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Voi. 88 Mo. 24 CISPS 045360 14 Pages College Station, Texas Thursday, September 29, 1988
Effect
By Susan Stubing
Staff Writer
Presidential debates are standard
in America’s election process today,
but it is sometimes difficult to deter
mine how much influence these of
ten fiery confrontations have on
voter opinion.
The impact of a debate and the in
fluence it exerts on election results
varies from year to year and from
candidate to candidate, A&M politi
cal science professor George Ed
wards said.
“Sometimes a debate can be very
effective in predicting people’s opin
ions,” Edwards said, “but the poten
tial of effectiveness varies.”
After one of the 1980 Carter-Rea-
gan debates, Reagan’s popularity in
the polls increased substantially in
the days immediately following the
debate, Edwards said. Reagan even
tually broke the neck-in-neck tie
with Carter and won by 10 percent
age points. In that instance, the de
bate clearly made a difference, Ed
wards said.
In the 1984 election, however, the
debate did not sway voter opinion
significantly.
“During the Reagan-Mondale
campaign,” Edwards said, “people’s
opinions were in place long before
of debates hard to determine
the debates took place.” Therefore,
there was little potential for the can
didates to influence the voters, he
said.
But in 1988, Edwards said, the de
bates are likely to have a greater in
fluence on public opinion because
many voters are not yet “sold” on ei
ther candidate.
“The debates have more potential
this year because people’s opinions
are more volatile,” he said. “There is
more indecision and people are less
intensely committed to the candida
tes.” An unusually large percentage
of the population is not strongly
committed to the campaign at this
point, he said.
Although this year’s debates may
have a greater impact on the election
than in the past, their influence still
is not significant. Political Science
Department Head Dr. Bryan Jones
said, because most of the people
watching the debate already favor a
certain candidate. The viewers that
would be affected most by the de
bate are those with few predisposi
tions toward the candidates, he said.
“The debate itself is not tremen
dously important,” Jones said, “be
cause most viewers already know
who they like.”
What is important, he said, is how
the media portrays the debate to
non-viewers.
“What the public hears about the
campaign the next day determines
the impact of the debate,” Jones
said.
The press plays a large role in de
termining the outcome of the con
frontations, he said. Representatives
for each candidate try to convince
the media that their candidate won
the debate, because positive media
analysis is crucial.
As a rule, the underdog has the
advantage, Jones said, because the
candidate who is ahead has more to
lose.
But determining who won the de
bate is a difficult task, especially if
neither candidate makes a terrible
blunder.
The way a candidate presents
himself and how he responds to ad
dressed questions are good criteria
for evaluating the debate, he said.
“Clearly, I think that how one pre
sents himself to the public makes a
difference,” Jones said. “It isn’t the
determining factor, but is does make
some difference.”
The candidates’ views on the is
sues presented and the way they an
swer questions also can help decide
the “winner.” It is easier to deter
mine who wins each debated issue
than it is to determine the overall
winner, Jones said.
“People do pay attention to issues
to a certain extent,” Edwards said,
“but they don’t make too much of a
difference because the issues are not
fully illuminated.”
Candidates debate over tax breaks
Associated Press
Michael Dukakis waved a $20 bill in the air Wednes
day and ridiculed George Bush’s plan for a middle-class
tax break as worthy of Ebenezer Scrooge. The vice
president said his idea would give average Americans a
chance at a little nest egg.
An aggressive Dukakis also accused the Reagan ad
ministration of permitting a “Hall of Shame” to spring
up over the last seven years, citing dozens of top admin
istration officials who broke the law or violated the pub
lic trust. He said he would crack down on lobbying by
officials who leave their government posts.
Bush tried to turn the tables on his rival, criticizing
the Democrat’s plan for people to repay student loans
through a lifetime of payroll deductions.
“We do not need to put the IRS on your tail for the
rest of your life,” he said.
Vice presidential candidates Dan Quayle and Lloyd
Bentsen went through their daily campaign paces as
they pointed toward next week’s nationally televised de
bate in Omaha, Neb.
Dukakis stepped up his attack on Bush’s new plan for
tax-deferred savings accounts as he campaigned in
Western Pennsylvania.
Waving a $20 bill to represent the amount the aver
age family would save in a year, he declared, “George
Bush plays Santa Claus to the wealthy and Ebenezer
Scrooge to the rest of us.” That was a reference to
Bush’s call for a cut in the capital gains tax, a move that
Dukakis says would give huge benefits to the rich.
Bush set out on a 150-mile bus tour through Illinois
combining political offense with defense.
