Health and physical fitness are the things to do
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Serving the University community
|ol. 76 No. 49 USPS 045360 14 Pages
College Station, Texas
Monday, November 8, 1982
anadian strike threatens Chrysler
United Press International
TORONTO — Chrysler
anada’s 10,000 autoworkers, ignor-
g warnings they could put the com-
iany out of business, staged a strike
riday that threatened 2,500 layoffs
it 16 U.S. Chrysler plants in four
hates by the end of next week.
The picket lines went up at plants
Windsor, Etobicoke and Ajax in
Province with workers jeer-
lig Chrysler chairman Lee lacocca’s
warning that a strike imperiled both
the company and their jobs.
In a letter, lacocca said, “We will
take a strike if we must, even though
we are aware it could put us out of
business.”
In Windsor, about 2,500 chanting
workers poured out of the assembly
plant chanting “We want parity!” The
workers set copies of lacocca’s letter
ablaze in a barrel in the street and
warmed their hands over the flames.
Some workers carried signs read
ing: “For sale: agent Lee lacocca” or
“The Grinch that stole Christmas:
Lee lacocca.” One worker wore only
tennis shoes, a baseball hat and a bar
rel that read, “I have no more to give,”
referring to past concessions workers
made to keep Chrysler afloat.
United Auto Workers Canadian di
rector Robert White said the union
had hoped to avert a walkout, but
struck because the company refused
to budge in contract talks.
White accused Chrysler of insult
ing Canadian workers by offering
them the same package rejected by 70
percent of U.S. Chrysler employees.
Canadian UAW workers accepted a
wage freeze in 1979 and now earn $3
an hour less than workers at Ford of
Canada and General Motors of
Canada.
Chrysler chief negotiator William
Fisher said the parent corporation
would begin shutting down facilities
in the United States as early as Mon
day in a move that would begin with
2,500 layoffs and increase as the
strike wore on.
By the end of next week, company
officials said 16 plants could close —
eight in Michigan, five in Ohio, two in
Indiana and one in Alabama.
The immediate layoffs would
affect 1,000 workers in the Detroit
area, 800 at Ohio plants in Twins-
burg, Toledo, Dayton, Van Wert and
Sandusky, 400 in Kokomo and In
dianapolis, Ind., and 300 in Huntsvil
le, Ala.
“Some of the feeder plants in the
U.S. will be shut down starting Mon
day,” Fisher said. The first U.S. work
ers to be hit were expected to be in
Detroit.
No recent strike against Chrysler
has lasted more than a few days, „
Jobless
are fewer
in Texas
■ United Press International
AUSTIN — More than 600,000
:xans are out of work, the Texas
nployment Commission reported,
ying the state’s economy continues
suffer from layoffs.
I The October seasonally-adjusted
lexas unemployment figure of 8.3
Jercent is a slight decline from Sep-
iember’s record 8.4 percent. Nation-
■!y, the jobless rate hit a post-
Bepression high of 10.4 percent.
I The TEC said Friday that
■though October’s figure was a
linimal improvement over the pre
bus month, it was still far above the
Ictober 1981 level of 5.2 percent.
Gov. Bill Clements was vacationing
iNew York and unavailable for com-
lenton the fact 611,000 Texans are
ut of work.
“The Texas economy continued to
iffer from effects of layoffs scat-
:red across the state,” the TEC said.
The data suggests that although eco-
omic conditions continue to be rela-
vely difficult, no sign of worsening
r improvement of conditions occur-
;dover the month.”
Gov.-elect Mark White, who
ilamed Clements for Texas’ high job-
s rate in his recent gubernatorial
ampaign, said he would look for
ays to solve the unemployment
roblem — especially in urban,
linority areas and in South Texas —
hen he takes office in January.
“1 intend to explore every possibil-
ytocutdown on the problem, parti-
ularly along the Rio Grande River
(here devaluation (of the Mexican
ieso)has had such an enormous im-
lact on the business climate and
irought it to a standstill in some
ilaces," White said.
White said officials in Rio Grande
atytold him the unemployment rate
ithattown had reached 50 percent,
lany border towns were officially re-
wtingjobless rates of more than 20
lercent.
