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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 1983)
mm ■ Texas A&.M The talion Serving the University community Vol 78 No. 56 USPS 0453110 14 pages College Station, Texas Thursday, November 17, 1983 Caperton won’t run for Senate by Brigid Brockman Battalion Staff __ State Sen. Kent Caperton announced at a press conference Wednesday that he will not be a candi date for the U.S. Congress. Caperton said he decided not to run because of commitments to his family, to his profession as a practic ing attorney and to his tenure in the Texas Senate. Supporters of Caperton had asked him last January to consider running for Congress in the special election but he decided against it. He was again approached by his supporters in late October asking him to recon sider that decision. “After pondering the pros and cons, I have concluded that my earlier decision was correct,” Caperton said. “I will not become a candidate for congressman from the 6th Congres sional District.” Suicide A recent p< have been a front-runner, and if the poll was correct, it showed he could have won the race. Caperton admit ted that the polls were “favorable,” but he said he won’t make any changes until the next session of the Legislature. “It is a privilege to serve in the Texas Senate, and I owe the people of the 5th District for the investment they have made,” he said. “Addition ally, I value the close working re lationship I have with Gov. Mark White, and the confidence which Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby has placed in me.” He said he does not know who will run for the office, but he did say it is important that the candidate under stand how important Texas A&M is to the district. He also said the candidate should be a resident of the district. Senator Kent Caperton Number of attempts increase at A&M; statistics still low among Texas schools 7 Donn Friedman, Battalion photo A kiss for dad Texas unemployment dips 7.4 percent for October Freshman Margaret Spence is consoled by her father, David Spence, after the Aggie volleyball team lost Wednesday night to the University of Texas. UT captured the SWC volleyball crown with the win. For more on the match see page 13. by Christine Mallon Battalion Staff Nine suicide attempts have been re ported this semester at Texas A&M, a University psychologist said Wednesday. “The number of suicide attempts here has amazingly increased,” Dr. Larry G. Roe, associate director for student counseling services, said. Be sides the nine reported this semester, only about 22 suicide attempts have been reported since 1974, he said. Probably several more attempts have gone unreported this semester, Roe said. While the number of attempts has increased at Texas A&M, Roe- said Texas A&M probably still has one of the lowest rates among Texas univer sities. Roe said, however, he isn’t sure where Texas A&M ranks. When a suicide attempt is brought to the attention of the A.P. Beutel Health Center or the Student Coun seling Service, the University immedi ately tries to find the best way to help the student, Roe said. The student seldom is dismissed immediately from the University, Roe said, although sometimes, it’s the only alternative. “Most of the time, the student will realize he has a problem and will seek help on his own at the health center,” he said. Most students who attempt suicide become in-patients at the health cen ter and remain under a doctor’s su pervision until they have proven they are mentally healthy and can return to their normal routine. Roe said. Statistically, those most likely to attempt suicide are young adults (ages 18-24) and men who are around re tirement age. In the cases Roe has been associ ated with at Texas A&M, there ha ven’t been any particular characteris tic about students who have attemp ted suicide, he said. The demographics of the attemp ted suicides don’t seem to favor any one type of student, Roe said. As many women as men, freshmen as seniors, undergraduates as graduates and on-campus as off-campus stu dents try to commit suicide. “It’s true many students attempt suicide because of academic press ures, but a lot of these students had a lengthy history of personal problems before they came to this University,” he said. Most of the attempts involve drug overdoses, usually over-the-counter products. Roe said. Usually a person contemplating suicide will warn somebody before an attempt, Roe said. He said he can’t explain why there | has been an increase in attempted suicides here, but he stressed that any one contemplating suicide at Texas A&M has a wide choice of alternatives to consider first. “It’s the counseling service’s job to intervene in a student crisis situation,” Roe said. The Personal Counseling Center merged last fall with the Academic Counseling Center to form the Stu dent Counseling Center — which now sees about 3,000 students a year on a regular basis. Roe said. “Counseling doesn’t work for everyone — especially non-talkers,” he said. “There are, however, other techniques available through the counseling services such as biofeed- back and relaxation training.” The Student Counseling Service has moved to the third floor of the YMCA Building. All services, includ ing counseling and psychiatric help are free for University students. Appointments are recommended, but a counselor is on call at all times. by Stephanie M. Ross Battalion Staff ational and state unemployment Figu res for October are down from September’s figures, and Texas con gressman Phil Gramm says the de- I ase is part of an overall economic overy. Unemployment figures from the Bxas Employment Commission for the Bryan-College Station area will not be released until Nov. 22. National unemployment for Octo ber was at 8.8 percent, down from 9.3 