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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 1990)
Razorback reactions Arkansas’ move to the Southeastern Conference delights its coach. See Page 5 Vol. 89 No. 184 USPS 045360 8 Pages College Station, Texas Friday, August 3,1990 elevisio: thoujl comeit "ant p var." Egress m auk is higk iouse rmed Si i Nuni late ar s -here' ublicaiij e$Mi questeii: int on lion for ly! University wants more state funds By CHRIS VAUGHN Of The Battalion Staff ts l randi em tdnestt 42 gOlffi t'hich I peo o arm elevisi it ent o® u Bab lation . K t oselit i fret: to SK rlv det on e Can peop: y. W ong at tk he fin :d. n Grt ted tk ncond if ediate^ rvsa iloyeei ereei tly> 1 Sha' e rad: ootiij e tek plan thefi beff yers 1 1 he’ ion' 1 ' rlv, n)" 1 ico- 1 sto tagus has® ctor irtu f hoK ut tin ispt 1 ifluei e inw 1 cord ;orn : f tit i lip -a® 1 and aid’ ■intf iff f resident for academic affairs said e is optimistic about the Universi ty’s request to state budget officials for $160 million more for the 1992- 1993 biennium. A&M administrators told visiting staff members from the Legislative Budget Office, governor’s office and other state budget offices Wednes day that A&M needs $70 million more for 1992 and $90 million more for 1993 from state coffers. “It’s hard to predict at this point,” Dr. E. Dean Gage said about the re quest. “We will be dealing with a lot I of new legislative people and they ™ have major funding issues before them. ... But we’re optimistic about our request and how we justified it.” Assistant Provost G.D. Parker said | A&M would like the state to increase I its funding so A&M could use less of the Available University Fund to maintain and operate the University. Parker said A&M presently is hav ing to use the AUF to support fac ulty and staff salaries instead of us ing it for University enhancement and enrichment programs for which it was intended. Among the University’s major concerns were comparably low fac ulty and staff salaries and a smaller- than-needed budget for the Sterling C. Evans Library, Gage said. “For us to remain competitive, we must keep our faculty salaries com petitive,” he said. “Unfortunately, we have not had adequate staff sala ries either, and we’re concerned.” A&M requested a 10.7 percent faculty salary increase for 1992 and a 10.8 percent increase for 1993. Gage also said the University re quested more money from the state because it would like to add 73 fac ulty members in 1992 to maintain the student-teacher ratio. The student-teacher ratio pres ently is 20-1, which Gage said the University would like to get down to 18-1. “We discussed with them our en rollment management program,” Gage said. “We said we were a qual ity teaching institution and that it was important to us to manage our enrollment, and at the same time add additional faculty.” Another major request A&M made was to increase funding for the library to $8.8 million for 1992 and $9.6 million for 1993. Parker said A&M’s library is funded by the state through a for mula, and that A&M has been get ting only about 50 percent of what it deserves through that formula. Next year’s library budget is $8 million, but A&M is paying for more than $3 million of it. Other requests made Wednesday were to increase money for depart mental operating expenses, minority student scholarships, the Commit ment to Education program, inter national programs, the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, the Cy clotron and get a larger return of the indirect costs for research grants. Funding also was requested for minority outreach centers in Hous ton, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi and McAllen, which operate in conjunction with the Uni versity of Texas and University of Houston. A&M officials must make their fi nal requests by Oct. 1 before budget planners begin drafting recommen dations for the Legislature, which begins its next session in January. Gage said he believes A&M has been a good steward of the state’s money and that increased funding is an investment in the future. “We attempted to confirm to them that we are a quality program and we are an investment in the de velopment of human resources and in technology in this state’s future,” he said. BATTIPS Anyone with story suggestions can call BATTIPS, The Battal ion’s phone line designed to im prove communication between the newspaper and its readers. BATTIPS’ number is 845- 3315. Ideas can include news stories, feature ideas and personality pro files of interesting people. Memories in the making Photo by Thomas J. Lav in Students enjoy a game