Lobbyist registration high Representatives outnumbered, 2-1 AUSTIN (AP) — Lobbyists out- |numbered legislators more than two I to one as the new lawmaking session | began Tuesday. Registrations filed with the Sec- Iretary of State under the “reform” Slobby control law passed in 1973 ■ showed 386 persons or groups want jto influence legislation. New registrations submitted Tuesday were expected to push the total over 400. Most of the professional, veteran lobbyists filed last year during the Constitutional Convention. Since the convention adjourned July 30, many registrations pointed toward new issues before the legis lature. Texas Electric Service Co. of Fort Worth for instance, had 18 per sons registered. They said they were interested in all legislation af fecting utilities, without stating a pro or con position. A major issue this session will be whether the state should have an agency to regu late public utility rates and service. Money does not solve problems, ideas solve problems. And govern ment has not had a viable idea in 40 years.—Dr. W. Philip Gramm, TAMU. Cb« Battalion Voi: 68 No. 58 College Station, Texas Wednesday, January 15, 1975 Four persons registered as lob byists for El Paso Electric Co., say ing they planned to work against a utility regulation bill. Regulation ot strip mining is another major issue before the ses sion, and two men representing Consolidation Coal Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., signed up as lob byists on that subject. Neither, however, stated a pro or con posi tion . , Another new lobbying group is Committee to Restore Women’s Rights, based in San Antonio, which will work for repeal of the Texas Equal Rights Amendment as well as for recision of the legislature’s ear lier ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U. S. Constitu tion. Four lobbyists signed up for Exxon, saying they intend to seek passage of a major consent unitiza tion bill for oil and gas fields. It now takes virtually 100 per cent agree ment among land owners and pro ducers to operate a field as a single production unit. Student Lounge (Photo by David Kimmel) Clayton new house as 64th legislature The new student lounge in the University Center is almost completed and ready for use. The idea of the lounge is to give the stu dents a nice place to meet their parents. speaker starts AUSTIN, Tex. (AP) — Rep. Bill I Clayton, a conservative Democrat I from Springlake, was elected House I speaker Tuesday as the 64th Texas I Legislature began 140 days of law- I making. Clayton, 46, defeated liberal I Rep. Carl Parker, D-Port Arthur, I 112-33, with three representatives I voting “present.” He immediately promised there I would be no return to “the days of 1 iron-hand rule” over the House and I called for prudence in managing the I state’s $1 billion treasury surplus. Senators, meanwhile, organized I their chamber, electing Sen. Glenn 1 Kothmann, D-San Antonio, as assis- I tant presiding officer—and second I in line of succession to the E governorship—under its usual I rotating seniority system. Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby quickly I named the Senate committees, re- I turning most of the chairmen that j ! headed them in 1973. Clayton plans I to delay his appointments until after I Gov. Dolph Briscoe addresses the I legislature Jan. 22. Senators also made their firs re cord, refusing on a 10-21 roll call vote to open to the public their sec ret sessions to discuss gubernatorial appointees before voting on their confirmation. The election of Clayton was the major event of the day, for the House speaker ranks among the three most powerful men in state government. Despite Parker’s liberal creden tials, including past sponsorship of consumer, environmental and cor porate income tax bills, liberal votes helped Clayton defeat him. Person ality conflicts, anger over some of Parker’s campaign tactics and re sentment at his refusal to join the “Dirty 30” coalition against then — Speaker Gus Mutscher in 1971 drained away much of Parker’s po tential support. Rep. Neil Caldwell, D-Angleton, nominated Parker and fed fears that Clayton might try to rebuild the speaker s power, which was delib erately weakened in 1973 under Speaker Price Daniel Jr. “My candidate would name the committees by Monday at the latest, because he knows how preci ous time is, how much is to be done, and how, if time is made more pre cious by its waste, the speaker’s power is enhanced by his influence on the calendar . . . My candidate could not, and would not, under any circumstances, suggest