Texas A&M
The Battalion
Vol. 88 No. 126 USPS 045360 12 pages College Station, Texas
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Wednesday, April 5,1989
Spring exam schedule includes
‘dead week,’ no weekend tests
By Fiona Soltes
STAFF WRITER
With the help of a committee
formed by Texas A&M President
William Mobley, the registrar’s of
fice has devised an exam and com
mencement schedule for the spring
semester that will attempt to please
everyone.
The committee, comprised of fac
ulty, students and regutrar person
nel, decided to have:
• A true “dead week.”
• A reading day.
• No tests during the weekend.
• Ample time for students to
study and for professors to turn in
grades.
• An opportunity for degree can
didates to participate in commence
ment activities, even if they haven’t
fulfilled all degree requirements.
Don Gardner, associate registrar,
said he is confident the schedule will
benefit everyone and will not
change.
“1 think it’s one of the best com-
romises we’ve ever come up with,”
esaid.
During the fall semester, the
schedule was changed several times
due to questions concerning senior
finals and tests during the weekend.
Gardner said Mobley declared
Monday through Wednesday, May
1-3, as “dead week.” No regular
course examinations may be given
during these days, with the excep
tion of laboratories and one-hour
courses.
Gardner said the group also gave
degree candidates with incomplete
grades or those waiting on transfer
courses extra time to clear up these
matters following graduation. This
plan will allow them to participate in
commencement exercises. Students
have until 5 p.m. June 9, the first
Friday of the summer semester, to
clear these blocks. The first degree
audit takes place May 11.
“In the past, we’ve had an iron
clad policy concerning degree requi
rements,” Gardner said. “But I think
this is one of the fairest compromises
we can make. We want students to
realize that all is not lost with an in
complete grade — they still have
nearly 30 days to find that faculty
member and work things out.”
The list indicating which students
have been cleared will be posted in
front of Heaton Hall beginning at 8
a.m. Friday, May 12. Blocked under
graduates may participate in com
mencement activities without receiv
ing a diploma and may begin
directing questions about blocks to
105 Heaton Hall May 15.
Graduate degree candidates with
questions should contact the Office
of Graduate Studies at 845-3631.
Candidates not cleared after the
one-month period must reapply for
graduation m the summer and pay
the $15 fee.
Transcripts, $3 per copy, will be
available to students who have
cleared all financial obligations to
the University, including University
Police. Those clearing the first audit
may pick up transcripts at Heaton
Hall Thursday, May 18, if requested
by the day before. Transcripts will
be mailed May 22 to those requesting
them.
The exam and graduation sched
ule will be as follows:
• Wednesday, May 3: Last day of
spring classes.
• Thursday, May 4: Reading
day; no classes or exams. Last day to
officially withdraw from the Univer
sity.
• Friday, May 5: 7:30 a.m. to
9:30 a.m., MWF 4 and after.
• Friday, May 5: 10 a.m. to 12
noon, MWF 8.
• Friday, May 5: 12:30 p.m. to
2:30 p.m., TTh 12:30-1:45.
• Friday, May 5: 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.,
TTh 11-12:15.
• Monday, May 8: 8 a.m. to 10
a.m., MWF 9.
• Monday, May 8: 10:30 a.m. to
12:30 p.m., MWF 12.
• Monday, May 8: 1 p.m. to 3
p.m., TTh 8-9:15.
• Monday, May 8: 3:30 p.m. to
5:30 p.m., MWF 3.
• Tuesday, May 9: 8 a.m. to 10
a.m., MWF 10.
• Tuesday, May 9: 10:30 a.m. to
12:30 p.m., MWF 2.
• Tuesday, May 9: 1 p.m. to 3
p.m., TTh 3:30 to 4:45.
• Tuesday, May 9: 3:30 p.m. to
5:30 p.m., MWF 1.
• Wednesday, May 10: 8 a.m. to
10 a.m., TTH 9:30-10:45.
• Wednesday, May 10: 10:30
a.m. to 12:30p.m., MWF 11.
• Wednesoay, May 10: 1 p.m. to
3 p.m, TTh 2-3:15.
• Wednesday, May 10: 3:30 p.m.
to 5:30 p.m., TTh 5 and after.
• Friday, May 12: 2 p.m., com
mencement for graduates and un
dergraduates in geosciences and lib
eral arts.
• Friday, May 12: 7:30 p.m.,
commencement for undergraduates
in agriculture, business, science and
veterinary medicine.
• Saturday, May IS: 9 a.m., com
mencement for undergraduates in
architecture, education and engi
neering.
• Saturday, May IS: 1:30 p.m..
Commissioning.
• Saturday, May 13: 3:15 p.m..
Final Review.
