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