^ Today in the Bait
a Daylight time p. 3
j Revenge at T€U p. 4
Che Battalion
Weather
Continued fair and cool today
and tomorrow. Friday hi 48°.
Tonight’s low 30°. Saturday hi
56°.
Vol. 67 No. 345
College Station, Texas
Friday, February 8, 1974
Education committee
backs A&M-UT fund
ilive
PHRIS SWANSEN performs on the Moog synthesizer in the University Center Auditorium
Phursday night. It took three men to operate the device; the sound was like that of many
instruments together. (Photo by Kathy Curtis)
AUSTIN (AP)—The continued
exclusive use by the University of
Texas and TAMU of revenue from
the $680 million Permanent Uni
versity Fund has been approved
by the Constitutional Convention’s
Education Committee.
The committee voted 14-4
Thursday against an amendment
that would have given the legis
lature control of the fund.
It voted 12-8 against an amend
ment that would have given Prai
rie View A&M a separate board of
Complicated machine
recreates real sound
By BRAD ELLIS
Staff Writer
The people were impressed with the Moog
trio concert/demonstration Thursday night in the
University Center Auditorium as Chris Swansen
appeared with two other performers to play
selections from the works of J. S. Bach, Lennon
and McCartney, and other musicians.
Not everyone was pleased, but the sound was
impressive. In the compositions all the sounds
and figures necessary to the piece were present
in startling clarity and precision of reproduction,
even though all that was present was a collection
of confusing looking electronic machinery, some
very big speaker cabinets with some very big
speakers in them, and three very intent looking
men.
It sounded like some very soulful musicians
were creating the music right there on stage but
it did not look that way. It sounded that way,
but it did not entirely look that way.
§
r en-
Pro-
r COl-
Navy
,rma-
/ En-
Gene
feb.-
Student
lawyer
okayed
By VICKIE ASHWILL
Staff Writer
TAMU President Jack K. Wil
liams gave final approval yester
day on the hiring of a student
lawyer.
The student attorney concept
was adopted by the Student Gov
ernment Legal Rights Commis
sion over two years ago, approved
by the Student Senate Nov. 30,
1972 and is finally in its last
stage.
Vice President for Student
Services Dr. John J. Koldus will
begin the paper work and proc
esses involved in the hiring of a
lawyer beginning Monday.
“We will have the use of a stu
dent attorney as soon as possible
this semester,” said Randy Ross,
SG president.
According to the final proposal
the student’s legal advisor will be
able to counsel and litigate for
students and recognized student
organizations who request his aid.
The lawyer will be limited in
litigation only to include student
consumer problems, as long as the
problem does not relate to another
student or the University.
The attorney will not be able to
take any action against the Uni-
I versity.
The proposal states that the at
torney will have to establish a
legal referral system in conjunc
tion with the Brazos County Bar
Association. He will also func
tion to make students aware of
their legal rights and responsi
bilities through various means.
The proposal states that the
legal advisor shall be an attorney
admitted to the bar of the Su
preme Court of Texas.
Koldus said $15,000 had been
allocated from Student Services
Pees for the service this year and
will receive $23,000 for the pro
gram next year.
It did not look like they were doing a lot
at all, but it seemed from the expression on their
faces that they were doing a lot, and were
conscious and appreciative of the fact that a lot
was going on around them.
Swansen himself commented during the per
formance he too thought he and his partners
were learning an incredible amount from playing
the Moog synthesizer in that particular audi
torium.
The audience seemed so impressed with the
reality of the sound that no one applauded until
the last sound of each piece had completely died
away.
Musically there was a lot more to be heard.
There always is with music. But for realism
and clarity, and all the other things that make
one’s perception of the concert real, it could not
be beaten by anything.
It sounded like there was a machine on the
stage thinking about sound and about music.
regents and a one-sixth share of
the fund.
It voted 13-9 against an amend
ment that would have allowed
money from the fund to be used
to recruit and give scholarships
to students from families with
gross incomes under $5,000 a year.
“So much for the poor students
of Texas,” said Rep. Jim Mattox,
D-Dallas, after the last vote.
The committee voted 18-5 to
keep the fund as it is.