He said Clements moved too late in
siting for federal assistance to help
lorder businesses recover from the
mpactof the peso devaluation.
staff photo by David Fisher
Kicking in earnest
The Bryan-College Station area is getting Bulldogs for the ball while teammate
a kick out of soccer. Davis Watson, of Jay Mcllveen watches the scramble. The
the Bombers, fights with a member of the Bombers won over the Bulldogs 5-0.
Universities now
brightest hope,
Vandiver says
United Press International
THE WOODLANDS — A global
network of “world universities” may
be man’s best hope for coping with
the future’s “Four Horsemen” prob
lems, particularly famine and pesti
lence, Texas A&M President Frank E.
Vandiver says.
Vandiver, speaking to a confer
ence on Sustainable Societies on Sun
day, proposed an around-the-world
linkage of “world universities.” Such
institutions would basically have to
designate themselves, rather than
being so mandated by their govern
ments, he said.
“Governments cannot, or will not
solve the world’s really profound
problems,” Vandiver said. “On a
global scale, about all governments
can do is wage war or under the best
of circumstances, administer a Band-
Aid approach to peace.”
Texas A&M is a prime candidate
for such status, Vandiver said. And he
added that he “is doing everything
possible to nurture that idea.”
Vandiver proposed that Texas
A&M host the first international con
ference on food and water and said he
already has a group at work planning
the details. That conference is sche
duled for July 16-20, 1984.
The world’s ultimate problems are
not as simple as issues of war and
peace, but are the middle two of the
“Four Horsemen” — famine and pes
tilence, he said.
“No one will care much about na
tional boundaries or other seemingly
vital international issues when hun
ger is rampant or when there is no
water to quench a thirst,” Vandiver
said.
“I submit that the best hope rests
with development of a handful of
strategically located ‘world universi
ties’.”
Another way of describing them
would be as “essential universities,”
those that have the resources, or
could effectively use them if they had
them, to contribute to solutions to
Four Horsemen-type problems, he
said.
Vandiver said he envisions those
universities linked together through a
network of cooperative programs,
sharing their expertise and helping
one another and the people they
serve.
While research and related activi
ties would be the backbone for a
w'orld university, it would also have to
be superior in its teaching function,
Vandiver said.
“In the future we must turn out
minds far more advanced than ours
are now,” he said. “The educated man
of 2050, I predict, will be bionic in
almost every brain sense. He will have
to be up on kinetics. He may be into
ESP. He’s going to be into all kinds of
electronics. I can’t imagine all the
things he’s going to know just to be
educated.”
Voting places set
Faculty members may vote Tuesday
on the ratification of the proposed
faculty senate’s constitution at the
following places:
• Academic and Agency Building,
second floor lobby
• East Kyle, in the handball court area
• 204b Sterling C. Evans Library
• Veterinary Medicine Complex, first
floor near the dean’s office
• Harrington Tower, first floor lobby
• Langford Architecture Building,
ground floor in front of the dean’s
office
• Kleberg Center, first floor lobby
• Zachry Engineering Center, third
floor lounge
Polling places will be open from 9
a.m. to 6 p.m. Faculty members must
show identification cards before they
will be allowed to vote.
Faculty to vote on senate constitution
University governing structure on line
by Elaine Engstrom
Battalion Staff
The future of the Academic Council, the
Minition of eligible faculty and the function
:i|‘« tf the proposed faculty senate have been
j|| ttnong the topics of debate surrounding the
,1 ratification of the faculty senate constitution
| this week.
Texas A&M faculty members will vote
H Tuesday on whether or not to approve the
I proposed faculty senate consitution. During
absentee voting last week, about 50 faculty
members voted on the constitution.
Gwen Ellisalde, faculty senate sleeting
committee member and assistant professor of
veterinary microbiology, said absentee turn
out was good and she expects at least 500 of
the approximately 2,000 faculty members to
vote on the ratification.
The vote on the constitution offers the fa
culty an opportunity to get involved in the
University’s governance, she said.
“The faculty senate represents the first
time the faculty will have a voice in University
policy,” she said.
“When President (Frank E.) Vandiver first
came to Texas A&M he wanted to know how
the faculty felt on certain issues and he
couldn’t get a faculty voice because there
wasn’t any organization like a faculty senate
that represents faculty opinion.”
