lion/Page
Tiber 9,1!
) een slappsi
1AA.
J lved prom
prospeclirt
Tied durinj
academic jn
I itch, who!
isissippieaik
ad nothinrJ
SA&M specialists helping law enforcers
See story, page 6
The DaiTciMon
Serving the University communily
Rations wild
ive were coi
i any man#:
west Cotita
ol.
76 No. USPS 045360 28 Pages In 2 Sections
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, November 10, 1982
affgaveal
ed Akers s
ard againsii
a
cansas last
hristian speakers worry officials
udness by!
aving checii | by Rebeca Zimmermann
Battalion Staff
as the bestij jhe Dean of Faculties and the Bra-
s Civil Liberties Union disapprove
the presence of Christian Update
rum speakers in classrooms here.
Dean of Faculties Clinton A. Phil-
said he has received complaints
. “I know Si
tive affecto
nd after a
ie Horned!
rghornsifi om students about the speakers and
is worried that students may feel
dmidated or coerced.
Tm very upset about this,” Phil-
ssaid. “I’m really concerned about
r Jewish and agnostic students.”
Dr. Joseph Sonnenfeld, a spokes-
an for the Brazos Civil Liberties Un
it and a geography professor at
:xas A&M, said he also thinks stu
nts may feel intimidated.
Attendance at the lectures held in
University classrooms may not be
compulsory, but many students feel
compelled to go to class, Sonnefeld
said.
Thirteen members of the forum
began Monday what they term a
series of lectures dealing with the ap
plication of a biblical perspective to
particular academic subjects. The lec
tures, which will continue through
Thursday, are being held during such
classes as mechanical engineering,
psychology, sociology, physics and
marketing and at night in the Univer
sity Center.
Local campus ministers were con
cerned enough about the forum’s
“biblical perspective” to place an
advertisement in Tuesday’s Battalion
stating that Christianity has many dif
ferent views and those expressed by
the Christian Update Forum may not
be the same as those of the established
churches in the area.
Phillips said he particularly is con
cerned about cards distributed at
each lecture offering students an out
line of the lecture and requesting in
formation about the student.
University attorneys say students
should not be solicited in classrooms
this way, he said.
Phillips has notified college deans
to tell department heads that no cards
can be passed out.
“It’s important for faculty to
understand that they’re under no
compulsion (to allow the speakers
classroom time),” he said, “and they
have an obligation to see that infor
mation is relevant to the class.”
Some students are upset because
they have paid money for a class and
expect the subject matter to be re
levant, Phillips said.
“I have no problem with a particu
lar point of view being in a clas
sroom,” Phillips said, “but it is incum
bent on the professor to keep the sub
ject relevant.”
In such classes as philosophy,
sociology and psychology, the lec
tures might be relevant, he said, but
engineering classes have the highest
number of lectures scheduled.
“They’re into classes where they’re
stretching what’s relevant,” he said.
Academic freedom also is in
volved, Phillips said.
A professor has academic freedom
in a classroom, as long as the subject is
relevant to the class, he said.
Sonnenfeld said the civil liberties
group believes academic freedom is
not the issue. Instead, the constitu
tional requirements of separation of
church and state are involved, he said.
“Our position basically is that any
kind of teaching such as Christian
Forum in classrooms is inappropri
ate,” he said. “The appropriate forum
is to have evening sessions where stu
dents voluntarily attend.”
But Steve Bennett, one of the
forum speakers, said his presentation
is pertinent to the classes in which he
is scheduled to speak.
“My purpose is to present a biblical
perspective on the topic I was speak
ing on,” he said. “The thing that dis
It
al
Building construction majors Judy Burda, left, Valerie
McKinneg and Joe Hafertepe probably aren’t selling
B fellow building construction major Tracy Hammer a
hard hat for his feet. But David Locklear, right, needed
one for just that Sunday at the bonfire cutting site
|—where he severely sprained his ankle moving a log
‘Faculty senate constitution ratified
& SUBS
by Rebeca Zimmermann
Battalion Staff
Faculty members approved the
proposed faculty senate constitution
ilmost two to one Tuesday.
The final count was 775 for the
constitution and 367 against it.
More than 58 percent of the facul
ty voted at the eight polling sites on
campus and at the Temple division of
the medical school.
“1 was a little surprised it (the turn-
t) was as high as it was,” said Dr.
Claude D. Davis, chairman of the fa
culty senate steering committee and
associate professor of building con
struction.
“It shows there is interest among
faculty on issues that affect faculty —
a healthy faculty.”
Dean of Faculties Clinton A. Phil
lips said the University is ready for a
faculty senate.
“I think this is an historic event in
the history of the University,” he said.
Phillips, who recently chaired an ad
hoc committee appointed by Presi
dent Frank E. Vandiver to study the
future role of the Academic Council,
said that the council may play an im
portant role in the adjustment pro
cess required to establish a faculty
senate.
The victory margin probably will
ensure approval of the constitution by
the administration, Phillips said.
The constitution must be approved
by Vandiver, Chancellor Arthur G.
Hansen and the Board of Regents.
The constitution could be added to
the regents’ agenda for this month’s
meeting if the proposal is approved
by Vandiver and Hansen, Davis said.
An election for the first senate
probably will be held in early Febru
ary if the regents approve the senate
and its constitution, Davis said. The
steering committee will set up that
election also.
One steering committee member,
Dr. Gwen Elissalde, said she had been
worried about the outcome of the
election and was surprised at the mar
gin of victory.
“I thought it (the vote) would be
close,” she said.
