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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 1989)
tf&M Stcakhousc • We Deliver • 846-5273 • We Deliver • 846-5273 • o _ ^ ^ ^ ^ € O <s 108 College Main, Norfhgate j-p Friday-Saturday-Sunday Special 5 Cheeseburger Platter g m 4g 1/2 lb Burger Fries fa Iced tea Dine in only • We Deliver • 846-5273 • We Deliver • 846-5273 • Page 6 The Battalion Friday, February 10,1989 W'/; - FLOWER MARKET DRIVE THRU WINDOW Comer Texas fit Rosemary by Casa Tomas BOXED ^ ™ Daisies, Tulips 8c More! 846 3441 Visa, MasterCard, American Express ' DOZEN Accepted W If v{ & £ Prime Rib & Shrimp Dinner Every Tuesday Night 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm 8 oz. cut prime rib all ybh can eat popcorn shrimp salad bar, baked potatoe or rice and vegetable €7 95 / • adults S3. 9,5 Children, 12 and under (Special Menu) COLLEGE STATION HILTON 801 University' Drive East, College Station, Texas 77840 409/693-7500 Brazos Valley Entertainment Card not valid with this offer Sunbelt 1989 V*\ WANT CLA: A for IMT: Description: Euergatic, euthusiastic motivated leaders able to service the Class of ’89 for the next 5 yes. Modus Operand: Liaison between Class and Assn, of Former students. For more information leading to the election of Class Agents, interested May, Aug. & Dec. graduating seniors are invited to an imformation Meeting Thursday, March 2 6:30 p.m. Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center (attendance is Mandatory to seek election) 6 Fuzzy logic’ inventor defends math branch based on uncertainty By Stephen Masters SENIOR STAFF WRITER Already in use in some auto mobile transmissions, “fuzzy logic” will become crucial in the next few years for people working with “ex pert systems,” the inventor of the mathmatical branch said. Dr. Lofti Zadeh, a professor of electrical enginnering and computer sciences at the University of Califor nia at Berkeley, addressed a group of more than 250 students and edu cators on “Management of Uncer tainty for Expert Systems” Thurs day. “Fuzzy logic,” designed by Zadeh in 1965, is a controversial branch of mathematics \vhich is being used in artificial intelligence systems. Its name is derived from the use of “fuzzy,” or vague, terms. Zadeh said the vague terminology is used because precision is too diffi cult to achieve in many cases. He gave an example of parking a car to show the difficulty of precision. Black history (Continued from page 1) for me to see my kids and the strides they’re going to be making as it is for my parents to see the strides I’m ma king,” Gray said. “My father couldn’t go to Texas A&M when he was growing up — blacks had to go to Prarie View (A&M). For me to be here at Texas A&M, it gives them a sense of pride.” Gray said the denial of a quality education was just one of several forms of racism blacks had to deal with in the 1960s. And though laws have been passed granting civil rights, he said racism is still a prob lem. “I think (racism) is still there,” he said. “Anyone who says it’s not is crazy. I think it’s just more subtle. It’s more institutionalized. People have this misconception of what a racist is supposed to look like or act like. T he more that people try to hide the fact that it does exist, the worse it’s going to get. “I think people seem to think that after Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights and all the acts that were passed, that everything is just hunky-dory. We still have a lot of racism and discrimination that takes place.” Charles Gordone, a distinguished lecturer in theater arts at A&M and a Pulitzer Prize winner, said the lack of appreciation society has for black culture results from bad teaching of black history in high schools and universities. “I know the history books that I studied left the black man out en tirely,” Gordone said. “He had no face in history except that there was slavery and that he was free. “But as far as his participation in the history books, he wasn’t even able to be found. The history of the black man was not infused in the di alectics of American history — there was no true depiction of the impor tance of them, either collectively or individually.” Gordone said black culture has made great strides in civil rights in the 1980s and that America still has a responsibility to itself to end rac ism. “There has been a lot of good changes,” he said. “There’s been