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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1970)
teve ryant rk. MU CU D lich. CLA ale lFA )allas :ieve. 4 ,2-38 Che Battalion Windy, colder Sunday Vol. 66 No. 48 College Station, Texas Friday, November 20, 1970 Saturday—Clear. Winds south easterly 5-10 mph. Low 38°. High 74°. Sunday — Clear to partly cloudy. Winds southerly 10-15 mph. Low 49°. High 77°. 845-2226 Vestal outlines proposed board increase to Senate 620 t he mad* ;ainst h- mr for H i big first le number Longhorns Austin isa Garb' Yearlings II. 5 r... WEAE MARE, PAIR PAIR. By DAVID MIDDLEBROOKE Battalion Editor Student senators Thursday night were given an explanation of reasons behind a proposed room-board fee increase which will be presented to the Texas A&M Board of Directors when it meets next week. The increases, if approved by board members, would become ef fective with the 1971 fall semes ter. They would boost room rent by around eight per cent and board cost by about 12 per cent. Director of Management Serv ices Howard L. Vestal, who made the presentation, had explained the reasons behind the increase to the Senate’s Executive Com mittee Tuesday. Members thought the issue sufficiently important to warrant presentation to the entire Senate. Under the proposed increase, residents of Mitchell, Milner, Leg- ett and Hotard Halls would pay an additional $5 each semester for room rent, an increase of about 5 per cent over the $105 currently charged. Residents of Law, Puryear, Hart and Walton Halls would pay $10 more, an in crease of around eight per cent aver the current $120. Cadets living in dorms and ci vilians living in air-conditioned halls would have their room rent increased almost nine per cent, paying about $190 instead of the current $174. Vestal said the proposed 1 in crease in board, if passed, would boost five-day board plan fees $26 to $250—a 12 per cent in crease. Seven-day plan fees also would be raised $12 per cent to $280, a $29 increase. The proposed increases would raise the fees of a student on the seven-day board plan living in a non-air-conditioned hall without a phone from $380 to $414, a $34 boost. For a student on the five- day plan in one of the halls the increase would be $31 to $386. For a student on the seven-day plan in a non-air-conditioned hall with a phone, the increase would put his bill at $433; for one on the five-day plan, $405. Fees for a student on the seven- day plan in an air-conditioned hall (all of which have phones), the increase would mean a $492 bill; for the five-day plan stu dent, a $464 bill. In introducing Vestal, Senate President Kent Caperton said Ves tal had requested as little publi city as possible concerning what he had to say about the proposed increases. Vestal said Caperton had “un derstated” the request, because he really was requesting no pub licity concerning his presentation. He said board members have re quested that no publicity be giv en prior to 'board meetings on matters to be considered by them at the meeting. “They don’t like to read in The Battalion or The Daily Eagle what they are going to do when they haven’t met yet,” Vestal ex plained. Vestal noted that, contrary to popular belief, the Food Services Department is self-supporting and receives no tax money or oth er state-allocated funds. This also is true of other “aux iliary services” such as Easter- wood Airport, the university laun dry, the golf course and dormi tory services, he explained. Inflation is part of the reason behind a fee increase request, Ves tal said, adding that for the 24- month period ending in May 1970 the cost-of-living index rose 11.88 per cent. During that same 24-month time span, he added, Texas A&M’s room and board rates have re mained stable. The last increases in room and board were proposed in Novem ber of 1968. They were presented to the Senate on Nov. 21, one week before the board met to con sider the increases. Vestal presented figures show ing Texas A&M’s room and board fees were at least $30 and usually over $100 less than other state schools and schools in surround ing states. He also showed that between the fall of 1969 and the 1970-71 school year, room and board fees for other land-grant schools had risen between 6-10 per cent, and overall fees for the schools had risen 30 per cent. He is not asking for a laun dry fee increase, he said, because the laundry has been able to in troduce labor-saving equipment into the process. This, he said, saves on labor costs, “which are killing us.” He said he hopes he can go two or three more years before having to ask for an increase in the laundry fee. Vestal provided figures show ing that, in the two-year period since the last fee increases, costs both in the residence hall and board areas have risen over 20 per cent. Much of this, he said, is caused by the Fair Labor Stan dards Act, which requires A&M to pay minimum wages set by the federal government. Under the act, he said, Texas A&M is limited to a 40-hour work week (instead of the 6-day, 9- hour week it had been using), and is required to pay time-and- a-half for overtime. Also, he said, wages had had to be increased to avoid a severe loss in