STATE AND LOCAL
Local benefit to help family
pay bills of boy in semi-coma
By JERRY OSLIN
Staff Writer
A special benefit to help pay
the medical expenses of the fam
ily of Bart Van Leerdam will be
held Saturday, June 29. at the
Brazos Rodeo Arena.
The 20-month-old College Sta
tion boy has been iti a semi-coma
since March SI, when he wan
dered away from his home and
fell in a pond.
The proceeds from the benefit
will go to St. Joseph Hospital to
help pay medical expenses, said
Monique Dekker, Bryan special
events coordinator.
The benefit, which will run
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., will in
clude an all-day barbeque, an
auction and a horseshoe pitching
competition, Dekker said.
Tne Dallas Mavericks, Hous
ton Rockets, Dallas Cowboys,
Houston Oilers, Texas Rangers
and Houston Astros all have do
nated tickets to the auction, she
said.
Employees of the city of Bryan
organized the benefit, and several
area businesses and individuals
donated food and other items,
Dekker said.
Tickets to the barbeque cost
S3.50 and the registration fee for
the horseshoe pitching contest
will be $15 per team. Teams may
register from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
and the winners will be given tro
phies, she said.
The benefit also will feature
two bands.
Bart’s condition has improved
since 56 volunteer workers
started working with him, Dekker
said.
She said the Texas Department
of Mental Health and Mental Re
tardation was responsible for or
ganizing the volunteer ef fort.
“MHMR was responsible for
rounding up the volunteers by
getting the message out through
public service announcements
and news stories,” Dekker said.
MHMR nurse Debby Babb gives Bart some encouragement
while checking on his progress.
A&M officers fight unfair image
Grants from
USDA to A&M
get renewed
By NANCY JUMPER
Reporter
The U.S. Department of Agricul
ture has renewed grants to Texas
A&M totalling $115,956, continuing
support of Ph.D. graduate
fellowships, U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm
says.
The Department of Agricultural
Engineering awarded five three-
year fellowships of $15,000 each to
students beginning their doctoral
programs. The fellowships were
awarded to A&M through the Food
and Agricultural Sciences National
Needs Graduate Fellowships, a
USDA project.
Dr. Edward Hiler, A&M profes
sor and head of agricultural engi
neering, says, “Texas A&M’s agricul
tural engineering depfirtment is one
of 10 universities in the country to
receive the USDA fellowships.”
' The A&M biochemistry and bi
ophysics departments also received
grants, providing seven fellowships
of $15,000 each to students begin
ning their doctoral programs. The
fellowships were awarded by the
USDA Biotechnology Training
Grant, A&M and the Texas Agricul
tural Experiment Station.
The grants were awarded after
each academic department applied
for them and sent a proposal to the
USDA with ideas for individual pro
grams. After the proposals were re
viewed by authorities across the
United States, the USDA selected
the outstanding proposals for the
fellowships.
After A&M was notified it had
won the grants, each specific depart
ment began searching for qualified
candidates for the awards.
The fellowships were awarded on
two competitive levels: the university
level and the academic or student
level.
A&M was awarded twelve
fellowships, the maximum any uni
versity can receive, says Dr. Thomas
Baldwin, associate professor with
biochemistry and director of the bi
otechnology training program.
Police work not just issuing tickets
By LAMYA SOURYAL
Reporter
Many fexas A&M students don’t
realize the University Police Depart
ment does more than give parking
tickets, “harass” bicycle riders and
tow away cars.
What do the police think about
this unflattering image?
“Officers are often verbally
abused because people are acting
out of ignorance as to what our du
ties are,” says Bob Wiatt, University 1
Police Director.
Students don’t believe the same
laws apply to the campus as to the
rest of tne world, he says.
Prior to 1967, A&M had a security
force of non-commissioned officers
who were little more than watchmen
with no power to enf orce laws.
This past image causes people to
take the University Police lightly, he
says.
“We are a real law enforcement
agency that enforces laws like any
other law enforcement agency,”
Wiatt says. “People do things on
campus they wouldn’t think of doing-
in a city.
“When they get stopped, they are
surprised when the officer gives
them a ticket,” Wiatt says. “They
don’t realize the police are doing
their jobs.”
Sgt. Mike Buckley, a patrolman
for the University Police, says he be
lieves a contributing factor to the
image of the University Police is the
coverage it receives in The Battalion.
“The Battalion does not always
give the University Police fair cover
age,” Buckley says. “I d6n’t expect
any special coverage, but I would
like them to be fair, show the good
with the bad.”
Detective William Scott of the in
vestigations division says he agrees
the image of the campus police is not
good, but he thinks it’s getting bet
ter.
“It is unfortunate that a lot of stu
dents don’t have a high regard for us
because of the parking problems,
but I really think that is changing,”
Scott says.
The department is trying to im
prove its image by modernizing its
equipment and increasing its staff
size, Buckley says.
Most students rarely look past the
tickets to see how the department
operates.
The department, which has 76
full-time employees and 18 student
workers, is comparable in size to the
College Station Police Department,
Wiatt says.
The patrol division, which is
chiefly responsible for traffic and
speeding violations, is made up of 21
officers and six supervisers.
All patrol officers are commis
sioned officers, qualified to carry
firearms.
“This is not the Enchanted For
est,” Buckley says. “There is crime
on campus and students need to re
alize that although A&M is below the
national average for serious crimes,
they do happen.”
A common misconception stu
dents have of University patrolmen
concerns police authority to issue
university tickets or justice of the
peace tickets, depending on the offi
cer’s discretion.
“We are no different from the po
lice in College Station or Bryan, ex
cept the University gives us great lat
itude in where we can file cases,"
Buckley says. “We can file through
the University system or the criminal
justice system — whichever will be
beneficial to the student and the
University in a particular situation.”
The special services division,
which issues parking tickets, is the
part of the force most students come
into contact with.
Officers in this division are not
commissioned and cannot carry fire
arms. Ten special officers, along
with patrolmen, monitor the streets
and parking lots.
To become a University police of
ficer, applicants must have a high
school diploma, pass a general apti
tude test and a psychological test.
Applicants do not need a college de
gree, but should have some college
credits. Of the 27 patrol officers, 11
are A&M students.
A&M has the only accredited po
lice academy in the Brazos Valley
area. Graduates are commissioned
police officers. The starting salary
for commissioned officers working
for the University Police is $16,507.
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