ie Battalion
ol.89 No.138 USPS 045360 10 Pages
£1
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TOMORROW’S FORECAST:
Partly sunny and warm.
HIGH: 84 LOW: 68
Tuesday, April 24,1990
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W. Germans share wealth
with struggling neighbor
EAST BERLIN (AP) — West Ger
many agreed on Monday to give East
Germans a bigger share of Western
wealth as their struggling nation is
merged with its rich neighbor.
In a surprising concession, West
Germany said it would exchange
each virtually worthless East Ger
man mark paid to workers and pen
sioners for one strong West German
mark.
The 1-1 rate would apply to wages
and pensions and to savings ac
counts of up to 4,000 marks
($2,300), said Dieter Vogel, spokes
man for West German Ghancellor
Helmut Kohl.
The East German government
had demanded the 1-1 rate to pro
tect workers from higher living costs
in a unified Germany and the Toss of
huge subsidies that existed in the
former socialist system.
East German political factions ap
plauded the wage concession but
criticized the limit on savings ac
counts.
West Germany opposition parties
said the plan would cost billions and
lead to inflation. Prices on the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange plunged
2.5 percent after the announcement,
the sharpest decline in three
months.
Anticipating the money merger,
the East German state hank on Mon
day began moving sacks of out-of-
circulation East marks out of storage
in the East Berlin treasury to make
way for shipments of the West Ger
man mark.
An estimated 100 tons of currency
was loaded onto trucks to be burned
to make space for the West German
currency, likely to become East Ger
many’s official currency on July 2. It
already is used heavily in the coun
try, demanded by some restaurants
and hotels.
In another step toward creating a
single Germany, government
“I
If this is the final
decision, there should be
sharp protest because a
large part of savings will
not be considered here.”
— Wolfgang Ullmann,
vice president,
Parliament
sources in Bonn said Monday the
four Allies — the Soviet Union,
United States, France and Britain —
will meet with the two Germanys for
the first “two-plus-four” talks May 5
on the international implications of
German unification.
Kohl made the proposal the day
before he was to meet with East Ger
man Prime Minister Lothar de Mai-
ziere in Bonn to discuss their differ
ences over reunification.
It came amid reports that the
number of East Germans fleeing
their crumbling economy for West
Germany is continuing at a rate of
more than 4,000 a week.
Under the West German eco
nomic proposal, announced after
Kohl met with his Cabinet, personal
savings of more than 4,000 marks
would be traded at a 2-1 rate.
East German private and cor
porate debts also would be con
verted at a 2-1 rate, Vogel said.
The West German government’s
proposal is an “important contribu
tion” to ending the disagreements
between the nations. East German
government spokesman Mathias
Gehler said.
But Wolfgang Ullmann, vice pres
ident of Parliament, said: “If this is
the final decision, there should be
sharp protest because a large part of
savings will not be considered here.”
Both governments say they will
merge their economies completely
on July 1 as a prelude to full unifica
tion, expected next year.
The East German mark is offi
cially valued at 3-1 against the West
mark but is worth almost nothing
outside East Germany.
West Germany’s central bank had
proposed a 2-1 swap, saying a 1-1 ex
change would dilute the value of the
West German mark and possibly
cause high inflation and rising inter
est rates.
Shuttle bus collides with two trucks
By Fredrick D.Joe
Assistant Manager of Bus Operations Cheryl
Mize investigates an accident that occurred at
1:45 p.m. Monday at the intersection of Univer
sity Drive and South College Avenue. Witnesses
told College Station police the University shuttle
bus ran a red light at the intersection, struck the
right rear of a Chevrolet pickup and then was
struck in the front right corner by the Ford pickup
pictured above. Two persons involved in the acci
dent were treated at Humana Hospital.
Architecture students design home for man in coma
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By Mike C. Mulvey
Grey Elmore and architect Kay Henryson look at the model
made by design students Elmore, Ramirez and Cunningham.
By JULIE MYERS
Of The Battalion Staff
Moving day for Danny, Ann and
Alan Crocker was anything but typ
ical last weekend.
Alan moved into his new home
Friday, and his parents, Danny and
Ann Crocker, moved Saturday.
Their new home was designed by .
Dr. George Mann’s Texas A&M
freshman environmental design
class last spring for Alan, who suf
fered a closed head injury in 1981
and since has been in a deep coma.
