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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 1974)
THE BATTAlf TUESDAY, OCTOBE(| 2- eaves the Ags« d this season, d its first game Js 1-0. s will be traveling Austin where they ice co-leader Teii ure tent catch-tag on a si ases Terri Sand and Mary Mack ws at short stop 6 he infield withtii the armadillos eir game strategy w and easy. ■Id of strong an Fickey, Kim itta saved the day ore than onceonj e-high 1 inedrives that really got esi r was the Baylorgt for using poor lor team foughti i single run, whic s prevented. The es what happens*! d-up. ■ run in the first in the Bears to a eat team-work ai coverage. But* loaded and a lined o mid-left field a«| t home for a something is work ireaker of the ton A&M vs. SamH: re re working toge w mistakes and by re drained from ti md accuracy some! :1 the final scorefbi e was SHSU 3, H erous lost, but the he title of first in! ;ues of the Aggies -avel to state, Oet ' show half then* I even spiritual it they showed di' J-ofl, then stated Kay Don’s diaro WANTED: COUT LEADERS 822-3467 846-8100 Today in the Bait Picture page . p- 3 Evaluations . P- 6 Review P- 3 Cbe Battalion Vol. 68 No. 22 College Station, Texas Weather Mostly cloudy becoming partly cloudy Wednesday afternoon. Continued partly cloudy Thursday. Westerly winds 5-10 mph. High both days mid-80’s. Low tonight 65°. Wednesday, October 9, 1974 Briscoe said ready to move on reform of school financing AUSTIN, Tex. (AP) — Gov. Dolph Briscoe was described Tues day as being unwilling to delay school finance reform any longer, despite the lack of information he once thought almost essential. Richard Hooker, head of Briscoe’s Education Research and Planning division, said he believes the governor will ask the 1975 legis lature to equalize school finance, based on true market value of real estate. Briscoe opposed sweeping changes in the system of state school aid during the 1973 legislature and later rebuffed calls for a special ses sion on the subject. He said more information was needed and asked the Legislative Property Tax Committee to make a district-by-district survey of true market values of real estate. But the committee, after months of floun dering, finally decided it could do no more than a spot check covering 35 districts out of more than 1,000. Hooker said this lack of informa tion will not deter Briscoe from re commending a new stateschool aid system. “The governor has indicated to me he doesn’t feel we can put off comprehensive reform of public school finance any longer ... I think the governor will accept the basic concept of the true market value standard,” Hooker said. State aid is distributed according to a complex formula designed in 1949 to measure the ability of local districts to pay for their schools. But it fails to measure local taxpaying ability except in terms of county as sessed valuations, which vary widely and usually are far below ac tual market value of taxable real es tate. Hooker said the present formula also fails to allocate funds on the basis of pupil needs. He said he would recommend to Briscoe “weighted pupil approach” to aid distribution. “We start with a cost analysis of programs, survey pupil needs and then flow funds that will provide the money to meet those needs.” BVDC reluctant to explain actions y’s Jewelry Specialize In gie Rings. >nd8 Set- Sizing— Reoxidizing- watch/jewelrj Repair large Accounts 846*5811 LLEN Ismobile adillac 3 - SERVICE satisfaction li d equipment" Texas Ave. 23-8002 Eddie Dominguez f Joe Arciniega’7f Greg Price. By ROXIE HEARN Staff Writer Hostility and “no comment’’ greeted Battalion inquiries concern ing the selection of an emergency medical services consultant by the Brazos Valley Development Council’s (BVDC) executive com mittee Thursday. The BVDC contracted South West Research Institute of San An tonio which bid $17,871 for a prop osed 90 man-day job over a bid of $9,500 from South/West Planning Associates of Bryan with a proposed 75-80 man-day work period. No reasons were given at the meeting for the selection of the higher bid. Questioned Monday, a flat “no comments’’ came from F. L. Thompson, vice chairman of the committee and a supporter of the San Antonio firm’s selection. “You heard the presentation,” said Grimes County Judge H. W. Haynie, secretary. “I don’t have to explain why I voted the way I did to anybody.” Paul LaRoche, treasurer, exp lained that he “went with the major ity.” Since he had missed the origi nal meeting, he said, “there was ac tually not much to go on other than the decision from the previous vote. ” The San Antonio firm’s selection was defended by Burleson County Judge Charles J. Sebesta Jr. “The (BVDC’s) Medical Advisory Board recommended it and our staff also recommended it. The San Antonio firm has more experience and better ^ contacts in Washington. ” He said that since politics are de finitely involved in receiving con tinuing grants, the more established firm would provide a better set-up for getting federal funding for area emergency medical services. Brazos County Judge William R. Vance and Dolphus N. Jones of Burleson County voted for accept ing the local firm’s bid, citing its cost and proximity. Hooker talked with reporters after testifying before a subcommit tee of the Committee of 24, a game of the Texas House that is studying public education needs. He told the committee that no matter how well Texas equalizes the amount of money spent from district to district, the balance will be upset to some extent by federal aid. Large metropolitan districts, with sophisticated administrators and large travel budgets, tend to obtain bigger grants from Washing ton than the small rural districts that often need help the most, Hooker said. But, he added, it would take con gressional legislation—which is not expected any time soon—to permit the state to apply for and receive federal aid funds and