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VOLUME 64 Number 86
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 1969
Telephone 846-2226
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Smith Recommends Tax Hikes
On Cigarettes, Chemical Goods
OIL SPRAYS IN GULF
I sprays from an offshore drilling rig into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana
ifter the control valve broke in rough seas. The Coast Guard said the oil was causing
Wor pollution but the wind was pushing the oil out to sea. Twenty men were evacuated
the rig located 65 miles southeast of Morgan City. (AP Wirephoto)
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Before Sparse Attendance
Panel Explains Autareg
By TOM CURL
Battalion Staff Writer
An explanation of the recently-
ompleted automated registration
ind some suggestions for chang-
s were made to a disappointing-
y small audience in the Me-
norial Student Center Wednes-
Jay.
The program was a Great Is-
ues presentation titled “The
Student Body vs. Automated Reg-
stration,” but only about 15 stu-
lents were present.
The seven-member panel was
composed of two students and
ive administrative officials con-
lerned with the program used
or the first time in registering
or this spring semester.
THE SYSTEM’S planners ex-
ilained their respective roles;
mm’s hen Student Senator A1 Reinert,
uwfiead of a joint committee to
tudy the new system, and Stu-
lent Senate Vice President David
addox expressed the students’
iewpoint.
Reinert explained that students
rere generally in favor of the
utomated system, as evidenced
>y a recent poll conducted by the
student Senate.
“As a technological achieve-
nent, the system is great; it’s an
idministrative tool to help run
he university,” he said.
“A LOT of students, in fact
10 per cent, said they were satis-
ied with the system,” he re-
arked in referring to the Stu-
lent Senate poll.
He added, however, that many
itudents were alienated by the
ipeed at which the new system
was “sprung” on them last fall.
“There were student senators
last September just waiting for
lomputerized registration so they
DAY
5P.il
University National Bank
“On the side of Texas A&M.
—Adv.
could introduce resolutions con
demning it,” Reinert commented.
“From the sparse turnout we
haye tonight, apparently those
who were down on it at the be
ginning of the semester are satis
fied now,” he concluded.
Maddox then said that many
students still have the idea that
it does no good to air their com
plaints because they think they
will be ignored.
MADDOX SAID that in his
study of the system and his dis
cussions with members of the
student body, there seems to be
three major complaints concern
ing the automated procedure.
The first two are selection of
professor, something the students
did not have even under the old
system, and selection of course
times, a possibility under the old
method. Both are not possible
under the automated system.
He pointed out that the pro
fessor evaluation system current
ly being formed by the Student
Senate would be useless if stu
dents have no choice of instruc
tors.
Maddox then offered several
suggestions for improvement of
the system, including changing
the criteria used to determine
priority used for pre-registration.
He suggested basing a student’s
place in the pre-registration pro
cedure on his cumulative grade
point ratio, with the higher stu
dents being given the first op
portunity to get their desired
courses.
UNDER THE present system
of pre-registration, a student who
is failing a course at mid-term
may sign up for an advanced
course the following semester in
the hopes he can raise his mid
term grade. In the case of cer
tain courses, the available sec
tions are closed before preregis
tration is completed and some
the
even
students must register in
week between semesters,
though they passed the prerequi
site course.
“The man who is going to fail
the course can get a seat and the
man who passes sometimes
dan’t,” Maddox said.
He also suggested adopting the
method of automated registration
used by Miami University of Ohio
where the computer tries to give
the student the schedule he has
requested, if at all possible. Mad
dox admitted, however, that this
would not allow complete balanc
ing of sections in multiple-sec
tion courses, as is possible under
the existing A&M system.
AUSTIN (A 1 ) — Gov. Preston
Smith waited today for public
reaction to his latest new tax
recommendations and legislators
got ready to write their own tax
bill.
There were indications the first
major move toward producing
$261 million in new revenue for
1970-71 will come next Wednes
day.
Meanwhile both houses met to
day to consider a long list of com
mittee-approved bills, then were
expected to quit until Monday.
The governor told a joint ses
sion of senators and representa
tives Wednesday afternoon that
he thought $71 million in new tax
money should be raised from cig
arette smokers and chemical man
ufacturers.
Smith recommended raising the
state cigarette tax from 11 to 15
cents a pack, which also carries
eight cents federal tax. The gov
ernor predicted most cigarette
sellers would up prices five cents
a pack, giving them another cent
profit along with the four cents
for new state tax money. Smith
estimated the four cents increase
would produce $71 million for
1970-71.
THE GOVERNOR said another
$45 million could be raised in the
next biennium by a .5 per cent
gross receipts tax on chemical
products manufactured in Texas.
Motor and special fuels would be
exempted, as would natural sul
phur, natural gas and cement. The
tax would hit manufacture of or
ganic and inorganic chemicals and
gases, resin and plastics, drugs,
cleaning and toilet goods, explo
sives, carbon black, paints, inks
and other chemical preparations.
Speaker Gus Mutscher was cau
tious in comment on the gover
nor’s recommendations but the
speaker said he would talk with
House leaders about a major tax
bill hearing next Wednesday.
