The Battalion
STATE & LOCAL 3
Thursday, January 26,1989
ARCO gives A&M $50 thousand
Company’s grant helps support Minority Engineering Program
r h
By Melissa Naumann
REPORTER
Texas A&M’s Minority Engi
neering Program has received a
$50,000 grant from ARCO to help
retain minority engineering stu
dents.
Jeanne Rierson, assistant to the
dean of engineering and coordina
tor of MEP, said the money will be
used in a program called Phase One.
“This is a bridge program for in
coming freshmen during the second
summer session,” she said. “We con
centrate on their math, chemistry
and English skills to prepare them
for Math 151 and Chemistry 101 (in
the fall semester).”
Rierson said the program, which
began in July 1988, was designed to
keep minority engineering students
at A&M.
“The first year is the hardest for
any student,” she said. “This gives
students a chance to see what college
is all about. The whole idea is to
keep more minority engineering stu
dents here. I think that when a stu
dent comes to A&M and sees we
have a program like this, they are
likely to stay.”
The 30 freshmen who attended
Phase One last summer had a higher
average grade-point ratio for the fall
semester than those minority engi
neering students who did not attend,
Rierson said.
In the past, A&M has been suc
cessful in retaining minority engi
neering students through gradua
tion. In 1987, the College of
Engineering had 79 Hispanic grad
uates, more than any other univer
sity. A&M also ranked third in the
nation for the total number of mi
nority engineering graduates with
98 receiving bachelor degrees. How
ard University topped the list with
129 graduates while City College of
New York had 116.
Alleged rape victim testifies,
hospitalized after becoming ill
SAN DIEGO, Texas (AP) — An
alleged gang-rape victim forced un
der threat of jail to testify at trial was
taken from the courthouse on a
stretcher Wednesday, but hospital
officials declined to say why she fell
ill.
Meanwhile, a prosecution witness
who admitted he once told a psychia
trist the alleged attack victim “loved
testified Wednesday that she
cried and tried to resist the men who
sexually assaulted her on the hood
ofa car March 26-27.
An ambulance took the woman to
Alice Physicians and Surgeons Hos
pital at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, just as
glit no*
J ” ping trial of Felipe Chew, who also
ople tnij f aces a separate sexual assault trial in
have to
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le have
testimony in the aggravated kidnap-
ihe case.
The woman was reported in stable
|, condition. Hospital emergency room
iungati: p erson nel and nursi g supervisors
press said the woman’s physician refused
to release further information.
After the woman was taken to the
hospital, District Judge Gilberto Hi
nojosa explained to the jury she had
‘fallen ill” and would testify later.
Her testimony was cut short Tues
day after she reported fainting dur
ing an afternoon break and said her
stomach and head ached.
Witness Jose Carlos Briones,
speaking Spanish as a court inter
preter translated, testified Wednes
day the woman “didn’t want to do it.
She was complaining. She had
tears.”
Briones, 29, was indicted on a sex
ual assault charge in case, but his
trial date has not been set. All 10
men indicted have pleaded inno
cent.
Briones said he saw Chew sexually
assault the woman with a beer bottle
while other men held her down on
the hood of a car that night at the
ranch where an illegal cockfight was
taking place.
“Hejust laughed,” Briones said of
Chew’s behavior, adding that the
woman clearly did not appear to en
joy it.
He admitted Wednesday, how
ever, to Chew’s court-appointed de
fense attorney, Jaime Garza, that in
the course of a court-ordered men
tal-competency examination last
June he told a Corpus Christi psychi
atrist that the woman “loved it” that
night and that she was a “run
around.”
Later, under further questioning
by Assistant District Attorney Ro
dolfo Gutierrez, he denied telling
the psychiatrist the woman was a
willing participant.
Briones said he had consumed
two cases of beer on March 26 and
admitted being convicted for heroin
possession 10 years ago. He also said
he fondled the woman and tried to
have sex with the her that night, but
the alcohol rendered him impotent.
He said the others tried to force
him to perform oral sex on her, but
he resisted.
Briones said he then tried to stop
the men from raping and sodomiz
ing her, but they did not listen.
Garza asked Briones if he knew
anything about a reported arrange
ment by the prosecution to recom
mend probation for him if he testi
fied against his co-defendants, but
Briones said he was not aware of
such a deal.
“We have found that even with
scholarships and other financial as
sistance, many minority youngsters
enrolled in science, engineering and
business courses never complete
their college education,” Lodwrick
Cook, ARCO chairman and chief ex
ecutive officer, said in a statement.
“While no single funding source can
solve the growing problem of mi
nority under-representation in sci
ence and engineering, we believe the
spotlight must stay focused on the
retention issue.”
Hays challenges
student senators
to look around
By Kelly S. Brown
STAFF WRITER
In the Student Senate’s first meet
ing this semester, Student Body
President Jay Hays challenged the
Student Senate to make the most of
their positions and to take a good
look around campus.
“The changes we do or do not
make today will have an effect on
what the University will be like many
years from now,” Hays said.
