Page 16
The Battalion
Friday, October 14,1988
Do you have any of the following concerns?
•Improving an academic skill
•Finding a tutor
•Locating programs for academic assistance
•Establishing and clarifying academic goals
If the answer is YES, you may wish to utilize one of the following serv
ices.
ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE SERVICES
• Academic Assistance Information
Clearinghouse-Located in the Student Counseling Services, this Clear
inghouse consists of a file that contains the names, phone numbers and
qualifications of people wiling to tutor courses offered at A&M. It also con
tains information from many academic departments explaining proce
dures for obtaining extra academic help. Come to the Third Floor, YMCA
Bldg.,8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday, to use this service.
• Academic Burnout Prevention-An academic life-style that includes
social activities and physical exercise, as well as study, is generally con
sidered the best method for maintaining academic motivation. Student
Activities , Room 208 , Pavillion (845-1133) and the Memorial Student
Center Student Programs Office, Room 216 (845-1515) will guide stu
dents to campus activities that fit the student’s interests and social
needs. The Intramural-Recreational Sports Office, Room 159, Read
Building (845-7826) will guide students to physical activities that may
help meet both a student’s social and physical activity needs.
• Concentration Problems Assistance-Difficulties with concentratiou-
sually result from failure to establish a good study environment, from un
focused academic and life goals or from relationship and other personal
problems. The Student Counseling Service (845-1651) and the Counsel
ing And Assessment Clinic (845-8021) offer both individual and group
programs to help students with these concerns. Most services at the Stu
dent Counseling Service are free to currently enrolled students who have
paid their student services fee. The Counseling And Assessment Clinic
Does not charge a fee for services to students.
• English Writing Lab- Located in 152 Blocker Bldg., the Writing lab of
fers help with acquiring effective writing skills. Call 845-2568 for informa
tion about current programs.
• Handicaped Student Services-Programs and services to help A&M
students compensate for learning disabilities of a physical, mental or
emotional nature are provided by this office located in Hart Hall, Ramp B
(845-1637).
• Learning Resources-This service is located on the sixth floor of Ster
ling C. Evans Library. Over 120 microcomputers, 500 software packages,
and a great variety of audio-visual equipment and materials are provided
for students free of charge. Facilities and staff assistance for using these
resources are also provided.
Among the self-help materials available are programmed instructions for
learning to use microcomputers and microcomputer software. In addition,
short courses in the use of specific software packgages are offered. A
fee of approximately $3.50 per hour is charged for these courses and
most courses are 10 hours long. Call 845-2316 for information.
• Learning Resources Center- The College of Science coordinates
this service which is located in the basement of Heldenfels Hall. The
“LRC” contains lecture notes, old tests, problem solutions, alternate text
books, sample laboratory reports, and supplemental reading for specific
courses offered by the Mathematics, Biology, Physics, and Chemistry
Departments. Hours are 8:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday Through Thursday;
8:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Friday; and 5:00-8:00 p.m. Sunday. Call 845-3781 for
information.
• Library Skills Training-The Department of Philosophy and humani
ties offers a 2 credit hour course (HUMA 101) called “Library Sciences:
The Library and Learning” which is taught by a member of the Sterling C.
Evans Library faculty. Sign-up library tours are also offered at the begin
ning of each semester. Call the Evans Library (845-5741) for information
about library tours.
• Math Help Sessions- Tutoring for all students needing assistance
with math course work is provided by the Mathematics Department.
Come to Milner Hall, Room 003, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Monday through
Friday. A list of Mathematics tutors is available in Milner Hall, Room 102.
• Mentors-A large university like TAMU, filled with busy people, can
seem very impersonal. Mentors consist is more than 300 A&M faculty
members who have volunteered to set aside part of their week to “just
talk.” This is an excellent opportunity for students who wish to have the
guidance of someone on the inside of academia. Call your departmenta
office and ask about the Mentors Program.
• Old Exam Files- Professors and Student Government have placed
copies of old exams in a file at the Sterling C. Evans Library Reserve
Room. A call number, accessed through the computer terminals, is
needed. Instructions are provided near the Library terminals.
