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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 1987)
l f. d in dustri fs I 'I 1 llon of t k t 11 P r oduci in e 10 710,d ''‘K economt I y the tobacco i0n that kid, occu '' because I 50 gradual, l, f | onomic 1 ‘Stable in tk t | r0[11 tobacco I e,, erate otb ( | °ney on otb e , I I;-:*** if ii.r*' “ef!’ mBk tv'® til INYAOS, butbeai WYWEH |[N REB| ALLY CD iomatief^l j’ve go io si! sell.oufCte jscanhelpF IJ | ihe big^ 5-: The Battalion Vol. 83 No. 31 GSPS 045360 12 pages College Station, Texas Monday, October 19, 1987 A&M students march to protest apartheid By Elisa Hutchins Staff Writer About 100 people marched from the College Station City Hall to Rud der Tower Friday afternoon carry ing signs and chanting, “I, you, we all say, apartheid must go and it must go today.” The march was in protest of $5.5 million (market value) that Texas A&M has invested in companies with holdings in South Africa. Students Against Apartheid spon sored the event in an effort to gain attention from the Board of Regents and the community to stop support ing apartheid, organization Presi dent Waylon Collins said. “News blackouts have made apart heid appear to have been solved in South Africa,” Collins said. “People iust aren’t aware of the nature and effects of this evil government and the civil and criminal crimes that are being committed there.” He said the legalized South Afri can government gives virtually no representation to the millions of [blacks in the country and is anal- gous to the Ku Klux Klan setting p their own government. The group marched along Texas venue and down University Drive i gain attention from motorists on heir way home. They made their First stop at the ystems Building where participants left a message for Chancellor Perry .. Adkisson attached to the front of he building. The sign, with more than 100 sig- atures, read, “We, the under- igned, condemn apartheid and we urge the Board of Regents to divest "rom American banks and compa- ies which have Financial holdings in outh Africa.” Norman Muraya, club divestment hairman, said A&M has a vast !outh African portfolio. Some cur- ent major holdings include 282,000 invested with American •Express Credit Co., $251,000 in merican Express Corp. and 1216,000 invested in Merck & Co. ■nc. has not been understanding with their cause. “When we formed in 1985, we drew up a resolution asking for disvestment and the board responded that is wasn’t in the periphery of the University and they felt they were being asked to take a political position,” he said. Many universities and cities throughout the country already have divested. Houston City Council members voted in 1986 to pull the city’s investments out of South Af rica and the University of Houston Board of Regents voted in July to di vest UH of more than $11 million. To date, the University of Houston is the only university in Texas to have pulled out. Arthur Shaw, a member of the Houston Free South Africa movement, also participated in the march and spoke at the rally. Even though A&M’s march had a rela tively small student turnout, the march still could have an effect, he said. “It is not how many people that show up, but how persistent they are,” Shaw said. “At University of Houston anti-apartheid meetings, no more than six people ever showed up, but they got the job done.” David Lesmes, a graduate student from California, passed by the front of Rudder Tower while the rally was taking place. He said he did not see divestment as the solution. Lesmes said he understood that some companies do not exploit the black workers, but treat them fairly, so their pullout would hurt the situa tion instead of helping it. “I’m not convinced (divestment) would solve the problem,” Lesmes said. “While I don’t condone apart heid, some companies, like Kellogg’s Corp., aren’t using the same tactics as others in South Africa; they actu ally have a positive influence.” He also said the low attendance at the rally reflected the sentiment of other students. He believes nothing will come of the march because of the conservative nature of the cam pus. "ii Wi E| )LI. IT/ DIVEST e fi?e 5om mm A&M students protesting apartheid in South Africa march in front of the College Station City Hall Friday afternoon. Photo by Jay Jminer Collins said the Board of Regents Shaw said the argument that di vesting would hurt the black South Africans is ridiculous because the blacks have been victimized for de cades. Any unemployment or disad vantage caused by divestment would be short term, he said, and the situa tion of the black workers would be ultimately improved. Shaw also conducted a study using as an example the Houston munici pal pension fund, the source of in vestment for the city. The study con cluded that universities would not lose money if they pulled their money out. “Average yields on securities over a 3-year-period showed that dirty companies (those that invested in South Africa) had yields of around 5 percent and clean companies (those not doing business with South Af rica) actually had a yield of 9 per cent,” he said. Members from several anti-apart heid groups in the state also partici pated in Friday’s march at A&M. Jon Jackson, chairman of Black Student Alliance at the University of Texas, said many groups are getting together