All ceremonies will be in G. Rollie
White Coliseum. Candidates in the
professional program of the College
of Veterinary Medicine can pick up
their diplomas at 10 a.m. Friday,
May 12, in Rudder Auditorium. The
College of Medicine and Texas
A&M University at Galveston will
not participate in the ceremonies.
Degree-candidate grades submis
sion is as follows:
• Wednesday, May 10: 6 p.m.,
grades are due for Friday and Mon
day examinations.
• Thursday, May 11: 1 p.m.,
grades are due for Tuesday exami
nations.
• Thursday, May 11: 6 p.m.,
grades are due for Wednesday ex
aminations.
• Monday, May 15: 10 a.m.,
grades are aue for all students not
graduating.
Gorbachev proposes ‘zone of peace,’
admits limitations of Soviet reforms
HAVANA (AP) —^ Soviet President Mikhail S.
Gorbachev told the Cuban legislature Tuesday
that Soviet-style reforms were not a universal
remedy for all communist countries.
In a 53-minute speech before the Cuban Na
tional Assembly, Gorbachev also proposed that a
“zone of peace” be established in Latin America
and the Caribbean and renounced any Soviet in
tention of establishing naval, air or missile bases
in the region.
Gorbachev also reaffirmed that the Soviet
Union will continue supplying weaponry to Nica
ragua’s leftist government as long as the United
States continues to arm other Central American
countries. The issue remains a major sore point
in relations between Washington and Moscow.
In his speech, the Soviet leader spent consider
able time justifying the need for the reforms he
has introduced in his own country.
“Today only those can count on success who
are marching in step with the times, who are
drawing the necessary conclusions from the
changes resulting from the fact that the world
has entered the era of high technology, of intel
lectual labor, of the decisive role of science,” he
said.
But Gorbachev added that “We do not regard
our approaches and solutions as some universal
prescription for all.
“On the contrary, problems may be similar,
but each party solves them in its own way, guided
by its own notions and the specific features of its
country,” he said.
There had been speculation that Gorbachev,
in a gesture of friendship toward Cuba, might
announce forgiveness of part or all of Cuba’s
debt to the Soviet Union.
But he barely mentioned the subject, merely
restating his position that the industrialized na
tions of the world should try to help ease the bur
den of debtor nations in the developing world.
Earlier, in an interview with the Soviet news
agency Tass, Gorbachev signaled that he and Cu
ban President Fidel Castro are prepared to work
for improved East-West relations, indicating
some softening in the Cuban leader’s rigid anti-
Americanism.
Gorbachev told Tass a central topic of his talks
with Castro on Monday was the “new thinking”
in Soviet foreign policy — an approach that seeks
to ease world tensions by reducing military com
mitments abroad and negotiating settlements of
regional disputes that threaten to bring the su
perpowers into conflict.
It is a tenet of Gorbachev’s reform policies at
home that the Soviet Union must demonstrate to
the West it is eager to serve as a cooperative part
ner in world economic development and dispel
the Kremlin’s “enemy image” of the Cold War
era.
Anticipation...
Junior Aggie Band members Andy Reighert (left) and Steve
Hanks wait on the side of the Band Drill Field Tuesday afternoon
before taking their turn in front of the band at drum major
tryouts. The judges chose juniors Mike Sammis, Troy Yoakum
and Steve Hare as the 1989-90 drum majors later that evening.
Students fill
eight positions
in run-off race
By Kelly S. Brown
STAFF WRITER
Eight Student Government posi
tions were filled in Tuesday’s run
off election in which more than 600
students turned out to vote.
Curtis Rick, a junior biology ma
jor, is the new president of Off-Cam
pus Aggies after winning 62.5 per
cent of the vote.
Rick received three more votes
than Shawn Knight, a sophomore
political science major, in the gen
eral election held last Thursday.
The Class of ’90 Treasurer posi
tion was won by Karen Hodge, a ju
nior management major. Hodge re
ceived 74.5 percent ol the vote.
Phillip Robertson, a sophomore
history/speech communications ma
jor, will be the Class of’91 President.
Robertson won 58 percent of the
vote.
Two offices for the Class of ’92
were decided in the election.
The Class of ’92s vice president
will be Bill Van Eman, a freshman
business administration major, who
gathered 57.8 percent of the vote.
The Class of ’92 treasurer position
was won by Rod Garrett, a sopho
more business administration major.
He collected 61.7 percent of the
vote.
Three Student Senate seats also
were determined in the run-offs.
Allison Baker, a sophomore busi
ness administration major, won the
Off-Campus Ward I Senator posi
tion. Don Schuck, a freshman phys
ics major, will be the new RHA Sen
ator for Aston, Dunn and Cain Hall.
