Foreign students lobby against increase
By ALAN KILLINGSWORTH
Staff Writer
The bill to increase foreign stu
dent tuition passed the House
Higher Education Committee
Wednesday night by a vote of 7-1. It
now returns to the floor for the vote.
The bill calls for an increase in
foreign student tuition from $14 to
$40 per hour. Its author is Senator
Bill Moore of Bryan.
Representative R.B. McAlister oi
Lubbock, who cast the one no vote,
said he feels the entire approach in
handling the foreign students and
encouraging them is not designed
for today. He plans to set up an in
terim study to find a more feasible
way of dealing with the situation.
“We need to set up a program like
M.I.T.,” McAlister said. “They
have scholarships available for the
students which encourage them in
stead of hindering them.”
Most of the representatives on
the committee felt it unfair for the
out-of-state students to pay more
than the foreign students. The high
oil prices were also mentioned sev
eral times and this might have
caused bias, McAlister said.
“It is very' hard to believe that
these few students have little if any
effect on the foreign policy of their
native countries,” McAlister said.
“We can expect some lively discus
sion on the floor.”
Several international student
groups have been lobbying in Au
stin and McAlister said it did have
Cbe Battalion
an effect on him. They have a hard
product to sell because of the cur
rent international situation. People
are uptight, he said.
McAlister expects to vote no on
the house floor but he also expects
the bill to pass by 15 or 20 votes. He
attributes this to Sen. Moore’s push-
★★★
ing the bill in the Senate.
TAMU’s foreign students were
represented by Fathallah M. Ben-
Ali, president of the Foreign Stu
dent Association, who presented
the 700 American students’ signa
tures which were collected oppos-
S ee FOREIGN, page 4
Tuition bill shows
experience lack
By ALAN KILLINGSWORTH don’t know any better.
Staff Writer The United States has been in
Vol. 68 No.,89
College Station, Texas
Friday, March 14, 1975
Public monies
used for food
By JIM CRAWLEY
Staff Writer
Some departments within the
university have spent small
amounts of state funds for the
purchase of food during the last 18
months.
The departments making the il
legal purchases are the Dean of Men
(now called the Student Affairs De
partment), the Registrar’s Office
and the Vice President for Student
Services.
A ten-year old Attorney General’s
opinion concluded that state funds
could not he used for the purchase
of food unless specifically approp
riated by the legislature.
The opinion states, A State
agency or department may purch
ase consumable supplies or materi
als to be used in the care and
maintenance of such items as re-
This is the final installment
in a three part series on uni
versity expenditures of state
funds to purchase food.
frigerators, ranges, sinks, per-
culators and cups. However, a State
agency or department is prohibited
by Section 51 of Article III of the
Constitution ofTexas and Section 6
of Article XVI of the Constitution of
Texas from purchasing with State
binds such items as food, coffee,
cream and sugar which would ulti
mately be consumed by employees
of or visitors to the State agency or
department. ”
All the questioned purchases
were placed in the 10,000 and
11,000 series accounts in the Fiscal
office.
“All accounts in the 10,000,
11,000 series are state appropriated
fund accounts,” said Howard Ves
tal, assistant vice president of busi
ness affairs.
The recently discovered purch-
★★★
ases were all made on Interdepart
mental Transfers, which transfer
funds from one department or area
to another. The transfers were all
made to the Department of Food
Services at TAMU. No actual cash
changed hands, as all the transac
tion between departments are
“paper” transactions, said Clark
Diebel, university controller.
These are the possibly illegal food
purchases.
• Registrar’s Office, account
number 10400; Bill number 802177;
date, May 22, 1974. Description:
“Four buffets as per invoice.
Amount: $10.00
• Office of the Vice President of
Student Services, account number
10500; Bill number 796813; date,
September 5 and 12, 1973. Descrip
tion: “doughnuts, coffee. Cokes . . .
staff meeting. Amount: $16.40.
• Office of the Vice President of
Student Services; account number
10,500; Bill number 797000; date,
December 20, 1973. Description:
“meals charged at Peniston . . .
Dec. 5,6,12 & 13, 1973.” Amount:
$67.13.
• Dean of Men; account number
10501; Bill number 822540; date,
July 31, 1974. Description: “for In
dividual Sanka Coffee-freeze
dried.” Amount, $41.93.
“If it’s been used for food it’s been
without my knowledge, ” said How
ard Perry, associate vice president
for student services, who is in
charge of finances for Student Ser
vices.
Perry was surprised when the
purchases were revealed to him
during an interview with The Battal
ion. Perry said later, “I don’t re
member any Interdepartment
Transfers between us and Food
Services on our 10000 accounts
(10496, 10500 and 10501).”
★★★
“Our money comes from ‘General
Administration’ funds,” said Perry.
The Legislative Appropriations Act
distributes a portion of the state
funds to the university as “General
Administration” funds.
T’ve never signed any voucher or
transfer slip for the purchase of
food,” said Perry. Diebel said that
Interdepartmental Transfers don’t
need signatures on them.
Perry allowed The Battalion to
examine the present purchase
ledger for the current fiscal year.
