I
J
‘Inflation-fighter
pay raise okayed
by state senators
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas senators
adopted an “inflation-fighter” $93
million pay raise for state employes
Monday and beat the deadline, with
hours to spare, for extending $5
million in federal money to 25,000
jobless Texans.
The huge Democratic majority in
the 181-member legislature then
toasted November election vic
tories at a Monday night dinner, on
the eve of the inaugural of Gov.
Dolph Briscoe and Lt. Gov. Bill
Hobby to second terms.
Briscoe’s signature put into law
the bill providing extra benefits for
unemployed Texans who have used
up their 26 weeks of eligibility for
regular benefits. Monday midnight
was the federal deadline.
By a 31-0 vote, the Senate ap
proved a bill giving 130,000 state
employes a pay raise, effective from
Feb. 1 through Aug. 31, at which
time they are vitrually certain to get
another pay hike.
The original bill, by Sen. Lloyd
Doggett, D-Austin, would have cost
$100 million, but it was changed de
spite Doggett’s protest, to restrict
employes making over $20,500 a
year to a 5.5 per cent increase.
Sen. Chet Brooks, D-Pasadena,
said cutting back their increase by 5
per cent would save the state $7
million and “still be an inflation
fighter.”
Those making under $10,500 will
get a 14.2 per cent increase and
those making between $10,500 and
$20,500 will get a 10.5 per cent in
crease.
It will cost an estimated $275,000
just to administer the new salary
schedule.
The pay bill goes to the House.
In a rare open-door session on
nominations, the Senate hastily ap
proved Briscoe s appointment of
former Sen. Jim Wallace, 46, of
Houston as a state district judge in
that city.
Sen. Lindon Williams,
D-Houston, laughingly shouted his
approval. Williams won a special
election to fill Wallace’s Senate seat.
The chairman of the Finance
Committee, Sen. A. M. Aikin Jr.,
D-Paris, introduced the Legislative
Budget Board version of the
1975-77 state budget.
It proposes spending $12.4 bill
ion from all sources, a $2.6 billion
increase from the current budget,
and could be balanced without new
taxes.
Weather
Partly cloudy today, tonite
and Wednesday. High
today 61° with southerly
winds 15-18 mph. Low to
nite 34°. Continued fair
tomorrow; high 54°.
Che Battalion
Today in the Batt
Community Education .. . .p.3
Traffic panel p.3
Ross Volunteers p.5
Vol. 68 No. 59
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, January 21, 1975
New law to change
^ information practice
Please, Vd rather do it myself
Photo by Chris Svatek
Moving back into the dorms can be trouble
as Stephanie Allen and Neil Holford prove.
Several other resident students could be
seen lugging their belongings into their
rooms as late as Sunday night. Surely, a rest
ful sleep was welcome that night.
Quarter system in
Chocolate milk out
By ROSEMARY TRAVERSO
Staff Writer
Plans lor the Quarter System of
class scheduling at A&M Consoli
dated High School next fall were
introduced at a school board meet
ing Monday night.
The implementation of the Quar
ter System, which is required by
law, involves dividing the school
year into three quarters of 12 weeks
each, replacing the present two
semesters system.
Each quarter is a separate, com
plete grading period and a student’s
schedule of classes will change with
each quarter.
The system’s value is the flexibil
ity and variety in curriculum it pro
vides the student, said Robert Cas
key, A&M Consolidated principal.
“We need to keep the kids’ wel
fare in mind in this reorganization of
our curriculum, Caskey said. “This
system will better meet the specific-
needs of the individual by putting
some excitement into the courses
offered.”
Caskey will give a presentation on
Feb. 13 to acquaint the public with
the specifics of the Quarter System.
The board did not decide on a loca
tion for the meeting.
In other business, the board con
sidered removal of chocolate milk
from the lunch program in elemen
tary schools.
Charles A. Cole, program direc
tor for the School Lunch and Child
Nutrition Programs of the Texas
Education Agency, said that choco
late milk, which has a higher caloric
content than white milk, can dull
the appetite for other foods needed
for daily nutrition as well as causing
weight problems.
“We have a fair amount of obesity
in our elementary schools anyway, ”
said Fred Hopson, school superin
tendent. His report stated that
fi No pub foreseen,
but plenty of talk
chocolate milk contains an acid, ox
alic, which decreases calcium ab
sorption. It also costs more than
white milk and spoils faster, it said.