of Frisbee football on the Simpson Drill Field at sunset Thursday. Math, science requirements upped for incoming freshmen By SEAN FRERKING Of The Battalion Staff Many incoming freshmen will benefit from Texas A&M’s tougher math and science entrance require ments, the director of admissions said. Dr. William Lay said students entering the University in Spring 1991 must take an additional half-credit of higher mathematics in high school. Lay said high school students seeking entrance to A&M also will be required to choose among biology, chemistry or physics to satisfy the requirement of two years of science. These new standards, however, will not apply to stu dent athletes enrolled at A&M. Student athlete requirements, according to the 1989- 90 National Collegiate Athletes Association Manual, compared to those for other students, from the 1990-91 A&M Undergraduate catalog, are as follows: • English — Three years for athletes vs. four years for non-athletes. • Mathematics — Two years for athletes vs. three and a half for non-athletes. • Natural science — two years (including at least one laboratory course) for athletes vs. two years of biology, chemistry or physics for non-athletes. • Minimum SAT score — 700 for athletes vs. 800 for non-athletes in the first quarter of their class. Lay said admission requirements for student athletes are set by the NCAA and usually are less stringent com pared to the requirements for other students at the Uni versity. Previous admission requirements for non-athletes at A&M were three units of math and two units of science in which applicants could take physical science courses in place of quantitative sciences. Higher mathematics such as trigonometry, calculus or linear algebra had not been required for admission, although completion of such courses was strongly rec ommended. Lay said the main reason the University adopted the changes in entrance requirements was because adminis trators and faculty members believed incoming fresh men needed a stronger, broader background in basic math and science courses. “We wanted to prepare students for the increases in the core curriculum,” Lay said. “By raising the require ments, students will be better prepared to meet the challenging courses A&M can provide.” Lay said the lowest level of math offered in any de gree program is finite mathematics, or Math 141. He said many students entering the University were not re ady for advanced mathematics. “Many students struggle with the higher math course required by the University,” Lay said. “By requiring them to take these courses, we hope capable students will not avoid these important and basic courses.” Dr. Robert Clark, professor of physics, said the new standards should help incoming freshmen, no matter what their major. “I think it (the raising of the requirements) is a fine idea,” Clark said. “It will force capable students to take basic courses in science and math. It will better prepare incoming students for A&M.” He said the changes will encourage students to learn more in high school and help freshmen stay at the Uni versity because they will have a more stable background in math and science. “A lot of the time, I hear students complain they weren’t prepared for A&M,” Clark said. “Now, these new requirements won’t let high school students avoid the more important, although the more difficult, courses in math and science.” Dr. Roger Crockett, an associate professor of Ger man and an ungraduate adviser for modern language, said he also welcomed the change in the admissions process. “As an undergraduate adviser, I have seen many stu dents who are woefully unprepared for the high level of mathematics at this University,” Crockett said. “I think the new requirements will help prepare high school students for the reality of college.” Iraqi forces seize control of Kuwait KUWAIT (AP) — Invading Iraqi soldiers quickly seized control of Ku wait on Thursday after two weeks of threats, and Iraq warned foreign governments it would turn the oil- rich state into a “graveyard” if they came to its aid. Kuwait’s leader, emir Sheik Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah, fled to neigh boring Saudi Arabia. Iraqi forces oc cupied all government buildings in the capital and were moving south toward oil installations, officials said. The move brought universal con demnation and sanctions. The So viet Union, Iraq’s biggest arms sup plier, announced a suspension of shipments to Iraq. The United States blocked most Iraqi imports, includ ing its most important revenue source — oil. Fellow Arab states failed to take any action. Iraq