Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 1986)
i 1 lenate bill seeks leposit reduction in Aggie Point Plan By Rodney Rather Staff Writer ■Three bills were introduced to the Student Senate Wednesday that call far reductions in Aggie Point Plan djposits, urge the University to rees tablish 24-hour health care at A.P. utel Health Center and state the ed for the University to install more bicycle racks around the hry Engineering Center. [All three bills were sent to the stu dent services committee after their ■roduction to the senate. ■The bill recommending lower de- its for the point plan, which was inlroduced by senator Chris Dowdy, sals the current $250 minimum de posit required lor initial activation of a point plan should be lowered to Sip:) and that the subsequent de- Tsit, which is the minimum amount thai can be added to an account, shlnild be lowered f rom $100 to $75. teamad m f 1 lutov;. '(1 to do k best pins nings, 'tormy nid thed ‘Wkj rtment, here agi he KGB's ( she smellej around ju an elephin isv track,; time to ult r over the kamadtc Sir Henn ii cannot so • orrection The Oct. 8 issue of The Ihit- Alion ran an article about a bill |) raise the speed limit to 65 iph on some parts of the Texas terstate system. I Sgt. Fred Forsthoff of the Texas Highway Patrol was joted as saying a higher speed hit would not increase the traf- fatality rate, and the speed Bmit could be raised on some ctions of Texas interstate high- ays. However, Forsthoff now adds Hhut lifting the speed limit uldn’t be smart because some drivers might maintain the higher rate when traveling on a highway with a lower speed ■nil. I He adds, “I, as well as the De partment of Public Safety, sup- lort the current 55 mph limit on lie basis of its life-saving effect.” Additionally, the bill calls for the withdrawal fee — charged when stu dents drop the plan before their ac count is exhausted — be lowered from $50 to $25. It also says the withdrawal fee should not be im posed on graduating seniors or any student during the first or last week of the semester. The bill urging the University to reinstate 24-hour emergency care at the University health center was in troduced by senator Chris Kopp and reinforces the view held by the Graduate Student Council. A letter from the graduate council written this summer to John Koldus, Texas A&M vice president for stu dent services, says 24-hour emer gency service is needed because of the large amount of campus activity at night and on weekends. The bicycle bill was introduced by Jose Castro, chairman of student services, and says more bicycle racks are needed at Zachry because many students run into bikes that have fallen on the sidewalk. A&M begins special ed. program By Jinks Gholson Reporter Not many people know that a special educa tion major exists or exactly what it is. But the U.S. government thought it impor tant enough to give funds to Texas A&M to implement a new six-year program and use it as a national model, said Dr. Douglas Palmer, associate professor of educational psychology. A&M’s special education program involves teaching education students to deal primarily with mentally disabled children in a classroom environment. Palmer said it’s rare for the government to give undergraduate scholarships in the area of special education. A&M began its generic special education program in 1977, and plans for the manda tory master’s program began five years later, Palmer said. He said the A&M special education staff be gan developing the program through re search and collaboration with other colleagues in the field to decide exactly what teachers need to know. “If we are going to be involved in teacher training, we want to have the best training ex perience possible,” he said. Mary Millan, one of three students cur rently involved in the graduate phase of the program, said she believes the best part of the program is the in-class experience she re ceives. “If we are going to be involved in teacher training, we want to have the best training experience pos sible. It’s what the teachers who have been teaching for a while said they needed to have but never got in their training. ” — Douglas Palmer, Texas A&M associate professor of educational psychology. “I feel like I could go ahead and teach even without student teaching,” she said. Palmer stressed that hands-on training is one of the most important parts of the special education curriculum and one of the reasons the special education faculty decided to ex tend the program. Millan and the other two special education graduate students, Laura Steffy and Lane Mi nor, all could have graduated under the old four-year program but decided to change to the six-year program during their senior year. Minor said she knew she would eventually have to get her master’s degree and consid ered A&M’s program a once-in-a-lifetime op portunity, so she took it. Steffy agreed, saying she had already planned on getting her master’s, and that she knew it would be beneficial for her to go ahead and do it now. Palmer said he thinks the design of the training program is unique. “It’s what a lot of people have been talking about,” he said. “It’s what the research has been saying. It’s what teachers that have been teaching for a while have said they needed to have but never got in their training. “So we are a program that decided to de sign something that really did reflect what the field has been saying for years.” Palmer said the new program is rigorous. To be accepted, students must maintain a 3.0 grade-point ratio during the last 60 hours of their undergraduate degrees. They also go through a clinic the summer before their se nior year. In addition to the instructional part of the clinic, he said, the students also attend classes. If students don’t get accepted into the grad uate phase, they change to elementary or sec ondary education. Students can no longer graduate with a four-year undergraduate de gree in special education. Palmer compared getting into the graduate phase of the program to getting accepted into law or medical schools. The undergraduate level includes the breadth of the program, while the graduate level focuses primarily on hands-on training, he said. NASA to build $40 million visitors’ center at Houston site SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) — NA