• Professors-Very often, the most effective resource for academic as
sistance that students have available to them is the professor of the
course in which they are having trouble. It is wise for students to visi
with each of their professors, especially if they have any questions. A
professor can often help a student early in the semester, but the week
before finals is likely to be too late for anyone having serious difficulties
Professors have office hours and a student should arrange to meet pro
fessors during that time.
• Reading Efficiency Course-The Reading Lab, 7th Floor, Harrington
Bldg. (845-7140), offers a course for improving reading efficiency if there
is sufficient demand. Courses are usually offered during the summer,
fee is charged for this service. Reading skills that lead to efficient study
ing and learning in college level courses are emphasized.
• Reading Lab-Located on the 7th Floor, Harrington Building, this serv
ice provides diagnosis of reading problems and individualized programs
to overcome these problems. A fee is charged for this service. Lab hours
are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Call 845-7140 fo
more information.
• Study Skills Improvement-The Department of Educational Psychol
ogy offers a course each semester called “Improvement of Learning
(EPSY 101). The Student Counseling Service, 3rd floor, YMCA Bide
(845-1651) offers to currently enrolled students, on a weekly basis, botl
individual and group study skills assistance.
• Test Anxiety Remediation-The Student Counseling Service (845
1651) and the Counseling and Assessment Clinic (845-8021) offer ind'
vidual and group anxiety management programs. Most services at the
Student Counseling Service are free to currently enrolled students who
have have paid their student fees. The Counseling and Assessmen
Clinic does not charge a fee to students.
•Texas Rehabilitation Commission-Provides assistance to Texa
A&M University and Blinn College students with permanent or handicap
ping disabilities. Examples of the disabilities covered are learning disab
lities, orthopedic deformities, emotional disorders, diabetes, epilepsy
heart conditions, etc. Call 845-0350, or go to Room 146, MSC for infor
mation regarding scholarships, financial assistance, tutors, diagnosis
treatment, and other services.
• Volunteer Tutoring-Phi Eta Sigma (Honor Society) offers free tutorin
in most freshman courses. Go to the Student Activities cubicle area
Room 216, Pavilion for more information. Many departmental undergrad
uate honor societies will also offer free tutoring in freshman and sopho
more courses. Contact the honor society’s president through the appro
priate academic department office or through Student Activities.
• All services are subject to change. Please contact the service o
interest for the most current information
or
Student Counseling Service
Career and Academic
Resource Center
Third Floor, YMCA Building
845-1651
or
Department of Student Affairs
103 YMCA Building 845-3111
i-
Modern-day railroad hobos
find life tougher on the rails*
DALLAS (AP) — A new breed of
vagabonds who often are drug addicts,
"ormer mental patients or escaped con
victs is threatening the easy-going exis
tence of railroad hobos who use freight
trains for transportation.
Crosstie drifters have always led a
lard and dangerous lifestyle.
They’ve been chased by railroad po
lice, injured trying to board moving
trains and scorned and misunderstood by
mainstream society.
But now, hobos also face the risk of
being beaten, robbed or killed by other
travelers.
“If you’re not fighting the bulls (rail
road police), you’re trying to get away
from the crazies,” hobo Rick Thomas
said earlier this week after a railroad
agent caught him getting off a Burling
ton Northern Railroad freight train in
Fort Worth.
“1 started carrying a gun at one point,
but then decided that if I had a weapon
on me. I’d just end up using it. ”
Thomas, a 28-year-old itinerant la
borer, first began hopping freight trains
six years ago.
He said he thought riding the rails
would be an exciting, carefree way to
find work and see the country.
But his outlook has changed.
Mark Davis, a spokesman for the Ne
braska-based Union Pacific Railroad sai-
d,“You’re dealing with a different el
ement and situation these days.
During the Great Depression, an esti
mated 2 million unemployed people took
to the rails in search of work.
“During the early years of the Reagan
Administration, when the high rate of
unemployment crippled areas in the
northeastern United States, a lot of peo
ple were forced into migrancy to look for
work,” said Harper, who logged 25,000
miles on the nation’s rails from 1971 to
1976 to study migrant workers.
