State & Local
Page 2
The Battalion
Monday, July 19,1993
Co-op offers students work experience
Companies scout for future employees
By CARRIE MIURA
The Battalion
Students are able to experience
the "real" world while gaining on-
the-job experience when they co
op, says Debbie Roberson, assis
tant director of the Cooperative
Education Program at A&M.
"The Co-op (cooperative edu
cation) program is where students
can integrate studies with profes
sional work experience," Rober
son said.
The Co-op program was de
signed specifically with the ini
tial intent to help engineering
majors, but is currently open to
all majors except the College of
Education and parts of the Col
lege of Architecture.
The program is now putting
more emphasis on encouraging
students in the science fields to co
op, she said. "There is a slight
disadvantage to the Co-op pro
gram, because you have to stay in
school a little longer, but you get
so many opportunities when you
do graduate," said Belinda Priho-
da, a senior chemistry major from
Needville, Texas.
"It's just a question of when
you want to invest your time,"
she said.
Prihoda, who worked for
Ethicon, a division of the Johnson
and Johnson Corporation, said co
oping allowed her to gain profes
sional experience, to support her
self financially and to explore ca
reer opportunities.
"I enjoyed co-oping for three
terms, because most of the stu
dent workers were Aggies," Pri
hoda said.
A&M has the third largest Co
operative Education Program of
fered to college students in the
nation.
Virtually all A&M students
who have served co-op* terms
graduate, Roberson said.
Students who are interested in
co-oping are encouraged to seek
more information abou? jhe co-op
program during the end of their
freshman or at the beginning of
their sophomore year.
Students must have a mini
mum 2.5 grade point ratio for any
college, but the average suggested
GPR is a 3.0.
"With the economy being very
tight, employers are being more
selective and they want students
with marketable skills," Rober
son said.
Various companies around the
nation come to A&M during the
year to scout for prospective stu
dents who may be interested in
working for them, Roberson said.
The top five companies that
employ A&M students through
the Co-op program are Texas In
struments, IBM, NASA and the
Johnson Space Center, Dow
Chemical USA and DuPont. Over
3,000 A&M students are currently
co-oping in the United States.
Texas has eighty-five percent of
the Co-op employers and 15 per
cent are out of state in places like
Washington D.C., North Carolina
and California. "Students get a
tremendous amount of self-confi
dence and gain in maturity,"
Roberson said.
Many students are unaware of
the differences between a co-op
position and an internship, Rober
son said.
"The Co-op program is a cen
tralized program when students
work a minimum of two semes
ters whereas internships are of
fered by different departments on
campus in which students only
work one semester," she said.
Internships may not be as ex
tensive as a co-op position, but are
still a considered a good move,
because students are getting some
job exposure, Roberson said.
Some advantages to co-oping
include gaining interview skills,
professional writing skills and
networking, she said.
Federal agency
underestimates
job site fatalities
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON - Federal and
state records indicate that the Oc
cupational Safety and Health Ad
ministration investigated no
more than one in four deaths of
Texans killed on the job during
the last decade, the Houston
Chronicle said Sunday.
The federal agency, which is
charged with monitoring fatal ac
cidents at virtually all work sites,
investigated about 1,500 deaths on
Texas job sites from 1983 to 1992,
according to the Chronicle's copy
right story.
But during that time, the most
conservative figures from state
agencies listed nearly 6,000 work
place deaths. The newspaper said
that in many cases, deaths went
undiscovered by OSHA because
of poor reporting by companies.
OSHA officials conceded they
do not inspect the scene of every
workplace fatality, but they
blamed poor reporting by em
ployers and a lack of jurisdiction
in some deaths.
Gramm
Continued from Page 1
fleet of trucks the company uses to deliver its prod
uct travel 60 to 70 thousand miles a week.
Standard said his company plans to expand in the
future, but that expansion would be put on hold if a
federal fuel or energy tax were passed.
Robert Walker, president of the Bryan-College
Station Chamber of Commerce, told the group that
small businesses in the area could not stand the bur
den of a fuel or energy tax.