“I can’t help but applaud the
governor’s efforts to bring some
degree of balance between busi
ness and consumer taxes,” Mut
scher said.
REP. BEN ATWELL, chairman
of the House Tax; Committee and
co-sponsor of the only House bill
introduced that has the chemical
tax, said he would need assur
ances the tax will not hurt the
competitive position of Texas’
fast growing chemical industry.
“Ridiculous,” said Sen. Jack
Strong, Longview, about the chem
icals levy. “It’s a gross receipts
tax on a gross receipts tax. Chem
icals are produced from oil and
gas, which already have a gross
receipts tax.”
When Budget Doesn’t Balance
Legislators Decide: Heatly
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ELECTION TONIGHT
Campaign signs between the Memorial Student Center and
Guion Hall that have been shouting their slogans to the
casual passerby all week will come down tomorrow after
the polls close at 7:30 p. m. tonight. Polling places are
located in the basements of the MSC and YMCA. (Photo
by Bob Palmer)
By TONY HUDDLESTON
Battalion Staff Writer
The Texas Legislature has to
decide “whether to fit the hand
in a glove or make the glove fit
the hand” when the state budget
won’t balance, House appropria
tions committee chairman W. S.
(Bill) Heatly Jr. told the Politi
cal Forum audience Wednesday.
“If the people support state
programs, they must also sup
port the means of paying for
them,” the seven-term legislator
informed a record 75 people at
tending a Political Forum noon
discussion.
He added that he didn’t think
a state income tax was justified
because of the amount that the
federal income tax already took
from the Texas citizen.
He noted that he had support
ed every tax bill that had come
before him since he was elected
to the legislature in 1954. “I be
lieve that my appropriation bill
creates the taxes, and that I am
obliged to help pass the tax
measure to get the money for
the appropriation bills.”
THE DECISION that the legis
lature will most likely make will
be to honor a large number of
requests, appropriations, and
stipulate the need “for blank
number of dollars,” the four
time appropriations committee
chairman added.
“Your budget is a good exam
ple of how this works,” Heatly
told a standing-room crowd.
“Every Monday morning you
wonder how you’re going to
make through the week, because
you spent too much Saturday
night. And it took a loan from
your roommate.”
“By constitutional amendment
passed during Gov. Coke Steven
son’s term, the budget can’t be
passed unless the comptroller
certifies that the money is com
ing in,” Heatly noted. ‘This
amendment guarantees that the
government of Texas can’t spend
more money than they have, and
insures that the Texas budget
will always be in the black.”
THE LEGISLATOR from Pa
ducah noted that with the state’s
Smith apparently shook some
legislators when he suggested
they keep “your thinking clear
and straight about a corporation
profits tax. I frankly do not know
how much longer such a tax can
be postponed in Texas.”
One of Smith’s aides said he
came close to recommending such
a levy.
“I sure don’t want to hear any
more talk about a corporate in
come tax . . . because a personal
income tax comes next,” said Rep.
Bill Heatly, chairman of the
House Appropriations Committee.
Smith also said he wanted leg
islators to know that he was se
rious about recommending in
February a $10 penalty for each
moving traffic fine to produce
about $38.5 million the next two
years.
“WHETHER it was a politi
cally wise recommendation, or
whether it was a good recommen
dation, may be questioned, but I
assure you it was and is a serious
recommendation,” he said. In a
session of the House Revenue and
Tax Committee after Smith’s
speech, Rep. R. H. Cory, Victoria,
tried unsuccessfully to get the
$10 traffic fine penalty plan sent
to the attorney general for a
legal test. He said he had letters
from a number of attorneys who
thought the plan would be uncon
stitutional by “using police power
to raise taxes.”
Cory said he would make a
second attempt later.
Work Through Set Channels
For Change, Luce Advises
rapidly increasing population —
expected to be 11 million and
third largest by the 1970 census
— needs in health, education and
welfare continue to increase, and
cause higher state expenditures,
Heatly predicted.
He pointed out that 43.5 cents
of every dollar is spent on edu
cation; 17.5 cents, state welfare;
21 cents, state highways; and
5 cents, public health, totaling
87 cents of every tax dollar. He
added that in the future he ex
pects the total percentage of tax
dollars spent in these four areas
to be higher.
Heatly said that current spend
ing includes $1 billion for the
state judiciary, $20 million for
departmental requests, $120 mil
lion for higher education and $30
million for mental health.
HE CITED A&M as an example
where the cost of education has
increased from $33.5 million in
1963 to $63 million this year.
“We have three medical schools
in Texas, at a cost of $50 million
a year, and it appears the legis
lature will create another, or per
haps two,” the legislator added.
He said that he favored college
tuition increases and will support
these measures.
“In the 1930’s, tuition covered
25 per cent of classroom costs,
a percentage that we maintained
until 1960,” Heatly remarked.
Currently tuition covers 12 per
cent of classroom costs.”
Heatly said that he would be
happy to go along with measures
to repeal state tuition, and make
the system tuition-free as in
California.
“If we adopted their free sys
tem, we could raise $44 million
more annually,” he pointed out.