changes right here in our own back yard. Ten or 15 years ago, it would be unheard of for me to even be on this campus teaching. “There has been great progress. Either you have it or you don’t — showing some sign of progress is not fulfilling the total dream.” McMullan said one reason why racism is still a problem is because blacks fell behind in the civil rights movement during the 1980s. She “If you are parallel parking your car and you are supposed to stop within plus or minus one one-hun- dreth of an inch from one foot from the curb, how long would that take you?” he asked. “Three or four years maybe?” “Fuzzy logic” allows for terms such as “close” and “almost” to be used, so it allows for more leeway, he said. Use of the technology in transmis sions is possible because parts don’t have to be placed exactly. Zadeh said some Subarus and a Nissan test vehi cle currently use “fuzzy logic.” Several recent papers on artificial intelligence have ignored “fuzzy lo gic,” hut Zadeh defended his inven tion by saying most critics of “fuzzy logic” don’t know anything about it. “An expert is a person who cannot afford to say T don’t know,’ ” he said. “It happens frequently that Some thing that is generally considered bad turns out to be something very basic to human reasoning. Instead of rejecting it, we should try to under stand it.” “Is 2 month’s salary too much to s for something that lasts forever?” Today, selecting a quality Diamond Engagement Ring means spending about 2 month’s salary, for the best quality] diamond you can afford. Come in and see our wide selection of fine quality Diamond Engagement Rings in elegant settings. DOUGLAS JEWELERS Culpepper Plaza 693-0677 Locally owned & operated for 25 years. All major credit cards. Financing availaft I O MSC Political Forum blamed Ronald Reagan for not doing more for civil rights, but ex pressed hope for the future. “Over the last eight years, blacks lost some serious ground in the Rea gan administration,” she said. “There are a lot of negative things said about Richard Nixon, but he did a lot for the civil rights movement. He put through a lot of good measures to help equalize what was becoming an unequal situation. “I’m very optimistic about the Bush administration. He’s made some really strong moves so far — not only with his views on education, but he sat down with school teachers and said that he will be the ‘educa tion president.’ He values education. I think education is the way that we’re going to continue to grow and remain strong. Again, we might equalize what is becoming an un equal ituation.” McMullan said racism isn’t nec essarily evil — it is just based on peo ple’s fears and misconceptions about a particular culture they don’t know enough about. “Racism is just a matter of igno rance,” she said. “If you donT know about another cultur®,* then of course you can’t appreciate anything about it. If you don’t know about any of the contributions by that culture, then you won’t have any apprecia tion.” Robyne Kelly, executive vice chairman of BAG, said although rac ism is hard to find, it is a problem which must be corrected. “Racism is a hidden type of thing,” Kelly said. “I think we have come a long way, but we have a long way to go. If we don’t watch it, we will be reversing the progress. If we don’t keep up with our achievements and educational benefits, we will be reversing back to the way things were 20 years ago.” The way things were 20 years ago is something McMullan said she re members all too well. Unless Amer ica is careful, she warned, the pro gress blacks have fought and died for in the area of civil rights will be reversed. “Racism is still evident,” McMul lan said. “Now it’s just in a different form. Twenty years ago, racism was overt: Bull Connors, the dogs, the hoses, the colored washrooms, seg regated restaurants. It’s a little more subtle now. It’s just a little different now. As a nation, we still have a lot to do.” Gray believes racism can and will be ended by a group effort in so ciety. NICARAGUA: MYTH OR REALITY FEATURING DR. ALBERT L. MICHAELS PROFESSOR OF HISTORY STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO Monday, February 13,1989 206 MSC 8:30 PM Free Admission This program is presented for educational purposes, and doe constitute an endorsement for any speaker. J.L ... LADIES & LORDS 5TH ANNIVERSARY TUXEDO SALE! 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