William F. Buckley Jr.
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Buckley: conservatism may be rising
By STEVE LEE
Battalion Campus Editor
William F. Buckley Jr. proclaimed con
servatism as “the politics of reality” in a
lecture sponsored by the Great Issues
committee Tuesday night at Rudder Au
ditorium.
The noted conservative author and col
umnist made the remarks in the first of six
“propositions” dealing with a possible re
surgence of conservatism in America after
recent elections. Buckley said that outlin
ing these propositon was necessary in order
to carefully answer the question of advanc
ing conservatism.
“Conservatism seeks to inquire of prob
able, if not altogether predictable, human
responses,” Buckley said, explaining his
politics of reality.
BUCKLEY CITED AN EXAMPLE of
prices initially differing for the same prod
uct in different states. He said, however,
that these prices tend to equal out in the
long run as the free enterprise system takes
its course. He said the system is both “self
starting and self-regulated” in nature, and
said it is “surprising” that critics are often
surprised when this occurs.
Buckley’s second proposition was the
idea that there is “an increasing popular
knowledge of the unrealities of progressive
economics.” He cited as example one of
Sen. George McGovern’s proposed eco
nomic remedies offered during the 1972
presidential campaign.
McGovern proposed giving $1,000 to
each person earning less than the national
income average. Buckley said this proposal
had a stunning impact, but that impact was
opposite of what McGovern had intended.
Persons earning above the $15,000 per
year income level disliked the idea, accord
ing to Buckley, saying they “didn’t fancy
themselves in careers of philanthropy. ”
THE IDEA WASN’T popular with per
sons earning less than $12,000 per year
because there would be a lack of work in
centive. He said polls showed that
McGovern’s plan, therefore, wasn’t popu
lar with any significant group of people.
Buckley said that McGovern then at
tacked corporate executives’ salaries, in
particular that of the president of Ford
Motor Co., who earned about $400,000 in
1971. He pointed out the importance of the
automobile industry and said that the pres
ident made a very small percentage of each
car sold. He then compared that salary to
that of the Rolling Stones rock group on an
American tour that year, saying that
McGovern didn’t bother to question the
group’s salaries.
Leading into his third proposition,
Buckley said there is a “diminishing of ig
norance” regarding the mechanics of in
come redistribution. Income redistribu
tion would appropriate more income from
the wealthy to other areas of the economy.
USING FIGURES FROM 1971 to illus
trate his point, Buckley said the “very
rich,” which he identified as those making
$50,000 or above annually, comprise less
than 1 percent of the population. Based
upon a total taxable income of $29 billion,
this group provided a total of $12.3 billion
that year, or an average of $37,500 apiece,
Buckley said.
“If the government were to confiscate
the whole of the remaining income, leaving
them penniless, he said, “we would bring
in an additional $16 billion, or enough to
pay the cost of the federal budget for two
weeks.
Buckley said that although the wealthy
already pay a large sum, they could not
contribute on the scale that the govern
ment is spending.
Buckley further identified a “diminish
ing of the redistribution myth in his fourth
proposition by saying that the idea of
“spontaneous generation of money in
Washington is growing weaker. He said,
for example, that the concept of a na
tionalized agricultural program, which
would supposedly provide free food for the
nation, is becoming less popular since it
would involve a spontaneous flow of money
from Washington. Rather, he said, there is
a flow of money from state to state for social
and various other programs.
IN HIS FIFTH proposition, Buckley
said it is useless to proclaim utilitarianism
— the doctrine that the most people should
benefit — and disguise it as democracy —
the doctrine that all people should benefit.
As an example, he examined the praise
expressed for Mao Tse Tung upon the
leader’s death. What many chose to ne
glect, said Buckley, was that many people
were exploited for the supposed good of the
country.
Buckley used a quote from economist
John Stewart Mill to underscore his sixth
and last proposition.
HE RELATED MILL’S stand on
equality to a possible remedy for the in
come tax system. Buckley suggested the
elimination of the progressive income tax
method, under which the wealthy bear a
larger percentage of the tax burden. In
stead, he would support a 15 percent taxa
tion on income for all people, thus instilling
Mill’s doctrine of equality for all, he said.
rr' 1
The
UT tickets sent back
Wally Groff, assistant athletic director
for business affairs, returned 1,000 tickets
for Friday’s game to the University of
Texas Tuesday afternoon.
The University of Texas initially sent
7,700 tickets for Texas A&M students.
About 5,400 tickets were distributed
Monday and only 700 tickets were distrib-
uted Tuesday.