G.G. Grant, a sophomore elemen
tary education major, won the seat
for Education.
B-CS, A&M officials lobby in Austin
for increased higher-education funding
By Stephen Masters
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTIN — More than 140
Texas A&M and Bryan-CoUege
Station officials met with legis
lators Tuesday to lobby for in
creased education funding and to
praise local representatives for
their education efforts.
A&M System Chancellor Perry
Adkisson thanked state Sen. Kent
Caperton (D-Bryan) and Rep.
Richard Smith (R-Bryan) for
their efforts to promote educa
tion in the state.
“They’re the hardest-working
two people here,” Adkisson said.
“Between our senator and our
represenative, we’re (Bryan-Col-
lege Station) going to come out in
good shape.”
The tnp was sponsored by the
Texas A&M/Bryan-Cqllege Sta
tion Council, an organization de
signed to promote A&M and the
B-CS area.
Louis Newman, chairman of
the council, said education needs
to be a high priority among legis
lators.
“Support to education in Texas
is right,” Newman said. “It makes
sense and it works. It pays for it
self.”
Newman presented Smith and
Caperton with plaques honoring
their support of public and
higher education efforts.
Caperton agreed with the prio
rities of the council and the visit
ing contingent.
“Nothing reflects more the ex
tent to which we believe in our
selves and our future than in
what we do in public education
and higher education,” Caperton
said. “We believe it is the right
thing to do because it does speak
loudly and dearly about where
we want to go in the future and
about what we want tomorrow to
hold for our children and grand
children.
“An investment that we make
today will reap benefits that are
not only tangible through eco
nomic restoration and renewed
vitality, but are intangible because
they are investments in the hu
man spirit and mind.”
Smith compared education
costs with detention costs in refer
ence to misplaced priorities.
“It takes about $30,000 per
year to keep someone in the De
partment of Corrections in Hunt
sville,” Smith said. “(It costs
about) $3,600 a year to educate a
public-school student. You multi
ply that out by about 12 years and
see that for about $40,000 you
can educate a student from first
grade through high school grad
uation.”
After the luncheon, Smith reit
erated that he thinks funding
should be increased, saying it
should be back to the level of
years past.
“We’ve been trying to nibble
away at (the difference in fund
ing from four years ago) over a
period of time,” he said. “You
can’t just come in here politically
and do it in one session. We
hoped to do about half of it last
time and get the other half this
time. We may not quite get that
this time.
“That’s a very ambitious target
in the environment we’re in, but
it’s worthwhile, and it’s worth
fighting for.
“You don’t win every battle you
fight, but you fight it anyway.”
Caperton, a member of the
Senate Finance Committee, spon
sored Senate Bill 222, the state
budget for the 1990-91 bien
nium. The budget allocates ap
proximately $357 million for
higher education, an increase of
$24 million from the 1988-89
biennium. Caperton’s bill also
gives a 7.1 percent pay increase to
all faculty and allows about $350
million for non-faculty increases.
The 1990 budget recently
passed the finance committee and
is scheduled to be presented in
the House Appropnations Com
mittee today. Caperton said this is
the earliest he can remember a
budget reaching the floor of the
Senate.
Crews prepare
Exxon Valdez
for refloating
VALDEZ, Alaska (AP) — Exxon
crews Tuesday finished pumping
the remaining crude oil out of the
tanker Exxon Valdez in preparation
for refloating and removing the
source of the nation’s worst-ever oil
spill.
The fugitive captain of the Exxon
Valdez sent signals he was ready to
surrender to face criminal charges
of operating the vessel while drunk.
The thick oil has floated over
more than 1,640 square miles and
soiled 800 miles of beach. Thou
sands of animals are known dead.
At noon Tuesday, Exxon said it
had finished transferring 48 million
gallons of crude to three other ships.
Twenty-five million gallons of oily
waste water remained aboard the
Valdez, which spilled more than 10
million gallons of crude into Prince
William Sound when it struck a reef
March 24.
The company said crews would at
tempt to pump air into the hold and
refloat the vessel off a reef at high
tide Wednesday afternoon.
If freed, the still-leaking ship,
which has eight holes some 20 feet
long in its hull, will be towed to a re
mote and already fouled cove for re
pairs.
Exxon then planned to take the
ship to a Portland, Ore., dry dock,
but port officials there said they
weren’t sure if they’d allow that,
even though the $12 million repair
bill would provide about 200jobs.
“We’re not willing to trade in the
environment for jobs,” Portland
port spokesman Darrel Buttice said
Monday.
Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt
said Tuesday there are “a lot of ques
tions that need to be answered 4 be
fore the Valdez is allowed to enter
the Columbia River.