Texas A&M ■ % m a m 0
The Battalion
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87 No. 114 GSPS 045360 6 Pages
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College Station, Texas
Friday, March 11, 1988
ommittee reviews College of Medicine
By Tracy Staton
Senior Staff Writer
TEMPLE — A special committee
n medical education gave the Texas
&M College of Medicine a thor-
lugh check-up Thursday at a public
learing in Temple.
Members of the Special Commit-
ee on Medical, Dental and Allied
lealth Education heard testimony
rom A&M medical school represen-
fctives after touring the school’s fa-
l(1 , ^Bilities in College Station and
'^■emple this week. The legislatively-
)tontHppomted committee is examining
-hold
)iamf'
ishini
e quality
atewide.
of medical education
Charged with proving the College
of Medicine’s value to the state, rep
resentatives stressed the “unique
ness” of A&M’s program. They em
phasized the school’s value as a
training ground for “family practi
ce” physicians who eventually estab
lish practices in non-urban areas.
Dr. Dennis Myers, assistant dean
for student affairs on the clinical
campus, said the College of Medi
cine has accomplished its mission of
educating general practitioners for
non-urban locales.
Forty-three percent of A&M’s
graduates are working in “primary
care” areas for their post-graduate
resident training programs, he said.
• 1 P 1
prised of general internal medicine,
general pediatrics, obstetrics/gyne
cology and family medicine.
And 66 percent of A&M’s medical
graduates stay in Texas, Myers said.
Of those who establish practices in
the state, 23 percent are ,in commu
nities with populations of less than
25,000 people. Nationally, 15 per
cent of practicing physicians estab
lish themselves in these commu
nities.
These graduates are important to
Texas because the state needs physi
cians in non-urban areas. Statistics
from Texas State Board of Medical
Examiners show that 59 percent of
Texas physicians practice in urban
areas, but only 9.5 percent work in
rural areas. Seventeen counties have
no practicing physicians at all.
Dr. Dave Morehead, associate
dean of the College of Medicine,
said the partnership that supports
A&M’s program is an entirely differ
ent structure than that of any other
school in the nation. The medical
program is a “marriage” of Texas
A&M University, the Olin E. Teague
Veteran’s Center, Scott & White
Hospital and Scott & White Clinic,
he said.
“Each of the partners bring some
thing to the relationship,” Morehead
said. “And it becomes a cooperative
venture of organizations with differ
ent missions. The great potential of
our college is the opportunity to cap
italize on the strengths of each of
these institutions with different mis
sions.”
A&M medical students spend two
years learning basic medical science
at the College Station campus, then
complete two years of clinical train
ing at Scott & White Clinic in
Temple. The 330 clinical faculty of
the medical school make up the staff
of the clinic, Morehead said. The
faculty divides its time between pa
tient care and educating the medical
undergraduates.
“We are pleased that our faculty
members are physicians who are
practicing the skills they teach,” he
said.
This unique approach results in
quality medical education for A&M’s
students, Morehead said.
Later in the hearing, Myers pre
sented statistics that indicated the
success of A&M’s program.
Since 1983, A&M’s graduates
have either scored highest or second
highest on licensing exams, Myers
said. And supervisors of post-grad
uate programs reported that 93 per
cent to 95 percent of residents from
A&M performed as well or better
than graduates of other medical
schools.
House demands ouster
}f Noriega from position
■ WASHINGTON (AP) — The
■ouse on Thursday overwhelmingly
demanded the ouster of Panama
nian strongman Gen. Manuel Anto-
Bo Noriega, and the opposition am-
Bissador to the United States
pedicted Noriega’s overthrow
ithin a few days.”
At the same time, the Reagan ad-
flinistration was considering the im-
Bisition of further sanctions, inlud-
ina the withholding of about $7
Billion in payments to Panama due
by March 15 for canal-related opera
tions. The money would go into an
escrow account.
The House voted 367-2 for a non
binding resolution that noted allega
tions of drug trafficking, murder,
money laundering and racketeering
against the Panamanian Defense
Forces, which Noriega heads. It
called on Reagan to “consider se
riously” additional economic and po
litical sanctions.
It also called upon Noriega to
comply with an order two weeks ago
by Panamanian President Eric Ar
turo Delvalle, dismissing him as
commander of the defense forces.
Instead, Noriega dismissed Delvalle
a few hours later. The United States
recognizes Delvalle, who has been
forced into hiding in Panama, as the
legitimate head of the Panamanian
government.
Members on both sides of the po
litical spectrum lashed out at No
riega and gave the administration
virtually carte blanche to impose ad
ditional sanctions. Rep. Mel Levine,
D-Calif., said “the government of
Panama is in the hands of a thug, a
common criminal.”
raduate student offers tips
n checking car before break
By Shannon O’Neal
Reporter
tudents’ dreams of the perfect
©ring break catching rays on a
landy beach or schussing down
inowy slopes can be spoiled by the
Jgly reality of a car breakdown on
lie way.