take- home pay to employes. Public Relations Chairman James P. O’Jibway reported his committee plans to sample stu dent opinion through an opera tion feedback similar to one con ducted last spring. He said questionnaires will be distributed through corps chan nels and the civilian residence hall staffs as well as at the Housing Office for day students. The committee, O’Jibway said, is trying for a response by the en tire student body instead of the 20-30 per cent that responded during the last poll. He said questions and their wording still are in the process of being decided. David Reynolds, chairman of the Legal Rights Commission, told the Senate articles recently have appeared in The Battalion concerning the activities and pur poses of his group. He said that as a result of the articles he re ceives about three or four phone calls per week from students needing advice. Caperton told senators a so- called Former Students Advisory Board will meet soon, possibly next month. He said the board will consist of former students and student leaders and provide an interchange of ideas between former and present students. He emphasized the board is in no way a decision-making body. It is, he stressed, an idea-ex change mechanism which will seek to promote understanding between the two groups. Director of Management Services Howard L. Vestal explains proposed room-board fee increases to the Senate Thursday night. (Photo by Bob Cox) Forum working on publicity problem Pakistani students, university hold service for cyclone dead Maness freshman president Eight hundred fifty-nine fresh men made it to the polls for Thursday’s class runoff elections, and 591 of them combined to elect Randy Maness their class presi dent. Don A. Webb, with 616 votes, is class vice president. The first-year students also elected John Rosenbaum secre tary-treasurer and Richard Chap man social secretary. Swimming facilities open free for Ags P. L. Downs Jr. Natatorium and Wofford Cain Pool is open for fitness and recreational swim ming, Dr. Carl W. Landiss an nounced this week. The Health and Physical Edu cation Department head said persons eligible to use the pools include A&M students, faculty- staff members and their families. Swimming facilities are oper ated by the department, with aquatics director Dennis Fosdick in charge. Downs Natatorium will be open for recreational swimming from 1:30 to 9 p.m. on Mondays, Tues days and Thursdays and Satur days from 1 to 5 p.m. Students will be admitted free on their ID cards. Faculty-staff and family members must pay 25 cents each. Fosdick said that Downs pool users are required to wear caps. He said Cain Pool will be open free of charge to students, fac ulty and staff in the noon fitness program from 12 noon to 1 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. He added that the period is for fit ness swimming, not recreational purposes. The department will have life guards on duty at both pools dur ing the activity periods. Further information can be ob tained from Fosdick at 845-3021. Thursday’s runoff came one week after the class elections proper . In that race the five at- large student senators for the Freshman Class were elected. They are Barbara Sears, L. R. (Buddy) King, Randy Ross, Rich ard C. Huddleston and Bill Clark. Balloting for the runoff was done via the IBM punch-card sys tem first tried here last week. Locked boxes containing the bal lots were taken to the Data Pro cessing Center this morning, the cards punched and counted. Maness was running against T. Mark Blakemore, who received 265 votes. Jimmy Laferney ran against Webb, but could pull only 234 votes. Rosenbaum was seeking elec tion over James K. Goode, who was able to tally a close 409 votes. Chapman was running against Chris St. John, who counted 359 votes to his name. Election Commission members have said they are pleased with the success of the punch-card ballot system, and Commission President Mike Wiebe told the Student Senate Thursday night there is a good chance the meth od will be used in the spring general elections. Memorial services for Pakistan cyclone victims will be held at 7 p.m. tonight in A&M’s All Faiths Chapel. The university, which has close ties with Pakistan through Inter national Program activities, joins hands with the local chapter of the Pakistani Students’ Associa tion of America in the observ ance. Hafizuddin Ahmad, civil engi neering doctoral student of Dacca, East Pakistan, is president of the A&M chapter. YMCA coordinator Col. Logan Weston will present the obituary and introduce speakers in the 30- minute Friday program at the chapel. Presentations will be made by Kamaluddin Hyder, Pakistan graduate student, and prof. R. E. Vrooman, College of Architecture faculty member who worked in Pakistan through A&M’s Inter national Program. An Islamic prayer, the “Fa- teha,” will be led by Essam-Al- Hussaini. A Christian prayer of fered by Colonel Weston will be followed by a period of silence of meditation and individual prayer. The Pakistani Students’ Asso ciation chapter invites concerned individuals to contribute to a Pakistan Cyclone Victims Fund. Contributions will be accepted at offering boxes in the Memorial Student