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Beer tourists
People can gain a worldly
education through trying
different beers.
Aggielife, Page 3
Bible ’95
Hill: The Bible should not be
modified to fit the political
agendas of the '90's.
Opinion, Page 15
A FRESH FACE
Freshman outside hitter Kim
Tipton has made an immediate
impact on this year's team.
Sports, Page 11
Battalion
102, No. 14 (16 pages)
Established in 1893
Thursday • September 14, 1995
Number of ‘on time’ graduations declines
Still here after five years.
Percentage of students who graduated after five years
^Graduation rates
have not fluctuated
much in recent years,
but statistics show that
most students do not
Graduate within four
years.
By James Bernsen
The Battalion
Texas A&M graduation
rates show that fewer than
one in four people will com
plete their degrees in the tra
ditional four years.
The most recent statistics
show that 23 percent of the
Class of ’94 graduated “on
time,” a decrease from the 24
percent for the Class of ’93 who
graduated in four years and 27
percent of the Class of ’92.
The graduation rate, which
for statistical purposes is
graduation after five years, is
60 percent.
Don Carter, A&M registrar,
said several things account for
the low number of people grad
uating within four years.
“Most undergraduates take
an average of 14 hours,”
Carter said. “A lot of this has
to do with the fact that we
have a very active student ac
tivities program.
“Rather than trying to take
18 hours at a time and graduat
ing on time, they try to devote
time to other activities.”
Carter said the average num
ber of hours required to graduate
has not increased in recent
years. Most programs at the
University require 128-131 se
mester credit hours for gradua
tion or 16-17 hours every fall and
spring semester to graduate in
four years.
“The University is a fairly
rigorous academic institution,
and the students are trying to
balance their academic re
quirements with other things,”
Carter said.
Minority student graduation
rates are lower than those from
entire student body. African-
American and Hispanic students
had a 13 percent percent gradua
tion rate after four years and 48
percent after five years.
Kevin Carreathers, director
of the Department of Multicul
tural Services, said the lower
rates are most likely a result
of adjustment issues that some
of the minority groups face
when they go to college.
See Graduation, Page 5
All Hispanic African-American
students students students
POW/MIA symposium
scheduled as part of
Remembrance Week
iFriends and family members
of soldiers missing in action
d\ share their experiences in
Rudder Theater today as part
of POW/MIA Remembrance
Week.
By Leslie New
The Battalion
Kay T. Graves, Class of ’53, and Susan
Baker Powell will relate their experiences
searching for soldiers missing in action as
part of the POW/ MIA Symposium spon
sored by Angel Flight and
the Arnold Air Society.
The symposium, to
day at 5:30 p.m. in Rud
der Theater, is one of
three events scheduled
{for POW/MIA Remem-
| brance Week.
James Hanford,
j Arnold Air Society direc
tor of operations, said
the purpose of the annu
al symposium is to create
awareness about prison
ers of war and soldiers
missing in action.
“It is important that
everyone, not just those
interested in the service
or the Corps, know what
POWs faced, and the fact
that there are still
MlAs,” Hanford said.
“These people should be remembered.”
Graves has been searching for a close
friend, Capt. Lester Lackey, Class of ’52,
who was reported shot down over the
Black Sea during a reconnaissance mis
sion Dec. 14, 1965.
Graves and Lackey attended the same
high school and were cadets in Squadron
8B at Texas A&M.
Ruth Graves Fields, Graves’ daughter,
wrote in “Aggie’s Family Searches for 27
Years” that many people believe that if
others could survive, Lackey could.
Powell’s brother, Maj. Arthur Dale Bak
er, has been missing in action since 1965,
but was declared “killed in action/ body not
recovered” in 1974. The Baker family ac
cepted the death of Baker until 1990,
when they received information that there
was a possibility that Baker had survived
and was alive.
Powell has investigated several reports
about her brother, including one from an
unreliable source stating Baker was alive
and “living with an Ahka tribe” in Laos.
Baker had not attempted to escape, be
cause he was told he would be killed if
caught trying to escape.
Even though the report has not been
verified, Powell said it is important to find
out the truth.
“If there is the slightest chance that
there is an American alive in Laos, we owe
it to all of the MIAs and their families to
locate him,” Powell wrote in the article.
“Even if it is not my brother, it could be
someone’s brother, hus
band, son or father.”
Other POW/MIA Re
membrance Week activi-
ties included the rededica-
'1 HI tion of the Westgate
Memorial near Albritton
Tower Wednesday.
Col. James E. Ray, a for
mer prisoner of war and
Class of ’63, rededicated
the memorial. The ceremo
ny ended with Echo Taps
and a 21-gun salute by the
Ross Volunteers.
