New phone numbers
Existing service to be updated
Page 3
Tuition hike disputed
Leaders squabble over increase
Page 8
The Battalion
Vol. 80 No. 77 GSRS 045360 16 pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, January 16, 1985
white makes proposals for state
Associated Press
Cheating at A&M:
a serious problem
By KAREN BLOCH
Reporter
“tolerate those
I 1 hey don’t even
who do.”
The Aggie Code of Honor. It’s
[printed inside the front cover of the
[Texas A&M University Regulations
handbook, and everyone in Aggie-
jland lives by it. Right?
Wrong.
Although 25 cases of cheating
jwere reported to the Texas A&M
iOftice of Student Affairs during the
1983-84 academic year, Assistant Di-
|rector of Student Affairs Bill Kibler
i estimates the number of cases that
| actually occurred is much higher.
I “Cheating cases are handled by
I the individual colleges,” Kibler said.
I “After the case is resolved a copy of
the report is supposed to be filed
with the student affairs office.
“But the number of
!h
to
Pi
e
cases
re-
e
ported to us could be any percentatr
of the number of cases that actually
occurred. A lot of cases are probably
handled informally between the fac
ulty member and the student."
Although there was an increase in
the number of cheating cases re
ported last year, Kibler said he
doesn’t think that the actual number
of cheating incidents has increased.
"The policy of reporting cases to
our office is relatively new,” Kibler
said. “I think the colleges are just be
ginning to report a higher percent
age of the cases.”
Besides convincing the colleges to
report cheating, the University also
has the problem of defining cheat
ing.
The official definition of cheat
ing, or scholastic dishonesty, is given
on page 13 of the 1984-85 regula
tions handbook. Section 34 outlines
the actions — all 10 of them — that
are considered scholastically dishon
est.
Scholastic dishonesty is defined
{ under six categories:
•Aquiring information.
•Providing information.
•Plagiarism.
•Conspiracy.
•Fabrication of information.
•Violation of departmental or
college policies.
While some of the specific of
fenses mentioned under these cat
egories probably fit the classic defi
nition of cheating, others may be
more suprising. Many things most
students do regularly may be consid
ered cheating.
Having someone edit an English
paper, telling someone the type of
questions that were on a test and
working on an assignment with
someone, according to regulations,
can be considered cneating.
The punishments assessed for the
different offenses vary in relation to
the seriousness of the offense.
“Punishments (reported to the
student affairs department last year)
ranged from a grade penalty to re
moval from the University,” Kibler
said.
Dr. Candida Lutes, associate dean
of students in the College of Liberal
Arts, said she believes that many
professors don’t report cheating in
cidents.
“It’s our policy (in the College of
Liberal Arts) to report all cases of
cheating to student affairs,” Lutes
said, “but I doubt it’s done.
“It’s very important to contact stu
dent affairs, because that’s the only
way we can know if the student is a
previous offender. The only reason
the college doesn’t report all cases of
cheating is because the professors
don’t report them to their depart
ment heads.”
Lutes said she feels many of the
professors are hesitant to report
cases because they are concerned
that the student may be assessed a
very serious penalty.
Professors don't want to ruin
someone’s college career if the stu
dent isn’t a “chronic cheater,” Lutes
said. “They tend to wonder if maybe
this was just a case where a basically
honest student used poor judge
ment.”
But, she said, the professor’s fears
are unfounded.
Se£ Dishonesty, page 15
budget
White's proposals called for reductions in state spend
ing and workforces rather than increasing taxes, fie
also asked legislators to enact a statewide water plan
calling it “important to economic development'* as well
as necessary for “human survival itself "
In a speech interrupted by ap
plause 14 times, White said he would
support adding government work
ers “only in the most essential areas.”
He called on every agency and insti
tution to immediately begin cost-cut
ting measures, including:
•Reducing the number of em
ployees when possible.
•Cutting rent, travel and other
overhead expenses.
•Beginning energy and water
conservation projects.
• Reviewing lee structures to
make sure that those using services
are paying for them.
In a separate budget document,
White recommended fee increases
totaling $184 million for such things
as marriage licenses, park use and
utility companies seeking rate in
creases.
Although he branded his budget
plan as “lean” and “austere,” White
did seek support for some new mea
sures.
He said he wants lawmakers to fi
nally enact a statewide water plan.
“Water resources are as important to
economic development as they are to
human survival itself—-as important
as anything we have done to im
prove our schools, upgrade our
highway system or preserve a low tax
base,” he said.
White called for a 150 percent in
crease in funding for organized re
Crazy Driver
Comedian Ray Martinez tells the crowd at A experiences
Good Humour Bar about his wild driving story page 5.
Photo by PETER ROCHA
Tuesday night. See related
Former cadets recall yesteryear’s Corps
search, from $31 million to $80 mil
lion.
He urged the Legislature to in
crease the number of law officers in
the state Department of Public
Safety, particularly in narcotics en
forcement, and to enact a strong
anti-racketeering law to combat or
ganized crime.
The governor proposed trimming
higher education spending by $460
million, while increasing tuition for
some students. He proposed raising
tuition for non-resident students,
foreign students and students in
some graduate school professional
programs.
AUSTIN — Saying the state bu
reaucracy is overweight and needs to
go on a diet. Gov. Mark White on
Tuesday offered the Legislature an
“austere" budget and promised no
new taxes.
