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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1977)
The Battalion Vol. 70 No. 69 8 Pages Thursday, February 3, 1977 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 andatory attendance policy deleted By MARY HARDIN bill reinstating the 1975-76 Atten- ; Policy was introduced to the Student itelast night by Susan Rudd, vice pres- | for rules and regulations. present regulation includes pas- I stating that instructors are expected laiutain a record of class attendance and ■dual instructors may include class at- jdance as a factor in determining a stu- it’s grade. /ile proposed bill deletes these passag- be former nonmandatory attendance was in existence for two years,” Rudd said. “Student Government was not aware that the faculty was not satisfied with it.” Other proposed revisions were: Allowing students with an overall grade point ration (GPR) or 3.0 or above to take an excess course load without obtaining permission from their dean. Prohibiting all kitchen appliances in re sidence halls with the exception of coffee pots, hot pots, popcorn poppers and blen ders. Class officer candidates must have a minimum overall GPR of 2.5. A bill proposing a division of the execu tive branch from the legislative branch of Student Government was introduced by Joe Beall, soph.-Engineering. Beall also introduced a bill proposing that the Memorial Student Center put up signs asking for protection of the grass sur rounding the MSG. John Oeffinger, Grad.-Liberal Arts, pointed out that only the MSG building is memorialized, not the surrounding grass. It was also pointed out that most of the students do feel that the grass is a memo rial. Robert Harvey, Sr. - Engineering, pres ented a bill to repeal the controversial Con fidence - No Confidence Resolution on the basis that it has not been implemented suc cessfully. TheP.E. Revisementbill, introduced by Jeb Hensarling, Undergrad. - off-campus, was passed by the Senate last night. This bill states that required P. E. may be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. A bill removing one senator from the College of Science because of decreased enrollment and adding one senator to the new College of Medicine was also passed. The bill was passed despite arguments from Randy Levine, Grad.-Science. Levine was concerned with the loss of a senator from the College of Science. On-campus sales tax brings in $109,000 to College Station By KIM TYSON services that can’t be direct! A wrench in his plans ngs just weren’t going right for Tom Morales and a fellow worker, bunds Maintenance employes, yesterday. The two were installing a et sign in front of the Commons and Morales’ partner dropped a wrench, tool bounced a couple of feet and then dropped into a drainage? ditch t>w them. The two workers recovered the wrench about 20 minutes later Battalion photo by Jim Crawley By KIM TYSON Last year Aggies munched potato chips, slurped ice cream and bought political sci ence books, among other things, netting approximately $109,000 in on-campus sales tax for College Station. What does the city give Texas A&M University students for their tax money? According to North Bardell, city man ager, that money went into College Sta tion’s general fund, providing services to students both on and off campus. He cited fire protection, police, traffic control, health inspection, parks and recreation and garbage disposal as larger services in cluded. “The primary service on campus is fire protection,” Bardell said, who added that the city had recently paid $153,000 for two new fire trucks. R. C. Diebel, controller of University accounts, explained that under state law the University remitted $546,817.86 in state and city sales taxes last year. These taxes were from board, and merchandise purchased at the bookstore, cafeterias and creamery on campus, Deibel said. Of the five per cent tax, a one per cent tax was collected for College Station. Diebel also said A&M provides many of its own services to on-campus students, including power, water, sewage and police protection. However, Gary Halter, College Station councilman, said the city provides many services that can’t be directly measured. “A student who lives on campus doesn’t stay on campus all the time,” Halter ex plained. He and Bardell cited extra traffic control and police service around the perimeter of campus as examples. “We have spent approximately $10,000 just in parking signs alone around the campus,” Bardell said. Off-campus students receive all city- services, Bardell added. He said this in cludes street repair, health inspection, garbage disposal and building inspection. “There are some 37,000 people in Col lege Station, and approximately 25,000 of them are students,” Bardell said. Having almost 22,000 Aggies off campus creates service problems, he added. “Growth, one of College Station’s pri mary problems, is definitely generated by the University,” Bardell said. He added that having off campus hous ing produces utility service problems. “And of course the enrollment at the University directly controls the need for housing,” Bardell said. Last Friday, the College Station City Council passed an ordinance that will encourage more housing developments. Councilman Halter said there is a defi nite reliance on A&M by the city. “Obviously, if the University wasn’t here,’ Halter said, “College Station wouldn’t exist.” Battalion photo by Steve Reis Setting the rules straight Susan Rudd, vice president for rules and regulations in the Student Senate, answered questions regarding revisions in the Texas A&M Rules and Regula tions handbook last night at the Senate meeting. Committee to be awarded for professor investigations ay-care a problem for Ab-M students By GLENNA WHITLEY indaHoward wants to go toTexas A&M versity, but she has two small problems lersons, Daniel, 2, and Tim, 7. iimisold enough for elementary school, Iwho will care for Daniel while Mommy in class? Many students have this problem, lysitters or daycare centers are answers it many, but they also can cause prob- ^ii I took Daniel out of a day care center t' v -7 ause he was unhappy, Howard said, ley seemed to be specialists in child :ipline, not child care.” Having adequate child care is a pre- juisite for my returning to school. I jhk there’s a real need for a coopera- IQftlyand creatively run child care cen- r* ter’which would serve university families,” she said. Daniel and Donna Graham hire a babysitter for nine-month-old Brian be cause day care centers are too expensive. Daniel is an electrical engineering stu dent, and Donna works on campus. They live in a sparsely furnished apartment in married student housing. Graham said that they spent $80 per month for a babysitter while the day fcare center charged $100 per month. Is there an alternative for students with children? One answer is a University child care center. “A center was set up three years ago but closed in one week due to lack of funds, ” said Janet Nute, a mother of