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College Station, Texas
Friday, January 21, 1983
inority report berates A&M
Lack of representation,
funds called intolerable
K
ICS
^ ISt
by Gary Barker
I and Denise Richter
Battalion Staff
We are the Aggies — the Aggies
V’
True to each other as Aggies can
The symbols most revered by
Hs represent unity — Muster, Sil-
Itaps, bonfire, yell practice.
Bft a recent report on minority
Bions at Texas A&M indicates
Hnity may in some cases mean
ilulivity.
He report, requested by Universi-
Hsident Frank E. Vandiver, in-
ded charges of “white negativism”
J [possible systematic racism on
Rumpus.”
In a letter accompanying the re-
■ the President’s Committee on
cnoi^Hity Conditions said: “Our inves-
baJ ui anc i p U bHc hearings also
ye [found that the political, social,
Hmic and spiritual atmosphere at
A&M University is not condu-
e to the recruitment or the reten-
"n of minorities.”
Fht report, which included 31 re-
nmendations, was the result of an
hti-month study of a problem that
B traditional at Texas A&M as the
telfth Man — notorious underrep-
entation of minority faculty and
dents.
The problem recently has gained
aohwide attention. In his book,
nbrities in Higher Education,”
acation researcher Alexander W.
in designated Texas A&M as hav-
the worst minority representation
rn major university in the nation,
in was one of the consultants to the
hoc committee that produced the
XHt.
In 1981, the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare re
leased a report that said Texas did not
comply with Title VI of the 1964 Civil
Rights Act, which stated that discrimi
nation in federal programs is prohi
bited on the basis of race, color or
national origin. As a result of the
HEW report, Texas A&M adminis
trators drew up a plan calling for a
large increase in the number of
See related editorial
minority students. But the new study
reveals that while the situation has im
proved slightly, the problem is still
acute.
The percentage of black students
at Texas colleges and universities was
9.3 percent in 1980. In the same year,
only 0.8 percent of the 33,370 stu
dents enrolled at Texas A&M were
black. The figures for all Texas col
leges and universities showed that 13
percent of the state’s undergraduate
students were Hispanic versus 3 per
cent here.
To make the atmosphere at Texas
A&M more favorable for minority
students, the committee recommends
that the University ban “offensive
acts,” which include slave auctions
and flying the Confederate flag at
bonfire.
“Those acts limit recruitment and
retention of academically qualified
minority students and have no place
on a university campus under any cir
cumstances,” the report said.
To better understand the atmos
phere on campus, committee mem
bers interviewed a number of black
and Hispanic students and faculty.
“Although no tangible examples
were offered, minority students did
express their belief that some stu
dents and faculty considered them in
ferior intellectually,” the report said.
“... The minority students are hurt by
the feeling of ‘white negativism’
which they sense is continuously dire
cted against them.
“Minority students, especially
women, have experienced serious
problems related to dormitory room
placement and acceptance. Male stu
dents have experienced fear stem
ming from cries from majority stu
dents that ‘There’s a nigger living on
the floor!’
“Living with constant fear and/or
social intimidation on a major univer
sity campus is intolerable.”
Other recommendations included
changes in the selection and training
of resident advisers and changes in
the policies associated with roommate
selection to help avoid racial tension.
In addition to changes in the social
atmosphere, the committee recom
mended increasing the number of
scholarships offered to minority stu
dents and raising the amount of
minority scholarships to $2,000 a
year. Starting this fall, minority scho
larships will be funded at $2,000 and
increased proportionately thereafter.
This school year, Texas A&M is
spending $236,000 for scholarships
for 200 of its minority students. The
University of Texas is spending $2.1
million for scholarships for 1,425 of
its minority students.
The committee’s report primarily
compared Texas A&M with UT be
cause of its similarity in academic
goals and programs.
