The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 02, 1983, Image 8

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    state
Battalion/Pan!
February 2,
. <
'
Truckers in Texas avoid strike
United Press International
DALLAS — A spot check of
Texas truck drivers indicated
that most decided it was better
— certainly more profitable —
to keep on trucking and duck
trouble Tuesday, the second day
of a nation-wide independent
truckers’ strike.
“We can’t afford to strike, but
we can’t afford to keep on the
road either,” Judy Price, an in
dependent trucker from Austin,
said. “Our costs have gone up
constantly, but we can’t raise
rates.”
Price is referring to a new
that law President Reagan
signed in January which in
creases taxes on truck parts and
truck use and raises federal fuel
tax 5 cents a gallon.
Truckers across the nation
responded to the new law by
organizing a general strike that
went into effect at midnight
Sunday.
“There’s just a lot of talk now
but I don’t think anyone knows
what will happen, said Claude
Jones, vice president of Truck
Harbor Inc. which owns a truck
stop on Houston’s northside.
“We’re as anxious as you all
are to find an indication. Right
now, the ones who have a load
will run. The ones without loads
have pretty much gone home.”
A trucker from Spring,
Texas, who supplies fuel to ab
out 21 customers including
some independent service sta
tions, said, “I’ve been asked by
several of the independent
truckers if I was going to shut
my trucks down and I said ‘No, I
could not until Gulf, Exxon,
Shell and the majors shut theirs
down.’”
He said there had been no re
ports of violence in his area and
didn’t anticipate any. He also
said that there was little evidence
the strike had slowed business.
Hugh Schmieder, owner of
the Union 76-truck stop in
Brookshire, about 20 miles west
of Houston, said, “It’s just as
peaceful as Christmas Eve.”
“From what I can observe this
morning, there’s absolutely no
impact from the strike,” he said.
UT graduate programs
among nation’s best
United Press International
AUSTIN — The University
of Texas’ doctorate programs
rank 6th among the nation’s
state-supported universities,
making it the premier university
in the Southwest, says UT presi
dent Dr. Peter T. Flawn.
The study released Monday
showed UT had eight doctorate
programs listed in the nation’s
Top 10, including the best
botany program.
Flawn said the study “makes
it clear that UT-Austin has now
become one of the small group
of truly outstanding state uni
versities in the nation.”
And, he said the report
proved that UT is first in doctor
al training among universities in
the Southwest region, which in
cludes Arizona, New Mexico,
Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas
and Texas.
The Jones-Lindzey Report
ranked UT first in botany, third
in linguistics and Spanish, sixth
in Germanic languages and civil
engineering, eighth in classics
and zoology and 10th in compu
ter sciences.
The survey of 2,700 graduate
programs at 228 universities
also showed UT ranked in the
top 20 in chemistry, geosciences,
French, music, chemical, elec
trical and mechanical engineer
ing, anthropology, psychology
and sociology.
Only six state-supported uni
versities had a greater number
of top 10 programs than UT.
They were the University of
California-Berkeley, UGLA,
University of Illinois, University
of Wisconsin, University of
Michigan and Cornell Univer
sity.
UT ranked 22nd overall in
top 10 programs.
The top 10 rated universities
were Stanford, Harvard, Yale,
Chicago, Princeton, MIT, Col
umbia, Pennsylvania, California
Institute of Technology and
Duke.
William S. Livingston, vice
president and dean of graduate
studies at UT, said the survey,
the first in a decade, “shows us
Toddler
shoots
herself
United Press International
HOUSTON — The 3-year-
old daughter of a Houston-area
police officer was critically
wounded while playing with her
father’s revolver, police said
Tuesday.
Homicide Detective S.P. Wil
son said that Patricia Kennedy
remained in critical condition at
Hermann Hospital after appa
rently shooting herself in the
abdomen while playing with her
father’s .357 magnum pistol.
Wilson said the sound of a
gunshot about 12:15 a.m. woke
up the girl’s parents. Lake
Shores Police Officer Timothy
Kennedy and his wife.
The couple ran into the living
room and found their daughter
lying in a pool of blood with the
gun at her side, Wilson said. The
child was rushed to a nearby
hospital and then flown by
emergency helicopter to Her
mann Hospital for surgery.
where some of our weaknesses
lie and it gives us a chance to
inform prospective students ab
out the quality of our prog
rams.”
The Jones-Lindzey Report is
confined to 32 research-
doctorate programs and does
not include programs in
architecture, business, com
munication, education, law, lib
rary and information science,
nursing, pharmacy, public
affairs or social work.
