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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1975)
Page 8 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1974 Night Stalker not in old line tradition By RODNEY HAMMACK Staff Writer The ‘good guys in television series have traditionally fallen into three categories: cops/private de tectives, doctors, and lawyers. At one time the list of categories might have included marshalls, but only Matt Dillon has saved them from total extinction. Of the three commercial net works, ABC has seemed more in clined to experiment with new characterizations. Such experimen tation has resulted in the introduc tion to television of a new breed of heroes: a cyborg (“Six Million Dol lar Man”), a master of marshall arts (“Kung Fu ), comic book heroes (“Batman”, “Green Hornet”) and now — the investigative reporter. In January, 1972, ABC intro duced Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak, a scruffy reporter who un covers a vampire in Las Vegas. The Universal production of “The Night Stalker' was aired as an ABC “Movie of the Week” and tallied the highest ratings of any made-for- television movie, as of that date. McGavin repeated his role in an equally successful sequel entitled "The Night Strangler”. “The Night Stalker became a weekly series in September with McGavin resuming his role along with Simon Oakland as his skeptical editor. The debut episode pitted Kolchak against Jack-the-Ripper in one of the most original treatments of the mystery murderer ever pre sented. Producer Paul Playdon describes the series as “entertainment, not action-drama. But action is hardly scarce, with the first episode pitting the Chicago police force against an undying murderer leaping from five-stofy buildings into a hail ofbul- lets and tossing cars around like nerf balls — with Kolchak flashing pic tures in the midst of it all. After three more episodes with Kolchak encountering a zombie, a bone-marrow eating UFO occupant and a female vampire, ABC was faced with serious ratings problems. The entire Friday night lineup of “Kodiak,” “Six Million Dollar Man, “Texas Wheelers, and “The Night Stalker was yanked and re placed by a three week run of movies. When “The Night Stalker” re turned on Nov. 1 it was proceeded by “Kung Fu and “Six Million Dol lar Man . “Kodiak” and “Texas Wheelers’ becoming two of the first casualties of the season. The follow ing weeks found Kolchak crossing paths with a werewolf, a dop- pleganger, a hound from hell, a giant Indian spirit, a haunted hospi tal, a monster attacking senior citi zens, and a legendary creature created in the subeoncious of a sleeping man experimentally dep rived of dreams. As unusual as the plots may seem, they are carried off in a refreshing manner. McGavin plays the role of the inquisitive reporter to the hilt; brandishing his tape recorder and pocket camera in the midst of ram paging apparations and falling bodies. McGavin brings a distinct polished flair to “The Night Stalker”, his fifth television series. Oddly enough, his first series was “Casey, Crime Photographer” back in the days of live television. Nonfarm jobs down Nonfarm employment in the Bryan-College Station area de creased during the month of November mainly because of layoffs in manufacturing and construction. A drop was also noted in farm emp loyment as the cotton harvest was completed. The area labor supply continued to meet local demands. Texas Emp loyment Commission placed 247 in nonfarm jobs. This compares with 314 in October and 319 during the same period a year ago. There were 521 new applications in November. A month ago, 555 re gistered for work and a year earlier the figure was 462. Active jobseek ers totaled 1,262, a minor increase over the prior month but 12.8 per cent above the 834 in November 1973. The number of claimants for un employment insurance continued to rise. The active claims file in cludes those who filed within the thirty days prior to December 1, 1974. There were 496 in the count at the close of November. Approxi mately twenty percent of these were claiming partial unemploy ment due to reduced work schedules in manufacturing. Seventy veterans filed new appli cations, while 75 filed in October and 62 a year ago. The veteran ac tive file dropped 21 from the previ ous month, but the 186 total was 67 above the count for November of last year. Thirty were placed in em ployment compared to 38 in Oc tober and 62 in November 1973. It’s possible to graduate well up in your class.. .then flunk launching your career. Dick Watts’ success story: In 1968, as a graduating senior in Chemical Engineering, Dick faced the same decision you probably face today.. .where to start your career. He chose Kaiser Aluminum. In less than six years he’s been through several levels of management, in the U.S. and in Jamaica, to his present job asTechnical Managerat a major Kaiser Aluminum facility. He is responsible for Produc tion Control, Development and Environmental projects. Dick is just one of many young engineers who have proven that the chance for advancement is better with Kaiser Aluminum than with many other companies. That’s because we’re young, diversified and growing. And we know that young people can take responsibility. Don’t flunk the first year of your career. It could affect the rest of your life. That’s, why you too should make sure you pick the right company... the first time. If you’re a senior in engineering (man or woman) who is interested in putting theory into practice—fast. And if one of your goals is to advance into a decision-making job—fast. You should talk to one of our regional recruiters. He’ll fill you in on the current job situation—fast. Call collect today and ask for Winston Cundiff 504/355-3341 We’re looking for Industrial, Chemi cal, Mechanical and Electrical Engi neers for key plant locations in the Southern United States. Watch this newspaper or check with your school placement office for dates of Kaiser Aluminum recruit ment interviews and ask your recruiter for a fact-filled profile brochure. It shows the breadth of Kaiser Aluminum operations. ALUMINUM & CHEMICAL CORPORATION AN tQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYED Utility regulation possible; three bills waiting in Austin KOLCHAK AUSTIN (AP) — If lobbyists stack their defense to stop the creation of a state utilities commission, two other proposals might slip by which could trim monthly utility costs al most at once. The commission proposal is the flagship of utility regulation, “the most important bill,” says Sen. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, former president of the Texas Consumer Association. But while Sen. Ron Glower, D-Garland, runs interference with that proposal, Doggett will intro duce bills to restrict late charges, which run as high as several hundred per cent, and to require companies to reduce charges if they have provided poor service. For example, a customer whose telephone is out of order most of a month would not have to pay his phone bill that month. The late charges might be re duced to as low as U/2 per cent per month, the standard interest charge for department stores and gasoline sales. Neither Glower nor Doggett think it’s a cinch that the legislature will create a utilities commission al though a $29.2 million lawsuit chal lenging Southwestern Bell Tele phone Co.’s rates and mounting public dissatisfaction with utility rates has shifted the odds. Glower says the odds have moved from 40-60 to 60-40, but Doggett is less optimistic: “Slightly better than 50-50.” Both agree it would be fool-hardy to contend that the crea tion of a commission would sud denly force down utility rates. Glower insists, however, that if his bill is adopted, “Rates are going to tend to level off, the requests for rate increases are going to lx? fewer, and whenever a rate increase is granted the people can have confi dence in the fact that it was neces sary. He proposes a three-member elected commission to regulate rates and service on telephones, electricity, water and sewage. Cities would have an option whether to remain under state regu lation. In addition. Glower’s subcommit tee on consumer affairs is investigat ing allegations against Southwest ern Bell, with a report expected be fore the legislature adjourns in June. Several city councils seem hesit ant to grant phone rate incroj until the suit against Bell in San At tonio is settled, and Harlingegu scinded a rate increase whichiftul granted. Bell has bought full-pa advertisements to tell “The Otta Side of the Story.” “What the Bell suit did, Glower, “was crystalize attention#! this issue utility regulation, m there were enough words writtfi about it that people Ix'gan to real# what the status of utility regulatiot was and they were really shocked^ Every state, except Texas, hast state agency to regulate telephone and Texas is one of only two stab? that do not regulate privatelyowi| electric utilities. The Texas Railrai Commission regulates natural?! but a Senate staff report notedthi the commission “rules on them deuce submitted lx?fore itasajuA cial lw>dy and as a result, consiunw are very often not represented In any advocated in gas utility c:isei'*| City councils arc not eijuippefflV deal with complex rate pn>pN|H Glower says, and a staff rqxKll| stated that of 400-500 rate requeskl in 1973 at least 60 per cent |vm| granted without question. BB&Xj Bryan Building 1 & Loan Association Offices in Bryan/Huntsville/Madisonville • Save-Mobile service to Caldwell/Franklin/Normang'ee BB&L savings accounts vs. blue chip stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Guess which returns more interest to investors. Guess again. Financial counselors often deliver pious injunctions to stash away a nestegg in a savings and loan, then venture into more glamorous investments. A quick glance at the earnings perfor mance of BB&L savings accounts com pared with more “glamorous” invest ment vehicles tells the story: BB&L sav ers have earned more interest since 1966 than speculators who invested in utilities, transportation or industrial stocks. compound interest so interest accrues on principal plus interest. Open end mutual funds, front-loaded with an 8V2 per cent sales commission, are depen dent upon the stock market to show ap preciation. It takes a healthy increase in market values to cover the initial com mission — much less show profit. Bond investors didn’t fare much better. Dividends from bonds are, by definition, equal to simple interest since they are paid out as earned. BB&L savings earn At times, the so-called “glamour” in vestment must be sold at a loss (without dividend) if there is an urgent need for cash. BB&L savings accounts are al ways redeemable for full value (plus in terest). But that’s another story. $220 QUARTERLY EARIMIIMGS ON $10,000 INVESTMENT 180 140- 100 60- ' . Transportatio stocks \ X* i ; BB8tL Savings x Account a L .. Utility stocks \ Industrial I stocks f fi \ /\ / v A A. / V v A - /i \/\: A ******* i i i r. 1 1 1 i l t i i i \ A A ▼ “ • i i i \ • \ i i jp- -u i i— > - —1 l l At mm f l l 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 SOURCE: U.S. Savings & Loan League and the Investment Company Institute. (Some reports, including Economic Indicators, published by the President's Council of Economic Advisors, express earnings for common stocks in much less favorable terms than indicated here. The case can be stated in a great many ways using different indices, weighted advances and declines, beta factors and regression equations, but simple lines tell the story . . .) Un Ce Foi 8:3