The Battalion
Serving the University community
1.76 No. 82 USPS 045360 14 Pages
Minority students optimistic
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, January 25, 1983
by Kelley Smith
Battalion Staff
A report from the President’s Com
mittee on Minority Conditions states
what many minority students here
have known — that minorities are
underrepresented in the faculty and
student body here.
“The report did not suprise me,”
said DeAndrea Davis, president of
the National Society of Black En
gineers. “It made me feel good that
the school recognizes that there is a
problem in this area and that they
intend to correct it.”
Kelsel Thompson, president of the
MSC Black Awareness Committee,
said that the suggestions made by the
committee should be successful in
bringing more minorities to Texas
A&M.
“Until something happens though,
I just see it as an article in the paper,”
Thompson said. “It’s not going to
happen overnight.”
The committee made 31 recom
mendations including providing
more money for minority student
scholarships and increasing salaries to
attract qualified minority faculty.
“If recruitment and employment
of more minorities came about, it
would be a way of getting more
minority students,” Thompson said.
“It starts with the faculty. Students
need someone they can identify
with.”
Davis said that hiring a larger num
ber of minority faculty may be diffi
cult because there is not a large num
ber of minority teachers and adminis
trators from which to hire.
Both Davis and Thompson agree
that the University needs to streng
then its minority student recruitment
efforts. The Office of School Rela
tions, which is the main source of con
tact with minorities for the Universi
ty, has been going to high schools to
talk with potential students about
Texas A&M.
Davis, who learned about the Uni
versity through the office, said the
office has been doing a great job, but
it must be expanded to be more effec
tive.
Several reasons were given as ex
planations for the low minority rate.
Thompson said that both money and
attitude are factors.
“Texas A&M over the years has
promoted an attitude of one-way
thinking. It’s traditions, traditions. If
you don’t like it, you don’t say any
thing, you just leave,” Thompson
said. “Many people do leave.”
Davis said that traditions may con
tribute to the alienation some minor
ities feel.
“Most (traditions) were initiated at
a time when virtually no minorities
attended,” he said. “Since the school is
so heavy on traditions, some minority
students may feel alienated.”
One Hispanic student, who asked
to remain unnamed, said that the atti
tude toward minority students by
other students may be a cause of the
low minority rate.
“In general, you can tell there are
some prejudices, but they are subtle
and well-hidden,” he said. “Friends
may be playing around and call
names that aren’t intended to hurt,
but sometimes they do.”
However, the student, who is a
See STUDENTS, page 8
Regents discuss
minority report
A recent report on minority con
ditions at Texas A&M received a
less than enthusiastic response
Monday at a meeting of the Texas
A&M Board of Regents.
The lengthy document, which
included 31 recommendations of
ways to improve conditions for
minority faculty and students
here, was included as a discussion
item during a meeting of the com
mittee of the whole.
University President Frank E.
Vandiver, who authorized the
study, explained that the 10-
member committee, chaired by
Dr. Ruth Schaffer, had been
charged with determining condi
tions faced by minority faculty and
students.
“I don’t agree with everything
in the report,” Vandiver said, “but
it poses for our consideration a
very interesting situation.”
Vandiver stressed that minority
conditions could be improved
without changing the structure or
standards of the University.
But several of the regents ques
tioned the implications of the
study and said they thought the
report should not be published un
til after they had a chance to study
it.
Regent Royce Wisenbaker of
Tyler then asked why minority
conditions were receiving so much
attention, and said he hacln’t heard
much about any problems here.
Chancellor Arthur G. Hansen
intervened, asking that regents de
lay comment on the report until
they had read it.
Regents Chairman H.R. “Bum”
Bright then reminded the group
that while specific operations of
the institutions within the System
are not handled by the board, re
gents are responsible for approv
ing policy statements.
Implementing all of the correc
tions in the plan could cost nearly
$8.5 million. Vandiver can imple
ment some of the recommenda
tions, while the more costly ones
have to be approved by the board.
staff photo by David Fisher
Scooter lessons
v»l
Pleasant weekend weather made it possible for Robert
Wagner, a technician at the Texas A&M College of
Veterinary Medicine, and his son, Kris, to try out Kris’s
new scooter. Kris is getting a lot of help from his father
on the proper way to propel the scooter and balance on
it at the same time.
New A&M regents
chosen, men say
Regents consider
special fund, PUF
\
tall
Farmers feed more
■wheat, corn in ’83
m\ i
J United Press International
WASHINGTON — Farmers will
Sed more wheat and corn to their
ivestock during the current market-
)(liltt n 8 V ear than previously anticipated,
he Agriculture Department said.
®|ln its Monday report on World
\gricultural Supply and Demand
Estimates, the department said it now
1 ixpects 109.2 million metric tons of
\ ! :orn and 4.5 million tons of wheat to
" De used as feed during the 1982-83
marketing year.
The report showed 1.57 billion
vey raw
:ain tiw 1
this
bushels of corn were used as livestock
feed during the last three months of
1982, up 1 percent from the same
period of the previous year.
