Friday, January 24, 1986/The Battalion/Page 9
<
Warped by Scott McCullar
Waldo
by Kevin Thomas
Howdy! today w£
HAVE A SPfClAL TREAT
FOR youf MAKING A
SPECIAL QUEST APPEAR
ANCE IS THAT HOT, NEV/
MUSIC GROUP, THE
FAT SOYS/
/
Coon's Kingdom
SO AVOGAbROS, b/b ybL)
R£A/.cy Gtr hit by A
TOYOTA ?
v I'M ATHA/b 50.
^
£,/£> - '• r "
you
SURViVfr'
I THOUGHT YOU roJLb MS
THAT AR/9Ab/ccc>S'
MAT/tfA CALL SOO/Vb5
UA£ A CAR AT SS"
HITT/Nb A CAR AT
THAT YSOUCb
SPlAtt^R you All oy£R
THa ROAD !
by D. Coon
NOT IF you CATCH
up on tr from
A/OW BaH/Nb\
THAT'S, j ^
F,£TFKM/NAr/ON. C V
Juarez mayor
now to run for
governor of
Chihuahua
Associated Press
JUAREZ, Mexico — Mayor Fran
cisco Barrio Terrazas, reversing an
earlier decision, said Thursday he
will enter the race for his party’s
nomination for the governorship of
Chihuahua.
Barrio said the public outcry over
his decision not to seek the National
Action Party’s nomination had been
greater than expected, forcing him
to backtrack on his announcement
ofjan. 16.
Barrio, 35, said “I started receiv
ing visits and calls from people from
all the major municipalities in the
state, putting pressure on me.
“The common denominator of
their pleas that I reconsider was a
perception that this electoral process
was far too important for me to not
participate.”
Barrio said last week that his deci
sion not to seek the nomination was
because he had his sights set on a
higher office but had refused to
elaborate.
Should he be nominated during
PAN’s state convention in Chihua
hua City Sunday, he will resign his
job as mayor, Barrio said.
Barrio, whose term as mayor ex
pires in October, staged a three-
week hunger strike protesting
changes in Chihuahua state election
laws. He stopped his fast in early
January when more than 100,000
signatures had been gathered in this
border city against the electoral
changes.
PAN officials charge that the elec
toral reforms are aimed at promot
ing fraud and preventing the party
from gaining more power in
Chihuahua, a PAN stronghold.
Intellectual growth
A&M prof devises way to measure advantages to college
By SONDRA PICKARD
Staff Writer
Getting a college education involves a great
deal more than learning a marketable skill, says a
Texas A&M researcher who recently developed a
method of measuring some of the less obvious
advantages of going to college.
Dr. T. Dary Erwin, associate director of Mea
surement ana Research Services and visiting as
sociate professor of psychology, says the results
of his Erwin Identity Scale and Scale of Intellec
tual Development prove that increased confi
dence and individualism are two aspects of a col
lege education that reach beyond mastering a
chosen skill.
"We’ve known for many years that a number
of positive things happen to students while
they’re here,” Erwin says, “but other things hap
pen besides just the learning of marketable skills.
"We also believe things happen to students in a
personal and social way that contribute to their
over-all development.”
In the past two years Erwin says there have
been several efforts to try to measure and docu
ment these developments in an attempt to deter
mine their significance, thereby eliminating some
of the vagueness associated with the meaning of
education.
“What does it mean when someone says
they’re educated?” Erwin asks. “It’s a very diffi
cult task to answer that question, so I’m one of
several who are trying to do it.”
Most studies in measurement research, Erwin
says, try to measure traditional areas of student’s
abilities such as their knowledge of math or En
glish.
“I wanted to choose some areas that were a
little different to try to measure,” Erwin says.
“Some people say you can’t measure those things
and you shouldn’t even try, but I think those
areas are important and that we should try.”
Already in use at several other colleges and
universities around the country, the Identity
Scale survey consists of about 50 simple questions
and is administered to a random sample of 500
freshmen shortly before they begin their college
careers.
An identical questionnaire is then re-adminis-
tered to the same group of students at the end of
their first fall semester, and then again at the end
of their senior year.
Erwin’s findings indicate a significant drop in
a student’s confidence and self-awareness levels
during the middle of their first college semester,
levels which later increase as they moved into
their sophomore year.
Early college life has a tendency to deflate the
confidence most students have after recently
graduating from high school, Erwin says.
