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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 1990)
STATE & LOCAL fhe Battalion Wednesday, October 24,1990 t art in Lu| j l *dge skint, :ter.l ' to this ior Grades affected by upbringing Research reveals home environment affects students’ grades By JOE FERGUSON Of The Battalion Staff tie of Tin economic rates wi ■sn’twoii. convinced tse net tax are faced his deficit agnifytlie lent reve- 1 buMss, nmentto programs! ing effect of reces- effects of ewise, the the stale is m Bureau ern Cattle >le groviets oducers, the publ rgainstde e claims nd control tef/ede it to heir is he fact pestidfe stable, thev are lagement icai tfitse pinning mical otes is s to expaoi micfucM’i stablishtifi and fedetf rained or abusive k Perry/®! e ptf! r rancher ioner’sjh/ long. ; n antbiW! i who is > step do 1 uo his pound ir of which irnier ha (( he 80’s,* rancher® ction, not J Home environments and parenting styles af fect adolescents’ grades but not overall intellec tual achievement, according to a study conducted by a Texas A&M graduate student. “Parenting styles and family environmental factors proved accurate predictors of several school outcomes, but they couldn’t predict abso lute achievement as measured by scores on achievement tests,” Dr. Steven Schneider says. Schneider, who received his doctorate in psy chology from A&M in May, conducted the sur vey for his dissertation. His study was a variation of a previous study conducted at Stanford University. Both studies measured family environment as predictor of grade point averages for adoles cents in grades nine through 12. Schneider, however, added a scale which in cludes conflicts with authority, absences and achievement test scores coupled with aptitude test scores. The studies investigated three parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative and permis sive. The authoritarian style controls behavior rela tive to an absolute set of standards. The authoritative style provides for open com munication and negotiation of behavioral stan dards. Mature behavior is expected in accord ance with those standards. The permissive style is tolerant of impulsive behavior and permits self-regulation. On the surface, Schneider’s findings contra dict the previous study. He found the authoritarian style resulted in higher grade point averages, while the Stanford study found the authoritative style to be the most positive factor in GPAs. Schneider says cultural differences in the two areas studied could account for differences be tween the studies. The adolescents in Schneider’s study live in the Texas panhandle where, he says, the authori tarian style might be more accepted. The Stan ford sample lives in California where the authori tative style is common. In both areas, Schneider says adolescents en couraged to be independent, to think critically and who are achievement-oriented earn higher GPAs. If they are not achievement oriented, however, absences increase. Schneider says a lack of emphasis on moral va lues increases the likelihood of conflict with au thority. Conflicts with authority at school usually are preceded by conflicts at home, Schneider says. He says school counselors should be more ac tive in working with parents to help students reach their potential. “Counselors don’t do a lot of personal counsel ing except in emergency situations,” he says. “Problems need to be caught sooner. “A kid spends a half hour in counseling and 12 hours in a dysfunctional family. Parents need to be involved (in the counseling process).” Schneider says parent training is necessary to help students reach their potential and contrib ute to society. “It’s possibly more relevant than some of the things being taught now,” he says. Schneider also notes the counseling emphasis should be expanded to elementary schools in or der to prevent problems arising at the secondary level. “The earlier kids are counseled, the more posi tive effects counseling has,” he says. In Advance Aggies Against Bonfire holds benefit conceit and acoustic rocker Don Aggies Against Bonfire will host a benefit concert at the Front Porch Cafe tonight featuring White Bread, a neo-Europop group, a Overby. Cover will be $3. For more in formation call Kelly at 823-4636. MSC Political Forum hosts Awareness Day MSC Political Forum will host its annual Political Awareness Day today until 3 p.m. on the first floor of the MSC. Representatives from political and business groups will be avail able to answer questions about their organizations. Groups include College Re publicans, Aggie Democrats, Gay and Lesbian Student Services, Pro-Life Aggies, Pro-Choice Ag gies, American Atheists, Socialist Workers’ Party, the Peace Corps and the Texas Environmental Ac tion Coalition. Texas gang membership causes rise in violence AUSTIN (AP) — Gang mem bership is rising dramatically in Texas, with gangs involved in every thing from graffiti-writing to violent drug rings. Attorney General Jim Mattox said Tuesday. Releasing a report by his office on