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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 1985)
Pre-registration Freshmen A-K today pY-j-.. xk* rs ft** % . . :V-J xvij: :> t >; Lw Sf> Stiffer crime penalties Lawmakers to discuss plans MHV Texas m m W • The Battalion \lo\. 80 No. 134 USPS 045360 14 pages Library begins to implement recall policy By CHOYCE ELSIK Reporter jRRterling C. Evans Library began implementing a new recall policy charging a $ 1 -a-day l ine for overdue, IrecjalTed materials Monday, but a lib- rarv representative said it is still too early to determine if the policy will be effective. ■‘We’re not out to get everyone’s money,” said Nancy Kent, supervisor ol the library’s circulation depart ment, “and we don’t want to punish people; we just want to get the lib rary's books back.” ■sent said (bat the majoi dillei ences in the library’s new recall policy are the library’s ability to charge fines land the addition of new recall cards. Recall cards are cards f illed out at [the circulation desk requesting mate rials which are checked out. The per son with the overdue material then is contacted by mail and is given, seven days from the time he received the ■all notice to return the material, failure to do so results in a $1-a-day fine, Kent said. ■ince the material is turned in to the library, the person requesting it is notified by mail. ■Currently, the library does not charge a fine for overdue materials, W Kent said that policy will con tinue. The new fining policy applies only to those overdue materials that have been requested by someone else. ■‘It is advisable to return or renew library materials before they are due,” Kent said, “because the library has no obligation to the borrower for the inaccuracy of another student’s address or for the failure of a recall notice to arrive at its destination.” Currently, undergraduate stu dents can borrow library materials for up to two weeks and graduate students, faculty and staff can borrow materials for up to four weeks, she said. “It (the new policy) will cause more work for the staff, but the problem now is that if there are no fines, why bring the books back?” Kent said. “Many people just don’t care if some one else needs the book, and that’s really unfortunate, but most people here are honest.” The Library Council, which con sists of faculty members from various departments, approved the new re call policy last fall to make materials more available to library patrons. The new policy also was adopted to help the library retrieve many of its overdue books, she said. The policy actually went into ef fect April I, but it was not enforced until April 15 in order to give everyone enough time to understand the policy. One of the circulation depart ment’s primary goals is to get mate rials back, Kent said. “When people request materials,” she said, “we have to get them back. I hope this new policy will help get the library’s books back.” College Station, Texas April 1985 Pillar Perspectives photob y gregbailey Keeping cool these days is getting harder to do now that find comfort in the shade cast by the large shadow of the temperatures are getting up to about 90 degrees. Some people Systems Administration Building. Corps Staff names first woman officer in ’85-86 By MICHAEL CRAWFORD Staff Writer ■ Women were admitted into Texas A&M in 1963 and into the Corps of Cadets in 1974. But until now, no whinan has ever served on Corps Stiff. ■Mandy Schubert, 19, will be the Corps’ administrative sergeant for l|85-86. The office places her in charge of Corps’ communication and makes her an assistant to the adminis- itrative officer on the March to the Brazos Committee. That committee recently raised more than $50,000 lor the March of Dimes. Curt Van de Walle, Corps com mander for 1985-86, says placing Schubert on the staff wasn’t done be cause of pressure to put a woman on staff. Schubert was selected, he says, because she was qualified. “We chose Mandy strictly because of her potential,” he said, “and be cause the way she performed in the interview was exactly what we were looking for . . . She’s not the first woman to be on staff, but she is the first to be on Corps Staff. I don’t see it becomming a year-to-year thing (a woman being chosen). We set out to pick the seven best and she was one of them.” Schubert’s status as the first woman on Corps Staff doesn’t bother her. “I think that it bothers other peo ple more than it bothers me,” Schubert says. “I like not to place the emphasis on that as much because, to me, I’m a cadet just like everybody else. The fact I made Corps Staff ex cites me enough that 1 don’t even need to worry about being the first woman.” Schubert, whose father also was in the Corps, says she surprised her family by choosing the regimented See SCHUBERT, page 5 Mandy Schubert Senior weekend events are outlined By SHERRIE COUCH Reporter B Ring Dance officers, Muster com mittee chairmen and representatives of the Graduate Student Council '|ete featured Wednesday in the final Sully’s Symposium of the year. ■ Debbie Patterson, Class of ’85 so cial secretary, and Keith Carmichael and Donna Gansky, co-chairmen for Ring Dance, discussed plans for Senior Weekend April 26 and 27. | Activities include Senior Bash, Senior Banquet and Ring Dance. ■ “Senior weekend is a once in a life- ; tjme event,” Carmichael said. “No seniors should miss it.” ■ The weekend begins with Senior Bash April 26 at the Hall of Fame, featuring The Debonaires, Car- Biichael said. The hash includes free draft beer and bar drinks from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. ■ Senior Banquet is April 27 at the Aggieland Inn. Cocktails begin at 5:!() p.m. and dinner starts at 7 p.m. ■ slide show depicting the past four years of the Class of’85 will he shown. I The guest speaker will be Joe Fen- tpn, a former student and founder of Ijenton, La. ■ Ring Dance follows the banquet. ||he dance will be from 9 p.m. to 1 See SULLY, page 13 Keith Carmichael, Debbie Patterson and during the last Sully’s Symposium Donna Gansky discuss Ring Dance Wednesday afternoon. SG leaders work! ng to improve image Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a three-part series on the role of Texas A&M’s Student Government. By JERRY OSLIN Staff Writer Student Government leaders say they are in a position to make changes at Texas A&M University, but they also admit Student Government faces some serious problems that affect their performance. “We have an image problem,” says Sean Royall, student body president. “We have to convince students that we can get something done and that we are here to get something done.” Eric Thode, speaker pro tern of the Student Senate, agrees Student Gov ernment has an image problem. “Right now our image is at an all- time low,” he says. “Students think we are just a bunch of resume-fillers sit ting around getting their names into something but doing nothing.” Thode attributes part of Student Government’s bad image to the Stu dent Senate’s inability to get things done. “The Student Senate went over board on philosophical issues this past year,” he says. “We debated on philosdphical issues that had no im pact.” Wayne Roberts, Student Govern ment’s former vice president of stu dent services, says the organization’s image was hurt by the Senate’s refus al to represent students’ opinions on certain issues. “The majority of the student body is conservative, but the Senate voted for recognition of the Gay Student Services and for women in the Aggie Band,” he says. “The Senate is sup posed to represent the student body on philosophical issues, but when it votes contradictory to what students believe, then you are going to have problems.” Roberts agrees with Thode that the Senate spent too much time with issues on which Student Government had no influence. Student Government must con centrate on issues in which they have impact, Roberts says. “We have to concentrate on things that have merit and are worth while,” he says. “We can knock on every door on campus and tell students what we’re doing, but they aren’t going to give a damn if we don’t do something that has merit.” Student Government’s bad image has led to student apathy toward the organization, which in turn has a negative effect on Student Govern ment’s performance, Thode says. “There are so many things on cam pus that could be better,” Thode says. “But in order to makfe things better, we need to tap the resources of stu dents and get them involved. Too See STUDENT, page 13 Battalion system is down The Battalion is experiencing technical difficulties. Due to a problem of unknown origins. The Battalion’s computer system crashed Wednesday at ab out 1 p.m. The system was still down at the time the paper had to be put together. Today’s Battalion was put out through the use of a back-up com puter system. The Associated Press wire, however, could not be hooked up to the alternative sys tem, so no wire stories appear in today’s newspaper. The problem will be fixed as soon as possible.