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Battalion
Vol. 68 No. 62
College Station, Texas Thursday, Jan. 22, 1976
lx C.S. streets to begin
"mprovements next week
By STEVE GRAY
Contributing Editor
B '(instruction is scheduled to begin next
k on the first of six street improvement
ects to be funded under a six-year fed-
Igrant program totaling more than $1.26
ion
:erling Street in southeast College Sta-
will be the first to be renovated under
^Community Development Plan. The
ney is being allocated to die city through
^fcartment of Housing and Urban De-
( ipment (HUD). The plan is part of the
isingandCommunity Development Act
■Hinto law by President Ford in August
m
j(he program is a consolidation of previ-
1 federal programs, including Model
^es and Urban Renewal, that were aimed
.inproving the conditions of many of the
Ion's towns and cities.
’ Mayo,city planner, said a city crew will
Ka six-inch water line along Sterling
-^et along with three fire hydrants,
jlayo said the city will also add curbs and
rters to help improve drainage in the
Lichards Street, one block north from
aing, will be seal-coated using city
!jebfunds. That street, which is not in-
'led in the renovation project, will be
jjtroved from Texas Avenue east to Lassie
fhe other five streets to be improved, in
ier of priority over the next five years, are
*dc Place, Cburchill, Southland, Avenue
nd Detroit.
/o said although the initial grant of
.i,000 was approved last October work
||been delayed for a couple of reasons.
I This is the first federal program that has
|n utilized in the city,” Mayo said, “and
jelt it would be better if we took it slow
iP'g the first grant period to see how
Ligs worked out. ”
I layo said another problem causing the
||iy was that HUD “kept rescheduling
Construction of curbs and gutters on Sterling Street in southeast College
Station is scheduled to begin next week under the Community Develop
ment Plan. Other city streets will also be renovated through the federal
program. Photo By Chris Svatek
things.”
“They’re feeling things out just like we
are,” he said.
Mayo said he had recently met with resi
dents who live on the designated streets to
explain the delay and “they seemed satis
fied with my explanation.”
In order to qualify for funding under the
program, cities must conduct a series of
neighborhood meetings to determine criti
cal areas in need of renovation. The money
must be used in low to middle income areas
with low property values, dilapidated hous
ing and unpaved streets, Mayo said.
Street priorities were listed and ap
proved by residents after a series of
neighborhood meetings and public hear
ings held last January and February.
The city applied to HUD for the initial
grant after the meetings but final approval
was delayed because the Environmental
Protection Agency had to review the street
improvement plans to insure that no serious
damage to the environment would occur,
Mayo said.
Mayo pointed out that the city might
have received more money but “we really
don’t have that many people living below
poverty level in College Station, compared
to other cities with similar populations.”
He said the city will probably hire a sub
contractor to complete work on the other
five streets.
A breakdown of future proposed grant
allocations is as follows (figures are approx
imate):
>• 1976 - $169,000.
• 1977 - $257,000.
• 1978-80 - $261,000 for each year.
Mayo said public hearings will be held
Feb. 2 and 12 at city hall to consider the
city’s application for 1976 federal funds and
to possibly change the list of priority streets.
He said die city hopes to complete reno
vation of at least two, possibly three streets
in the coming year.
Democrats react to Ford speech
Party to ignore
vetoes, Muskie says
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Democrats will ig
nore President Ford’s veto threats and vote
substantial new programs to provide jobs
for the unemployed diis year while keeping
over-all federal spending within a strict ceil
ing, Sen. Edmund S. Muskie predicts.
Responding formally to President Ford’s
State of the Union speech, Muskie said
Wednesday night that the federal budget
must be balanced, but not before the
economy regains its health.
He said it is clear that the federal gov
ernment must supply far more stimulus to
the economy than Ford is prepared to rec
ommend in order to assure recovery.
The nationally televised speech marked
the fourth time Muskie has been asked to
present the Democratic response to a major
address by a Republican president.
Muskie, chairman of the Senate’s new
Budget Committee, said the President is on
By JIM PETERS
Battalion City Editor
The last expected appropriation for the
design of Millican Dam is included in Presi
dent Ford’s budget for the coming year.
The $435,000 figure is included in the
Army Corps of Engineer water projects for
fiscal year 1977, under the category of ad
vanced engineering and design.
Construction on the 55,000-acre reser
voir would begin in 1978 “if it is determined
that we have a feasible project,” said Col.
