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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1987)
Page 4AThe BattalioiVTuesday, February 3, 1987 Photograph Your Next Event Hire An Affordable Photographer For "Those Special Events Go by the SPO Rm 21 6 MSC or Call 84S-1 515 For Details IVISC Camera Committee Foreign professors bring skills to A&M, m but accents can hinder some students By Kelley Bullock Reporter During the first week of school, many Texas A&M students, anx iously went to to class wondering what their courses and teachers would be like, only to find a foreign person with a heavy accent standing behind the lectern. “They need to learn to speak En glish fluently before they teach,” A&M student Andrew Lester said. “If they come to class before they learn it, the class is hard.” Sometimes professors can write and speak English, but accents from their native language make students go an extra mile. “I have to concentrate on under standing his English as well as learn ing the material,” Kimberly Lynn Cajacob, a freshman education ma jor, said. Students may go through the drop-add process if they want to change professors, but frequently other class sections are closed or con flict with students’ schedules. “The add-drop process, as I un derstand it, is not the b^st,” said John Norris, A&M director of inter national coordination. “It doesn’t fulfill all needs, but it is a mechanism that is in place that can be used.” If all the classes are closed, it would be very difficult to create a new section for students because it would be hard to find a new profes sor and a room, Norris said. “Hopefully, the University will work to improve the situation,” he said. Dean of Faculties Clinton A. Phil lips said the department heads or form at the end of the semester, Phillips said. Norris said he understands stu dents’ problems, but finds advan tages in having foreign professors. “I’ve got mixed feelings,” Norris said. “Thinking myself as a student, if I had a hard time understanding my professor, particularly if it got to “If you want to become a renowned university of the world, you look around the world rather than in just one county, state or country. So there is a good reason to hire foreign quality into a university. ” — Dr. Helmut Sauer people in charge of recruiting new faculty members must decide if a teacher can communicate effecti vely. In certain situations, however, professors are hired despite their in ability to communicate. “You just can’t hire — there are more jobs than there are U.S. citi zens born in this country relative to the demand in some disciplines,” Phillips said. If students have problems under standing their professors, they could speak to the head of the department, or they could fill out an evaluation the point where I could not compre hend what he was saying, and it af fected what I was learning, then I’d think there would very definitely lx* a problem. “On the other hand, in today’s lo cal marketplace, 1 know that when our students graduate and go out into the workplace, they encounter individuals with diverse back grounds,” Norris said. "So it's not going to be a perfect situation, par ticularly if they live in Texas." Dr. Helmut Sauer from Germany, professor of biology, has a different view on hiring foreign prof essors. "If you want to become, now ned university of theworlt look around the world rathert just one county, state or com s.iuci s.ud “So there is agooj^H ^ son to hire foreign qualityintol Ifl-'C versity.” Many times, foreignteachen| of no complaints about theirai 1 lowever, students oftenareh to complain. "I have not heard anyoneo to me and saying, I can’t unden.,™ \ou. ’ Vmri said. “It mii:; jA/Q I well he il vou teach a large./ ¥ right now I'm teaching the frel program. I have over and if 1 talk through a microti there might be somedifficufe Norris said many studentsn« be more aggressive in tryinpi w ith professors. “If they don'; dei stand something, theyned; tempt to get with themaftertlit and go over it again, or get it ini mg, oi something,” lie said. Sometimes, Sauer said, stm overreact to foreign profesw the beginning of the semester "Maybe initially, when these ter stai ts, all these big changes onto a voung student gettint the campus with a big class,"litf "Maybe they overreact a biu 'Ciee, 1 don’t know whats ned! h fOUND BRA/f Diamond Shamrock announces counter-offer to Pickens move DALLAS (AP) — On the de fensive from a takeover bid led by oilman T. Boone Pickens Jr., Di amond Shamrock made a $340 mil lion cash counter-offer to its share holders Monday and announced plans to spin off its refining unit into a separate public company. In addition, William Bricker, chairman and chief executive officer since 1976, said he would retire once