Friday, September 2, 1988ATie Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
Security measures change for A&M dorms
By Laura White
Staff Writer
In a effort to insure the safety of dorm
jresidents Texas A&M officials have
(changed several security measures.
Tom Murray, assistant director for stu-
(dent affairs, said “Several policy measures
[have been taken to make residence halls
I more safe. Residence halls are locked at 7
p.m. now instead of 10 p.m., and unlocked
|at 10 a.m. instead of 8 a.m.
“Also, visitors must call from the lobby
land be escorted to a dorm room by their
host or hostess. This policy makes access to
the rooms more difficult for outsiders.”
Another safety measure — the installa
tion of eight more outside phones on cam
pus for emergency use — will be completed
before the end of this month, Murray said.
The location of the phones will be an
nounced later.
The policy on lost dormitory room keys
also will change, he said.
Lost keys were replaced last year for $15.
A $30 charge this year covers the cost of a
new key and lock.
As an additional safety measure, keys no
longer are engraved with the residence hall
and room number, but are coded instead.
Director of Security and University Po
lice Bob Wiatt said that students will have to
help make the new security measures work.
“These policy changes can be effective if
students will take the extra step to act re
sponsibly,” Wiatt said.
' 1 he primary problem of theft is that
people here make themselves victims. They
don’t lock their doors, they leave their
books and backpacks unattended, and they
leave their bicycles unsecured.
“People shouldn’t come to A&M thinking
they can’t be victimized. They need to be
aware and have some responsibility.”
Murray agrees with Wiatt.
“Between 90 and 100 percent of the theft
on campus is due to irresponsibility on the
students’ behalf,” he said. “We hardly ever
see any forced entry in theft cases.”
Wiatt said that a major role of the Uni
versity Police Department is to educate peo
ple about crime prevention.
“We conduct educational seminars on
crime prevention at Fish Camp, to the
Corps and to other on-and off-campus or
ganizations,” he said. “We also act in con
junction with Student Affairs to help put
out fliers, booklets and other literature on
crime prevention.”
Student reactions to the new policies
have been mixed.
“I feel very secure living on campus,”
Adriana Garcia, a junior economics major
from Bryan, said. “Since the doors are
locked eainer and 1 see police around ev
erywhere, I don’t think safety is a problem.”
Whitney McPhail, a junior history major
and resident adviser for Neeley Hall, dis
agrees.
“There seems to be a false sense of secu
rity at A&M,” she said. “With more students
and more construction going on at A&M,
I’m beginning to feel less safe. People need
to understand and be aware of what can
happen.
“It’s everyone’s responsibility. Every
thing shouldn’t be left in the hands of the
University Police.”
Three rapes were reported on campus
between September 1987 and July 1988.
From September 1986 to July 1987 no
rapes were reported on campus. During
this same period of time the number of
buglaries rose from 93 to 116.
Magnet school in Temple chosen
as model of ‘elementary curricula’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bor
dered on three sides by housing pro
jects and on a fourth by a pasture
where cattle often stray, the Merid-
ith Magnet Elementary School
inspires a love of learning among its
students, say federal educators who
have singled out the Temple school
for its invigorating curriculum.
“We try to bring education alive
for children,” principal Bonnie Mar
tin said Thursday. “We make chil
dren excited about learning. This is
a go-getter school.”
Federal educators agree, includ
ing Meridith among seven schools
profiled as models of strong elemen
tary curricula in a report issued this
week by Education Secretary Wil
liam J. Bennett.
In it, he summarizes his views on
what should be taught to the 32 mil
lion youngsters enrolled in kinder
garten through the eighth grade in
81,000 elementary and junior high
schools.
In singling out Meridith, the re
port notes that while the school is in
one of Temple’s poorest neighbor
“Meridith Elementary stands as an example to the
country of what Texans can do when they put their
minds to it. They have a right to be proud and we’re
proud of them. ”
— Sen. Phil Gramm,
R-Texas
hoods, it has become an oasis where
students from all backgrounds, in
cluding some from the wealthiest
neighborhoods in the district, find a
sound and challenging curriculum.
“We don’t stop with textbooks and
worksheets,” Martin said.
The report said that when fifth
graders got ready to read Robert
Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Is
land,” a classroom was transformed
into a deck of a pirate ship, complete
with broken barrels, skull and cross-
bones, and gold ducats.
“Whether the book is ‘Charlotte’s
Web,’ ‘Misty of Chincoteague’ or
‘Robin Hood,’ the teachers at this
school bring an enthusiasm to their
classrooms that makes children sa
vor the experience of reading good
literature,” the report said. “In fact,
Meridith teaches its 540 third,
fourth and fifth-graders to love
learning.”
The report said the student body
is a mix of white, black and Hispanic
children, and that four out of 10
come from disadvantaged homes.
Yet 97 percent of the fifth-graders
showed they had mastered necessary
reading skills in a recent statewide
test.
The average score among all
Texas schools was 18 percentile
B-CS crisis hotline
gives 24-hour help
points lower.
Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, said
Thursday, “Meridith Elementary
stands as an example to the country
of what Texans can do when they
put their minds to it. They have a
right to be proud and we’re proud of
them.”
The report said every school day
begins with a silent period, so stu
dents can read from a book of their
choice. Students carry the book with
them throughout the day in case
they have a spare moment to read.
The hallways and classroom walls
are covered with displays of their art
and writing, “reminding everyone
that good work brings with it a sense
of accomplishment.”
Each spring, the school sponsors a
host of science activities as part of its
Super Science Spree, including visits
by the local television weatherman, a
spider expert, a bee keeper, veteri
narians, doctors and dentists.
Martin said, “They tell the class
how science relates to the real world,
how it will relate to the careers they’ll
choose later.”
By George Watson
Staff Writer
Once in a while, life can get too
hard to handle. Sometimes people
just need someone to talk to about
their problems before things start
looking better. A crisis hotline estab
lished this summer in Bryan-College
Station is open for those looking for
help.
Staffed by mental health profes
sionals, the hotline serves as a re-
sourse for talking about problems,
help in solving them and referral to
more qualified personnel if necces-
sary.
The hotline is sponsored by HCA
Greenleaf Hospital and run by hos
pital employees who are trained in
mental health or social work.
Ann Schumann-Ousley, hotline
public relations director, said that
the need for the hotline arose from
the hospital’s receiving calls from
people with nowhere else to go.
“The hospital received about 200
to 250 calls every month from peo
ple with a problem,” she said. “We
felt it necessary to instigate a hotline
with trained professionals to handle
these calls.”
Hotline callers receive “crisis man
agement” services to identify and de
fine their problems. Then the hot
line staffer intervenes if necessary
and determines the next step in solv
ing the caller’s crisis.
If additional help is needed, such
as psychological counseling, the hot
line operator refers the caller to the
proper authority.
“When the hotline was first
started, calls were scarce,” Schu
mann-Ousley said. “But within the
past couple of weeks, we have re
ceived about 10 to 20 calls per
week.”
The hotline is open 24 hours. All
calls are kept confidential.
The Crisis Connection can be
reached at 690-2020 or 1-800-323-
5398.
Correction
In the Community section of
the Aug. 29 issue of The Battal
ion, it was incorrectly reported
that the average cost of a meal
and beverage at Pelican’s Wharf
restaurant in College Station is
$25.
The correct price is $ 15.
Mens and
Ladies
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