One of the changes discussed in
the fall semester by two Senate mem
bers concerned abolishing the
‘grode’ stories told by yell leaders at
midnight yell practice. The bill was
sent to committee but later was re
scinded by its authors.
Although that bill never passed,
Ty Clevenger, a sophomore genetics
major and senator from the agricul
ture college, said the possibility of
Texas A&M having collegiate license
plates is almost a reality. The idea
for the specialized plates originated
in the Senate last semester.
“The bill is going through the
Texas Legislature now, it looks good
and hopefully we won’t have any
problems with it,” Clevenger said.
Co-op experience
gives opportunity
to practice job skills
By Fiona Soltes
STAFF WRITER
How do you get a job without
experience? And how do you get
experience without a job?
Students involved in Texas
A&M’s Cooperative Education
program may have discovered
the answer to this riddle.
Dr. Steve Yates, director of the
office of cooperative education,
said the program is an ideal way
for companies to train and de
velop students for prospective
employment upon graduation.
It’s also an ideal way for the stu
dent to get the experience he
needs for the job he wants, while
getting college credit.
The co-op program began at
the University of Cincinnati in
1906, Yates said. Soon afterward,
it moved to Georgia Tech, MIT,
and other large schools, but it
didn’t come to A&M until 1958,
he said.
Yates said the first A&M co-ops
were from the college of engi
neering. In 1978, the program
expanded to other colleges, but
engineering students still make
up 70 percent of the co-ops, he
said.
John Vandegrift, a senior aero
space engineering major, will
hold his fourth co-op position
with NASA this summer. Vande
grift said his first position with
NASA was in Shuttle Require
ments Management.
“It was basically just learning
what NASA did,” he said.
During his second and third
terms, Vandegrift was involved in
the extra-vehicular activity train
ing of astronauts.
“EVA means space-walking,”
he said. “Every crew must be
taught the emergency contin
gency tasks, which is what they do
when something fails in order to
ensure a safe return. An example
of this is contingency payload bay
door closure. The astronauts
need to know how to put on their
suits, step out into space, discon
nect drive motors, hook up
winches and then crank the doors
shut.”
Vandegrift’s group also
trained some crews for special
missions such as capturing satel
lites to replace instruments on
them.
“Becoming certified to teach
courses is a long process,” Vande
grift said. “Only after three or
four years can you be qualified to
teach all the courses that my
group taught.”
But through the program,
Vandegrift was able to sit in on
these classes and assist in the tea
ching any way he could.
“I was eager to teach, but I was
not given the opportunity to be
thrown into it,” he said. “NASA
was not exclusionary with me be
cause I was a co-op. But it’s like
being in any company; you must
pay your dues.”
Being a co-op with NASA
taught Vandegrift more than just
aerospace engineering skills.
“Co-oping gives you a break
from school and a chance to see
what the real world is like,” Van
degrift said. “It’s not all technical
learning, because you learn about
income tax, budgeting and things
like that, that you wouldn’t learn
if you hadn’t worked through
school. Of course, you also get the
chance to find an area that inter
ests you, doing career hunting
while you’re there.”
Co-oping also has made the
prospect of graduating seem less
threatening for Vandegrift.
“Co-oping helps eliminate ‘se
nior nerves,’ ” he said. “I don’t
have to be thinking, ‘Oh, no, I’ve
got to interview, make a resume
and take finals while trying to fig
ure out where to work.’ ”
Vandegrift said that as a co-op
with NASA, he should receive a
job offer from them after gradua
tion.
See Co-ops/Page 7
JESUS]
Noel Addy
I Accounting
[S TH1
E REASON FOR THE SEASON
L. Roy Cornwell
Mechanical Engineering
L. Wayne Greene
Animal Science
James W. Kolari
Finance
Gerald Morrison
Mechanical Engineering
Roger Schultz
Speech Comm, and Theatre Arts
Richard M. Alexander
Mechanical Engineering
Harry Coyle
Civil Engineering
Michael Greenwald
Speech Comm, and Theatre Arts
M. M. Kothmann
Range Science
Philip Noe
Electrical Engineering
David Segrest
Family and Community Medicine
Richard M. Anderson
1 Economics
James W. Craig Jr.
Construction Science
James Griffin
Economics
Rose Kuehler
Health and Phys. Education
Dennis O’Neal
Mechanical Engineering
Peter Sharpe
Industrial Engineering
I Jan Baldwin
I Health and Phys. Education
Stephen Crouse
Health and Phys. Education
Richard Griffin
Mechanical Engineering
Alvin Larke Jr.