responded by freezing repay ment of Iraqi debts to the United States, the official Iraqi News Agency reported. The total size of the debt is unclear. Last year, the United States provided $1 billion in agricultural credits to Iraq. Diplomatic sources in the Persian Gulf estimated more than 200 Ku waitis were killed or wounded, mainly from the government’s Emiri Guard. Kuwait, through its U.S. ambassa dor, appealed for U.S. military inter vention. A Pentagon source said a U.S. aircraft carrier and six warships were diverted toward the gulf from the Arabian Ocean to bolster eight American ships already in the gulf. In other developments: • The U.N. Security Council voted 14-0 to condemn the invasion and demanded immediate withdra wal of Iraqi troops. • President Bush signed orders freezing Iraqi assets and blocking import of most Iraqi products. Oil accounts for 97 percent of Iraqi im ports into the United States, and Iraqi oil is 7.6 percent of U.S. oil im ports. Bush said he would neither rule in or out U.S. military interven tion. • The State Department said Sec retary of State James A. Baker III would fly to Moscow on Friday to is sue a rare joint statement about the crisis with his Soviet counterpart, Eduard A. Shevardnadze. • The invasion created turmoil in world financial markets, with the price of oil, gold and the dollar mounting steeply. Iraq, claimed its troops entered Kuwait at the request of revolutiona ries who it said had staged a coup. Kuwaiti and other diplomats said the coup report was a farce. In Baghdad, the Revolutionary Command Council led by President Saddam Hussein issued a statement saying Iraq intervened in support of “The Provisional Government of Free Kuwait.” It said the govern ment was made up of “revolutionary youths.” The provisional government an nounced through Baghdad’s official Iraqi News Agency that it was dis solving parliament and would hold “free and honest elections” at a fu ture date. “Our armed forces will close in an iron rank against those who try to challenge us and will make Iraq and See Saddam fulfills ambition- /Page 7 Bush: cuts necessary in military President speaks about Kuwait invasion ASPEN (AP) — President Bush on Thursday proposed a 25 per cent cut in U.S. armed forces within five years but said the inva sion of Kuwait proves “the world remains a dangerous place” and that America’s military must re main strong. In a major defense speech, Bush said that even as armed forces grow smaller, the United States must be able to respond to lobal threats such as terrorism, ostage-taking, “renegade re gimes and unpredictable rulers.” He said, “Let no one, friend or foe, question this commitment.” At a news conference before the speech. Bush said of possible U.S. action in response to the Iraqi in vasion of Kuwait: “We’re not rul ing any options in, but we’re not ruling any options out.” On a trip cut short because of the invasion. Bush for the first time committed himself to a 25 percent reduction by 1995 in to day’s 2.1 million active duty per sonnel. He said the cutback would leave the armed forces at their lowest level since 1950. “The threat of a Soviet inva sion of Western Europe launched with little or no warning is today more remote than at any other point in the postwar period,” said Bush, who has been under pres sure from Congress to cut de fense spending by reducing man power and scrapping costly weapons systems. “With the emergence of de mocracy in Eastern Europe,” Bush said, “the Warsaw Pact has lost its military meaning.” An official traveling with Bush said the civilian military work force would be cut by 200,000 jobs by the mid-1990s, in addition to the 500,000-person reduction in active forces. Kuwait a graveyard for those who launch any aggression,” a statement on official Baghdad radio said. Iraq began threatening Kuwait two weeks ago after accusing it of stealing oil from a border region claimed by both nations. It also accused Kuwait of depriv ing it of oil revenues by cheating on OPEC production quotas, thus driv ing down oil prices. Talks to resolve the dispute broke down Wednesday, and diplomats said Iraq had moved about 100,000 soldiers to the Kuwait border. A&M’s only female head leaves University By KATHY COX Of The Battalion Staff After four years as head of the so ciology department, Mary Zey, Texas A&M’s only female depart ment head, is taking a year and a half leave from the University. Zey will work in the La Follette In stitute of Public Affairs at the Uni versity of Wisconsin starting Sept. I. She will work there for almost a year before she moves to the Stan ford Center for