Vol. 70 No. 67
8 Pages
The Battalion
Tuesday, February 1, 1977
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 846-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
MSC Council elects lead
By PHYLULS CARVER
Lynn Gibson was elected last night by
the MSC Council to be president of the
1977-1978 Memorial Student Center
Council and Directorate.
Gibson was the only applicant but had
the support of the nominating committee,
said John Oeffinger, president of the
MSC.
Gibson, a senior English major from
Corpus Christi, is the representative to
the Council, chairman of the Political
Forum committee, and Speaker in the
Student Senate. He also has had past ex
periences and studies in accounting and
administration.
“A&M is providing more committees
than most of the other student unions in
our region,” Gibson said. “But a lot of the
students are unaware of the special things
we offer. We will try to reach more
people.”
Gibson said the evaluation of the MSC
operations that Oeffinger is heading will
affect his role as president. The outcome
of that investigation should show what
areas of the MSC need work, he said.
Gibson said he does not want duplica
tion of effort but hopes to efficiently pro
vide as much as he can for the students.
In other council action, the budget of
the Recreation Committee was increased
by $623 to help finance the cost of the
Associations of College Unions Interna
tional Campus/Regional Games Tourna
ment on Feb. 11 and 12.
An amount of $923 is actually required
to finance the trip for the 31 people par
ticipating, Committee Chairman Doug
Branch said the committee was able to pay
$300, but that it will leave their finances
dangerously low.
Two awards were also approved. The
Distinguished Service Award for a Special
Project will honor an outstanding leader of
a large scale project and need not be given
each year.
The other award will be presented to a
Directorate member who is consistantly.
dedicated to promoting and helping in
MSC projects. No officers, faculty or
committee chairmen are eligible, so the
award will be given to one who might
otherwise be overlooked, Carolyn
Johnsen, chairman of the Awards System
Study, said.
Each award will be presented at the an
nual awards banquet on April 2 when th<
officers for the next year will officially take
over.
Oeffinger noted that Feb. 4 is the dead
line for applications for officers and Feb.
18 is the deadline for applications for
chairmen of the 20 committees.
U.S.S.R. could survive war
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The Soviet Union
seeks military superiority over the United
States, and its present programs could
allow most of its urban population to sur
vive a nuclear exchange, according to the
Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The leaders of the military services of
fered a rare public view of their assess
ment of Soviet intentions in a nine-page
statement given Sen. William Proxmire,
D-Wis.
The document and other recent disclo
sures in the debate over U.S. vs. U.S.S.R.
capabilities were expected to figure in test
imony today by Defense Secretary Harold
Brown and the JCS chairman, Gen.
George S. Brown, in a Senate appro
priations defense subcommittee hearing.
The panel scheduled a vote on whether
the two officials would be questioned en
tirely in secret session. A dispute among
members yesterday over whether a public
session should be held first resulted in
postponement of the questioning until to
day.
Secretary Brown told subcommittee
members in prepared testimony he hoped
to at least equal the defense capability of
the Ford administration “at a somewhat
lower cost. General Brown said the na
tion depends on readiness of strategic
forces to deter nuclear attack and “readi
ness costs money.”
The unclassified JCS statement and ad
ditional classified answers were provided
Proxmire in response to a request for
comment on allegations by the recently
retired head of Air Force intelligence,
Maj. Gen. George J. Keegan Jr., that the
United States has fallen behind Russia in
military power.
While the service chiefs disagreed with
Keegan’s conclusion General Brown said
many of the intelligence judgments in
volved “are essentially correct and address
areas which deserve increasing attention. ”
“The available evidence suggests the
U.S.S.R. is engaged in a program de
signed to achieve (military) superiority.
but that they have not achieved this goal,
the chiefs said.
Given enough warning of nuclear attack
for civil defense measures to be effective,
the chiefs said, the Russians could proba
bly “assure survival of a large percentage
of the leadership necessary to maintain
control, reduce prompt casualties among
the urban population to a small percen
tage, and give the Soviets a good chance of
being able to distribute at least a subsis-
level of supplies to the surviving popu
lation.”
The chiefs said while Russia wants to
avoid war, its military doctrine “is pre
mised on the notion that war is an instru
ment of policy and that success in war,
even nuclear war, is attainable.”
Fuel goes to four cities
Grimes County to get lignite power plant
irci
t
Beautifying the environment
Mrs. F. L. Reasonover (right), helps Mrs. R. Bossier, a 50 year member
of the La Vallita Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution,
plant a flowering magnolia Friday. The planting of the trees in Bee
Creek Park was sponsored by DAR, Phi Sigma Alpha and the Brazos
County Arboretum Assn. Battalion photo by Paula Geyer
By DARRELL LANFORD
A lignite-fueled power plant that will
generate $65 million of electricity per year
will be operating in Grimes County by
1981, Texas Municipal Power Agency offi
cials said in a press conference in Bryan
Friday.
