The DaTtaMon
lent,
re teachingfi
:es, butasmj
’anced dei
Serving the University communily
men toe jfol,76 No. 144 USPS 04536018 Pages In 2 Sections
itsuisaid. B ' '
College Station, Texas
Thursday, April 28, 1983
of not lid ’
iReasran urares Central America aid
tulty of unisl f 'V €^w
:heraistrydoJ V—V.—
from wire services “IF ^ t j • tt i. tl. _ ta
is 1.5 penal
excluded'
for grat
is
WASHINGTON — President
gan urged a skeptical Congress to
[brace his arms and economic prog-
for Central America, claiming
ie United States has “a vital interest,
noral duty and a solemn responsi-
ny" to save the region from the lef-
strevolution.
pa rare address Wednesday night
joint session of the House and
ate, Reagan said, “I say to you that
light there can be no question: The
[ional security of all the Americas is
ptake in Central America.
‘If we cannot defend ourselves
there,” Reagan said, “we cannot ex
pect to prevail elsewhere. Our credi
bility would collapse, our alliances
would crumble, and the safety of our
homeland would be put at jeopardy.*
Reagan’s nationally broadcast
address was primarily an attempt to
salvage a proposed $110 million in
U.S. aid for the besieged regime in El
Salvador. Congress so far has balked
over all but $30 million of that.
But Reagan pressed Congress to
approve his full request for aid for all
of Central America, totaling about
$600 million for 1984. “That is less
than one-tenth of what Americans
will spend this year on coin-operated
video games,” the president said.
He said the United States will sup
port “democracy, reform and human
freedom” in Central America, and
called for open and fair elections in El
Salvador and Nicaragua.
He said the United States also sup
ports economic development prog
rams throughout the region.
“In response to the military chal
lenge from Cuba and Nicaragua — to
their deliberate use of force to spread
tyranny — we will support the secur
ity of the regions’ threatened na
tions,” Reagan said.
Reagan noted the recent seizure in
Brazil of four Libyan cargo planes
loaded with arms en route to Nicar
agua, and said “violence has been
Nicaragua’s most important export to
the world.”
His speech in the House chamber
marked the first time Reagan addres
sed legislators on a foreign policy
issue. Usually presidents address
Congress only to deliver the annual
State of the Union report.
The speech came one day after the
House Appropriations subcommittee
chopped in half his request to shift
military aid worth $60 million to El
Salvador from amounts allocated for
other countries.
On the matter of Nicaragua, the
House Intelligence Committee plans
to vote today on legislation to cut off
all secret aid to rebels battling the lef
tist regime there.
In a Democratic response to
Reagan, Sen. Christopher Dodd, of
Connecticut, instead called for more
emphasis on negotiation and said the
administration’s whole approach to
Central America was ignorant.
Dodd, a member of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee and a
Peace Corps volunteer in the Domini
can Republic from 1966-68, said,
“The painful truth is that many of our
highest officials seem to know as little
about Central America in 1983 as we
knew about Indochina in 1963.”
Car bottle
ban slowed
from wire services
A House committee Wednesday
night sent to subcommittee legislation
that would prohibit alcoholic bever
age containers in motor vehicles, de
spite urging from Speaker Gib Lewis,
legislators and witnesses.
The decision which will slow action
on the bill was made after the House
Liquor Regulation Committee heard
witnesses, including Mothers Against
Drunk Drivers, testify for the legisla
tion.
Lewis has not endorsed the open
container proposal, but had asked the
committee to approve the legislation
so it could be voted on by the full
House. Sending the bill back to the
subcommittee delay that floor vote.
The speaker also had asked that
the legislation to raise the drinking
age to 21 be approved by the panel.
The proposal has been in a subcom
mittee for three weeks.
Jim Adams, Texas Department of
Public Safety director, said Texans
will never see any meaningful change
in traffic fatality statistics unless atti
tudes about DWI change.
The only witness to speak against
the legislation was Austin attorney
Stephen Edwards, although lobbyists
for the beer and liquor industries
attended the committee meeting.
Edwards said he did not oppose
anti-DWI legislation, but added that
an open container prohibition could
open a new area of potential abuse by
law enforcement officers.
Law enforcement officials may
currently stop a vehicle for a traffic
violation or report of criminal
offense, Edwards said. According to
the proposal all officers would have to
do is see a container at night to stop a
car, he said.
State board to consider requests
bV •
\
^ - - V: ^ - "
,
A&M asks for new programs
-
fiouse to create
thics committee
from wire services
The Texas House of
v fpresentatives approved new rules
Mm 1 will create an ethics committee to
induct investigations of charges of
ies Beakers’ misconduct.