Organizations Re search. At the La Follette institute, an in stitute of public policy, Zey will study policies related to insider trading while teaching a course at the Uni versity of Wisconsin. In the fall of 1991, Zey will be one of six visiting scholars forming a think tank at the Stanford Center for Organizations Research (SCOR). The group will work in the college of business at Stanford. Sociology, political science, eco nomics and business management all come together at SCOR, Zey said. “It’s an honor to have been cho sen,” she said. The University of Wisconsin is paying Zey for her work, but the Stanford position is unpaid. “A&M is not paying for this leave,” she said. Zey, who has been at A&M for seven years, was elected to the de- f >artment head position by sociology acuity members when Jerry Gaston left to become associate provost. “I’ve learned a great deal,” she said. “It’s been easy because the fac ulty and dean have been supporti ve.” Zey made a substantial change when she became department head. She set up a five-member council to make decision-making more dem ocratic. The council, which includes Zey, also is responsible for evaluat ing faculty based on research, teach ing and service. This process is better, Zey said, because decisions are not left solely to the department head. Zey said she thinks department heads should have one limited term, because some people keep the posi tion for a lifetime. “That’s not very conducive to change,” she said. “They start doing things a certain way and it’s difficult to change them.” Zey likes the idea of having one chairperson serve as department head for a certain amount of time and then rotate back to their original faculty position. The University of Wisconsin rotates department chairs every three years. “If a department head rotates back into the department ... the fac ulty member knows they’re going to go back among their colleagues,” she said. “So they’re more accountable to Czech students seek advice from A&M By ELIZABETH TISCH Of The Battalion Staff Two Czechoslovakian students are taking it upon themselves to find a solution to their coun try’s pollution problem by seeking out advice from Texas A&M’s Department of Civil Engi neering and International Agricultural Pro grams. While on their visit, the environmental stu dents from Charles University in Prague spoke Thursday to a small group of A&M students about the increasing rate of human and wildlife deaths due to the alarming amount of pollution. “Czechoslovakia’s mortality rate ranks 10th in the Eastern Bloc due to the environmental prob lems,” Jan Vrba said. “Out of every 100,000 peo ple, 1,231 will die.” Moreover, Czechoslovakia ranks third in the w'orld in cardiovascular disease which can also be blamed on the polluted environment, Vrba said. In addition, a large amount of the food is af fected by the deadly pollutants. “PGP, nitrates and heavy metals are among the serious pollutants in our food,” he said. “For ex ample, there are 7 milligrams of PCP per 1 ki logram of milk.” The two students blame the increasing rate of ollution to the many coal burning industries, eavy traffic and, most importantly, the lack of awareness among the Czechoslovakian people. Their first step in educating the people about the problem was to organize an Indepedent Stu dent Union, Vrba said. As a result to their coun try’s revolution last November, the student orga nization was able to travel the world and research other countries’ ways in handling their waste, Vrba said. One solution they discussed was to build more incinerators. Tomas Ruzicka, environmental stu dent, said that 83 percent of the waste is disposed into landfills and only 3 percent is burned. Andreas Bleuel, a Texas A&M student from Germany, said other European countries have alarming amounts of pollutants as well. the faculty.” Zey has worked to recruit minori ties and internationalize the socio logy department, as well as to attract people from the major sociology de partments in Wisconsin and Michi- g an - “It (recruiting) is the only way I know how to build a department,” she said. The strength of the entire pro gram depends on its ability to recruit quality faculty, Zey said, because high-caliber graduate students fol low and these combine to give un dergraduate students a better educa tion. See Zey/Page Q Clarification A story in Wednesday’s issue of The Battalion incorrectly stated the location of a shooting. College Station Police are in vestigating a shooting that oc curred in a parking lot at the in tersection of University Drive and College Avenue. The Battalion regrets the er ror.
