The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 21, 1985, Image 4
Page 4/The Battalion/Thursday, March 21, 1985 Solicitors bothersome to students Beware of magazine salesmen By CATHIE ANDERSON Staff Writer If you’re waiting for magazines ordered from a door-to-door salesman on campus, you could be waiting a long time. Bob Wiatt, director of security and traffic at Texas A&M, says that while magazine salesmen often come to sell their wares, it’s not often that they produce the product. Salesmen have been appearing on campus at three-month intervals for several years. The salesmen are in violation of A&M regulations since only Univer sity-recognized organizations are al lowed to sell on campus. At rimes they’ll say they have a permit to sell their magazines on campus, Wiatt says. That permit is usually only good for use in Bryan- College Station though. Wiatt says most salesmen don’t have a permit from Bryan or College Station and that off-campus students wanting to know if a salesman is “on the level” should ask to see a permit. Dave Bergen, student activities coordinator, says A&M officials have warned both the salesmen and the companies they work for about the violations against University policy, but with no success in stopping the solicitation. The salesmen, mostly young peo ple, say they’re under pressure to sell a lot of magazines, Bergen savs. If they do, the salesmen say they get good meals and better living acco modations. Their supervisors will tell them not to cooperate with anyone and not to identify themselves, he says. “They don’t have identification,” Bergen says, “but usually they’ll show you a standard company card where they write their names in. They’ll say they won’t go back to the dorms when we let them go, but they’ll walk out the door and go right over to a dorm and start selling again.” Wiatt says that the salesmen usually travel in teams and use high- pressure tactics to sell their mag azines. Their tactics can be both in sistent and intimidating. “Many are tough guys recruited from all over the country,” he says. “They’re vanned into other areas of the country.” The University Police receive about two reports per month on magazine salesmen, Wiatt says. But by the time the officers arrive at the area the solicitor is gone. They’re more often found in the women’s dormitories or in married- student housing, he says. “If a sale is not consummated,” Wiatt says, “ they become more and more belligerent.” He says that most of the students who buy magazines do so to get rid of the salesmen. Associattxl Press AUSTIN — Texas need March presidential primary to give both Democrats and Repub licans an earlier — and therefore more effective — voice in electing the next president, state Demo cratic Chairman Bob Slagle said Wednesday. But Slagle’s Republican coun terpart, George Strake, coun tered that “the system we have now has been working well" and told the House Elections Commit tee that “il it ain't broke, don’t fix it.” After almost three hours of tes timony, the measure for a presi dential primary that would also bind voters to a party for the rest of the year was left as pending business. Rep. Clint Hackney, D Hom ton and committee chairman said a vote on the measure bly would be taken next week. Texas Republicans have beei holding a presidential pritnati for several years at thesametim as the May party elections (o state and local officials. Democrats have a say inselett ing the presidential nomine® through delegates chosen for party’s national convention. 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