Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, June 20, 1985
OPINION
Fill 'er up, this
time for good
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to keep an eye on
the gauge, your gas tank just seems to empty overnight. Some
times, no matter now good a job they are doing, prison directors
just seem to “run out of gas” too. Raymond Procunier, director
of the Texas Department of Corrections, resigned Monday.
Procunier, who took over the reigns of the TDC 13 months
ago, was instrumental in instigating prison reforms aimed at im
proving living conditions and ending a 13-year-old lawsuit
against the prison system.
When Procunier took office in May 1984, he said he would
stay at the position for no longer than two years. While his resig
nation was not unexpected, it would have been nice if Procunier
had been able to serve his full two years. But poor health and
lack of “gas” would not permit it.
Although Procunier’s leadership will be sorely missed, Lane
McCotter, who was named as his replacement, should prove to
be an equally competent director, despite the big shoes he has to
fill. V
McCotter’s familiarity with the Texas prison system, the sec
ond largest in the nation, is essential if he is going to continue
the programs started by Procunier.
The ball of prison reform in the TDC has been put in mo
tion. We hope McCotter can keep the ball rolling and keep his
gas tank full.
The Battalion Editorial Board
How does A&M’s library
compare with others?
The Association ' ' —
of Research Librar- Char | e s R.
ics evaluates librar
ies by size of collec-
tion, number of
volumes added,
Schultz
Guest Columnist
size of budget, number of staff, etc. In
no instance is quality considered, but
then quality is a rather subjective mat
ter and is very difficulty to judge from
information obtained in a brief ques
tionnaire. In the most recent ARL re
port on member libraires, Texas A&M
is ranked 42nd out of 105,
University spends $13,161 per staff
member compared with the $19,727
spent by Howard University.
Even Harvard, with by far the larg
est staff, pays $2,400 more per person
than A&M does. There may be some
consolation in knowing that A&M
does spend about $3,200 more per
staff member than does Alabama,
which appears to be the most penu
rious with staff salaries.
over $4,000 less per staff member
than does Howard,
The ARL has 'k numerical index
rating similar to the Dunkle Index for
football teams. The major difference
is that the library numbers are consid
erably lower.
Harvard, at the very top of the list,
has a rating of 3.01. Texas A&M is
number 42 at .05. At the very bottom
is Case Western Reserve with a ra-
tingof -1.65. Thus while Texas A&M
is up as high as 42nd, it is only 1.60
better than the lowest ranking mem
ber of ARL while it is 2.96 worse than
the top ranking library.
In the evaluation factor of total size
of holdings, Texas A&M ranks 78 out
of 105. This is A&M’s lowest score in
any of the factors . The University’s
1.5 million volumes, is far below the
volume counts of the real giants: Har
vard —10.7 million, Yale — 8 million,
University of Illinois — 6.6 million
and University of California — 6.5
millibn.
When one considers that the total
expenditures for libraries at A&M did
not exceed $1 million until 1968-69,
the $8.2 million spent in 1983-84 ap
pears to be a grandiose sum. When it
is compared with the $24.6 million
spent by Harvard for libraries in
1983-1984, it does not.
At least 26 public, four state and
three non-ARL academic libraries in
the United States have larger collec
tions than A&M. Two of these three
academic libraries are in Texas:
Southern Methodist University and
Texas Tech.
The only evaluation factors in
which A&M ranks among the top ten
are interlibrary loaning and borrow
ing. It ranks ninth in both areas.
The 34,360 items lent are affected
by several factors: a document deliv
ery agreement with the National Agri
cultural Library, willingness to pro
vide materials to industry at very low
costs and a hard-working staff which
tries to fill every request it receives.
As large as that figure seems, it is
very modest when compared with the
148,000 items lent by Minnesota.
Some might say that the relatively
high ranking in interlibrary borrow
ing (12,573 items) is a result of the in
adequacy of the collections. It may also
be an indication of research activities.
The number of items borrowed does
not necessarily mean the collection is
inadequate. Illinois, the third largest
collection of ARL libraries, borrowed
126,329 items.
One factor which does not appear
in ARL statistics but which is fre
quently used in evaluating the ad
equacy of library funding is the ratio
of total library expenditures of the
university.