to build a stronger power base. Collins said Students Against Apartheid at A&M will write an other resolution for divestment and circulate a petition among students for the same purpose. Ian DeSouza, who participated in the march, is a member of the Pro gressive Students’ Association at UH. He said students must get in volved and present a strong front against apartheid if they want it changed. “Student movements play a vital role in getting universities to divest and in disbanding apartheid,” De- Souza said. Sunday, two days after A&M’s march, the sign participants left at tached to the front of the Systems Building was found in the trash dumpster near the building. can ^ |,M t, ekP hal11 lhrou9 h TTALI0N , e rtisin g 345-26 11 [A&M focuses on alcohol in activities By Mary-Lynne Rice Staff Writer College students across the na tion are urged to “celebrate re sponsibly” this week, which has been designated National Colle giate Alcohol Awareness Week. Texas A&M has planned seve ral educational activities and par ties for the week-long awareness campaign, which is aimed at in forming students about alcohol use and abuse, Student Affairs Chairman Jan Winniford said. “It’s part of a national aware ness campaign on college cam puses across the country to try to heighten students’ awareness,” Winniford said. “We’re not advocating drink ing, we’re not advocating talking about the evils of alcohol, but in stead just trying to talk about mis use and abuse,” Winniford said. The activities began Sunday with an Almost Anything Goes contest, which brought co-recre- ational teams together for events ncluding tug-of-war, egg tosses nd Frisbee throwing. Dinner for two and tickets to he Rice football game will be iven away at the “Red Ribbon elebration” at Graham’s. Bob Wiatt, director of traffic nd University Police, will play the defendant in a mock DWI trial Tuesday night. The “trial,” Sponsored by the Office of Stu- ents’ Attorney, will include a emonstration of a breathalyzer ;est. Residence halls will square off ednesday for a competition to lest their knowledge of alcohol, nrugs and other health-related is sues. “Hall-y-wood Squares” guest stars will include student leaders. I Wednesday night, a theater presentation will dissect “The (Anatomy of a Party.” A dis- gcussion afterward will show the Babilities associated with alcohol and social situations. I “Mocktail Cocktails” (nonalco holic drinks) will be served around campus Thursday. I MSC Political Forum and Great Issues Committee will Sponsor an alcohol awareness fo rum Thursday afternoon. That evening, a dance and live enter tainment will be sponsored by MSC Town Hall. Only freshmen will get midterm reports By Drew Leder Staff Writer Midterm grade reports will no longer be available for sophomores, juniors and seniors who want to check their six-week academic pro gress — and some Texas A&M stu dents and administrators say they won’t be missed. The change — which ends A&M’s practice of making midterm reports available to all undergraduate stu dents — was approved by the Fac ulty Senate on March 9 and ap proved by President Frank E. Vandiver later in the spring. Registrar Donald D. Carter said freshman midterm reports should be available for students to pick up Wednesday. The reports will be given out at the Pavilion as soon as they become available on Wednes day until 5 p.m. and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, he said. Grades also will be mailed to stu dents’ parents who requested the University to do so if the student is their dependent child. Carter said the majority of freshmen — defined as students with less than 30 hours — will have grades mailed to their parents. less than half of the undergraduate students picked up their midterm grades. And the midterm grades sometimes did not reflect the stu dent’s true grade, Kibler explained. “Many faculty members took mid “Midterm grades only reflected one exam and in many cases not even an exam. ... If grades are not reported in a meaningful manner, what good can they do?” — Donald D. Carter, registrar The elimination of the reports was part of a revision of the Univer sity Rules and Regulations. Bill Kibler, chairman of the Faculty Sen ate’s Rules and Regulations Commit tee, said the reason for the change was the small percentage of students picking up grades and the fact that grades were often inaccurate. Carter said that in past semesters terms seriously,” Kibler said, “but others gave blanket grades (like all B’s or C’s), and in many cases they were making grades up.” Carter agreed that midterm grades were sometimes unreliable assessments of student progress. “Midterm grades only reflected one exam and in many cases not even an exam,” Carter said. “In seve ral instances in the past, they weren’t “To me midterms aren’t a big reported at all. If grades are not re- thing because they’re not indicative ported in a meaningful manner, of what you will get at the end of the what good can they do?” semester,” he said. “As a freshman, Kibler said a proposal to the Rules though, it may help you re-evaluate and Regulations Committee last the way you study. Some freshmen spring originally called for the elimi- think they study enough, and mid nation of midterm grade reports for terms may let them know different.” all undergraduate students. The Greg