"It is the philosophy of your chamber of com
merce that business in general and small business in
particular cannot continue to carry the heavy burden
of taxes and regulations already imposed on it and
have any hope of surviving the difficulties our na
tion is in."
Although Gramm doesn't support either pro
posed tax, he said he plans to work to kill the idea of
an energy tax once and for all.
"Since the president has not given up on the idea
of some form of Btu tax, I would like to work as I
have this weekend and in the state to put the final
nail in the coffin of the Btu tax."
Trial
Continued from Page 1
The prosecution rested its case Thursday with a
series of witnesses that included Williams' grand
mother, other boys present in the classroom on the
morning of the stabbing, police and medical person
nel that cared for Williams before his death and two
medical examiners.
Williams' grandmother wept and then fainted
during the testimony of a Bryan Fire Department
paramedic who was describing her grandson's
wounds.
The two 16-year-olds that testified Thursday said
Greenwood provoked the confrontation by saying
"What's up," a phrase meaning he wanted to fight.
"Then I said, 'What's up.' Then he came at me,"
the witness said. "I stepped back and he turned and
looked at Billy and stabbed him."
Williams did not attempt to hit or confront
Greenwood, and Pulliam sent Greenwood to the of
fice, the youth said.
Greenwood left, but then he came back in the
cafeteria, grabbed a chair and said to the first boy he
was fighting with," Come on. I'll get you too," the
first boy said.
As Williams was being escorted to the school
nurse's office by another boy in the cafeteria, he saw
Greenwood in the hall, the witness testified.
Williams asked Greenwood "Why did you do it,
man? Why did you stab me?" the boy said.
"Then Dante said, "I'll do it again if I have to,"
the witness testified.
Today will be the third day in this trial, which is
expected to last until the end of this week.
Attitudes
Continued from Page 1
classroom, students may face many obstacles
such as their background, study techniques
and curriculum, Paris said.
Most of the students who come into the
Center for Academic Enhancement to get acad
emic help come in their "terminally ill" state
instead of when they first detected a problem,
he said.
"They come in when they have gotten a re
ally low grade and are really beaten," he said.
A lot of students simply don't have the
background for the courses they are taking,
and others simply don't have good study tech
niques, he said.
"Some freshmen who come to A&M haven't
had to open a book in high school," Paris said.
When they come to college they have to ac
quire study skills which they might not have
needed in high school, he said.
"The average students in high school who
have to study a lot may have an easier adjust
ment to college since they already know how
to study," Paris said.
The center helps to prepare students to
study by teaching such topics as time manage
ment, taking lecture notes, comprehending
reading material, applying course material and
preparing for exams.
Paris said it may be more difficult to learn
because of the recent textbook's format.
In the 40s and 50s the books had more ex
planation of the facts, he said. Now the educa
tion system throws out more facts than expla
nations, he said.
Despite the possible hindrances to learn
ing, only one person is ultimately responsi
ble, he said.
"The student is responsible for learning for
himself," Paris said.
But the instructors teaching the courses play
a part in the learning process as well as the
students because they are delivering the sub
ject matter, he said.
"Most assume if they have a degree in the
subject they can teach it, which is not true,"
Dr. Don Self, professor and head of the de
partment of humanities in the College of
Medicine said.
The Center for Teaching Excellence helps
some instructors with their teaching by being
a resource for teaching techniques as well as
offering to be a teaching mentor. One of the
programs they have trains teaching assistants
to teach. Topics included are lecturing tech
niques, discussions and instructor-student in
teraction.
Liz Miller, the assistant director of the Cen
ter for Teaching Excellence said it is important
to train teaching assistants since professors
come from this group.
Professors and other instructors also have
the opportunity to make teaching portfolios.
The portfolio has been cited by education pro
fessionals as the "most innovative and promis
ing teaching evaluation and improvement
technique in years."
Texas A&M is the largest and one of the
most committed universities to good teaching.
Miller said.
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NEWS
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Intersection
mm.
Campus News Briefs
Engineering
leader receives
Wofford Cain
Dr. John Niedzwecki, profes
sor in the department of civil
engineering at Texas A&M, has
been named the Wofford Cain
Professor of Engineering in Off
shore Technology.