Historically it has been suggested
that between 4 and 5 percent of the to
tal educational and general expendi
tures should be spent on the library.
Some institutions with a long stand
ing commitment to excellent libraries
have consistently devoted that much,
or even more, to libraries. Although
Texas A&M has devoted around 3
percent in recent years, there have
been times when the figure was as low
as .5 percent.
Thus, the neglect may riot be as se
vere as it once was, but it is still ne-
A&M ranks 46th in volumes added,
but its 68,000 is considerably below
the 242,000 of University of Califor
nia Berkeley, or the 203,000 of
UCLA.
A&M ranks 30th in microform
holdings, but a major error has been
discovered in A&M’s tabulation, the
correcting of which will cause A&M to
decline in this ranking. Even if the re
ported 2.2. million items were correct,
A&M is still far below Washington’s
4.1 million.
Although A&M ranks 24th in the
amount of money spent for current
serials ($1.7 million), it is far down the
list at 68th in the number of serials re
ceived (17,900). The University of
Houston, which spends $400,000 less
than A&M, receives 7,500 more serials
titles than does A&M.
There are a number of things
which can be extracted from the ARL
statistics which apparently are not
considered in the ranking.
Even though the annual volume qf
ARL statistics includes a record of the
enrollment at each institution as well
as one of the total holdings, there is no
computation of the ratio of books per
student. This could be quite critical.
The University of Houston, which
ranks 92nd in holdings with 1,408,740
volumes, has 52 books for each stu
dent while A&M, which ranks 78th
with 1,540,910 volumes, has only 45
volumes for each student.
gleet.
Certainly there are people who ar
gue that size alone may not be a valid
factor for evaluating libraries. There
may be some truth to this claim just as
there may be truth to the claim that
not every 275 pound athlete will make
an outstanding lineman for a major
university football team. Certainly
agility, speed, and desire would be fac
tors in any football player’s success
just as the quality of books, facilities
and dedication of staff are factors in
determinig the degree of excellence of
a library. It is likely, however, that a
275 pound athlete will be more likely
to excel as a lineman than will one
weighing 125 pounds.
It is equally likely that a five- or 10-
million volume library will have more
books researchers need than will a 1.5
million volume.
California Berkeley which spends
only $800,000 more than A&M, re
ceives more than 72,000 more serial ti
tles.
With a total staff of 281 and a pro
fessional staff of 65, A&M ranks 45th
and 48th respectively.
In total money spent for salaries
and wages, however, A&M is slightly
lower at 51st. This would indicate that
A&M pays below average salaries. The
Rice University, at 99th (1,189,015
volumes) has 245 volumes per student
— five times as many as A&M.
The ARL provides ranking by total
number of staff and total salaries and
wages, but it does not provide rank
ings by a ratio. As is indicated above,
A&M ranks in the upper 40s in the
categories of number of staff and total
salaries and wages, but in the average
number of dollars expended per staff
member it ranks considerably lower.
Admittedly, it may be that A&M’s
contribution to social security, health
insurance and retirement are not in
cluded in its figures, even if one adds
all of A&M’s benefits, it still expends
Of the 41 libraries that rank above
A&M, 19 have very good football
teams to go with their very good li
braries. Of the 63 libraries that rank
below A&M, only 13 have good foot
ball teams. Six of the top 10 ARL li
braries are at academic institutions
which have excellent football pro
grams.
It appears from all of this that there
may well be some relationship be
tween library and athletic excellence.
Perhaps those Aggies who want a
Southwest Conference or national
championship in football should con
sider matching their contributions to
athletics with equal amounts to the li
brary.
According to the ARL index men
tioned above, the A&M library is 1.16
better than that of Alabama. If all of
this has any meaning then the Aggies
should defeat the Crimson Tide this
fall.
This, of course, does not take into
consideration either the home field
advantage which Alabama should en
joy and Alabama’s revenge factor for
the 1968 Cotton Bowl, or the desire of
the Aggies to continue their domina
tion of Alabama.
Charles R. Schultz is the University
Archivist for Texas A&M.
Hostages caughhe
In real funhouse ot
I AL’S
Tuesday night I
watched Dan
Rather try to make
some sense out of
the Trans World
Airline hijacking
situation.
