his plans for
overall reorganization of the Univer
sity’s administration are currently
• •
being considered at System level; he
said he hopes they will be taken up at
the next meeting of the Board of Re
gents July 26.
Samson had served as vice presi
dent for planning since September,
when he ended a year-long stint as
acting University president and Van
diver took over. Samson will return to
full-time teaching and research in the
Department of Civil Engineering.
Vandiver said the planning office
will, in the future, report to the vice
president for academic affairs.
Greathouse, who holds a faculty
position in the animal science depart
ment, had been vice president for in
ternational affairs since May 1979.
Vandiver declined to say what Great-
house’s future will be, but said he will
remain at Texas A&M.
Greathouse will be replaced by Dr.
Jack Cross, who will hold the title of
director of international affairs.
Cross is currently a research associate
with the Center for Strategic Tech
nology in the Texas Engineering Ex
periment Station. Cross will continue
to report to the University president’s
office, at least for the present.
“This reorganization,” Vandiver
said, “is in no way a reflection oti Dr.
Samson or Dr. Greathouse. Both men
have served in an extremely effective
manner.”
Samson said Monday he gave his
resignation to Vandiver in May.
“It’s the president’s prerogative to
decide on the organization he consid
ers best,” Samson said, “and I accept
that decision.”
In responding to Samson’s letter of
resignation, Vandiver said: “The ser
vice you have rendered this Universi
ty stands beyond repayment and will
linger in the affections of Aggies
everywhere.”
Vandiver was also complimentary
of Greathouse’s service.
“I am grateful to Dr. Greathouse
for the energy and enthusiasm that he
brought to international affairs and
for the development that took place
under his administration.”
Greathouse was also coordinator of
Title XII activities — federally
assisted activities dealing with inter
national students at selected universi
ties across the country.
Six journalists disappear
United Press International
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador —
Six journalists, including a U.S. resi
dent, disappeared from a combat
zone where leftist rebels and army
troops fought a bloody daylong battle
over a strategic garrison town.
Peasants on the road south of
Suchitoto, a town of 10,000 some 24
miles north of the capital, told UPI
Monday rebels apparently had taken
at least one of the journalists from a
battle site.
They said the six — five TV repor
ters and a print journalist — arrived
in two cars just south of Suchitoto
where rebels were burning a bus
headed for San Salvador.
Guerrillas ordered the passengers
off the bus, set fire to it and shot dead
a soldier and two civilians who tried to
run when identified as militiamen.
Moments later, an army helicopter
arrived and began firing on the re
bels, who told the civilians and appa
rently the journalists to head for the
surrounding hills with them, the
peasants said.
They said the guerrillas left with “a
gringo” — apparently Julian Harri
son, 32, a cameraman and resident of
Hillsborough, N.C., for 10 years — as
well as Latin men who may have been
the other journalists.
ops
fig
jured 15 in fierce street fighting in
Suchitoto that began at dawn Mon
day. Judicial and National Guard
sources also reported 10 civilians kil
led and 21 wounded in the fighting.
The clandestine rebel Radio
Venceremos reported new U.S.lent
A-37 “Dragonfly” fighter planes
dropped 500-pound bombs on rebel
positions near the town.
A National Guard source said the
journalists had been taken hostage.
But in March 1981, a Seattle, Wash.,
news crew was hustled away from a
battle zone by guerrillas to protect
them from fighting.
A UPI correspondent said he saw
the journalists’ two cars parked a few
yards from the burned bus. Doors
and windows were open, indicating a
hurried departure. All their equip
ment was gone except for one of Har
rison’s bags.
Two of the six were identified as
Harrison, a British citizen, and
Eduardo Vazquez Becker, an inde
pendent Guatemalan journalist and
former Associated Press correspon
dent in El Salvador.
Academic stress conducive to suicide
spe P;
and Robert Curlin
Battalion Reporter
The suicide rate is 50 percent
| higher for college students than for
their peers who are outside of col
lege, Dr. Wade G. Birch, the dire
ctor of the personal counseling ser
vice at Texas A&M, says.
“Suicide is currently the second
leading cause of death among peo
ple 15 to 24 years of age,” Birch said.
“Texas A&M is a very highly com
petitive institution and there’s a lot
of stress here.
“If you strike a rough average,
our counseling office sees about 21
attempted suicides a year and one
completion,” he said. The statistic
includes any student who the PCS
has had contact with, even if the stu
dent has left the University.
Nation-wide, the suicide rate in
creases as students get farther up
the academic ladder, meaning that
graduate students are more likely to
commit suicide than freshmen. Also
on the national level, liberal arts ma
jors tend to be more likely to commit
suicide.
“That’s possibly reflected in their
majors; for example, liberal arts in
cludes philosophy, English and
psychology — where people are
looking for answers to questions ab
out life that aren’t always nice, neat
things,” Birch said.
An unstable home environment
can also contribute to suicidal ten
dencies, he added.
“There’s an old adage in psychiat
ry that it takes as long to get well as it
did to get sick,” he said. “Well, if
you’ve lived in an unhealthy en
vironment for 18 years, there will
probably be some recurring prob
lems while you’re in those four years
of college.”
The death of a loved one or di
vorce in the family can contribute to
suicidal thoughts among students,
he said. Goals that a student realizes
he won’t make, such as earning a
degree in a certain amount of time,
can also trigger suicidal thoughts.
“Sometimes, students just can’t
meet expectations; that is, the ones
that other people put on them, like
parents, or the ones they manufac
ture themselves,” he said. “And
some students are very adept at set
ting goals and standards that are so
high they’re almost impossible to
meet.
“We get students who just gener
ally say that different phases of their
life are coming apart and they can’t
keep control. Interestingly, in that
kind of situation, the suicide becom
es the act where they exert final con
trol over everything.”
Birch explained that students
who think about suicide tend to ex-
E ress feelings of hopelessness, help-
:ssness, alienation and guilt.
“Often, there’s the feeling that
there’s no support around them in
the middle of a crisis — no one to
turn to for comfort,” he said.
While it is important for a room
mate or close friend to be generally
3 ortive and available to talk to,
:ssional counseling for the per
son is a necessity.
“Other than a decent amount of
human support for that person, I
think you have an obligation to work
very heavily at getting them to a pro
fessional person,” he said. “People
who are actively suicidal can drain a
lot of energy from another human
being.
“Sometimes by being a good lis
tener, if you’re a layperson, the per
son really gets deeply into their
situation and you don’t have the
training to deal with everything
they’re expressing.
“The listener who’s concerned
can become so bogged down that he
begins to have problems. If he really
worries about this person, being
around this day after day can cause
See SUICIDE page 10
inside
Classified 6
Local 3
National 5
Opinions 2
Sports 7
State 3
What’s Up 5
forecast
Today’s Forecast: Partly cloudy,
hot and humid. High today of 95.
Low tonight of 72. Highs and lows
continuing the same through
Wednesday. Chance of showers
and thundershowers continuing.