He said his proposal for tax-deferred savings account
was a move designed to “give taxpayers a little nest
egg.” Under the plan, low or middle income Americans
could invest up to $1,000 a year in a long-term savings
account and defer paying taxes on the interest.
A&M SAT scores rank high
Freshmen gain
election record
By Juliette Rizzo
Staff Writer
The Scholastic Aptitude Test
scores for the Fall 1988 freshman
class are the highest for any fresh
man class in the history of Texas
A&M, Dr. Dale T. Knobel, director
of the University Honors Program,
said.
“The average freshman SAT
score jumped 19 points,” Knobel
said. “This should place Texas A&M
among the leading state universities
in Texas.”
This year, 636 freshmen had SAT
scores higher than 1,250, he says.
The average SAT verbal score was
486, compared with 478 in 1987.
The math score was 557, an increase
from 546 last year.
“The 250 students here on presti
gious academic scholarships such as
the Lechner, the McFadden and the
President’s Endowed Scholarship,
have a mean SAT score of over
1,370,” he said.
AUSTIN (AP) — University of
Texas Longhorn band director'
Glenn Richter said this week that the
school’s fight song may be replaced
if students continue to replace the ly
rics with a certain scatalogical
phrase.
The official school fight song at
the university goes, in part, like this:
“Give ’em hell! Give ’em hell! Go
Horns Go!” The song is played by
the band during university football
games.
A&M president William H. Mob
ley said this year’s high SAT scores
indicate A&M attracts top students.
“We are obviously pleased that
our entering freshmen are coming
to us with increasingly impressive
academic credentials,” he said. “We
believe this to be reflective of our ef
forts to make Texas A&M even
more attractive to top students.
Honors programs, strong faculty,
solid curricula in each of our col
leges and A&M’s emphasis on stu
dent leadership development com
bine to make Texas A&M a highly
desirable university for top stu
dents.”
Glenn Dowling, director of plan
ning and institutional analysis said
the freshman class’ average SAT
score of 1,043 is 139 points higher
than the national average score.
Nationally, SAT scores declined
for the first time in eight years. The
But the ‘Go Horns Go’ portion of
the song has given way to another
phrase many students replace it
with.
A University of Texas source said
the phrase is repalaced with ‘Make
’em eat s—.’
Band director Richter would like
to see an end put to the use of this
phrase.
In a memo Richter sent this week
to the University’s Rally Advisory
Committee, he said the fight song
average national score on the verbal
section was 428, and the average na
tional math score was 476.
Dowling said that under an enroll
ment management program, enroll
ment in the University was con
trolled and limited this year.
“We maintained our standards
from last year, but the required
scores for automatic admission were
increased at all levels of SAT and
high school ranking,” he said. “Stu
dents in the top quarter of their
graduating high school class with an
SAT score of 1,000 or above were
admitted automatically.”
Of 1,938 students who applied for
admission, 1,496 were accepted.
Knobel says that over the last seve
ral years, A&M has been among the
top 10 universities in the enrollment
of National Merit Scholars. This
may be replaced if students don’t co
operate with attempts to end the
phrase’s use.
“These words are embarrassing
for the school, the band and the stu
dent body,” Richter’s memo con
cerning the controversy said.
Problems with the song occur
most often at high-emotion games,
such as those games that are played
against Oklahoma and Texas A&M,
he said.
At those games, the chanting of
year’s freshman class includes 113
National Merit Scholars.
He says that the scholars are at
tracted to A&M because of the hon
ors program opportunities available
here.
“Many students with high SAT
scores received academic recogni
tion in high school,” Knobel said.
“The overwhelming majority come
here to actively participate in the
University Honors Program. Those
who, a few years ago, would only
look at Rice in terms of academic
and honors opportunities available,
are now looking at A&M because of
the honors program and because of
cheaper costs, since that is definitely
a factor in selecting a university.
“Overall, the image of the univer
sity as a leading research university
and as a place where a variety of un
dergraduate study is available, is
what attracts high quality students to
A&M.”
the phrase has been broadcast over
national television and radio, Rich
ter said, and they don’t promote
spirit or a good image of the school.
Melinda Jolly, a junior art major,
said she believes attempts to stop stu
dents from modifying the song are
not fair and seem to be “kind of
judgmental.”
“Everyone who says it knows it’s
just in good fun,” Jolly said. “I think
students are still going to use that
quote.”
By Kelly S. Brown
Staff Writer
When the Class of ’92 came to
Texas A&M in August as the largest
freshman class in the nation, it was
speculated that they might break a
few other records as well, and so far,
they’re off to a good start.
The number of students running
for freshman positions, in Student
Government has increased by 300
percent since last year — an A&M
record.
