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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1990)
10 ITexasA&Mf^ ^ ^ 1 * —_ tie tiattalion tS Of|vol.89 No.139 USPS 045360 10 Pages ^ettf ~ WEATHER TOMORROW’S FORECAST: Partly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms HIGH: 85 LOW: 68 Wednesday, April 25,1990 imes Computer (AP)- u hed bad;' Dakota ( res in But as rids Tolu] iy be in si •]■ Reva-., led to : of thepn y, work | iti-smokfnj wt at ail K ; tiers ora 3 Payne i "g. » : edtol)it> rrtainlyeitj hey mu Dakota ’ed thatkjl akota tes betaa i to is jobs ion kf. ne are ky signatme ■t Preside ox said $ eadline fcl InextM® that wii t have jR-| oher, on of st ns are hemtofitl tota ffeif iitheeittl D.C., tal thicai roj R.J. rev neec I we’re upsj ota rna/l Texas tel lix raoni5| iruses abound A&M campus not immune to infection KEVIN M. HAMM (The Battalion Staff Viruses have been infecting com- mters at Texas A&M for at least years and computers across the :ountry for many more than that, a irogrammer in the Computing iervices Center said. It is, however, problem without a simple solu tion. “This is obviously one of those iroblems that’s going to be around r a while,” Bill Hobson said. Although viruses have existed [for a number of years, one of the first instances of the problem the media reported was in November ‘1988 when a virus spread through Ithe Internet system. The system is a network consisting of university, military and commercial comput- ]ers, of which Texas A&M is a part. The virus found a weakness in Ithe network’s security and com pletely shut some systems down. Texas A&M recently has had [problems with the Ping-Pong virus, which affects personal computers such as IBMs, and WDEF, an Apple [Macintosh virus. , IT I his is obviously one of tee problems that’s going to be around for a while.” — Bill Hobson, programmer “A computer virus is any pro gram that spreads itself secretly,” Hobson said. “It may be destruc tive, a prank or even intended to be helpful, but it does spread.” He said Macintosh viruses are more prevalent than personal com puter viruses, but PC viruses do more damage. Additionally, many viruses are not intended to be harmful, but turn out that way be cause they are written sloppily, he said. Hobson said “it’s almost inevitab le” that any public-access computer lab will have an outbreak of viruses at least once. The Graphics Lab in the Teague Research Center requires students scan their personal diskettes with an anti-virus program before they can use them in the lab, he said. According to information Brad Epps of the ACC provided, there are two types of viruses: boot sector viruses and program viruses. BSVs are loaded into the computer’s memory as soon as the computer is booted up and subsequently infect any program run until the com puter is turned off. Program viruses infect executa ble files and are loaded into mem ory when an infected program is run. Viruses spread by two methods. They can stay in the computer’s memory and infect any program run, and they can seek out new files to contaminate once an infected file has been run. Eventually a virus will spread to a computer’s hard disk, Hobson said. Most viruses spread from one computer to another via infected floppy diskettes. “Scanning floppies is probably the most effective thing that you can do to slow down the spread of viruses,” Hobson said. In addition to viruses, there are programs that pretend to do some thing useful, but actually produce a harmful effect when run. These programs are called “Trojan Horses.” Unlike viruses, they do not infect other programs. Some viruses and Trojan Horse programs might contain a “time bomb” intended to destroy pro grams or data on a specific date or when a condition has been fulfilled. The “Sunday” virus, which has infected some computers at Texas A&M, is an example of a virus with a time bomb, Epps said. This virus causes a computer to display the following message on Sundays: “Today is Sunday! Why do you work so hard? All work and no play makes you a dull boy! Come on! Let’s go out and have some fun!” This virus also can destroy parts of programs. The information provided by Epps also corrected common mis conceptions people have about computer viruses: • A virus cannot spread from one type of computer to another, for example from a Macintqsh to a PC. Heavy rain, winds take C S by storm Before and after (Above) Photo by Scott D. Weaver (Left) Photo by Jay Janner A student makes his way down Asbury Street during the sudden thunderstorm early Tuesday afternoon. The picture was taken with a 50mm lens from inside a car. Compared to the A&M stu dent, there is nothing artistic about this house after Tuesday’s storm. The flood waters reached the windows of the garage. Patsy Williams, a staff assistant for the nuclear engineering De