' |lawmakers approved the creation
Ian ethics committee, after oppo-
. BRYAN fcnts succeeded in changing the
bd by indicating that the ethics
Adelines were being considered in
ndon of House rules.
Goodin BThe House leadership accepted a
Tu«m«U> r{|x>sa! to form the ethics panel
Mn the House General Investigat-
Committee, instead of the House
linistration Committee,
he ethics panel would be prohi-
|d from inquiring into lawmakers’
uct 120 days before a primary or
|eral election.
he ethics committee was prop-
Iby Rep. Jim Turner, D-Crockett,
in late January was named to
a special subcommittee created
Investigate the spending of Rep.
Wilson, D-Houston. Turner’s
lel also planned an inquiry into
ise Speaker Gib Lewis’ failure to
|y disclose his financial dealings,
he Senate also tentatively
foductivity
upswing
from wire reports
[Productivity in non-farm business
|e at an annual rate of 4.8 percent
Ihe first quarter, the best showing
■wo years and a fair sign of eventual
povement in the job market.
■The Bureau of Labor Statistics re-
Tted Wednesday that productivity,
[luding agriculture, grew at its fas-
i quarterly pace in two years. The
Isonally adjusted indicator had
fn only 0.4 percent in the fourth
arter of 1982.
[Private economists said the impro-
Ig productivity performance could
fcntually enhance job prospects for
T nationals 11.4 million unem-
pyed.
Productivity measures the sum of
jods and services produced in an
lur’s paid working time.
approved a bid that would save the
state $220 million in 1984-85 by low
ering the state’s contribution to public
schoolteachers’ retirement.
The bill would not reduce teachers’
retirement benefits because of salary
hikes and an increase in the number
of teachers contributing to the fund.
Sen. Grant Jones, D-Abilene, said.
The Senate Finance Committee re
commended lowering the state con
tribution from the current 8.5 per
cent to 7.1 percent in the appropria
tions bill currently pending before
the Senate. Teachers contribute 6.65
percent to the retirement fund.
Other bills approved by the House:
• Bill that would increase state re
venues by $48 million in 1984-85 by
hiking fees charged by 20 state agen
cies.
• Bill that would require judges to
dismiss charges of driving without
automobile insurance against drivers
who can prove they have insurance.
The bill faces another House vote be
fore going to the Senate.
• Bill that would make it a third
degree felony for officers of a hous
ing authority to have an interest in
publicly funded housing projects. Bill
was sent to the Senate.
by Beverly Hamilton
Battalion Staff
Requests for new degree programs
within the Texas A&M System and
approval of the construction of a $ 1.2
million chancellor’s residence will be
considered at the quarterly meeting
of the state Coordinating Board on
Friday.
The board will consider Texas
A&M’s request for a doctorate of phi
losophy in applied psychology with
majors in industrial and organization
al psychology and community clinical
psychology.
In its consideration of new doctor
al programs, the board invites teams
of out-of-state consultants to assess
the quality of existing programs in the
state and to determine whether addi
tional programs are needed.
The University also has requested
that the board consider establishing a
Department of Computer Science.
Currently, the computer science divi
sion is included in the industrial en
gineering department within the Col
lege of Engineering. The proposed
department would offer bachelor’s,
master’s and doctoral degrees.
The board also will consider the
request for construction of a 7,291-
square-foot house for the System
chancellor. The estimated cost of
building and furnishing the house is
$1.2 million. The Texas A&M De
velopment Foundation will provide
initial funding for the project, but will
be reimbursed through individual
donations.
The proposed house, to be located
on a 13-acre site off Jersey Street, is
scheduled for completion by Decem
ber 1984.
In other action, the board will con
sider revising its eligibility guidelines
for the Legislative Academic Scholar
ship Program to encourage a broader
ethnic mix at public universities in
Texas. The new criteria would re
quire grant recipients to be members
of an ethnic group that constitutes
less than 40 percent of the popula
tion.
The revised guidelines are in
tended to increase enrollment of
black and Hispanic students at institu
tions with relatively low percentages
of minority students. White students
also would be eligible for the awards
for the first time if they enroll in uni
versities with largely black or Hispa
nic populations. Current criteria re
quire only that recipients be members
of an ethnic minority of the state
population.
The revised guidelines would allo
cate $4,000 to $20,000 in scholarship
funds to 30 public universities. The
recommended allocations are based
on past funding levels of $250,000
per year.