the spinoff is complete, in about 90 days. But Bricker said his retirement and the company’s restructuring plan were unrelated to Pickens’ two attempts to gain control of the Dal las-based oil company. “We have been looking at this re structuring effort for two years,” Bricker said at a news conference. “All Mr. Pickens’ offer did was cause us to pick a final time to announce this.” Bricker, 55, will be replaced by Charles Blackburn, 59, who spent 34 years with Shell Oil Co. before join ing Diamond Shamrock last year as president of Diamond Shamrock Ex ploration Co. He immediately will assume Bricker’s titles of president and chief executive officer. Asked if his retirement would en hance the company’s offer to share holders, Bricker said, “If you’re talk ing about throwing a lot of mud from a proxy point of view, how can you throw mud at these gentlemen?” He was referring to Blackburn and the head of the refining and market ing company, Roger Hemminghaus. “Following the spinoff, explora tion and production will become the principle business of this corpora tion,” Bricker said. “These actions will create two clearly focused, well- defined entities. Both will be For tune 500 companies.” The new refining company will pay a dividend of about 40 cents per share annually. The remaining ex ploration and production company will not pay a dividend, the company said in a statement. Bricker said shareholders will get about one share of new refining company stock for every four shares of Diamond Shamrock stock. Diamond Shamrock’s offer of $17 per share for 20 million shares fol lows a $300 million cash tender of fer, or $15 a share, by Lucky Part ners, a group led by Pickens, of Amarillo, and Birmingham, Ala. in dustrialist John Harbert III. Pickens’ offer is good until mid night EST Wednesday. Diamond Shamrock said shareholders who al ready have tendered stock to Pic kens may withdraw those shares before that deadline. David Batchelder, president of Pickens’ Mesa Petroleum and con sultant to Lucky Partners, said Lucky Partners would have to review the details of Diamond Shamrock’s action before deciding on a strategy. The Pickens group was rejected by Diamond Shamrock’s board in December in an earlier one-for-one stock swap valued at about $2 billion. The latest offer is for 20 million shares, and if accepted by sharehold ers, would give the Pickens group a total of 22.5 percent of Diamond Shamrock. One analyst said shareholders would have to consider what hap pens after they sell their stock. “I don’t have much faith in this,” said Don Bustos, an analyst with Duff & Phelps in Chicago, who fol lows Diamond Shamrock. “This of fer actually increases the attractive ness of Pickens’ offer.” Commission p/c to examine 'money dra doors t \l s 1 I \ i A1’) - \ 111 i < unmilU t .q>|)t ‘ned . * iau< 1 Monday to ci cate a commit If 1 ; 1 stop the "money drain"hr] “q he state treasury to the Ter-'uhit v I i< i > 1 k H (lei i egi<m. (aid \ 1 he proposed Border > see w y opment ( ommission wouUi^Hally din.tie economic effortsa! » rs .” 1 .2"i< > mile In n da . which. Sevei ness s.iid las |>erli;t|)s llu:.|jl)ei ,il unemployment rates in n then l tilled Si,tics. |m Sen. I lector Uribe’s ment o sent to the full Senate p a ' 11 1 c "I i lie I t iMi'mu!' . he tin opment Committee after !jj auer minute heating. jrowini l i die. 1)-Brownsville. • To p i.tsh 11 n < <■ 11 ini studied the "or du economy “realized that the lents, der is a money drain on thtf of the state, that for everyii w e collect on the bordertM pays two in tax revenues." Supporters estimate the] posed agency would s] $800,000 in state funds owl next two years. gram, lake a M •DAI tinued Methoi WOW! $5 'C3' Roy's "World Famous" Corps Styling & Flat Tops Still only $5 00 Want a layer cut? We do those also! Nead a shine? Ricky's got'em only $1 25 RIDGECREST BARBERSHOP 3605 Texas Ave. (Next to McCaw's Cablevision) 846-8949 Dem ThisWeek ^Iditiona hatch ministr TEXAS A&M “rJ;! MSC AGGIE CINEMA 7’, 1 IN ASSOCIATION WITH ,aia M met for But COLLEU CINEMA SERIES Date: Feb. 4, 1987 Time: 7:30 p.m. Place: Rudder Theatre $1. 50 General Motors..’.'sharing your future' CAPITALIZE ON YOUR SPRING BREAK This may be your last chance TO SAVE YOCIR NEW YEARS RESOLGTION!!! 95.00 Student Semester Special I .nds Saturday Feb. 7, 1987 Membership Includeds: 8 Lane Heated Indoor Pool l/ 1 2 Mile, 3 Lane Indoor Track Complete Gymnastics Facility Lockers and Showers Aerobic and Dance Studio Eagle Cybex Weight Machines Olympic Free Weights Raquetball Courts Aerobic Classes Vz Court BasketballA/olleyball Court Tennis Courts Sandwich Bar and Lounge Washington D.C for $350 includes transportation, lodging & some meals March 14 first deposit $2loi Feb. i (1 Call i-). •' ^t_msc Poi itical 845-1515