Perry Liston, a junior business
major and co-chairman on the elec
tion commission from the executive
branch, said the competition is
fierce.
One-hundred and five freshman
are competing for 16 positions, and
the quality of these students is high,
Liston said.
“I can tell they know they’re speci
al,” he said.
“We’re motivated with the turn
out, we have great hopes for them,
and know they’ll produce a fine
class,” Liston said.
Liston attributes the increase of
applicants to effective advertisement
around the campus as well as Stu
dent Government being emphasized
at Fish Camp this summer.
Whatever it was that drew the ap
plicants in, it worked, he said.
Fifty-six freshmen are running
for senator positions, and 10 will be
chosen. Sixteen students are run
ning for president, 14 for vice-presi
dent, six for secretary, six for trea
surer, four for social secretary and
three for historian.
Student identification cards are
required for students wanting to
vote in the election Oct. 5 in the Kle
berg Building, MSC flag room,
Evans Library, Sbisa Dining Hall
and on the Quad. Run-off elections
will be held on Oct. 10, if necessary.
Student Government also has 12
senate seats open to anyone, other
than freshman on campus.
Seats open on campus include one
senator from either Aston or Dunn
and one senator from either Spence
or Briggs.
Off-campus open seats include
four senators from Ward II (west of
Texas and south of University), one
senator from Ward III (east of
Texas and north of University) and
four senators from Ward IV (west of
Texas and north of University). A
seat also is open to any agriculture
senior.
Michael Kelley, a senior political
science major and Speaker Pro-
Tempore, said the Ward seats are
traditionally the hardest to fill.
“We would like to see all positions
filled, especially in Ward IV,” he
said. “Ward IV includes students liv
ing in University Apartments (mar
ried student housing), and they have
never been represented, and we
would really like to see them apply
this year.”
Applications can be picked up on
the second floor of the Pavilion in
the Student Government office.
Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday.
U.T.’s fight song may be replaced
Photo by Kathy Haveman
What’s wrong with this picture?
Arnold Strickland of McKenzie, Tenn. checks a in to the Old Chemistry Building Wednesday. He
moving truck’s tire while workers move furniture should have checked the spelling on the truck.
Opportunity to drop
classes by Q-drop
concludes Friday
By Juliette Rizzo
Staff Writer
Friday is the last day for students
to Q-drop classes without academic
penalty.
After the 12th class day of the se
mester, a student can drop a class
with the approval of an adviser in
the student’s college, says Kriss
Boyd, director of general studies.
“In between the 12th class day
and the end of the fifth week of
classes, students can drop courses
without a grade showing up on their
transcripts,” she says. “The only
thing that does show up on the stu
dent’s records is a Q, which stands
for drop without penalty. Yes, the Q
does show up on the transcripts, but
it is not necessarily negative. The Q
does not affect the student’s hours
or GPR.”
Boyd says students may drop
courses for a variety of reasons.
“Students may need to drop
courses for personal reasons, health
problems or because of a job,” she
says. “Some students find that they
just don’t have the background to
take a certain class.”
Some colleges may put restrictions
on Q-dropping, she says.
“The College of Business allows a
student to Q-drop only two courses
while in the college,” she says. “In
the College of Engineering, students
are allowed only one ‘free’ Q-drop.
“With the increasing importance
of GPRs to staying enrolled in a spe
cific college, a student who is not
doing well in a course may benefit
from Q-dropping instead of letting
one grade bring down his entire
GPR.”
To Q-drop a class, the student
must fill out a Q-drop form by 5
p.m. Friday and have the request au
thorized by a college dean or ad
viser. Refunds are not made for
courses dropped during the Q-drop
period.
A student who drops a course af
ter the Q-drop deadline will receive
a grade of F unless otherwise speci
fied by a dean.
NASA says
shuttle will
launch today
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
(AP) — Discovery’s five astro
nauts, anxious to break an ag
onizing 32-month drought in
American spaceflight, studied re
vised flight plans Wednesday as
the shuttle was readied for a
Thursday midmorning launch.
NASA officials were nervous, but
confident.
“The space shuttle is ready to
fly,” shuttle administrator Rich
ard Truly said. “Even the weather
is looking good.”
The ship, obscured for weeks
behind a giant scaffold, stood ma
jestically in view after NASA re
tracted the structure. The process
took place hours early, so workers
will have a head start on final
countdown procedures.
Fueling was to begin shortly af
ter midnight, with the craft
bathed in brilliant spotlights.
“This has been a long 2 years,”
Truly said of the difficult period
since the Challenger accident in
1986. Liftoff was scheduled for
9:59 a.m., with a two-hour win
dow to take care of weather or
technical delays.