The Battalion
STATE & LOCAL
r, Augut 23,19B9
Tto Battalion
Co-op students get job experience
By Shady Schluter
Special to The Battalion
The Cooperative Education Pro
gram is attracting more Texas A&M
students because it gives them the
opportunitv to gam on-the-job expe
rience and make professional con
tacts in their career field while earn
ing some money.
Dr. Steve Yates, director of the
Texas A&M co-op program, said the
hands-on experience gained
through the program is invaluable.
“More ami more students are get
ting involved in co-op because thev.
along with parents and faculty mem
bers. are realizing that the best
learning comes by doing." Yates
said.
Co-op is a program that offers un
dergraduate students a chance to
comoine academic theory with prac
tical application, as long as they
maintain a 2.5 grade-point ratio and
a minimum of credit hours depend
ing on a student's major
Students appiv for |ohs and inter
view with organizations as if they
were applying lor a job after gradua
tion. The jobs that students accept
are jobs that are related to the type
of work they hope to do after grad
uation. Students who co-op then go
to school and work, alternating se-
said he got involved in the program
to get the competitive edge over his
classmates He spent his first semes
ter of work at Edwards Air Force
Base in California, working on the F-
AAore and more students are getting involved in
co-op because they, along with parents and faculty,
are realizing that the best learning comes by doing.”
— Dr. Steve Yates,
director, Texes AAM
Cooperative Education Program
mesterv until two or three co-op
terms are completed.
Students benefit from the pro-
C m because they get a head start in
job market and a "competitive
edge" over students who do not co-
op
Eddie Zavala, a junior aeroy
engineering major from FJ
■space
Pav >
18 High Angle of Atttack Research
Vehicle for NASA.
Zavala said he has above average
grades, but because of the work ex
perience he received as a co-op. he
will be able to compete in the job
market with students who have
higher grades than he does.
The co-op program not only helps
student participants, but also the or
ganizations that employ the stu
dents. Yates said.
"More employers are realizing
that co-op is a good business for
them, because their organizations
are getting long-term training, de
velopment and recruiting pro
grams." Yates said. "Manv organiza
tions are making co-op one of their
primary recruiting tools. The CIA.
IBM. NASA. U.V Fish 1c Wildlife
Services. Dow Chemical and Texas
Instruments are just a few of the
more than 176 organizations that
are recruiting students from AfcM
through the co-op program "
Dr. Bernard G. Carbajal HI. a se
nior member of the technical staff at
Texas Instruments, said the pro
gram helps his organization in two
SNMk I <-
"Co-op is a way for Texas 1 nstru
men u to get short-term technical
help from students, but it is also a
major asset to us as a recruiting
tom." Carbajal said. "The best re
cruiting tool we have on this (AleM)
campus is a satisfied Texas Instru
ments co-op student." *
See Co-op/ Page 7
Parasitology prof
of 37 years retires
Spodaf to Thai
As he leaned back in the chair of
his half-laboratory, half-office, amid
a collection of assorted beakers, test
tubes, a microscope and the trade
mark of all doctors — a white lab
smock — the simple but scholarly-
looking man talked about his hfe,
from his childhood through his
manv years at AlcM.
Bell’s students must have consid
ered him to be an exceptional pro-
feesor; he has received two plaques
of appreciation from the stuarnts A
banner reading. “Happy Retire
ment. Dr Bell, from the Class of
1992." decorates his office.
Brian Pot ret and Bruce Lyle are
third-year veterinary students who
took Beil’s veterinary parasitology
class.
Dr. RureJ R. Bell, professor of
parasitology, retires this month from
the Texas Veterinary Medical Cen
ter after 57 years of teaching and re
search.
Bell. 65. was raised in Gibson. Ga..
as the youngest of three brothers
He picked cotton and did farm labor
as a child.
"He told a bunch of stories and
anecdotes that reflected on his expe
riences, which applied to what was
being taught.“ Poteet said,
taught from the hip and ev«
came from his notes and
experiences "
“He
■■erything
personal
Lyle also praised Bell as an in
structor.
graduating from high
1941, Bell went to the U.S.
Del Rio residents fight to keep water safe
WASHINGTON <AP) — l>el Rio
is fighting to prot<*ct the springs that
make the city an oasis in the Chihua-
huan desert from Pentagon plans to
rock a nearby ranch with a series of
massive underground explosions.
Designed to simulate the impact
of nuclear blasts on subterranean
missile silos and military command
centers, the explosions on the Buck
King Ranch are an important el
ement in "our nation's strategic de
terrent capabilities,” officials from
the Defense Nuclear Agency say.
But 12.000 I Tel Rio residents base
signed petitions asking the Pentagon
agency to take its explosives else
where. saying they don't want to take
any chances with the Texas border
city’s only water sounx*. the San Fe
lipe Springs.
"We depend on San Felipe
Springs for survival." City Manager
Jeffrey Pome ran / says "The city of
Del Rio is not willing to play a what
if game with our water and the fu
ture of our city.
