fSaturday
Thunderstorms
High mid-80s
It must be pointed out to these mod
ern-day Dr. Frankensteins that water,
air, birds, animals, plants and people
are not resistant to herbicides.”
— Michael Worsham
Holt headed
to Houston
A&M fielder supports team in
backup baseball position
pportst
II positii
pages
Faculty awards
Twenty-two members of the Texas
A&M faculty and staff received Distin
guished Achievement Awards.
page 3
The Battalion
Vol. 90 No. 145 USPS 04536010 Pages College Station, Texas "Serving Texas A&M since 1893" Friday, May 3,1991
Corps' March to Brazos raises $52,000 for March of Dimes
By Jeff Brown
The Battalion
The Corps of Cadets' March to the Brazos
raised more than $52,000 for the March of
Dimes this year.
"As far as we can tell from our records,
that is the largest sum ever raised (from the
March)," Maj. Jake Betty said.
Betty was the Corps adviser for the an
nual event.
The March to the Brazos traditon dates
back to 1917. The original goal of the hike
was to give the cadets a break away from
the quadrangle during the spring semester.
The cadets march seven miles to an open
field at the base of the Brazos River. Along
the way, cadets run, do push-ups and other
exercises at the discretion of the upperclass
men. The positions in the various outfits for
the upcoming year also are announced.
On the return trip, the new chain of com
mand takes over and the old seniors are al
lowed to follow their outfits back to campus
in trucks.
Betty said the march was stopped for a
while because of injures but was reinstated
in 1978. Since then the annual event has
raised money for the March of Dimes.
"Since 1978 a goal of the March has been
to raise money for charity," Betty said. "It
didn't start out to be a major goal but has
turned into a great event for both organiza
tions."
Robert Davis, chairman of the Central
Texas Area Chapter of the March of Dimes,
said the money will be used for research
and health and special education programs.
The Corps of Cadets marches to the Brazos earlier this year.
A&M
Proposed fee
may alleviate
funding crisis
By Chris Vaughn
The Battalion
Texas A&M's undergraduate
engineering students could soon
be paying a $120 laboratory fee
to help cover the costs or up
grading obselete labs.
The College of Engineering
proposed a $120 lab fee per stu
dent per semester earlier this
month. The proposal presently
is being reviewed for its legality
by the University's general coun
sel. The lab fee must be ap
proved by the provost, presi
dent, chancellor and the Texas
A&M University System Board
of Regents before it is assessed.
Dr. Dan Turner, an associate
dean in the college, said if the
proposal makes it to the regents,
it probably will be Spring 1992
before the fee takes effect.
The lab fee would generate
about $2 million a year for the
College of Engineering's labo
ratories, many of which are out
of date and inadequate.
Approximately $3.75 million is
needed to maintain and improve
the labs, but the remainder will
have to come from industry and
alumni, Turner said.
engineering college struggles
Battalion file photo
The A&M engineering college faces a loss of accreditation due to lack of funds for new lab equipment.
A&M's Student Engineers
Council voted 37 to 3 in April to
endorse the $120 lab fee proposal
to avoid losing accreditation.
"While I wouldn't say it was
unanimous, we did get over
whelming support from the stu
dents," Turner said.
The college has approximately
7,000 undergraduate students.
The cost of educating an under
graduate engineering student is
about $200 per hour, but in-state
students pay only $18 per hour
and no lab fee.
If the fee passes. Turner said it
could keep the University out of
trouble with the accreditation
board.
"The important thing before
accreditation is having a long
term financial plan in place for
the continued support of the
labs," he said.
Outdated lab equipment
endangers accreditation
By Chris Vaughn
The Battalion
Outdated laboratory equipment has put Texas A&M's highly
respected College of Engineering in danger of losing its accredita
tion next year, and administrators are racking their brains to find a
solution.
Several administrators and professors believe many of the labo
ratories, particularly undergraduate labs, are out of date and will
not pass the accreditation process.
"We have no funds to maintain the labs or to modernize them,"
said Dr. Ken Hall, an associate dean in the College of Engineering.
"Many of them are woefully out of date."
The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
(ABET) is visiting A&M in October 1992 to review the college for a
renewal of its accreditation.
