Texas A&M
Battalion
Serving the University community
'ol. 76 No. 175 USPS 045360 12 Pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, July 20, 1983
esearcher convicted of animal cruelty
i Schrimsher and Robert
McGlohon
Battalion Staff
Leland Langham, a Texas A&M
femistry department research tech-
dan, was convicted on a charge of
ueli y to animals in the Brazos Coun-
Court Tuesday.
Bingham was convicted of inten-
mal!\ and knowingly failing to pro-
iJadequate food, care and shelter
Bis pet dog — specifically that the
■ provided by him to his dog was
suf icient in quantity and inaclequ-
e iii nature.
gham has owned three dogs
idltheir puppies in the last year,
which he kept in a pen at his mobile
home at 108 Ridge Loop in the Roll
ing Ridge mobile home park.
The conviction followed about
four hours of testimony in which the
State, represented by assistant county
attorney Jack Phariss, and the de
fense, Bryan attorney John M. Bar
ron, presented conflicting evidence
concerning the death of the Lan-
gham’s dog, Pookie, on April 18,
1983.
Several of Langham’s neighbors
testified that the pen in which Lan
gham housed his dogs was too small
for the number of dogs kept there;
that when it rained, up to four inches
of water collected in the bottom of the
pen, which forced the dogs to climb
on top of a doghouse in the pen; that
the water and food Langham sup
plied his dogs was grossly inadequate;
that the dogs frequently became tang
led in their chains so that they could
not reach their water supply; and that
Langham whipped his dogs unneces
sarily with his belt, a rope and his
hand.
Neighbors also alleged that the dog
Pookie, as well as Pookie’s mother,
died of strangulation, and that one of
Pookie’s litters drowned because of
the inadequate drainage in the pen.
In response, Maria Langham, wife
of the defendant, testified that the
dogs were given adequate food and
water. The dogs were fed twice a day
with about one pound of dog food as
well as occasional table scraps, Mrs.
Langham said. She also said that
enough water was supplied for the
dogs at all times.
Immediately after their dog’s
death, Mrs. Langham said, she and
her husband took the dog to a veter
inarian for an autopsy, which she be
lieves shows that the dog died due to
complications from a miscarriage.
Assistant county attorney Phariss
said, however, that the autopsy was
inconclusive and that it showed only
that the fetuses were in an aborted
state at the time of the dog’s death.
Langham testified that he had con
tacted the Brazos County Animal
Shelter and the Society for Preven
tion of Cruelty to Animals three times
to try to get advice concerning the pen
in which he housed his dogs. He said
that he was unsuccessful in obtaining
help.
The defense also called several col
leagues of Langham’s to testify as to
his character. Among those called was
Dr. John Bockris, a Distinguished
Professor of Chemistry at Texas
A&M and the director of the project
on which Langham is working.
Bockris said he had polled Lan
gham’s 18 co-workers and that their
view of Langham was “extremely
positive,” and that his reputation was
“excellent.”
Animal cruelty is a criminal misde
meanor which carries up to a $2,000
fine and as much as one year in the
county jail. Langham will be sent
enced on July 29.
ationally A&M ranks
-fifth for private gifts
bv Pamela Barnes vouner men and women eraduationer tions and others that are
by Pamela Barnes
Battalion Reporter
■ice an Aggie, always an Aggie,
using s a saying that is repeated genera-
uoacheBfter generation and through the
i. He B Aggies have continued to sup-
lere is B their alma mater,
lem of In fiscal year 1981-82 Texas A&M
lasis u| ceived more than $40 million in pri
ed ton tl gifts, ranking fifth among all
:knowk iblii institutions in the amount re-
rst step ived through gifts,
i. Ji n Jeeter, associate executive th
ence EEtor of the Association of Former
evaluati udents, attributes the high rate of
that ipp'jrt to the loyalty of Aggies,
whogi'Beople who graduate from A&M
perfom ef better about their experience
evaluatBthis University than most gradu-
■do with theirs,” he said.
1 thatciBob Rutledge, executive director
ntsknoiBie Texas A&M University De-
utofadiffiament Foundation, said alumni
; the ntBort the University because of
s some! fiat they received while here, not
itions," s t in formal education but also in
:y astuti :rsonal experience.
hesa r'People give to the University bq-
athigh ust they believe in higher educa-
nd "itlK” he said. “Somebody is in-
■ted in what we are doing, that is
loutasthy they give.”
is any Corporations give to the University
d. Bpse they like the product — the
young men and women graduationg
from Texas A&M, Rutledge said. The
graduates are an assest to their com
pany. They also give to the faculty, he
said, because they are impressed with
it and the job it performs.
