rant
r wit
wnfai
wth
a
naft.
The Battalion
Section B
Friday, September 1,1989
gnos.
hallii
te df.
ere in
e an;
Sani:
at at
orntei
char
Cleat
undt
5 that
aroct
mdtt
oretc
m
A&M center international in scope
Students, economy benefit from international business program
By Juliette Rizzo
Of The Battalion Staff
but
n bt
,H I
iland
colle-
inked
-and
'ation
In the future, the Texas economy,
as well as the world economy, will
benefit significantly from strong in
ternational business relationships.
Texas A&M’s Center for Interna^
tional Business Studies (CIBS) has
taken the first steps in getting the
University firmly established in a
wide variety of educational, business
and research programs beyond the
international threshold.
According to John T. Cater’s edi
torial overview in the Texas A&M
Business Forum, the role of interna-
donal business is critical to the diver
sification of Texas. For Texas, he
said, taking advantage of global op
portunities will produce “significant
and immediate” benefits to the state
and its citizens. He said that in order
for such diversification and growth
to occur, business people from
abroad need to feel comfortable
doing business in the state; thus, in
ternational relations need to be con
tinuously monitored.
Cater said Texas has a lot to offer
the international market. He stated
that due to the abundance of natural
resources in Texas and its advantage
of having access to several major sea
ports, an estimated 340,000 jobs in
Texas are directly or indirectly
linked to the sale of Texas goods
overseas. Another 150,000 jobs re
sult directly from foreign invest
ments in the state.
Through the College of Business
Administration and CIBS, Texas
A&M is doing its part to develop and
enhance instructional programs in
international business.
CIBS was created in 1985 by the
A&M Board of Regents as an educa
tional and research resource for the
University, Texas and the nation.
Since its creation, one of the center’s
primary objectives has been to pro
mote the offering of international
business courses at A&M and abroad
at universities such as Stirling Uni
versity in Scotland, the University of
Lancaster in England and the Kob-
CIBS
lenz School of Business in Germany.
In addition, Texas A&M is in the
process of strengthening ties with
yet another country, Japan, by estab
lishing an A&M branch in Ko-
riyama. Beginning in 1990, faculty
and student exchanges between the
Koriyama campus and A&M will
take place.
Les Fiechtner, associate director
of CIBS, said that although A&M’s
international involvement has not
been too visible in the past, the ef
forts of CIBS are making people re
alize that the University is a tremen
dous resource to facilitate getting
into the international business scene.
“A&M is a respectable institu
tion,” Fiechtner said. “While most
people do not think of A&M as an
international mecca, we are becom
ing better known. Now, the Univer
sity is a mechanism by which people
can be assisted and views can be
broadened.”
To facilitate the actual teaching of
business courses overseas, the center
acts as a liaison between the College
and the Study Abroad Office. Nu
merous internships and exchange
programs are available to students
and faculty and information about
such programs is available from
CIBS.
Several A&M students have bene
fited from inquiring about inter
nships with international businesses
in Great Britain, Germany, Hong
Kong, France and Mexico.
CIBS not only provides internship
opportunities; it also gives students
incentives to study international
business by administering schol
arships. On Aug. 8, Mitsui and Com
pany, a leading Japanese firm, for
mally awarded A&M with 10 $2,000
scholarships to be distributed to un
dergraduate students demonstrating
interest in international business.
The awarding of this funding makes
A&M the only other American uni
versity besides Harvard to receive
funding from the firm. Fiechtner
said “we’re in good company” as this
honor speaks well of the University
and its international business pro
gram.
The center seeks to make students
and faculty realize that the best way
to learn is through actual hands-on
experience in real-world settings.
CIBS is committed to the support of
research and education that contrib
utes to the understanding of the role
of Texas and the United States in
the world economy. By familiarizing
students and faculty with the vast
number of opportunities available
internationally, the center hopes to
contribute to strengthening both the
local and international business com
munities.
General Studies office,
Counseling Services help
students decide career
By Kelly S. Brown
Of The Battalion Staff
Many students enter college
not knowing what they want to
major in, so they choose a concen
tration that sounds ‘interesting’
or ‘money —making.’ Then, too
often, they wake up their junior
or senior year unhappy in their
major with a feeling that they’ve
gone too far to change.
The General Studies program
tries to prevent that situation. It is
designed for students with less
than 60 credit hours who are un
decided about a major, who have
declared a major and later found
it unsatisfactory or for students
who know what they want to ma
jor in but want to take the core
curriculum a little slower.
Jora Odom, an academic ad
viser for the 12-year-old pro
gram, said general studies is an
option to being tied to a struc
tured major and a good path for
any student to take.