“We could raise taxes,” White said
in his state-of-the-state address to a
joint session of the House and Sen
ate. “But I think there is not a per
son in this room —myself included
— who intends to do that.”
White said trimming the state
workforce, reducing expenses and
increasing user fees are oetter ways
to deal with the state’s financial trou
bles.
I “Frankly, there was little incentive
By MIKE DAVIS
Reporter
Almost 50 years have gone by
since Gen. Ormand R. Simpson,
Class of ’36, grad rated. In that
amount of time, the administration
of the Corps of Cadets and the life
styles of its members have changed
dramatically.
Formations, uniforms, mobility
and policy making are all major dif
ferences between the Corps of 1936
and the Corps of today, said Simp
son, assistant vice president of stu
dent services.
“Today your leaders in the Corps
have a great deal to say about the da
ily running of the Corps,” Simpson
said. “In that Corps (1936), we had
none. We had Saturday thorning
classes. We had three meal forma
tions a day ... and they did it seven
days a week.”
during those years to save,” he said.
State Comptroller Bob Bullock
has predicted that state income will
fall up to $1 billion short of what
currently is being spent on programs
and services.
But White said an economy drive
can keep the state out of the red.
“We can tighten our belts and
bring our spending levels down to
our income levels,” he said. “And I
believe we can do it without major
disruptions or undue hardships or
layoffs or governmental chaos.”
White said he would submit a
budget to lawmakers totaling $36.1
billion for the 1986-87 fiscal years.
That total, he said, would fall within
the comptroller’s revenue predic
tions without a tax hike.
Saturday morning classes no
longer exist at Texas A&M, and the
Corps does not hold formations
three times a day. Saturdays and
Sundays are generally free also.
The Corps, however, does have
formation twice each weekday to
raise and lower the U.S. flag and
then marches to morning and eve
ning meals.
Don Powell, Class of ’56, said one
big difference between his Corps
and the Corps of today is where ca
dets may wear their uniforms. When
both Simpson and Powell were ca
dets, they were required to wear
their uniform until they were 20
miles off campus.
“If you went home for the week
end, you wore your uniform all the
way home,” Powell said. “You might
wear it to church Sunday, too, be
cause all the girls thought it was
really terrific.”
One of the highlig enior
year was when set d go
“non-reg,” Powell said.
“It was a big deal that finally for
the last month or two that you were
going to be here, you could go non-
reg in the evening if you were a se
nior,” Powell said.
Today all Corps members must
wear their uniform only when going
into a building on campus other
than a dormitory.
Powell said that having to wear
the uniform when leaving campus
came in handy because the most
popular mode of travel was hitchhik
ing. Both Powell and Simpson said
that most students had to hitchhike
because few cadets had cars, The in
creased mobility of today’s Corps is
one of the most significant differ
ences, Simpson said.
“The school was entirely dif ferent
in those days,” Simpson said. “It was
not a mobile student body.”
Mobility was restricted by the De
pression, Simpson said, “but nobody
felt poor because nobody else had
any money.”
Seven out of the 4,100 students
owned automobiles, Simpson said.
The keys to the cars were kept in the
commandant’s office, and the car
owner’s could only use their cars if
they had a pass to go off campus.
“There may have been a few peo
ple that had some money, but they
disguised it pretty well,” he said.
Corps Commandant Donald Bur
ton, Class of ’56, said one reason for
the increased mobility of the Corps
is the affluence of students’ parents
today.
“The big thing that I see is that
students are more affluent today by
a large margin than we were,” Bur
ton said.
Cadets frequently borrowed other
cadets’ cars, Burton said. “There was
always a lot of double-dating,” he
said.
Because no women attended
Texas A&M, the cadets either im
ported women or went out of town.
“The highways were generally
crammed on Saturdays and Sun
days,” Burton said.
Another major difference is the
leadership of the Corps.
Simpson said that when he was a
cadet the commandant ran the
Corps.
“The commandant ran it essen
tially through a group of tactical of-
See Corps, page 14
Movement
supports
refugees
By KIRSTEN DIETZ
Staff Writer
No one can live a Christian life
unless he is free to reach out to the
needy and oppressed, Rev. Jeffrey
Schiffmayer told about 20 people
Monday at a Sanctuary Movement
forum by Rudder Fountain.
The Sanctuary Movement is a na
tionwide network of churches that
give refuge to Central Americans,
who are considered illegal aliens by
the U.S. government.
Schiffmayer, a minister at St.
Francis Episcopal Church in College
Station, was the main speaker at the
forum. Sponsored by a coalition of
community members, students and
religious leaders, the forum was to
focus attention on the pre-trial hear
ings of Jack Elder, a leader of the
Sanctuary Movement.
Elder was indicted last April on
three felony charges for transport
ing Salvadoran refugees. Immigra
tion law prohibits individuals from
transporting people whom they
know are illegal aliens if the intent is
to help them remain here illegally.
Shiffmayer said that, according to
the Bible, any human being deserves
care and assistance and, in the name
of humanity, other people are obli
gated to help.
Alex Madonik, a member of Am
nesty International at Texas A&M,
said the United States has always
been a sanctuary and should not
stop taking refugees now.
Brann Johnson, a spokesman for
the American Civil Liberties Union,
said the government must impose
restrictions on consistently.