Center and YMCA Main Lobby Saturday through Monday. Checks made to the Pakistan Cyclone Victims Fund may be deposited in either box or sent to the YMCA, Room 102 YMCA Building, Texas A&M, Ahmad said. The soapbox forum will con tinue after Thanksgiving, Kent Caperton, student senate presi dent, announced Thursday. The next one is scheduled for Dec. 3. “The program seems to be dy ing because of financial difficul ties in publicizing the event,” Caperton said. “Great Issues just hasn’t had enough money to pub licize it adequately, and the stu dents didn’t know about it taking place. “I believe that student interest is there, we just have to let, them know they have the opportunity to discuss the material.” The first soapbox forum was Memories, plans part of ski trips ided Y tf. George M!’ company sings “Give My Regard to Boardway” ITiursday night in the Bryan Civic Auditorium. Tony Tan ner, center in striped vest, starred as George M. Cohan. (Photo by Fran Hauge) It’s worth snow down the col lar and cold feet, 1970 Ski the Alps participants vow. They are talking about 10 days at a French ski resort, tumbling in the white powdery stuff, mod ern resort apartments and sight seeing in the French Alps. The less-athletically inclined re fer to special rental car motoring trips through Europe. “It’s one of the most fun things I’ve ever done,” said Dave )lmen- dorf, A&M football safety who went last January hopes to re turn to Europe with the univer sity group again next January. Ski the Alps '71 is part of the Memorial Student Center’s Travel Committee, which has as its major tenet that every stu dent should spend some time over seas through one of the commit tee’s programs. Ski the Alps chairman Jim Summers admits his program has a different goal than the Experi ment in International Living (EIL) and the International Ex change of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE). The between-semesters jaunt is strictly for entertainment, Sum mers said. Students, former stu dents and faculty-staff members who went last time bear him out. “The trip was worth three times the money I paid,” commented John Sharp, sophomore class president and student life chair man of the Student Senate. “I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.” From an educational standpoint, the 1971 jaunt Jan. 3-13 offers in some respect a mini-EIL or IAESTE. “A friend and I spent five days in Paris seeing sights and soaking up culture and four days in Cour chevel skiing and seeing those sights,” Dave Mayfield, last year’s Ski the Alps chairman who heads SCONA XVI said. The upcoming trip will be to the Argentiere-Chamonix Valley in France Skiers will stay at the “Grand Roc” resort near Argen- tiere, an Alpine village at the base of the famous Grand Montets ski runs. Included in the less than $300 per person charge is ground trans fers from the DC-8 landing in Geneva and back, nine nights lodging in hitel-convenience apart ments of the self-contained resort, ski lessons, guides and a group slalom race. “I bought a lot of extras and spent $150,” Elmendorf said. “It could have been done on less. The food was great too and very rea- | sonable. Don’t plan to sleep much.” GSC passes membership restriction The Graduate Student Council | adopted a reformed constitution yesterday that restricts member ship on the council to graduate students with not greater than a 50 per cent faculty load, effective next fall. The Graduate Student Council also observed a brief silence for the cyclone victims in East Pakis tan. Kamalludin Hyder, Animal Science, called it perhaps the largest catastrophe of this cen tury. “All we can do is express our sympathy,” Hyder said, for the half million casualties. The reformed constitution passed unanimously, except for the sec tion defining eligibility for council membership. It was passed, after discussion and a legislative dead lock, on the second vote, nine to three. Those members of the Graduate Student Council who have greater than a 50 per cent faculty load or more than 20 hours a week will (See GSC passes, page 3) University National Bank “On the side of Texas A&M.” —Adv. successful, but the second one scheduled had only mild student interest. Caperton said there is a possibility of having set topics to discuss much like the one held which dealt with the Vietnam war. “What we will probably do is suggest a current topic in our publicity, but allow students to discuss any current affair he de sires at the forum,” Caperton added. “The program needs money and we are thinking about going to Dean Hannigan to ask for a sup plemental budget to help finance the program,” he said. “It’s too good to do nothing about, and I’m confident that Dean Hannigan sees as we do and will approve it.” He said some money is avail able now, and a campaign to pub licize the program will begin as soon as possible. He said that he doesn’t know how much money the sponsors are going to ask Dean Hannigan for until a meeting is held with David Moore and Sam Drugan, forum moderators, and James (Rip) Russell, Great Issues chair man. MISS TEENAGE AMERI CA, Debbie Susan Patton, participated in a service at All Faiths Chapel Thursday. (Photo by Patrick Fontana)