Page 2 THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 1975
Compare and see
Batt compares favorably with sample of papers
By WILL ANDERSON
The March 5 Battalion reported
that the Student Publications Board
had approved a raise for Battalion
staff members (Batt wages raised.
Page 8). Students may be curious as
to why they were raised.
Battalion editor Greg Moses told
the Pub Board that increases would
make The Batt more competitive
with other communications jobs on
campus and would help keep the
talented journal
ists on the staff.
He said many of
the staff mem
bers were going
to jobs in dis
count stores and
hamburger
places because of
financial reasons.
The Batt staff had applied for the
raises a week before they were
raised but action was delayed be
cause the Pub Board asked to know
how the Batt s salaries compared
with other campus newspapers.
The staff took a poll of five random
papers — the Rice Thresher, Bay
lor Lariat, Texas Tech University
Daily, University of Texas Daily
Texan and the North Texas State
University Daily — and devised a
system by which to compare them.
The system involves a point sys
tem based on 12 assumptions:
Circulation — the more the
better
Times published — the more
the better
Wire services subscribed to —
the more the worse
Profit — the more the better
AP per issue, per cent — the
more the worse
AP per issue, inches — the more
the worse
AP per week — the more the
worse
Local copy per issue, per cent
— the more the better
Local copy per issue, inches —
the more the better
Local copy per week — the more
the better
Total column inches per issue
— the more the better
Total column inches per week —
the more the better
The categories allow for differ
ences in papers resulting from size
and style of production.
All the other papers except the
Texas Tech University Daily (which
pays reporters double the salary
Batt reporters got) have a journal
ism lab which students must take
and must turn in news stories (not
features) for academic credit. Jour
nalism students who work for the
paper can thus do their job and
their school work at the same time.
TAMU journalism students who
work for the Batt are not allowed
to submit their class work for pub
lication in this paper. Articles sub
mitted by journalism students to
the Batt are features and not news.
All journalism students at the
other schools are in effect an un
paid part of the newspapers staffs.
With the exception of journalism
students who submit feature arti
cles, the entire Battalion staff is
listed at the bottom of this page.
Inbreeding not possible
. .. but administrative control of editor is
By GREG MOSES
If the recent charges of inbreed
ing on The Battalion imply a prefer
ence to promote staff members,
then the charges are accurate. But if
they imply exclusive benefit to
long-standing party-line staffers,
th^ are unfounded.
We try to keep experienced help.
But it is nearly impossible for The
Battalion to have an effective in-
breeding policy. Administrators
and newsworthy campus groups
should be most aware of our lack of
success in keeping experienced
people. We tried to begin a system
of “beats” where a reporter could
cover the same areas of activity
throughout the year. Because of
high turnover, we gave it up before
the fall semester ended.
Let’s take a quick look at the
editorial staff members and their
semesters of experience on The Bat
talion including this spring: Greg
Moses, editor, six semesters;
LaTonya Perrin, managing editor,
three semesters; Will Anderson, as
sistant editor, five semesters; Mike
Bruton, sports editor, two semes
ters; Rod (Old Man) Speer, city
editor, eight semesters; Glen John
son, photo editor, two semesters;
Barbara West and Douglas Win-
ship, news editors, two semesters.
Subtracting the experience that
each editor has had in his current
position, we find that there is an
average 1.8 semesters experience
before staffers assume editorial pos
itions. Not only is it impossible to
inbreed with this turnover, but it is
also impossible to place well-
qualified, experience staffers in all
editorial positions. Inbreeding im
plies stagnatin; I challenge anyone
to show me where The Battalion has
stagnated.
The Battalion is partly a non
credit training lab for future profes
sional journalists. We are learning
from experience — the accomp
lishments and mistakes. A staffer
usually remembers the lessons of
his mistakes longer than he remem
bers the lessons of his accomplish
ments.
Also, it is not easy to learn the
personalities and policies which
make the A&M institution. It takes
time to learn the bureaucratic
ropes. Any benefits gained from br
inging a fresh staff to The Battalion
must be weighed against the lack of
experience which decreases the ex
pertise of the staff and increases its
mistakes.