we enlarge the number of committees because that would enlarge the power of the speaker and subtract from the re forms of the immediate past, so bravely fought for and won,” Cald well said. Caldwell was chairman of the House Appropriations Committee under Daniel, and is expected to lose that position under Clayton. In his speech to the packed House and standing-room-only gal lery, Clayton acknowledged there had been “much speculation ... that we ll return to the days when decisions were made behind closed doors in smoke-filled rooms. “But I stand before you today to say the days of iron-hand rule are gone. The public won’t stand for it, and most of all I won’t stand for it. ” The House applauded loudly. He mentioned the major legisla tive issues of school finance, prop erty tax reform and energy conser vation. “We also have a large surplus to zealously guard . . . We must weigh the priorities and then exercise prudence in handling the taxpayer’s dollar,” Clayton said. Recalling a decade of feuding among the House, Senate and governor—usually involving con flicting political ambitions, Clayton promised to work closely with Bris coe and Hobby. Briscoe already has taken a public stand on the session’s biggest issue—reform of the school finance system. Most of the discussion will center on how to measure a local school district’s need for state aid, and nearly all proposals say the ac tual market value of taxable real es tate should be the only index. Rural, oil and gas and industrial interests have long feared such a system because it potentially could force an increase in their property taxes. Education expenses How do the costs of education at A&M compare with other univer sities? The Battalion checked with the seven Southwest Conference schools and the University of Hous ton this week to get a sample for comparison. Some schools had flat admission charges with no break down for specific uses; others had four or five fee categories. We asked for the total cost per semester for a 16-hour course load, excluding room and board. Beginning with the most expen sive, here is what we found: RICE — $1580 (will increase to $1680 next fall) SOUTHERN METHODIST — $1225 TEXAS CHRISTIAN — $1187.50 ♦TEXAS A&M — $204 ♦TEXAS — $202 ♦ARKANSAS — $200 ♦HOUSTON — $164 ♦TEXAS TECH — $146 ♦State schools listed with in-state tuition. $22.5 billion sought Ford to propose permanent tax cuts Late registration underway Delayed registration for spring semester study at Texas A&M Uni versity shirts today. Registrar Robert A. Lacey said it will involve fall semester students who did not preregister in Sep tember and new students, transfers and previously-enrolled TAMU students who did not take courses last fall. Delayed registration continues through Friday. Spring classes start at 8 a. m. Monday, Jan. 20. About 20,500 stu- Today. Inside Ags come home . .p. Sports inflation .. .p. Pop ratings P* 10 12 8 Weather Partly cloudy and mild Wednesday with southerly winds 8-14 mph. Fog Thursday morning, becom ing mostly cloudy in after noon and warmer. High today 67°; low tonite 39°; high tomorrow 70°. dents are expected. Lacey said late registration will be held that week for students unable to enroll during delayed registration. The registrar said 5,000 enrollees are expected next week. TAMU en rolled 15,500 for spring classes dur ing fall preregistration. Preregistration, held during the latter part of the previous regular semester, allows returning students to extend their between-semesters holiday. Preregistered students who have paid fees need only report to the Housing Office and pick up their room keys — if they will reside on campus — to start the spring semes ter. Returning students who did not preregister in December start de layed registration at their depart ments. Card packets will be issued there. Students who did not attend clas ses at Texas A&M last fall, whether new students, transfers or those who attended TAMU earlier, first check in with Admissions and Re cords personnel in the Coke Build ing foyer. Card packets and instructions will be provided there. Tight squeeze (Photo by Chris Svatek) The University Center guest rooms are now com pleted and in use. The only problem with the rooms is that they didn’t seem to leave enough space for the bathroom doors. WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi dent Ford, already seeking a one- shot $16 billion tax reduction to counter the recession, let it be known Tuesday he will ask Con gress for $22.5 billion in additional permanent tax cuts. And, administration sources said