The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 23, 1978, Image 1
The Battalion Vol. 71 No. 104 8 Pages Thursday, February 23, 1978 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Inside Thursday The ides of April and tax loopholes, p. 6. Luckenbach waits for Mud Daubers, College Station for candidates, p. 2. Intramurals program grows, p. 8. I iners reject union offer, VA orders western coal United Press International toal mine operators Wednesday night rejected a union proposal that could have jemled the 80-day-old coal strike. It also iwas revealed that TV A — the nation’s largest and most fuel-desperate utility — quietly has ordered hundreds of thousands ({tons of coal from Wyoming, which is unaffected by the walkout. M spokesman for Kerr-McGee Corp. in Hlahoma City earlier announced the lirst shipment of 10,()()() tons moved eastward Friday via Burlington Northern Railroad. But, a Kerr-McGee spokesman in Gil lette ducked the issue. Tm really not supposed to say any thing, he told a UP! reporter. “I know my superiors are sorry they said anything about this in the first place. Initially, it was reported the shipment - branded “scab coal by United Mine Workers strikers — was to be moved by Burlington Northern and Chicago & Northeastern railroads, but a C&N spokesman in Chicago said Burlington de cided to handle it alone. He refused further comment and said he doubted if Burlington would discuss the TVA deal “because of the very real fear of violence. In Indiana, Gov. Otis R. Bowen issued unloaded M-16 rifles to his National Guardsmen in “Operation Chimney Sweep and again demanded that Presi dent Carter intervene in the strike and “do it now. A striking miner said Garter should "keep his nose out of this and “go back to Georgia and pick peanuts. Mudents can collect insurance \butfeiv will be able to qualify By PAIGE BEASLEY Battalion Stall ■Students looking for full-time jobs can ■ a claim for unemployment insurance airfits that are nontaxable. However, lost students will not qualify, because class schedules limit their availability for work so many have not had previous full time jobs. “Benefits from unemployment insur ance are not subject to income tax, said Charles Gillespie, manager of the Texas w mi Vf festivities begin at 7 p.m. (jrriqhci Employ ment Commission in Bryan. Un employment insurance compensates for wage loss and provides a form of financial aid. Qualifications ev eryone must meet, said Gillespie, are first to file a claim, be able to work and be available to work. “A person who limits availability to part-time employment would not be eligi ble, he said. “The hours depending on the type job. Secretaries normally work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., while some restaur ant and factory employees work later hours. “Someone who quits their last job to re turn to school is penalized on a claim until they have subsequent work, Gillespie said. “When someone quits their last job to go to school, they remove themselves from the labor force. In effect, they have said Tm not available for work, Tm going to school. Claimants must have received at least 8500 in wages for employment duriiig their base year, which is the first-four of the last five completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the date of the claim, he said. A person must also register for work and continue to report to an em ployment agency until he has a job. A claim could pay $15 to $84 a week, depending on individual earnings, Gilles pie said. The greater the previous earn ings, the greater the amount received from unemploy ment insurance. A person may receive payments for a maximum of 26 weeks, Gillespie said. This figure is subject to change in accordance with changes in state and federal unem ployment rates. Persons with minimal work history receive fewer payments than persons who have worked for longer periods of time. All Night Fair returns Friday By GAIL SMILA The third annual All Night Fair is back 1 the Memorial Student Center will be ve with entertainment this weekend. The fair, which is sponsored by the SC Council and Directorate, will be lid at the MSG on Friday and Saturday jm 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. This year's special attraction is Denim, a nd that Rebecca Taulman, fair director, ys is “not really country and western, t really hard rock, and not really pop. enim is scheduled to play for a dance finch will be held from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. De Fifty-nine booths will be set up at the fair where students can play anything from darts to roulette to computer games — and much more. Also included in the festivities are a magician, simulated games of “Name that Tune and “The Gong Show,’ and prehis toric bowling, where bowlers will be dressed as cavemen. Three to five thousand students are ex pected to attend the fair this year. The