I listened to the
comments made
by Rather as he
evaluated Presi
dent Reagan’s
speech. I listened
to the reporters on location stating what
had seen in Beirut and what it
mirror in the funhouse. No counin
accepting the actions of the terrorists,
he doesn't know to whom to applyso:
jen as £
Cheryl Clark
they had seen in
meant. I also listened to the experts as
they told America what they thought of
the situation.
The comments, the statements and
the opinions reminded me a funhouse
at the county fair. But this is not the
funhouse of our childhood. It is a fun
house of our nightmares or of a horror
movie.
A funhouse Where people can die, or
ibl
you bump into a horribly deformed per
son, or you stumble around in a circle. A
funhouse filled with distorting mirrors,
rolling floors, darkened tunnels and ee
rie noises.
The hostages are in the fimhouse.
Unfortunately, so are some terrorists
and some politicians and some gunmen.
All are stumbling around in a maze of
misty mirrors.
Last month Israel released 1,150 se
curity prisoners from jail in exchange
for three Israeli soldiers held by Pales
tinian guerrillas. The trade went against
the normal Israeli policy of non-nego
tiation with terrorists. A policy of don’t
give into a terrorist’s demands, no mat
ter what the cost might be.
The Israeli government said it would
release the Shiite guerilla prisoners that
the hijackers have demanded freedom
for. The condition is that a high-rank
ing American official like the President
must ask them.
heavy political muscle. Sut
threat of military retaliation.
I don’t want Reagan to havetoasl
rael for the favor of releasing 700 g»l
rillas outside Israel’s borders. 1 k
want to owe another country thatki
of favor.
I wanted the hostages rescuedbefo |
they had been relocated “for theirs::
ty” in a Beirut suburb. I wanted the:
jackers to realize that they couldntu
rorize the leaders of our governmem I
wanted a stronger message delivered!
the other terrorist groups of the wd
that American leaders will not be irl
madated by threats.
The hostage incident under Caridi
administration has not been forgotteni
None of my wants are happening!
fact, the funhouse has expanded toi
elude the entire city of Beirut, withR( j
gan negotiators and Israeli officii I
shaking their heads from running in |
mirrors.
The hostages are in the funhouseim I
But they are in a darkened hallway^ |
ing for someone to jump at them. Ij£ |
hope its to help them out.
lustice
ready
tlemen
which
prison
I Ton
eral’s s
tounci
drawn
(partme
put a v
the resi
incarce
Cheryl Clark is a senior journalism M
jor and a columnist for The Battalion.
Israel is willing to make a concession.
The government will release about 700
guerillas and transport them to Syria for
the sake of approximately 40 American
hostages. But Israel wants someone to
ask for the favor.
Reagan is trying to walk a rolling
floor in the funhouse. He knows the
hostages have been taken off the plane
and now are kept in various locations
across Beirut without a forwarding ad
dress. But Reagan hestitates to ask for
the favor.
“America will never make concessions
to terrorism ... to do so will only invite
more terrorism,” Reagan said.
The hostages are no longer in the hi
jacker’s controls. They are also no
longer under the political protection of
Nabih Berri, leader of the Shiite’s Amal
militia. Berri is working on the negotia
tions between the hijackers and the re
lease of the Shiite prisoners held by Is
rael with the Red Cross as a possible
liason.
But Berri has a problem in the fun
house. Some people in Beirut could be
jumping at him and making scary
noises. His leadership in the Shiite mili
tia is unsteady at best and he has no con
trol over what other terrorist groups
might do. Beirut has more than one ter
rorist group who might like to get their
hands on an American hostage.
Reagan is facing another distorting
The Battalion
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Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Kellie Dworaczyk, Editor
Kay Mallett, John Hallett, News Editors
Loren Steffy, Editorial Page Editor
Sarah Oates, City Editor
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
The Battalion Staff
Assistant City Editor
Katherine Hurt
Assistant News Editor
Cathie Anderson
Entertainment Editors ...I
Cathy Riely, Walter Sraiik
Staff Writers , Karen Blod
Ed Cassavoy, Jerry Osfe
Brian Pearson
Copy Editor Trent Leopold
Make-up Editors Ed Cassavop
Karla Marlin
Columnists Cheryl Clark,
Karl Pallmejrt
Photographers Greg Bailey
Anthony Caspet
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