Although Alan’s doctor advised
placing him in a nursing home in
1984 to receive the needed care, his
parents decided to bring him home
about five years ago to their home-in
north Bryan.
Mrs. Crocker also quit her job to
tend to Alan’s needs.
“I keep feeling like there’s some
thing more I should be doing for
him,” Crocker said.
“We were really close before the
accident. If anyone can get to him, I
can.”
The Crockers said they were
warned of the hardships in caring
for Alan, but they believed he would
receive the best care at home.
Their home in Bryan, however,
was not large enough to care for him
in the manner they would have
liked.
Mr. Crocker said the ceilings were
not high enough to allow them to lift
Alan out of bed with a special lift,
the hallways and doors were barely
wide enough to allow wheelchair ac
cess and there was no way to remove
Alan quickly in an emergency.
Additionally, because the Crock
ers employ two nurses to care for
Alan, there was little privacy for the
couple and a lack of privacy for Alan
when visitors came.
Alan’s nine-year-old daughter is a
frequent visitor.
“It was difficult, at best, to take
care of him,” Mr. Crocker said. “I’ve
lifted Alan more times than I can
count, but it still doesn’t make it any
easier.”
In March 1989 the Crockers
asked Mann, an expert in the design
of health care facilities, to help them
build a new house that would better
facilitate Alan’s care.
“All they could do was say ‘No,’ ”
Mrs. Crocker said.
After discussing their particular
needs, Mann suggested they present
their request to his freshman ar
chitecture class.
’ The Crockers were invited to at
tend several classes and explain their
needs to the students who then vis
ited their old house and the site of
the new home to formulate ideas.
A group design presented by ju
nior building construction major
Todd Cunningham, sophomore en
vironmental design major Greg El
more and junior environmental de
sign major David Ramirez fit most of
what the Crockers were looking for
aesthetically and economically.
“We liked all of them, but this
plan seemed to fit our needs better,”
Mrs. Crocker said. “They did a beau
tiful job.”
The 2,640-square-foot house de
signed by Cunningham, Elmore and
Ramirez emphasizes the back yard
and deck area and features a large
family area in the middle of the
house and an atmosphere conducive
to Alan’s condition and the rest of
the family.
Although Alan’s doctors were
against the move, the new house is
actually closer to the hospital than
the north Bryan home.
Ramirez said it was rewarding for
him to see the Crockers’ dreams be
come reality.
Kay M. Henryson, AIA, a local ar
chitect with Group 4 Architects-
Planners, was the professional hired
for the design development phase.
“It is satisfying to see something
the students did come to fruition,”
Henryson said. “In school, a lot of
See Home/Page 4
Released hostage
relaxes in hospital
WIESBADEN, West Germany
(AP) — Freed American hostage
Robert Polhill checked into a hospi
tal suite and spent his first day of
freedom Monday savoring
scrambled eggs and bacon and en
joying an afternoon snooze.
U.S. officials, who plan to question
Polhill about his nearly three years
in captivity, gave the 55-year-old
professor a day off to rest and un
dergo routine medical tests. He was
released Sunday.
They said Polhill, held by a pro-
Iranian group, was likely a captive in
the same building as two American
colleagues, but they doubted he
would know much about any of the
other 15 Western hostages in Leb
anon.
Meanwhile, there were reports
from Tehran and Lebanon that a
second hostage release may be in the
offing. But news reports in Tehran
and Beirut and a Pro-Iranian Shiite
cleric said the U.S. would have to re
ciprocate.
U.S. officials said they had no in
formation that a second release “was
going to happen.”
President Bush thanked Iran and
Syria for their help in securing Pol-
hill’s release. Syrian forces in Leb
anon picked up Polhill in West Bei
rut and drove him to the Syrian
capital, Damascus. Both Iran and
Syria apparently acted in an effort to
improve relations with the West.
But the president said he would
make no deals with the pro-Iranian
Shiite Moslem militants in Lebanon
still holding the Western hostages.
Discovery prepares for liftoff
after first attempt scrubbed
CAPE C ANAVERAL, Fla.
(AP) — Space shuttle Discovery
stood ready once again, weather
willing, to ferry the Hubble Space
Telescope into orbit Tuesday to
seek answers to two questions:
how old is the universe, and how
big?
At the Kennedy Space Center
on Monday, officials expressed
confidence the liftoff, scheduled
for 7:31 a,m. CDT, will occur.