If established, the faculty senate would
absorb some of the duties of the current
Academic Council, Ellisalde said. An ad-hoc
committee created by Vandiver recom
mended that the council’s membership be re
duced to include only the 90 administrators
who are members and not the elected faculty
representatives.
The Academic Council is an advisory
group to the University president and makes
recommendations on academic policies.
One change from the Academic Council to
the proposed faculty senate w'ould be in the
composition of the group. The current
Academic Council is composed primarily of
such administrators as deans and department
heads. But the faculty senate would be com
posed entirely of such elected faculty mem
bers as professors, assistant professors and
others.
Dean of Faculties Clinton A. Phillips said
faculty members have had problems wTth the
Academic Council.
“Department heads felt the Academic
Council provided a useful communications
network,” he said. “However, some faculty
members didn’t feel it was an appropriate
medium for discussion.
“The Council serves as a ratifying group
for matters that have already been extensively
discussed in committee. The faculty senate
would provide an open forum for debate on
academic issues.”
Claude Davis, chairman of the faculty sen
ate steering committee, said the committee
attended a meeting of the Texas Association
of College Teachers last spring to find out
about similar programs at other Texas uni
versities.
The University of Texas has a faculty sen
ate and a group similar to Texas A&M’s
Academic Council, Davis said.
“We’re not doing it because someone else is
doing it,” he said. “It (the faculty senate)
would be helpful in expressing in faculty
opinion.”
The absentee voting hit a snag Friday after
noon when one professor from the School of
Military Science was denied permission to
vote in the election.
The constitution proposed for ratification
specifies that a faculty member must be em
ployed by the University at the College Station
or Galveston campuses to vote in the election
or to be a senator. The faculty member also
must hold the rank of professor, associate
professor or assistant professor or be a full
time lecturer or instructor.
The 32 faculty members in the School of
Military Science are employed by the U.S.
military, not the University, but their Univer
sity contracts specify they are to receive the
full rights of University faculty.
Davis said under the proposed constitu
tion, military science faculty are not consi
dered faculty members.
“They will be allowed to be represented if
they fit the definition of faculty, but at this
time they don’t,” he said.
Veterinary college is getting tougher
by Maureen Carmody
Battalion Reporter
Beginning next fall, the Texas
A&M College of Veterinary Medi
cine will have a tougher grading
■: : : system.
Under the new system, a stu-
; dent must have a 70 average for a
' D, a 76 for a C, an 84 for a B and a
92 for an A. The college now uses
the same grading system as the
University.
Many other veterinary schools
and state boards already have stric
ter grading policies, Dean George
C. Shelton said. He added that he
hopes the change wall boost moti
vation and that it will force stu
dents to put more effort into their
work.
The grade change was
approved unanimously by the ex
ecutive committee of the college,
Shelton said, but some faculty
members objected.
“One argument was that it
would discriminate toward grade
inflation,” Shelton said. “What I
suppose this means is that they (the
professors) would just make the
quizzes easier. And some faculty
members may have thought we
were being too hard.
“I can’t imagine that a student
coming in with an average of a 3.0
would have any problem.”
The new system is part of an
overall change in the college. The
veterinary school also has set up its
own academic and disciplinary
board and has begun using prom
otion committees, which have been
formed to assist students and to
keep the faculty informed of the
academic progress of each stu
dent.
Jeanette Phariss, assistant to the
vice president for academic
affairs, said the changes have the
approval of the University admi
nistration.
The College of Veterinary
Medicine — along with the College
of Medicine — has different proc
edures and criteria for grading be
cause it is a professional school,
Phariss said.
“I don’t see this happening in
any undergraduate colleges,” she
said.
The academic and disciplinary
boards are not a new concept, she
said. The veterinary college usual
ly reviews its own policies in those
areas. The policies are being listed
in an official handbook for stu
dents in the college.
The changes are the result of
several problems the college was
having in handling academic and
disciplinary action, Shelton said.
“When we had a problem with a
student in the disciplinary or
academic area, we had to have it
settled on the main campus,” he
said. “Well, our college is very spe
cial and when a problem was taken
to one of the councils, we were nev
er really happy with the outcome.”
The University councils that
handle disciplinary or academic
problems are too lenient on stu
dents, Shelton said.
inside
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forecast
Today’s Forecast: High in the
upper 70s. Low in the upper 50s.
Fair skies with southeasterly winds
10-15 mph.