The gifts are given to the Universi
ty through organizations such as the
Association of Former Students, the
Aggie Club, the Development Found
ation and through personal research
funds.
Texas A&M also receives gifts from
foundations for specific programs or
colleges. Of the gifts processed
through the Development office, 80
percent are restricted by the donor
for specific scholarships or programs,
Rutledge said.
Of the $40 million received in 1981 -
82,17 percent was given by alumni, 22
percent by corporations and com
panies, 33 percent by foundations.
The remaining 28 percent was classi
fied as other.
The Development Foundation
seeks the funds under the direction of
the University. After receiving and
acknowledging the gifts, it then pro
cesses them and properly invests
them until they are ready to be used,
Rutledge said.
The Association of Former Stu
dents also receives gifts from corpora
tions and others that are classified as
Friends of Aggies but it corresponds
mainly with alumni.
“What sets us apart from other
alumni associations,” Jeeter said, “is
that we own and control our own re
cords and update them ourselves and
have annual fund raisings.”
The Association does not collect
dues for membership. A student’s
name is automatically submitted into
the list of former students upon gra
duation. To receive the literature and
class news, contributions of $25 are
accepted and the subscriber’s name is
added to the active members list.
The Association makes eight fun
draising appeals a year through the
mail.
The success of the Association is
attributed to accurate records, which
are controlled by in-house compu
ters, the undergraduate programs,
and Aggie spirit, Jeeter said.
“You can’t raise funds from people
if you don’t know where they are,” he
said.
The Association’s records are 80
percent accurate and constantly are
being updated. Four to five thousand
adresses are changed a month, said
Jeeter.
The Century Club handles the
Association’s major contributions.
Oh, say can you saw?
photo by Beverly Hamilton
Paul Koch, an electrical engineering major
from Brackettville, measures a panel of
wood as he prepares to saw off the rough
edge. The wood panel will become the
lid to a linen chest once it is sanded and
stained. Koch, a married student housing
resident, spent Sunday working on this
project on the balcony of his apartment.
ouisiana man sought in grisly slayings of relatives
$29 a 1)4
misters United Press International
equota.#KE ARTHUR, La. — Author-
]lj on toHtaunchcd a nationwide manhunt
“Wetfiy f° r a young man with a history
gfortlt 1 mental illness in the grisly south-
' s j, r Ssl Louisiana slayings of his father,
, other and three other relatives.
Ilhe mutilated bodies of a man, his
ence fife and their 2-year-old grandson
said, ere discovered in one house Tues-
The bodies of two cousins were
1 the»
found at another residence two doors
down.
Officers pumped tear gas shells
into a trailer between the homes when
they were told an armed man was hid
ing inside, but the trailer turned out
to be empty.
Virtually the entire town of Lake
Arthur converged on the houses in
shock as word of the violence reached
relatives and friends. Officials were
forced to rope off the area to keep
spectators out of the way.
Reports of the crime touched off
hysteria in the community and police
switchboards were clogged with calls
from people claiming the suspect was
in their attic.
State troopers issued a nationwide
alert for Michael Perry, 28, of Lake
Arthur, who authorities said had leg
ally changed his name to Kuick Ma.
They said he had been committed
several times to state hospitals for
psychiatric problems.
The search focused on Texas high
ways in the hours after the killings
because a neighbor quoted Perry as
saying he was heading for Tijuana,
Mexico.
The victims were identified as
Chester Perry, 49; his wife Grace,
approximately the same age; their
grandchild Anthony Bonin, 2; and
cousins Bryan LeBlanc, 22, and Ran
dy Perry, 19.
The suspect was described in police
bulletins as a white male, slender, 5-
11, 160 pounds, with short brown
hair in a ducktail and a light beard.
He was believed to be driving a 1980
Oldsmobile Regency and carrying a
.357 magnum stolen from his father’s
house.
Authorities said all the victims were
killed by gunshot wounds. Relatives
discovered the cousins’ bodies first
and called police, who then went over
to the Perry’s house to ask whether
they knew what had happened.
Chester Perry was found
crouching behind his television set
and the baby had been decapitated by
gunfire, they said.
Student-teacher interaction important
by Robert McGlohon
Battalion Staff
Humanistic teaching — teaching
that is as concerned with the personal
growth of students as with subject
matter taught them — is more of an
attitude than a technique. Dr. Ken
neth E. Eble said here Tuesday.