Elissalde, who worked from 9 a m.
to 6 p.m. at the College of Veterinary
Medicine polling site, said she was
pleased with the results of the election
and felt many “silent supporters”
voted.
Davis said steering committee
members, faculty advisory committee
members and volunteers worked at
the polling sites throughout the day.
Secret ballots were placed in locked
boxes; votes were counted twice by
steering committee members after
the polls closed.
appointed me was that I felt if the
material is relevant (to the course), it’s
important to provide academic credi
bility.”
Bennett, who is speaking about hu
man sexuality and various religious
cults, said he wasn’t allowed to speak
in one class because the professor was
told by the department head not to
allow any forum speakers into the
classrooms.
Lance Bryant, forum coordinator
and a senior industrial distribution
major, said the forum’s topics are re
levant to the classes.
“A professor is in control of his
class,” Bryant said. “It’s his decision
(to allow a speaker). The professor
gives his views — we’re giving another
view.”
Protests
planned by
Polish labor
United Press International
WARSAW, Poland — Polish au
thorities tightened security at factor
ies and threatened workers with milit
ary court martials in an attempt today
to stop planned strikes and demon
strations meant to protest the ban
ning of Solidarity.
In the biggest protests ever called
by the underground, leaflets urged
workers to strike for eight hours to
day to mark the anniversary of Soli
darity’s registration in 1980 as the
East bloc’s first free trade union,
which was outlawed Oct. 8.
Workers were asked to gather at
the Warsaw courthouse where the re
gistration took place and parade
along the triumphal victory route
taken two years ago to tfie Tomb of
the Unknown Soldier.
Major cities with little visible sign of
stepped-up security were quiet Tues
day night.
Only in the southwest Solidarity
stronghold of Wroclaw, where there
have been arrests of several under
ground activists in recent days, were
patrols of soldiers and helmeted
ZOMO riot police reported.
“It is difficult to foresee what will
happen,” government spokesman
Jerzy Urban told reporters Tuesday.
“But there is no reason for excessive
anxiety. If any disturbances do occur,
the government is ready to use any
necessary means to restore order.”
Factory officials, teachers and
Communist Party members were
given special orders on how to pre
vent strikes and protests.
High school instructors were told
under no circumstances to allow stu
dents to leave schools until the end of
the teaching day.
Sources in Gdansk, where Solidar
ity was born during an August 1980
strike at the Lenin shipyard, said
security was so tight at factories work
ers would need special permission
even to use the toilet.
Weapons freeze opponent to speak tonight
Laser weapon theory to be discussed
suB*
by Dawson Clark
Battalion Reporter
A major opponent of a nuclear weapons freeze who says that
the use of satellite-carried laser weaponry is the only way to
prevent a worldwide nuclear war will speak at 8 tonight in Rud
der Forum.
Dr. Steven Bardwell, editor of Fusion magazine and military
editor for the Executive Intelligence Review, believes a nuclear
"capons freeze would undermine the United States’ ability to
deter a nuclear war, said Jeff Danzinger, spokesman for MSC
Great Issues.
The press coordinator for the Fusion Energy Foundation,
which publishes Fusion magazine, said Tuesday that a nuclear
freeze would not be effective.
The nuclear freeze is a hoax,” Tony Chaitkin said. “It’s an
attempt to stop the development of nuclear and related technolo
gy without addressing the problem of stopping a nuclear war.”
Bardwell’s general theory involves the defensive use of laser
weaponry, Chaitkin said.
“Bardwell thinks that if any nation ever initiates the use of
nuclear weapons, others will join in and there will be an all-out
nuclear war,” he said. “His theory involves the development of
laser weapon technology. After perfecting the beam weapons,
they would be placed on satellites and put into orbit of the earth.
“The most important thing about beam weaponry is that they
shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles,” Chaitkin said. “If
the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. put 20 or 30 of these things into orbit,
no one would start a nuclear war because their missiles would be
blown into outer space long before they reached their targets.”
Philip Butcher, a member of the National Democratic Policy
Committee, also stressed the importance of beam weaponry in a
visit to the University on Tuesday.
“If we don’t develop beam weaponry, we need to learn Rus
sian,” Butcher said.
Butdher and other representatives from the NDPC were on
campus to promote the Bardwell speech and the general policies
of an ultra-conservative political network headed by Lyndon
LaRouche.
“Our (the NDPC’s) job is to bring forth an alternative view to
the radical environmentalists who advocate nuclear disarmament
and the build-up of conventional military weapons for use in
looting the natural resources of other countries,” Butcher said.
The NDPC is one of a number of political action groups under,
the National Caucus of Labor Committees, the umbrella organi
zation of LaRouche’s network. Other groups include the Fusion
Energy Foundation, the National Anti-Drug Coalition and Cam
paigner Publications, publishers of Campaigner and Executive
Intelligence Review magazines and the New Solidarity news
paper.
LaRouche, a 1980 presidential candidate who was on the ballot
in 18 states, was the subject of a series in the Houston Chronicle
this week. The Chronicle questioned LaRouche’s use of funds
and quoted ex-followers of LaRouche as saying that he is using a
major portion of the National Caucus of Labor Committee’s
funds to further his own political goals.
The Chronicle said LaRouche’s network sometimes brings in
as much as $200,000 a week, much of it from wealthy business
executives who favor nuclear energy development or from ultra
conservatives who would like to see LaRouche elected to a high
office.
inside
Around town 4
Classified 12
National 11
Opinions 2
Sports 13
State 6
What’s up 16
forecast
Today’s Forecast: Mostly cloudy
skies today and Thu^kday. High in
the upper 70s. Low in the lower
60s, with a slight chance of rain and
southeasterly winds at 10-15 mph.