Fewer cattle were sold in the last
three months of 1982, leading to pre
dictions of a heavier slaughter during
the first three months of 1983 and a
slowdown in the anticipated increase
in prices.
Steer prices are expected to aver
age between $59 and $63 for each 100
pounds until the end of March. Com
mercial beef production is expected
to total 5.8 billion pounds.
By Robert McGlohon
Battalion Staff
A former Texas A&M regent and a
Houston businessman said Monday
night that they have received word
from Gov. Mark White that they will
be appointed to the Texas A&M
Board of Regents. White’s office has
not confirmed the appointments,
however.
Joe H. Reynolds, a Houston attor
ney, whose term as a regent ended
two years ago, said that White had
called to inform him that he would be
among the three people appointed to
the board.
David G. Eller, Class of '59, also
said White had assured him of an
appointment. Reynolds and Dr. John
Coleman of Houston will be the other
two appointees, Eller said.
Coleman, who has served one term
on the board and was not re
appointed when his term expired in
January, could not be reached for
comment Monday.
The appointments, which are ex
pected to be announced today, are the
result of a bitter battle among White,
former Gov. Bill Clements and the
Democratic-controlled state Senate.
Despite lobbying efforts by Cle
ments, the Senate on Thursday suc
ceeded in returning 59 of more than
100 lame-duck appointments.
Among those returned were three
men appointed as Texas A&M re
gents: geologist Michael Halbouty,
former Texas House Speaker Bill
Clayton and John Blocker, who was
reappointed to the board.
Clements’ appointees attended
board meetings Sunday and Monday,
even though the Senate has returned
their appointments. Legally, they are
regents until White officially appoints
and swears in new regents. As with
Clements, White’s apointments are
subject to Senate approval.
The two men who say they will be
appointed by White both said they are
looking forward to being regents.
by Angel Stokes
Battalion Staff
A measure to “fight of f raiding of
faculty by other institutions” was
approved by a Texas A&M regents’
committee Monday, but not without
dissent.
University President Frank E.
Vandiver requested an allocation of
$400,()()(), which will be used to match
monetary offers made by other insti
tutions to Texas A&M faculty.
The establishment of a President’s
Reserve would allow for more flexi
bility in the keeping and hiring of fa
culty members, Vandiver said.
Regent William A. McKenzie, in a
heated discussion involving Vandiver
and Chancellor Arthur G. Hansen,
asked how the approximately
$800,000, appropriated at earlier
meetings for use at the president’s
discretion, had been used.
Vandiver said most of the money
previously allocated had been spent
for equipment.
“There are often special require
ments for stellar faculty,” he said.
Hansen said a fund of this type
helps to absorb expenses that occur at
department levels.
“You can’t tell in advance where a
problem will come from, so the presi
dent needs that type of flexibility with
money,” he said.
The appropriation, and all other
committee action, still must be
approved by the full board today.
Regents also discussed implement
ing the PLATO computer-based edu
cation system for the fall semester.
This system is part of a University
wide approach to computer use.
The PLATO terminals, which also
could be used as general-purpose
microcomputers, would offer four
courses: FOR FRAN, Calculus I, Phy
sics I and Chemistry I. Facilities for
800 students would be available.
The system would be hooked up to
a computer in Zachry Engineering
Center and connected by a telephone
line to terminals in the Sterling C.
Evans Library.
Regents also discussed a proposed
constitutional amendment concern
ing changes in the Permanent Uni
versity Fund.
Under the proposed changes, all
components of the Texas A&M and
UT systems will be eligible to receive
proceeds from the sale of PUF bonds.
Prairie View A&M will get $60 million
over a 10-year period.
In addition, 25 universities not in
cluded in the PUF would receive an
automatic annual appropriation of
$125 million, effective Sept. 1, 1984.
'JieTT
isj inside
iecase V
;cretiotClassified 8
rarks JlBocal 3
National 5
. JOpmions 2
.larger# 0rtS •••• U
mgaw* , ; 3
fWhatsup 10
forecast
musdt
nless P 1
iple, I”
iring a 1
Mostly clear skies today with a few
ip* jllouds passing by. The high will be
62. NE winds at about 10 mph.
Tllear to partly cloudy tonight and
on Wednesday. Tonight’s low will
be 35, and tomorrow’s high near
11 I
almanac
reisa® 1 ’ 58.
form, if* 1
Y! Try 11 ?
I form a
■om tl> e
United Press International
11 Today is Tuesday, Jan. 25, the
33T^ : 25th day of 1983 with 340 to follow.
^ | The moon is moving toward its
jdoaU' » U H phase.
, j 1 The morning stars are Mercury,
SSfTi" and Salum -
Ihe evening stars are Venus
nd Mars.
Those born on this date are
under the sign of Aquarius.
Scottish poet Robert Burns was
born Jan. 25, 1759. Novelists
Somerset Maugham and Virginia
Woolf also were born on this date
— he in 1874, she in 1882.
