Thursday, November 19,1987/The Battalion/Page 5
What’s up
CARE
Thursday
TEAM: will meet
at 7
p.m.
in 212
EMERGENCY
MSC.
(MEXICAN-AMERICAN ENGINEERING SOCIETY: will
meet at 7:30 p.m. in 402 Rudder.
SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERS: will meet at 6 p.m. in
105C Zachry.
ATHEIST, AGNOSTIC AND FREETHINKER SOCIETY:
will meet at 7 p.m. in 302 Rudder.
ASIAN AMERICAN ASSOCIATION: will meet at 7 p.m. in
402 Rudder.
ROADRUNNERS: will meet at 7 p.m. in 604A-B Rudder.
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN: will have a
rally with redpots at 11 a.m. at Rudder Fountain.
POLITICAL SCIENCE SOCIETY/PI SIGMA ALPHA: Kent
Caperton will speak at 7 p.m. at the Alumni Center, semi
nar B.
GREAT AMERICAN SMOKEOUT ’87: will hand out infor
mation about the smokeout in the MSC lobby.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ASSOCIATION: will meet
at 7 p.m. in 102 Zachry.
WALDEN RETIREMENT COMMUNITY: Students inter
ested in having “Feast of Thanks” dinner with residents
next Monday should call Mary Turner at 823-7914.
HUMAN FACTORS SOCIETY STUDENT CHAPTER:
William Rogers Jones will discuss “Space Station Habitabil
ity Module Design: Implementation of human factors de
sign principles and integration of system support equip
ment ’ at 7 p.m. in 203 Zachry.
FRESHMEN LEADERSHIP SEMINAR: Applications are
available through Nov. 30 in 208 Pavilion.
Friday
UNITED CAMPUS MINISTRIES: will have a peanut-butter
fellowship at 11:30 a.m. at Rudder Fountain and a Bible
study at 6:30 p.m. at the A&M Presbyterian Chruch.
AGGIE PLAYERS ASSOCIATION: will give a performance
of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” at 11 a.m. at Rudder
Fountain.
INTER-VARSITY CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP: Flip Flip-
pen will discuss “Christians and Sexuality” at 7 p.m. in 301
Rudder.
CHESS CLUB: will have the fourth round of the tournament
at 7 p.m. in 607 Rudder.
TEXAS A&M SPORTS CAR CLUB: will have a scavenger
hunt at 7 p.m. in Zachry parking lot 51.
YELL PRACTICE: is at midnight at the Rodeo Plaza in the
B Fort W^orth stockyards.
r$
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.
Clements asks
White House
for disaster aid
AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Bill Clem
ents asked the White House
Wednesday to declare Cherokee and
Anderson counties federal disaster
areas in the wake of deadly torna
does that pounded the region.
The counties were among the
areas hardest hit by the swarm of
tornadoes that buffeted Texas, kill
ing 10 people, injuring more than
160 and causing millions of dollars
in damage.
Such a declaration would make
the counties eligible for a variety of
federal assistance programs.
Clements’ request came a day af
ter he toured Palestine and Jackson
ville to view damage caused by the
tornadoes Sunday and Monday.
In his request, the governor said
damage still was being assessed in
many other Texas counties hit by the
tornadoes. Clements said he ex
pected to seek a disaster declaration
for some of those counties, too.
If approved, the presidential di
saster declaration would open
several state and federal aid pro
grams to individuals.
The Small Business Administra
tion would offer low-interest loans to
eligible persons for private property
damage, as well as to owners of small
businesses. Temporary housing
could be provided for people whose
homes are uninhabitable. Also,
grants of up to $5,000 could be
made to eligible victims.
Other aid programs sought by the
governor include special unemploy
ment assistance for victims left job
less by the storms and a Farmers
Home Administration loan program
to provide low-interest loans for re
paring farm and ranch damage.
Clements, who toured damaged
neighborhoods and commercial
areas of Palestine, also went to
neighboring Cherokee County,
where Sunday’s storm churned
through poor rural communities.
The Palestine Independent
School District suffered about $2.5
million in damage, and Anderson
County between $8 million and $12
million, officials said.
ontroversy about classic
jjy Twain to be seminar topic
By Dana Pipes
for I Reporter
tvs lifThe controversy surrounding
itintf lark Twain’s classic “Huckleberry
1 gm nn” will be the focus of a Texas
ce ra« &M summer seminar sponsored by
aatuii e National Endowment for the
jmanities.
budf English Department Head Dr.
don« amlin Hill will be conducting the
ceni minar for fifteen high school tea-
fundi ers selected from applicants across
endo' ie nation.
eesai ^Issues of bigotry and racism
con* dsed in the book have discouraged
s adoj eachers from using it in the class-
oom, Hill said.
you! [“It’s only a superficial reading of
= to f Huckleberry Finn’ that produces
he ction that it is a bigoted
cisiocbook,” he said.
Ithoul Teachers should allow students to
tiersftpend time with the novel in order to
to l;ei|iPP rec ' ate its meaning, Hill said.
“It’s an amazingly complex book
in spite of looking deceptively sim
ple,” he said.
The book was written in the late
1800s during the reconstruction pe
riod and was based on recollections
of Twain’s (Samuel Clemens’) child
hood.
Hill said early critics of
“Huckleberry Finn” saw it as a “pa
noramic slice of life in the middle
United States.”
Recent critics, however, say the
book is deceptive in its presentation
of the pre-civil war period, Hill said.
Opponents of the book’s usage in
the classroom also say the book is
difficult to read, Hill said.
