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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1986)
Page lOAThe Battalion/Thursday, February 13, 1986 Botany Poiijte i the Carden District ViiltinOay ^f>424?isil * two rose bud vase ' $10°° * !/ 2 dozen roses $27 50 * Basket Garden $25°° Also Available: • anthuriums • tulips • mixed bouquets 108 North Ave, Bryan 268-4016 268-4183 Outreach program begins fourth term Prof works to improve writing skills By DAWN BUTZ Reporter RESUME SPECIAL Printing from your disc-Wordstar® Typing on Word Processor Typesetting Editing package (10 copies) $ 1.00 $ 5.00 $20.00 $25.00 When Dr. Gwendolyn Gong took over as di rector of Freshman English Studies in the fall of 1984, she set the goal of helping Texas A&M students and faculty and local community mem bers improve their writing skills. “I felt there was a need in the community,” Gong says. “I had heard people ask where they could find help, and it was one way to reach out to the people. It was something I really felt was important.” In October of the same semester she was granted an Incentive Grant from the Center for Teaching Excellence, allowing her to implement a series of free, non-credit mini-courses, de signed to help those people who were interested in improving their writing. The grant — $1,000 per year — pays for supplies and publicity. Writing Outreach is now beginning its fourth semester, offering 29 one-hour and two-hour courses in subjects ranging from punctuation to essay writing. 48 Hour Rates: Monday, Wednesday & Friday—through February AGGIE TYPING SERVICE 846-6486 ’ h- College Main (bsMric 1 Loupot’s) The courses are taught by English depart ment faculty and staff. Rick Evans, assistant to Gong, says all the tea ching is done on a voluntary basis. “All the instructors have to be dedicated to teaching excellence, and to helping people achieve a confidence in their writing,” he says. The one-hour courses, referred to as special help sessions, focus on specific problems. They are designed to offer practical advice in devel oping certain writing skills. The two-hour workshops are aimed at a more intensive look at writing problems. These courses include presentations, discussions and “hands-on” practice, for which students are asked to bring their own materials. While offering the local community an oppor tunity to strengthen their writing abilities, the courses also serve many purposes within the En glish department. The courses provide the department with a growing file of teaching materials, and at the same time allow the faculty and staff to experi ment with new approaches to presenting the materials. Evans says the courses give instructors a chance to reach out to groups other than their university students. The Writing Outreach stu dents are different from those found in basic English classes, he says. Writing Outreach offers classes in writing co herently, logically, creatively, descriptively, per suasively and technically, as well as classes in edi ting, in using the library and in reading critically. Noel Sandlin, a sophomore history major, says the course he attended on writing essays definitely helped. “I had taken an essay test prior to that (the writing course) and made a low C,” he says. “I came back and took another exam and made a B.” Sandlin says the course showed himhon i organize his writing. “They showed me a step-by-step procedur-l on how to attack the problem without wasiir, time,” he says. Sandlin also attended the course onpunciu;j tion. “The class was okay,” he says. “What helpel me the most was the handout they gavemed (the instructor) breezed over it in the class hull brought it home and going over it was vbl helped.” Sandlin says he wished the classes werenj peated more each semester. “T here were others I wanted to go to bu had class or prior commitments," he says. Tedi Zalesky, the scholastic supervisor: Women’s Athletics, attended the course on: sume writing. T thought it was excellent — really goodai:l informative,” she says. “I got a lot of good haul I outs and was able to come back and snare theiij formation with our seniors.” Courses this semester are being offered [ in the evenings in hopes of minimizing conOcI Gong says. Spring classes run through April 30. fil classes start at 6:30 p.m. and no pre-registrati::| is necessary. ATTENTION MAY GRADUATES Order your Graduation Announcements Now! The last day is Thursday, February 13,1986. MSC Student Finance Center 217 Memorial Student Center Monday-Friday8a.m.-4p.m. Cafs exploits get permit revoked Associated Press EL PASO — An elusive stray cat tripped off the burglar alarm at a tire store so often that the City Council revoked the company’s per mit to have police answer the calls. “He had one yellow eye, one blue eye and was all white — the ugliest thing you ever saw,” company man ager Noel Wheeler said of the cat, which set off the motion-sensitive alarm at The Tire Co. 45-60 times a month. Wheeler told the City Council Tuesday that he and his workers tried everything they could think of to catch the cat — without results. On the advice of Police Chief Bill Rodriguez and his deputy, Joe Mes ser, the City Council told Wheeler that he will have to purchase a new permit at the penalty price of $ 100. The city code calls for the revo cation of a burglar alarm permit af ter seven false alarms. When police had received 14 false alarms from The Tire Co. in December, the com pany’s permit was revoked, Messer said. On New Year’s Eve, Wheeler fi nally found the lure that got the cat — anchovy pizza. The cat was caught and released by the Rio Grande. Arson isfs conviction upheld Texas’ high court rules against Ford firm Associated Press AUSTIN — The Texas Supreme Court, in a split decision, ruled Wednesday a lower appeals court misapplied the law in a $5.48 million product liability case against Ford Motor Co. Further review was ordered. A Rusk County jury awarded damages to Ronnie and Nita Pool af- Pool’s pickup truck was defective, causing the truck to run off the road. The truck collided with a tree, and Pool sustained serious head in juries. The Texarkana Court of Appeals reversed the trial judgment and sent the case back for a new trial, but the Pools appealed to the Supreme Court. A majority of the nine-member court said the appeals court misap plied Texas’ drunken driving statue and also erred in “treating the stat utory violation of the speed limit as negligence per se.” The high court also ruled against Ford on other points, but sent the case back to the Texarkana appeals court. Associated Press AUSTIN —- The 3rd Couno! Appeals on Wednesday affirniK I the arson conviction of a nu$ charged with starting fires:: tliree churches in Milam Counts According to the appealscour I Norris Moss admitted setting on I of the fires but said he wasactir.; under God’s will and that he d the reincarnation of the HolyR man emperor and that hisreasorl for burning the church wastocatl attention to that fact.” He pleaded not guilty by real son of insanity, but was foundl guilty with starting three churdl fires in July 1983. Punishmenul each case is- confinement in stall prison for seven years, with thtl sentences to run concurrently. “TCU AIN’T SEEN NET El IN’ TET use avehiilYT S IU£>W AUDITION NOW! APPLICATIONS TO PERFORM AVAILABLE Room 21113 MSC (due Feb.14) FDR. WOKt/ IMFOmVTIOM 8^'(>3^8 or 2U~)-(eC30 THE MIDDLE EAS1 4r M S : : i_: : ■" 1 v—t— { - '**; . ' ' ■ "■: — N A • 3 presents 9 a.m. Friday 14 Security Issues and World Power Involvement’ The Honorable Joseph Sisco Former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs 1:30 p.m. Friday, February 14 The Arab/Israeli Conflict’ Dr. Moshe Ma’oz Hebrew University Ambassador Clovis Maksoud Permanent Observer to the United Nations for the League of Arab States Gordan Brown Director, Arabian Peninsula Affairs Office at the State Department - Moderator All speeches in Rudder Theatre and open to the public. W/ natch plane opera Wedr front: dayo a clos- Du mane uled dozer condi with Sea a cial w In and l the L for l front segir In r ring- men Ai causi plun righl