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 <e( l two years in Au-
ln ° r then Attorney General Price
Daniel. He also served as a special
trial counsel for the attorney
general’s office in the late 1950s.
The 51-year-old attorney was
elected a fellow of the American
College of Trial Lawyers in 1962,
and in 1968 became a fellow in the
Texas Bar Association and a patron
member of the Houston Bar Associ
ation.
He also has served on the spe
cially appointed committee of the
State Bar Association to promulgate
and devise standards of relation
ships between the press and the bar
and the reporting of trials.
Reynolds, who served as an of
ficer in the Marine Corps during
World War II and the Korean War,
was born in Commerce, spent his
early childhood in Tyler and later
moved to Waco, where he was
graduated from high school.
Married to the former Miss Sue
Stamper of Houston, he has two
sons. He is a member of Tallowood
Baptist Church and teaches a men’s
Bible class.
In addition to his law practice,
Reynolds owns a ranch at Brenham
and raises registered Quarter
Horses and registered Polled
Herefords.
ALFRED I. (AL) DAVIES
One Board of Directors appoin
tee recalled A&M college days in
the early 30’s and life with his
former roommate, the late Gen.
Earl J. Rudder, past president of
A&M.
Alfred I. Davies, vice president of
the Southwest Territory for Sears,
said he and Rudder were insepara
ble and they became partners in
small business affairs.
“Earl was the promoter,” said
Davies, “he made bookholders and
then I’d sell them . . . We probably
made more money than anyone else
on campus.”
Davies, a long-time friend of
Gov. Dolph Briscoe, wasn’t sure
why the Governor had selected him
for the position. He added he
should be qualified because of his
experience on corporation boards.
He has been with Sears for 38
years and serves on boards of direc
tors for a dozen corporations includ
ing Lone Star Gas and the Republic
National Bdnk of Dallas.
He cautioned that he will try to
become oriented to the problems of
A&M and would not initiate any ac
tion of his own, at first.
The 1935 A&M graduate said that
students should be informed of
board action and that the board
should ask for student opinion on
various issues that the board will
take action on.
As to a student on the board,
Davies said it would depend on the
situation and the Governor’s per-
rogative.
Davies emphasized that all his
comments were those of a former
student of A&M and a citizen of
Texas and not of a director of Texas
A&M.
On the issue of student-board re
lationships, Davies said he would
listen to students and what students
have to say as long as the talk is
constructive and not wasteful.
Asked why the board seems to be
distant from the students, Davies
answered, “Former Aggies might
be better informed because stu
dents are busy studying and don’t
have the time to keep up with board
activities.”
Davies said he would oppose the
serving of liquor in the dorms and
the dining halls, “as it would cause
problems.”
Concerning students evaluations
of the faculty, Davies said, “Sure, as
long as it’s kept in context.”
Davies, remembering college
days at A&M, described how the
school had changed. “A&M was a
school that answered the needs of
the generation during the depres
sion with its military discipline.”
ROSS C. WATKINS
An eighth grade education hasn’t
hindered the success of Ross Wat
kins who was recently appointed to
the Board of Directors of TAMU.
Watkins, a Uvalde bridge con
tractor, was appointed to the posi
tion Friday by Gov. Dolph Briscoe.
“It came as a complete surprise, ”
Watkins said. “At first I declined the
position but Gov. Briscoe con
vinced me to take the job. ”
Watkins, 55, grew up in the De
pression and never had the chance
to receive a formal education. Enci-
nal, Texas, where he was born, was
in bad times, he said.
Briscoe set the pace for Watkin s
appointment during a press confer
ence held after the governor’s re
turn for Uvalde. The governor said
he saw no need for a person to have a
formal education to sit on the board
of directors of a state-supported
school.
Watkins has also served on the
Board of Directors of the First State
Bank of Uvalde and on the board of
the Associated General Contractors
of America.
“Certainly, I am not in a position
to comment on the relationship of
the board to the students, ” Watkins
remarked. “This appointment came
as a surprise and I need to become
aware of the position. I am looking
forward to serving the university.”
Watkins will replace L. F. Peter
son of Ft. Worth.