An outsider’s view
of T exas-Oklahoma
See page 12
Murray leads A&M
past Cougars, 30-7
See page 11
The Batta on
Serving the University community
Vol 78 No. 28 USPS 045360 14 pages
College Station, Texas
Monday, October 10, 1983 ',e
Ad marquis
considered
e f
1
M
eagan’s position still vulnerable
United Press International
WASHINGTON — In 1980,
Ronald Reagan wove together a for
midable coalition of support behind
his promises of less intrusive govern
ment, lower taxes, economic prosper
ity and U.S. strength in world affairs.
In 1984, White House strategists
concede, holding that coalition
together will not be as easy.
Once his re-election plans are
announced, Reagan will have all the
powers of incumbency at hand. But
instead of campaigning as an outsider
against an unpopular president, he
would be on the defensive against
^Democratic attacks on his record of
t the past 33 months.
On the domestic front, Reagan —
the candidate who promised balanced
budgets and better times — has pres
ided over the worst unemployment in
40 years, a severe recession and the
largest federal budget deficits in his
tory.
Also, relations between the United
States and the Soviet Union are at a
new low, war rages in Central Amer
ica, Africa and the Middle East and
more voters than ever distrust
Reagan’s foreign policy.
In 1980, President Carter boasted
inside
Around town 8
Classified. 10
Local 3
National 8
Opinions 2
Sports
State
What’s up 3
forecast
Mostly cloudy and warm — highs in
upper 80s.
he kept the United States out of war.
Reagan has dispatched troops to
three world trouble spots, including
Lebanon, where four Marines have
died as a result combat-related
wounds.
White House polls confirm voter
anxiety. Reagan’s advisers hope the
problem is temporary.
“Just because some foreign policy
moves are not popular doesn’t mean a
president can walk away from them,”
said one.
On Reagan’s political scorecard:
—Women. The “gender gap”
emerged early and has grown in size
and significance. In 1980, Reagan was
supported by 57 percent of the men
and 47 percent of the women who
voted.
—Hispanics. Reagan polled about 30
percent of the Hispanic vote in 1980
and has used support from Cuban ex
iles, prosperous Hispanic business ex
ecutives and Mexican-American
veterans as a sign of minority backing.
His advisers believe he would need 30
to 40 percent of the Hispanic vote to
carry the key states of Florida, Texas
and California.
—Blue-collar workers. Reagan re
ceived 41 percent of the union vote in
Train hits
student
A Texas A&M freshman is in critic
al condition and two local men are
dead after colliding with trains in
three separate accidents Friday.
Frederick Reyes, 18, has been in
intensive care at St. Joseph Hospital
since he was admitted at about 10:15
p.m. Friday.
Reyes was injured when his pickup
collided with a Southern Pacific train
at a railroad crossing at F&B and
Wellborn roads in College Station,
police said.
Reyes’ truck turned over about
four times when it was hit and was
knocked about 50 feet, police said.
Other truck-train accidents
claimed the lives of two Brazos Valley
men Friday.
Don Lenz, 26, of Bryan, was killed
Friday morning when the pickup he
was driving struck a Sante Fe train at
an FM 50 crossing.
Herbert F. Sauer, 65, of New
Baden, was killed when his pickup
collided with a Southern Pacific train
at a crossing in Calvert.
Ironically, Gov. Mark White has
declared this week Texas Grade Cros
sing Safety Week, a police spokesman
said.
1980. Labor leaders are doing all they
can to prevent another massive Re
publican defection in 1984.
—Blacks. The White House has writ
ten off the black vote, resigned to
accept the rejection of Reagan’s
domestic policies by a vast majority of
the black community.
by Steve Thomas
Battalion Staff
Imagine a 20-foot square of blink
ing words and graphics looming
above G. Rollie White Coliseum, with
the words “Coke Adds Life” flashing
red and white above the rolling adver
tisements.
That could be the scenario of an
advertising marquis Texas A&M is
considering adding to its landscape
for the benefit of on-campus organi
zations.
John J. Koldus, vice president for
student services, said the idea for such
a sign, which has been in debate for
over five years, came up again be
cause Southeast Scoring Systems, Inc.
in New Mexico offered to donate the
sign to the University, under the con
dition that outside advertising be
used.
The marquis would replace the
banners in the Memorial Student
Center, giving advertisers a more
effective method of reaching the mas
ses of Texas A&M students, James R.
Reynolds, director of the MSC, says.
But Koldus said the Master Plan
ning Committee doesn’t want outside
advertising to be so blatant on
campus.
“There’s a strong divergence of
opinion,” Koldus said. He brought
the signboard idea to the attention of
his department heads last week.
With outside advertising, Koldus
said the sign would cost the University
nothing; without, the cost would run
between $35,000 and $60,000.
The organizations who advertise
on campus want the sign whether it
has outside advertising or not, Koldus
said, whereas the academic commun
ity feels it would be aesthetically
damaging.
Even though the debate over the
sign has been going on for so long,
Koldus said it should again be put on
the back burner.
“We’d look into it a heck of a lot
more if we thought it was a possibility
and it had merit,” he said, “but I’ve
just kind of put it aside for now.”
Reynolds said the controversy
dates back to 1978. The students of
the MSC Council conducted a survey
that concluded that organizations at
Texas A&M weren’t getting their
messages across to the mass Aggie au
dience.
