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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1974)
Page 2 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1974 The economic reply Batt columnist By MIKE PERRIN The Battalion gets $65,000 a year from student services fees. It shouldn’t get a penny, since the money leads to four harms: hassle from student organizations, indirect administration control, forced pay ment from the student body and sloppy technique, which weakens the paper. Before I go any further in the col umn, let me make it plain that evil people do not make these results—they are the inevitable end of an inept system. Student organizations like the Memorial Student Government feel that the money given to The Battla- ion every year entitles them to a certain amount of free coverage. Of course, the obvious point here is that it is not the organizations which pay student services fees, but rather the individual students—yet each student does not demand his two column inches a year. The Student Government in par ticular has a powerful club to hold over the Battalion receiving a large allocation every year—the threat to revoke it or not renew it. Used in this way, the subsidy is no longer a subsidy, but a tax on the Battalion. The administration also has this club over The Battalion although it has not been used since I have been here. But the administration does use editor selection as a device to control the campus press through the Student Publications Board. Al though many on the Board are my friends, I don’t really think that they are that vital to the day to day run ning of The Battalion. , The Board is made up of the man in charge of University public rela tions, the assistant to the university president, three faculty members, only one connected with journalism and three students—the student body president and two of his ap pointees, who traditionally know lit- 'ER, THIS IS NOT EXACTLY A FLOOD . . . HIGH WATER, PERHAPS, BUT WHEN I SAY HIGH WATER, LET ME MAKE ONE THING PERFECTLY CLEAR . . Listen up Nice but unwanted fungi shares students’ room Editor: What does it take to get mainte nance to repair your room at this place? For the last 11 weeks Tve been sharing my room with this nice, hut unwanted, fungus that moved in the second day of school. I have complained to the resident advisers and counselors along with the head of housing about removing this unwanted guest but so far only the fungi’s friend, the dripping water, has been removed from the premises. The dripping water was ejected five weeks ago and a promise was made that his fungus friend would be eliminated early the next week. Along with his removal I was to re ceive a fresh coat of paint for the injured wall. All I have received is the runaround from the housing office but I hope this letter might initiate some action. I’m sure this problem could have been corrected some ten weeks ago if I was of the opposite sex. Darrell Pye ’77 Courts taken Editor: Three times in the last week we have wanted to play basketball but have been unable to find an availa ble gym floor. What with the university’s male and female bas ketball teams, the volleyball team and intramural volleyball, we learned that there was no place for “regular students to play. Usually this domination begins at 5 or 6 p.m. and continues until 8 p. m. Why can’t these groups at least get organized so that one of the three main gym floors (G. Rollie White Coliseum’s upper and lower floors and the Deware Fieldhouse) is available for general student use at all times? Do these groups have to work out at the same time? Well, if so, it just so happens that this is the only time some of us can play basketball, too. Our main point is this, though. There are over 20,000 students at TAMU yet as few as 100 (maybe fewer) have complete control of the gyms for three of the evening hours. This isn’t fair and we are get ting tired of it. We ask you to do something or at least tell us who is in charge of scheduling when the gyms are in use, so we may talk to them and get this unfair practice changed. Mark Chastain Ron Felderhoff Lyle Kehnent An investigation of both com plaints will be explained in tomorrow’s Your Man at Batt — Ed. Economist cut Editor: For several weeks I have been reading Mike Perrin’s opinions with mounting disgust. I have watched him condemn U.S. government pol icy (Nov. 13), student policy (Oct. 9, Nov. 5), government funding (Oct. 31), student funding (Oct. 9 and 24), our student government (Oct. 18), our U.S. government (Nov. 13), and government period (Nov. 1), assert ing his opinions on these topics as established fact with no documenta tion or evidence of personal qualifi cation whatsoever. I’m through watching. Mr. Perrin might be knowledge able in his field (what is it?), but is he? His assertions might be fact, but are they? The readers don’t know. Witness his logic from November 13: ‘But we shouldn’t be self- sufficient . . . self-sufficiency can lead to one of three results: either U.S. oil prices will be higher, the same, or lower than the world oil price. I ask you: Does self sufficiency or complete dependency or rain in November in any way make U.S. oil prices higher, lower, or the same as world oil price? “. . . If the prices are the same, then why be self sufficient? The ad ministrative costs of the system must be paid for, so that is still a loss to consumers.” Count a) so that we aren’t depen dent upon unpredictable nations for vital national resources and count b) administrative costs must be paid for regardless of sulf-sufficiency or partial-sufficiency. But we only lose if they’re labelled “self-sufficient”, right, Mr. Perrin? With these examples, Perrin and the Battalion expect us to trust Perrin’s acute observations and sage critiques? Bunk! If a statement is an opinion, it should be expressed as such. If it’s fact, it should in some way be documented. Until we see either from Perrin, his “replies’ are empty and should be taken so. I’m sorely disappointed with the Battalion for endorsing Mike Perrin’s opinions as fact. To put it lightly. David Newman Perrin is a senior economics major. — Ed. Cbe Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor request. Address: The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of station, n \as /7H43. the university administration or the Board of Directors. The The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local by students as a university and community newspaper. news of spontaneous origin published herein. Right of reproduction of all , ii.i /•• other matter herein are also reserved. Editorial policy IS determined by the editor. Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas. LETTERS POLICY Editor .Greg Moses Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are Assistant Editor Will Anderson subject to beingcut to that length or less if longer. The editorial Managing Editor Lalonya Perrin staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guar an- Sports Editor Mark Weaver tee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the Photo Editor Alan Killingsworth address of the writer and list a telephone number for verified- Copy Editors Cynthia Maciel, tion. Carson Campbell News Editor Roxie Hearn, Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room X. C. Gallucci 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Campus editor Steve Bales , , , , . ^ City Editor Rod Speer Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim Lindsey, chairman; Dr. c . i » . , ... /-.i.. Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr. H. E. Hierth, w. C. Harrison, Steve Special Assignment Reporters Teresa Coslett, Eberhard, Don Hegi, and John Nash, Jr. Mary Russo, Jim Crawley, Paul McGrath, Tony Gallucci,Gerald Olivier, Steve Gray, Jack Hodges, Judy Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising Services, Inc., B a S8 e ff Barbara West New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. General Assignment Reporters Dave Johnson, Kanaya Mahendra, Jim Peters, David White, Cindy Taber, MEMBER Roxie Hearn, Debi Holliday, Rose Mary Traverse, Ron Ams- The Associated Press, Texas Press Association l e r, Robert Cessna, Richard Henderson, Daralyn Greene, „ , , „ „., ... ,. —, , Scott Reynolds, Sandra Chandler, Jim Sullivan, Leroy Dettl- 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 Klav, and once a week during summer school. Photographers Douglas Winship, Mn.l subscriptions are $5.00 per semester: $9.50 per school war. S10.50 por David Kimmel, Jack Holm, Glen Johnson, Chris Svatek, full year. All subscriptions subject to 5% sales tax. Advertising rate furnished, Gary Baldasari, Rodger Mallison, Steve. Krauss tie or nothing about a newspaper. Let me make it clear that none of these are evil people; in fact, several are my personal friends. But many times, their positions put them in conflict with The Batt; for example, Jim Lindsey, the chairman, is in charge of putting out information about the University to the world at large—a tough job, but not really reconcilable with the no tion of a campus press which owes nothing to anyone and who must not do favors for any side. The assistant to the president, Tom Adair, naturally wants to en sure the Batt comes across as the paper he’d enjoy showing his friends, which is not necessarily the same as what The Batt should be doing. The faculty members are merely irrelevant, with the possible excep tion of William Harrison, a jour nalism prof. He could be helpful to The Batt, but he would not have to be on the Board for that. Steve Eberhard, student body president, certainly is not necessary to the smooth functioning of the paper and neither are the other two students. Although these folks are charged with representing the stu dent body on the Board, the fact that there are 21,(MX) of us and only 3 of them tells the true story. So the controlling body is mostly irrelevant and is certainly not necessary for the day to day running of The Batt. The student body is also forced to subsidize views which some may find repugnant. No forced press can claim the title of true servant to the public. The students shouldn’t be forced to subsidize the Battalion for another good reason—it can lie self- supporting. The two month period ending October 31, 1974 shows that total advertising revenues for the paper were $50,919.28, while total ex penses were $50,455. 