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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1975)
Weather Partly cloudy and mild Thursday. Increasing cloudiness and warmer Friday. High today 64; low tonight 43; high to- Che Battalion Inside Traffic rerouted p. 3 Parking gates P* 4 Women swimmers p. 5 morrow 68. Vol. 68 No. 77 College Station, Texas Thursday, February 20, 1975 Itudents ork hours on’t be cut By JUDY BAGGETT Staff Writer Despite rumors to the contrary, student working hours are not being cut because of the recent state pay hike. Students will be getting larger pay checks, with hours re maining about the same, said spokesmen from various de partments and facilities on campus Wednesday. The raise comes from Senate Bill No. 1, which also furnishes funds for part of those getting raises. Areas not covered by the legislation will receive a raise with money taken from departments’ surplus funds. Jan Nix, Co-op Student at the Nuclear Science Center, said the pay hike has not caused her hours to be cut at all. Students at the University Health Center have not had to decrease their hours either. Luke Harrison, manager of the Golf Course, said, “Ac tually, we ll be working people more because our busy season is coming.” An assistant at the Animal Science Department said they had not been able to analyze the situation yet but that the raise would probably not make any difference. The manager of Food Service at Krueger-Dunn Commons said that he was unable to give any information on the subject. The raises are: up to $5.04 — 13 per cent increase $5.05 — 7.31 — 66 cent increase per hour $7.32 and up — 9 per cent increase Want to look at records? It’s possible that you'll have to sue (AP) — A new law makes it easier for citizens to find out what their government is up to, but it may re quire many test cases and court suits to find out how well it works. Congress last November enacted extensive changes in the 1966 Free dom of Information Act over Presi dent Ford’s veto, and did nothing about his urgent request to modify them after the elections. The amendments took effect Wednes day. One amendment empowers fed eral courts to go behind a secrecy stamp and see if documents were properly classified in the first place. This overturns a Supreme Court decision denying the courts such au thority, although the court said at the time that Congress had the right to grant it. The changes give federal agencies 10 ways to determine whether to furnish a requested document and 30 days to respond to lawsuits appe aling a denial. The amendments to the 1966 law also narrow the power of agencies to withhold law enforcement inves tigatory files, require keeping of an index of documents available to the public, and authorize winners of fu ture court cases to have lawyers’ fees paid by the government. Ford vetoed the bill on the ground it was unconstitutional and unworkable. He said that under its provisions “a determination by the secretary of Defense that disclosure of a document would endanger our national security would, even though reasonable, have to be over turned by a district judge who thought a plaintiffs position just as reasonable. Congressional sponsors replied that there was an overriding need to loosen up government secrecy which they said had contributed to Watergate and the war in Vietnam. Those invoking the 1966 law were mostly trade associations and attor neys — both public and special in terest. The media used it infre quently. Two public interest groups, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for National Security Studies, have established a joint project to promote use of the amended law, especially on national security matters. Morton H. Halperin, a former deputy assistant secretary of De fense now on the staff of the center, says the new provisions, “particu larly in light of changing attitudes about secrecy, should make it pos sible to secure the release of current newsworthy information about de fense and foreign policy. But advocates of greater freedom of information agree that it will take a long time, with test cases and court actions, to determine what dif ferences the new law will have on the traditional government attitude of keeping its cards well hidden. The FBI is preparing to show an individual what is in his own file after screening out anything that would identify an informant. But it will require positive identification, possibly including fingerprinting. Board home ... a new antique setting By JIM PETERS Staff Writer The building that the Board of Directors calls home sits in virtual obscurity at the western end of the University Center complex. Used for the five annual board meetings and occasional legislative hearings and receptions, the one- year-old Board Annex is well- Board conference room Judicial Board clarifies by-law writ provision * * i J \/1' ^ revision to its by-laws restruc- turing the procedure for use of a of injunction and writ of man- am us was passed by the Student ov ernment Judicial Board Wed nesday. Sam Walser, graduate board member who proposed the provi sion, said the purpose of the writ will be to forbid the defendant or his agent from continuing an act which is unjust or injurious to the plaintiff until a ruling is made by the judicial board about the legality of the pro- Congress puts block on $3 import oil tax WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted Wednesday to block for 90 da ys President Ford’s $3-per-barrel special tax on imported oil, mustering than enough votes to override a promised veto. H The 66 to 28 vote, three more than what would be needed, sent the 0u se-passed bill to Ford. . There was still doubt, however, that Democrats can muster the re tired two-thirds majority after a veto. Democrats hope to use this issue as a •N’ststep in imposing a substitute for the Ford program, which is intended to 'Courage gasoline use by driving prices up. tested act. The provision calls for a written, signed and witnessed statement from any Judicial Board member to authorize an injunction. The board chaired by Jerri Ward, sophmore political science major, heard another amendment to the by-laws concerning the right to question witnesses after they had been previously called upon by the parties involved. This revision of Section 8 of the by-laws was passed with Shannon Walker, sophomore representative, dissenting. Walker suggested that the board institute some sort of mechanism to insure that the plaintiff and defen dant actually exist. Wesley Harris, graduate