Tuesday, November 3, 1987/The Battalion/Page 5
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Tuesday
WRITING OUTREACH: Jerri Sosvill will discuss “The Ele
ments of a Clear Style” at 6:30 p.m. in 110 Blocker.
UNIVERSITY ART EXHIBITS: John McDermott will dis
cuss “The Eros of the Medieval Divine Ideas” at 7:30 p.m.
in 201 MSC.
SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB: will meet at 7 p.m. in 115
Kleberg.
POLITICAL SCIENCE SOCIETY/PI SIGMA ALPHA: will
meet at 7 p.m. in 230 MSC.
PLAINVIEW HOMETOWN CLUB: will take pictures for
the Aggieland at 8:15 p.m. in the MSC flag room.
CAREER DAY — HOUSTON: All majors and classifications
can sign up for Career Day in Houston through Nov. 6 in
208 Pavilion.
MEXICAN STUDENT ASSOCIATION: will meet at 7 p.m.
in 502 Rudder.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FORUM: Dr. Keith
Andrews will discuss “Technology Transfer in the Third
World” at 3:30 p.m. at the Soil and Crop Sciences Build
ing-Entomology Center.
ECONOMICS SOCIETY: will meet at 7 p.m. in 163 Blocker.
INTRAMURAL SPORTS: Entries close for badminton dou
bles in 159 Read.
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN: will meet at
8:30 p.m. in 507A-B Rudder.
ATHEIST, AGNOSTIC AND FREETHINKER SOCIETY:
will meet at 7 p.m. in 305A-B Rudder.
DATA PROCESSING MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION:
will meet at 7 p.m. in 130 Blocker.
ADVERTISING ASSOCIATION: will meet at 7 p.m. in 134
Blocker.
MEXIA HOMETOWN CLUB: will take pictures for the Ag
gieland at 7:30 p.m. in the MSC main lounge.
PRE-LAW SOCIETY: Murray Nusyhowitz will speak at 8:30
p.m. in 206 Rudder.
AGGIE ALLEMANDERS: will have a square dance
workshop and will meet at 7:30 p.m. in the Pavilion.
RHA FRESHMAN LEADERSHIP PROGRAM: will meet at
8:30 p.m. in 203 Harrington.
PI SIGMA EPSILON: Team C, the “Dotted Lines,” will play
volleyball at 9 p.m. in the Read Building.
NATIONAL RESIDENCE HALL HONORARY: will meet
at 8:30 p.m. in 145 MSC.
CATHOLIC STUDENT ASSOCIATION: will have a dis
cussion group at 9 p.m. at the All Faiths Chapel.
MSC PAGEANT COMMITTEE: Applications for 1988 Miss
TAMU Pageant are available until Nov. 13 in 216 MSC.
Items for What’s Up should be submitted to The Battalion,
216 Reed McDonald, no less than three working days be
fore desired publication date.
A&M researcher
helps computerize
court’s decisions
By Clark Miller
Staff Writer
A Texas A&M researcher is par
ticipating in the creation of a compu
terized database containing nearly
8,000 U.S. Supreme Court cases that
will be ready to use next year.
Charles A. Johnson, associate
dean of liberal arts at A&M, is work
ing with political scientists from the
University of Houston, Michigan
State University and the University
of Kentucky. He said the collection
of information will benefit anyone
trying to study Supreme Court deci
sions.
“It provides a common database
of facts and it is a time-saving devi
ce,” Johnson said.
The computerized compilation
will include every Supreme Court
decision that justices have given oral
or written opinions about between
1953 and the early 1980s, Johnson
said.
The $250,000 project is funded
by the National Science Foundation,
Johnson said. A&M is receiving
slightly less than $40,000 of that
money.
The project idea was originated
by Dr. Harold Spaeth, a political sci
entist at Michigan State who con
vinced the NSF of the project’s im
portance.
“There is a definite need for a
standardized method of studying
the behavior of the Supreme Court,”
Spaeth said.
In the past, when Supreme Court
scholars wanted to study the behav
ior of the Court, it took vast amounts
of time, money and energy to do the
research necessary to find the infor
mation.
Dr. Robert Carp, a University of
Houston political scientist working
on the project, agrees, saying it’s too
expensive for one person to collect
the data.
Spaeth said the database being
collected by Johnson, Carp and
other researchers will make studying
the Supreme Court simpler.
Johnson said the new system, ex
pected to be ready between Septem
ber and December of next year, will
be especially useful to social scien
tists, historians and law school pro
fessors.
Johnson has been involved with
this program from the beginning,
Spaeth said. He served on the NSF
committee that oversaw the collec-
“There is a definite need
for a standardized
method of studying the
behavior of the Supreme
Court. ”
— Dr. Harold Spaeth,
Michigan State University
political scientist
tion of information when the project
started and became one of the main
investigators on the project when the
committee realized the job needed
more researchers.
Johnson said he is aided by six
A&M graduate students who are
each assigned a volume of Supreme
Court decisions with which to draw
information after a training period
that teaches them what specific in
formation to look for.
The database will include the ori
gin of cases, how they got to the Su
preme Court, how justices voted,
who wrote opinions, who the in
volved parties were and other infor
mation.