Accreditation is important because the first step in being a pro
fessional engineer is graduating from an ABET-accredited school.
Hall said ABET has specific criteria about labs, how they must
be maintained and how they are funded. A&M's college can do
neither. Hall said.
"I don't see any way we can be accredited unless we get an ac
creditation team that shuts their eyes and looks the other way," he
said.
Five years ago. Hall said he might not be as worried since ABET
did not usually come down hard on the major engineering schools,
but the board has stiffened since then.
"They might be looking for one of the major schools to provide
as an example," he said. "I don't know. But I do know we've got
serious problems, and we're not in compliance with the accredita
tion requirements."
Other college officials, while not quite as negative as Hall, still
See College/Page 4
Final exams
begin today
Final examinations for undergrad
uate courses begin Friday. The follow
ing is a schedule for finals:
Friday
Final at 7:30 a.m. — Classes meeting
on MW at 4:30 or later
Final at 10 a.m. — Classes meeting
on MWFatSa.m.
Final at 12:30 p.m. — Classes meet
ing on TR at 12:30 p.m.
Final at 3 p.m. — Classes meeting on
TRat11 a.m.
Monday
Final at 8 a.m. — Classes meeting on
MWF at9a.m.
Final at 10:30 a.m. — Classes meet
ing 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 meet
ing 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 meet
ing 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.
Cadet plans to gather MIA bracelets
RICHARD S. JAMES/The Battalion
Mark Stratton, a senior in Squadron 1, holds one of the MIA bracelets worn
while Clifford Bland was missing in the Persian Gulf.
Cadets to attend Virginia burial to honor
former student killed in Persian Gulf War
By Timm Doolen
The Battalion
A senior in the Corps of Ca
dets is trying to collect almost
700 gold MIA bracelets dedicated
to Thomas Clifford Bland to
honor the former A&M student
killed in action during the Per
sian Gulf War.
Bland was listed as missing-in
action after his plane went down
Feb. 1. He was declared killed
several weeks later.
Mark Stratton, executive offi
cer of Squadron 1, coordinated
the original push to distribute
the bracelets while Bland was
missing.
He now is trying to get them
all back for Bland's funeral on
May 20 at Arlington National
Cemetery.
"We're gathering the bracelets
from people on campus so we
can take tnem to the funeral and
bury them with him," Stratton
said.
Bland's name and the date he
was listed missing are engraved
on the bracelets.
Stratton was in Austin on
Thursday morning to hear a res
olution introduced by Rep. Steve
Ogden, R-Bryan, and passed by
the House honoring Bland and
his family.
A concurrent resolution, intro
duced in the Senate by Jim
Turner, D-Crockett, was ex
pected to pass.
Of the 600 to 700 bracelets that
were purchased through the out
fit, only a few dozen nave been
returned.
Bland said anyone with a
bracelet can turn it in to the
guard room or to members of the
outfit until the May 11 Final Re
view.
Fourteen members of Squad
ron 1 are driving Virginia to at
tend the funeral.
Stratton said he will take his
bracelet off during the burial cer
emony.
When Bland was in the Corps,
he also was Squadron 1 exec
utive officer, which is what
prompted Stratton to take such
interest in Bland's disappear
ance.
Bland was the only A&M
graduate to die in Operation De
sert Storm from enemy fire.
BENTSEN URGES
NUCLEAR SAFETY
AMARILLO (AP) — Sen. Lloyd
Bentsen said Thursday he would
make every effort to bring expan
sion to the Pantex nuclear weap
ons assembly plant only if he is
guaranteed that added projects
would be safe
for the envi
ronment.
in M
jobs would be
an enormous
impact on the
economy of
this area,” the
Texas Demo-
c r a t
told reporters during a press con
ference at Pantex, just outside
Amarillo.
“I support the expansion,” he
said. "But I support it with the
provision that it must be done with
safety and protection to the envi
ronment. mat is the crucial part
and must be understood."
Pantex was criticized by the
General Accounting Office this
week for having one of the worst
safety records in the DOE’s nu
clear weapons complex.
The plant is under consideration
to take over the plutonium-proc
essing duties of DOE’s Rocky Flats
plant near Denver.
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