price at the door is 50 cents and 10 cents per game or, for those who don’t pay at the door, the cost is 25 cents per game. The theme of this year s fair is “Travel Thru Time With Us and those planning to attend are encouraged to wear appropriate costumes. Prizes for the best costumes will be awarded at 11 p.m. Booths, operated by recognized univer sity organizations, will be judged at 10 p.m. Winners will receive a 16-gallon keg of beer. Profits from the booths will be put in the organizations' activity funds. The fair is expected to make $1,800 at the door. The money will cover the cost of producing the fair and paying $750 for the band. Any money left over will be put into an account to help pay for next year's fair. Battalion photo by Louis Hejtmanek One step at a time In Indianapolis, where mandatory elec trical cutbacks threaten to turn off the ci ty’s outdoor lighting, darkened streets raised the specter of a crime surge. In both Indiana and Kentucky, the strike landed in the mail box, forcing the U.S. Postal Service to trim electrical con sumption by 25 to 50 percent, with a cor responding cutback in services starting Friday. In Chicago, lights were dimmed in the world's tallest building — the 110-story Sears Tower — and the landmark Wrigley Building’s bank of spotlights was doused. As the strike dragged on, unemploy ment spawned by industrial layoffs soared by 8 percent in West Virginia where busi ness losses now total $25.2 million and tax losses have topped $3 million. Northern Alabama cities joined In dianapolis in turning off street lights and four striking miners were arrested in Be aver, Pa., for forcing truck drivers to dump non-union coal beside the highway. Members of United Auto Workers Local 22 in Cadillac, Mich. — remembering when John L. Lewis of the UMW came to their aid during a bitter strike of the 1930s — rallied to return the favor, donating truckloads of food and clothing to carry the miners through. "They are bad off because they hav en t had a paycheck since before Christmas, said Local 22 president Frank Runnels. "Their retiree s benefits hav e been cut off and all their insurance benefits have been dropped. He said donations also hav e* come from unions other than the UAW. Not all states were in critical shape. Georgia, where virtually all home heat ing is done with natural gas, has a three- month supply of coal available for 11 states in critical shape. Across the West, where populations ai t* less concentrated and where the UMW wields little influence, the strike made few inroads. Wyoming, source of TYA s immediate hope, has v ast deposits of coal, but few of the mines are unionized. Battalion photo by Fat O'Malle; ‘A Streetcar named Desire" Blanche Dubois (Linda Nystedt) introduces herself to her brother- in-law, Stanley Kowalski (Bill Weldon) in a scene from the Aggie Players’ current production. The play runs Feb. 23-25 and March 1-4 in Rudder Center Forum. Please see review, p. 5 Senate approves nominations, recommends regulation change Marathon runner Tom LaHouse steps and stretches while preparing for a race. He warms up for 30 minutes before each marathon. LaHouse, a senior geophysics major from Syra cuse, N.Y., is planning to run in the Texas A&M University spring marathon in early April. By LIZ NEWLIN Battalion Staff The student senate approved the new student body president’s nominations for filling vacant positions of the executive branch and two vice presidents after a 25- minute closed executive session Wednes day night. Senators also recommended a change in University Regulations concerning grade requirements for student organization and club officers. The recent controversy about grade requirements prompted the former student body president, Robert Harvey, and a vice president, Vicki Young, to resign lastweek. Neither posted above a 2.0 grade point ratio for last semester, but their cumulative GPRs were above 2.0. The amendment suggested by the senate adds “post” to the grade requirements, ap parently clarifying the previous rule that officers must post a 2.0 GPR for each semester they are in office. The change still must be approved by the University com mittee on regulations. Harvey and Young contended that neither the regulations nor the student body constitution were clear. Mike Humphrey, new student body president, decided not to retain all of Har vey’s five-member executive staff, which resigned last week at Harvey’s request. Humphrey nomiated three new people, keeping only recording secretary Nancy Bunch and director of information Dan Sul- lins. Humphrey chose, and the senate ap proved, Kirk Marchand as executive direc tor, Chris Farmer as judicial board chair man, and Lisa Maxwell as controller. Both the former executive director, Geri Campbell, and former judicial board chairman, Stan Stanfield, said before they resigned that they would accept their old jobs if