distribute them according to need. The Texas State Teachers Associ ation also laid out its proposals, in cluding a reduction in teacher-pupil ratios from one to 25 now to one to 23 in 1977-78. Also in the TSTA legislative prog ram is a teacher pay raise, including a $105 per month increase in the salary base for beginning teachers starting in September 1975. Other teachers would receive proportion ate increases plus a 5 percent “ex perience” increments each year. The TSTA proposed a new method for keeping teachers ab reast of inflation—a state law giving them automatic raises each year equal to the rise in the Consumer Price Index the preceding fiscal year. TSTA said Texas ranks 37th among the states in average teacher pay. Utility control urged Hobby and Moore visit campus Bill Hobby A state regulatory body concern ing public utilities is necessary in the near future, said Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby in a Political Forum speech. Hobby, accompanied by Bryan State Senator Bill Moore, presented his views on the current utilities situation in the state. The current controversy associated with alterna tive fuels, such as lignite and nuc lear power plants was also discus sed. “There is a minimum of problems with an inadequacy of funds to build new power plants in the South west,” Hobby said in relation to re- c'ent problems in power plant con struction to meet the rising need. Sen. Moore assisted Hobby in answering questions from the floor. Moore is planning to introduce a bill in the State Senate relating to the formation of a state regulatory commission on public utilities. Concerning the proposed bill, Moore said, “I would not be in favor of a bill that did not provide an ade quate rate of return for the com panies concerned, but, on the other hand, the commission would at tempt to keep the cost increases down to a necessary minimum.” Hobby said that the recent in terest in state utility regulatory agency has been caused by the in crease in phone rates in Houston and an electric rate increase in Dal las. Both increases were approved over citizen protest. Moore’s proposed plan for a reg ulatory board consists of a three- member commission appointed by the governor. Members would serve a six-year staggered term so a new member could be appointed at two year intervals. Moore said the funds to finance the agency would be obtained through a fee charged to the public utility companies. Hobby, agreeing with Moore, said, “The regulatory body prop osed would greatly benefit the small towns that are served by companies whose main service area is a large metropolitan area. ” A question-answer period fol lowed the speech. Questions co vered the Huntsville prison break and shootout, the Texas A&M Per manent University Fund and the recent Constitutional Convention. Concerning the Permanent Uni versity Fund, Hobby said, “I see no reason why the University of Texas or TAMU should have a favored status over other state universities. ” On further questioning, Hobby said all state funded colleges should share the combined Permanent University Fund in an equal man- Tax questions answered WASHINGTON (AP) — About 28 percent of all taxpayers will end up with a higher tax bill if Congress approves President Ford’s request for a 5 percent tax surcharge. Here are some answers to ques tions that taxpayers may have on how the surcharge will affect them: Q: Who will pay the surtax? A: Generally speaking, families with gross incomes of $15,000 and over will be subject to the tax. For individuals, the cutoff is $7,500. Those with incomes below these levels would normally be excluded. Q: I’m making more than $15,000. Does that mean my total tax bill will be increased by 5 per cent because of the surcharge? A: No, basically the surcharge will be applied to the tax on your income above $15,000, although it’s slightly more complicated than that. If you are the head of a family of four and earn $15,000, the govern ment already allows you $2,000 in standard deductions and $3,000 in personal exemptions for your fam ily. That leaves you with $10,000 taxable income. The surcharge would apply as a 5 percent increase to any taxable in come in excess of $10,000 in your case. In the case of an individual tax payer who takes a $1,300 standard deduction and a single exemption of $750, his taxable income is $5,450, and the surcharge would apply to anything over that. In some cases, a family taxpayer with more than $15,000 income but with numerous deductions can keep his taxable income below $10,000 and would not be subject to the sur charge. There might also be cases where a taxpayer with less than $15,000 in come must claim taxable income in excess of $10,000. He would have to pay tax on the amount over $10,000. Q: Give me a better idea of the cost. How much will I pay if I have $20,000 taxable income after taking my deductions for a family of four? A: You would calcualte a regular tax of $4,380. Then you would sub tract from that $1,820 as the tax on the first $10,000, leaving a differ- Game time clarified The kickoff for the televised ver sion of Saturday’s game between A&M and Tech depends on the lo cation of the World Series. If the World Series opens in Los Angeles, it will be at noon. If the Series opens in Pittsburgh kickoff will be at 2:50 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ABC. From Tulane ence of $2,560. The surcharge would be 5 per cent of $2,560, or $128. The total tax due would be $4,508, which is the total of the regular tax of $4,380 and the $128 surcharge. Q: Does this go into effect im mediately? A: No, the President wants the surcharge to apply to 1975 income only. It would be a one-year prog ram. And Congress would have to approve it in any event. Q: Why is the government in creasing taxes now? Inflation al ready has reduced the purchasing power of a worker’s income by about 5 percent, and this will hurt me and my family even