le Battalion
STATE & LOCAL
3
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Friday, May 4,1990
s A&M senior plans year overseas
By LIBBY KURTZ
^ ©f The Battalion Staff
- s Uii
While many Texas A&M students
lan to return home for the summer
r attend summer school, one A&M
udent will travel to West Germany
participate in a work-study pro-
W* m -
Janna Derkits, 22, a senior geog
raphy major, has been selected to at-
ni * tend The Congress-Bundestag
c <ir(H Youth Exchange for Young Profes-
onals.
CDS International Inc. adminis-
rs the program in the United
tales through a grant agreement
ith the United States Information
gency.
The program, now in its seventh
ear, provides young American and
rman professionals the opportu-
ity to work abroad and learn about
different culture.
Derkits, who leaves for West Ger-
any in August, said she is very ex-
Icited to be able to participate in the
Exchange program.
Student travels to participate
in German work-study program
'nni
“Three years ago, I spent six
weeks in West Germany while I was
studying abroad,” Derkits said. “I
really enjoyed myself. I’ve always
wanted to return and feel more in
volved. I want to be more than a
tourist. The exchange program will
give me that chance.”
Derkits will spend one year in
West Germany studying and work
ing.
“I’m not sure what city I’ll be liv
ing in, but I do know that I’ll be put
in some difficult situations,” she
said.
Derkits said she will have an ex
tensive two-month course in Ger
man and study environmental sci
ence for four months at a local
university.
During the last months of the pro
gram, she will work for a German
company. Derkits said she probably
will be working for a non-profit or
ganization or a business that is re
lated to her major.
Charles Grant, a coordinator of
the exchange program, said Derkits
is the second student from A&M to
participate in the program.
“We have more Germans partici
pating in the program than Ameri
cans,” he said. “The Germans push
the program more than us. It’s a
novelty for the Germans to visit and
work in the United States.”
Eighty German students were se
lected to join the program this year.
And of the 350 American applicants,
55 were selected.
The individuals selected must be
between the ages of 18 to 24. Besides
that qualification, Grant said they
look for outgoing young profession
als.
“Those selected must be able to
adapt to different situations,” Grant
said. “Everything is different in West
Germany from their food to their
culture. We want individuals that
will be able to adjust to the changes
that they will face.”
Grant said the individuals they
look for don’t have to be college stu
dents, but they should have a strong
vocational background.
“It’s much easier to place a person
who is vocationally oriented, op
posed to someone who is a history
major, in a German company,” he
said.
Grant said the exchange program
pays for everything except the par
ticipant’s spending money.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for
a student to see and study another
culture,” he said.
Derkits said she thinks of the pro
gram as post-graduate work.
“I’ll graduate in May,” she said.
“The exchange program will let me
become more internationally awa
re.”
EPA finds high level
of toxin in seafood
HOUSTON (AP) —Disturbing
levels of highly toxic dioxin have
been found in fish, oysters and crabs
in the Morgan’s Point region, the
Houston Post reported Thursday,
In a copyright story, the Post said
state health officials plan additional
testing before deciding whether to
restrict seafood catches in that area.
Peak dioxin levels were found in
blue crabs from the Houston Ship
Channel at the San Jacinto Mon
ument by the Environmental Protec
tion Agency, which did the original
testing.
The crabs contained 54.8 parts
per trillion of dioxin — the highest
level found in the marine life at 39
sites in a three-state test area.
Twenty-five parts per trillion of di
oxin has been designated as the
“level of concern” in fish by the fed
eral Food and Drug Administration.
Despite the .findings, Texas De
partment of Health spokesman Kirk
Wiles said he didn’t think there was
“any reason for great panic or con
cern.”
“I’m not sure anybody consumes
enough crabs to make it an immedi
ate health crisis,” Wiles said. “How
ever, we do need to collect more data
and define the problem and make a
decision on what to do.”