Battalion
Vol. 72 No. 62
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Wednesday, November 29, 1978
College Station, Texas
16 Pages
Sports Unsung Hero:
in to meet
at will be
i. kickoff.
xas-Texas
j0-20-5,
A&M regents approve
$26 million contracts
Contracts totaling more than $26 million
|were awarded Tuesday by The Texas
University System Board of Regents
Ifor additional academic facilities and space
|for state agencies headquartered here.
The largest contract, $11,889,000, went
ItoB-F-W Construction Co. Inc. of Temple
Ifor construction of the six-story Academic
land Agency Building. The 257,900-
|square-foot structure will house Texas
[A&M’s College of Business Administra-
Mon, English Department and Institute of
[Statistics, as well as portions of the Texas
[Transportation Institute, Texas Real Es-
jtate Research Center, Texas A&M Re-
[search Foundation and remote facilities for
[the Data Processing Center, which also
[serves several state agencies.
Texas A&M officials noted the building,
[which will be one of the largest on cam
pus, will be built at a 45-degree angle in
relation to all other major buildings on
campus for optimum solar orientation to
conserve energy.
A $9,063,000 contract was awarded to
^Zapata Warrior Constructors of Houston
for a two-story 103,440-square-foot clinical
sciences building for Texas A&M’s College
[ofVeterinary Medicine.
Other contracts for projects on the Col-
;ge Station campus: $1,918,850 to R.B.
Butler Inc. of Bryan for the 28,199-
t square-foot second phase of the food pro
tein center; $1,230,000 to Drew Woods
Inc. of Carthage for expansion of the heat
ing and chilled water plant on the new
western portion of the campus, and
$353,639 to Mechanical Specialties Inc. of
Houston for renovation of the old biologi
cal sciences building.
“These new facilities will greatly
enhance our capability to serve our grow
ing student body and meet needs as
sociated with our increased research and
public service activities, but we will still
fall short of generally accepted standards
for space per student,” said Texas A&M
President Jarvis E. Miller.
Thurmond and Stuart of Bryan will
build a general purpose facility at the
Texas A&M Research and Extension Cen
ter at Bryan under a $1,722,400 contract.
The 36,300-square-foot building will serve
both the Texas Engineerimg Experiment
Station and the Texas Engineering Exten
sion Service.
The regents also awarded three other
contracts for projects in Galveston, Sonora
and Stephenville. LEM Construction Co.
of Stafford received a $294,639 contract for
a parking lot at the new classroom-
laboratory building at Moody College in
Galveston. A meeting facility will be
added to the Texas A&M Agricultural Re
search Station at Sonora under a $164,176
contract with Wilbur L. Brown Contractor
of San Angelo. Tarleton State University
will gain a new horse management labora
tory under a $94,700 contract awarded to
Phillip Hale Construction Co. of Stephen
ville.
Additionally, the regents appropriated
$247,000 for detailed design of waste
water treatment plant expansion and re
novation of the mechanical engineering
shops at Texas A&M, additional fecilities
and equipment at the Texas A&M Agricul
tural Research Center at McGregor and a
slaughterhouse at Tarleton.
In other business, the regents au
thorized Texas A&M and Prairie View
A&M University to seek approval of the
Coordinating Board, Texas College and
University System for new degree pro
grams. Texas A&M is requesting new
bachelor of science degree programs in
mining engineering and political science.
Prairie View will petition for new de
gree programs in industrial and chemical
engineering and a master of science de
gree in engineering.
Frank X. McNerney of New Orleans,
George P. Mitchell of Houston and Ed
ward H. Harte of Corpus Christi were
reappointed to the Moody College Board
of Visitors. Their terms on the advisory
group now extend through Dec. 31, 1981.
Teague comes home for a visit
By DOUG GRAHAM
Battalion Staff
Clin E. “Tiger” Teague returned
home to Bryan and the 6th Congres
sional District Tuesday for a short
visit with friends and relatives.
Teague still is recovering from a
recent prostate gland operation and
a stroke he suffered in early Sep
tember. He lias been recuperating
at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Mary
land. Teague said he was told his
kidneys were failing, but reported
that his condition seems to have im
proved after the prostate operation.
The Democratic congressman
flies back to Washington, D.C., to
day, however, to check back with
his doctors.
“I came up here just because my
doctors gave me permission to gel
out a little bit,” he said. “I had no
purpose except to say hello and
thanks to my friends and the press.”
Teague has served as representa
tive for the 6th District for 32 years.
Upon retiring, he will be succeeded
by Democrat Phil Gramm.