The board decided that it was up
to the administration to remove
chocolate milk from the schools’
menus and not under the board’s
jurisdiction.
The long-range planning commit
tee reported its findings from the
parent survey it conducted late last
year. Among the educational goals
and modifications suggested for the
district, reading and communica
tion skills were considered the most
important by the 320 parents who
responded.
Copies of the committee’s report
and the original survey will be avail
able at the Administration Office on
Wednesday, said Hopson.
Lengthy debate between board
members followed Hopson’s sug
gestion that action be considered to
increase student participation in
athletics from grades 7 to 12.
BY ALAN KILLINGSWORTH
Staff Writer
New amendments to the Family
Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 that
were signed by President Ford on
December 31 have called for the
university to change its present pol
icy.
The policy issued on December
20, states that the university could
no longer send out grades to parents
without first having the student’s
written consent. The law now states
that the parent can receive the
grades if the student is declared a
dependent as defined by Internal
Revenue Service policy.
When the first bill was passed the
university established a committee
headed by Edwin Cooper, dean of
admissions and records, to review
the bill and formulate a program to
inform the students and faculty.
The new amendments are de
signed to allow students to review
their records and contest them if
inaccuracies occur. The plan to
open the files is a good one but it will
have its drawbacks, Cooper said.
“We spent more than $5,(XX) dis
tributing the first letter,” Cooper
said. “Now we have to start all over
again."
Robert Lacey, registrar, ordered
200,000 grade reports with the old
policy on the back. Now, a method
of making the reports usable has to
be come up with because of the
paper shortage, Lacey said.
The federal act also contradicts a
state law regarding student records.
Under state law, parents can re
ceive student grades without stu
dent consent.
Cooper commented that in order
to comply with federal law and also
not offend parents, the registrar
sent grades to the student in care of
their parents.
“Chances are the parents read the
grades on receipt anyway,” Cooper
remarked. “It saved us a lot of com
plaints.”
In the past a student or a former
student could call the registrar’s of
fice and request their grades be sent
to them. Not any more. The person
must now either write the registrar
or appear in person and fill out
necessary forms, Lacey said. They
may have an effect on job hunting.
A student may now review re
commendations given by refer
ences. Recommendations are usu
ally intended for the employer,
Cooper pointed out, and this might
inhibit a reference’s true opinion.
One of the new amendments de
fines the material that can be col
lected for the student directory and
how it may be distributed. The
committee is now investigating the
legality of the student directory and
how it would be able to screen the
consenting persons for publication.
The directories in the Housing
Office may soon be a thing of the
past. The amendment states that a
“public notice” must be issued and a
reasonable length of time be given
for a person to consen t to the release
of the material.
The university is now in a 45-day
period of grace for it to evaluate the
new law and make the appropriate
changes.
“We were caught by this new
bill,” Cooper said. “The bill was
passed in late December and we are
just now starting to catch up. ”
When Cooper was notified of the
legislation, he called six other uni
versities to ask how they were ad
justing. No one has come up with a
set policy, he said.
When a university policy has
been established, it will be distri
buted to various committees on
campus to get a wide reaction.
'We wished we could have issued
a policy two days alter the legisla
tion,’’ Cooper remarked. “We
thought it might cause more prob
lems than it would benefits. We
want to get the bill into lay terms
that will mean more to the student.
21 scissors
You are there at
Photo by David Kimmel
Guy Dow searches through student information
printouts at Housing Office.
the cutting
By T.C. GALLUCCI
Staff Writer
Don’t touch that dial.
Here we are folks at the grand
opening of the new student lounge
in the Memorial Student Center.
Actually the ribbon-cutting cere
monies took place yesterday morn
ing, but for purposes of publication
we ll pretend that this is live cover
age.
It is precisely 11:30 a. m., which
incidentally is what time the cere
mony is supposed to commence.
Several dignitaries have yet to make
their presence known, but the in
creasing crowd of students hardly
notices. It is hard to say if the stu
dents are more interested in the
ceremony or in going downstairs to
eat lunch.
Once again, for purposes of pub
lication, it is now 10 minutes later
and Dr. and Mrs. Jack Williams
have arrived, thus allowing the
ceremony to proceed as planned.