The revenue from the fund is
approximately $35 million a year.
This is the Available University
Fund. Texas gets two-thirds of
it and TAMU one-third.
The fund was established in
1876 and consists mainly of reve
nue from 2.1 million acres of land,
most of it in West Texas. The dis
covery of oil under the land in the
1920s made Texas the wealthiest
university in the world a few de
cades later, and it still is one of
the wealthiest.
A constitutional amendment in
1934 gave a third of the fund’s
revenue to A&M.
The 1876 constitution called for
creation of “a university of the
first class.” Advocates of reten
tion of the fund in its present
status argue that spreading the
revenue among all 37 public sen
ior institutions of higher learn
ing in the state would not raise
any of them to that level but
would insure the decline in the
quality of education at Texas.
Rep. Bill Goody D-Weatherford,
said the amendment to give the
legislature control of the fund was
one “appealing to greed and lar
ceny.”
“I believe the legislature should
control the bureaucracy,” replied
Rep. Joe Pentony, D. Houston,
who sponsored the amendment.
“The board of regents are at least
as much a political body as we
are.” But the regents are not ans
werable to the voters, he said.
Mattox said the legislature
should be given the flexibility to
divert money from the available
fund when it greatly exceeds what
is needed to pay the building
bonds of the two universities.
This year, that amounted to $12
million, Mattox said. Next year,
because of soaring oil and gas
prices, it might be $30 million or
$50 million, yet all of it would
have to be spent at those schools
and nowhere else, he said.
Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-
Houston, co-sponsor of the Prairie
View A&M amendment, said of
that school’s satellite status with
Texas A&M, “It has not profited
that school to remain in the A&M
system. It has not been fairly
treated.”
She said Prairie View has re
ceived only $6.4 million from
Texas A&M’s share in 14 years.
A motion to table Mattox’
amendment to recruit disadvan
taged students failed on the 11-11
vote, but the amendment also
failed on a later vote.
Students may pay
more income taxes
An old law and a new interpre
tation may force graduate stu
dents to cough up more for taxes,
warned the Graduate Student
Council in its meeting Thursday.
According to council member
Terry Yorks, the Internal Reve
nue Service in Austin has a new
director who is reputed to be
tougher than the previous one.
Consequently, if circulating ru
mors materialize, Texas may be
held as a test case for the Su
preme Court’s “No strings at
tached” interpretation of Section
117 of the IRS code. The new di
rector, Richard Stakem, could en
force stricter rulings on this
Williams approves
Senate allocations
The Student Services Fees Allocations rcommended
by the Student Senate Wednesday night were approved
by TAMU President Jack Williams Thursday.
The recommendations now go for final approval to
the Board of Directors, who are scheduled to meet here
Monday at 1:30 p.m. and Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the Direc
tors’ House, north of Sbisa. The meetings are open.
Student Government President Randy Ross said,
“This is the first time I know of when the president made
no changes in the Student Senate's recommendations.”
The allocations stand as follows:
Perrin firing discussed
Dept, requesting
Received
Requested
Recommended
funds this year
last year
this year
this year
Athletic Dept.
170,000
220,000
195,000
Intramural
50,000
99,569
70,000
MSC Great Issues
13,500
14,150
14,150
MSC Political Forum
9,000
9,500
9,500
MSC Student Program
198,331
255,629
250,000
MSC Town HaU
32,500
37,500
34,608
Shuttle Bus
42,000
60,000
52,000
Student Government
9,000
18,060
17,600
Student Handbook
4,500
4,737
4,500
Student Lawyer
15,500
23,304
23,000
Student Publications
45,000
81,900
65,000
$589,331
$824,349
$735,358
Amount Available $735,358
By MARY RUSSO and GREG MOSES
LaTonya Perrin’s hasty dismissal from her
post as Arts Committee chairman was the sub
ject of the Memorial Student Center Directorate’s
meeting Thursday night.
Don Webb, MSC president, and Mike Perrin,
LaTonya’s husband and MSC public relations
chairman, faced off to battle what some consid
ered a “put-up” job.
“She didn’t keep in touch with the vice presi
dent who serves as an adviser and representative.
