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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1989)
he Battalion WEATHER TOMORROW’S FORECAST: Partly cloudy HIGH: 86 LOW: 64 Vol. 89 No.32 USPS 045360 16 Pages College Station, Texas Monday, October 16,1989 A wounded cougar Aggies Kevin Tucker (90), Trent Lewis (53) and James Webb (65) celebrate after sacking Cougar Photo by Scott D. Weavt quarterback Andre Ware during Saturday’s 17-13 Aggie win. See Sports/Page 11. Hurricane Jerry rushes ashore near Galveston Residents hit by 80 MPH winds, heavy rains GALVESTON (AP) — Hurricane Jerry roared into the Texas coast on Sunday, shaking flagpoles and trees, downing power lines and combining with the highest tides of the year to flood coastal areas. Thousands of people headed for high ground. The hurricane moved over the west end of Galveston Island with sustained winds of 65 mph and gusts up to Texans prepare for Jerry/ Page 5 81 mph at 7:25 p.m., said Scott Kiser, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Houston. He said scattered power failures and street flooding, but no immediate injuries, were reported. The city of 62,000 was the site of one of the worst hurricanes in U.S. history, a storm that killed 6,000 people in 1900. As Jerry struck, heavy rains and rising tides moved over the upper Texas coast and were expected to in crease over the southwest Louisiana coast, the National Weather Service said. Jerry strengthened from a tropical storm to a hurri cane 110 miles off Galveston Island at 11 a.m. when its sustained wind hit 75 mph, or 1 mph above the thresh old, said the National Hurricane Center in Coral Ga bles, Fla. During the afternoon, the storm reached 85 mph sustained winds and swung onto a northerly course toward Galveston, the hurricane center said. Hurricane warnings were posted from Freeport, Texas, to Intracoastal City, La. Tornado watches were posted over southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas. A funnel cloud was reported near New Orleans on Sunday. Galveston City Manager Doug Matthews said he be lieved many of the island city’s residents decided to stay in their homes behind the seawall. He also said about 500 residents had left their low-ly ing homes on the island’s west end, which is not pro tected by the seawall. Freshmen must take skills test to register for Spring classes By Mia B. Of The Battalion Staff b&M Building renamed to honor former regent, alumnus David Eller By Kelly S. Brown |Of The Battalion Staff When David Eller came to Texas lA&M in 1955, the only thing on his [mind was surviving his first week in [the Corps of Cadets. His second [thought was surviving the next | week. Eller survived — and he suc- [ceeded too. He was so successful in [the 30 years since he graduated from Texas A&M that on Saturday the Board of Regents paid tribute to Eller, himself a former regent, by re naming the Oceanography and Me teorology Building after him. President William Mobley said the [oceanographers, meteorologists, ge ographers and administrators who occupy the 15-story building are “truly people who exemplify David Eller’s vision of the future. They ob viously think big, for they have cho sen to study the earth, its oceans and [its atmosphere.” The David G. Eller Building for | Oceanography and Meteorology, which is the tallest building between Dallas and Houston, is topped with an observation deck and houses key classrooms and labs, as well as ad ministrative offices for the College of Geosciences. The radaf unit is ca pable of scanning as far out as the Gulf of Mexico. Eller’s own radar has scanned vast See Eller/Page 10 areas as well. A Mexia native, Eller earned de grees in both geological engineering and business at A&M, and also die! Warning: if you are a freshman and haven’t taken the Texas Aca demic Skills Program test by Nov. 18, you will be blocked from Spring registration. “Before students obtain nine credit hours, they need to have taken the TASP test, which mea sures writing, reading and math ematics skills, or they won’t be al lowed to register,” Pam Kibler, a counselor for the Academic Skills Program, said. Kibler said approximately 2,000 students at A&M have' yet to meet the TASP requirements as mandated by Texas legislation. Students are exempt from taking the test if they have taken at least 3 credit hours at another University or community college or if they placed out of 3 credit hours by examination before the Fall 1989 semester. Students need to make sure they send transcripts to the A&M Office of Admissions and Records before these exemptions will be acknowl edged, Kibler said. Students who take the TASP test and fail one or more sections must enroll in appropriate Developmental Studies courses. They can continue taking courses until they reach 60 hours as long as they are enrolled in these courses. “In order to take the TASP test before the November deadline, stu dents need to register now because deadline for obtaining material is Oct. 20,” Kibler said. Registration booklets containing applications are available in the Of fice of Measurements and Research Services, 257 Bizzel Hall and in the Academic Skills Program Office, 305 Academic. Kibler said the Academic Skills Program offers instructional aid for students who fail one or more parts of the TASP test. “The program provides aid for students who have weaknesses in math, reading and writing,” Kibler said. “Our goal to prepare them for the TASP test, and to help them ex perience success in all their academic courses.” Three specialists in areas the TASP exam tests design courses based on a student’s individual need. These cost the same as regular col lege hours, she said. Student 6 Y’ celebrates 100th birthday over weekend By Michael Kelley Of The Battalion Staff The Student ‘Y’, Texas A&M’s second-oldest student organization, celebrated its centennial birthday Saturday with the dedication of a plaque honoring one of its early leaders, a tailgate party and a ban quet for former and present Student YMCA members. The 100-year-old Student ‘Y’ is preceded only by the Corps of Ca dets in age at A&M. The Corps has been at A&M since the first day of classes. The plaque located in the YMCA Building was dedicated Saturday morning in honor of the late J. Gor don Gay* who served more than 42 years with the Student ‘Y’, 16 of which he was general secretary and coordinator of Religious Life. He is also known for starting Fish Camp, in which incoming Aggie freshmen go camping for a few days to discuss their future at A&M. “This plaque is in honor of a par ticular person that is representative of all those people who helped de velop the YMCA,” Student ‘Y’ presi dent David Mendoza said. “We chose Mr. J. Gordon Gay be cause he was a very important figure on this campus while the YMCA was developing and a vital part of the YMCA during his time here at Texas A&M University,” Mendoza said. David Gay, Gordon Gay’s son and a University of Arkansas economics professor, accepted a replica of the plaque honoring his father Saturday night at the centennial banquet. He said that his father would have been embarassed by all this and would have wanted to see the names of the many other persons who have helped the A&M YMCA grow over its 100 years of existence. Gay commended those students who have given of their time and service through such groups as the Student ‘Y’. Your participation in the Student ‘Y’ is very important, because it is out of a sense of service and commit ment to something larger than your self that you also discover other things about yourself,” he said. Gay talked about a team of Uni versity of Arkansas officials who came to A&M to see “what it was that makes a difference at Texas A&M.” He said the conclusion of the com mittee was that it took these things that make Aggies proud about being students at A&M — service, friendli ness, a sense of vision and a sense of integrity. He credits organizations such as the Student ‘Y’ as the reason these characteristics pervade Aggie- land. Following the dedication, a tail gate party was held before the A&M- University of Houston football game to allow both former and present Student ‘Y’ members to become ac quainted with one another. After the game a banquet was held to mark the end of the 100th birthday of the or ganization. Dr. J.C. Caffey, Class of ’55 and the first Fish Camp chairman in 1954, said the YMCA has always been a service organization. He said even though it is less reli giously-oriented now than in his time, it still stands for the same serv ice to students. Mendoza hopes that the centen nial activities will spark interest for more students to get involved with the Student ‘Y’ at A&M. XX X 1 l 1 x X ic 11 v_ va v_. i v. ca x y c* icxxx xx x »- x^\_x i x ^x x x v x \ v* ‘rvation deck and houses key Building was dedicated Saturday YMCA during his time here at ‘Y’is very important, because it is out gate party was held before the A&M- the Student‘Y’at A&M. inging Cadets’ director going strong after 30 years b Krnnok ~Sir-siF jjl.gfeii8%..wf w Hf!"y&F w H*' ^ ail thev keen "Am- too much. Boone r^r By Bob Krenek Of The Battalion Staff ebrating his thirtieth [anniversary as the director of the Singing Cadets, and he has no plans [toretire any time soon, he said. Til keep going as long as I feel [I’m doing something positive,” Boone said. “Whether it’s helping the guys grow up or doing some thing good for the community. I really don’t know what I’d do if I re- I tired.”' The Singing Cadets is an all-male choral group that performs over 50 times each year both on campus and throughout thetate. Boone’s attitude and concern for both his students and the commu nity were among the reasons he was specially honored at the Cadets’ fif tieth anniversary banquet Friday. Boone received an award recogniz ing his 30 years of service in the presence of many present and for- [nier students. His job, Boone said, is beneficial [to him as much as to his students. “It gives back to me more than I [ive it,” he said. “I think I have the *st job in the world. It’s been my therapy.” The theraputic value of the job l^n be attributed to the students, “oone said. “I like the young people the most; they keep me young,” he said. “Any body who goes into public education must be very people-oriented.” His love for teaching and people have not, however, always been this strong. “I swore I’d never teach school,” he said with a laugh. But, due to a mistake by the Navy, he was forced to take the first job available, a teach ing position. Boone served in the Navy after graduation from high school and was attending the University of Houston when he was recalled into active duty during the Korean Con flict. He received an extension to en able him to finish school. Upon graduation, he reported to New Orleans only to discover his or ders had somehow been cancelled. Since he was planning to enter the Navy, Boone had not looked for a job and in fact had turned down job offers. He managed to get an interview with the College Station schools su perintendent. The interview lasted a scant 10 minutes and Boone re ported to work the following Mon day. Boone spent the next seven years at A&M Consolidated High School, where he directed the band and choir, in addition to teaching a drama class. He spent his spare time commuting to Sam Houston State to get his master’s degree. Finally feeling as though it was all too much, Boone quit and taught in El Campo for the next two years. His duties there were reduced to direct ing the choir and drama. In 1960, he received a phone call that led to the position he has held ever since. The director of the Ca dets, Bill Turner, was leaving, and Texas A&M was looking for a re placement. The choice was an easy one, Boone said. “I had long admired the Singing Cadets while I was at A&M Consol idated,” he said, “and I had wanted to be a part of that.” Besides, he said, “I was very familiar with the campus, and you can’t live in this town with out having maroon blood.” Boone arrived on the A&M cam pus in September 1960 as the Texas A&M Music Coordinator and the di rector of the MSC music program. He served as the booking agent for all the shows on campus and also taught a music appreciation class. The Cadets were performing about 10 times a year at this time, but under Boone’s direction the Ca dets slowly took off. “We were mostly performing on campus and around town,” Boone said, “but we just kept getting more and more bookings and now we do about 50 shows a year.” Boone has seen many highlights in his years at A&M. The Cadets have appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Mike Douglas Show and Photo by Robert Huff Robert L. Boone directs the Singing Cadets during rehearsal last Thursday. have been featured on the Miss Teenage America pageant seven times. They have performed all over the country and in foreign countries as well. Most of their engagements, how ever, are for A&M mother’s clubs around the state. These perfor mances raise money that is sent back to A&M in the form of student scholarships. These shows, Boone said, are the heart of the Singing Ca dets program. “Our purpose,” he said, “is to rep resent Texas A&M through musical presentation, wherever and when ever possible. ‘Represent’ is the key word. We want people to think A&M See Boone/Page 10