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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 1985)
Rain, Rain, Go Away Although thunderstorms have clouded the skies, Texas A&M stu dents manage to keep smiles on their faces. These students wait in^ Photo by 1 front of the Harrington Classroom Building until this particular storm lightens up. Computer system to change at A&M By SCOTT SUTHERLAND Reporter Every Texas A&M student and faculty member should have access to a computer by the year 2000, said Dr. John Dinkel, new associate pro vost for Computing and Informa tion Systems. Dinkel spoke at a meeting of the A&M Microcomputer Users Group Thursday and revealed his plans for the University’s computer system of the future. “It’s a different computer world at A&M than it was when I first came here four years ago,” Dinkel said, “and I hope that four years from now we can say we have the type of computer system a major university like A&M should have.” Dinkel foresees a computer sys tem that is accessible to everyone. The current system is only accessi ble by modems that allow computer owners to telephone into the system. Dinkel says this is unacceptable. Ideally, Dinkel says he would like to see a computer in every dorm room and on every faculty desk. He realizes this idea may be a little unrealistic, buf he promised that Computing and Information would continue its Micro Sales Centet] the Memorial Student Center, wli offers bargain prices to students. If Din kefs system became art* ity, students could work on cn puter lab assignments at homeot their dorms rather than spendu long hours in the computer labi! campus. Faculty members would beablt call up large amounts ofdatauij tainable by small computers. Dinkel said he is confidentaln the future of computers on cani|i because he has great faith inj University’s commitment to thep gram. He gives the University crediti the growth and expansion of ta puter awareness. Dinkel assured the group thaii is confident of the U niversity’s ta mitment to a modern telecomm; cations system by the early 1990s, “The University deserves m for where we are today," Dinkelsi “and with that in mind we should] look forward to the possibilities,' Dinkel said along with theUtm sitiy’s committment he will needj cooperation from all department make the system of real valuetoi University. A&M offering speech communication degree “Texas A&M was the only major or minor school in Texas without a degree in speech communication. ” — Department Head Kurt Ritter By CYNTHIA GAY l Staff Writer From the sixth floor windows of the Blocker Building, the faculty members of the new Department of Speech Communication and The ater Arts can survey the class-bound audience below. And ever since this department raised its curtains Sept. 1, students attracted by speech and theatrical studies have trooped to the Blocker penthouse to gam a broader per spective of life at Texas A&M. Nineteen faculty members are now responsible for 130 students majoring in speech communication and 33 theater arts majors. Last fall the speech communication degree was inaugurated, while the theater specialty has been at A&M since 1977. Department Head Kurt Ritter, said, “Texas A&M was the only ma jor or minor school in Texas without a degree in speech communication.” “We were a unit within the En glish department being nurtured and developed,” said Ritter, who came to A&M three years ago. “Get ting the degree was simply rounding out the liberal arts curricula. The creation of the department is really a reflection of administrative reality.” Dr. Roger Schultz, director of the ater arts, added, “It’s another indica tion that Texas A&M is emerging as a university in the true sense of the word.” Expecting to draw about 75 speecn communication majors after the first year, Ritter said the sudden swelling of the ranks is partly be cause of transfer students. “The level of growth has been quite astonishing,” he said. Four years from now, the department should have between 250 and 300 majors, Ritter predicted, and he hopes to propose a graduate curric ulum within five years. Both Schultz and Ritter are con vinced the department’s graduates will have not only communication skills for sale in the job market but also flexible tools that adapt to a va riety of occupations. Addressing his introduction to a theater arts class Wednesday, Schultz told his students, “You need to know how to think and how to re spond,” and the study of the theater will “make you a better person so you can make the world a better place to live.” Liberal arts are designed to teach students how to learn, Ritter said, adding that students are in a better position to grasp new approaches and new techniques. “We don’t want to give students a false sense of confidertce, but we have considerable evidence the lib eral arts students have excellent track records,” Ritter said. He cited an ongoing 20-year study by AT&T stating that liberal arts majors are initially hired for lower salaries. But over the longer working term at AT&T, liberal arts majors own a higher perch on the corporate ladder. A recent survey of 50 com panies by the Association of Ameri can Colleges reports that 97 percent rated communication skills as a “very important” quality for all job appli cants. And why are many qualified ap- licants rejected by employers? “Ina- ility to communicate” or “Poor communication skills” was the an swer from 65 percent of the hiring officers interviewed for the 1980 an nual Endicott Report of Northwest ern University, which surveyed 170 businesses and industrial concerns. For these reasons, Ritter said one- half of A&M undergraduates lake some speech course. Also, 100 per cent of students majoring in business or education have a speech class or namenting their curriculum, along with one-fourth of all engineers. The variety of jobs available to speech communication majors ranges from marketing, manage ment, and personnel to teaching., public relations and journalism, Rit ter said, so the choice is completely up to the individual student. When prospective theater stu dents enter Schultz’s office, he hands them a sheet of paper that be gins: “You want to major in theater!! Well, it might be okay to ‘play’ for a while, but what are you going to do in the 'real world?’ ” Schultz then lists 32 ways to earn a living, such as becoming an actor, producer, choreographer, lighting technician, stuntman and teacher. Skunk tested positive for rabies in CS A skunk found in the Sotii wood Valley area of College & lion on Aug. 23 has tested p live for rabies, Brazos Animl Shelter Director Kathy Rklu said Thursday. Although it appears there h no human exposure to theskuii Ricker said four dogs are unde observation in quarantine. Rabies is an infectious disets of mammals that is transmind through saliva. Symptoms ofilt virus, which travels through ill spinal cord to the brain, induii fever, uncontrollable excitemee and muscle spasms in the throat The incubation period for Ik disease ranges f rom 10 dayst two years or more. Huraaif usually contract rabies from lit bite of a rabid dog,