more. A: Ford said the battle against in flation requires sacrifices from all Americans. The additional $2.6 bill ion the government will raise from the tax surcharge will be used to finance a public service employ ment program for the jobless, and to offset tax incentives for business ex pansion. Medical program to get first dean F-f-freeze not expected this month Despite recent cool weather, the temperature probably won’t drop to freezing until the last of November, according to 60 years of records for the Bryan-College Station area. Dr. John Griffiths, State Climatologist and professor ol meteorology, said Thursday the av erage freeze date since 1917 has been Nov. 30. The 32-degree mark did arrive as early as Oct. 20 one year, although the month’s difference averaged out over 60 years doesn’t make much impact in the figures, he said. That earliest freeze was in 1917, apparently during a cold snap, as the next two earliest freeze dates were the same year—Oct. 30 when it got down to 29 degrees, and the following day, Oct. 31, when the mark soared to 30. AGGIE PLAYERS’ production of “Lovers and Other Strangers” features several short glimpses into people’s love lives. Steve King (L), Anel Douphrate and Grant Burrets star in one of the skits. See review page 8. (Photo by Douglas Winship) Dr. James A. Knight, prominent medical educator and psychiatrist, has been named dean of medicine. Dr. Knight was formerly as sociate dean of Tulane University School of Medicine. Dr. Knight will head TAMU’s new medical education program being developed with Baylor Col lege of Medicine, the Veterans Ad ministration and Scott and White Clinic. The program allows participants to begin their formal medical train ing after the second year of under graduate study. Students would fol low a pre-clinical curriculum during what would normally be their junior and senior years at TAMU and then continue with the clinical phases of their medical education at Houston, Temple, Waco or Marlin. Dr. Knight has served as profes sor of psychiatry for both the School of Medicine and the School of Pub lic Health and Tropical Medicine. Earlier in his career, he was director of the Program in Psychiatry and Religion at Union Theological Seminary in New York and also served from 1958 to 1961 on the faculty at Baylor College of Medicine, including the last year as assistant dean. Dr. Knight earned his M. D. at Campaign funds bill sent to House Public money to be used WASHINGTON (AP) — The Se nate passed 60 to 16 Tuesday night a sweeping, Watergate-stimulated bill to curb campaign contributions and spending and to finance presi dential races with public funds. The compromise measure was sent to the House for final action, expected within a day or two. Both House and Senate earlier had ap proved similar but separate ver sions. Sen. Howard W. Cannon, D-Nev., floor manager of the bill, said the legislation, growing out of the Watergate scandals, was de signed “to eliminate the problems so prevalent in the 1972 campaign. ” But Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said he supported the compromise with mixed feelings. He said it set a double standard of reform by providing for use of tax funds to finance presidential cam paigns but not Senate and House races, in which he said the need for public financing was probably grea ter. Republican leader Hugh Scott said he also regretted the lack of public financing of congressional races. But he called it a reasonably good bill over-all. Like Kennedy, he said one of its key features is the establishment of an independent commission to ad minister the legislation and investi gate alleged violation. Sen. James B. Allen, D-Ala., said he was forced to vote against the bill because of its public financing pro visions, which he denounced as “a raid on the taxpayers’ pocketbooks for the benefit of politicians. ” Common Cause, a self-styled citizens lobby, called the bill “the only major legislative response by the 93rd Congress to the Watergate scandals.” President Ford’s position on the compromise measure is in doubt. But Scott said that in his judgment the President will sign it. The public financing of presiden tial campaigns and party nominating conventions \yould be funded from the voluntary system established in 1971 under which taxpayers may earmark $1 of their federal income taxes for campaign financing by checking a box on their federal re turns. Cannon said that as of July 1 the fund contained about $29V2 million and was projected to total about 075 million by the time of the 1976 elec tion. The bill would limit presidential candidates to spending $20 million on their general election campaigns and $10 million on seeking their party’s presidential nomination. The government would pay the full cost of the campaigns of the Democratic and Republican nominees and reimburse minor party presidential candidates in proportion to their share of the popular vote. For primary campaigns of presi dential contenders, the government would match private contributions of $250 or less on a $1 for $1 basis up to $5 million. The bill also provides up to $2 million in tax money to finance both the Democratic and Republican presidential nominating conven tions and lesser Amounts for minor parties, depending on their popular support. Dr. James A. Knight Vanderbilt University School ol Medicine in 1952 and Master ol Public Health Degree at Tulane in 1962. Prior to entering medicine, he earned an undergraduate degree in social sciences at Wofford College and a divinity degree at Duke U ni- versity. He was a chaplain in the Navy from 1944 to 1946 and served in the Pacific Theater. Dr. Knight is licensed for medical practice in Texas, Louisiana, Ten nessee, Florida and New York. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and is a member of numerous professional and scientific societies. He is the author of more than 50 scholarly papers and eight books.