Niedzwecki is a leader in
structural engineering and en
gineering mechanics and with
the Texas Engineering Experi
ment Station's Offshore Tech
nology Research Center.
He has received numerous
awards and has published more
than 56 journal articles and con
ference papers.
Dr. W. John Lee
honored with
engineering chair
Dr. W. John Lee has been
awarded the L.F. Peterson '36
Chair in Petroleum Engineering
at Texas A&M.
Lee is a professor of petrole
um engineering and has re
ceived a number of honors for
his work In teaching and re
search.
The L.F. Peterson Chair was
established in honor of Texas
oilmen W.A. Moncrief Jr. of
Fort Worth and John L. Cox of
Midland who attended A&M.
Hyden receives
civil engineering
staff recognition
Joyce Ann Hyden, secretary
with the coastal and ocean engi
neering area, has received the
1993 Texas A&M Department
of Civil Engineering Outstand
ing Staff Award.
Hayden has been with the
department for 18 years.
Funding for the award came
from gifts to the department
from alumni, faculty, staff and
others.
Deputy wins in
national paper
competition
A Texas A&M telecommuni
cations specialist was one of
three national winners in the
International Communications
Association student-paper com
petition.
Steve Deputy, a senior from
Houston, wrote a technical pa
per on "Broadband Integrated
Services Digital Network" and
became a semifinalist in the as
sociation's national paper con
test involving more than 15 uni
versities.
Each winner received a
check for $750 and free airfare
and hotel accommodations to
the association's conference in
Dallas.
Zachry Teaching
Excellence award
given to engineers
The Zachry Teaching Excel
lence Awards for 1993 were
presented to Dr. Stuart Ander
son, Dr. Jean-Louis Briaud and
Dr. Gerald Vinson all of the civ
il engineering department.
Recipients of the award are
chosen for communications
skills, creativity in the classroom,
ability to motivate students and
active involvement with stu
dents outside the classroom.
Zollinger receives
civil engineering
teaching award
Dr. Dan Zollinger of the
Texas A&M department of civil
engineering has been recog
nized for his outstanding teach
ing with the 1993 Dick and
Joyce Birdwell Teaching
Award.
Zollinger is an assistant pro
fessor in the materials area.
The award was given to him
for his active involvement in
the undergraduate teaching
program and in student activi
ties outside the classroom.
Institute director
changes structure
of research studies
Dr. Richard Startzman, the
new director of a Texas A&M
University petroleum engineer
ing institute wants a better
pipeline between researchers
and industry.
The reorganized Crisam In
stitute will serve as a coordina
tion point and clearinghouse
for researchers and prospective
funding agencies or sources.
The institute now will in
clude the existing centers, labo
ratories and research projects in
the petroleum engineering de
partment. All will continue to
be managed independently, but
being under the Crisman um
brella will allow more collabo
ration and coordination.
Dr. Witt named
head of recreation,
parks, tourism
Dr. Peter A Witt, assistant
vice president and associate
dean of the Toulouse School of
Graduate Studies at the Univer
sity of North Texas, has been
named head of the Department
of Recreation, Park and
Tourism Sciences, effective July
1. Witt, editor of the journal of
Leisure Research since 1990, has
26 years of academic and ad
ministrative experience. He has
held a variety of positions at
North Texas, including associ
ate vice president for research
and chair of the Division of
Recreation and Leisure Studies.
The Battalion
JASON LOUGHMAN, Editor in chief
MARK EVANS, Managing editor
DAVE THOMAS, Night News editor
MACK HARRISON, Opinion editor
BILLY MORAN, Photo editor
STEPHANIE PATTILLO, City editor
ANAS BEN-MUSA, Aggielife editor
KYLE BURNETT, Sports editor
SUSAN OWEN, Sports editor
Staff Members
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Hernandez, Janet Holder, Jason Jeffus, Carrie Miura, and Geneen Pipher
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Graphic Artist - Angel Kan
Clerks- Grant Austgen, Alishia Holtam and Lisa White
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