On the question of whether an
18-year-old should vote or not,
the Baylor graduate said, “Young
Americans should wait until they
are 21 before they are allowed
to vote because they will be better
informed on the issues at hand
than 18-year-olds.”
Bryan Building & Loan
Association. Your Sav
ings Center, since 1919.
13 B & L —Adv.
By DAVID MIDDLEBROOKE
Battalion Staff Writer
Young people today should be
come involved in the political
party structure that exists, and
work from the inside for mean
ingful change, according to Phil
lip Abbott Luce.
Luce, a former communist who
later defected to the F.B.I. and
wrote books and articles on his
experiences with the New Left,
talked with The Battalion Wed
nesday following informal talks
in five air science classes. The
Young Americans For Freedom
(YAF) consultant also spoke
Tuesday on “The New Left” in a
Great Issues presentation.
“I think the party has a lot to
offer,” Luce explained. “It needs
young' people. I think it recog
nizes that, and is seeking them.
Young people do have a lot to say
and I think they could bring about
meaningful reform in this coun
try. They have to be given the
chance to change it through the
democratic process.
“A THIRD party is not the
answer,” he continued. “It takes
more and more money to run for
office, and most third parties can
not afford it. In a country such
as this, I think third parties are
doomed to failure.
“Wallace, for instance, didn’t
receive votes for Wallace so much
as he received votes against the
other two parties. It is the one
kind of vote you can cast that
says you’re mad, that says T
think you’re both wrong and I’m
going to show you you’re wrong
by voting for George Wallace.”
“The struggle is not one of
ease or comfort,” Luce empha
sized. “Neither is it one of sit
ting in your coffee houses and
talking about revolution. It’s one
where you go out and you are the
one that helps elect an assembly-
man and he knows you helped
elect him, and he’s a young guy,
he’s got the same kind of ideas
you’ve got. Then you go on up
to Congress. That’s the way to
do it.”
‘ THERE ARE a number of big
political bosses, like Daley in
Chicago, that I think should, and
can, be overcome. The young
people can do it.”
Luce then turned the conver
sation to Chicago and the riots
there last August.
“The Left went to Chicago to
create violence,” he said. “Mayor
Daley, unfortunately, fell into
their trap from the beginning.
The left wanted three things; the
right to sleep in Lincoln Park,
the issuance of a parade permit,
and permission to hold a mock
convention. Daley should have
allowed them. In that way, he
would have undercut the left.
“THE OVERRIDING conviction
of the left,” Luce observed, “is a
belief in collectivism, a belief that
the more government power you
have, the more you can control
people’s lives. The more you can
do this the more the government
can create betterment for the peo
ple. This is exactly the opposite
of what most young people, of
what I, believe. I
“The tide is turning; the left
is on the way out, I think,” he
continued. “This is why they are
(See Work, Page 3)
Change By Supreme Court
Last Lecture Presentation
“The Supreme Court as an In
strument of Change” will be the
final presentation Tuesday for
the 1968-69 University Lecture
Series.
Guest speaker will be Dr. Rob
ert Jennings Harris, political sci
ence author and professor of
history and government at the
University of Virginia.
Dr. E. B. Doran, series chair
man, said the talk will be con
ducted at 8 p.m. in the Memorial
Student Center Ballroom. The
admission-free program is co
sponsored by the Great Issues
Committee of the MSC Director
ate.
Dr. Harris joined the Univer
sity of Virginia faculty in 1963
as arts and science dean and pro
fessor of government. The Ten
nessee native previously taught
at Louisiana State, Vanderbilt
and Columbia.
He has been employed by the
Library of Congress to assist in
the revision of “The Constitution
of the United States Annotated.”
His books include “The Judicial
Power of the United States” and
“The Quest for Equality: The
Constitution, Congress, and the
Supreme Court.” He also col
laborated in writing “The Consti
tution of the United States:
Analysis and Interpretation,”
“Continuing Crisis in American
Politics” and “Perspective on the
South: Agenda for Research.”
Dr. Harris holds degrees from
Vanderbilt, the University of Illi
nois and Princeton.
The University Lecture Series,
Dr. Doran explained, was launch
ed in 1963 to give A&M faculty
and students, as well as the gen
eral public, an opportunity to
hear authorities discuss subjects
of broad social, political and in
tellectual interest.
Sophs May Apply
For Town Hall
Sophomores interested in
applying for positions on next
year’s Town Hall Committee
should get applications at the
Student Program office in the
Memorial Student Center be
fore March 28, according to
Louis Adams, Committee
chairman.
FIRST BANK & TRUST—Home
of the Super CD- 5% interest
compounded daily.
CHOPPERS IN FIERY EXIT
Two troop-carrying helicopters of the U. S. 25th Infantry Division pull out of a landing
zone through the smoke of a marsh grass fire in South Vietnam. The fire was started
when troops marked a landing zone with smoke grenades and the dry brush went up in
flames. The soldiers w’ere being dropped into the area to search for signs of an enemy
unit reported to have infiltrated there from across the nearby Cambodian border. (AP
Wirephoto)