“The biggest bonus with the
program is its flexibility,” Odom
said. “The students don’t have
any course mandated for them to
take so they can ride the fence for
a while and get a feel for what’s
out there academic-wise, while
they’re getting an excellent base
for their eventual major.”
The program, which has advis
ers who meet with students one-
on-one, works in conjunction
with Student Counseling Serv
ices, a free counseling program
available to all A&M students.
The counseling service offers
interest-inventory testing, career-
interest clinics and a compute
rized career-search system.
The University admitted
10,564 freshman last fall, of
which the program received
1,624.
Odom said the numbers of
those entering the program is in
creasing, and she doesn’t expect
anything to stop the numbers
from rising.
Frustrated men can tie one on with the Shelby knot
NEW YORK (AP) — For men who think
fumbling with a tie each morning is a pain in
the neck, here comes a new wrinkle in the
quest for a firm, symmetrical knot. It’s an in
side-out style called the Shelby.
Touted as the “first new knot for men in
over 50 years” by a Midwest clothier, the knot
was introduced to a Minneapolis TV
anchorman by a viewer who chafed at his
lumpy, twisted neckwear.
“I got sick and tired of looking at his tie ev
ery night. He always had a big knot in it,” said
Jerry Pratt, 92, a retired manager for the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce who lives in Minne
sota.
So in 1986, Pratt collared Don Shelby in
the lobby of WCCO and, quick as you can say
clip-on, shared a formula he had used for at
least 40 years.
The secret is to start with the seams out.
tfiT
I he beauty of it is the knot
won’t twist to one side or the
other. A tie sets the whole theme
of dress. If it’s twisted, that’s the
first thing people notice”
— Jerry Pratt.
With a bit of sartorial sleight-of-hand, the
knot forms securely and the broad part flows
down the shirt, finished side out.
The shorter blade underneath still has the
seams and the label facing out, although it
can be clasped with a pin or twisted so the
seams will turn in. It’s simple to tie and works
best with wider collars.
Pratt, as humble as he is meticulous, said he
stumbled across the knot by accident and
never thought of giving it a name through de
cades of secure wear.
“One morning I put my tie on inside out, I
tied it and it workeu. That was it,” he said in a
telephone interview Wednesday. “The beauty
of it is the knot won’t twist to one side or the
other. A tie sets the whole theme of dress. If
it’s twisted, that’s the first thing people no
tice.”
Joseph M, a custom men’s clothier in St.
Paul, Minn., learned of the knot, refined it
and established the tie-in with Shelby. It
printed a five-step diagram for customers
seeking alternatives to the bulbous Windsor
knot or the tightly tapered four-in-hand, the
most common knot among American men.
“You’re getting a balanced knot, but it’s
small and precise, not big and bulky like the
Windsor,” Kingford Bavender, an executive
with Joseph M, said. “I made up the cards be
cause I had so many customers ask me, ‘Why
does your tie hang so much better than
mine?”’
But because the knotting begins with
wrongside out, purists may not like it.
“It’s not for everybody,” Bavender said,
“You’ll never see one of the Kennedys wear
ing it.”
The knot’s newness apparently is legiti
mate.
The method of creating the Shelby doesn’t
appear in “Getting Knotted — 188 Knots for
Necks,” a reference guide for ties, scarves, as-
cots and cravats distributed by Ratti Silk Mills
of Como, Italy, and used by the Neckwear As
sociation of America.
.♦ ' ♦ ♦
Our Hewest SUPERSTORE is Now
Open in Bryan!
HASTINGS
Jfc)
BOOKS
MORE THAN
15,000
BOOKS
TO CHOOSE FROM!
30% OFF!
All Bestsellers EVERYDAY
10% OFF!
10,000 Book Titles
EVERYDAY
fc)
V—
MUSIC
DISCOUNTED PRICES EVERYDAY!
MORE
THAN
10.000
TO
CHOOSE
FROM!
MORE
THAN
5.000
TO
CHOOSE
FROM!
We Special Order!
SAY
NO!
TO DRUGS
Hastings
We’re Entertainment!
Manor East - 725 Villa Maria
«■»
MOVIE
RENTALS
MON - THU INCLUDING NEW RELEASES
FRI - SUN NEW RELEASES $1.49, THRU OCT. 8TH.
MORE
THAN
5000 MOVIES
TO
CHOOSE
FROM
Register to win a Movie Rental
Every Week for One Year!
25 WINNERS
Must Meet Membership
Requirements & Responsibilities.
Previewed Movies $7.96 And Up
Children’s Videos 99<
EVERYDAY!
Drop Box For Video Rental Returns Available.
Sunday - Thursday
10 am - 10 pm
•
Friday - Saturday
10 am - 11 pm