The Battalion just returned from
a successful road trip to LSU where
it tied for third place (of 17 campus
papers) in the news categories of
competition in the Southwest Jour
nalism Congress. Last year The Bat
talion placed tenth (of 16 campus
papers).
Including advertising and
magazine competition, the Batt
placed thirteenth last year and tied
for seventh this year.
Tom Adair, faculty member of the
Student Publications Board, said
The Battalion has made fewer mis
takes this semester compared to last
fall. These encouraging improve
ments can only continue with a
carry-over in staff experience.
Che Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor
or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of
the university administration or the Board of Directors. The
Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated
by students as a university and community newspaper.
Editorial policy is determined by the editor.
LETTERS POUCY
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are
subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial
staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guaran
tee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the
address of the writer and list a telephone number for verifica
tion. v
Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room
217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843.
Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim Lindsey, chairman; Dr.
Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr. H. E. Hierth, W. C. Harrison, Steve
Eberhard, Don Hegi, and John Nash, Jr.
Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising Services, Inc.,
New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles.
MEMBER
The Associated Press, Texas Press Association
The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is published in College
Station, Texas, daily except Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods,
September through Klay, and once a week during summer school.
Mail subscriptions are $5.00 per semester; $9.50 per school vear; $10.50 per
lull year. All subscriptions subject to 5 c /< sales tax. Advertising rate furnished ■
on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 3.17, Services Building, College
Station, Texas 77843.
The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all
news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local
news of spontaneous origin published herein. Right of reproduction of all
other matter herein are also reserved.
Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas.
Editor
Assistant Editor
Managing Editor
Assistant Managing Editor .
Sports Editor
Photo Editor
City Editor
News Editors
Creg Moses
. . . Will Anderson
LaTonya Perrin
Roxie Hearn
Mike Bruton
. . . Glen Johnson
Rod Speer
.... Barbara West
Douglas Winship
Reporters. . .T.C. Gallucci, Tony Gallucci, Paul McGrath, Robert Cessna, Gerald
Olivier, Rose Mary Traverse, Steve Gray, Judy Baggett, Alan Killingsworth, Sayeeful
Islam, Mary Jeanne Quebe, Cathryn Clement, Cindy Maciel, Jim Peters, Mark
Schluter, Steve Ussery, B. Babji Singh, Don Middleton, Mike Kimmey, Jerry
Geary, Chris Askew.
Photographers Douglas Winship, David Kimmel,
Gary Baldasari, Jack Holm, Chris Svatek, Steve Krauss, Kevin Fotorny, Tom
Kayser, David McCarroIl.
Columnists Bill Sheen, Mike Perrin, John Vanore,
John Tim Cowden
Artists and cartoonists Dr. James H. Earle, Nguyen Dziem,
Brad Foster, Rodney Hammack. Tom Brents, Scott Morgan.
The Batt is second in the Circu
lation category with approximately
19,000 an issue. The UT University
Daily is the leader by far with
37,500.
The Batt, Baylor Lariat and
North Texas Daily are tied for sec
ond in the Number of Times Pub
lished at four times a week. The
Tech University Daily and the UT
Daily Texan lead at five times a
week.
All the papers subscribe to one
Wire Service except the Rice
Thresher which doesn’t subscribe
to any and the UT Daily Texan
which subscribes to two and to a
wirephoto service.
The Batt is the leader by far in
Profit. So far this year, the paper
has made $24,000, a margin of 18.44
per cent. The UT Daily Texan is
second with a $2,300 profit, a mar
gin of a few per cent. The other
papers either make no profit or lose
money.
Since the Rice Thresher sub
scribes to no wire service, it leads
in all three AP Categories (percent
age and inches per issue, total per
week). The North Texas Daily is
second in all AP categories and av
erages 4.6 per cent AP per issue.
The Batt is third in all AP categories
and averaged 5.2 per cent per issue
at the time the report was made.
The present rate is 4.8 per cent.
The UT Daily Texan is fourth at
double that percentage, 10.6 per
cent.
The Local Copy Categories have
three different leaders. The North
Texas Daily (which has a very low
advertising percentage) leads the
per cent per issue at 66 per cent.