By ROXIE HEARN
Staff Writer
A campus tavern has little hope at
A&M, according to student leaders
and top administrators.
Steve Eberhard, student body
president, calls chances “very
slim.”
Student government is consider
ing what should be done about the
situation, but, said Eberhard,
“we’ve made no formal group, only
informal discussion.
The reason for the slim pos
sibilities is the attitude of adminis
trators, said Bill Davis, MSC presi
dent.
“People in the decision-making
process don’t feel liquor belongs on
campus,” he said.
Davis stated he would like to see
liquor sold at A&M and would con
tinue to ask for it but felt that efforts
this year would be fruitless.
“Maybe next year,” he said.
He explained that in a meeting
with student leaders on January 13,
Jack K. Williams, TAMU president
had given his reasons against the
idea. “He personally did not feel
liquor belonged in the MSC. He
doesn’t feel it has a place in an edu
cational institution.”
Upon questioning by a reporter,
Williams answered flatly, “We will
not be opening any pub on the A&M
campus.”
Controversy has increased since
UT opened “The Texas Tavern” on
its campus.
The tavern’s establishment fol
lowed a regents’ decision, an
amendment to a city ordinance and
a state attorney general’s ruling.
A similar establishment is under
consideration at Rice University.
Construction is planned to begin in
February.
UT’s pub offers competitive
prices for food and drinks, with
drink specials and no cover charge.
Beer and wine are sold at the
tavern beginning at 11 a. m. and
mixed drinks beginning at 5 p. m.
weekdays. On weekends any drink
may be bought at any hour.
The tavern includes a game room
with pinball and electric ping-pong
with a pool table expected to be
added soon. A jukebox with 1950s
music is also available.
Before we turn to the main event,
please focus attention towards the
center of the room, there are Dr.
Williams and William Pahlmann
being introduced by Bill Davis,
president of the MSC. Hey, folks,
don’t touch the fine tuning, that’s
not static, it’s just a muted sound of
student opinion (hissing) from the
north and west balconies.
All twenty-one ribbon-cutters are
now in place and will commence
cutting on the count of three.
(Snip!)
Ah! Folks, remember you heard
it here first. The sound of twenty
one pairs of scissors at last releasing
thousands of Aggies to roam, frolic
and mingle in the lounge of much-
discussed cost and decor.
Some folks may wonder why
these Aggies are going to be allowed
to play among this collection of al
leged priceless antiques, furniture
and ashtrays.
Students at the scene are making
personal and biased comments on
their new student lounge. How
ever, due to this being a family news
account, their comments will not be
specifically mentioned.
On second thought, this is non
personal, unbiased coverage of a
worthy news event, thus the reason
for relating their comments:
“Just watch, tomorrow they’ll put
up signs saying. Keep off the carpet’
and ‘Don’t touch the furniture’,”
remarked one student.
To which Mike Bradshaw,
KBTX-TV cameraman, replied, “If
they really want to keep us out, all
they have to do is grow grass in
there.”
Here we have William Pahlmann
and Dr. Williams admiring the
north wall of the lounge. What, ex
actly, it is that they are admiring is
difficult for this reporter to say, ex
cept that they appear to be mounted
animal heads.
Difficult as it may be to specify,
one seems to be an Ibex, another a
Waterbuck, the next a Bontebok
and then a Cape Buffalo.
Wait, there’s more. First a
Bongo, then a Wart Hog, then a
Gerenuk, and an Eland, also there’s
a Bighorn and a Black Rhinoceros.
There’s also something else that
looks like a big sheep.
One student of nature mentioned
the resemblance of the lounge to a
zoo.
Sharing the center of the room
(See Cutting, p.2)
University seeking
new legal adviser
Bill Davis (L), Mike Hatch and Steve Eberhard (R), stand by the uncut ribbon of
the new student lounge in the MSC. photo by Douglas winship
Robert Rutledge, former legal
adviser for students, will still offer
legal aid from 3:30 to 5:15 each day
until a replacement is found.
Rutledge has been named assis
tant director of development at
A&M. He succeeds Gary D.
McCaleb who returned to Abilene
on a business venture.
Attorneys are being interviewed
for the position of student legal ad
viser, Dr. John Koldus, vice presi
dent of student services, said Mon
day.
One prospect will meet with
Koldus’ staff and the student advis
ory committee Friday.
i