To help maintain the revolving sta
tus of the Hinson-Hazelwood College
Student Loan Program, the board will
consider the transfer of $2.6 million
in federal money into the state loan
fund. The $2.6 million is available
through the Special Lender’s Allo
wance Fund, which compensates len
ders for providing low'-interest stu
dent loans.
Other proposals within the System
include:
• Consideration of a bachelor
program in computef science at
Prairie View A&M. The proposed
program would require legislative
start-up funds of approximately
$800,000 over the next three years.
• Construction of a dormitory at an
estimated cost of $3,966 at Tarleton
State University.
The board meets at 9 a.m. in the
Bevington A. Reed Building, 200 East
Riverside Drive in Austin.
Energy committee vote weakens part
of Reagan’s natural gas price bill
from wire services
WASHINGTON — The Senate
Energy Committee voted to weaken a
key provision of President Reagan’s
natural gas price decontrol bill.
By a 12-4 margin Wednesday, the
committee voted to give residential
consumers and others a new way to
block a change in the traditional flow
of gas from producer to customer if it
threatens consumers with unneces
sarily higher prices.
The change in the flow, called for
by the Reagan decontrol legislation, is
called contract carriage. It means that
an end user of gas, such as a big fac
tory or wholesaler, could shop
around for gas from a producer, buy
it directly and contract with a pipeline
to get the gas to the customer for a
fee. Pipelines would have to carry the
gas if they had the capacity. As it is
now, pipelines buy gas from produc
ers and decide which customers can
buy it from them.
Benjamin A. Cooper of the Senate
Energy Committee staff said the main
contract carriage provision in current
natural gas law applies only to
emergencies: In times of shortage, a
big customer can buy directly and the
pipelin can be directed to carry the
gas if it has the available space in the
pipeline.
The Reagan contract carrier prop
osal is seen as a way to soften opposi
tion to his plan to free all gas from
federal price controls by 1986. He
would allow direct buying and selling
of gas under certain circumstances,
with the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission policing the process.
“This is the most important provi
sion of this bill,” Energy Committee
chief Counsel D. Michael Harvey
said.
Summer registration may double
by Karen Schrimsher
Battalion Staff
The number of provisional stu
dents in summer school here this
year may be double the number who
attended last summer, the director
of admissions and records says.
Provisional students are fresh
men who begin classes in the sum
mer because they are denied admis
sion for the fall semester on the basis
of their Scholastic Aptitude Test
scores.
Dr. Billy G. Lay, director of
admissions and records, said about
20 percent of all high school stu
dents who apply for enrollment
here are not accepted because their
SAT scores do not meet adrqissions
requirements.
Last year, an estimated 350 peo
ple who applied at Texas A&M were
offered provisional student status.
So far this year, the program has
been offered to about 700 appli
cants.
As of April 1982, 152 high school
seniors had expressed an interest in
the provisional student program.
This year, 433 students have said
they are interested in the program.
In the first summer session last
year, 176 students actually enrolled.
More stringent admission re
quirements than last year are one
reason for the increase in the num
ber of provisional students, Lay
said.
Under the new requirements, ap
plicants in the fourth quarter of
their high school class must have an
SAT score of at least 1,200, appli
cants in the third must score 1,100,
those in the second quarter must
score 950 and students in the top
quarter must score 800. Students in
the top 10 percent of their class have
no minimum score requirement.
When applicants are rejected on
the basis of SAT scores, they are
offered two options for admission.
They may try the provisional prog
ram in the summer or transfer after
a semester at another university or
junior college.
Provisional students can enroll
for the summer sessions and stay for
the fall semester if they meet the
requirements set by the admissions
office.
A provisional student is required
to enroll in nine hours of assigned
academic class work during the first
and second summer sessions.
The courses include a study skills
class and a writing lab.
The decision to allow a provision
al student to stay for the fall semes
ter is based on summer school
grades, Lay said.
To remain at the University for
the fall semester, the provisional
student must pass all courses and
have a C average for the nine class
hours.
Lay said that during the past five
years about 55 percent of the provi
sional students have remained at the
University for the fall semester.
After a student passes the admis
sion office requirements for provi
sional students, the student’s per
manent record will not show the
provisional status.
inside
Classified 8
Local 3
Opinions 2
Sports 9
State 6
National 11
Police Beat 4
What’s up 12
forecast
Partly cloudy skies today with a
high of 83. Southerly winds of 10 to
15 mph. Clear to partly cloudy
tonight with a low near 65. Partly
sunny skies Friday with a high near
86.