But there was little of the excit
ement of two weeks ago when
hundreds of astronomers gath
ered, with their families, only to
see the launch scrubbed with four
minutes to go in the countdown.
“Here we are once again,” said
William Lenoir, head of the Na
tional Aeronautics and Space Ad
ministration’s space flight pro
gram. “We think once again we
are readv.”
The unstable weather during
launch preparations on Monday
was more of a concern than Tues
day’s. NASA delayed by an hour
the rollback of the service struc
ture which had protected the
shuttle from the elements.
Loading of more than a half
million gallons of hazardous fuel
was to start as scheduled after
midnight on the assurance of
forecasters that the storm would
be out of the area by then.
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Education at A&M examined by students, officials
By DEAN SUELTENFUSS
Of The Battalion Staff
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the
first of a four-part series focusing on un
dergraduate education. Part two will focus
on barriers to effective teaching.)
They’re the usual student complaints:
This class is too difficult; my professor is
unapproachable; I don’t know where to go
for help; I can’t understand my instructor.
But how true are they?
Interviews with Texas A&M students,
professors and administrators, along with
several student surveys, indicate many fac
tors prevent A&M students from getting
the best possible education.
There also are many ways A&M officials
are addressing these problems.
FACULTY MEMBERS
As with any organization, some people
perform their jobs better than others. Al
though many people believe A&M faculty
members do well in the classroom, some say
there are exceptions to that rule.
Fred Deakins, a freshman aerospace en-
ineering major from Plano, said he has
nown professors who are not good teach
ers.
“I had a prof for Math 151, and he was
terrible,” Deakins said. “You know, I think
it’s pretty sad that a university will throw
somebody like that in front of a freshman.
He’s just coming out of high school and he’s
got to get used to the college life and every
thing, and then they throw him a crummy
proL”
Deakins said some faculty members seem
not to be concerned about their students.
“There are some profs out there who
don’t do a darn thing for you,” he said.
“And if you don’t understand, that’s your
problem, and they don’t really care.”
Dr. Murray Milford, a professor of soil
science at A&M and the recipient of several
teaching awards, said professors cannot
teach well if they are not organized.
“I don’t think it takes a lot of effort to be
organized,” Milford said. “I hear of faculty
members going into classrooms totally un
organized. There is no excuse for that.”
Dr. Sallie Sheppard, associate provost for
honors programs and undergraduate stud
ies at A&M, said most A&M faculty mem
bers are talented teachers. According to
evaluation forms completed by students, it
I here are some profs out
there who don’t do a darn thing
for you. And if you don’t
understand, that’s your problem,
and they don’t really care.”
—Fred Deakins,
freshman
is rare for students to complain about the
quality of instruction at A&M, Sheppard
said.
Some faculty members and administra
tors say it is difficult to determine exactly
what good teaching is. Others add that it is
not desirable to place too much emphasis
on students’ evaluations of faculty because
effective teachers are not necessarily the
most popular with students.
Lisa Tomaselli, a senior biomedical sci
ence major from Plano, said there are some
exceptions, but most A&M professors are
good teachers.
“I haven’t really had any trouble with the
majority (of professors),” Tomaselli said.
“A lot of mine have seemed fairly enthu
siastic if not really enthusiastic about teach
ing. And I can say if it wasn’t for some of
the enthusiasm of my professors, I’d have
been really struggling.”
ADVISING
Although a survey recently completed by
A&M’s department of measurement and
research services indicates most students
believe academic advising at A&M is ad
equate, some students are not convinced.
Dana Dabney, a sophomore electrical en
gineering student from Terrell, said many
students do not know where to go for ad
vice on academic matters.
“There are a lot of people here who need
it (advising) and they don’t know where to
find it,” Dabney said. “And then when they
do, it’s just a matter of at that point in time
if you need help, you can’t get it.”
But the survey says students do indeed
know where to go for help.
“Over 80 percent felt they had adequate
information to make academic decisions,”
the report states. “Over 90 percent said
they knew' where to go for advice.”
Access to faculty members outside class
may be more of a problem than access to
advisers. Some students complain faculty
members are hard to reach or they do not
keep regular office hours.
According to another survey conducted
by the department of measurement and re
search services, many students say they
have trouble getting help from faculty
members outside of class.
The 1988 survey reports 34.4 percent of
continuing students and 45.6 percent of
exiting students (those withdrawing before
See Education/Page 5