Automotive problems can be
ivoided if car owners practice simple
preventative maintenance, says
(raduate electrical engineering stu-
lent Lonny Sumpter, who teaches
he University Plus course in begin-
rer’s auto mechanics.
fl|f a car owner’s manual is used, he
fays the basic preparations for a car
:rip can be done in only a few min-
Bfs by someone with little or no me-
:hanical knowledge.
^ recommends checking four
Bas of the car — vital fluids, sus-
|| »sion, the electrical system and
)elts and hoses.
Mhe vital fluids are oil, coolant,
SpWer-steering fluid and brake
® raid. Sumpter says the vital fluids
B>uld be at the levels set by the
Bnufacturer. If they are low, the
Bnufacturer’s recommended re-
ficement should be added until the
pel is correct.
H Oil should not be too black and
shouldn’t smell burnt. He says if the
I car has a radiator coolant overflow
B Bservoir, the reservoir must be
dean and tightly sealed.
I The suspension includes the tires
ft and shock absorbers or “McPherson
Hffi'uts.” Sumpter says the owner
should check the air pressure in the
I tires and adjust it to the manufactur
er’s recommended pressure.
■ “Customizing” the tire pressure
for a better ride or improved gas
mileage may give the desired result,
but will definitely reduce the tire’s
life, he says.
The shocks should be fastened
tightly, clean of oil and checked for
wear by using the “two-bounce test,”
he says. The test is to bounce the
front of the car and if it bounces
more than twice, the shocks should
be replaced.
The electrical system consists of
the light bulbs and battery. The
owner should check the brake lights,
turn on signals and headlights to
make sure they work and make sure
the battery’s connections are tight
and clean.
The belts should be checked by
pressing on them. If they give more
than a half an inch they should be
tightened, unless they are extremely
long.
Sumpter says flares and a fire ex
tinguisher are extra, but are good to
have and that a box of baking soda
will put out almost any automotive
fire.
He says repairing a problem on
the road is fairly easy if it is ap
proached correctly.
If the car is overheating, he says to
first turn off the, air conditioner,
slow down and see if the tempera
ture drops. If it doesn’t cool down,
he suggests turning on the heater to
help cool the engine.
He says not to stop unless steam
comes from the engine, fluid hits the
windshield or the smell of antifreeze
fills the car. These symptoms indi
cate a radiator leak.
Time can be gained on a small ra
diator leak by loosening the radiator
cap one click. This is enough to re
lease pressure without allowing the
cap to come completely off.
Brake fade or loss is no cause for
panic, he says. If the brakes fade
sometimes they can be improved by
g umping them, though they should
e fixed if fade is noticed.
If the brakes go out, try to slow
down and get in a lower gear, he
says. The parking brake shouldn’t be
used until absolutely necessary be
cause it isn’t meant to stop the car —
only to hold it in place.
He says if the electricity starts to
fail, turn off all unnecessary accesso
ries including the radio and hope for
the best.
A dead battery can be revived
many times by cleaning and tighten
ing the connections, or adding water
to the battery itself, he says.
If the worst happens and a car
owner is stranded on the roadside,
he should turn the hazard lights on,
open the hood and stay off the road.
Beat the hell outta Bevo
In honor of “Fiesta Day,” sponsored by the Texas
A&M Food Services Department, Kimmy Ander
son, a junior physical education major from Fort
Photo by Shelly Schluter
Worth, tries to break open a pinata in the shape of
Bevo. The pinata was filled with Frisbees and
candy. South-of-the-border foods were served.
Associate provost: ELI system needs work
Bush will establish
ethics panel if elected
Associated Press
I George Bush, declaring him
self “personally disturbed at the
breaches of ethics” he’d seen in
government, said Thursday he
would set up a White House
ethics panel if elected president.
1; Meanwhile, Bush’s Super
Tuesday victories produced a cas
ualty —Jack Kemp — and Gary
Hart prepared to quit the Demo
cratic race. Richard Gephardt,
who ran a poor fourth among
emocrats on Tuesday, said
Michigan could decide his fate.
Bush flew to Illinois to press
is campaign for the 82 GOP del
egates at stake in next Tuesday’s
primary. And he quickly took up
a new issue, saying he was “tired
of being embarrassed” by scan
dals surrounding public officials,
though he named no names.
The vice president’s chief rival,
Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, stuck to
party politics, questioning Bush’s
“electability” and telling Chicago
voters he would be a stronger
candidate for the GOP in Novem
ber.
Democrats Michael Dukakis,
Jesse Jackson and Albert Gore Jr.
also campaigned in Illinois for a
share of the 173 delegates at stake
in their party’s primary there.