Agricultural Education
John H. Painter
Electrical Engineering
D. Dwayne Simpson
Psychology
: Danny Ballard
1 Health and Phys. Education
Walter Daugherity
Computer Science
Tim Gronberg
Economics
Patricia Larke
Educational Curriculum
A. D. Patton
Electrical Engineering
Loren Skow
Veterinary Anatomy
George W. Bates
I Biochemistry
Joyce S. Davis Robert Gustafson
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Mathematics
Terry Larsen
Environmental Design
Robert H. Pender
Health and Phys. Education
Darrell Smith
Education Psychology
i Michael R. Baye
Economics
Michael Davis
Medical Physiology
Paul Harms
Animal Science
Ray Laster
Mechanical Engineering
Don Phillips •
Industrial Engineering
Jerome H. Smith
Medical Pathology
I Sue Beall
Health and Phys. Education
R. R. Davison
- Chemical Engineering
Patricia Harris
English Language Institute
Alan Letton
Mechanical Engineering
Kenneth Pierce
Veterinary Medicine
L. Murphy Smith
Accounting
James R. Boone
1 Mathematics
Maurice Dennis
Safety Education
Roy Hartman
Engineering Technology
Jackson Leung
Electrical Engineering
Leonard Ponder
Health and Phys. Education
Terry Spencer
Geophysics
1 Chris Borman
Education
Kenneth R. Dirks
Medical Pathology
Warren Heffington
Mechanical Engineering
Dallas N. Little
Civil Engineering
Alvin A. Price
Veterinary Medicine
Michael Sunnafrank
Speech Comm, and Theatre Arts
Jon Botsford
Engineering Technology
LinusJ. Dowell
Health and Phys. Education
Don R. Herring
Agricultural Education
Mac Lively
Computer Science
Robin Redfield
Mechanical Engineering
Donald A. Sweeney
Urban and Regional Planning
Walter L. Bradley
I Mechanical Engineering
John English
Industrial Engineering
Richard T. Hise
Marketing
Lee Lowery
Civil Engineering
Debra Reed
Finance
Wei Kang Tsai
Electrical Engineering
Maynard Bratlien
Educational Administration
John A. Epling
Construction Science
Louis Hodges
Recreation and Parks
Jack Lunsford
Chemistry
W. Robert Reed
Economics
Dan Turner
Mechanical Engineering
■
I James Brooks
Oceanography
David A. Erlandson
Educational Administration
Harry Hogan
Mechanical Engineering
Theodore S. Maffitt
Architecture
Edward Reid
Industrial Distribution
Dick Volz
Computer Science
Scott Brown
Veterinary Physiology
Louis Everett
Mechanical Engineering
Ken Hogue
Industrial
D. T. Magnuson
Biochemistry
David Rhode
Mechanical Engineering
Karan Watson
Electrical Engineering
1 Camille Bunting
Health and Phys. Education
Roger Fay
Oceanography
Joyce Holley
Accounting
Vicki Markowsky
Health and Phys. Education
' Don Rice
Industrial Distribution
Carson E. Watt
Recreation and Parks
I Jon Burke
Economics
Richard Feldman
Industrial Engineering
C.L. Hough
Mechanical Engineering
J. D. McCrady
Veterinary Physiology
Larry Roderick
Industrial Technology
Casper Wiggins
Accounting
fe Jack Campbell
\ Educational Curriculum and Instruction
Dana Forgione
Accounting
John W. Huff
Veterinary Microbiology
Stephen McDaniel
Marking
Hayes E. Ross Jr.
Civil Engineering
Steven Wiggins
Economics
Oral Capps
Agricultural Economics
Carl Gabbard
Health and Phys. Education
T. Rick Irvin
Veterinary Anatomy
Thomas U. McElmurry
Aerospace Engineering
Fred Ruppel
Agricultural Economics
Henry Wigley
Civil Engineering
Andrew K. Chan
Electrical Engineering
E. Dean Gage
Veterinary Medicine
Mike E. James Jr.
Civil Engineering
John A. McIntyre
Physics
Don Russell
Electical Engineering
James R. Wild
Biochemistry and Genetics
Mark Christensen
I Biology
Emma Gibbons
Health and Phys. Education
Robert K. James
Educational Curriculum
Dennis McNaughten
Health and Phys. Educadon
Wayne Sampson
Human Anatomy
Melony Williams
Accounting
Larry D. Claborn
1 Veterinary Physiology
Bob Gillette
Economics
David G. J ansson
Mechanical Engineering
Martin Medhurst
Speech Comm. & Theater Arts
Donald Saylak
Civil Engineering
James E. Womack
Veterinary Pathology
James C. Clingermayer
Political Science
Lynn Gillette
Economics
Jim Jensen
Veterinary Physiology
Glenn A. Miller
Health and Phys. Education
Mark Schaefer
Mathematics
Will Worley
Electrical Engineering
8 Dan Colunga
Computer Science
Ramon Goforth
Mechanical Engineering
Walter F.Juliff
Veterinary Cont. Education
Jeff Miller
Accounting
Richard Shapery
Civil Engineering
Ralph Wurbs
Civil Engineering
Jerome Congleton
Industrial Engineering
H. L. Goodwin
Agricultural Economics
Jimmy T. Keeton
Animal Science
Gayle Schmidt
Health and Phys. Education
Wayne E. Wylie
Health and Phys. Education
We are a group of faculty who are united by a common experience that Jesus Christ provides intellectually and spiritually satisfying answers to
life’s most important questions. We are available to students amd faculty who might like to discuss such questions with us. We are FACULTY
FRIENDS. Any faculty member interested in joining FACULTY FRIENDS please contact: Bob Gillette 5-7384, or Glenn Miller 5-3130, or Lee
Lowery 5-4395.
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