Texas A&M has the same amount
of bulletin board, exhibit and banner
space as it did when enrollment was
only 18,000, Reynolds said.
The organizations who
advertise on campus want
the sign whether it has
outside advertising or not
whereas the academic
community feels it would
be aesthetically
damaging.
And banners aren’t the answer
either. They’ve been banned by the
University three times in the past five
and a half years, he said.
The surveyors decided a large
programmable marquis would meet
the need, he said. Since then three
studies have been done by outside
companies to determine the size,
placement and other specifications
for such a marquis.
But still, no signboard.
Reynolds, however, is certain of
one thing: Texas A&M needs this sign
whether or not it has to commercialize
to get it.
Financial aid policies changing
New director says financial aid office is im proving
by Bonnie Langford
Battalion Staff
Charles Troup says he doesn’t
want to drop out of school, but he
doesn’t have any income — and the
student loan he had planned on still
hasn’t arrived.
Troup is just one of the 12,000
students at Texas A&M who apply
for financial aid. His problem is not
unique; he filed for his loan later
than the suggested date and because
of a backlog of applications, the Stu
dent Financial Aid Office has not
had time to process his papers.
Troup has not been forgotten,
though.
Taft Benson, director of Student
Financial Aid since Aug. 15, says
that if a student needs money im
mediately to stay in school, the office
will rush the application through.
This is an exception to the rules, he
says.
“We don’t want students to drop
out of school,” Benson says. The
office also will help students obtain
short-term loans for up to $750 or
“little loans” for up to #50, he says.
Because of the backlog, Benson
says, the staff is processing the appli
cations turned in on time. The large
amourit of unprocessed forms has
caused so many problems in the
office, he says, that he plans to hire
temporaries or move people within
the office to end the situation.
However, hiring help is only a
temporary solution, Benson says.
His long range plans include
streamlining the system so all forms
are out of the office within 10 days.
A suggestion box for stu
dents will be added this
week so students can
comment on what they
like or dislike about the
Student Financial Aid
Office.
The idea is only part of the plan for
improving the Student Financial
Aid Office, he says.
“I want the Financial Aid Office
to provide friendly, efficient ser
vices,” Benson says. “Hopefully, we
will become more service oriented.”
Other proposals for improve
ment include the addition of more
financial aid counselors, he says. A
student should be able to sit down
with the counselor and work
through any problems, he says. The
student also should be able to come
back to the same counselor about
further problems, he says.
The office also would like to re
ceive more feedback from students,
Benson says. A suggestion box for
students will be added this week, he
says, so students can comment on
what they like or dislike about the
office.
Benson met with student leaders
last week to discuss students’ needs.
He plans to organize a student advis
ory group, he says.
“It’s important to get communi
cation lines open,” Benson says, “so
students can voice their complaints
to us.”
Another future change is the set
ting of target dates for getting forms
processed and out, Benson says.
Target dates will be built around
heavy application times, he says,
which occur shortly before each
semester. If the load gets too large
during these times, he says, the
office will employ additional staff to
help.
To prevent a long waiting period
for student funds, Benson says, stu
dents should have Texas Guaran
teed Student Loan applications in by
April 15, and National Direct Stu
dent Loan applications in 90 days
before the money is needed, since
these two loans are applied for most
often.
Money received by students at
the office is paid back to the loaning
institutions, Benson says. Texas
A&M has a 2 percent default rate, he
says, which is the lowest in the state.
A loan is default when it is not paid
back by the student.
Students receiving loans are not
the only ones having to wait for
money, though. Benson says scho
larships for students are sometimes
delayed, but that this is not the
financial aid office’s fault.
“You can’t tell a sponsor to get the
money in by a deadline,” he says.
“But you don’t want to keep the stu
dent from school, either.”
Benson says both sides should be
kept happy. To help solve the prob
lem, Benson has proposed estab
lishing a temporary fund which
would allow a student to receive a
scholarship before the money from
the donor arrives.
Now students can borrow more through small loans
by Lauri Reese
Battalion Reporter
The maximum amount of “little
loans” — short-term loans available
to full-time students — has been
raised from $30 to $50, which re
flects an increase in the cost of living,
Taft Benson, director of student
financial aid, says.
Little loans have been offered
through the Student Financial Aid
e pa
dth;
Students with a Texas A&M iden
tification card and a paid fee slip
have 30 days to repay the loan and a
10-day grace period before they
must pay a $5 delinquent fee. If they
are late, they lose their little loan
privileges for one year, beginning
the day the loan is paid off. Their
registration for the next semester
also is blocked until the money is
paid.
Loan coordinator Anedith Hess
said only about 2.5 percent of the
loans are late.
More than 450 students have
taken advantage of the loans since
Sept. 13 when the financial aid
office began offering them for the
year, she said.
To receive one of the loans, stu
dents must fill out a card at the Pavi
lion. The money is given to them at
that time.
Students may take out the loans as
often as they need, Hess said, as long
as they pay the money back on time.
Some students fill out another card
at the same time that they pay back a
loan, she said.
There is a 25 cent service charge
on the loans.
Money for the loans is obtained
from the Association of Former Stu
dents for use by the financial aic
office.