“It’s kind of like a countercultural shock,” he
says. “When students leave home and come to
college they do a lot more things on their own for
the first time and they go through a variety of ex
periences.
“We would hope that their identity would in
crease and that they would become more aware
‘‘There’s a need to discover what
experiences are out there and
whether they influence devel
opment. ”
— Dr. T. Dary Erwin, associate di
rector of Measurement and Re
search Services.
of themselves, gaining confidence in themselves
as a result of the college experience.”
The scores taken during the student’s senior
year, Erwin says, show a dramatic, positive
change in the student’s character compared to
those of their freshman year.
Although conducted in a similar manner, Er
win’s Scale of Intellectual Development consists
of 115 questions that measure four sequential
subscales, or stages, in a student’s mental attitude
toward decision-making. Different scores are
given for the different stages and Erwin hopes to
see a progressive movement through the stages
as the students go through college.
The four stages are:
• Dualism: This is the lowest stage in which a
student perceives alternatives as either com
pletely right or wrong, with no allowance for a
middle ground.
• Relativism: In this stage, a student recog
nizes the available alternatives and ideas open to
them and can accept them all.
• Commitment: At this point, students have
considered and studied various alternatives, but
commit themselves to one of those alternatives,
based on their decision.
• Empathy: This is the highest stage in which
students commit to one decision, but also show
an awareness of the impact that decision will have
on the society around them.
Findings from the intellect scale indicate that
students who finance their own education are
usually more successful in school, excluding
those who try to work fulltime while going to
school.
Also, students who held leadership positions in
high school scored much higher on both the
Identity and Intellect scales.
While Erwin says his research has not yet been
perfected, he says his next step is to look at the
differences between students who show signifi
cant changes during their college years and those
who do not.
“There’s a need to discover what experiences
are out there and whether they influence devel
opment,” he says. “What do they do here at A&M
or any other university that causes their devel
opment to be greater?”
He hopes to answer the question by closely
studying groups of students who have common
experiences and share common activities, both
extracurricular and academic.
“I think it (the research) has probably raised
more questions than answers,” Erwin says.
“There’s a need to discover what experiences are
out there and whether they influence devel
opment.”
Although he says the areas still need further
exploration, Erwin says he hopes the instruments
can someday be used to increase retention of stu
dents at universities and can also be used as a
supplement to the regular transcripts students
submit to prospective employers.
Erwin was recently honored by the American
Association for Counseling and Development for
his research, which he developed on his own with
no outside funding.
Come party with
Pee Wee
and the
Phi Delts
Friday, January 24
8:00
Knights of Columbus Hall
Definitely Phi Delts
2 for 1 Special
on SuntanaClub
Membership
Now through January 31
The Original.
Perfect Tan
Po*t Oak Square, Harvey Road
764-2771
Space still available
Mud Lot Manor
Buy a Permit and Save!
Permit Parking $50 per semester
Daily Parking $1.00 In and out all day with attendant approval
purchase permits from attendant on lot
Nagle & Church Closed parking to
behind Skaggs Blocker and Zachry
AN OFFER
YOU CANT REFUSE!
A BOWLING SPECIAL
3 FREE GAMES
OFFER GOOD
1-13-86 thru 1-17-86
1-20-86 thru 1-24-86
8=00 am — 5:00 pm
M SC
students-faculty-staff
TO QUALIFY FILL OUT THE FORM BELOW AND PRESENT IT AT THE BOWLING COUNTER
NAME PHONE
ADDRESS
WOULD YOU LIKE TO BOWL IN A LEAGUE? CU YES O NO
IF YES. WHAT NIGHT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BOWL?
WOULD YOU LIKE INSTRUCTION ON BOWLING? □ YES D NO
delta sigma pi
the professional business fraternity
Spring Rush ’86
January 30 - February 8
Visit Tables in Blocker Lobby
Imagine creating
your own Crab Legs
and Seafood Feast.
Start with a full Vz lb? of our flavorful
Alaskan Snow Crab Legs. Then add one of eleven
delicious seafood selections. Like sizzling
shrimp scampi. Or savory sea scallops.
Or tender fried shrimp. Come in soon and create
your own Crab Legs & Seafood Feast.
But hurry, this offer is for a limited time only.
'Approximate weight
Red Lobster.
813 Texas Avenue
Across the street from Texas A&M University
College Station 764-9310 ® 1986 Red lobs,er lnns of America