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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 1975)
Ji Weather Partly cloudy and mild today, tonight and to morrow. SE winds 8-15 mph Wednesday becom ing NE Thursday. High today 78; low tonight 47; high Thursday 74. Cbe Battalion Vol. 68 No. 70 College Station, Texas Wednesday, February 26, 1975 Inside Natural childbirth p- 5 Music review p. 7 Ags lose P- 11 Wall grows daily After several weeks of work, the wail is rising the wail is made of rocks and broken glass, it is from the lawn at northgate. Despite rumors that actually made of brick. House rejects ‘winner-take-all’ But Bentsen forces will get another chance AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas House rejected Tuesday the winner-take-all” feature of a presi dential primary bill that was de signed to help Sen. Lloyd Bentsen s political fortunes. But Rep. Tom Schieffer, D-Fort Worth, sponsor of the Bentsen bill, bought time to work for a reversal of that decision by winning a 74-67 roll call to adjourn until 10 a.m. Wed nesday before the revised bill as a whole could come to a vote. The crucial vote Tuesday was <5-68 to replace the “winner-take- provision with one that would divide the Texas delegations to na tional party nominating conventions among candidates according to their shares of the presidential primary votes. That decision was a victory for liberals and backers of Alabama ! Gov. George Wallace, who sought proportional representation in the Texas delegation for various candi dates. A number of Republicans and | c onservative Democrats joined in the majority. Bentsen, a candidate for the Democratic nomination, reportedly favored the feature giving all of a state senatorial district’s delegation to the top vote getters. The original hill required the primary ballot to ■st delegates, with presidential candidates’ names shown only in Parentheses after delegates pledged to them. Rep. Dan Kubiak, D-Rockdale, lead sponsor of the proportional representation amendment, called it, “the fairest way I know of to hold" a primary in Texas.” Schieffer objected that it did not sufficiently bind delegates to a pres idential candidate, but sponsors of the amendment pointed to language giving a candidate a veto over dele gates sent to the national conven tion in his name. Speaker Bill Clayton has gone on record as favoring the bill’s original “winner-take-all” provision. He acknowledged last Friday that the measure was, indeed, tailored to give Bentsen the maximum number of Texas delegate votes. The Kubiak amendment would place on the ballot the names of presidential contenders not possi ble convention delegates. Party state conventions would choose the delegates, allocating them accord ing to the percentage of the primary votes received by presidential can didates. Delegates chosen in a candidate’s name would have to be “bona fide supporters” and would be subject to his approval. Delegates would be required to stay with a candidate through at least two ballots. If a candidate failed to get at least 20 per cent of the total convention vote on the second ballot, a delegate could switch. On a fourth ballot, a dele gate could vote for someone else, no matter how well the candidate to which he was pledg&d did on the third ballot. Schieffer asserted he favored presidential primaries for their own sake. “Regardless of what Lloyd Bent sen does, we ought to have a presi dential primary,” Schieffer said. He asserted that his original bill would remove the delegate selec tion process from “the dark recesses of political back rooms. Rep. Ronald Coleman, D-El Paso, said that the original bill would remove the delegate selec tion from “the dark recesses of polit ical back rooms.” He said that the original bill would discourage candidates from cam paign in Texas. “The way to get presidential can didates down here is to have propor tional allocation of delegates,” he said. In other action, the House passed to the Senate a bill making an emergency $472,000 appropriation to the state comptroller’s depart ment. Also passed to the Senate were bills allowing cities to sue on their own - instead ofjoining state suits - to collect delinquent city sales taxes, and enabling the Texas Edu cation Agency to donate discon tinued textbooks to city and county jails. The House tentatively approved, 78-61, after a considerable row, a bill prohibiting judges in divorce and annulment cases from giving one spouse real estate that belonged individually to the other. Rep. Jim Nowlin, R-San Antonio, the sponsor, said this power had in advertently been given to judges when the Texas Family Code was written. He said in one case, re versed on appeal, a judge gave $45,000 of a wife’s separate property to her husband. Rep. Sarah Weddington, D-Austin, a frequent crusader for women’s rights, said there were in stances in which a non-working wife in a couple with few assets would be left penniless if Nowlin’s bill passed. She said the wife of a farmer, who owned his land before marriage, might be in this situation if she had no property or occupation of her own. “The Family Code tells the judge to look at the total property, sepa rate and community, and make an equitable division of property, based on what seemed good and right,” she said. “There are some very grievous situations where the judge should have the discretion of looking at it. Demos strike; oil allowance could be axed WASHINGTON (AP)-— Democ rats struck a blow at the controver sial oil depletion allowance Tues day, agreeing to let the full House consider its elimination as part of an emergency tax package. The caucus of House Democrats voted 153-98 to instruct the Rules Committee to clear the way for a vote on an amendment killing the depletion allowance for oil and vir tually all natural gas retroactive to the start of this year. Their action overruled the Ways and Means Committee. The amendment, sponsored by Rep. William J. Green, D-Pa., would be attached to the economic emergency tax cut bill now under consideration. The caucus action also will allow a vote on a proposal by Rep. Charles Wilson, D-Tex., to let small inde pendent producers continue to re ceive the depletion allowance for up to 3,000 barrels of production a day if these producers have no interest in service stations or refining. Currently, the oil depletion al lowance permits 22 per cent of gross income from petroleum property to be