Charles Tracy, executive officer fof the Fort
Worth district of the Corps of Engineers.
This past year’s funding for the Millican
project was earmarked for a mineral survey
of the fields of lignite coal which cover about
30 per cent of the reservoir site.
That study by the Bureau of Mines was
requested by the cities of Bryan and College
Station and should be completed by June,
Tracy said.
“A lot hinges on the lignite question, ” he
said. If useable deposits are found, they
would be strip-mined, with the coal fueling
a proposed $300 million power plant to be
the wrong course when he says unemploy
ment can be reduced significantly through
granting more tax credits to corporations
and with little or no direct government aid
to those thrown out of work.
“The President says we cannot afford to
help Americans find work,” Muskie said. “I
say that we as taxpayers cannot afford not
to.”
In his State of the Union speech on
Monday night. Ford said the government
cannot afford to create jobs for all who need
them and that it can only create “conditions
and incentives’ for private business and in
dustry to expand and create more jobs more
quickly.
But Muskie said government can and
must take a more active part.
He said Ford’s minimal federal job-
creating role will doom Americans to a 7 per
cent jobless rate next year and for the rest of
the decade. And he said that in turn will
owned by the city of Bryan.
Construction on the reservoir would then
be delayed a couple of years.
The reservoir project, which would be
located about 10 miles east of College Sta
tion on the Navasota River, has encoun
tered opposition from area landowners and
environmental groups.
Besides the lignite question, the En
vironmental Action Council of Brazos
County charges that the project would de
stroy the ecologically valuable Navasota
River bottom which is one of the last “wild”
rivers in the state.
They also contend that the benefits of the
relatively shallow lake would not justify its
$200 million price tag.
The Corps of Engineers says the lake
would provide flood control for the lower
Brazos River and recreational facilities for
this region. The Brazos River Authority
holds the rights to the water sales and would
pick up a third of the construction tab.
Public hearings will be held in April be
fore Congress with final action on the
budget request expected by September.
lead to “staggering” unemployment com
pensation and welfare costs, sharply re
duced tax revenues and unending budget
deficits.
“Every million Americans out of work
costs $3 billion more in unemployment and
welfare checks and $14 billion in lost taxes.
That means that today’s unemployment
costs us taxpayers more than $65 billion a
year,” Muskie said.
In addition to a public service jobs plan
creating some 300,000 new jobs, for teach4
ing aides, hospital attendants, policemen
and others, Muskie proposed a short-term
public works program which he said would
create still more jobs.
Muskie did not spell out details, provide
cost estimates or indicate how such pro
grams would be financed.
In other areas, Muskie sharply disagreed
with Ford’s support for continued U.S.
arms aid in the Angolan civil war and said
that disclosures of wrongdoing in the U.S.
intelligence community have been as
necessary as they have been inconvenient
and embarrassing.
Frosh student
dies by gunshot
A Texas A&M freshman student was
found shot to death Wednesday morning
near Hotard Hall.
The student, William M. Hale, a man
agement major from Temple, was found by
two students at 11:40 . The body was found
near the intersection of University Dxive
and Ashbury Street between the North gate
wall and the University Services Building.
University Police Chief O. L. Luther said
a pistol found near the body was owned by
Hale.
The 19-year old Hotard Hall resident was
last seen around 11:30 Tuesday night by two
or three students, said Luther. He said the
shooting could have occurred anytime be
tween Tuesday night and the next morning.
A ruling on Hale’s death is awaiting an
autopsy report.
Silver Taps for Hale will be held on Tues
day, January 27 at 10:30 p.m., said Toby
Rives, assistant director of student affairs.
Hale’s grandfather. Dr. Fred Hale is a
Texas A&M professor emeritus of animal
science.
Millican funds
in Ford budget
Publications, legal advisor
to request $20,000 increase
college Station offered
yew utilities contract
By JERRY NEEDHAM
Battalion Staff Writer
C l. new utilities contract proposal from the
I of Bryan was given to North Bardell,
I liege Station City Manager yesterday,
jardell said the proposal will not be con-
tretl at tonight’s city council meeting but
r be referred to the city’s Utility Rate
Icture Committee for a recommenda-
fardell said there are three options on
G | Bryan utility question open to College
( ion. These are: accept Bryan’s proposal,
:e a compromise offer, or seek another
I ity outlet.
