THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1974
Page 2
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Listen Up
THE B,
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Ecktox V \ SCON A head defends Kunstler mov
Ay. Rod SfMO'i |
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State Rep. Joe Pentony of Houston said money from
the Permanent University Fund has been spent at the
University of Texas on items like bouquets, paper shredders
and even toilet paper. All this in light of the fact that the
fund was established “to provide academic excellence”
through increased research and graduate facilities.
Profits from the permanent fund are distributed
annually, with the Texas A&M University System receiving
one-third and the University of Texas System getting the
rest. The annual allotments that have been split by UT and
A&M, known as the University Available Fund, has recently
been worth over $30 million. Pentony claims that this
money has been misused and should be divided equally
among all state schools.
Pentony’s allegations made me curious as to how
A&IVF s share of the pie was being spent, so I visited Clyde
Freeman, Jr., vice president and comptroller of the TAMU
System. I learned that:
(1) The Permanent University Fund consists of the oil
and gas bonuses and royalties from 2.1 million acres of land
in West Texas. These profits are invested in corporate
securities, stocks, bonds, mortgages and other securities.
According to the constitution, the $670 million Permanent
Fund cannot be spent but income from its investments,
which amount to about $30 million annually go to the UT
and A&M Systems.
(2) Money from the Available Fund can be spent in
three ways. It can be used for permanent improvements and
major repairs to the TAMU campus only. It can be used to
pay principal and interest on bonds issued by the Board of
Directors and backed by the University Available Fund.
(The principal outstanding cannot exceed 6 2/3 percent of
the value of the permanent fund). In addition, the money
can supplement the University’s educational and general
budget, which means it can be spent on just about
anything.
(3) A 1958 amendment to the constitution allows the
University to give proceeds from bonds backed by the fund
to other colleges and agencies within the System. (The
Moody College in Galveston was established after 1958 and
cannot receive these proceeds). The bond money can only
be used for new building construction. From September of
1958 until June of last year Prairie View received nearly
$6!4 million for new construction; Tarleton State, $5.2
million; and A&M, $35.7 million.
(4) For the fiscal year ’74-’75, $4.7 million of the
Available Fund is obligated to pay off bonds. Of the
remainder, $2 million is allotted for permanent improve
ments and $3.7 million will go into the general pool of state
funds that support the current operations of the TAMU
campus. At the end of the 1972 fiscal year this meant the'
fund could be used to help meet the salaries of a number of
janitors and cleaning women.
(5) The money tagged for construction is not used to
build dormitories or dining halls but only for educational or
research facilities. The Oceanography-Meteorology
Building, Zachry Engineering Center, Office and Classroom
Building and the Library are among recent expenditures
along this line.
Pentony is right when he says not all of the fund is
used as the writers of the constitution intended. However,
to split the money among the more than 30 state supported
schools in Texas would destroy the initial concept under
which the fund was established. It would not allow for the
great expense of building a McDonald Observatory or a
College of Veterinary Medicine. His plan would put all state
schools of higher education on the same financial level and
mediocrity could well become an accepted standard.
Editor’s note: SCON A chairman
Steve Kosub was a major figure
in a Battalion investigation and
has been the target of criticism
in several letters to the editor.
Under this circumstance we are
waiving our 300 word limit for
letters to allow Mr. Kosub an un
restricted forum to defend his po
sition.
Editor:
The events and discussion of
the past week regarding the Nine
teenth Student Conference on Na
tional Affairs, William Kunstler
and “the free exchange of ideas”
on this university campus have
either obscured or ignored a num
ber of points which if for no other
reason than my own peace of
mind, I feel very much need to be
said. If I ramble, I beg your mo
mentary indulgence; far too many
conflicting thoughts have hounded
me as a result of this matter to
allow for any sort of orderly pre
sentation.
In asking you to accept my
credibility, several things must be
set straight from the outset. With
regard to my reply to Mrs. Kun
stler when asked if withdrawal of
her husband’s invitation was
prompted by political considera
tions, I did indeed reply “no.”
This was a shallow attempt at
coverup on my part for which I
have since apologized to Mrs.
Kuntzler. Also incomplete was my
statement that Mr. Kuntzler’s
cancellation resulted from a
change in programming. The stu
dents of Texas A&M University
deserve a more accurate explana
tion and to you also I extend my
apologies. With regard to the
statements credited to me in the
January 29 edition of The Battal
ion by Mr. Greg Moses, specifi
cally, “we decided it was not in
the best interest of TAMU . . .
Kunstler is not the most popular
man at this time,” I made no such
comments, and do not feel qual
ified to determine the best inter
ests of an institution of this size
and complexity. Determining the
best interests of the Student Con
ference on National Affairs how
ever, is very much my responsibil
ity, and it is a responsibility for
which I have worked for three
years to be qualified to accept.