By Karen Kroesche
Senior Staff Writer
What Texas A&M’s English profi
ciency system needs is a personal
touch, says Dr. Duwayne Anderson,
associate provost for research and
graduate studies.
Anderson is in the process of re
vamping the system in response to
complaints from both faculty and
students that the current system is
unfair. While he doesn’t have spe
cific recommendations formulated
yet, Anderson says he has identified
the major problem areas and some
general solutions. He says he hopes
to have solid recommendations by
early April.
One of the biggest problems with
the current system, Anderson says, is
that the foreign student is thrown
into the red tape of admission from
the first moment at A&M.
He says he thinks that the first
image of A&M should be a personal
one.
“It seems to me a shame that the
first thing they (foreign students)
encounter here at A&M is another
manifestation, an undesirable man
ifestation, of a bureaucratic way of
dealing with what I think should be
dealt with on an individual basis,”
Anderson says. “I would like to
know that there is a personal touch
from the beginning in the lives of
these foreign students when they ar
rive on our campus.
“I would like to see us do more to
make this a mature adult experience
for everybody, rather than a me
chanical thing, as cool and cold as
that often is.”
A&M’s English proficiency system
for foreign students has come under
repeated fire in recent months. The
controversy centers on the forced
enrollment of foreign graduate stu
dents in the English Language Insti
tute.
When international students ar
rive at A&M, they are required to
make a certain score on the Univer
sity’s English Language Proficiency
Exam.
If they don’t make the score on
any section, they must enroll in a
non-credit ELI course — taught by
non-tenure track faculty — for that
section.
More than two-thirds of interna
tional graduate students are re
quired to enroll in at least one course
at the institute.
Costs range from $400 to $1,300
per four-month session, depending
on the number of courses they have
to take.
Anderson says his recommenda
tions are still in the formative stages,
but one option he sees is assigning
each incoming foreign graduate stu
dent a host mentor when he or she
arrives on campus.
This person most likely would
come from the student’s major de
partment, such as his faculty adviser,
Anderson says.
He says this person could help
show the ropes to the new student,
as well as advising him in English
proficiency matters. In this way, the
system could more easily adapt to
each individual’s set of circum
stances.
“I think it would be wise for the
student’s department, major profes
sor, mentor or host to have some say
in when the ELPE (English Lan
guage Proficiency Exam) is taken,”
he says.
“I also think it would be helpful if
the student’s departmental advisor
or mentor or host would have some
thing to say about interpreting the
results of the ELPE and discussing
those results with the results of the
TOEFL (Test of English as a For
eign Language) or other experiences
that the student may have had in
other English speaking countries or
perhaps in this country,” he says.
Students and professors have crit
icized A&M for using the ELPE,
charging that the test is not a fair
measure of English abilities. Ander
son says the. test is a valuable tool in
the evaluation process, but that
there are problems with the adminis
tration of the test.
“The main problem I see in utiliz
ing this instrument at the present
time,” he says, “is that we force it on
students in many instances before
they are rested and prepared for it
in the worst cases, and in many more
cases at inconvenient times.
“In our present system, the results
of the examination are swiftly used
to determine a course of study or a
course of remedial work that has not
been discussed in advance and that
the student is not fully willing men
tally and emotionally to commit to.
So there’s an element of coercion in
our present procedure that we
would be wise to try to mitigate.”
There are also security problems
with the ELPE.
Foreign student associations have
copies of the test, and one group
even has it on microfilm. The Battal
ion recently obtained two copies of
the test.
Anderson says he was not pre
viously aware of the security prob
lems, but that those problems are
probably just indicative of the gen
eral ill feelings that foreign student
have toward A&M’s English profi
ciency system.
“The motivation to cheat gener
ally comes into play when a system is
considered as corrupt itself,” he says.
“Students learn and serve them
selves best when they don’t cheat.
Anderson says he plans to have an
improved system in place by the fall
semester.
He says this is an important issue
to resolve promptly because of the
negative impact the current system
has on A&M’s reputation abroad.
Other countries’ advances in sci
ence and technology make foreign
students attractive to the University,
Anderson says.
“Enough time has elapsed now af
ter the end of World War II — when
America was the dominant science
and technology country in the world
— that other countries have caught
up and even surpassed us in a num
ber of important areas,” he says.
“That (recruiting foriegn students)
gives us the opportunity to make
sure we’re exposed to the best and
the brightest from abroad.”
Anderson says the sheer volume
of negative feedback about the ELI
has made a change in the system
necessary.
“One of the most significant
things about this issue in my mind is
that not only are the students them
selves complaining about it, but a
significant part of the University ad
ministrators are also a little con
cerned about it and a very large
number of the research-active fac
ulty members are (concerned).
“And when I hear similar obser
vations from all of this wide audi
ence, I know that there’s some rea
son for us to do something.”