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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1973)
Page 2 College Station, Texas Thursday, November 1, 1973 THE BATTALICi To Hell with Congress, the Oil Belongs to Texas By RICK BROWN (First of two parts) State Senator Walter Mengden’s energy crisis talk here brought up some interesting lines of thought. The Treaty of Annexation whereby Texas entered the union as a state is still valid and has been upheld by the Supreme Court. Treaties are on an equal footing with the U. S. Constitution, i. e. all laws passed by the Congress conflicting with the treaty are null and void. And cer tain provisions of the treaty insure Texans virtual immunity from suffering an energy shortage should citizens of Texas choose to invoke the rights granted them in the treaty. Hearing the talk prompted a diligent search through several monolithic volumes of verbiage in order to satisfy myself as to the validity of Sen. Mengden’s claims. Suc cess rewarded my efforts in two ways: 1) Article V of the constitution states in part, “. . . all Treaties made . . . under the Auth ority of the United States, shall be the Su preme Law of the Land;” and 2) The Su preme Court ruled in 1953 in the Texas tide- lands case that the treaty is still quite (if lands case that the treaty is still quite valid (if it weren’t we wouldn’t be a state). The AMIABLE COMPANIONS OF ALL TYPES 'I NEED A NICE POLITE PARROT WHO'LL SIT ON MY SHOULDER AND SPEAK WHEN HE'S SPOKEN TO!' Batt Commentary Cleaner Senate Owed A proposal to define the duties and responsibilities of members of the Student Senate failed recently to muster enough votes for passage and addition to the Student Senate by-laws. The by-laws, which are separate from the Student Gov ernment Constitution, give the Senate policing power over itself. They specify voting procedures, membership guide lines and an absence policy. The bill considered by the Senate would have given the Judicial branch of Student Government the power to review individual senator participation at Senate meetings and in committees and issue Writs of Mandamus. Unfortunately for students, some senators have blocked a bill that is ex tremely necessary. The resolution would have provided that Senators be come : 1. informed on all legislative issues and make their views available to constituents, 2. attend all Senate meetings in accordance with ab sence policy expressed by by-law 12, and 3. participate actively on a Senate committee and/or Senate project(s). These could be enforced by a writ secured by any stu dent from the Judicial Board through a hearing. The writ, nothing more than a slap on the wrist, would encourage sen ators to be informed and available to constituents. Further more, it would alleviate dead weight in the Senate if poten tial senatorial candidates knew individual constituency could get one. If the election of a student to the Senate means repre senting the views of others, why are senators so scared of the Judicial Board? Senators know what they should be doing and if that is not viewed as right by their constituency, then anyone interested should take action. Some point out that if a senator doesn’t care about the rules, then he won’t care about the threat of a Writ of Man damus. But, a writ would be good since it is hard to band together enough students to call for a recall election (called at the request of a petition by 20 per cent of a representa tive’s constituency). Senators receive a letter from Student Government Veep Shariq Yosufsai before each meeting, have two weeks to gather opinions on legislative issues before voting and can go by the Student Government office as a last resort for information. The second point of the revisions resolution was redun dant to the existing by-law (12). It stipulated that accumu lation of 10 points for unexcused absence from Senate meet ings, excused absences and tardies or partial attendance would result in the removal of a Senator from his position. An unexcused absence is worth five points and the others are worth two. Already the Senate has eight persons who have 10 or more points and we can see no move to remove them. In fact, the Student Government Executive Committee may suspend the rule for each person. By virtue of the existing by-laws action should be initiated to expedite removal from office if these senators can’t live by the rules. No objections were offered to the last part by senators because that is what senators are elected for, to participate for their con stituency. However, a good number of senators have never dreamed of actually working in a position of responsibility and stay away from this type of activity. If a senator doesn’t thing his position on the Senate is one of responsibility and doesn’t care enough to abide by the rules, he should be removed. Student Government es tablishes so little direct communication with the students being represented that the Senate is obligated to clean house occasionally to expel representatives who will not participate. €be Battalion crux of Sen. Mengden’s message, that still valid annexation provisions insure Texans all the energy we need if we so desire, also seems to be quite true. A brief history review is in order. On March 1, 1845 the U. S. Congress passed a joint resolution admitting Texas to the un ion. Reluctant to accept the substantial debts the Texas Republic had incurred, Congress specified that “Texas shall retain all public debts.” Realizing the difficulty Texas would have paying for its debts, the congress fur ther stipulated that Texas “ . . . shall also retain all the vacant and unappropriated lands lying within its limits, to be applied to the payment of the debts and liabilities of said Republic of Texas, and the residue of said lands, after discharging said debts and liabilities, to be disposed of as said State may direct.” Those “said residues” of the “said land” comprise about 22 million acres which is still held by the state:. Fortunately there is “black” gold in them thar hills. All of which brings us to the meat of Sen. Mengdens talk. Since the annexation provi sions give us unquestioned authority to use lands as we so desire, Texans may tag oil produced on the public lands of Texas to be first used in Texas, (despite any congress ional ruling for mandatory equal alloca tion of energy) then, if a surplus exists, and it would, to sell the remainder outside the state. According to a recent issue of U. S. News and World Report, New York, which has virtually no state oil and gas production of its own, has one of the lowest levels of ener gy shortage in the nation while Texas, which produces 38 per cent of the