The group also recommended that
the Office of School Relations, which
serves as the major contact service for
See MINORITY, page 6
Faculty senate approval
postponed until March
Eyhe proposed faculty senate must
lIt un hl March to receive final
•proval from the Texas A&M Board
Regents.
formation of the senate consti-
fes a change in System rules and
H adon s. Therefore, to be
'proved, the matter either must be
Bed on the Board agenda at least
Puays before the meeting, or
'proved at the meeting by all nine
Bits. However, Regent Norman
Br won’t be able to attend this
ptmg because he
arn surgery.
j|The faculty senate, which was
jPposed in October 1981, is de-
Bd to increase the faculty’s role in
H^rsity governance.
Wp IT !| 3ers °f the regents’ Planning
K U1 lding Committee will discuss
is recovering
the possibility of building additional
“prestige boxes” in Kyle Field during
their meeting, which begins at 1:30
p.m. Sunday.
The committee will hear a feasibil
ity study commissioned by the Aggie
Club concerning the construction of
48 boxes in the north or south end
zone of Kyle Field.
The additional boxes have been
proposed because demand for the
original suites, which were completed
in 1981, has continued and increased,
said Harry Green Jr., executive dire
ctor of the Aggie Club.
Kyle Field suites are leased for
eight years. The cost of the lease de
pends on the location of the box. Each
suite is furnished with swivel
armchairs, small commercial re
frigerators and television hook-ups.
In other business, regents will con
sider appropriating $400,000 to
establish a President’s Reserve fund,
which would be used to compete with
faculty salary offers from other uni
versities. The fund also could be used
to match federal equipment grants
that have become difficult to receive if
matching university funds are not
available.
The Committee for Academic
Campuses will meet at 3:30 p.m. Sun
day. The Committee for Service Units
will meet at 4:30 p.m. and the Com
mittee on Mineral Leases will meet at
5 p.m.
The committee of the whole will
meet at 8:30 a.m. Monday, and the
full board will meet at 8:30 a.m. Tues
day. All meetings will be held in the
regents’ annex of the Memorial Stu
dent Center.
inside
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la . ort fr at 8 mph. Colder and
19 p c ’o u dy tonight with a low of
Sat,, j rt ^ elear and warmer on
purday with a high of 51.
Preparations made
for satellite’s fall
United Press International
Serious preparations are being
made for the falling Soviet spy satel
lite expected to plunge to Earth Sun
day or Monday and a New York City
official jokes he’s sending a “man in a
rowboat in the East River to watch
for the nuclear-powered satellite.
In Washington, the government
alerted emergency teams against the
slender possibility radioactive satellite
debris might hit the United States.
Canada, which was hit by a Soviet
spaceship in 1978, took similar action,
as did Australia, which was struck by
pieces of the doomed Skylab sent into
orbit by the United States.
With Cosmos 1402 drifting ever
closer on its inexorable but unpredict
able path toward Earth, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency in
Washington ordered special teams on
the ready “for possible deployment to
the scene of any U.S. impacted area.
U.S. space trackers believe, howev
er, there is only a 2 percent chnce
debris from the 2-ton craft would
drop on the United States and a 3
percent chance Canada would surfer
a repeat of the hit it took. There was
about a 30 percent chance the satellite
would hit land, the same percentage
Senate gives Clements’
appointments to White
from staff and wire reports
Senate Democrats succeeded
Thursday in returning 59 of the 102
lame-duck appointments made by
former Gov. William Clements.
Gov. Mark White asked the Senate
to return the appointments made by
Clements after his November defeat.
White agreed not to ask the Senate to
return the appointment of Texas
Supreme Court Justice Jack Pope.
The Senate accepted 43 of the
lame-duck appointments.
Among those returned were three
men appointed to the Texas A&M
Board of Regents: geologist Michel
Halbouty, former Texas House
Speaker Bill Clayton and John Block
er, who was reappointed to the board.
The newly appointed regents will
attend Sunday’s meeting, even
though the Senate has returned their
appointments. Legally the appointees
are still regents until White appoints
and swears in new regents.
Sam Barshop, who was appointed
to the University of Texas board, was
the only major appointment
accepted, said Alan Schoenbaum*
legislative assistant to Sen. Kent
Caperton, D-Bryan. The others were
minor appointments, which passed
because of ties the appointees had
within the Senate, he said.
“It was a real victory for Mark
White,” Schoenbaum said. “And it
See related editorial
confirms the Senate’s desire to do
away with lame-duck appointments.