Valentine Special
14 Kt. Gold Add-A-Beads
3mm - .50
4mm - .85
5mm - 1.45
6mm - 2.20
7mm - 3.00
8mm - 4.50
We will put beads on your chain at no extra charge.
Douglas Jewelry
Culpepper Plaza and 212 No. Main
Downtown Bryan
Student Discounts not applicable on this event. No Credit Cards. Charge, or
Layaway.
GET HAPPY FEET
Un
HOU
njv Ge
filed lav
treatme
contribi
Houstoi
All-Nigv
For III
♦ *
★
k +
*★
****** **♦!♦* ******, J
★★★ Util
Stperda
Feb. 19-20 12 noon to 12,|
BRAZOS CENTER
REGISTER (JAN. 24-FEB. 1!)
at
The Commons 11:00-2I|
MSC 10:00-3:1
Sbisa 11:00-H
Registration Fee $2.50 per person
All proceeds to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy
The
RITQTNJFCC
Monthly Newsletter of the students of the College of Business Administration, Texas A&M University
miiiiimimMiiiiiiiMiMiiiiMiiimiimmiiiiiiiimiiimiiiiiiiM
VolumeS, Number4
Paid advertising, prepared by
the College of Business Administration
INVENT Brings Ideas to A&M
Help Desks Open For Students
by Diane Yount
by Kim Schmidt
Eager entrepreneurs hoping to
capitalize on new inventions or
business ideas soon will be able to
get expert advice and aid for their
ventures through a newly estab
lished institute at Texas A&M Uni
versity.
The Institute for Ventures in
New Technology, or INVENT, is
designed to help inventors create
businesses to market their new
creations.
"INVENTS purpose is to com
mercialize new technologies in
Texas," said Mr. Frank Sekera, Di
rector of the institute.
But, although INVENT is in
terested in marketing new inven
tions, it will not attempt to prom
ote all new product ideas submit
ted, Sekera said. Instead, it will
evaluate each idea and promote
only those which have been identi
fied as having the highest technic
al and market potential.
Sekera feels INVENT will be a
success because of the abundance
of ideas for new inventions which
have already flooded his office and
because of the uniqueness of the
program.
Operating as a division of the
Texas Engineering Experiment
Station, INVENT is a collaborative
effort linking researchers in busi
ness administration and engineer
ing, as well as other relevant disci
plines.
"It is unique in that it is the only
place in the United States where
the goal is to create business while
involving academic staff, faculty,
and students," Sekera said.
And, Sekera said, any time con
tact between the business and
academic worlds is increased,
good things are bound to happen.
Sekera said inventors will be
nefit from the great wealth of
knowledge and resources at the
University.
In exchange for its efforts, IN
VENT will receive a percentage of
the revenues from the new busi
ness, Sekera said. Initially funded
by state monies, the institute will
eventually use these earnings
along with donations as its means
of support.
Students will also benefit.
Sekera hopes that a credit course
can be started to give students
class hours for participating in
technical and market research and
planning the business start-up. He
maintains that it would offer stu
dents a great opportunity to gain
needed business experience.
INVENT began operating on
campus in January, 1983, will be
operating Texas-wide by April,
and will be up to full operation by
September. Students, faculty and
staff who wish to participate in IN
VENT activities or who have in
ventions they wish to discuss
should contact Frank Sekera at
845-0538.
Finance Prof Visits England
Faculty members need time
away from the day-to-day de
mands of teaching, research work,
and committee responsibilities to
refresh and renew their skills. Fa
culty development leaves provide
the opportunity for faculty mem
bers to step out of daily routines to
brush up on old skills and develop
new ones. Dr. Donald Fraser, Pro
fessor of Finance in the College of
Business Administration at Texas
A&M, had the chance to take the
opportunities offered by a de
velopment leave during the spring
'82 semester. He was invited to be
visiting scholar at the University of
Sussex in Brighton, England.
Fraser wanted to study the
changes in British financial poli
cies, institutions, and markets—
particularly under the Thatcher
government—to determine
whether Britain's experiences hold
any examples for the U.S. Because
he teaches a financial markets
course, Fraser felt that this re
search would make a strong con
tribution to his teaching.
"On this development leave, re
search was a means to improve my
teaching, not primarily a means to
more publications," he said. "I did
not go simply to complete the re
search necessary for a specific pap
er. I viewed the experience more
as one where I could develop and
learn."
Dr. Fraser has more than 100
publications to his credit, plus 5
books and monographs.
While at the University of Sus
sex, Fraser was less than an hour
from London, and he made sever
al trips to the financial district of
London, which is one of the two
major financial centers of the
world and the major center for in
ternational financial markets. He
interviewed both American bank
ers (in the London operations of
Texas banks) and British bankers,
sounding them out on recent and
prospective developments in in
ternational banking and finance.
