Water well makes
unusual landmark
Reagan softens
anti-Soviet stance
See page 7
See page 4
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'Downtown' Brown
leads Ags to win
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See page 11
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The Battalion
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Serving the University community
Vol 78 No. 75 GSRS 0453110 14 p&ges
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, January 17, 1984
Senate favors finals
by MICHELLE POWE
Staff writer
The Faculty Senate voted Monday
afternoon in favor of a resolution
which would require'graduating
seniors to take final examinations.
The resolution, proposed by the
Senate’s ad hoc committee on acade
mic standards, calls the current policy
of exempting degree candidates from
final examinations “a serious com
promise with fair and equitable
academic standards.” A second re
solution, also approved, recommends
that a new policy requiring graduat
ing students to take final exams be pul
into effect by December 1985.
The resolutions will next go to the
Rules and Regulations Committee for
recommendations and then back to
the Senate for another vote. If the
resolutions are passed by the Senate a
second time, they will be sent to Uni
versity President Frank E. Vandiver
for final approval.
Dr. Jon R. Bond, chairman of the
academic standards committee, told
the Senate the exemption policy en
courages students to learn less in their
last semester than in their other
semesters. He said the policy is a tradi
tion which does not make Texas A&M
great.
Several faculty senators objected to
the notion that exemption from final
exams is a right earned by graduating
seniors. They called the policy anti
intellectual.
In its evaluation of the current
policy, the academic standards com
mittee cited some other faculty objec
tions — obtained in a survey of faculty
members — to senior exemptions:
• The policy does not promote fair
and equitable academic standards
that facilitate learning.
• The policy requires professors to
evaluate students on unequal stan
dards because graduating students do
not have to take final exams.
• Some students may manipulate
their degree plans by taking an un
usually large number of courses their
last semester or by delaying difficult
of feared courses.
• Some graduating students stop
attending class after the last exam.
But Dr. Richard R. Davison, a.che-
mical engineering professor, said the
faculty’s main problem with the cur
rent policy is the inconvenience of
having to turn in two separate sets of
grades.
But, he said, he doesn’t think the
inconvenience is big enough to war
rant requiring seniors to take Final
exams.
‘Tve been teaching seniors for 25
years and to my knowledge I haven’t
been inconvenienced appreciably
yet,” he said.
He said students who are trying to
end a four-year career should be able
to end it “on a pleasant note, not with
a crunch.
“When students have been going
to school for 16 years, I don’t believe
two weeks will make a difference.”
See FINALS page 10
Reaganomics not being preached
A&M professor denies charges
By KAREN WALLACE
Staff writer
j-j- j p2"j’l John Makety, Battalion staff
Newspapers fly and enthusiasm soars as the Aggie team
)du
is introduced at the Texas A&M-Texas Wesleyan College,
the Aggies won 75-67. See page 11 for related stories.
The charges that Texas A&M agri
cultural economic professors are us
ing state funds to “preach Reagano
mics” are unsubstantial. Dr. John
Nichols, agricultural economics re
search leader said Monday.
“We do not advocate any certain
policy,” Nichols said.
The charges, in the form of a re
solution, were brought before the
State Democratic Executive Commit
tee. Saturday, the committee declined
to investigate because of the strong
wording of the resolution and it was
sent back to the Resolutions Commit
tee for rewording.
Wellington farmer Doug Seal, au
thor of the resolution, said tliat half of
the professors in the agricultural eco
nomics department are clones of for
mer President Herbert Hoover, and
half are clones of former Secretary of
Agriculture Earl Butz.
“The policies of the Texas A&M
agricultural economics department
seem- to go right down the lines Her
bert Hoover and Earl Butz seemed to
advocate,” Seal said.
Dr. Mike McKinney, a member of
the Committee, said Seal’s allegations
were careless.
“You can’t go around calling peo
ple names,” McKinney said. “You
have to be careful.”