Uollege Station has been buying most of
[utilities from Bryan for more than a de-
Part of College Station ’s water supply
be provided by a new well within two
■
ihe new proposal by Bryan was to have
A College Station city council
meeting will be held tonight at 7 in
the city hall.
been submitted to College Station officials
by Jan. 1, according to an interim rate
schedule agreed to by the cities last sum
mer.
The interim agreement was reached after
a request by Bryan for a sizable increase in
the rates paid by College Station to Bryan.
Bardell said the main problems that have
been encountered in working out an
agreement between the two cities are the
establishment of a base rate for the price of
utilities and the definition of a cost index for
contract adjustments.
The present contract between the two
cities was entered into in 1974 and expires
in January 1979.
Index
Officials often use the Privacy Act
to block access to open records.
Page 3
News Briefs, Page 3
A brush fire threatens San Clemente
resort and Nixon’s home. Page 3
Student Publications Board ap
proved qualifications for appli
cants for editor positions for The
Battalion and the Aggieland,
Page 4
The Old Rice Hotel in Houston to
re-open in April, Page 4
Kissinger confers in Moscow, Page 5
THE FORECAST for Thurs
day is fair and warmer. Con
tinued fair weather is expected
Friday. The high today will be in
the upper 60’s. The expected low
tonight will be in the lower 40’s.
By LEE ROY LESCHPER, JR.
Battalion Staff Writer
Student publications and the student
legal advisor have each requested for fiscal
year 1976-77 almost $20,000 over their pre
sent student service fee allocations.
The Student Service Fee Allocation
Committee is hearing fee requests through
today from groups receiving student service
fees.
Both student publications and legal ad
visor representatives will present those re
quests before the committee tonight.
Bob G. Rogers, student publications
board chairman, requested a $90,000 allo
cation Jan. 12 in a letter to Bill Flores, stu
dent government vice-president for fi
nance. ’75-76 fee allocation to student pub
lications, used entirely for the Battalion,
was $70,000.
Primary reason for the increase is a 20 per
cent increase in Battalion printing costs
over last year’s, Rogers said. Another in
crease of 10 per cent or more is expected for
’76-77, he said.
“The increase in service fees would sim
ply catch up with inflation and the increase
in the student body,” Rogers said.
“If the student body numbers 28,000,
that would be a per student allocation of
$3.21 or just over 2 cents a copy for approx
imately 145 issues of the Battalion during
the year,” Rogers said in a letter accom
panying the request.
The allocation would make up about 35
per cent of total projected student publica
tions income for 76-77. The student fees are
classified as circulation income, Rogers
said.
“We know there’s a lot of demand for the
student service fees, so as long as we’re
getting by, we try not to be greedy,” he
said.
The $90,000 requested would “allow us
to go on at the same level we are now, but
would provide nothing out of the ordinary,”
he said.
Asked if a smaller allocation would make
cutbacks necessary, Rogers said expenses
would then have to be cut where ever pos
sible. He listed darkroom supplies. Battal
ion staff wages and printing expenses as
areas where economizing might be neces
sary.
Student Legal Advisor Ken Robison has
requested $47,735 in ’76-77 fee allocations
for his office. That would be a 68 per cent
increase over this year’s budget of $28,462.
The legal advisor’s office is financed en
tirely through the service fee allocations.
Almost the entire increase Robison has
proposed covers a $19,203 increase in
salaries. The increase would provide
salaries for full-time lawyer and for an
additional part time secretary. It would also
provide a raise in Robison’s salary.
A second lawyer in the office would make
more individual attention and “more in the
line of (legal) education programs” possible,
Robison said.
Most time is now spent with individual
student interviews, he said, and little time
is left for paperwork, preparing letters in
behalf of students, and legal education proj
ects.
“I feel we re providing a valuable service
to the students, if only in terms of legal
fees,” he said.
During the fall semester Robison inter
viewed 778 students. Many more received
some form of help through the office with
out being interviewed, he said.
“Without the raise, I don’t know what
will happen,” Robison said.
“I’m confident I can sell the student gov
ernment people on the need for the in
crease,” he said.
i
II
Gf
^ Birds
pfk flock of grackles breaks from
■Ijie polo field at East Gate. Thou
sands of the black birds infest
Jdie area in late afternoon.
Photo Courtesy of Steve Goble, Aggieland Staff