percent in September. The decline in unemployment translates into 320,000 people going back to work. The level of unemployed dropped from 10.4 million to 9.9 million. In Texas, the figures reflect the national trend. Unemployment for October was 7.4 percent, down from 8.5 percent in September. Eighty- eight thousand people who were un employed in September went back to work in October, bringing the total of unemployed in Texas to 571,000. Compared with the figures in Octo ber 1982, the number of working Texans was up by 329,000. Part of the decline in unemploy ment is because a large portion of the unemployed were between the ages of 16 and 24, and they have gone back to school. Although the figures for the Bryan-College Station area have not yet been released, a decline similar to the national and state figures is antici pated, said Hamp Patterson, from the TEC in Bryan. The TEC keeps the figures on unemployment in the area. In a press release, Gramm attri buted the decrease in unemployment combined with the slowdown in infla tion to President Reagan’s economic plan for recovery. Gramm, a former Texas A&M eco nomics professor, was the co-author of two bills that formed the core of the president’s economic plan. Inflation at the wholesale level rose only 0.3 percent in October. Retail inflation for 1983 through September was measured at 3.7 percent, more than three points above the wholesale level. Food and fuel oil prices rose in October while energy costs and gaso line prices fell. inside \round town 8 Classified 12 ^ocal \ 3 'Jational 7 )pinions 2 sports 13 itate 6 iVhat’s up 4 forecast Highs in the mid 70s, low reaching ■5 September jobless rate down in 44 states, rises in Texas United Press International WASHINGTON — Unemploy ment declined in 44 states and the District of Columbia during Septem ber, another sign the economic up turn has spread from coast to coast, the Labor Department said Wednesday. West Virginia, despite having one of the largest monthly declines in un employment, remained the state with the highest jobless rate at 15.1 percent in raw data unadjusted for seasonal factors. The Mountain State was at a 16.7 percent level in August. Bryan-College Station was on the low end of the scale at 4.2 percent. Laredo with a 26.5 percent rate, and McAllen-Pharr-Edinburg at 25.2 percent, had the highest unemploy ment among metropolitan areas according to the Bureau of Labor Sta tistics. They also had the largest in creases over the past year, 5.5 percen tage points and 5.3 percentage points, “Both of these areas are situated on the Mexican border and have been adversely affected by the devaluation of the peso,” the bureau said. The rates compare to an 8.8 per cent nationwide unadjusted rate for September. It fell to 8.4 percent in October. The nationwide seasonally ad justed jobless rate, which takes into account school closings, vacations, weather and other factors, was 9.3 percent in September and 8.8 percent in October. New Hampshire had the lowest rate for a state at 3.6 percent. Only four states showed an in crease in the unemployment rate dur ing September — Massachusetts, up from 6 percent to 7 percent; New York, up from 8.2 percent to 8.3 per cent; Ohio, up from 10.8 percent to 11.1 percent, and Texas, up from 7.6 percent to 8.6 percent. Corrigan named to new committee by Robin Black Battalion Staff The Committee for Economic Development, a national research committee, has named Texas A&M’s Dean C. Corrigan, dean of the College of Education, to serve on a newly-created subcommittee to study the relationship between business and education. The Subcommittee on Business and the Schools was created to further the CED’s study of the role of American public education as a major factor in the growth, stabil ity and competitiveness of the na tion’s economy. The task force, which held its first meeting last month, will study the subject and submit recommen dations to the main committee and other national agencies. Corrigan, who has served on several national committees in the past and currently is a member of the governor’s Select Committee on Public Education, said he was asked to be on the subcommittee because of his association with the University’s education college. When an administrator or dean is asked to do something like this, he usually serves as a reflection of a particular college or university, Corrigan said. “Because of the excellent work of our faculty and students, na tional leaders view Texas A&M’s College of Education as one of the best in the country,” he said. “Also, it is one of the fastest growing col leges of education in the United States. “Something like that doesn’t de pend wholly on the institution, though. If I don’t do a good job on a committee, then the guy who comes after me as dean won’t be invited to that kind of thing.” Corrigan said the appointment to the subcommittee was an honor and a privilege. He said he has been receiving more offers of this nature as Texas A&M’s education college and the University has been receiving national attention as a quality institution. Corrigan was the only educator from a public institution asked to serve on the subcommittee. Most of the other members of the subcommittee represent major corporations. Corrigan said educa tors were placed on the predomi nantly corporate organization to make recommendations and eva luations. “The businessmen on the com mittee are genuinely concerned that there be input from educators to maintain sensitivity, because they don’t want to make recom mendations that will be totally in compatible with the education sys tem,” Corrigan said. He said the long-established committee has earned a national reputation for backing up its re commendations. “The committee’s format has al ways been to study first, then re commend,” he said.