Lorelei Gomez, Arnold
Air Society cadet Maj.,
said several A&M cadets
involved in the society
will participate in a
standing vigil in front of
the Lawrence Sullivan
Ross statue in the Academic Plaza Fri
day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The cadets will stand at parade rest
during the day to honor prisoners of war
and soldiers missing in action.
“We do this every year to pay tribute to
the POWs, MIAs and their families,”
Gomez said.
In addition to the events, the organiza
tions have been selling MIA bracelets and
T-shirts, which have the names of former
A&M students who have been prisoners of
war or who are missing in action. The items
are being sold under the arches of the Quad
rangle and in the MSG.
The events are part of the POW/MIA
Remembrance Week set aside by Congress
and culminates on Friday, the official
POW/MIA Remembrance Day.
Amy Browning, The Battalion
We've got spirit ... How 'bout you?
Members of E-1 raise their spirit sign on the Quad Wednesday afternoon.
RHA sets goals for upcoming year
□ Proposing direct television
cable for residence halls is
the group's first priority.
By javier Martinez
The Battalion
The Residence Hall Association
kicked off its 1995-96 year hoping to
build on its work last year and
strengthen its ties to other campus
organization.
During the fall’s first general assem
bly Wednesday, the RHA set its priori
ties for the upcoming year.
The first priority is the direct cable
proposal for the residence halls.
The proposal calls for a mandatory
$27 per semester fee for cable access in
every room on campus.
The Channel Input and Request for
Purchase Committees of the residence
life and housing department are cur
rently discussing the issue.
The Channel Input Committee will
discuss which channels will be includ
ed, while the Request for Purchase
Committee will work on which compa
ny will be awarded the contract.
Suzanne Lyons, RHA president
and a junior
geophysics ma
jor, said issues
remain to be re
solved includ
ing which com
pany to use.
TCA Cable
has provided
cable service to
the residence
halls for several
years. Other
options are being explored because
TCA Cable’s contract with the Uni
versity has expired.
RHA is also concerned about the
proposal because freshmen and sopho
mores in the Corps of Cadets are not
allowed to have television sets in their
rooms, but would be charged for the
service anyway.
The committees should have their
recommendations ready by the end of
the semester, Lyons said.
The RHA also began expanding
their relationship with two campus
organizations — Cain Hall and
the Corps.
“We want to gain awareness of RHA
on campus, and we want RHA to gain
awareness of other organizations on
campus,” Lyons said.
One proposal is to extend the an
nual Corps-Fraternity basketball
game held into a four-team tourna
ment, which would include represen
tatives from the Northside and
Southside residence halls.
Cain Hall, the hall traditionally re
served for athletes, was represented for
See RHA, Page 5
A&M faculty member receives prestigious presidential award
□ The meteorologist received
one of 30 awards given
nationally to university
faculty members.
By Michelle Lyons
The Battalion
President Bill Clinton recently named
Dr. John W. Nielsen-Gammon, a Texas
A&M meteorologist, as one of 30 Presi
dential Faculty Fellow Award winners.
The award is given annually to uni
versity faculty members across the na
tion who have demonstrated leadership
in scientific or engineering research.
Award winners received a grant
from the National Science Foundation
for $100,000 a year for up to five
years. This allows the winner to ex
plore various self-designed research
projects and programs.
“I am pleased and so are the graduate
students working for me,” Nielsen-Gam
mon said. “My existing grant was going
to be up at the end of the month, and we
didn’t know how we would be able to
send [the graduate students] on research
trips. Now there’s no problem.”
One of Nielsen-Gammon’s projects
that has helped improve the meteorology
department is a one-
hour meteorology sem
inar class for freshman
and transfer students.
The class members
will compete daily with
students from 30
schools from across the
nation in weather forecasting.
Nielsen-Gammon, the only recipient
in the geosciences field, was nominated
by Dr. Ed Zipser, former head of the
meteorology department.
Dr. Jerry North, current head of the
meteorology department, said the award
could not have been more deserved.
... he is the top researcher and faculty
member in all the earth science fields."
- Dr. Jerry North
meteorology department head
“Many, many people are competing
for this award every year, and in all the
earth sciences, John was the only one
that got it,” North said.
“By that indication, he is the top re
searcher and faculty member in all the
earth science fields.”
North also said the award did not
come as a shock.
“We knew this sort of thing was
coming for him,” North said. “We
[Texas A&M] competed with many
schools for him. Getting him here was
a great honor for us.”
Nielsen-Gammon is credited with a
great number of changes that have oc
curred in the undergraduate meteorolo
gy program, North said.
North explained that Nielsen-Gam
mon was the first to teach undergraduate
See Award, Page 5
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