nation’s oil, is experiencing “brown-outs” in San Antonio and Austin. The reason, the federal govern ment establishes guidelines on production and distribution of oil and gas. Since con sumer states far outnumber producer states the attitude of Congress, predictably enough, has been to favor the consumer states at the expense of the producers, e. g. Texas. The price of natural gas at the well-head is ap proximately eight times below market price. The federal government has set 8c per 1 cubic feet as the maximum rate to be eli ed for the last 17 years. San Antonio t stated a willingness to pay 65c per Their offer falls on deaf ears. The revttj gained would benefit producer states, marily Texas, Kansas, La., and Cal, would increase the price paid for natd gas in the other 46 states. The result, | change of the riduculously low price ceil; The revenue received by Texas from: lease of its land to oil companies is dii proportional to the marketed price gas or oil produced. Present royalties set as one-sixth of the revenue produced the sale of the resources. That revenue rently goes in large part to finance the and TAMU systems. An increase in oil gas lease revenues would directly aflj A&M. The second half of this probe into a concept in fighting the energy shortage Texas will be presented in tomorrow’s B talion. WANT H/pVwor, Minim Claa $1.00 1 ea PE Attention M Diversity- See , rft nd furnitun 11 "carpet. Se , and serv Free del COD’S FURN AVENUE- i »n<l Suality, flan, WOR Typing- Call Iheses 693 Listen Up— Disrespect Denounced for Fountain Typing done, , s es and diss i-4483. Typing - fast ■6-6196 after E . Typing- Expi Linds 822-0544 Experienced t |b46-6551. Full time tyi SO TV & 1 Zenith - All Mak< S. M Editor: It seems that a certain few of the students at this university insist upon trying to degrade our facilities. Besides the fact that bathing in the Memorial Student Center pond is childish, the MSC honors men who have fought and died for our country. It is a memorial and should be treated as such. Such antics as throwing soap in the MSC pond must fall into the same category as bathing in it. It is not funny to those of us who appreciate the beauty of the MSC and would like to keep it beautiful. After all, we have paid for part of the complex, so why not try to keep it beautiful for our guests? I, for one, do not like to make excuses for Aggies who do not respect our property. Richard Krueger '75 ★ ★ ★ Editor: In your recent editorial con cerning the removal of hats as one enters the MSC it becomes obvi ous that there is a need for some correct definitions of some very loosely used words. Let’s consider “Aggie.” A true Aggie is a soldier, statesman and knightly gentleman. He rides hard, shoots straight and lives his life in such a way that he can look any man in the eye and tell him to go to hell, if need be! His scientific and military training makes him the invaluable citizen- soldier. He is ready to lay down his life to defend freedom and lib erty. An Aggie is a superior breed of man, and it has been the discipline and traditions of the Corps that has molded this breed. From the heart of the Corps comes the incomparable Spirit of Aggieland. It is this Spirit that has given A&M that “uniqueness” which has made it famous the world over. Even to the casual ob server it is obvious that the Corps is still the backbone of the school. Tradition is another word all too frequently misused. A tradi tion is not something that needs to be approved by a ruling body. Raather it is something that does evolve and is handed down from the past as an inherited culture. Instead of fighting against the principles that build greatness, why not challenge the non-regs to become Aggie enough to proudly honor Aggie traditions instead setting your pen to destroy tel Consider that Aggie traditfe have been honored and by men such as General Doii| McArthur, President Dwight E] senhower, Audie Murphy (ad finitum) but have suddenly come a “headache” for such as Jack Williams and Buck' rus. Aggies, they’ve got us rounded. Don’t let ’em get aw Dr. Jim Syler, ’ii Athens, Tex. Any attempt to define an A 1 gie, other than saying he is a dent at TAMU, is purely phil phical. Your definition inclodt only students in the Corps, *1 about the other 15,000 stud®! here?—Eld. —E\ OPEN 7: PREMIUM F78 x 14 G78 x 14 Inc Others i All tires speed bah CHARGE. AIRLINE RESERVATIONS FOR THE HOLIDAYS CALL 822-3737 Robert Halsell Travel Service 1016 Texas Ave. — Bryan MSC BARBER SHOP Located in the new part of MSC across the hall from| bookstore on first floor. Hours 7:30 a. m. - 5:00 p. m. Monday - Friday Shine man available. Alternat Start from Most Am Foreign Youi Did You Know PENISTON CAFETERIA IS NOW OPEN EACH EVENING, that's right... from 4:30 to 7:00 EACH EVENING. SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of the University administration or the Board of Directors. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated by students as a University and Community newspaper. LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed and show the address of the writer. Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim Lindsey, chairman; Dr. Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr. H. E. Hierth, W. C. Harrison, J. W. Griffith, L. E. Kruse and B. B. Sears. Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising Services. Inc, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is published in College Station, Texas, daily except Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods, September through May, and once a week during summer school. MEMBER The Associated Press, Texas Press Association Featuring a Great Variety of Meals at Budget Prices (V) Home-made hot rolls (V) (V) Fast service (i) (V) Inexpensive (\0 (V) Parking across the street (V) SI NDAY THKOCCH FRIDAY Mail subscriptions are $3.50 per semester; $6 per school year; $6.50 per full year. All subscriptions subject to 6% sales tax. Advertising rate furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous origin published herein. Right of reproduction of all other matter herein are also reserved. Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas. EDITOR MIKE RICE Assistant to the Editor Rod Speer Managing Editor Greg Moses News Editor T. C. Gallucci Photo Editor Rodger Mallison Sports Editor Kevin Coffey Ass’t. Sports Editor Ted Boriskie} If you have never thought about taking the “BETTER H ALE" to dinner on cai»i|»us. then you hav e never thought about Peniston Cafeteria. When you think about eating out... I HUNK PENISTON. PENISTON CAFETERIA, Lower Level, Sbisa Hall OPEN SUN.-FRI. 7 A.M.-1:15 P.M. 4:30 P.M.-7 P.M. “Quality First”