The resolution didn’t mention the
names of professors using state funds
to travel and “preach Reaganomics,”
but Seal said he was referring to Dr.
Ronald Knutson, a professor of agri
cultural economics and a member of
the Texas Agricultural Extension Ser
vice at A&M.
Seal said that Knutson served on
President Ronald Reagan’s agricultu
ral transition team and then came to
Texas to use state money to advocate
Reagan.
“He wasn’t put on the team because
he was- a good person, he was put on
because he believes .and follows all of
Reagan’s agricultural policies,” Seal
said.
Knutson said he doesn’t know what
inspired the attack.
“I’m glad to be a subject of scru
tiny,” he said. “They can study all they
want.”
One of the agencies of the Texas
Agricultural Extension Service is the
extension education program. As a
part of this program, it is Knutson’s
job to travel and present agricultural
aspects of public policies to farmers,
Nichols said. So Knutson is only doing
his job, he said.
“We use an alternative and con
sequences type of approach,” Nichols
said. “We explain the impacts, con
sequences, pros and cons and then let
Tougher laws moderate drunk driving
see charges, page 10
By KELLEY SMITH
Senior stall' writer
Whether they’ve changed moral
and social attitudes or have just in
creased drivers’ fear of being caught,
several local residents feel the new
state driving while intoxicated laws
have caused a decrease in the amount
of drunk drivers on the road.
During the Christmas holiday
period of Sunday through Saturday,
29arrests were made for DWI in Bur
leson, Brazos and Robertson counties.
Forthe similar New Year’s period, 16
arrests were made in those same
counties. While the amount for the
Christmas period was about the same
as in previous years, the amount for
the New Year’s period was about two-
thirds of what it has been in the past.
Sergeant Fred Forsthoff with the
Department of Public Safety said the
decrease for the New Year’s period
partially could be a result of the pub
lic’s awareness of the new laws. Some
people who were too intoxicated to
drive may have thought about the in
creased penalties for a DWI arrest
and let someone else drive, he said.
The major points of the new laws,
which went into effect Jan. 1, include
the setting of a blood alcohol concen
tration level that determines intoxica
tion and the abolishment of deferred
adjudication, by which past DWI
charges could be removed from an
offender’s record after satisfactory
completion of probation.
Refusal to take an intoxilyzer or
blood or breath specimen now will re
sult in mandatory suspension of the
offender’s driver’s license. The fines
and jail terms for DWI also have been
increased, and jail time has been
made mandatory for all offenses after
the first even if the suggested punish
ment is probated.
During the past few weeks, For
sthoff said he has seen a trend toward
persons’ arranging for rides home af
ter having too much to drink. Law
enforcement officers have seen more
intoxicated people allowing someone
else, someone sober, to drive when
leaving drinking establishments, he
said.
However, the new laws were not
the only reason for the smaller num
ber of arrests during the New Year
period, Forsthoff said. Several orga
nizations sponsored services to drive
people home who were too intoxi
cated to do so themselves.
Kirk Brown, president of the Bra
zos County Mothers Against Drunk
Drivers, said volunteers from that
organization drove about 20 persons
home New Year’s Eve.
Forsthoff also cited the cold weath
er as a possible factor in the decrease
during the New Year period.
Dr. Wayne Wylie, committee chair
man of the Holidays Ahead cam
paign, said the program also helped
to lessen the number of drunk drivers
on the road. The campaign focused
on alcohol awareness and encourag
ing people not to drive while drinking
without trying to keep people from
drinking, he said.
“It (the campaign) in conjunction
with the stiffer DWI laws had a lot to
do with our success,” Wylie said.
Wylie, who also is co-director of the
Texas A&M University Alcohol
Abuse Prevention Project, said he ex
pects the new laws to indirectly
change behavioral patterns. The law
will first change attitudes toward driv
ing while intoxicated, and then even
tually behavior will change resulting
in much fewer drunk drivers on the
road, he said.
“People are becoming aware of a
society that will not tolerate drunk
driving,” he said.