“No one in Washington has of
fered us any guarantees, nor can
they, that if our water supply was ad
versely affected, the federal govern
ment would step in and correct the
situation ”
Mexico has also expressed con-
■em to U.S. officials, including Sec
retary of State James. A. Baker HI.
ibout the potential impact of the ex-
iIoskkis said leonardn Ffrench, a
spokesman for the Mexican Em-
sassy
Defense Nuclear Agency officials,
however, hasten to point out that a
decision to conduct the tests hinges
on geological and environmental as
sessments of the area that have yet to
be completed
The agency spent- two years chos-
ing the site 25 mile*aiorth of Del Rio
from several around the country.
Today, it is the only location under
consideration for the graduated se
ries of explosions
The explosions would start with a
l.OOO-pound charge in 1990, in
creasing to 470 tons by November
1992 *
DNA spokesman C fieri Abdei-
nour said the tests would he per
formed with the same conventional
explosives used by the mining indus
try. and do not involve nuclear or ra
dioactive devices
Jack M. Bachkosky. director of
plans, programs and requirements
for DNA, said the tests are "impor
tant to the continued credibility and
viability of our strategic deterrent."
“As an agency, our primary re
sponsibility to the Department of
Defense is to ensure the survivability
of our strategic assets and the effec
tiveness of those same assets, when
used against anyone who might
threaten our security." he said "Ev
erything we do is in the context of
that sentence
But because of the sensitivity of
the tests. Bachkosky would not say
exactly why they were being per
formed
Del Rio officials, however, had
been told the purpose wax "deter
mine the survivability of under
ground missile silos and foreign mis
sile silos and other underground
military facilities." Pomeranz said
“They haven't gone into too much
detail It’s Just been very general."
Pomeranz said
After
school in
Navy Officers Training Camp for
two years. Taro years later, he re-en
listed in the U.S. Army during the
height of World War II. serving two
years in Panama on guard duty with
an infantry unit.
“I think I'm the only one in World
War II who didn’t do something
glamorous," Bell said.
In 1952 Bell came to AicM to do
research after he received his
D.V.M from the University of
Georgia. He became the 24th faculty
member of the College while work
ing on his master's degree He re
ceived the degree, in veterinary par
asitology, in 1955.
“He was really good about drilling
stuff
you’d need to know." Lyle said.
the necessary day-to-day stuf
.•-i i ._ i *• i -—La
“We didn’t have specialists in
those days (the late 1950s)," he said
“If we got it narrowed down to para
sitology. we were doing well.
’Specializing i
ause of tne
necessary today,
because of the vast amounts of
knowledge now available “
taught by example and told many
stones, but his tests were really chal
lenging and tough."
Outside of class. Bell makes him
self available to studenu and said he
enjoys working with them.
“You couldn't have asked for a
nicer man." Poteet said “He’d do
anything out of his way to help you
learn "
Carbwal xaio be is a strong sup
porter of co-op because he sees it as
nis < ompam's way of investing in the
future. Texas I nstrumenu hires 75
percent of its co-op students after
graduation
"Any company not involved in the
co-op program doesn't know what
k’s missing." Carbajal said "Co-op is
an investment that pays."
Co-op does pay. and this is a fac
tor many parents consider.
See Bell /Page 7
Chi Alpha and InterVarsity
present
Freshman
Blowout
All now freshmen invitedll
Saturday. Aug. 26 at 7 pm
701 Rudder Tower
cost is $2.00 per person
Com* m**t som* Ags that car*
from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Chi Alpha Fraternity.
. . John Watson 846-0607
for more information, contact Tracy Montgomery 764-8057
THING'S TO DO
1. Go by the boofcstore
Go by English Annex and pick
up *88 Aggieland
Did you forget to pick up your
1988 (Fall ’87/Spring *88) Aggie-
land? You can still pick your
copy up. Come by the English
Annex, Monday thru Friday,
8:30-4:30, and bring your I.D.
The 1989 Aggie land (Fall ’88/Sprlng
89) will be available In October. Look
for ftirther announcements in the
Battalion.
FAMOUS FIRSTS
&
FIRST
AIRPLANE
The Wright Brothers began
experimenting with kites in
the 1890’s and In 1903
became the first to sustain
flight for 852 feet over the
beach at Kitty Hawk.
!/
FIRST LOVE
She was the only one who
didn’t laugh when you fell off
the Jungle gym and broke your
leg. She even let you win at
checkers. What a woman!
FIRST CAR
The world’s first motor car.
the Lenoir, named after Its
Inventor, ran at an average
speed of 4 miles per hour. In
1863 the 11/2 horsepower
vehicle made Its first drive of
6 miles in only 3 hours.
UNIVERSITY TOWER
It’s time to Introduce another Famous First. University Tower. In August, the privately-owned and
managed property will open as a dormitory. At University Tower you’ll find 24-hour on-site security, a
huge bedroom and private bath, full meal plans, an exercise and weight room, study rooms A com
puter room, an indoor pool, a sport-court, a volleyball pit, laundry facilities, housekeeping service, and
a shuttle bus to campus. It’s the first and only dorm of its kind at A&M. Call or come by for leasing
Information for Fall/Spring 89-’90!
“Above and. Beyond the Rest"
University Tower
4IO South Texas Avenue
(409) 846-4242
1-800-537-9158
i-a
f
Umverxity Tower Is meneged by <
Dr Richard A Berne, general man
at the moat experienced student hnssatng i
r for WaBermeon neper/
f m the United Stales
SI the Unteerstty at Texas