partment, lives alone in the house. No one was injured. By CHRIS VAUGHN Of The Battalion Staff The normal April showers turned ugly Tuesday night as storm clouds dumped al most five inches of rain in parts of College Station and spawned one possible tornado near Southwest Parkway in College Station. The airport recorded 3.62 inches of rain Tuesday night, but across town at College Station’s central fire station on Texas Ave nue, 4.48 inches of rain were recorded. Resi dents of Caldwell were attempting to dry out from more than 12 inches of rainfall in a mat ter of hours. Emergency vehicles stayed busy during the heaviest part of the storm, approximately 6 to 8 p.m., responding to downed power lines, trapped vehicles, car accidents, a gas leak and a reported tornado. No major injuries were reported in College Station, but one person involved in an acci dent on Tabor Road in Bryan was trans ported to St. Joseph’s Hospital with back inju ries. The tornado, which was unconfirmed by emergency personnel, was reported to the* College Station Fire Department at approxi mately 7:20 p.m., Capt. Tim Fickey said. Fickey said firefighters discovered a stor age shed on Laura Lane off Southwest Park way completely destroyed in addition to blown over fences, tree limbs in the road and debris in the area. The College Station Fire Department also responded to a natural gas leak near the east bypass and the Emerald Parkway exit. The gas line, reportedly four inches in diameter, took more than an hour to shut off because a contractor dumped a load of dirt on the shut off valve, Fickey said. The Bryan Fire Department made 14 runs from 6 to 10 p.m., which officials called a very high number. Bryan police said officers were called in early and made to work overtime to cope with the number of calls. Fickey said the College Station Fire Depart ment made 15 runs during the evening, but he said it was a low number for the severity of the storm. “We had less calls than what we’ve had for some storms of less severity,” Fickey said. “We didn’t have near the problems of some past storms. And this storm is one of the worst we’ve had in a long time, too.” Research, not teaching receives top priority See Virus/Page 4 By DEAN SUELTENFUSS Of The Battalion Staff (EDITOR’S NOTE: The hollow ing is the second of a four-part series focusing on undergraduate educa tion. Part three will be a question and answer session with Texas A&M President William Mobley.) It seems like an age-old question: Does a university’s research mission interfere with its ability to properly educate undergraduates? Some people say yes. Others say no. And many say the issues that are involved run much deeper than just “research versus teaching.” One thing is clear: Texas A&M is no longer simply an institution de signed to teach undergraduate stu dents. Research, graduate educa tion, community service and a host of other goals attest that A&M’s mis sion involves much more than sim ply filling the heads of eager young students with information. Many people at A&M believe edu cation is no longer even the main concern of this and other universi ties. The cause of the decline in edu cation, some say, is a system that places prestige, rewards, recognition and emphasis on research and rele gates teaching to a role of secondary importance. A faculty member in the Depart ment of History, who spoke on con dition of anonymity, said teaching is sometimes discouraged at A&M. “The system is geared to promote research,” the faculty memoer said. “The system works against effective teaching in that, I think, in many subtle ways it tells teachers who are putting too much time in on their teaching, ‘You’re going to suffer for this,’ or ‘You’re not really a good scholar. That’s why you’re putting so much time into your teaching.’ ” Dr. Clinton Phillips, associate pro vost and dean of faculties at A&M, disagreed. “I really question that assump- Professor shares opinions, says A &M misuses money, neglects education By DEAN SUELTENFUSS Of The Battalion Staff Donald R. Smith is an associate professor of indus trial engineering at Texas A&M whose views might be unpopular with some. T oo much money is wasted at A&M, good teaching is not properly encouraged by the administration, and ed ucation — the original mission of the University — has been neglected, he says, adding that some colleges and departments are exceptions to that rule. But Smith, who is quick to point out that many other state universities are encountering the same issues, is not alone in his assessment of A&M’s problems. Profes sors In other colleges at A&M have similar opinions. Others say teaching is rewarded well. Smith, the recipient of a teaching excellence award from the Association of Former Students, said good teaching is not adequately rewarded at A&M “We’ve gone too far in one direction,” he