My considerations in cancelling
Mr. Kunstler’s invitation can be
defined on two levels: a fear of
potential loss of funding to the
university and a fear of potential
loss of funding and advisory sup
port to the SCONA Committee.
Whether or not the implied threat
of a loss of funding to this univer
sity as a result of a presentation
by Mr. Kunstler is indeed a real
consideration, I cannot know for
sure. I have only the offer of one
man’s integrity that such is in-
I LIKED TOT PART
ABOUT IKE HUGE
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INCREASE/
I LOVED TOT PART ABOUT
AAYAAONEY BUYING
MORE THAN EVER IN
HISTORY/
I LIKED THAT PART ABOUT
PROTECTING THE GOOD
OLE ENVIRONMENT/ '
I LIKED THE PART WHERE I
SAID I WOULD FINISH
MY TERM/
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Cbe Battalion
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H. E.
and Jan Faber.
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Interim Editor Rod Speer
Assistant to the Editor Greg Moses
Managing Editor Stephen Goble
News Editor T. C. Gallucci
Photo Editor Gary Baldasari
Sports Editor Kevin Coffey
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SANDWICHES
SUBMARINES
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delicious as ours. Quality tastes better.
329 University Dr. 11 a. m. til 1 a. m. 846-6428
given no reason to doubt that in
tegrity. My own inability to deter
mine what is or is not in thit uni
versity’s best interest has already
been established; this same lack
of perception must prevent me
from determining that a presenta
tion by William Kunstler is fair
exchange for any potential loss or
damage to any other single pro
gram of this university commu
nity. If I have exercised a forfeit
ure of courage in failing to make
such a determination, it is a for
feiture for which I cannot apol
ogize.
With regard to any potential
loss of funding or advisory sup
port to next year’s SCONA pro
gram, I have a great deal more
to say. I am fascinated by the
statement of Messers. McBee and
Welborn that “lack of donations
from conservative, systematic
businessmen should not be cited
as a valid reason for depriving
the faculty and students of TA
MU from hearing a controversial
man who has risen to such na
tional prominence.” I would point
out to these gentlemen, and all
others who have expressed simi
lar viewpoints, that these “con
servative, systematic business
men” have contributed some
$250,000 over the last 19 years
to the SCONA program alone
with no hope of any sort of re
turn consideration. I am aware
of no matching TAMU student
body grants to date. To those
who regret that the excitement
of intellectual exchange must be
tempered by the cost of making
such exchange possible, I sympa
thize. For those who decry the
limited responsibilities incurred
in meeting that cost as far out
weighing the value of the ex
change, I have only contempt,
and a challenge to gather togeth
er even a dozen delegates for a
student conference without fi
nancial backing where a registra
tion fee of $150 is required.
Of those who have congratu
lated me on my efforts to
protect TAMU from this
“evil man,” I must ask that you
withhold your gratitude. One
month ago I was very much con
vinced that William Kunstler was
the right choice for the SCONA
program. With or without Mr.
Whitsett’s endorsement, the SCO
NA committee and I feel the ad
ministration of TAMU very much
hope that this university might
someday become a place where
one can indeed listen to the rad
ical, the conservative and the
middle of the road and draw one’s
own conclusions. In an effort to
speed the realization of that goal,
I suggest that next year’s stu
dent body donate $20,000 obli
gation free to the Student Con
ference on National Affairs Pro
gram and that the Student Sen
ate draft a recommendation to
increase tuition fees to such a
degree that State and private
funding is no longer necessary
for the execution of this univer
sity’s functions.
have made it possible, can be
proud.
Phil Steven Kosub
Chairman, SCONA 19
Referring to your disclaimer
of the quote “we decided it was
not in the best interest of TA
MU . . . Kunstler is not the most
fly CL1I
popular man at this timt/H gtaff ^
Moses says that was 1®- By ft
answer you gave him totkito political
tion: “Why did you decidt; & j re ady
bring Kunstler?” Moses , £ or the
red to a phone interview tlj a c ontn
of Jan. 24. The Battalion^ jt, thou
behind him.—Ed. gra
CADET SLOUCH
by Jim U
Rather than lend its support
to an attempt at expose of non
existent administrative suppres
sion I would suggest that the
men and women of Texas A&M
University retain their idealism
and devotion to the pursuit of
academic freedom beyond the
date of their graduation and de
vote themselves to the develop
ment of a social system that no
longer requires money to make
itself work.
The Nineteenth Student Con
ference on National Affairs be
gins on February 13 at 2 p.m.
with the presentation of Mrs.
Alice Rivlin of the Brookings In
stitute entitled “Overview: Re
ordering American Priorities.” I
hope you will join us in making
it a conference of which the stu
dents and faculty of Texas A&M
University, and the sponsors who
“This may be a rough semester! 1 just had a guyc^
plain about our water!”
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