Eble, professor of English and
University Professor at the University
of Utah, was here as a guest expert for
“Quality Teaching In A Technical
Society,” an inquiry conference spon
sored by the College of Education, the
Center for Teaching Excellence and
the Texas Engineering Experiment
Station.
College life, Eble said, affords the
maximum chance in our society “for
human experience to interact with
human inexperience.” Professors, he
said, while not necessarily wiser than
their students, are more experienced,
and should pass on that experience to
their students, whether it is detailed
in the course outline or not.
One important function of a
teacher, Eble said, lies outside the
realm of instruction in the dry sense
of facts, figures and skills. That func
tion, he said, is “to make becoming an
adult seem like a worthwhile project.”
Eble outlined five themes neces
sary to humanistic teaching:
First, a professor needs to recog
nize the essentially personal in
teaching, neither to trivialize it nor let
it be submerged under mere technical
training or objective scholarship.
Second, he must recognize the obli
gation to develop character in a stu
dent, and therefore look to develop
ing his own character. 1
Ano’ther theme is to make more of
the joys and pleasures of learning, to
fight the dead hand of institutionali
zation.
The fourth is to help harmonize
the conflicting needs of students —
satisfying work, fulfilling personal re
lationships and the painful abstrac
tions and realities of life.
And the fifth is to show students
that learning is not necessarily an in
dividual experience but a group ex
perience as well.
Eble presented his views in a 15-
minute presentation followed by
questions from a panel of experts and
from the audience. He evoked
periodic laughter from the audience
of about 200, and was roundly ap
plauded at the conclusion of the ses
sion.
When asked what he would do if
Hired to improve the humanistic qual
ity of teaching at Texas A&M, Eble
replied that he had been asked that
question many times before but in a
different form: “What would you do
if you were asked to be King of the
Universe?” He said his first reply
would be “Yes, I’ll take the job.”
On a more serious note, Eble said
the best way to improve humanistic
teaching is to encourage interaction
between professors of different disci
plines within the University, and to
encourage discussion and debate ab
out humanistic teaching.
He said teachers sometimes need
nudging to realize their humanistic
roles.
Interaction among different disci
plines is important, he said, because
the question of values comes up even
in the most technical fields. He used
geology as an example.
A geologist daily faces questions
about the exploitation of resources,
the environment and many others, he
said, adding that interest has risen in
recent years about values and ethics in
technical fields, as shown by increased
enrollment in such courses as medical
ethics.
Ask a geologist “Why be a geolog
ist?” he said, and the answer won’t be
“Because rocks are great; they don’t
give you any trouble.”
U.S. battle group heads
south for Central America
photo by Anne Ellen King
0-7 P*
i,-7 P'
•ST"
-*1
A bit of course work
Although he’s wading in a pond at the Bryan Golf
Course on Villa Maria Road, Bill Tietje is not looking
For an overshot golf ball. He is extracting pond
sediment samples as part of a wetlands ecology course he
is taking this summer. Tietje is a graduate student in
wildlife and fisheries sciences.
United Press International
WASHINGTON — An eight-ship
aircraft carrier battle group steamed
toward the Pacific coast of Central
America today in a show of force de
signed to underscore U.S. determina
tion to retain influence in the trou
bled region.
The battle group, led by the con
ventionally powered carrier Ranger
with its complement of 70 planes, will
conduct training and flight opera
tions in areas off the coasts of Nicar
agua, El Salvador and Honduras as
part of major military exercises plan
ned for this summer, the Navy and
defense officials said Tuesday.
Despite reports that other major
warships such as the carrier Coral Sea
would be sent into the Caribbean,
there were no indications that
another deployment was imminent.
The latest U.S. wrinkle in policy
toward the region was announced as
the House convened in secret session
to hear about covert U.S. aid to Nicar
aguan rebels based in Honduras and
24 hours after President Reagan
appointed Henry Kissinger to head a
special commission to reach a biparti
san consensus on U.S. Central Amer
ican policy.
Besides the Ranger, the battle
group is composed of the cruiser
Horne* the guided missile destroyer
Lynde McCormick, the destroyers
Fletcher and Fife, the frigate Marvin
Shields, the oiler Wichita and the sup
port ship Camden, the Navy said.
inside
Classified 8
Local 3
Opinions 2
Sports 9
State 4
National 11
forecast
Partly cloudy skies today with a 25
percent chance of showers and a
nigh of 92. Southeasterly winds
near 10 mph. The low tonight near
73. Partly sunny skies Thursday
with a high of 92.