“The rails have gotten to be a pretty
unsafe place for illegal riders over the
last several years,” an experienced
Texas-based Southern Pacific special
agent, who asked that his name not be
used, told the Dallas Times Herald.
When Renton was caught in an4
street shelter two months later, pc
said he was carrying a sawed-off j
gun. a pistol and several knives.
Hobos are frequently seen in the Dal-
las-Fort Worth area, a major southern
switching center for about a half-dozen
major railroads.
Officials say small “hobo hangouts”
have sprung up throughout the area near
local rescue missions and major railroad
cwitrhinp vards
“A lot of the new hobos are either
running from the law or are pretty hard
up. The rails are just populated by a lot
meaner bunch these days.”
The new breed of traveler includes
James Ray Renton, a convicted killer
who escaped from a maximum-security
unit at the Arkansas State Penitentiary in
July, authorities said.
Renton hopped a freight train to Fort
Worth, where he was spotted by railroad
agents boarding another southbound
train.
A recent death among hobos, ®|
Burlington Northern line late Iasi*
followed the meeting of three mei
Wichita Falls shelter.
They later hopped an Amanllo-ln 'f™
freight train.
The trip ended 40 miles I
one of the men attempted to robfeca
two.
The attacker seriously inji
his companions and killed the okii
pushing him beneath the whcelsof
moving train, Burlington Northerq ^
eial agent James Goolsby said
East Texas homemade pies
make it big in other states
“During the late 1930s and ’40s, rid
ing the rails was a way to get some place.
It’s still a mode of travel, but . . . there’s
a different group riding the rails today.
More people carry weapons. We defi
nitely are seeing a lot more violent activ
ity.”
Nearly 7,000 people were killed or in
jured nationwide while trespassing on
railroad property from 1980 to 1987, the
Federal Railroad Administration said.
The majority were involved in acci
dents but an increasing number were vic
tims of a new criminal element that has
adopted the rail system as its transporta
tion of choice, said experts.
In Texas, 27 railroad trespassers were
killed in 1980 and 68 died in 1987, offi
cials said.
In the U.S., hopping freights has been
around since the end of the Civil War,
when soldiers sought dependable and
cost-free ways of returning home.
Economic conditions have since in
fluenced how many transients illegally
use the rail system, said Douglas Harper,
a sociologist with State University of
New York in Potsdam.
BUNA (AP) — Folks as far away as
Mississippi munch a little piece of Buna
every day, enjoying a slice of deep East
Texas.
That’s how far Lawley’s Homemade
Pies now reach, all shipped from the
shop in this south Jasper County village.
But the hometown people know John
and Pam Lawley for more than their
packaged treats.
As Buna residents and travelers enter
Lawley’s, they are greeted with a
friendly smile and a small plaque, rep
resenting the mood and belief at the fried
pie factory: “We make good pies.”
The sweet pie aroma seeps from be
hind closed doors at Lawley’s, tempting
tastebuds with each sniff.
Lawley’s has been supplying fried
pies to people locally for three years.
The family has since expanded its
business from Buna to several other
states.
The pies are made from scratch, in
cluding the pie filling and crust.
Machines shape the dough and plop
pie filling onto the floured surface.
Employees ready, cook and package
the product.
Lawley’s makes 11 flavors of pies.
Included among the favorite flavors
are pecan, sweet potato, lemon, choco
late, peach, cherry, raisin, coconut.
pineapple and the most popular flavors,
apple and blackberry.
With a slew of pie recipes tucked
safely away, John Lawley constantly ex
periments with new pie flavors, planning
on expanding his offering.
Originally, the Lawleys owned Law
ley’s Family Restaurant, but gradually
made the switch to the pie-making busi
ness in 1985.
The business will celebrate its third
anniversary Oct. 15.
The idea of making fried pies was con
ceived between lunch and dinner crowds
at the restaurant.
“There was time after lunch, so peo
ple decided to start making pies,” he
said.
During the initial stages of the busi
ness’ growth, all pie-making processes
were done by hand.
The product was distributed out of the
back of the Lawley’s truck until the de
mand for the pies began to grow.
When the demand started to greatly
exceed the supply, Lawley decided to
turn to machinery for help.
