Suicide pills
U.T. proposal stirs controversy
Rage 3
Women’s hoop
Miami storms by Hickey's Ags
Page 11
nri V Texas ASM mm V •
The Battalion
'iVoi. 80 No. 93 (JSPS 045360 12 pages
College Station, Texas
Monday, February 11, 1985
Weinberger
defends U.S.
space plans
Associated Press
MUNICH, West Germany — U.S.
iDefense Secretary Caspar W. Wein-
[jberger said Sunday “there can be no
[retreat” from plans to develop a
[space-based defense system that
[would protect the United States and
jits European allies from nuclear mis-
|sile attack.
Weinberger said President Rea-
f an’s proposed Strategic Defense
nitiative — popularly dubbed “Star
[Wars” — would raise the hope that
|“peace can be maintained not by the
[threat of nudear destruction but by
|a strong defense that could not only
?deter, but defeat, the most awful of-
jfense of all.”
The secretary’s remarks came in a
[speech that Weinberger was sched-
|uled to deliver to an annual debate
[of leading North Atlantic Treaty Or
ganization defense officials, diplo-
[mats and foreign policy specialists.
Bad weather delayed Weinberger
[in London and his address was deliv-
lered by the assistant U.S. defense
[secretary, Richard Perle.
In London, LLS. Embassy spokes-
jman Sig Cohen said Weinberger
jflew to Munich Sunday from an un-
[ disclosed military base after a two-
jhour delay brought on by technical
[ problems due to freezing weather.
“The real issue (with Star Wars),
jyou might argue, is whether Euro
peans will become hostages to the
Soviet Union as the United States re
treats to an illusory fortress across
| the ocean,” Weinberger said.
But he added: “There is no for
tress, and there can be no retreat.
America could not survive, nor live,
! in a world in which Europe was over-
■ run and conquered.”
Responding to critics who say the
i strategic defense program will be too
expensive and accelerate the milita
rization of space, Weinberger said
the plan “would provide insurance
against a world in which the Soviets
— and the Soviets alone — could
brandish their sword from behind
the protective shield they are contin
uing to develop.”
U.S. officials have been trying to
assure NATO allies the Star Wars
program, if found to be technologi
cally workable, would also protect
Western Eurqpe.
U.S. Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo., an
other conference participant, crit
icized the space weapons plan, say
ing it would be dangerous to believe
“a technological fix could be a solu
tion to a fundamentally diplomatic
and military problem — namely the
nuclear arms race.”
Hart also said the deficit-squeezed
U.S. government has not yet decided
how it would foot the estimated $26
billion bill for Strategic Defense Ini
tiative research over the next five
years.
U.S. representatives at the confer
ence have invited the European al
lies to take part in the research effort
for the plan.
In his speech, entitled “Seizing the
Future: The Strategic Defense Ini
tiative’s Promise for NATO,” Wein
berger said prospects of space-based
defense would spur negotiations to
“end this spiralling accumulation of
offensive, destabilizing nuclear
weapons.”
Among such weapons, he said, are
the medium-range SS-20 missiles
whose buildup by the Soviets
prompted the 1979 NATO decision
to introduce shorter-range nuclear
missiles in Western Europe for the
first time.
In the opening speech .Saturday,
West German Chancellor Helmut
Kohl said the strategic defense pro
gram had motivated the Soviet
Union to return to arms control ne
gotiations.
But French Defense Minister
Charles Hernu said in another ad
dress the plan would trigger a dan
gerous new drive for offensive arms
able to “overwhelm” a space defense.
A survey of European leaders in
Bonn, Paris, Brussels and London
by the Congressional Research Serv
ice has found most government offi
cials in Western Europe favor con
tinued research on the space defense
program but are overwhelmingly
opposed to its deployment, The New
York Times reported Sunday.
The survey, requested by Sen.
William Proxmire, D-Wis., found
the European leaders favored the
research partly as a hedge against
possible Soviet breakthroughs and
also because they believed it cannot
be stopped, the newspaper said.
Doug Cartmel of Redwater awaits the start of the 3rd annual
Eagle Straight Shot 10k race Sunday afternoon. Cartmel was
one of about 750 runners who ran the race down Texas Ave
nue between 29th Street and the College Station Police Sta
tion. John Helmick won the men’s race in 30 minutes, 11.2
seconds and Becky Brook finished first in the women’s race
with 38:45. Handicapped wheelers began the course 5 min
utes before the main body of runners.
Faculty Senate to discuss curriculum
By KIRSTEN DIETZ
Staff Writer
The Faculty Senate will hear a
committee report on the core curric
ulum and a committee resolution on
the University budget today at 3:1-5
p.m. in 601 Rudder.
Only discussion will take place on
the proposed core curriculum and
no vote will be taken. Dr. Murray
Milford, senate speaker, said the
curriculum proposal has been re
ferred to the University colleges and
that it will probably be modified be
fore a vote is taken.
Under the proposal, each student
will be required to take, in addition
to state and University requirements,
six hours of speech and writing
skills, mathematical/logical rea
soning, cultural heritage and social
science. It is also recommended the
student take eight hours of science.
Also, the committee recommends
a student be required to complete
one computer course, unless he has
completed at least one course before
entering the University or can dem
onstrate proficiency on an examina
tion.
It also proposes a student be re
quired to take two semesters of a for
eign language unless the student has
had two years of foreign language in
high school or can demonstrate pro
ficiency of a second language.
The committee of the whole’s res
olution on the University budget
would support Chancellor Arthur G.
Hansen and Texas A&M President
Frank E. Vandiver and urge that
they continue to fight the proposed
Texas A&M budget cuts.
In other business, the Prereq
uisites Subcommittee will recom
mend that listings in the course cata
log contain more informative and
standardized descriptions of the
course’s prerequisites.
Milford said the senate also is ex
pected to approve the withdrawal of
six courses, the addition of six new
graduate courses and changes in the
course descriptions of five business
courses. The senate also is expected
to approve changes in the subject
prefixes and short course titles of
education curriculum and instruc
tion courses.
The Election Committee will pre
sent the schedule for the spring Fac
ulty Senate elections. One-third of
the senate comes up for reelection
every year.
Questionnaires identify problems
Evaluations important to faculty
Student input is valuable, measuring heavily in annual
faculty evaluations. — Dr. Mel Friedman, dean of the
College of Geosciences
Editor’s Note: This is the first
article of a two-part series con
cerning faculty evaluations.
By REBECCA ADAIR
Reporter
Some students look forward to
the last class days with a ven
geance. Others are reluctant to
leave a great professor. But both
types are eager to have the last
word — the faculty evaluation
sheet.
While many enjoy criticizing or
complimenting an instructor, stu
dents often wonder if it’s worth
the time and effort to fill out an
other test form and add sincere,
honest and unbiased opinions.
Many students also wonder if
the surveys are ever read or just
filed in the wastebasket. How
much weight does student opin
ion carry? Will comments affect a
grade?
When the surveys are given,
some instructors feel as if they are
on trial, says Dr. John Giardino, a
geography professor. Others are
eager for the feedback. Giardino
says when he started teaching he
used the evaluations to iron out
quirks in his lectures.
The evaluations usually aren’t
shown to faculty until the next se
mester, Giardino says, and in
structors definitely do not see
them until grades are posted.
Although deans throughout
the University agree on the im
portance of student evaluation,
different colleges deal with the
actual evaluations in several ways.
Daniel Fallon, Dean of the Col
lege of Liberal Arts says a profes
sor’s problem in a classroom can
be so simple it is overlooked.
Fallon told of a professor
whose evaluations had been con
sistently good, suddenly showed a
downward trend. When review
ing the case, Fallon says he real
ized the professor had become
more soft-spoken, so students
weren’t able to hear him.
To solve the problem, Fallon
found a microphone for the pro
fessor to use. The professor’s
voice and evaluations both im
proved, he says.
Fallon says students sometimes
forget teachers are human and
are subject to bad days or semes
ters. For this reason, personally
reviewing student questionnaires
and considering the many varia
bles involved leads to improved
faculty performance, Fallon says.
Dr. David Stewart, head of the
Department of English, says he
thinks students are conscientious
and responsible, yet student opin
ion can be easily swayed. Often
professors play up to students,
trying to win a popularity contest,
he says. Stewart says he believes
students see through the act and
consider important merits.
Dr. Mel Friedman, dean of the
College of Geosciences, says stu
dent input is valuable, measuring
heavily in his annual faculty eval
uation. But the student question
naire is only one measure of fac
ulty performance, he says.
Colleague evaluations also can
be useful, Friedman says. Faculty
may notice students from a pre
requisite course are not fully pre
pared for the next course. Also,
Friedman says, a department
head may pause outside a class
room, listen to a lecture and make
an informal evaluation.
What may surprise students is
the time, effort and paperwork
going into compiling and review
ing the surveys.
Dean of the College of Busi
ness Administration William H.
Mobley says the forms used in the
business administration college
are reviewed in two parts. The
standardized questions, prepared
by Educational Testing Services,
are scored and analyzed by sec
tion, professor, course, depart
ment and college. The open-
ended comments, prepared by
the Teaching Effectiveness De
partment, are read by depart
ment heads.
Mobley says he encourages the
faculty to study results and adjust
to the suggestions. Mobley also
says he looks for trends and re
peatedly positive or negative re
sponses when reviewing the ques
tionnaires.
Action is taken on both the
positive and negative trends,
Mobley says. A consistently good
review can lead to recognition
such as teaching award nomi-
See Faculty, page 10
File helps students
find good housing
By CATHIE ANDERSON
Staff Writer
David and Bob moved into an
apartment before leaving school in
the fall semester. Like most off-cam
pus Aggies, they left their furniture
in the complex over the holidays.
But unlike most off-campus resi
dents they returned to find more
than $ 1,000 worth of their property
stolen. When they left the complex,
they also lost a $250 security deposit.
After notifying the police of their
loss, David and Bob went to the
Texas A&M Off-Campus Center,
where they filed a complaint in the
resident reaction file. By doing this,
David and Bob can alert other stu
dents, who are seeking off-campus
housing, about the dangers of living
in that particular complex.
Stephanie Palubicki, a student de
velopmental specialist at the center,
says the reaction file is currently be
ing updated, and more student in
put is needed.
“Right now 7 we need more infor
mation,” Palubicki says. “The
amount of housing has become
more abundant, and this file can
help students looking for off-cam
pus housing, become better consum
ers.”
The resident reaction file has
been a part of the center’s program
ming for about f our years, Palubicki
says. It lists students’ opinions of
apartment complexes, duplexes,
mobile homes, and rooms in homes.
“Since we (the off-campus center)
are state-funded, we can’t recom
mend or disapprove of housing,”
Palubicki says. “But we can let the
students tell about their experiences.
We want students to let us know
what’s going on and, through us, to
let other students know.”
She says the center wants to know
both the bad and the good experi
ences of students living off campus.
The center can also help students,
like David and Bob, get their secu
rity deposits back if they have fol
lowed some guidelines, Palubicki
says.
First, students must give a 30-day
written notice, telling the manager
that they won’t be returning.
Secondly, the room must be occu
pied until the lease expires.
Third, the manager’s guidelines
for cleaning the room should be fol
lowed, and the rent should be paid
in full. Students cannot use their de
posits as their last month’s rent un
less their landlord has approved it in
their lease or another written
agreement.
Students also must leave their for
warding address in writing.
If all these things have been done,
See File, page 5