said. “We have left our teaching mission off on the side and taken it for granted. Now, the question is how do you circle back to it. “But I would argue that under the present philoso phy, those people who do a good job teaching and ad vising and spending the time with the students — I guarantee you they will get the lowest pay raises. Now, what speaks louder? Actions or words?” Responsibilities such as conducting research and get ting articles published sometimes take precedence over a professor’s teaching duties. Smith said, “Within A&M there is little or no reward for spend- ing a lot of time working with students," he said. “If vou don’t publish, if you don’t bring in funded research, if you don’t work with the graduate students — you have to do those three things here. “Spending a lot of extra time with underclassmen can get a faculty member in trouble at Texas A&M. I am sure die administration would take a far different view on that and say, ‘That is not true.’ Well, I’m sorry; It is true.” Smith, former director of undergraduate programs for the industrial engineering department, puiis no punches when he discusses his views about teaching at A&M. “I haven’t been promoted to full professor yet, and that’s because I don’t have 87,000 publications — I have about 15,” he said. “I don’t have enough. “See, I don’t have enough of this, enough of that, be cause I chose to spend my time talking, working, coun butt and I’ll leave. “See, the administration has to tell us, ‘Look, well make it worth your while to be a good teacher and to be a good adviser and to spend the time with the students.’ They ain’t saying that to us now.” A&M spends money on frivolous items instead of spending it on materials needed for education, Smith said. “Go look at some of these administrators’ offices,” he said. “You tell me they have to have walnut paneling and two-inch plaid carpet and fancy paintings on the wall? “They say, ‘Well, we have to look good to the outside See Professor/ Page 5 tion,” Phillips said. “It’s put forth, I suppose, by some teachers who don’t do research and use this as an ex cuse, that if they did research they wouldn’t be able to teach as well. I think that’s more of an excuse than an explanation.” The history professor said some deans and other administrators are partly to blame for the declining em phasis on teaching. “If you read their speeches, they always say good things about tea ching,” he said. “But if you’re around them you see what their priorities are. “The simple truth is that at an in stitution like this, deans get ahead by bringing in the best researchers, be cause it’s research that gives you a national reputation.” The professor said the size of the University and the emphasis on re search make it difficult for profes sors to work with students as much as they should. “Nevertheless, I know of no one in this department who doesn’t keep their office hours and isn’t accessib le,” he said. “The question is whether they really think much about teach ing, and the answer to that, I think, is ‘No.’ ” He said the growth of A&M, cou pled with decreased teaching loads in some departments, has made larger classes a necessity at A&M. Large classes and limited interaction between professors and students has affected the quality of undergrad uate education, he said. “I have numerous students who come into upper level classes who have written almost not at all in their years at A&M,” he said. “Well, that’s pathetic, just pathetic. If you can get to be a junior or senior in college and you haven’t written, then you haven’t been forced to form ideas and formulate opinions, and that’s tragic, because that’s not an educa tional system.” Larry Hickman, a professor of philosophy, said teaching and re search are not mutually exclusive. “I’m not one of those people who says that one can either do teaching or research, that they’re inimicable, because they’re not,” Hickman said. “They’re complementary. But the point is that we all have a finite amount of time.” Hickman said research often is emphasized more than teaching. “I would say that when it comes time for tenure, for promotion, that teaching comes in a poor second to research,” he said. “It’s a problem all over academia, because there’s more and more pressure to publish.” The solution is not to decrease emphasis on research, Hickman said, but to make teaching more im portant. Another faculty member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said some administrators are at least partly to blame for the dominance of research over teaching. “Administrators seem very good, in general, at saying the right public relations things to make it look like they’re concerned about students,” the professor said. “And, like I say, I think they are (concerned) up to a point. “By a point, I mean they don’t like See Teaching/Page 5