member, defended this position by saying that both should be in atten dance at the hearing. Seven members of the Judicial Board were present at the meeting. furnished. It was built at a cost of $1.4 mill ion and contains at least an addi tional $765,000 in furnishings. This figure for furnishings was de rived from University purchase vouchers for the 1971-74 period, and does not include kitchen equipment in the annex. All the construction, furnishing and operating expenses of the build ing came from state monies out of the Permanent University Fund and legislative appropriations. No student tuition or building use fees were used, says Controller Allen Schlandt. The two-story wing consists of the main conference room, a kitchen and dining room, foyer and recep tion area and several smaller an terooms. There are also 12 bedroom suites on the upper level for board members, legislators and visiting dignitaries. Much of,the furniture in the. annex is antique, having been purchased in New York City by the interior designer William Pahl- Reading teaches children LONDON (AP) — “The best way to prepare the very young child for reading is to hold him on your lap and read aloud to him stories he likes — over and over again.” This was the key advice given Wednesday by 20 top British educators in a literacy report com piled after nearly three years of in vestigating teaching in 1,807 British schools. The report said: “The printed page, the physical comfort and security, the reassuring voice, the fascination of the story — all these combine in the child’s mind to identify books as something which hold great pleasure.” The message seemed to be that the cuddle is almost as important as the story. The government-backed report, titled “A Language for Life,” also encouraged parents to talk with their children so they may learn to be articulate. As important as talking and read ing to children is listening to what they say, said the report, a docu ment running to a third of a million words. It reported one nursery school teacher found some toddlers so inar ticulate that they answer a question like “What’s your name?” by saying “Shut up Samantha,” which is all they hear at home. The report, while urging parents to stimulate learning before 5-year-olds reach school, said a “pressure-cooker” approach should be avoided lest the child be put off learning for life. Too much television can be harm ful, but TV extends a child’s voc abulary and the better progams should be watched, the report ad vised. The investigating committee of mainly teachers, lecturers and pro fessors was set up to check reports that reading standards in schools were declining as the result of new methods of teaching reading and writing. The committee said there was no convincing evidence of this but noted deteriorating standards among working-class children in deprived areas. mann. Styles represented include Early Victorian, American Federalist, William IV, George III, Louis XIV, Italian Renaissance, Chinese Taokuang, Chippendale, Georgian and English Country and Regency. There are several expensive, rare pieces such as the 19th Century Chippendale dining room table ($4,500), a pair of 18th Century En glish Gainsborough armchairs ($2,150 each), the $1,275 teak altar tables, a $4,090 William IV circular table, a $2,200 Louis XIV oak ar- moire (for coats and hats), a $5,040 English Sheraton mahoghany book case, an $1,800 English Adam side table and 18 English-style folding chairs ($480 each). Four hundred and fifty place set tings of Sterling silver flatware and Pickard china complement the seat ing in the dining room. A special Board of Directors’ fund, approp riated, by the legislature, provides, money for the Food Services opera tions in the Annex. Antique rugs have also found their place in the decoration scheme. A $2,500 Heriz rug, a $9,000 Tab riz rug, a $2,500 Bidjar carpet and a specially-made $4,656 rug in the foyer are among the many carpets. Colors and styles of fabric found in the annex range from the “Etrus can” red velvet linen in the Board Room, through the “Lafayette Floral” wallpaper and the vinyl “Jute” wallcovering of the bars in the suites, to the rust/beige “Canes- trelli material in the elevator foyer. Art accessories are plentiful and vary in style from room to room. For example, in the elevator foyer the American Indian motif is carried out in the Southwestern lithographs. Hand-painted Chinese panels line the walls of the attached hallway. Other rooms maintain an assemb lage of various styles. Elsewhere, one can find a $2,00C Early Ming-period carved wooden statue of Kwan Yin, a $2,200Tiffany lamp, a $4,200 pair of Italian marble busts of Roman Senators on pedest als, a bronze “Cowboy with Saddle ($3,200), Chinese mandarin and porcelain figures and a $9,068 Cloisonne vase dating to 1740. A 17th century eight-panel Japanese silkscreen ($3,575) in the Board Room can be drawn aside to expose a screen for slide presenta tions at Board meetings. For a bookcase in the reception area, more than $400 worth of de corative books “of various sizes and subjects were selected to add the proper color coordination to the room. Included were books of Louis Bertrand and Montgomery’s poeti cal works. A pair of large 18th Century Italian oil paintings, depicting “Caesars on horseback,” ($5,000 each), act as sentries in the entry foyer. Other paintings include the original Julian Onderdonk “Miles of Bluebonnets” ($15,000), a $3,150 “A Mountain Coastal Landscape, and 10 Indian paintings by Hugo Bold ($1,500 each).- More than $35,000 of marble is used in the Annex, and pewter, crystal and bronze chandeliers hang throughout the rooms. Since the late 1920s the Board ol Directors had held their meetings in a white frame house north ol Sbisa Hall, where they also had liv ing quarters. When plans for the alterations to the MSC were drawn up it was proposed that the new Board chambers would be located in the basement of the MSC motel wing. Later, however, administration officials found that the basement area was needed for student pro gram activities and they authorized the architect to draft plans for con struction of a separate Board Annex. Construction on the Annex, ex tending from the end of the motel housing wing, was completed last year. “If you look at other universities and corporate headquarters,” said General A. R. Luedecke, vice pres ident for planning and construction, “the new facilities bring us up to par.” Foyer of Board of Director’s wing Living room area of Board of Director’s Suite.