Deans, a junior psychology proposal was amended to continue major, said that while midterms midterm reporting for freshmen be- aren’t necessarily useful to evaluate cause the committee thought the academic progress, they provided a less-experienced students might way for students to check their benefit by knowing how they are schedules and grades, doing at midterm, Kibler said. Fac- “The only good reason for mid- ulty advisers of freshmen also need terms is that they help you check up to know if the new students are hav- on your classes to make sure your ing problems in their classes, he said, grades are what you think and make Several upperclassmen also ex- sure you’re enrolled in everything all pressed doubts as to the usefulness right,” he said. of midterm reports and said they Another student, James Neill, a won’t miss them. Thanh Nguyen, a junior computer science major, said junior biology major, said midterm he found midterm grades totally grades aren’t important to him but useless. agreed that they might be of some „ w . vllue to freshmen. See M.dterms, page 10 University comes under fire for lack of protection Fire marshal criticizes A&M’s safety code use By Richard Williams Reporter Texas A&M is not providing its students with enough fire protection in its buildings, College Station Fire Marshal Harry Davis said. “The University does not build enough fire protection — or as much as they should — into their buildings,” Davis said. Fire safety at Texas A&M Part one of a two-part series But Harry Sdteler, the A&M safety and health officer, said, “We do feel like we are providing ad equate life safety and complying with the codes as much as possible.” Because A&M is a state agency, State Fire Marshal Ernest Emerson said, the University does not have to follow College Station building codes, and since there are no state- mandated building safety codes A&M is free to adopt its own codes. The codes in question include building codes like the Southern Building Congress Codes and the National Fire Protection Association Codes. The SBC codes and the NFPA codes are codes both College Station and A&M use to help determine the proper design of structures. However, College Station uses the codes and city ordinances as manda tory standards all College Station buildings must meet, while A&M uses codes only as guidelines. Paul W. Stephens, manager of the A&M System Facilities Planning Di vision, said A&M designs all new buildings to meet the SBC codes and the NFPA Life Safety codes. The NFPA Life Safety codes are a section of the NFPA codes dealing with a building’s personal safety require ments. Wesley E. Peel, vice chancellor for Facilities Planning and Construc tion, said there are certain state- mandated codes A&M must follow, but outside of those, he said, A&M is free to adopt the building codes it wants to follow. “We follow it (the NFPA and SBC codes), unless there is a valid reason not to,” Peel said. “A guideline can not cover every case. That’s why people have brains.” Stephens said, “Building codes are guides and they have to be adopted by someone with authori ty-” But Davis said he was not sure how close the University follows the codes Stephens and Peel said the University is using as guides. “We know for a fact they only use the portion of the building code they want to use,” Davis said. Peel said, “You would be doing a great disservice if you didn’t (follow the code). I don’t know about any time at which we violate that (the NFPA Life Safety Codes).” But Davis disagrees. “If he says they are following the NFPA codes 100 percent, he is wrong,” Davis said. Emerson, the state fire marshal, said that 75 percent of building code provisions relate to fire protection, so a unified state policy on fire pro tection is needed. He said he would like to see Texas adopt a standard policy that state agencies like A&M would have to meet. Even if A&M does have unsafe conditions present, Emerson said, he could not force a change. A section of the Texas Insurance Code gives the state fire marshal au thority to order state agencies to cor rect or remove any hazard. But Emerson said there is a catch to that part of the code: because Texas has no state building standards, there is no standard definition as to what a hazard is, he said, so that section of the insurance code is difficult to en force. Peel said it is his responsibility to make sure building plans meet safety standards, and he said it is ul timately the responsibility of the chancellor and the Board of Re gents. However, Stiteler and Stephens, manager of a division under the con trol of Peel, both said they did not know who was responsible for assur ing A&M’s buildings were con structed to code. When asked who was responsible for making sure A&M buildings meet the codes A&M has adopted, Stiteler said, “That has really never been defined.” Stephens said A&M relies on the architects and engineers involved with the project to make sure the buildings meet the codes A&M is fol lowing and he said A&M officials, architects and engineers work as a team to make sure codes are met. “We are alert to things on a set of drawings when we see them,” Ste phens said. “If we see something that might not be safe, we take a closer look at it — that’s common sense. “If something is not up to code, See Fire safety, page 10