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The Dattalion
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80 No. 83 US PS 045360 18 pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, January 24, 1985
Reagan waiting for Soviet
response to start arms talks
is
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President
Reagan said Wednesday he is wait
ing For the Kremlin to reply to a U.S.
proposal to meet in Geneva in early
arch for a new round of nuclear
arms talks, but he added he doesn’t
believe the Soviets are dragging
their feet.
“We have only recently settled on
a date that we thought would be sat
isfactory to us,” Reagan told The As
sociated Press in the first interview
of his new term.
Asked why something seemingly
so simple should take weeks to re
solve, Reagan said, “We just haven’t
had an answer yet....
“Obviously if there is some reason
that’s not satisfactory to them, we’ll
continue trying to find a date.”
Two weeks ago, Secretary of State
George P. Shultz and Soviet Foreign
The president said "there just is no way of knowing"
whether the uncertainty about Soviet President
Konstantin Chernenko's heahh will affect the outcome
of the talks.
Minister Andrei A. Gromyko met in
Geneva and agreed the two nations
would resume discussions on reduc
ing intermediate and long-range nu
clear weapons and would begin talks
on how to prevent an arms race in
space. But tne date and place for the
three-point talks were to be deter
mined later, hopefully within a
month.
The president said “there just is
no way of knowing” whether the un
certainty about Soviet President
Konstantin Chernenko’s health will
affect the outcome of the talks.
But observing that there have
been as many Soviet presidents since
he took office as there were in the
preceding 48 years, Reagan said,
“The long periods of ill health and
so forth obviously had to have an ef
fect” on Kremlin decision-making
during his first term.
In the wide-ranging, 25-minute
discussion in the Oval Office, Rea
gan also said:
• He has been “discussing ways of
capping” the fees doctors and hospi
tals charge Medicare patients in an
effort to hold down the rising costs
of the Medicare program for the el
derly and disabled. He said doctors
would be free to stop serving Medi
care patients if they wish, adding
that government social programs
have discouraged physicians from
providing free medical care to the
poor on their own initiative.
• He believes the nation’s farm
ers should return to a free-market
system uncontrolled by federal sub
sidy programs. But he said the ad
ministration’s plan to phase out farm
price supports will be done in incre
ments so as not to “instantly pull that
rug out” from under them.
• There would be “great difficul
ties” in openly aiding Nicaraguan re
bels, because that would constitute
an act of war under international
law.
May graduates
start work now
One worker takes the high beam and the other takes the low
as they assemble safety railing along high walkways of the
Engineering/Physics Building.
By SARAH OATES
Staff Writer
Spring commencement is four
months away, but seniors must turn
in their applications for graduation
by 5 p.m. Feb. 1. Assistant registrar
Don Gardner said the early deadline
gives the admissions office time to
order diplomas and check them.
“We have to order so many diplo
mas,” Gardner said. “Then we can
start checking them. That’s why we
have an early deadline.”
Gardner said he could not esti
mate how many students will apply
for spring graduation. He said the
degree check office will begin con
tacting students about problems with
applications “around April 1.”
“Transfer work and grade
changes within the system are the
most common problems,” he said.
Students may be blocked for un-
' paid parking tickets or if they owe
money to Student Financial Aid or
the fiscal office. Gardner said the
clear list for graduating seniors will
be posted outside Heaton Hall at 8
a.m. May 1. Students have until
noon the following day to clear up
any problems.
A red dot next to a senior’s name
means he has a fiscal or academic
block that must be cleared. If the
block is fiscal, the transcript office
will not mail out a student’s tran
script. If the block is academic, he
may not be allowed to graduate.
Mary Smith, of the fiscal office,
said letters informing seniors of
blocks are sent out “as soon as possi
ble after we get the list of who’s
graduating.”
“Sometimes it’s two weeks before
graduation, sometimes it’s only 10
days,” she said.
Undergraduate applications for
graduation are available in 105
Heaton. Graduate students can ap
ply at 125 Teague Research Center.
Photo by ANTHONY S. CASPER
Lisa Combest orders graduation announcements.
Seniors must pay a $15 diploma
fee before they apply. Gardner said
, seniors who did not pay the fee
when they preregistered can do so at possible,
the fiscal office.
Marjorie Patke, acting supervisor for
the MSC Student Financial Center,
located in 217 Memorial Student
Center, suggested that students or
der their announcements as soon as
“We need to see a paid fee slip or
a receipt from the fiscal office when
they come in to apply,” he said.
The deadline for ordering grad
uation announcements is Feb. 7.
“Orders are coming in steadily,”
she said. “Students shouldn't wait
until the last day because they have
to decide what kind of announce
ments they want and how many to
order.”
Charles Gentry, assistant manager
of the MSC Bookstore, said caps and
gowns will go on sale early in April.
They can be purchased up to the day
of graduation, he said.
