>
Thursday
Mostly cloudy
Htgh low 80s
Basketball analysis
The ups and downs of the NBA:
The Spurs and the Rockets.
page 7
“Are students to blame for asking pro
fessors questions pertaining only to
test material?"
— Greg Mt.Joy
page 2
Tests stolen
Officials search for 290 Medical
College Admission Tests stolen
from the University of Texas.
page 4
The Battalion
Vol. 90 No. 143 USPS 045360 10 Pages College Station, Texas"Serving Texas A&Msince 1893"
Wednesday, May 1,1991
Report predicts cigarette smoking decrease in next decade
By K. Lee Davis
The Battalion
Smoking will decrease over the next
10 years, but a recently released report
conducted by a Texas A&M professor
states no one knows how drastic the
reduction will be.
Dr. Thomas Blaine, an assistant rec
reation parks and tourism sciences pro
fessor, found that about 30 percent of
the U.S. population continued to
smoke in 1990, down from more than
half of the total population that
smoked cigarettes in the 1960s.
Blaine said he believes there are are
two scenarios for cigarette consump
tion in the next 10 years — less smok
ing or drastically less smoking.
The reasons given for this drop in
clude higher prices and the negative
ublic attitude toward the smoking
abit.
Dr. Jane Cohen,
health education
coordinator at the
A.P. Beutel Student
Health Center, said
she believes smok
ing will decline, but
adds that there are
many problems still
to be faced.
"Experimentation with cigarettes is
occuring at younger ages than it has
before," Cohen said. "Sixteen percent
of young people have had their first
cigarette by the sixth grade, rising to 94
percent by the 11th grade."
Cohen said, however, smoking is
not declining uniformily. She added
that women smokers are decreasing at
a slower rate than men, so that they
might overtake men in total consump
tion by the year 2000.
Cohen said she finds this statistic
disturbing.
"Women who use oral contracep
tives and also smoke have an increased
risk of heart attacks and stroke," she
said.
Blaine said he believes the decrease
See Risks/Page 8
Committee
voices ideas
Top student leaders tackle tough campus
issues as advisers to A&M administration
By Timm Doolen
The Battalion
A student advisory committee composed of Texas A&M's top
student leaders has met throughout April to better address stu
dents' needs, a University administator said.
Robert Smith, A&M's vice president for finance and administra
tion, said the committee was proposed last fall but did not meet
until early April because of procedural difficulties in getting mem
bers together.
The student leaders have direct contact with Smith while the ar
rangement allows communication between students and Univer
sity administators.
Smith's office oversees diverse areas of the University including
business services, parking and buses, human resources, grounds
maintenance. University police, the physical plant and the airport.
The group already has met twice and discussed concerns such
as parking, bus operations, the MSC's catering policy and a pro
posed on-campus banking facility.
David Brooks, speaker of A&M's Student Senate and a member
of the advisory committee, said the committee's purpose is to find
ways for students to voice their complaints and get answers.
Brooks said the student body now needs to give their input to
student leaders, who will then bring it to the attention of Smith
and his office during committee meetings.
Off Campus Aggies President Warren Talbot said he believes
See Advisory/Page 6
A&M leads Texas Space Grant Consortium
University guides program's growth
By Mack Harrison
The Battalion
The space-grant program, con
ceived of by an A&M official, has
doubled in size since its begin
ning in 1989.
Dr. Frank Vandiver, director
of the Mosher Institute for De
fense Studies and a former A&M
president, based his idea on the
concept of land and sea grant
colleges.
The government provides
money to sea-grant schools for
ocean-related research, and land
space-grant pro
gram in 1986.
Two years
ago, A&M
and the Uni-
versity of
Texas were
the first
schools in the
state's space-
grant pro
gram.
Now the
Texas Space
Grant Consor-
proposed the idea of the space- Sen. Lloyd Bentsen intro- tium includes 23 universi
grant college six years ago. duced legislation to establish a ties, 18 aerospace and research
grant schools
get federal
and state
funds for agri-
cultural re
search.
Likewise,
space-grant
universities
receive money
from NASA
for space-re-
1 a t e d r e -
search. Van-
d i v p r
Dr. Frank Vandiver, (left) proposed
the idea of the space-grant college
six years ago. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen,
(rignt) introduced legislation to es
tablish a space-grant program in
1986.
companies and two state agen
cies.
