Page 2 THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1975
f Listen Up J
E. D. freak critiques MSC
Editor:
I have been reading the recent
letters to the editor concerning the
new MSC and it’s decor and now for
what its worth I would like to add
my comments.
Please let me preface my state
ments by saying that I am a student
in the Department of Environmen
tal Design and I have traveled some
and seen examples of good design.
First and maybe foremost, where
did this Mr. Pahlmann come from?
Who picked him and what are his
credentials? Evidently from his
choice of furnishings he has never
talked to any student and found out
what his (or her) needs in a student
union are. The non-practicality of
some of the “Southwestern Decor”
accent pieces is beyond belief. How
long will the pseudo Fellini cowhide
benches last and the tables and
chairs in the brown bag area, the
ones that are lashed together and
have leather tops. Who is he trying
to kid? This area will probably be
one of the most heavily used spots in
the whole MSC. How many wipings
with a damp rag will the table
tops stand, or 1iqw many times will a
tired student be able to sit in one of
those chairs before it collapses? The
whole space seems trashy, clut
tered, and overcrowded.
As a person who is subjected to
design problems daily by some of
the finest and most talented faculty
on the campus I have been exposed
to many ideas and one of them is the
philosophy set forth by Mies Van
Der Rohe, one of the fathers of
modern design, that less is more.
Mr. Pahlmann evidently has never
studied any of this great designer’s
work. In the beginning stages of the
new lounge as I passed by I was
amazed at the beautiful large clean
space, I had hoped it would stay that
way with a minimum of decoration
so that the students could be the
main elements in the space, not the
furnishings. This was not the case.
The lounge is a study in over decora
tion. The space, suffocating with too
much stuffing in the furniture, too
many colors, too many flags, and too
many animal heads (who shot them
and hasn’t he heard of the en
dangered species).
It would do well for our fearless
decorator to study the lobby of the
Seagram Building in New York
City. There is a place with real taste
and class. The pieces of furniture
are beautiful and they are practical
and timeless. They may be expen
sive but they will last.
In closing this letter I would like
to ask once again and I know this
may be only a cry in the dark but
what are the really important goals
of this institution of higher learning,
Education or Decoration (please ex
cuse the poor choice of words here).
When can we expect some response
to students and needs and not the
superfluous frills and whims of an
overzealous decorator. Where is
this Pahlmann? I would like to meet
the man that has no insight into the
needs of over 20,000 students.
John P. Hamman
students, have little influence in the
deciding of issues affecting us. Thus
we conclude with a question: Why
waste our time and yours with dis
cussion since it is evident that our
options are vitually ineffective?
Mike Rasmussen
David Tittsworth
Student pub
Editor:
After attending the recent discus
sion of the possibility of the student
pub, it is apparent that discussion is
useless. The closed-mindedness of
the administration and Board of Re
gents was revealed at the meeting.
According to Dr. Koldus, the
final decision rests with Dr. Wil
liams and the Board of Regents.
Therefore it is obvious that we, the
MSC respect
Editor:
This letter is written in response
to Daniel E. Wheeler’s recommen
dation to turn the MSC’s "sleeping
quarters’ into a brothel.
Mr. Wheeler, I do not think you
understand what the MSC is. The
Memorial Student Center is a
memorial to the men of Texas A&M
who gave their lives during World
War 1 tuid II. Its pmpose is to foster
the social, cultural and recreational
phases of the student, faculty, and
alumni lives.
Whether a student likes or dis
likes the decor of the MSC is no
concern of mine. Everyone has a
right to his own taste. However,
when a person like you tries to turn
the MSC into a joke to stress a point
I get very disgusted.
My reasons are very simple. 1 had
a brother who graduated from A&M
in 1969. In October of 1971 he was
killed while serving in the Army.
Knowing what it is like to lose a
brother and an Aggie, the MSC has
a special, simple meaning to me; it is
a living memorial. Why do you want
to put down the Aggie Spirit just to
put across a point?
If you are mad about your build
ing fee being increased I would be
glad to pay it if my brother could
know at this moment that I finally
made it to A&M. But don’t worry
Dan, with faith in Godmylj
and I will someday meet
When we do meet we willslii
bull on our football team, mic
yell practice and all the spirt
goes with A&M — which
two per centers like you.
Don’t make a satire outd
MSC. It is a part that makes!
great and unique. By the®
have a tip on how to get outd
building use fee: "Highwayji
both ways.’’
Texas A&M, ain’t it great!
Russell K. Tl
Coach praise
ontan
Editor:
After watching the basM
game against SMU, we have!
come convinced that NormRed ^rs. J.
and not Shelby Metcalf is respn
ble for the Aggies present sw
We do not mean to take ami
away from the players; they sit
be commended for their excel
play.