Preparing for graduation makes
their last semester a hectic time for
many seniors. However, there is one
thing this year’s graduates do not
have to worry about: seniors are
exempt from final exams until
Spring 1988.
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Women should be encouraged to join band
Student Senate passes resolution
By JERRY OSLIN
Staff Writer
After debating for more than an
hour Wednesday night, the Texas
A&M Student Senate passed a reso
lution recommending women
should not be discouraged to join
the Texas Aggie Band
“There shouldn’t be any discrimi
nation against women at tnis univer
sity,” Senator Brian Hay said.
“It’s a continuing struggle against
discrimination for women at this
university. Women have proved they
can handle being in the Corps so
they should be allowed in the band.”
Mike Cook, vice president of
Rules and Regulations differed with
Hay.
“The student government hasn’t
worked with the Corps of Cadets or
the student body on this issue and if
we pass this resolution we will not be
looking out for the best interest of
the students,” Cook said. “We
should be looking out for students’
best interest and not try to show how
liberal and open-minded we are.”
Eric T'hode, speaker pro tempore
of the senate, said student govern
ment is supposed to represent the
students at Texas A&M and the ma
jority of students are overwhelm
ingly against having women in the
band.
Sen. James Cleary disagreed with
T'hode.
“I don’t think we should represent
the majority when the majority acts
with prejudice and fear,” Cleary
said. “We should follow our con
science and do what we think is
right.”
In other business, student body
President David Alders said the Uni
versity is becoming more research
oriented and student government
should be committed to making sure
that the student’s education is the
university’s main concern
“The quality of students will even
tually tell people what kind of uni
versity Texas A&M is,” Alders said.
Shuttle readied for delayed launch
Associated Press
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The
Florida deep freeze that grounded
space shuttle Discovery for 24 hours
ended Wednesday and crews read
ied the ship with its intriguing mili
tary cargo for launching at an unan-
nouncecl time Thursday afternoon.
“No freezing temperatures are ex
pected locally tonight,” a National
Aeronautics and Space Administra
tion statement said. “The weather
outlook for tomorrow is favorable.”
The Kennedy Space Center was
closed to the public even though the
launch was still a day away.
NASA spokesmen, under orders
to say nothing that might remotely
violate security rules, issued a
statement late Wednesday saying
only that activities leading to the
launch “are proceeding normally.”
As the daytime temperature
climbed into the 50s, a small band of
protesters stood outside the center
with signs reading “Weaponizing
outer space is irresponsible,” and
“Keep the heavens undefiled.”
On the launch tower, plumbers
replaced leaking nozzles and burst
valves in the firefighting equipment.
If everything continues to go well,
Discovery will be launched on its se
cret mission between 1:15 p.m. and
4:15 p.m. today with a crew of five,
all military men. The temperature is
forecast to be between 58 degrees
and 64 degrees after an overnight
low of 36 degrees.
Officials said the postponement,
ordered shortly before midnight
Tuesday, proved to be a wise pre
caution.
“As the night progressed, our
concerns were borne out,” said
spokesman Jim Ball. “Although the
temperature only went down to 30
degrees, the humidity was much
higher than expected. The consen
sus of experts is that we would have
had an ice problem had we contin
ued on to propellant loading.”
Rollins: Corps has
pulled together
By KIRSTEN DIETZ
Staff Writer
In a report to the Board of Re
gents’ Corps of Cadets Enhance
ment Committee Wednesday,
Corps of Cadets Commander
Chuck Rollins recommended no
action be taken to restructure or
discipline the Corps. Rollins said
he thought the Corps had pulled
together to iron out problems re
sulting from the Aug. 30 death of
cadet Bruce Goodrich.
Goodrich died following an
off-hours exercise session.
Rollins’ report dealt with the
steps the Corps leadership has
taken since Goodrich’s death.
After Goodrich’s death, Rollins
said he sent out a Committee of 12
officers to talk to cadets and de
termine their feelings on Corps
matters.
The committee found that the
biggest problem was the lack of
enforcement of existing Corps
policies, Rollins said.
He also said written policies
had been reviewed. A few that
Rollins said could be construed as
acts of hazing, such as quadding,
were dropped.
He said Corps commandant
Col. Donald L. Burton has em
phasized he will not tolerate any
hazing or the abuse of authority
under the penalty of dismissal
from the University. Burton also
made sure the cadets were in
formed of the rights they have if
they are hazed.
“I think he did a very good job
of getting the point across,” Roll
ins said.”
At the end of the fall semester,
the 12 committee members again
met with Rollins and Burton.
“Without a doubt we have no
ticed the policies being followed
and enforced,” Rollins said.
Burton agreed and reiterated
that the Corps chain of command
should not be restructured.
Texas A&M University Presi
dent Frank E. Vandiver said, “At
the time I believe that the Corps
is more mature than it was before
the Goodrich incident and feel it
will continue to go that way.”