The University's engineering
and science programs keep
A&M at the forefront of the pro
gram, officials said.
In addition to the University's
aerospace and computer re
search programs, the Texas En
gineering Experiment Station's
Space Research Center contrib
utes to the consortium.
Oran Nicks, director of the
Center, also serves as the con
sortium's chairman.
Another A&M official, Asso-
See Program/Page 8
Professor: Language degree not limiting
By Lauri Reysa
Special to The Battalion
Language majors at Texas
A&M are dispelling the myth
that they can only teach with a
language degree, an associate
professor in the Modern Lan
guage Department said.
"Nothing could be farther
from the truth," said Dr. Roger
Crockett, who is also a student
adviser. "There is a narrow mind
set toward language majors. Be
cause there are no clear-cut jobs,
like in engineering or business,
a le are not aware of the job
et potential."
Although there are no defined
career choices, language majors
do have the potential to choose
from a variety of diverse career
options, he said.
Most language majors work
toward pure, combined or prac
tical knowledge language ca
reers, Crockett said.
The traditional route for lan
guage majors has been the pure
language track, he said.
"This is where teaching falls,"
Crockett said. "The usual sec
ondary or college professor has
engaged in a pure language care
er."
Interpreters and translators
also fall into this category, he
said.
"Translators can be employed
by a major company or free
lance for a translation service,"
he said.
Crockett said the more glamo
rous of two is the interpreter,
who might work with prominent
officials in the United States or
overseas.
Another option for language
majors might take skills from
two areas of a student's educa
tion, he said.
A combined career does not
require a major in the language
but proficiency in a foreign lan
guage would be helpful, Crock
ett said.
"This is a foreign language
plus that business would equate
with international business,"
Crockett said. "Basically, with a
combined career, you combine
your foreign language with an
other skill."
A normal job is internationa
lized with the language skill,
making a person more marketa
ble or competent in a field, he
said.
"The ability to speak a foreign
language will have more value
later in one's career as more
ways are found to employ it," he
said.
The employee, however, is
not the only person to value lan
guage fluency, Crockett said.
Employers also value language
majors because they are excel
lent writers and speakers.
"The key is employers know
language majors have discipli
ne," he said. "More importantly,
they know these peope are train-
able."
An education in modern lan
guages also provides students
with the freedom to choose from
a cross section of diverse
courses.
Crockett said he believes this
well-rounded schooling gives
students a broader-based educa
tion while providing employers
critical information about pro
spective employees.
"The range of jobs (for lan
guage majors) can be just incred
ible," he said.
Final exams
schedule
begins Friday
Final examinations for un
dergraduate courses begin
Friday. The following is a
schedule for finals:
Thursday
Reading day — no classes
Friday
Final at 7:30 a.m. — Classes
meeting on MW at 4:30 or
later
Final at 10 a.m. — Classes
meeting on MWF at 8 a.m.
Final at 12:30 p.m. — Classes
meeting on TR at 12:30 p.m.
Final at 3 p.m. — Classes
meeting on TR at 11 a.m.
Monday
Final at 8 a.m. — Classes
meeting on MWF at 9 a.m.
Final at 10:30 a.m. — Classes
meeting on MWF at 12 p.m.
Final at 1 p.m. — Classes
meeting on TR at 8 a.m.
Final at 3:30 p.m. — Classes
meeting on MW at 3 p.m.
Tuesday
Final at 8 a.m. — Classes
meeting on MWF at 10 a.m.
Final at 10:30 a.m. — Classes
meeting on MWF at 2 p.m.
Final at 1 p.m. — Classes
meeting on TR at 3:30 p.m.
Final at 3:30 p.m. —Classes
meeting on MWF at 1 p.m.
Wednesday
Final at 8 a.m. — Classes
meeting on TR at 9:30 a.m.
Final at 10:30 a.m. — Classes
meeting on MWF at 11 a.m.
Final at 1 p.m. — Classes
meeting on TR at 2 p.m.
Final at 3:30 p.m. — Classes
meeting on TR at 5 p.m. or
later.
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