In the beginning, the Buna manufac
turing plant produced 100 pics per day.
But now the business produces 40,000
per day with the added help of machin
ery.
The machines have the capability of
producing 200,000 pies a day.
John, however, insists on dev:
his business at a slow pace.
' * 1 want control over the pnxki
service,” he said. "1 got to gflp:
thing set up first.”
Although Lawley said the ha
may seem small to some, it has lln
houses in Texas, Louisiana and I!
sippi.
It is making its mark on the a
throughout the region.
Lawley attributes his busines
cess to hard work — andalotofi
He believes in taking care o(Its
tomers by offering a good prod:
service — even if it means send!
pies by United Parcel Service.
u
arti
■obi
iwai
To make the best poss
employees arrive as early;
sometimes continue their work
the next day, or however long it
fill orders, Pam Lawley said
Lawley’s is not only makingrJ
in the pic-pnxlucing market, hutii]
big boost to the economy.
Next to Temple Eastex, Lave
the second leading employer in si
area. John L.awley said, emplo^
80 factory workers and dismbutj
And for that boost to the
Buna Chamber of Commerce i
Lawley’s as the ‘'Business
Month” in August.
LOUPOTS
OFF CAMPUS CENTER
OFF CAMPUS AGGIES
□ a d —
CONNECTIOI
>xpk
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a
a
QUESTIONS &
ANSWERS
ATTENTION:
ADULT STUDENTS
Upcoming Events
Q. I am an off campus student. My apart
ment needs repairs. My refrigerator and
air conditioner do not cool. My manager
wrote a work order two weeks ago but
the repairs remain undone. What can I
do? May I withhold the rent?
Oct. 14 OCA Yell Practice, 11:30 pm,
Mt. Aggie
Oct. 16 Scavenger Hunt, 12:00 pm,
Simpson Drill Field, PRIZES!
Football game, 3:00 pm, Sim
pson Drill Field
Oct. 19 1st Bonfire Buddy Exchange
& Social, 7:00 pm, Pavilion
Oct.21 OCA Yell Practice, 11:30 pm,
Mt. Aggie
Oct. 31 “Dead Zone” Haunted House,
7:00 pm, MSC Ballroom
A. In Texas it is illegal to withhold rent for
any reason. Always keep your rent cur
rent.
In November 1988, the Off Campus to
ter will conduct a telephone survey^
sess the needs and interests of Tens
A&M students 25 years old or older?;
results of this survey will be usedtooft
new services and programs forthebe'?
fit of this growing student population,
According to the Texas Apartment Asso
ciation lease, you are obligated to make
all requests for maintenance in writing. A
work order filled out by the manager is
not enough. Keep a copy for your files,
signed by the manager, or send it by cer
tified mail with receipt requested.
If you are an adult student and recetf
call from an Off Campus Center’si
viewer, please take a break and ap
a few questions.
Your collaboration
you!
is essential. TW
NOW taking applications for
MARDI GRAS DIRECTOR
Application deadline: Oct. 17
Applications available at
OCC & OCA offices.
Wait seven working days. If the manager
does not respond in any way to your re
quest, write a second letter, clearly indi
cating again the repairs you want to be
made. If the manager does not do the re
pairs in the next seven working days,
contact the Off Campus Center, Puryear
Hall, or call 845-1741.
In addition, a new and free
cused on the special needs of adull
dents is available at the Off Can
Center. The Age Advantage pro'
information on child care, school,f
cial aid, on and off campus recreaK' : |
facilities, and more.
Questions about OCA???
Call 845-0688!
Acknowledgements
LOUPOT S BOOKSTORES at Northgate, South-
gate, and Redmond Terrace sponsored the Off
Campus Connection
From Mr. Loupot:
“Thank you Aggies for your patronage. My stores
have parking facilities for your convenience. Re
member that we buy $$$ used books.”
Stories and artwork are provided by the Off Cam
pus Center. Editor: Erika Gonzalez-Lima. October
14, 1988.
Please request a copy of The Age*
vantage at the Off Campus Center
year Hall, Monday thourgh Friday,®
to 5:00; or call 845-1741 to haveT
Age Advantage mailed to you.
j