three who worked a year ago in an effort to revive the center. She explained that hundreds of forms were filled out by persons interested in the center, indicating a definite need. Nute quit the volunteer work to care for her own children. Dr. Charles C. Godwin of the Educational Curriculum and In struction Department yesterday said, “Funds have been sought without success. We applied to foundations and other agencies, but money is not available.” Dr. Godwin couldn’t cite the specific amount of money needed, but he said that the Unitarian Fellowship has been chosen as the future location. He also said that renovation must be done to meet required standards. A doctoral student in Educational Ad ministration said that part of the problem was the Student Senate’s lack of initiative. D avid Gardner, 26, was the vice- president for the University of Houston’s student government in 1972 when such a center was set up there. “The school said that there wasn’t a real need. So we set one up and funded it to prove there was a need,” he said. They used part of the student government’s budget of $100,000, but Gardner couldn’t remember how much. Once the program became successful, the university took control, he said. Fred McClure, Texas A&M student body president, said he sees a definite need, but that private donors seem to be the only answer to the funding problem. By RAY DANIELS Your professor may be under investiga tion. A committee secretly selected by deans and heads of student organizations has been specially assembled for the project. Those under investigation were re ported by their departments heads and peers. Personal data, letters from as sociates, and even a picture are supplied by the executive committee of their col lege. After several meetings, the committee will make a judgement. In May, those selected by the committee will receive Distinguished Achievement Awards spon sored by the Association of Former Stu dents. A certificate, $1,000, and a gold watch will be awarded at the faculty convocation in May, as awards in teaching, research, continuing education, student relations and administration. The selection committee members are 7 J Briscoe says government to blame for energy crisis E United Press International DALLAS — Gov. Dolph Briscoe says the eral government is to blame for the ural gas emergency existing in the East, the only lasting remedy is energy de lation. Briscoe, speaking to business leaders lesterday, said federal regulations had pted the crisis. ( I hope that the majority of the nation rill see that deregulation of new natural is the direction we must move, he rid “The natural gas shortage in the East nd elsewhere is a most serious national Nergency. i Federal regulation by the Federal rver Commission has resulted in a na- hal disaster of major proportions. The weather Cloudy and cool with intermittent rain with partial clearing tomorrow afternoon. High today in mid-50s. Low tonight in upper 30s. High to morrow in low 50s. Winds will be from the northwest at 10-15 m.p.h. only way to get more natural gas is for the federal government to get out of the energy business.’’ Briscoe testified for deregulation last week in Washington. He said President Carter’s emergency energy plan was at best a “stop-gap measure.” “We must develop a more long-range energy policy,”he said. “We have to work for a national policy for drilling of new natural gas reserves.” Briscoe also said it was time for Texas and other gas producing states to gain the re spect due them from the nonproducing states. “Texans have paid higher prices for their energy, and the result has been active drill ing programs in this state that have re sulted in adequate supplies of natural gas, ” he said. “In the past years we have done our part in supplying the rest of the country with its energy needs. We have done our part even though Texas consumers must pay more than northeastern neighbors.” But Briscoe said in the future his main concern would be protecting Texas con sumers. “I think we now have the right to de mand that the other states do their part to help the country meet its energy needs,” he said. Are you sure youll he okay?. . . I’m late for class David Songer, a graduate student in Agricultural Development, has just been injured by a speeding bicyclist and the bike rider does not seem too con cerned. Well, the biker, Mike Sherrill, a senior electrical engineering major, is a friend of Songer and is shown above while helping the grad student make a film for a documentary film course. Journ alism 425. The movie is produced and directed by Songer, who also stars as the innocent victim. Battalion photo by Tracie Nordheim secret so the awards will be a surprise, said Richard “Buck” Weirus. Weirus is the executive director of the Association of Former Students which provides the funds for the awards. The awards are a regularly budgeted item and come from the unrestricted gift fund of the associa tion. Attendance at the convocation is largely faculty, but student'oi anizations are included in the stage party and the event is open to the public. Fourteen awards are available in the five areas; the number and type given is up to the committee. Not all of the awards are always given Weirus said. “The watch and the stipend are a small part of the award,’ said Dr. Murray Milford, recipient of a 1972 teach ing award. “It’s the recognition that is im portant.” This is the first year that staff and ad ministrators have been considered for the award. A bill passed by Student Senate last semester recommended the addition and Former Students approved the move. Surplus may he returned to taxpayers United Press International AUSTIN, Tex. — The chairman of a House committee conducting hearings on more than $350 million in proposed tax reductions said legislators should return part of the $2.9 billion budget surplus to taxpayers. Rep. Joe Wyatt, D-Victoria, chairman of the House, Ways and Means Commit tee, said Wednesday he favors abolishing the state sales tax on residential utility bills, and revising the state inheritance tax to allow larger exemptions. Hearings on two bills dealing with the sales and inheritance tax reductions were scheduled at 2 p.m. today, after most legislators headed home for the weekend. Wyatt said he hoped his committee could act quickly on a tax reduction bill, so lawmakers would know how much of a projected state revenue surplus would be depleted by the measure. Exempting residential utility bills from the sales tax as Wyatt proposed would re duce consumers’ bills by $210 million in the next two years, and revising the in heritance tax would reduce the state surplus by an additional $20 million. A bill by Rep. John Wilson, D-La Grange, abolishing the sales tax on both residential and commercial utility bills would save consumers $344 million and reduce the projected $2.9 billion surplus a corre sponding amount. “In view of the surplus and projected revenues, I feel we should return this money to the Texas taxpayers,” Wyatt said.