Kirk Brown, agrees with Wylie
saying that “before it was socially
acceptable to drink and drive in
Texas, now it’s not.”
However, Brown does not feel the
new laws will completely eliminate
drunk drivers on the roads.
“The new laws brought Texas out
of the dark ages and gave the enforce
ment agencies, politicians and the
judicial system some of the tools they
need to deal with the problem,” he
said. “They’re (the laws) the first step
in what’s needed to curb DWI.”
See DWI page 9
Officials looking at possible aid
Freeze gives students problems
In Today’s Battalion
By RONNIE CROCKER
Staff Writer
Texas A&M officials are trying to
find ways to help students who in
curred damage to personal property
because of the hard freeze that hit
this area in December, but the pic
ture isn’t too bright.
John Honea, director of the
Office of Insurance and Risk Man
agement, said the University is no
different than any other renter
"hen it comes to being liable for
damages. Thete is no legal provision
forsuch liability. “Insurance is a per
sonal thing,” he said.
Texas law carries this a step
further, however, since state lax
money cannot be used for these
types of repairs. The legislature
appropriates the money and decides
where and for what it will be spent.
Honea said, “Our hands are tied.”
Ron Sasse, associate director of
student affairs, said last week that
although he felt a moral responsibil
ity to the students on-campus, he
didn’t know of anything his office
could do to help.
Monday, Sasse said that although
nothing has been discovered, it is
“not a dead issue yet” as they con
tinue to explore the possibile ways to
help the students.
Honea said his office has “looked
at this thing from every angle.”
Attorneys researching the statutes
haven’t found anything either, he
said.
The damages were caused by an
“act of God,” Honea said and added,
“Nothing covers those.”
Sasse said students need to have
insurance of their own or be covered
by their parents’ policies.
Shelley Hoekstra, an Underwood
Hall resident who suffered about
$2,000 worth of damage, said she
was covered by her parents’ insur
ance. Her roommate, Kelly Price,
was not covered.
pus, bursting the pipes. When the
temperature warmed, the ice melted
and water gushed out. In some cases
the water stood for several days.
Damage was reported in at least
six dormitories on campus, includ
ing Legget, Haas, Underwood and
one Corps dorm. Walton and Hart
halls suffered the most damage.
Honea said he currently is pre
paring a couple of test cases to go
before the Attorney General. He
said he doesn’t think there is much
hope in accomplishing anything
there.
Many students living off-campus
also experienced flood damage. The
off-campus housing center reported
that apartment managers who lease
under the standard Texas Apart
ment Association form are not legal
ly liable for dajnages to personal
property.
He said the University also suf
fered damage which it will have to
pay for itself.
The damage was done after the
record-breaking freeze during the
Christmas holidays. Water froze in
the pipes of many buildings on cam-
The off-campus center is advis
ing students to check their parents’
insurance policies to see if they are
covered.
Local
• Members of the College Station School Board de
bated the hiring of an administrative assistant in the
district. See story page 3.
State
• Tiny bones and a scalp, believed to be those of a baby,
were found in a home near Fort Worth. A suspect says he
got them from a satanic worship in Indiana. See story
page 7.
• Former Dallas Cowboy Thomas “Hollywood” Hen
derson is offering to sell his three Super Bowl rings to
raise legal defense funds. See page 12.
the others decide what policies they
want to advocate.”
Nichols said the Texas Agricultural
Extension Service is funded by state
funds just like teaching is funded
through the state.
Dr. Mike McKinney said the resolu- jj
lion would not come before the Com- j
mittee again.
“It’s not going to come up again,”
he said. “Not if I do my job it won’t. I
squashed the thing up. It won’t come
out of Committee.”
Seal said he will continue to push
for an investigation.
“If the Attorney General can’t find
any misuse of state funds, we plan to
go to the House and Senate and if
nothing happens there we’ll go to the
legislative budget board and try to
change the funding procedures,” Seal
said.
§3
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