offered. Stuart Kingsbery, former controller, said he would not accept his old post, but he did say his assistant, Maxwell, was qualified. Humphrey began explaining his changes to the senate, but he was intermpted by a request to close the meeting to the public. The senate unanimously approved going into executive session. Humphrey did give senators some of his reasons for not re-appointing the old staff members during the open meeting. He said he “tried to be objective ’ in nominating an executive director and judi cial board chairman to serve the six weeks before a new student body president is elected. “The thing that bothered me about Stan (Stanfield) is that at times Stan has not been the most fair person,” he told senators. He said Stanfield had good ideas about reform ing the board into a more effective branch, but that sometimes his personal feelings interierred. “Chris (Farmer, new' chairman) is better able to lay his feelings aside,” Humphrey said later. Fanner, who was recently accepted to medical school in Houston has been a member of the board three years. This year the executive director became a “closer partner writh the president, supervising five student coordinators who oversee all executive committees. In the past, the director ran all executive committees alone, which includes commit tees on Muster, parent’s day, the blood drive and book mart. Marchand is currently operations sergeant for the Corps of Cadets and will be operations officer next year. The job has been expanded, Humphrey said, to “be more of a partner with the president. Senators approved Humphrey’s choices for vice president of student services, William Altman, and vice president for academic affairs, Mike Flores. Seven senate positions are vacant due to resignations. Humphrey said he hopes to submit nominations for the seats at the next senate meeting, March 8. In other action, senators heard first readings on several bills, including student fee allocations and movement of the con sideration section in Kyle Field. Senator Scott Macaluso also announced an investigation of problems students have in math courses at Texas A&M. Nation in confusion, gas producer says By ANDREA VALLS The nation is in a cross-current of con tradiction and confusion because of gov ernmental regulations of the petroleum industry, said Michel Halbouty, an inde pendent oil and gas producer, at the Bryan-College Station Chamber of Com merce Banquet Wednesday. “As long as the petroleum industry is imposed upon by governmental regula tion, we will never solve our energy prob lem,” he said. “Energy is the lifeblood of an industrialized nation. Without it, our nation is impotent. Halbouty said the nation is approaching a time of turmoil because of governmental restraints placed upon the industrial sec tion of the nation. The energy solution lies in the hands of the American people and industrialists because the bureaucrats in Washington are not familiar with the fun damentals of the petroleum industry, he said. The laws passed by the legislature erode industrialist s liberties and increase regula tion, said Halbouty. "Millions of jobs are in jeopardy because of the regulation of the petroleum and natural gas industry.” Halbouty said America is witnessing a mass elimination of people’s rights be cause of government oil regulation. No thing has been done since the 1973 oil embargo to increase Americas energy situation with oil and gas, he said. “We have received only barrels of paper work from the legislature, not barrels of oil, ’ he said. He added that under Carter's recently defeated energy plan, nothing provided for an increase of the oil supply. The plan did provide for restraints on wildcatters (independent oil drillers) to drill for oil, therefore limiting the nation to less.oil re serves than we are producing, he said. “Our nation has no choice except to im port oil under these conditions, he said. Our nation cannot hope to be self- sufficient when wildcats are restrained from oil exploration.” “We are moving towards socialism much faster than Russia moved tow ard Communism, said Halbouty. He attributed this to apathy on the part of American people to speak out against governmental restraints. He added that the United States is no longer a nation dominated by strength, but by legislated restraints and regulations restricting per sonal and industrial free will. The restraints will lead to inflation and decline of our military strength, he said. “IfI was in the Soviet Union and w anted to destroy the United States, I couldn't think of a better program to use than the one that America is presently using. Halbouty received his Bachelor ol Sci ence, Master of Science, and Professional Degree in Geological Engineering from Texas A&M University, lie recently established a $150.000 scholarship hind at Texas A&M. The University Geosciences Building was reeentK renamed lioni liiin