She wouldn’t get information; in for the news
letter, passing up free publicity. LaTonya didn’t
comply with MSC rulings about making contracts
through Mr. Hal Gaines, MSC adviser,” Webb
said.
LaTohya did not attend and her husband
spoke in her defense.
“LaTonya had been sent a number of memo
randums by the vice president, and she never
answered them in any way. LaTonya didn’t feel
the newsletter was effective and didn’t see using
it as a means of publicity,” said Perrin.
“Mr. Wayne Stark, MSC director, signed the
contracts for Brooks, the Moog synthesizer, plus
arranging for the art exhibit, all of which are
LaTonya’s committee’s functions,” Perrin added.
“As you can see, there was plenty of com
munication where needed,” Perrin said.
“LaTonya’s committee was delinquent in pay
ing bills. There are some due from October. Also,
there is the $3,000 in art films, ordered by one
of the subcommittees. These films were ordered
without any staff knowledge,” Webb added.
“The bills had been removed from their keep
ing place, when the treasurer left office,” said
Perrin. “So LaTonya didn’t play by the rules.
What’s important is the students are getting the
programming. On the large scale, the students
are benefitting,” said Perrin.
The final clash between LaTonya and Webb
came over publicity for the Gwendolyn Brooks
poetry reading. Webb said LaTonya was a
habitual liar and the publicity wasn’t adequate.
LaTonya said she was doing the best she could
under the circumstances.
Because of this credibility gap, Webb felt he
could not afford to take the chance of letting
LaTonya run the programs for the following
week (Brooks, the Moog Trio and the film
series). He told her an hour before the MSC
council meeting that he would call for her resig
nation at that meeting.
LaTonya refused to resign and the council,
in a 12-0 vote with Webb abstaining, dismissed
her.
clause.
“No strings attached” in the
past has been generally under
stood to mean that money a stu
dent receives from an institution
as a gift without obligation would
be tax exempt income. Should
work or any other obligation be
required in return, the money
would not qualify for the exemp
tion.
“Inequities in judgments are in
evitable,” said Yorks. “There will
be six people in Austin checking
returns for the IRS and each will
have his own opinion on what
will or will not be exempt.”
A stricter interpretation of the
clause could threaten previously
exempt student income sources.
University officials have been
barred by the IRS from advising
graduate students on the validity
of their exemptions, no reason
given. The council agreed that stu
dents should read Section 117,
and do the best they can on their
own.
The IRS may be contacted for
tax information from 7:45 a. m.
to 4:30 p. m. weekdays on the toll
free number 800-252-1000.
In other business, the GSC ap
proved guidelines for the distin
guished Graduate Teaching As
sistant Award Plan which will
soon be submitted to the Associa
tion of Former Students.
Three awards of $200 each were
recommended by the council.
“Graduate assistants are a vital
and important part of the teaching
staff at Texas A&M. These rec
ommended awards would be a
way for the University and the
Association of Former Students
to recognize this important con
tribution,” concluded Committee
Chairman Bennie Leeth in the
(See STUDENTS Page 2)
University National Bank
"On the side of Texas A&M.”
Adv.
The inquiring Battman
Do you think President Nixon should be impeached?
Interviews by T. C. Gallucci
Photos by Kathy Curtis
JOHN HUBBARD
No. I think that he’s a pretty
good President. He’s made a few
mistakes, but he’s been pretty
good considering what he’s had to
put up with.
MIKE RYAN
Wow! I don’t know if he should
be impeached, but he sure is do
ing a lousy job.
CEDRIC JOSEPH
Yes, I think so. Not because of
what he’s done but because he let
himself get caught.
ALLEN McCORD
No, he’s doing a good enough
job as it is. The Congress should
see that there are three branches
of the government and they are
not dictators.
in.
DONNA JEANS
No, because all the facts aren’t
STEVE EBERLE
Never! I’ve stood along with
him from the beginning. I would
have voted for him if I had been
able to.
LARRY WINGS
Of course not, because a) he is
one of the least immoral Presi
dents of our time and b) the pow
er of the presidency would be se
verely curtailed.