Reflecting the purpose of the de
velopment leave as well as the na
ture of the British university struc
ture, Dr. Fraser's responsibilities
at the University of Sussex were
fairly light. Professors do not hold
regularly scheduled lectures two
or three times a week. Classes
meet early in the semester, and
students are given a heavy reading
assignment. The classes meet
again several times in the semes
ter, and infrequent exams are
given, sometimes only once a
year.
Fraser gave one seminar during
his semester at Sussex, and partici
pated in several other seminars.
The rest of his time he devoted to
research at the University of Sus
sex and in London.
He has drawn some preliminary
conclusions on the Thatcher gov
ernment's attempt to control the
money supply and government
spending.
"The Thatcher experiment has.
in my opinion, been a failure, and
the parallels between Mrs. Thatch
er and President Reagan are some
what disturbing," said Fraser.
"Thatcher tried to reduce the size
of the government and has failed.
It is much more difficult to modify
big government and change a wel
fare state than it appears on the
surface."
The Bank of England has not or
could not conduct the monetarist
policy the government wanted, he
continued. While the Federal Re
serve here has done a much better
job of controlling the money supp
ly than has the Bank of England,
Fraser feels we're in danger of
making some of the same mistakes
they have.
Dr. Fraser is currently working
on several ideas for articles he has
developed from his research. His
semester in England was not all
work and no play, however. He
and his family visited Scotland,
Belgium, France and Germany
during their three and a half
month stay.
The benefits gained from this
development leave are not limited
to Dr. Fraser alone. The students
in his classes have also benefitted
from his experiences and research
at the University of Sussex. Actual
experience backed up by research
gives substance to the theories dis
cussed in the classroom and en
riches the quality of the education
received by students in the College
of Business Administration.
"Text and homework problem
assignments promote understand
ing of course subject matter. If you
do not understand and/or cannot
solve the assigned homework, you
should seek help. Help is avail
able. "
This paragraph is typically in
cluded in course syllabuses for the
College of Business Administra
tion. The Departments of
Accounting, Finance and Business
Analysis all sponsor help desks
designed to help students through
their courses.
"We have resource people there
to help students." says Dr. John
Groth, Associate Professor of Fi
nance. "In the fall semester, the
finance department had a help
desk open 30 hours a week."
The help desks are located in
Room 303B of the Academic and
Agency building. The hours for
each desk are determined by the
graduate assistants who staff
them. Usually, help is available be
tween 10a.m. and3p.m., Monday
through Friday.
"We want students to have am
ple time to get help without hiring
tutors." Groth says. "There is no
reason a sincere student can't get
help, but the student has to make
an effort."
If a student is unable to get to the
help desks during the day, even
ing help sessions are offered once
a week by department professors.
"I ran three evening help ses
sions in the fall." Groth said. "We
had one evening session a week,
except for the weeks like bonfire
and dead week. But the help desks
still stayed open."
One of the problems with the
help desks and evening help ses
sions is that few students
advantage of the resource.
"We didn't get very man
take
fi-
ly n
nance students at the finance help
desk for the first six weeks.” Groth
said.
One of the reasons for the lack of
use of the help desks is the lack of
space, Groth says.
"Some people can't work in that
room because it gets noisy.” Groth
said. "Shortage of space make it
difficult for a student to find a
quiet spot to get away from things
and study."
"We would like to find a room
just for finance people," he said.
"It needs to be the same room all
the time. If it changes every day it
becomes impractical to the student
— people don't remember where
the room is."
Business
Week '83
Wednesday, February 2, 1983
1:30 pm
Company booths reopen, A&A
Bldg, first floor.
Retailing Career Symposium con
tinues, Rudder Tower.
6:30 pm
'Take a
Student to Dinner," Re
cruiters host selected students at
local restaurants.
Thursday, February 3
Speaker:
MGMT 435, 11 am; MGMT 436,
12:30 pm
Jim Garrison, Attorney, Texaco,
U.S.A.
HAPPY HOUR
5-7 Mon.-Thurs.
4:30-6:30 Fri.
Sat.
11-5
Mon.-Sat.
10-Closing
OPEN
11-11 Mon.-Thurs.
11-12 Fri.-Sat.
11 -2:30 Sunday Brunch
5-10 Sunday
■JVTERURBA1V
MONDAY—Sorority Night! Bring in your greek
letters and drink all night for half-price!!!
WEDNESDAY—Ladies Night! All ladies’ drinks
half-price from 5 till closing!!
INTERURBAN EATING HOUSE
846-8741
505 University Drive
iiimiiiiiniiiiiiHiiiiiniiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiMmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiimiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii