Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1985)
Wednesday, February 20, 1985/The Battalion/Page 3 HSati? anfi i a i ML Muti X ml jbk ity Pets help college students adjust to unfamiliar lifestyle By TAMARA BELL Stn I f Writer tinrvi Fvp ■ L ' c from home, adopting a pet can icrease instabilize an unfamiliar environ ment, says a Texas A&M veteri narian. Dr. William McCulloch, pro fessor of veterinary public health who has researched animal and human relationships for 15 years, says students make adjustments when they arrive at college and a pel can help them over initial rough periods. ■“Although this is only specu lation, it is believed that pets pro vide a companionship that is lov- ing, uncritical, and nonthreatening,” he says. “Pets represent the stablity of home which many students are looking liability of i| for -> HFor students who have grown up in a home environment that included pets, continuing the as sociation into college is a natural transition. ■Tony Cornett, a junior, has owned an assortment of animals and believes that being at school shouldn’t change that. ■“Smedley and Leroy, my ger- bils, liven up my apartment,” icreasingtfe rious(andj e “budget nature. In of the budjc rs have cafe m. Thdms under cw 1 increase -dit houru 'ur by 1951; could inerts in : tease won! yond thera lents. ion of die i faculty tk itbacksistk real com r of studeiu 'tyan-Coleti the an Cornett says. “I’ve always had a rsity putsitt .per. They are something that I is been t can come home to. Photo by ROBERT W.. Freya Wood, a sophomore agriculture economics major, shares a friendly kiss with her pet cockatiel, Daisy. li believe that animals are bet ter than a plant because they don’t turn yellow around the edges.” ^K^Jot only are pets a stabilizing l, each dot:) factor, they also provide physical ut from Atl i H er a net a ■ of researd lustries m mi unity would sd make Toi. pr< sure. j»‘An animal also provides a sense of protection and safety for its owner,” he says.” SStudents with animals have found that a sense of protection isn’t the only reason for owning a pet. Kim Greenough, a freshman, says, “I’ve had my ferret, Farrah, will nr an( * m y cat > Tabitha, since I went , r l, to school in North Carolina. c When 1 get tired from studying I ams. Sucli £ ^ 7 te the tmti||j orient... , , ;-term potEiw* h bodes ih &M lies in ej — the Pera I Available ij table Fund,'' will take a break and play with my cat or ferret. After 15 minutes, I’m more relaxed and ready to begin studying again.” When a student goes on vaca tion or graduates from college, the question of what happens to the pet is of major concern to lo cal agencies. Kathy Ricker, director of the Brazos Animal Shelter, says the number of animals abandoned doubles in May and June, the time most students go home. “There are no facts to imple ment students as the culprits for this increase of abandoned ani mals,” Ricker says, “because in a town such as College Station with its transient population, aban doned animals are always a prob lem.” McCulloch says, “Sometimes animals are an impulse buy. Stu dents don’t realize the responsibi lity involved with taking care of animals. Common sense com bined with a thorough investiga tion into the care of that animal can help solve this problem.” Despite the increase of aban doned animals, many students who own pets wouldn’t consider leaving their pets, even if it means moving from one apartment into another apartment that allows an imals. Jesse Knight, a senior, says, “I’ve had my dog Nikki for almost two years. She’s part of my family now and I intend to take her with me after I graduate. She fills my spare time and although some times it’s a stress to keep her be cause she chews on shoes or re ports due the next day, she makes the house I live in more of a ho- :le, the effort iese decree is actions it it in thesee::: identGoM ance. alion 360 rof ttocialion im Confmiw itorial Board lan, Editor lanagingEft lily Editor , News Edit* >rial PageEdiJ ports Edin on Staff < rgel, Rho Hallett. Ka i; Chareanlis- i, Leieh-Elkf ...Cathie Atdt 4 •ry, Dainahftk , MichaelCn 1 ; en Dietz, Psib 1 aek, Trent Uf a Oates,Jen' 1 '®’ cer, Lynn foe; Perry, Relit';' Karen 1 Karli! 1 i Inda,loreni' 0, Dale^ Catll) , ^£j Katherine Anthony^ ughes, Franl' rRocha, Deni Policy scif-suppt vice 10 TtMi' 11 Brnolm arr tk" anddononutffl <WW atUmot' i lnhoniiorf m*?: and ptaojnrj ■nunialmi College SuiiMft css change to W , College S®* 1 MSC • TOWN • HALL Presents TOTO March 21 st 8 p.m. G. Rollie White $8.50 & $10.00 MSC Box Office 845-1234 Merchants feel effects of recent border checks Associated Press BROWNSVILLE — The crack down on U.S. borders has hurt American businesses by discourag ing Mexican customers disgruntled about four-hour waits to get to the other side, say U.S. officials . “It has stopped some people from Mexico from coming over here,” says David Tumlinson of the Brownsville Chamber of Com merce’s convention and tourism bu reau. “It definitely has hurt.” U.S. Customs agents are inspect ing every car from top to bottom, in side and out for clues to the disap pearance of a U.S. Drug Enforcement agent. Enrique Camarena Salazar was last seen Feb. 7 being thrown into a car by four men in Guadalajara, Mexico. The inspections began Friday and tied up traffic along the border up to five hours in some places from San Ysidro, Calif., to Brownsville. Rene Ramirez, manager of C.R. Anthony’s Department Store in downtown Brownsville, says business has been down the last two days. “There’s been very few people coming over here. Yesterday and to day has been really slow,” he says. Merchants on both sides of the border say they worry that shoppers from the interior of Mexico who normally shop during the weekend will stay home. Blanca Gonzales, an employee at Charles’ Department Store next to the international bridge, says pedes trians have sustained his business. Pedestrians flowed through the bor der checkpoint faster than motorists. “It hasn’t effected as at all,” he says. The crackdown has forced St. Jo seph’s Academy of Brownsville to help some of its students from Mat- amoros. The children are taken by their parents as near, to checkpoint as possible. From there, they walk across the checkpoint and are picked up on the U.S. side by a school bus, saving the parents time. U.S. Customs spokesman Fer nando Macias in Brownsville says the wait is now about an hour at Brownsville-Matamoros bridge and about 45 minutes at the Gateway bridge. , “It looks like it’s improving. We added another line at each bridge and that has seemed to help,” he says Tuesday. He says pedestrian traffic from both sides of the border is normal and increases in the afternoon. In Matamoros, Mexico, mer chants says the bridge tie-up has hurt business, especially during the weekend. “People don’t want to come over here and bring their cars because it takes too long to get back,” says an employee of Garcia’s, a combination restaurant, bar and gift shop. Texas vies for Saturn plant GM denies 2 sites picked Associated Press DETROIT — General Motors Corp. Tuesday denied a published report that it nad narrowed the list of states vying for its new Saturn plant to two: Michigan and Texas. “The story simply is not true,” GM said in its statement. “We’re still looking at a number of states and lo cations as possible sites for Saturn and no decision has been made.” The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Tuesday quoted economic devel opment officials as saying GM prob ably would place the coveted Saturn auto assembly plant in either Texas or Michigan. The newspaper attributed its ac count to both Harden Wiedemann, director of the Texas Economic De velopment Commission, and an un- Competition among states and cities has been intense since GM announced plans to build a state-of- the-art automated plant where 6,000 people will make a new line of cars. named official in Michigan’s state of fice of economic development. “We’ve been hearing from the folks in Michigan that it’s down to us and them,” Wiedemann said. Saturn spokesman Stan Hall said no narrowing of the list had been done, and in fact the list was Still ex panding. “We’re still seeing governors,” he said. Competition among states and cit ies has been intense since GM an nounced plans to build a state-of- the-art automated plant where 6,000 people will make a new line of cars. About 75 cities in Texas alone have submitted applications. Wiedemann said GM will chose a state first, then a city. And he cau tioned Texans against overconfi dence. “Our information out of Detroit is that we are still a dark-horse candi date,” Wiedemann said. GM has said it is looking for a host city with access to interstate high ways and railroads, with ample water and power and with plenty of jobs for the spouses of auto workers. s ^ G E SA' THIS WEEK'S SPECIAL Italian Wines i.5Hter4 39 or3for bottle 1.5 Liter Frascati, Orvieto, Valpolicella, Bardoiino Remember Wednesday Wine Special Always 10% off per bottle - 15% off case Coke & Tup Special 2 liter bottle 1 29 Tell 'Em Guisepp G Sen( ^ <a s\ xn