Power from the TMPA facilities is
shared by the cities of Bryan, Denton,
Garland and Greenville. The public
agency was created by joint agreement be
tween the cities after the Texas Legisla
ture passed legislation allowing the joint
formation of such agencies.
“We’re all aware of the very serious
problem we have with regard to energy,”
said TMPA president Charles E.
Duckworth. “Where we always thought
Rouse leaders unimpressed
m by Briscoe plea for road funds
rsiti
3 dnes^
bruary
United Press Internationa)
AUSTIN, Tex. — Gov. Dolph Briscoe
id additional funding for state highway
instruction is an emergency matter, but
is message apparently did not impress
ouse leaders.
Briscoe yesterday sent the House and
mate a message declaring the $561 mill-
n guaranteed funding bill an emergency,
id asking immediate action on the bill
Inch has been approved in committee
id is awaiting debate by the full House.
I’m in no hurry to hear it, said Rep.
oy Blake, D-Nacogdoches, chairman of
Calendars Committee that determines
in the bill will be set for House consid-
ation.
Even the governor’s emergency mes-
ge doesn’t mean we have to put it on the
lendar immediately.”
The bill would guarantee the highway
partment three-fourths of the revenue
3m sales taxes on auto parts, tires and
cessories, amounting to an estimated
i6I million in the next biennium and at
ast $318 million each year thereafter.
Another of Briscoe’s emergency mea-
fres, a bill creating 23 new district
arts, easily passed the Senate 29-1 yes-
rday, and now goes to the House for
nsideration.
The Senate also approved an emergency
propriation of $188,974 for the Gas
hlities Division of the Texas Railroad
nmmission, despite protests the agency
les not protect consumers.
Tfs a serious mistake to give them
wther penny, ’ said Sen. Lloyd Doggett,
Austin. “The railroad commission has
ly served the needs of the gas utilities
this state. Why waste $200,000 more on
ummission that is not doing the job and
not interested in doing the job?”
The House yesterday sent back to
mmittee a bill by Rep. Charles Evans,
Fort Worth, in denying Attorney Gen-
aljohn Hill the right to seek damages on
behalf of consumers in antitrust cases.
The bill had been quickly approved last
week by the Judicial Affairs Committee
chaired by Evans, and was the first bill of
the session scheduled for House action.
Hill and consumer groups criticized the
speedy handling and lobbied for defeat of
the bill.
Evans, apparently concerned his bill
would be defeated, yesterday asked the
House to return it to committee for
further hearings.
“Perhaps the bill did move a little too
quickly,” Evans conceded. Asked if he ex
pected the bill to be defeated if voted on
yesterday, the Fort Worth legislator re
plied, “I had heard that. I didn’t want my
bill killed.”
The Texas AFL-CIO, which initially
took no position on the bill, began lobby
ing actively for its defeat yesterday and
Evans said the labor oppositon was a factor
in his decision to send it back to commit
tee.
we had an abundance of fossil fuels.
Natural gas is a thing of the past.”
The lignite needed for the proposed
Gibbons Creek Steam Electric Station
north of Carlos will be mined from an es
timated 20,000 acres leased or bought
from landowners, said Duckworth.
“The acreage for the plant site itself and
the cooling pond will be 6,000 to 8,000
acres,” he said. He added that this land
will be bought, not leased.
“We do have eminent domain rights
under the law like school districts or water
districts,” he said. He added that there
had been no condemnation proceedings,
although there could be circumstances
where the agency would condemn land.
g Poi
mine and equipment is an estimated $460
million. He said 500 people will be in
volved in construction, with 300 people
working in the mines and the plant.
“There will be many Grimes and Brazos
County residents that will be employed by
the agency in construction and in the facil
ity,” Duckwoth said. He said that Grimes
County will be enhanced and that its
economy will benefit.
Robert Whitten, publisher of the
Navasota Examiner, voiced concern over
the agency’s tax exempt status, which will
decrease total tax revenue.
“We have to have every fiscal advantage
we can,” Duckworth said. “The lignite is
not too good.”
While expensive to mine, by 1985 lig
nite will cost $1.25 per million BTUs,
while natural gas will cost $4 per million
BTUs, said Paul R. Cunningham, TMPA
general manager.
“All those who use natural gas in this
state are under order of the Texas Railroad
Commissiom to begin in 1980 to com
pletely phase out the use of natural gas, to
be out, for all practical purposes, by
1985,” Duckworth said.
“At that time, if this particular agency is
not overwhelmed by financial escalation
and other problems, we can produce
economical power,” he said.