The Rice Thresher is third at 47.6
per cent; the Batt is fourth at 32.6
per cent and the UT Daily Texan
is last at 21.8 per cent.
The most actual inches of Local
Copy per issue is produced by the
Rice Thresher at 632 column inches
followed by the UT Daily Texan at
632.7 inches, the North Texas Daily
at 485 inches and the Batt at 442.5
inches.
The UT Daily Texan has the
most Local Copy per week at
3,118.5 inches even though it has
the lowest percentage per issue
and is second in the actual inches
per issue. The Daily Texan is pub
lished more often and is much larg
er than the other two leaders in the
categories.
The UT Daily Texan has the most
Column Inches both per issue,
2,730 inches, and per week, 13,560
inches. The Batt is second with
1,433.25 inches per issue and 5,733
inches per week. The North Texas
Daily’s high percentage of daily
local copy is explained because the
total column inches per issue is only
724.5 inches.
Using the least points to deter
mine which is the “best” paper
shows the Batt (31) to be first, fol
lowed by the Rice Thresher and
the North Texas Daily (a tie at 32).
The UT Daily Texan (34) is third,
followed by the Texas Tech Univer
sity Daily (45) and the Baylor Lari
at (53).
The staff structure varies from pa
per to paper but a comparison may
be drawn between the salaries of
reporters and editors. UT pays its
editor the most at $360 per month,
followed by Tech at $320, Rice at
$240, NTSU at $210, TAMU at
$150 and Baylor at $100.
The relation of the editor’s salary
to the size of his newspaper is given
by figuring the salary per column
inch of all copy. Rice leads by pay
ing its editor approximately $.0225
per inch. TAMU is last at $.0065
per inch.
Rice also leads the salary per col
umn inch of local copy at $.047
per inch. TAMU is next to last
at $.018 per inch.
The Batt is thus tied with the
Baylor Lariat for the worst salary
for the editor. The Lariat is pro
duced in Baylor’s journalism labs
and has a negative profit margin.
The Battalion is produced by its
paid staff and is the only real money
making paper in the sample.
Perhaps the biggest factor to con
sider is the reporters’ salaries. Tech
leads at $100 per month. UT has
only five paid reporters at $85
per month; the bulk of their news
comes from journalism labs. NTSU
and Rice are lab newspapers and the
salaries for paid reporters on the
Baylor Lariat vary. Reporters on
the Batt received $50 per month.
But that’s now past; the Batt stall
received an approximate 75 per
cent increase in pay. It is no long
er tied with Baylor for last on the
wage scale; it is tied with UT for
fourth.
ONDEROSA MOTOR INN
South Highway 6
Original Owner: O. T. Tilley
CLIP THIS AD AND BUY ONE
ITEM AND GET ONE HALF PRICE.
• Home Baked Rolls, Pies & Hot Biscuits
• Specially Prepared Noon Lunches
• Friday Night Catfish - The best in town
• Sunday Buffet • Evening a la carte
• Ponderosa Club Happy Hour - 4:30 - 6:00
Live Music - 7 days a week
• Reasonable prices - Friendly Service
Coupon expires April 15 - Good for breakfast, lunch or
dinner. Special rates for Aggie Mothers & Dads.
BILL S BARBER & STYLE SHOP
Layer Cuts,
Wash & Wear Cuts, Styling
FOR MEN AND WOMEN
INTRODUCING BEA AYALA
Formerly of Wilson's
Walk-in
or
appointment
846-2228
215 Unlvtnltir
Across from AIM
Next to Camput
Theater
THE HOUSTON
A&M CLUB
INVITES YOU TO
OUR WEEKLY MEETING AT
12 NOON ON MONDAY
MARCH 17 - RICE HOTEL
LUNCH WILL BE AVAILABLE
Talk with a Professional
to be sure.
MICKEY E. LEA 822-1559
The word “professional” is reserved for those men whose
actions are wholly devoted to the best interests of their clients.
This builds the bridge so vital to any financial relationship: trust
If you are considering life insurance call a professional,
Mickey Lea ... and be sure.
.iRffRnsnn
sianaara
3200 So. College Ave.
P. O. Box 3667
Bryan, Texas 77801
Jr. Shop Scfej. 3-f3