17! This clears over $400 without the student ser vices fee subsidy and without sub scriptions, which totaled $13,267.62, This brings The Battalion s total profit to $13,731.73 for those two months. So you can see that the services fee revenue is just so much gravy. This is partially because of this year’s boosted adver tising rate. With the current rate. The Battalion is self-supporting. A 10 per cent hike would leave re venue for future expansion without any need for services fees. The 10 per cent hike in ad rates would have brought in an extra $5,000 over the two months; this amount of money could have tripled present staff salaries or doubled the staff with 50 per cent wage boosts for everyone. Or new equipment could he bought or new techniques brought in or any of the things which go with an expanding and progressive busi ness. The forth danger of services fees is that it can lead to complacency of the staff. Knowing, for example, that your organization can lose $65,000 a year and make it up from a forced tax does not lead to effi ciency. Hustlers are born of neces sity. By forcing the Batt to be inde pendent, slow and inefficient news gathering methods would he scrap ped. More and better news cover age would follow. The Batt s job, in a way, is a little easier than SG’s or the MSC’s be cause there are newspapers in the real world. We know what they do and how they operate; college courses are offered in newspaper production. No similar analogues are found for SG and the MSG. Other gov ernmental bodies have the power to tax and imprison and receive salaries; they don’t merely make suggestions to an all-powerful higher source for better or for worse. And there is no such thing as a general purpose programming body out there. So these two outfits seem doomed to amateurism forever. This is why excellence is an achievable goal for the Batt, as op posed to SG and the MSG. And no thing less should be accepted. So this is my proposal—end stu dent services fees, have the st;dl select their own editor and have the advertising pay for the paper so that free distribution can still take place. These changes will remove con trols, direct and indirect, reduce inter-organizational flak, eliminate a $65,(MX) a year burden on the stu dent body, promote efficiency and professionalism and ensure a truly free press on campus. So support the Batt. Don’t pa\ services fees. My apologies to John Oeffinger. • Dried Flowers • Decorative Hanging Pottery • Holland Bulbs CINEMA I Mnrosirr satAti cinfift 846-6714 846-1151 “THE LONGEST YARD” with BURT REYNOLDS STARTS FRIDAY Nightly — 7:35 9:45 “R” . - EUGENE ■ — lonnu i_i_v_/inhi\u Istomin Stem Rose “THE ILLUSTRIOUS TRIO’’ II Ml MAOA/INI u' 0/ ■ f £ /. LEONARD A MATCHLESS TRIO’’ RUDDER CENTER AUDITORIUM Friday, November 22, 1974 at 8:00 P.M. Tickets: Rudder Center Box Office 845-2916 Presented by Texas A&M University Town Hall - OPAS Trio in B Flat Major Mozart Trio in E Flat Major Beethoven Trio in C Minor Mendelssohn Tickets: Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 A&M Students $6.00 $5.00 $4.00 General Public $7.50 $6.25 $5.00 THAT STUPID MARGE HAS RUINED EVERYTHING i LdHAT AM I GOING TO DO ? CUT Loose WITH AH A^jec KNIF€. Montezuma® Golden Knife 2 o^GOLD Monre^yma Tequilo } l /2 o^. Lemon juice 2 Teaspoons sugar 2 Dashes bitters l Small egg Iced club soda and salt Blend with ice. Strain into 14 ol glass with ice. Fill with soda. Sprinkle salt. TECPATL (THE SWORD) Symbol for the Iflthdoy of the ancient Aztec week 11974. 00 Proof tequilo Dorfon Distillers Import Co New York. New York. »5I. STARTS TODAY Walter Matthau Robert Shaw in “The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three” “R’ : HELD OVER 2nd Big Week Insanely funny, outrageous and irreverent.” -PLAYBOY MAGAZINE MANOR EAST “3” Starts Tomorrow Manor East “2” Vigilante/ city style - judge, jury, and executioner. Now Showing Manor East “1” Warren Oates ‘White Dawn” (R) Manor East “2” Steve McQueen in “Papillon” Manor East “3” Robert Redford in “Butch Cassidy & Sundance Kid” A ParamountUelease UNO DC LAUBENTIIS Presents CHARLES BRONSON in MICHAEL WINNEB Him “DEATH WISH” TECH NICOLOil A Paramount Release Skyway Twin West Screen at 7 pm “Black Windmill” at 8:45 “Harry Frigg” East Screen at 7:05 “White Dawn” (R) at 8:50 “Play it again, Sam” LUMEN A SKATER IS FEELING LOW, SHE SHOULP BE ABLE TO CRY ON HER PRO'S SH0ULPER.. I CAN'T EVEN DO THAT... YOU DON'T mave (( ANY SHOULPEf?S/';