For the first time in ourfouni
at A&M. the team is running*
fective offense against a zonei
fense and an effective press !
even showing signs of breaking
of that old SWC mold, andpb
basketball on a level with tea®
other parts of the country.
We feel that Coach Reutk
serves the spotlight for the.!«
first place showing. As forG
Metcalf, what other collegem
needs three assistants on thek
during a game?
Jeff bfi
T. Getten
A two month tale of repression, inconsistency, misunderstanding and
seeming callousness by the telephone company against the intrepid
Batt columnist, or
Dial again, please
By MIKE PERRIN
Have you ever noticed how the
only phone company in town tends
to act like it? This column outlines a
true telephone horror story (my
own) and a solution to the whole
horrible problem.
I left town before my December
bill came, so I sent the company a
check for $25. Before school started,
I mailed them another check for $25
since I had not received a bill. Back
in town by Jan. 19 (Sunday before
school), I found a whole mailbox full
of unforwarded mail, including two
phone bills and a notice which said
that if I didn’t pay my bill by Jan. 21
that my phone would be discon
nected.
The trouble was that it had al
ready been disconnected. Calling
up the phone company the next day,
I found that it had been taken out of
service Jan. 9. I was told, however,
that as soon as my check came in
that they would reconnect my
phone. Since I had mailed it Jan. 15,
I expected that reconnection would
come soon.
I got my next bill (phone still out)
on February 4, saying that it was
due February 6. I decided to wait
until the phone was reconnected to
pay. My big surprise came last
Saturday when the General Tele
phone man came and took my
phones completely out of the house.
Here is what I couldn’t under
stand — on the bill, it says that you
pay for local service a month in ad
vance, so that the February bill,
payable by Feb. 6, pays for phone
service until March 6. But since the
bill for January had been paid in
December, why was my phone dis
connected?
In any case, I called the phone
company. The nice lady on the
other end of the line explained that
my payment had been received on
Jan. 20. This was one day before it
was due to be disconnected, accord
ing to the notice I received in the
mail.
Now, the question is, do I have to
pay for the service which I didn’t
receive between January 9 and the
20th, which was supposed to be an
operating period according to one
notice? And if I paid by the deadline
on the notice, then do I have to pay
for the service from Jan. 21 until
whenever the phone is put back in
service? The answer goes like this:
You don’t have to pay for service you
don’t get if you paid for it in ad
vance. You have to pay for service
you don’t get if you didn’t pay for it
in advance.
Explanation: Since I didn’t pay
for the January service in advance
(since I didn’t get a bill, I just sent
$25), then I do have to pay for the
service I didn’t get between Jan. 9
and 20. But since I did pay the bill in
full (with the other $25 I sent in) by
the 20th, then this prepaid this
month, so I don’t have to pay for the
service I didn’t get from Jan. 21
until it is reconnected.
But there still is no real reason for
pulling the phone OUT after it was
disconnected or for not reconnect
ing it after the bill payment was re
ceived. Plus there was no reason to
disconnect the phone on Jan. 9 and
then send me a bill threatening dis
connection by Jan. 21 unless the
payment were received by Jan. 20,
which it was.
In other words, the disconnect
notice and actual disconnection are
unrelated, as are payments in ad
vance for the next month. If you
think that this sounds like the phone
company makes up the rules as they
go along, then I suspect you are cor
rect.
This type of telephone high
handedness only occurs because
they have no real competition.
Political regulation cannot cure this
type of abuse. Even if a statewide
commission to set rates existed, it
could not prevent this type of
treatment. I doubt that they could
end abuse from excessive rates,
either.
The only reason that telephone
companies are set up as legal
monopolies is to provide service to
the community at the lowest cost.
This is predicted on the notion that
the telephone company is a
declining-cost industry, that is, the
more customers hooked into the
line, the cheaper it is per customer.
The point is that this assumption
has never been critically examined;
the other point is, that even with
slight examination, it can be shown
false.
Although connections have risen
dramatically in this area, there has
been no decrease in rates at all;
there have been increases; there
was even talk of making the calls
between Bryan and College Station
subject to long-distance rates.
So the phone company, like all
other businesses, is an increasing-
cost industry and works best with
competition. Competition keeps
the profit margins shaved much
finer than the only seller market.
So let’s get rid of the state and city
rules that prohibit telephone com
petition; we ll get better service,
faster service and the increased jobs
that another company would bring.
★ ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★•AT*********************
Anyone with a complaint
about the phone company
should send a short summary of
the complaint to The Economic
Reply, care of the Battalion,
Reed McDonald building.
Che Battalion
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