Now the first major battle of the Sen
ate is over and they (the senators) can
get down to work.”
But it was a close victory, he said.
The 31-member Senate decided
many of the appointments by one
vote.
Democratic senators initially were
confident that they had enough votes
Thursday to turn back nearly all of
former Clements’ 102 post-election
appointments.
But as the five-hour session wore
on, the shaky coalition withered and
Democrats failed to muster the neces
sary 16 votes to allow White to review
all of Clements’ nominees.
The vote ended a two-week battle
among White, the Democratic- con
trolled Senate and Clements, which
began when a group of Democrats
announced its opposition to the lame-
duck appointments.
Lt. Gov. William Hobby and other
Senate members said White had
scored a victory because he was given
the right to review the most controv
ersial appointments, including for
mer Gov. John Connally to the UT
board and Clayton to the Texas A&M
board.
Clayton’s appointment was re
turned to White on a 16-15 vote. Con
nally suffered the largest rebuff with
19 of the 31 Senators voting to return
his appointment to White.
Those appointees not returned for
White’s review still face confirmation
hearings in the Senate before they can
assume their positions. Several were
not expected to receive the 21 votes
necessary for Senate approval.
as Earth’s land masses.
Officials in some areas of the Un
ited States prepared aginst the tiny
chance the debris might hit there.
Others were having a little fun with
the subject.
“We have a man in a rowboat in the
East River,” said Peter Barrett, a
spokesman for New York City’s De
partment of Environmental Protec
tion. “No, seriously, we haven’t made
any preparations, nor hae we been
given any indication it’s going to land
in New York City.”
Gordon Nichols, a spokesman for
the Kentucky Division of Disaster and
Emergency Services, put the odds on
personal injury from the satellite at
10,000 to one.
Nonetheless, he said Kentucky
officials pulled out “Annex Q,” the
guidelines for handling hazardous
materials, and began alerting state
agencies.
The Federal Emergency Manage
ment Agency said the “principal
potential hazard” would be the satel
lite’s nuclear power reactor that
would disintegrate along with the rest
of the craft as it passes through the
atmosphere during re-entry.
Social Security commission
delivers report to Reagan
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The Social
Security commission signed, sealed
and delivered its report to President
Reagan and Congress, laying the
groundwork for higher payroll taxes
next year and future benefit reduc
tions.
The formal report was delivered
Thursday, shifting the burden to
Congress to approve, reject, or mod
ify the $168 billion package of recom
mended tax and benefit changes to
shore up the ailing retirement system.
An incorrect calculation of the cost
of improved widow’s benefits re
duced savings from the originally
announced $169 billion.
In its report, the bipartisan panel
proposed wiping out the system’s im
mediate cash sho
tage over seven years with increased
payroll taxes, a six-month benefits
freeze, a tax on checks of upper-
income pensioners and requiring new
federal workers to join.
Without such a plan, the system
would run out of money by summer,
prohibiting the government from
sending out July checks.
Congress now must now decide in
five months or less what it is to do with
Social Security. It took the Commis
sion on Social Security Reform more
than a year to deal with problem, fin
ally adopting a package Saturday on a
12-3 vote.
The House Ways and Means Com
mittee begins hearings on Social
Security Feb. 1, with the aim of get
ting a bill to Reagan by Easter an
ensuring a steady flow of pension
checks.
Under the commission’s proposal,
a $20,000-a-year worker would pay
$63 more in payroll taxes in 1984.
Social Security’s 36 million benefi
ciaries would wait until next January
for cost-of-living hikes, with single
pensioners losing an estimated $132
and couples $222.
The report, with 28 pages of for
mal recommendations, also contains
11 chapters of dissenting and sup
plemental views — reflecting the un
savory choices forced on the biparti
san panel in it drive to forge a com
promise.
The package only erases two-thirds
of the system’s 75-year debt, leaving it
up to Congress how to make up the
remaining shortfall.
Eight of the panel’s 15 members
signed a supplemental statement re
commending Congress gradually
raise the retirement age from 65 to *^
by 2015.