gangs, Mattox asked the Legislature to move quickly to study the growing problem and find solutions. “This is not ‘West Side Story,”’ Mattox said, “Too many of these drug-running gangs, especially in Dallas, Houston and along our bor der with Mexico, are armed with fully automatic weapons and they’re using them in public areas where in nocent bystanders have been hurt.” The report by his office estimated that there are about 7,500 gang members in seven of the state’s larg est cities, and another 1,400 behind prison walls in the Texas Depart ment of Corrections. Dallas and Fort Worth have the most, according to police. Dallas has 179 gangs totaling 2,784 members, and Fort Worth has 156 gangs with 2,693 members. Mattox emphasized that those estimates are conservative. “Violent criminal youth street gangs exist throughout the state and gang activity is increasing in major cities,” the report said. “Houston po lice report a 329 percent increase in documented criminal youth gangs between 1988 and 1989.” The report said that during the summer of 1990, over four dozen vi olent criminal youth street gang inci dents were reported in Texas. That included 36 drive-by shootings and at least a dozen confirmed gang-re lated deaths. Technology links students to world By MIKE LUMAN Of The Battalion Staff Texas A&M student leaders now can communicate with uni versity student governments around the world at no cost fol lowing the adoption of a com puter mail system. The Student Government Global Mail Network (SGANet), developed at Virginia Tech, of>~ erates at no cost provided the uni versity using the system has an in ternational access network. At A&M, SGANet runs through the existing Bitnet net work. Edward Munoz, Student Gov ernment special assistant for com puter resources, set up SGANet at A&M -and gave a first-time demonstration Tuesday to stu dent leaders. “We get to present our ideas to other universities and get a re sponse,” he said. "It doesn’t cost a aime.” SGANet has 151 subscribers, mosdy in North America and Eu rope. Munoz said the number should jump to 2,000 by the end of Spring 1990. Universities in the Soviet Union, China, Middle East and possibly Africa are scheduled to join, he said. The system is open to A&M Student Government members and accessible through a Univer sity VAX account. SGANet can be used as an elec tronic bulletin board or for per sonal messages, Munoz said. For demonstration, he called up a video questionnaire about rates of pay tor student govern ment members along with an swers from various universities. He then entered a message that said A&M student leaders are not paid, but are willing to re ceive information about how other universities started a pay ment policy. Muftoz said his message was transmitted worldwide almost as fast as a phone connection. SGANet’s founder will visit A&M during the spring and for mally present the system. BATTIPS Anyone with story suggestions can call BATTIPS, The Battalion’s phone line designed to improve communication between the news paper and its readers. The BATTIPS number is 845- 3315. Ideas can include news stories, feature ideas and personality pro files of interesting people. Apple introduces the Macintosh Classic. Trying to stretch dollars when you’re computer shopping doesn’t mean you’re willing to make sacrifices. That’s why you should consider the new, affordable Macintosh® Classic® computer. It has everything you need—including a monitor, keyboard, mouse, 2 megabytes of RAM, and a 40-megabyte hard disk. Just plug everything in and the Macintosh Classic is ready to run, because the system software is already installed! And, thanks to the Macintosh computer’s legendary ease of use, you’ll be up and running in no time. Like every Macintosh, the Classic can run thousands of available applications that all work in the same, consistent way—so once you’ve learned one program, you’re well on your way to learning them all. And this is one cheap roommate that doesn’t have trouble sharing. The Apple® SuperDrive™—standard equipment with every Macintosh—reads from and writes to Macintosh, * Macintosh Classic computers purchased before January 1991 include system software on floppy disks; software is not installed. ©1990 Apple Computer, Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. SuperDrive and “The power to be your best” are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Classic is a registered trademark licensed to Apple Computer, Inc. MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. OS/2 is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. MS-DOS, OS/2, and Apple n floppy disks, which means you can share information with someone who uses a different type of computer. See the Macintosh Classic for yourself. It’ll change your mind about cheap roommates. MicroComputerCfnter Computer Sales cmd Supplies Come meet the new Macintoshes! Apple Computer is bringing the Macintosh Classic, Osi, and LC to the MicroComputerCenter in the MSC on October 23rd and 24th from 10AM to 4PM! The power to be your best! 1