Teague will be ending a career as
a ranking member of the House
Committee on Science and
Technology. Before receiving that
assignment, he worked on the Vet
erans Affairs Committee, He spon
sored the bill that made widows and
orphans of servicemen killed in war
eligible for the same benefits as if the
men were still alive.
That bill took 12 years to pass,
it got passed was I be-
of the committee,”
As a member of the science and
technology committee, Teague said
he saw the United States’ space ef
fort from the very beginning.
‘T started out believing it couldn’t
be done,” he said, referring to the
go on display with those of other
prominent former students.
Teague spoke on several political
subjects. He said be did not support
giving the District of Columbia
senators and separate representa
tives.
“It doesn’t belong just to the
“fe who live there,” he said. “It
But he said he was soon con
vinced it was possible to reach the
moon, and went about obtaining
funds for NASA.
“It was the most interesting part
of my life,” he said, but added that
“1 still get letters saying, ’you old
bony, those moon rocks are just
otn West Texas.’”
Teague received a Buck Schiwetz
ng of King Ranch in South
>m the SCO N A committee
. A&M University. Teague
g been a supporter of the
porary affairs group,
a luncheon with Texas A&M
student leaders, Teague donated his
Senior Class ring to the Association
of Former Students. Teague has lost
n his hands and is unable to
3 wearing the ring from the
The ring is expected to
longs to everybody , hope it never
comes about, but I’m afraid it is
going to.”
Teague also said inflation is the
country’s biggest problem, but that
President Carter will have a hard
time implementing an austerity
program. Everyone is willing to
have other people’s projects cut hut
not their own, he said.
One place that could be trimmed,
be said, are congressional operating
budgets. He said he turns back
about $50,000 of the $200,000 per
year he receives for staff.
“Instead of hiring an extra re
search assistant on agricultural prob
lems, 1 can go talk to the Texas rep
resentative on the agriculture com
mittee and And out exactly what I
want to know,” he said.
with persons who had sponsored a
dinner in his honor Sept. 16.
The dinner was canceled when
along with a science symposium in
Bookmaking — one of many links
found in area gambling chains
Editor’s note: This is the second of
three articles on gambling in and around
Bryan-College Station. The reporter
spent three months researching the story
as an observer and through interviews.
Because of the sensitive nature of the ma
terial, the names of “inside” sources have
been changed. The identity of the re
porter also has been protected by the use
of a pseudonym. Tomorrow, the final arti
cle of this series will discuss the little-
known connection between dogfighting
and gambling.
By BARNEY J. LEPERIE
Special to The Battalion
Friday, 6:30 p.m. The phone rings.
“B.G. here.”
“This is A.Z. of Hilton. What’s the line
on the Dallas-Pittsburgh game?”
“Pittsburgh by two points.”
“O.K., get me down for a quarter on the
Cowboys.”
“That’s a quarter on the Cowboys plus
two?”
“Yeah. See ya.”
Click.
Click.
THE CONVERSATION was between a
neighborhood bookie operaring out of a
Bryan recreational facility and one of his
regular customers. The “line” is the point
spread, a “quarter” is $250, and “A.Z. of
Hilton” is a code name to conceal the iden
tity of the person who is making the bet.
Bookmaking is just one form of illegal
gambling going on in the Bryan-College
Station area, some of which is for very high
stakes.
The local activity is only a tiny stroke in
a complex nationwide picture.
In bars, pool rooms, bowling alleys,
casinos, at legal and illegal race tracks, at
golf courses, at well-disguised dogfight
and cockfight pits all across the country,
men and women, sometimes compulsively
driven, are placing bets every day of the
week.
GAMBLING IS IN their blood. They
speak a language all their own and they
pursue a unique lifestyle.
They gamble and lose, gamble and win,
gamble and break even. It doesn’t matter.
They continue the chase, certain of one
day proving that their “system” works.
The more money involved, the more in
tense the “chase” becomes. And the more
pressing becomes the gambler’s need for
money. He may support his habit from his
paycheck, loans from a loan shark, legiti
mate bank loans or his wife’s paycheck. He
may even resort to burglary or embezzle
ment.
It’s the same as the addict getting a “fix”
or the alcoholic taking a drink. Gambling
can become a serious sickness — a com
pulsion that inflicts pain and heartache on
parents, spouses and children.
STEVE (NOT HIS real name) is a 22-
year-old junior at Texas A&M University.
He comes from a well-to-do family in
Houston. His introduction to gambling
came when he was 13 when he began ob
serving his father’s weekly poker games.
