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Texas Municipal League Presi
dent Jamie Clements last week
urged the Texas Constitutional
Revision Commission to favor
strengthening the constitutional
status of local governments. In
a letter to Commission Chairman
Robert W. Calvert, Temple Mayor
Clements noted Texas’ long and
successful tradition of municipal
home rule.
Clements stated: “It is general
ly accepted that local government,
because of its closeness to the
people, is uniquely well qualified
to respond to the special needs
of our state’s urban residents.
Our system of municipal home
home has consistently benefitted
all of the people in the 60 years
since its adoption, and city of
ficials throughout Texas feel very
strongly that the principle of
local self-government must be re
tained in any proposed rewrite of
the constitution.”
Clements said that the Board
of Directors of the Texas Munici
pal League recently submitted a
formal policy statement to the
Constitutional Revision Commis
sion. The League’s statement
suggests more than 20 specific
changes in the present constitu
tion; however, Clements summar
ized the cities’ priority recom
mendations to include:
(1) The adoption of a consti
tutional provision allowing the
Texas Legislature to establish
limitations on municipal indebted
ness. City taxpayers are now
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Houston - Huntsville State Park Trip
LEAVE BAPTIST STUDENT CENTER AT
3:00 P. M.
FRIDAY, JULY 27
RETURN SATURDAY, JULY 28 AT
6:00 P. M.
Call 846-6411 for Reservations
Baptist Student Center
1 Block North of North Gate
ROBERT HALSELL
TRAVEL SERVICE
AIRLINE SCHEDULE INFORMATION
FARES AND TICKETS
DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL
CALL 822-3737
1016 Texas Avenue — Bryan
DRE
Wednesday, July 25, 1973
Page 9
Strengthening Urged
forced to pay more than $30 mil
lion annually in unnecessary mu
nicipal bond interest charges as
a result of the outmoded munici
pal debt limitations built into
Texas’ present constitution.
(2) The adoption of a consti
tutional provision limiting the
circumstances under which the
Texas Legislature may impose
new responsibilities on local gov
ernments without simultaneously
providing financial resources to
pay the cost of those burdens. The
state has resisted attempts by
the federal government to estab
lish new obligations for state
government without providing
federal funds to support their
cost; cities likewise believe that
the state should assume the cost
of new programs it requires local
governments to undertake.
(3) The adoption of a consti
tutional provision allowing home
rule cities to levy any taxes not
prohibited by general law or local
home rule charters. This proviso
would simply put the responsi
bility for controlling local taxes
back in the hands of the local
citizens.
(4) Amendment of the “home
rule” section in Article 11 of the
constitution to permit municipal
ities of 1500 or greater popula
tion to adopt home rule charters.
This authority is presently lim
ited to cities of 5000 or greater.
Lowering the minimum popula
tion standard would extend the
advantages of home rule status
to citizens presently denied the
opportunity to decide what kind
of local government they wish to
have.
(5) The adoption of a provision
which reserves to local govern
ments all powers not delegated
by the constitution of the state.
This proviso would parallel the
purpose of the Tenth Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution, which
provides that “The powers not
delegated to the United States
by the Constitution, nor prohib
ited to it by the states, are re
served to the states respectively.”
Other changes recommended in
the Texas Municipal League’s
policy statement are designed to
consolidate and simplify several
present constitutional provisions
on related subjects, to delete pro
visions of no further practical
value since their adoption in 1876,
and to unshackle local govern
ments from constitutional restric
tions which might better be writ
ten into the general statutes of
the state.
Clements observed that the
Texas Municipal League was
dmong the first of the state
wide organizations to endorse
constitutional revision in 1972,
and restated the pledge of city
officials to work with the Com
mission and with the Texas Legis
lature in developing a proposed
constitution to meet the needs
of all people and all levels of
government in Texas. “We are
gifted with a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity,” Clements conclud
ed, “and we must make the best
of a chance which may not again
materialize for another hundred
years.”
Engineering Students Help
Solve Real World Problems
Undergraduate students in en
gineering are being given ex
posure to the real world of engi
neering practices through a pro
gram offered by the Mechanics
and Materials Research Center.
The center, a division of the
Texas Engineering Experiment
Station, offers research projects
to qualified undergraduate stu
dents that make use of their en
gineering skills in solving real
problems.
One such project, a research
grant from Bell Helicopter Com
pany, is utilizing the interdiscip
linary talents of three under
graduate students to test the de
sign and effectiveness of a new
rotor bearing.
Funded with $3,400 from Bell,
the project will subject the new
bearing, called an “elastomeric
bearing” by the company, to more
than 1,000 hours of use testing
by the student team to determine
the optimal shape for the bearing,
proper thickness of rubber insu
lation between the bearing parts
and the best type of elastomeric
material for use in the bearing.
The project is being undertaken
by Charles Callaway, a senior
aerospace engineering student
from Wharton; Earl Edris, senior
student in civil engineering from
Mt. Gretna, Penn.; and Richard
Chaney, a senior electrical engi
neering student from Kingsville.
The elastomeric bearing, ac
cording to project advisor Dr. L.
Dale Webb, Civil Engineering De
partment, is a new type of rotor
bearing that oscillates rather
than rolls like the traditional ball
bearing.
“The bearing consists of two
metal cylinders joined together
with an elastic material,” he ex
plained. “The theory behind the
bearing is that the elastic ma
terial will eliminate the need for
extreme lubrication now found in
current rotor bearings.”
Callaway will oversee the proj
ect, being responsible for overall
stress testing of the bearing. He
will subject the bearing to axial
loading, radial loading and tortion
loading. He will perform a serv
ice-life test that will place the
bearing in tortional oscillation,
or twisting, while at the same
time superimposing a radial load
of approximately 1,000 pounds in
conjunction with an oscillating
load of about 200 pounds.
“This will simulate the worst
possible loading the bearing will
see,” Dr. Webb explained. “The
test will be run for at least 1,000
continuous hours, although we
expect the bearing will he good
for thousands of hours more.”
Chaney, according to Dr. Webb,
will be responsible for data ac
quisition and manipulation of test
data, and Edris will be concerned
with data interpretation and re
duction.
Dog House
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“The Full Service Florist”
823-5792
EflNTERBQRY flSSOEIflTIQN
Each Tuesday, 5:30 p. m.—Holy Eucharist and Supper
Thursdays, 6:30 a. m.—Holy Eucharist and Breakfast
EPISCOPAL STUDENT CENTER
904 - 906 Jersey Street
(Southern Boundary of Campus)
846-1726 Father James T. Moore Chaplain
Are You A Clothes Horse Too?
THERE’S A LITTLE SHOP
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HEART by showing you all
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PICTURE YOURSELF IN A
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3801 E. 29th 846-2940
TOWN AND COUNTRY CENTER
The Opera and Performing Arts Society reminds
Qp^ members that the priority period for pur
chasing season tickets in choice theater locations
ends July 31.
The premier season series includes:
Van Cliburn, Pianist
National Ballet of Washington
Houston Symphony
Norman Treigle in “The Marriage of Figaro”
Marisa Galvany, Soprano
Itzhak Perlman, Violinist
Special attractions include:
Christopher Parkening, Guitarist
Houston Lyric Arts String Quartet & Pianist
Use the convenient order
form in your brochure
Call 845-4671
for more information
is a functioning committee of the Town Hall Committee of Texas A&M University.