The ledger records indicate that no
food purchases have been made by
his department this year.
Vice President for Student Ser
vices Dr. John Koldus was asked
why he had purchased meals at
Peniston. He replied that the meals
were bought when he meets with
student leaders. He added that he
had reimbursed the university for
the meals. In addition, he said that
he spends approximately $15 each
month to buy coffee and Cokes for
visitors to his office. Koldus didn’t
remember any food purchases for
staff meetings.
Present laws authorize the
purchase of meals when state emp
loyes make business trips. It does
not authorize the buying of food un
less the legislature specifies the
purchase in the biennium appropri
ations bill.
The present Appropriations Act
does not specify that food can be
purchased with state monies held
by TAMU. State funds cannot be
used to purchase alcoholic bever
ages by any state agency, according
to this Act.
Koldus told The Battalion he
would try to get an Attorney
General’s opinion on this issue and
on the use of Student Service fees to
buy food.
Photo by David McCarroll
Great Issues Speaker
Dr. Gordon Tullock suggests certain punishment
for deterring crime, (see story, p. 3)
There’s a lot of action and reaction
in Austin to the bill which was spon
sored by Bryan’s Bill Moore sup
porting an increase in foreign stu
dent tuition. Moore says his reason
for the bill is to strengthen the Texas
economy. He also feels, like many
Americans, that foreign countries
are robbing his money with high oil
cost. It seems that our legislators
don’t look farther than their noses.
No one can really appreciate the
value of educating foreign students
until they have lived in a country
similar to the one they’re from. By
This is a news analysis. It is
an interpretive article.
this I mean the same governmental
and social conditions in which a
foreign student was raised. I base
my knowledge on the fact that I
lived in Iran for seven years.
Americans expect their free
doms. For as long as can be remem
bered, we’ve been taught that this
country is “of, by and for the peo
ple.” In developing countries it’s
not that way.
In Iran, the entire country is run
by a select few. They have elections
but often there is only one name on
the ballot. They have a parliament
but if the shah (hereditary king)
doesn’t agree with the measures;
they are not adopted. A member of
the parliament virtually has no
power except the prestige which
comes with office. The newspapers
are put together under the constant
eye of a censor and nothing derogat
ory to the regime is printed. The
people are flooded with prop
aganda.
One may say, “Why do they stand
for it. ” For one simple reason. They
constant growth for more than 200
years. Until the 1930s, the develop
ing oil nations hadn’t changed for
centuries. The city of Tehran, now
with a population of three million,
was surrounded by a moat. The out
look for progress was slim and the
chances of an education nil.
This is what it comes to. A select
few of the educated make all the
policies for the people. They are the
ones with the education, so they are
the ones with the power. But is this
absolute authority bad?
If one were to take a Bedouin
tribesman out of the Sahara, put
him in downtown New York and say
make it on your own, chances are he
would be totally lost. The same ap
plies for the people of developing
nations.
Growth in these nations has been
so rapid in the last 30 years that the
people haven’t been able to keep
up. Despite massive education
programs, they still have a long way
to go. The people see the economy
as well as their social structure mov
ing so quickly they can’t keep up.
By restricting foreign student
education, Bill Moore is also re
stricting future U. S. foreign policy.
If students are educated in the Un
ited States, they tend to pick up
some of the ideas of freedom that we
take for granted. As said before, if
people don’t know any better they
will continue to accept censorship
and absolute rule. If they are edu
cated they will begin to realize the
needs of their country as well as the
needs of the world. Through educa
tion, the United States is putting its
foot in the front door of the nations
whose government and policies will
eventually be run by the masses.
Bob Bell
Old council lacks responsiveness
An over-aged, unresponsive city
council has prompted Bob Bell, sta
tion manager of KTAM-KORA
radio, to seek election. Bell said
Thursday.
Bell cited the present average age
of the council (55-60) as one of the
primary reasons for its lack of con
sideration for citizen feelings. Bell’s
Silence hinders reporter
By JIM CRAWLEY
Staff Writer
There are two essential parts to an
investigative newspaper report.
The investigation for finding the
basic information and checking the
findings’ validity. This second step
bad been greatly hindered during
the past few days.
For the past six weeks The Battal
ion has been investigating the use of
Student Service Fees and state
monies to purchase food. This could
be a violation of the present state
laws.
Last Wednesday, March 12,
TAMU University Controller Clark
Diebel told this reporter that all his
statements would be “off-the-
record. ” This precluded their use in
the paper.
After answering some Budget
questions, Diebel was asked if he
would go “off-the-record” to the
Houston Chronicle or Post. His
answer: “yes.”
Later that day I sent a list of the
same questions to Howard Vestal,
assistant vice-president for business
affairs. Vestal, after conferring with
Diebel, refused to answer my ques
tions on the grounds that Diebel
had already answered them. During
the entire day. Vestal communi
cated with The Battalion through
his secretary and never directly.
either by phone or in person.
In past interviews, Diebel has
only gone “off-the-record” when
explaining his personal beliefs and
opinions. Up to Wednesday, Diebel
has freely offered information to
The Battalion concerning food
purchases and the MSC decorating
costs.