He learned the ropes of card playing from
his dad and took part in low-stakes games
during his high-school days. Heavier bet
ting on the golf course followed and now
he is into betting on football — a passion
he has indulged in the last three years.
“I work, get money from my parent,
have bookies ride my losses for awhile, ” he
says. “There are always ways to get the
cash. I once had to borrow $1,000 from the
bank for a pay-off, got an older gambling
friend of mine to co-sign a 90-day note
loan. I just knew I would be able to get
myself out of the hole in three months, be
able to pay off the loan and be in the
clear.”
BUT THINGS didn’t work that way.
“I got on a losing streak for weeks, I was
broke and there was no way I could go to
my parents and explain what had hap
pened. I was in a real jam so I managed a
school loan out of the financial-aid office —
one of those you pay back after graduation.
That gave me plenty of rime to work things
out and preserve my sanity.”
Steve is only one of the 40 million
Americans who bet on football games at
some rime during the season, according to
a national poll printed in TV Guide
magazine.
Football is only a part of the picture.
Gambling in the United States, despite
all the federal and state restrictions against
it, may be considered one of the country’s
leading industries, both in the number of
participants and the amount of money in
volved.
MILLIONS OF Americans gamble an
estimated $400 billion annually — only an
eighth of which is wagered legally.
In Texas alone, more than $750 million
is bet annually during football season, ac
cording the the Texas Department of Pub
lic Safety.
In Bryan-College Station, a prospective
bettor can talk to “X.Y.” (not his real in
itials) who hangs out at a popular recre
ational facility or “Cooky the Bookie, ” (not
his real name) who operates out of a pri
vate club. Cooky is considered to be one of
the bigger books in town because he hand
les the “high-roller” traffic. One might also
try one of the gambling restaurant
operators in town.
Lt. Gene Knowles of the Bryan Police
Department and Capt. Jim Reamer of Col
lege Station say there are no statistics on
illegal gambling in the city.
BUT THE ACTION is here for anyone
who knows where to look. Ask any of the
seven bookies operating locally.
It is relatively easy for a bettor and a
bookie to establish contact. I’ve done it. So
have lots of others.
“This place has got a much dirt as any
big city,” one Texas A&M professor said.
“They’re just afraid to expose it.” We
were having a drink at a local lounge
whose owner is said to be a heavy bettor.
Once you know how to contact you local
bookmaker, you should take a few pre
cautions. Check on his past perform
ances. Does the bookmaker always pay
up? Will the bookie give the best handicap
(point spread, “line“) available? How high
is the transaction cost (the “juice” or
. “vigorish”)? How are tie games resolved?
THE BOOKMAKER, if he is smart,
will check out his potential bettor, includ
ing his credit record.
“B.G.,” who began his bookmaking
business in Austin, complained of getting
stiffed too often by bettors who wouldn’t
pay their losses. That is why he is operat
ing here now.
Most bets can be placed on credit. The
bettor and bookie will agree that until one
party owes the other some prearranged
amount, no cash will be exchanged.
The amount “B.G.” and I have agreed
upon is $100 since I am betting on a rela
tively small scale — $25 a game.
Most bookies will get their line out on
the Wednesday preceding the weekend
games and will accept bets until just be
fore kickoff. Many large-scale bookies have
agents or “runners” to handle wagers and
the numerous telephone calls. The bettor
will be given an account number or code
name by which to identify himself when
placing the bets, as in the opening lines of
this article.
JUST AS THE odds on the tote board in
horse racing constantly change, so can the
bookie’s line.
Get your bet down early because what
he quotes you on Wednesday will be the
best “line possible and your contract with
him cannot be changed even if he is forced
to adjust the Ine in the latter part of the
week.
The bookie does this to minimize his po
tential loss and to even up the amount bet
on the competing teams.
The final stage of your transaction with
the bookies is the pay-off and the “juice. ”
For instance, you bet $25 on the Colts
and you gain the point spread. The point
spread is Philadelphia Eagles five over the
Baltimore Colts. Philadelphia defeats the
Colts 17-10.
BY APPLYING the line, the score
would still give a victory to the Eagles by a
two point margin (17-15). Consequently
you would owe the bookie $25 for the bet
and $5 for the “juice,” 20 percent of the
amount wagered. The juice is paid only
when the bettor loses.
The customary juice is 10 percent
(amounts from $50 to $300), 20 percent for
small bets ($50 and down) and 5 percent
for very good customers ($300 and up;
those who bet heavily, lose and pay up
regularly).
Of course, these variables and figures
can change depending on who you are
dealing with and on the competitive mar
ket for bookmakers in the city.