deducted from taxable income up to a top of 50 per cent of taxable net income. Industry spokesmen insist this is a crucial investment in centive, but critics content it is a symbol of tax law inequity and an unwarranted tax favor for oil com panies. House Speaker Carl Albert, D-Okla., said: “I’m sure the Demo cratic members of the Rules Com mittee will follow the caucus dic tate. Albert also said he thinks the House will pass a depletion repeal. The House Rules Committee scheduled a hearing on the matter for Wednesday. A full House vote on the legislation is set for Thurs day. The economic emergency tax bill is a $16.2-billion blend of individual tax rebates from 1974 and tax cuts for 1975, plus $5.07 billion worth of business tax reductions, mainly by hiking the investment tax credit as an incentive to buy equipment and machinery. For individuals, the tax bill pro vides 55.1 per cent of its relief to those with gross income up to $10,000, 34.4 percent to those with between $10,000 and $20,000 in gross income, and the remaining 10.5 per cent to those with gross income above $20,000. The bill distributes more than $8.1 billion in lump-sum refunds of a general 10 per cent of 1974 federal income taxes up to a top rebate of $200. Anybody paying under $100 in such taxes for last year simply would get all of it back, while other taxpayers would get at least $100 and at most $200. At the same time, the bill would spread another roughly $8.1 billion to individual taxpayers in additional take-home pay via lower tax with holding this year. That would reflect the bill s boosts in minimum and maximum standard deductions used by the poor and those who don’t itemize. For low-income individuals, the bill would give a 5 per cent tax credit up to a maximum $200 credit. That would only go to those with up to $6,000 in gross income. In other major energy-economic news: —President Ford assured U.S. oil producers that a minimum per barrel price would be set for all oil sold in the United States. —The Federal Pbwer Commission ordered complete reporting of the nation’s proven natural gas re serves. Previously only reserves av ailable to interstate pipelines under FPC jurisdiction have had to be re ported. —The Senate Interior Commit tee added to an energy conservation bill a provision requiring that any attempt to decontrol domestic oil prices will be subject to quick re view and possible veto by Congress. —President Ford continued his attack on Congress for delay in ap proving his energy proposals, say ing the legislators have embarked on a “massive gamble, risking America’s vulnerability to future oil embargoes. —The Chrysler Corporation re ported that sales in mid-February fell 13.5 per cent from the same period a year ago, despite the price rebate program offered to new car buyers. ISA plans lobby effort against tuition increase The International Student As sociation (ISA) resolved to join the Texas Students for International Exchange in lobbying against a Texas Senate bill increasing foreign student tuition to $40 per semester hour. This bill, presented by Sen. Bill Moore of Bryan, would make foreign student tuition the same as out-of-state tuition. ISA students complained mainly about the lack of a “grandfather clause” in the bill. Such a clause would allow students presently en rolled to complete their education without paying the increased tui tion. New students would have to pay the $40 per hour tuition. Petitions have been circulated by ISA the past few days condemning Moore’s bill. “We have to get the American students, faculty and community to help us stop this bill,” said Fathallah Ben-Ali, ISA president. “We have to reach the Americans because they have the vote.” Rajesh Kent, ISA finance chair man, told the group of 30 members that other Texas universities are battling the bill. Texas Tech’s stu dent government recently passed a resolution denouncing the tuition hike. Kent said that he and others would introduce a resolution at tonight’s Student Senate meeting against the Senate bill. “We’ve been trying to get a com mitment from the university, but they haven’t replied, said Kent. It was suggested by Dr. Alan Waters, ISA adviser, that the group enlist the help of foreign and Ameri can alumni. The group has also distributed questionnaires to the foreign stu dents concerning the effects of the bill. Of the approximately 1,000 foreign students at A&M, 300 said they would have to move to another state and 200 said they would have to return home because of the in creased costs, Ben-Ali said. The delegates also discussed plans for International Week. Plans for the April event call for a talent show, banquet and dance. In a close election, Pedro Sanab- ria, graduate student, was elected social chairman of the ISA. talkathon Birth defect protest The March of Dimes “Wal- athon will be held Saturday to j. e P raise funds to fight birth de- The 20-mile walk will begin at 9 a iT >- from Manor East Mall. Most of the participants are ex pected to be in the 12-to-16 year-old bracket, but support has been promised from several local groups. The Bryan-Col lege Station Op timist Club is sponsoring Truman Coulter lAvon : dale East Mall University Dominik Map shows walk-a-thon route. Allen, John Mobley and D. D. Wil liamson. The College Station Morning Lions Club will counter with Jerry Stuckey, Charles Thomas and Glen Thomas. The Rotary Club will sponsor Lou Odle, The Rev. Don Warden and Bob Walker. KTAW announcer Ben D. Downs and KAMU-TV newsman Art Wilt- sie have entered to represent some of the local media. The Battalion will sponsor Rod Speer, Mike Per rin, Jim Crawley, Latonya Perrin, and Barbara West. The Brazos Valley Joggers Club has made the “Walkathon” one of its twice-monthly events, with many of its members planning to run all or part of the course. There is no requirement to finish the course. The walk will officially end at 5p.m. with “poop-out” buses picking up all walkers and returning them to Manor East Mall. Registration and sponsor forms for the walk are available at all local 7-11 and U-Tote-M Stores and junior, middle and high schools in Bryan-College Station. Participants sign up as many sponsors as possible who pledge some amount of money for each mile the walker completes. During the first scene of the Crucible shown here, from the Salem witchcraft trials. The play will be eight Aggie Players act out a dramatic moment staged Feb. 26-29 and March 1, 6-8.