the President also plans to seek postponement of clean air standards for power plants to help them con vert quickly from oil-burning to coal-burning boilers. Press Secretary Ron Nessen said the proposed $2-a-barrel tax on crude oil and taxes on windfall pro fits of oil companies would add some $30 billion to federal revenues. This money, he said, would offset the in come lost because of the (ax reduc tions. Ford will spell out his entire economic and energy policy pack age in his broadcast State of the Union address to Congress on Wednesday. Although Ford himself and Nessen disclosed much of the program in advance, the press sec retary promised there will be other surprises in the Capitol Hill speech. Interior Secretary Rogers C. B. Morton disclosed Tuesday that Ford’s State of the Union address would include proposals to speed power plant conversions to coal. Morton would not reveal the specific suggestion planned, but another administration source said the proposal would be to amend the clean air act, postponing for several years the power plant standards scheduled to take effect in 1975. Ford disclosed Monday night in a TV-radio address that he will ask Congress to authorize a one-time cut of 12 per cent in last year’s taxes, to be accomplished through rebates to individual tax payers of up to $1,000. In addition he said he wants a one-year increase, to a flat 12 per cent, in the tax credits businesses claim for money spent to expand and modernize their production facilities. Nessen made additional key dis closures Tuesday that included: -A Ford plan to cut individual in come taxes, starting this year, by $16.5 billion, with the largest re ductions going to the poorest tax payers. -A proposal to cut the maximum corporate tax rate to 42 per cent from 48 per cent on a permanent basis, resulting in $6 billion revenue loss. -Direct federal payments of $80 to each adult American who is so poor he pays no income taxes. This would cost an estimated $2 billion. -A $2 billion annual increase in revenue sharing funds distributed to state and local governments, the increase designed to offset the higher fuel costs they would pay if Congress imposes a $2 excise on each barrel of crude oil entering the economy from either foreign or domestic sources. In an unusual move, Nessen vol unteered statistics that showed a decidedly mixed public reaction to Ford’s Monday address. In the first 14 hours after the President spoke, Nessen said, the White House re ceived 259 telegrams, Mailgrams and telephone calls opposing Ford’s economic-energy proposals and 258 in favor. Nessen said $80 annual payments to non-tax paying adults would go to those 18 years of age or older who are not listed as someone else’s de pendent for tax purposes. Such per sons would get a form from the In ternal Revenue Service on which they would write their name, ad dress, Social Security number and income. In other major economic news: -A judge for the Federal Power Commission said he plans to order emergency relief for industries in six states where massive layoffs are threatened because of cuts in natural gas supplies. -President Ford set in motion preparations for the United States to take part in the Tokyo round of trade negotiations with more than 100 other nations. -The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a two-month moratorium on mort gage foreclosures on government- subsidized low-and middle-income housing. -U. S. Steel Coip. said it will idle 1,300 workers immediately and 500 more in the near future because of a cutback in natural gas supplies. -The Federal Home Laon Bank Board announced a planned rule change allowing institutions to issue mortgage-backed bonds. The board said the move will pump several extra billions of dollars into savings and loan associations for lending to home buyers. New board members named and ready to go Interviews by ALAN KILLINGSWORTH and JIM CRAWLEY JOE REYNOLDS Houston attorney Joe H. oynolds was reappointed by Gov. Dolph Briscoe to the TAMU Board 0 Directors, Friday. Reynolds was ^Pointed to the board in 1973 to , n , a two-year vacancy created by death of Dr. A. P. Beutel. t press time, Reynolds was in onver working on a case for his law Reynolds, White, Allen and ook. jj e b e g an p rac ti c i n g l aw in ouston in 1949 when he joined the rniofBraccwdi ^Tunks, in which " e became a partner in 1954. He 196(3 current partnership in ^tended Tyler Junior College ” _® a yl° r University. He was a uated number one in his class at a ylor Law School in 1947. rior to moving to Houston, sr 0 t ^ S wor l