SA’s Johnson Space Center announced plans Wednesday to build a $40 million visitors’ center with a mini-Astrodome and two high- tech movie theaters, all at no cost to taxpay ers. The visitor’s center will be built on 123 acres of unused land at the Johnson Center and NASA officials hope to have it open and operating by late 1988 or 1989. A large geodesic dome, a small-scale ver sion of Houston’s famed Astrodome, will be the central structure of the center. The two theaters will show the new Omnimax and Imax type of motion pictures. A part of the visitors complex will be a space education center dedicated to the Chal lenger astronauts and paid for by donations, officials said. Plans call for a nonprofit foundation, the Manned Space Flight Education Foundation, Inc., to receive a license to build and operate the center. Harold Stall, president of the foundation and JSC public affairs director, said studies predict about 1.7 million visitors annually to the center within a short time after it is opened. Stall said the foundation will issue tax-free bonds to pay for the construction. These bonds will be repaid through funds collected for admission tickets and sales of souvenirs and food at the center. JSC currently has a visitors center that charges no admission, but the space equip ment on display is scattered among a number of buildings. “It’s clear that our facilities now are woe fully inadequate,” said Stall. More than a mil lion people tour the JSC facilities annually, but they must share parking and cafeteria fa cilities with employees. The center of the cur rent visitors complex is an auditorium build ing that must be closed to tourists occasionally for JSC employee functions. The new complex will be on the edge of the 1,620 acres that make up the Johnson Space Center. Stall said that a perimeter fence will be moved inward and that security gates will be relocated. This will permit tour ists to go to the visitors complex without pass ing through NASA security, as is now re quired. Groundbreaking for the new facility is ex pected in the first quarter of 1987. Plans call for these displays at the center: fries ■jea rests®| i our inteitfl eir efforts®! to supH ,i close Ml the fiitur fl 1 the black®!! jolitical "“I ias exp^l trialitfd'jj ; historic®*] ther I t ofindt^l nt Nif, i Africa* jrmanp tose of ies. It® 1 istofan®1 teofWj unions 1:1 '4 r P^L, ous Joast Wl i high' Africa, At NSA, You Needn’t Ponder Tomorrow’s Technologies. You Work With Them. Electrical / Electronic / Computer Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics Majors Simply put, no one is better equipped than NSA to give you a career on the frontier of com munications. And there’s good reason. We’re the National Security Agency and the work we do does a job for every American. We safeguard our nation’s vital communications. We analyze foreign transmissions. We secure the government’s massive computer systems. It takes twenty-first century technology to grapple with these tasks. It takes people like you to “mind” the technology. Electrical / Electronic / Computer Engineers sometimes specialize, ofttimes opt to investi gate a vast range of electronic information technology. You could engage in small to large system design and prototype development testing and evaluation, field installation, or operations support. Computer Scientists exploit a huge computer facility in their work beyond the limits of finite state machine development and applications. Mathematicians get a full measure of tech nological support as well, in developing vitally important practical applications for mathema tical concepts in areas such as cryptology. Here, your tools-of-the-trade will be the tools of tomorrow. With them comes a rare degree of flexibility—a near insistence on exploring new options along your career path. Bapid advance ment, early responsibility, competitive salaries and enticing benefits—it all adds up to a career you can live with. And with our location be tween the vibrant urban centers of Baltimore, MD. and Washington, D.C., you’ll be living well. Bring yourself closer to tomorrow’s tech nologies. Schedule an interview with your Col lege Placement Office. Or write to the National Security Agency. NSA will be on campus Nov. 3rd d? 4th interviewing graduating seniors and Nov. 5th interviewing for Co- Op students. the 'vff neig s inaA 'ricatofl «n - ther i' 1 ^ - a pabM <| sin'r ■th At’ and re ref ^theo joro' 1 ’ .. • . * ' . ■ , ‘ C?:' ’ ‘ ' :ca NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY ATTN: M322 (AAN) Fort Meade, MD 20755-6000 U.S. citizenship required for applicant and immediate family members. An equal opportunity employer. • ' v V- 1 - O y.' V;.*- . , *4 Chanello;s Prediction: AGGIES!!! OWLS??? CHANELLO’S PIZZA “Taste the Aggie Difference” ■y4|3>i PIZZA DELIVERS Texas Ave. -C.S. South of Univ. Drive 696-0234 & South of Campus Northgate-Campus -N. College Station 846-3768 & S. Bryan 30 Minute Delivery To Campus or Free Pizza ASK ABOUT OUR UNLIMITED SPECIALS Drinks 16oz. .500 32oz. .750 We now have Ice Tea OPEN FOR LUNCH FREE Delivery $5. 00 minimum order Sandwiches Hot Sandwiches: Foot Long $4.00 Half $2.50 Submarine: Ham, Salami, Sauce, Cheese Italian: Ham, Salami, Sauce, Onion, Mushroom. Green Pepper, Cheese Vegetarian: Onion, Green Pepper. Mushroom. Sauce. Cheese r i i i i i Cheese breadsticks with ranch or pizza sauce 12” $5.00 | 16" $8.00 | 20" 12.00 1 2 Footlong Subs $8.°° 3rd Sub Free Expires: 10/26/86 16” Cheese Breadsticks • A simulated lunar landscape, with a full- scale lunar lander, lunar car and moon sur face scientific equipment; • A Mission Control Center simulation; • An exhibit hall that will include a space craft from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo eras, a full scale mock-up of the Skylab space craft, a bookstore and gift shop, and food services. This hall would be housed in a 120,000-square-foot geodesic dome rising 140 feet above the display floor. • Two theaters that will show films in the large Imax and Omnimax formats. These projections provide viewers with 180-degree left-to-right and 90-degree vertical panora mas. Films on space flight will be shown, includ ing one film that was taken by special cam eras during four space shuttle missions. $6. 00 Expires: 10/26/86