“Teachers avoid ‘Huckleberry
Finn’ more because of the dialect
than because of the controversial na
ture of the book,” he said.
“Huckleberry Finn” deals with
maturing and growing up. Ameri
cans tend to see themselves reflected
in the book, Hill said.
He said in writing the novel,
Twain did not intend to endorse rac
ism, but depicted attitudes that some
people of that society had.
An example of this is the charac
terization of Huck’s companion Jim
in the novel.
“Jim is presented as a stereotypi
cal black by characters we aren’t sup
posed to like,” Hill said.
Hill has published several books
on Twain including “Roughing it”
and “Mark Twain and Elisha Bliss.”
He also wrote the introduction to a
publication of “The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn.”
As a result of his novels, Twain
has become a folk legend, Hill said.
“It’s a tribute to Mark Twain that
we still manage to find in ‘Huckle
berry Finn’ reflections of the Ameri
can character,” he said.
ens
fate board approves increase
in workers’ compensation rates
AUSTIN (AP) — The State Board
ttf Insurance on Wednesday ap-
iroved a 25 percent increase in
Workers’ compensation insurance
rates, marking the industry’s third
ncrease in three years.
The board unanimously ap-
froved the new rate, which will gen-
srate an estimated $750 million in
tdditional premiums. It rejected a
Xiard staff recommendation for a
16.1 percent rate increase and an in
dustry recommendation for a 43.5
percent increase.
In developing the new rate, which
takes effect Jan. 1, board members
said they considered the rising cost
of medical care and of benefits paid
to injured workers.
Without adequate income, insur
ers will not write workers’ compensa
tion in Texas, leaving employers
NRC indicates nuclear plant
may be close to approval
ARLINGTON (AP) — The Nu-
ear Regulatory Commission has in-
licated that it may be in a position to
pprove TU Electric’s program for
orrecting design and construction
foblems at Comanche Peak.
•The NRC will make a decision on
eview program after public
tarings are held, Jane Axelrad,
:y director of the commission’s
ffice of Special Projects, said
Wednesday.
NRC indications that TU Elec-
|c’s three-year review of the plant
night be approved came in a mem-
fandum dated Nov. 6 and made
nblic Tuesday, NRC spokesman
Gilliland said.
I James Keppler, director of the
'iRC’s Office of Special Projects,
lid in the memo he found the utili-
f’s reinspection program accepta-
>le, with some minor conditions.
The plant, about 80 miles south
west of Dallas in Somervell County,
was begun nearly 13 years ago but
has yet to generate power. Its esti
mated cost has increased from $779
million to $7.5 billion. At least some
of the overruns are likely to be
passed on to rate payers.
The design and construction of
the plant consistently have been
questioned, frustrating the utility’s
attempts to win a license.
A public hearing on the review
program so far has been scheduled
for Dec. 9 in Dallas, Gilliland said.
Axelrad said, “The purpose of the
public meeting is to get on the table
between the NRC and the licensee
any residual concerns that the staff
has regarding the licensee’s program
and any concerns that the interve-
nors have regarding the licensee’s
program.”
without protection when a worker is
injured, they said.
But board members also said they
looked at the state’s troubled busi
ness climate. The increase follows a
17.7 percent increase approved last
year, after a 30.7 percent increase
that took effect in October 1985.
“At the board level, we have been
besieged by correspondence from
business people in all forms of en
deavor to reject any increase,” board
chairman Edwin J. Smith Jr said.
“To do that would basically not
solve their concerns, because they
probably could not find a viable
market to write the coverage they
know they need,” Smith said.
Citing the struggling economy,
board member David Thornberry
said, “Under the circumstances, it’s
best to have a rate increase that’s the
lowest reasonable amount based on
the evidence .... This simply keeps
the industry afloat.”
Robert Maxwell of the National
Council on Compensation Insur
ance, which represents 600 insur
ance carriers nationwide, said, “Ba
sically, this increase would maintain
the status quo. We’re still dealing
with inadequate rates.”
But Tom Blanton of the Texas
Association of Compensation Con
sumers said the rate increase could
cause some employers to drop work
ers’ compensation insurance.
Employers are not required to
carry workers’ compensation insur
ance in Texas, but those who do not
have coverage face unlimited liabil
ity for accidents.
FRESHMEN !
The Department of Student Activities Is seeking
qualified applicants for the
Emerging Leaders Seminar - Spring 1988
This is a non-credit leadership course designed
exclusively for freshmen potential leaders.
For more information please stop by the Student Activities Office
Room 208 Pavilion
APPLICATION DEADLINE : MONDAY NOVEMBER 30
happy hour
friday 2-6
movie rental
over 2,000 titles
$1.99
. $2“ off
all LP’s and
cassettes $8.98 and up
all CD’s
$13.98 and up
all books
25% off
(excludes remainders ]
and sale books)
OPEN: Sun.-Thurs., 10-10 Fri. & Sat., 10-11
1631 Texas Ave., College Station 693-2619
Fish Camp
FISH CAMP ’88
CO-CHAIRMAN
APPLICATIONS
AVAILABLE NOV. 16-25
PAVILION 213 AT SECRETARY’S DESK
Sy Murmur ^ Reckoning ^ Fables Of’The’Reconstruction ^ lifes Rich Pageant
# MSC TOWN HALL PRESENTS
BBBEZFQSIi
R. E. M.
it
America’s Best Rock-n-Roll Band”
- Rolling Stone
with special guest the dB’s
Thursday, November 19th, 8 p.m.
G. Rollie White Coliseum
Plenty of good reserved seats still available
Tickets $10 - On sale at TAMU Box Office
845-1234
tj