All the researchers will submit
their data in May or June and the
database will be prepared. When it is
completed, the database will be
given to the Interuniversity Consor
tium for Political and Social Re
search at the University of Michigan
for dissemination. The ICPRS then
will be available to subscribers na
tionwide. A&M is already an ICPRS
subscriber.
MSC POLITICAL FORUM
PRESENTS
WOMEN IN POLITICS
THE EVOLUTION OF THEIR CLOUT
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4
6:00 PM, ROOM 201 MSC
FREE
A RECEPTION WILL FOLLOW -JJL
THE PRESENTATION '’V'
A&M researchers: Drug aids people
with high levels of test-taking anxiety
By Jena Atchison
Reporter
Drugs known as “Beta blockers”
have been found to increase Scholas
tic Aptitude Test scores for individu
als suffering from high levels of test
taking anxiety, a Texas A&M educa
tional psychologist says.
Although test anxiety is common
among students, some suffering
from high anxiety become nervous
any time they are faced with a com
petitive situation, says Dr. Gwyneth
Boodoo, an A&M associate profes
sor.
Propranolol, a hypertension drug
that decreases anxiety, has been ad
ministered to high-anxiety students
taking the SAT and has been found
to increase high school stuejents’
SAT scores.
Boodoo says students who have
been treated with the drug are intel
ligent, but anxiety has impeded their
performance on the SAT. These in
dividuals suffer from abnormal anx
iety, which causes a loss of ability to
perform in a pressured situation.
Therefore, a student taking a test
would have a temporary loss of
memory caused by anxiety.
“For the average person a little
anxiety is healthy,” Boodoo says.
“When anxiety increases to a dan
gerous level, the individual can not
do well on an exam.”
Although test results are positive,
Boodoo says there is no conclusive
research to show a direct
relationship between the drug and
the SAT.
Dr. Anthony Bourgeois Jr., an
A&M associate professor of psychol
ogy, explained some physical effects
of propranolol. He says the drug af
fects the heart and brain by lowering
blood pressure, which decreases
arousal of hypertension. Adrenaline
decreases and the heart rate beats at
a normal pace.
Boodoo expressed concern for
the possible abuse of the drug.
“I think some might abuse the
drug by relying on it to get through
every exam, which could make them
unable to face pressure situations
without the drug,” she said.
She also stresses that harmful ef
fects can result from inappropriate
use of “Beta-blockers” by people
who don’t need the drug.
“My reaction was that students
with normal anxiety levels might
take the drug to lower those levels,
thinking the drug will increase their
test scores,” Boodoo said.
No research has been conducted
on students with normal anxiety lev
els because they are not targets of
“Beta-blockers.” Yet, she says, the
drug successfully has reduced anxi
ety levels and dramatically increased
test scores of those who were admin
istered propranolol.
taking the SAT and has been lound Althougn test results are positive, eyery exam, wmen coma maxe tnem isterea propranoioi.
Lawyers give millions to Texas Supreme Court campaigns
DALLAS (AF) Eight Texas lawyers and law ions issued since 1985. thony Constant, who gave $252,887 throng
firms account for almost 18 oercent of the $7.9 Amr»no- cr.ri r.r-mt- ™u., rj .
DALLAS (AP) — Eight Texas lawyers and law
firms account for almost 18 percent of the $7.9
million collected in this decade by judges on the
Texas Supreme Court, the Dallas Times Herald
reported Monday.
In a copyright story, the newspaper said mem
bers of those firms have appeared 28 times be
fore the court in disputes settled by written opin
ions issued since 1985.
Among those lawyers and firms making direct
contributions of more than $100,000 to the jus
tices’ campaigns since 1980 are Houston attorney
Joe D. JamailJr. and his son JoeJamail III, who
gave $238,000.
Others include Corpus Christi attorneys Bill
Edwards, David Perry, Russell McMains and An
thony Constant, who gave $252,887 through a
political action committee led by Edwards and
Perry.
The Houston law firm of Vinson & Elkins gave
$230,551 through its Texas Good Government
Fund political action committee, and the Hous
ton firm of Helm, Pletcher, Hogan, Bowen &
Saunders gave $151,228.
When Is Your Rental
4r MSC TOWN HALL PRESENTS
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READ IT IN
^ Th$ Battalion
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WORK
R.E.M. raViB
With Special Guest
Thursday
November 19th, 8pm
G. Rollie White Coliseum
Tickets *10
Available at
MSC Box Office (845-1234)
or at Dillards
Digital Audio
EXCHANGE
New & Used
Compact Discs
Come by our table every
Wednesday in the MSC 8 am. - 3pm.
Bring in your used CDs for cash or
trade or receive credit for new CDs.
Call 822-7313 for more info.
The Department of History
of
Texas A&M University
invites you to the eighth annual
J. Milton Nance Lecture in Texas History
entitled
The Slave Hire System in Texas
by Randolph B. Campbell
Tuesday, November 3, 1987, at 7:30 p.m.
Room 113 Kleberg Center
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas
Reception following in Atrium
PPJE-LAU} SOCXETy
TUESO^iy, N0P£nfi£JL3
206 RUDDER
8:30 P.n,
SPEyUCER: MURRAtj NUSyHOWXTZ
ADMISSIONS DIRECTOR
UNU>. OE HOUSTON LAW SCHOOL
PRESENTATION: STANLEy KAPLAN
LEsARNXNCI CENTER
EOR MORE INFORMATION
CALL ROycE 846-9111
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