Executive gives yacht
to A&M marine school
The Aggie navy became larger this
month with the addition of the 53-foot
yacht “Lady Emma,” a gift from Houston
engineering executive Bernard Johnson.
Johnson, a 1937 graduate of Texas A&M
University, presented the $320,000 ship
to Provost William H. Clayton of the
Moody College of Galveston for use as one
of their research vessels.
Johnson founded Bernard Johnson Inc.,
one of the largest architectural-engin
eering firms in the Southwest. He was
named a Distinguished Alumnus of A&M
in 1974 during ceremonies attended by
then Vice President Gerald Ford.
The re-engineered, Hatteras-built yacht
is equipped with kitchen and television.
Its two 480-hp Detroit diesels have a
range of 1,000 miles. Launched in 1973, it
cruises at 17 knots and will be used for
research charters in coastal waters and the
Gulf of Mexico.
Current regulation questioned
Rules panel reviews attendance
By WANDA WEATHERLY
A proposal to reinstate nonmandatory
class attendance at Texas A&M University
was drafted Thursday night by the Rules
and Regulations Committee.
Current policy, as stated in the 1976-
1977 Rules and Regulations handbook, says
that class attendance is an individual re
sponsibility, and instructors may include
attendance in determining students’
grades.
The 1976-1977 policy comes after a
change last spring in the previous year’s
policy, which stated class attendance was
an individual responsibility but could not
be used in grading.
Susan Rudd, chairman of the Rules and
Regulations Committee, said she was op-
timistc that the nonmandatory class atten
dance policy will be reinstated.
“If the council approved it once, we
shouldn’t have too much trouble getting
them to approve it again,” Rudd said.
The proposal will go before the Student
Senate tomorrow and will be voted on Feb.
9. If approved by the senate, the proposal
goes to University Rules and Regulations
Committee and then to the Academic
Council.
If the students realize their obligations,
then the choice of whether or not to attend
class should be theirs, Rudd said.
“We hope the students won’t abuse the
privilege,” she added.
The committee also made a proposal to
eliminate mid-term grades.
Rudd said most teachers have only given
one test by mid-term, so the grades aren’t
an accurate account of the student’s work.
The committee thinks the thousands of
dollars spent on processing the grades
could be put to better use, she said.
TIA flights offer ‘peanut fares’
weather
Mostly cloudy and mild today with
a high in the low 50s. Wind gusts
8-12 mph with a 10 per cent chance
of precipitation today. Continuing
cloudiness tomorrow with a warm
ing trend. Low tonight in the low 40s
and high tomorrow in the low 60s.
No precipitation in sight for tomor
row.
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Texas International
Airlines has been given permission to cut
prices 50 per cent today on selected flights
that will serve only peanuts and soft
drinks.
The “peanut” fares will apply to certain
TIA flights between Albuquerque, N.M.
and Los Angeles; Denver and Salt Lake
City; Houston and New Orleans, Dallas
and Austin, and Dallas and Midland, Tex.
The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) gave
its permission for the flights yesterday. A
CAB spokesman said the lower fares will
be in effect for one year as an experiment
so the board can judge whether consumers
take advantage of them and utilize what
are now lightly patronized flights.
A TIA spokesman said the airline hoped
to increase its passenger load by 130,000
ge
month experirrient.
The new price schedule will make air
travel between Albuquerque and Los
Angeles, at $37, cheaper than the bus, at
$52.85.
Under the order the price of a ticket
from Austin to Dallas would be $17, com-
ared to $34 at present. That bus trip costs
$11.10.
Other routes and the reduced fares:
Dallas-Fort Worth to Midland-Odessa,
$24; Denver to Salt Lake City, $26, and
Houston to New Orleans, $23.
The CAB’s willingness to experiment
with the Texas International fares could
indicate the way it will rule on similar
pending cases.
“There’s no precedent for this,” the
spokesman said. “The board wanted to see
what would happen.”
Three other airlines — Frontier, TWA
and Continental — have filed for permis
sion to match Texas International on the
“peanuts” flights.
The board has before it other proposed
ticket price reductions cases, most notably
a proposed World Airways coast-to-coast
flight that would cost one-half what coach
seats now cost, and a request from some
airlines to offer cheaper flights out of
Chicago’s rarely used Midway Airport.
The Texas International “peanuts” fares
apply only to standard class tickets and
then only on certain flights, two a day in
most cases.
“There are no strings on our peanuts
fares,” said a TIA spokesman in Houston.
They went that way
Allan King (seated) gets some assistance from another person attending
the WarCon III State Wargames Convention this past weekend at the
MSC. This was King’s second year to attend the event which is spon
sored by the Grommets, a student organization at Texas A&M Univer
sity.
Battalion photo by Frank Mullins