At present, the situation stands:
Deibel won’t go on record and Ves
tal won’t answer a few questions.
opponent in the April 1 election will
be incumbent Don Dale.
Dale voted for the controversial
Harry Seaback rezoning request
behind Dominik Drive last fall.
Seaback requested a change from
single-family zoning to apartment
building district. The request was
contested by Dominik homeow
ners. Bell cites this vote as one ex
ample of Dale’s disregard for citizen
interests.
“Two hundred and eighty Col
lege Station residents were denied
their requests in that vote,” Bell
said referring to a petition contain
ing 280 names submitted to the
council denouncing Seaback’s re
quest.
Bell has no previous political ex
perience. He says experience is not,
however, an important qualifica
tion.
“If we elected people on the basis
of experience,” Bell said, “we would
retum Richard Nixon to the presi
dency. He has more experience as
Bob Bell
President than any other living
American.”
Bell feels he has been successful
in his chosen business, he said.
Viewing city government as a busi
ness, Bell contends his experience
in broadcasting qualifies him for the
position.
Bell’s platform is basically simple.
He is running on the issue of re
sponsiveness to citizen input.
“I would put community interest
before self-interest or the interest of
an outside party,” Bell said.
The Dominik rezoning is one ex
ample of an outside interest (Sea
back is based in Houston) being pre
ferred by the council to the people
of College Station, Bell said.
“I am willing to explore almost
any possibility which might benefit
College Station,” Bell said. He in
cludes in this list the possibility of
consolidating some city services be
tween Bryan and College Station.
Jett in council race
Larry Bravenec
Control of growth needed in CS
CS needs business approach
The booming, rapid development
ofColIege Station is going to call for
effective control to insure orderly
growth of the city, incumbent
Councilman Larry Bravenec said
Thursday.
Bravenec, candidate for Place 5,
Larry Bravenec
opposes A&M student Greg Mag-
ruder in the April 1 city elections.
One of the growth problems fac
ing the city, Bravenec said, is the
few number of good parks.
“I think we need to acquire more
park land but at the same time make
use of what we have. Right now,
we’ve utilized, roughly, only 10 per
cent of our park land,” he said.
Bee Creek Park, Bravenec said, is
about the only sizable park the city
has. The park encompasses about 44
acres.
“Bee Creek Park is a high-density
park and we have used just about
every inch of it, ” he said.
Bravenec said previous city coun
cils have been rather passive in en
forcing some of the city’s ordi
nances.
“We have had a sign ordinance for
some time now that specifies how
far from streets signs may be
erected and whether or not they can
have flashing lights and things like
that, ” he said. “The ordinance is just
not being enforced.”
He said he would also like to see
some type of ordinance passed reg
ulating the breeding of animals for
sale.
“I believe an ordinance of this
type would help insure that certain
health standards are observed for
the benefit of the buyer and seller,”
Bravenec said.
Bravenec is a member of the city’s
Development Controls Review
Committee that was recently estab
lished to check on the effectiveness
of ordinances that influence the
city’s growth pattern.
“I’m going to be primarily con
cerned with working on that com
mittee as well as pushing for more
parks,” he said, “but I’m also very
interested in seeing that the zoning
ordinance is fairly implemented.”
Bravenec, an associate professor
of accounting at Texas A&M, is a
local attorney and certified public
accountant. He and his family re
side at 1211 S. Boswell.
An attempt to bring the business
approach to city government has
prompted Jim Jett to run for the
College Station city council, Jett
said Thursday.
Jett is a candidate for Councilman
Place 1 against Gary Halter, TAMU
political science professor, in the
April 1 city elections.
Jett, a 1967 TAMU graduate in
business administration, and im
mediate past president of the Col
lege Station Apartment Owners’ As
sociation, said he feels his business
experience will enable him to add a
different insight to some problems
of the city.
“After all, the city is a business,”
Jett said. He believes his position as
a realtor allows him to keep in close
touch with the growth of College
Station.
The current council spends too
much time arguing among them
selves over unimportant issues, Jett
said. He cites the question of park
land aquisition as one example.
This amount would not buy one
half an acre of park land, Jett said.
He said he feels the money would
be better spent on improving pres
ent parks.
Jett has never served in public
office, but is active in the College
Station Lion’s Club and other public
service organizations.
“We have an opportunity to pre
serve the small town atmosphere in
College Station. I would like to be
able to look back and say I was a part
of that achievement,” Jett said.
The present council is not re
sponsive enough to the wishes of the
citizens, said Jett. He said he would
have voted against the Harry Sea
back request for zoning land behind
Dominik Drive from single family
residence to apartment building
district. Jett cites the intense
Jim Jett
homeowner protest as the reason for
that decision.
The interest of the community as
a whole have to be weighed against
the feelings of those most directly
involved in any council decision,
Jett said.
Today.
Inside
Gordon Tullock . . . .p. 3
OPAS p. 3
School board p. 4
Weather
Fair and mild Friday. In
creasing cloudiness and
warmer Saturday. High to
day 64; low tonight 40; high
tomorrow 72.