On this date in history:
In 1890, Nellie Bly, a daring
young New York reporter, com-
, C]J1 „ pleted a trip around the world in
|by w the astounding time of 72 days, six
hours and 11 minutes.
outlay i"
ersity v
ivies.
Aggies polled want drinking age at 19
Editor’s note: This is the second
part of a four-part series based on
a recent survey of Texas A&M
undergradua tes.
by Patti Schwierzke
Battalion Staff
One out of ten people driving in
College Station on a Thursday,
Frjday or Saturday night is drunk
— but only one out of 2,000 people
is ever arrested for drunk driving.
And of those arrested, only 17 per
cent lose their license for a day or
more.
Does the drinking age have any
effect on those figures? Should the
legal drinking age in Texas be
raised from 19 to 21?
In a recent survey of students
here, almost 75 percent said “no”
to raising the drinking age.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
disagrees.
“We want to raise the drinking
age because we want to save the
lives of young people,” local
MADD president Kirk Brown
said. “The major cause of death of
people between 16 and 24 years
old is drunk driving. We aren’t
opposed to drinking — we’re
opposed to drinking and driving.”
Legislation recently introduced
in the state Senate would raise the
legal drinking age and stiffen
drinking and driving laws.
One of the bills introduced, Sen
ate Bill 1, would strengthen the
present laws by making it legal to
suspend a person’s driving pri
vileges for 90 days if he refused to
take a breath test. It also would
make it legal for police to intro
duce as evidence the fact that the
person refused to take the test.
The bill also would prohibit de
ferred adjudication, which allows a
judge to release a DWI offender
with the agreement that the
offense may be wiped off his re
cord if he does not receive another
DWI in a specified period of time.
Senate Bill 2 would make it illeg
al to drink while driving and to
have open containers of alcoholic
beverages in an automobile. Sen
ate Bill 3, if passed, would raise the
drinking age from 19 to 21 and
establish an education and rehabi
litation center for repeated DWI
offenders.
Sen. Kent Caperton, D-Bryan,
plans to vote for Bill 1, according
to his press secretary Robert Mead,
but Mead said Caperton has not
yet decided how he will vote on the
second and third bills.
“Obviously there are a lot of
arguments still to be brought up,”
Mead said. “He (Caperton) is
going to wait until tbe vote before
he makes up his mind.”
Mead also said it is too early to
tell if the bill to raise the drinking
age will pass. But Brown disagrees.
“We have overwhelming sup
port,” Brown said. “It (raising the
drinking age) is going to pass.
There is no question about it.”
But while MADD wants the
drinking age raised, local re
staurant and bar owners aren’t too
thrilled with the idea.
“I’m sure it would really affect
our business,” said Bennigan’s
Tavern manager Nancy Russell.
“It would have a definite impact on
our business. We would take about
a $17,000 loss per week.”
Rebel’s manager Steve Larson
wasn’t optimistic either.
“Our business would be drastic
ally affected,” Larson said. “Over
all, it would cut liquor sales by ab
out 20 percent. It would also cause
an enforcement problem. I am tot
ally against the change.”
In a recent study published in
the Chronicle of Higher Educa
tion, only 0.5 percent of the stu
dents polled reported being
arrested for drunk driving. Forty-
seven and one-half percent of tbe
students reported driving after
drinking, 30.4 percent reported
driving after much drinking and
45.4 percent reported drinking
while driving.
Of the 5,030 students respond
ing to the study, 82.1 percent said
they were drinkers.
In the Texas A&M survey, 80.1
percent of the students said they
drink alcohol. The largest group
of those who drink alcohol — 42.7
percent — said they had two to five
drinks per week. The second
largest group — 37.4 percent —
said they had one drink or less
each week.
People who had six to ten drinks
each week comprised 12.8 percent
of those interviewed. People who
had 10 to 20 drinks each week
accounted for 6.4 percent of those
interviewed and 0.7 percent of the
people interviewed said they had
more than 20 drinks a week.
Does all of this drinking create
an alcohol abuse problem on col
lege campuses?
“Alcohol is a problem for some
students,” said Assistant Director
See DRINKING, page8
Survey information
When was it taken? Nov. 3 to Nov.
6, 1982.
Who sponsored it? The fall
semester Journalism 403, inter
preting contemporary affairs,
class.
How many students were pol
led? The survey results are based
on 351 completed questionnaires.
How was it taken? The names
were randomly selected from the
1982-83 Campus Directory. Stu
dents were telephoned and, asked
40 questions.
How accurate is it? Because we
only sampled 351 out of the 32,000
undergraduate students at Texas
A&M, the survey does contain a
small amount of sampling error.
For every percentage reported,
the actual value could range 5.2
percent higher or lower. For ex
ample, a percentage of 50 percent
could actually be as high as 55.2
percent or as low as 44.8.
Should the legal drinking age in Texas be raised
from 19 to 21?