The EPA also found 14.8 ppt of
dioxin in sea catfish and 6.1 parts
per trillion in oysters at Morgan’s
Point, where the ship channel enters
Galveston Bay.
In reporting its findings to the
state about a month ago, the EPA
recommended that the health de
partment consider issuing a fishing
consumption advisory.
But Wiles said the agency wants to
do additional testing before deciding
on an advisory.
Quayle visits flooded neighborhood,
Campaigns for Republican candidates
DALLAS (AP) — Vice President Dan Quayle’s whis-
kle-stop tour on behalf of Texas GOP candidates was
briefly sidetracked by storms Thursday, as he made an
mpromptu inspection of a flooded neighborhood
where hundreds were evacuated.
“It’s scary any time that the floods hit," Quayle said,
■ , noting that last year his parents’ home was flooded in
J Roanoke, Ind.
“It took them months to clean up,” he said, calling
> wiifel the incident “a very sad predicament.”
lain; “That’s why I wanted to stop by to at least offer my
. InJ assistance.”
Earlier Thursday during a press conference to pro
mote the state’s Republican candidates, Quayle an-
ounced President Bush had signed a federal disaster
relief measure for four Texas counties battered by vio
lent storms last week: Brown, Comanche, Erath and
Parker.
Standing inches from a flooded intersection, Quayle
said if Gov. Bill Clements applies for federal aid for
other areas he will find “a very cooperative president.”
The vice president toured Rochester Park in South
Dallas, flooded by the Trinity River.
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Quayle urged residents to move their belongings to
higher ground, warning them the water was expected
to keep rising.
“Let us know if we can help,” he said while shaking
hands with several residents.
Earlier, Quayle stumped for Texas GOP gubernato
rial nominee Clayton Williams and other Republican
office-seekers at a downtown hotel.
He called the Midland oilman-rancher’s election “a
key priority for President Bush.”
“The White House will be involved energetically,”
Quayle said, promising return campaign appearances.
“Texas is very important to the president.”
Quayle said he is impressed by Williams’ energy “and
his understanding of what leadership is all about.”
Quayle sidestepped questions about whether Wil
liams’ admission that he frequented prostitutes in his
youth would hurt the candidate. He also refused to dis
cuss a remark Williams made in March, comparing bad
weather to rape.
Williams faces Democratic state Treasurer Ann Rich
ards in the November election.
Lab animals exchanged
for computer simulators
By JOE FERGUSON
Of The Battalion Staff
The computer age has claimed
another victim at Texas A&M.
Laboratory animals that have
played a central role in the educa
tion of generations of biology stu
dents are being replaced with com
puter simulators.
“When computers are appropri
ate they are a very effective way to
teach the concepts of the (physiol
ogy) course,” William Perry, assis
tant dean of the College of Science,
said.
‘When appropriate’ is determined
by which students are taking the
class.
Health education, physical educa
tion, pre-nursing and pre-nutrition
majors are a few of the possible users
of the computer simulators. Dr. Vin
cent Cassone, an assistant biology
professor, said.
Cassone said the move came be
cause of the simulators’ potential to
promote financial and academic effi
ciency.
With the cost of laboratory ani
mals at $2,000 per year, Cassone
said the mistakes of non-science ma
jors can get expensive.
Computer simulation also is a
more efficient way of teaching a
non-science major class, Cassone
said.
Non-science majors, for the most
part, only need the data gained from
the experiment, whereas science ma
jors also need to know how to get the
data.
The three Hewlett-Packard com-
E uters used for simulations have
een on-line in the biology depart
ment since Fall 1989. The three
computers total $18,000.
But with enrollment around 300
for the physiology course, more
computers are needed.
“The class needs three times as
many (computers) to accommodate
the number of students,” Cassone
said.
Perry said, however, he is waiting
to see how things work out initially
before getting more computers.
The computers were financed by
a grant from the computer science
department.
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