Viewpoint
The Battalion Monday
Texas A&M University February 12, 1979
Clements chopping
at the tax tree
By ANN ARNOLD
UPI Capitol Reporter
AUSTIN — Gov. Bill Clements is consid
ering asking legislators to vote to abolish
school taxes on individuals’ homes as part
of his campaign for a $1 billion tax relief
program.
“It’s one of the things that we re consid
ering,” Clements told UPI.
The governor said he will make his rec
ommendations for tax relief when he pres
ents his budget proposals to the Legisla-
. ture — perhaps as early as this week.
“ We re hoping to have it ready the latter
part of the week or early the next week,”
said Tom B. Rhodes, the governor’s acting
financial director.
Clements said he is looking at 20 differ
ent tax cutting suggestions drawn up by
Comptroller Bob Bullock including the
proposal to abolish school taxes on resi
dent homesteads except for levies dedi-
.cated to repay local debts.
School districts would be reimbursed
from state funds for their lost revenues —
estimated to total $897.8 million for the
next two years.
Bullock estimated such a move would
free homeowners from 80 percent of
school taxes and relieve them of 40 per
cent of all property taxes.
, On the downside, the comptroller indi
cated such a move would place almost the
entire weight of school taxes on business
and might discourage new investment in
Texas.
Rhodes said the governor’s advisers are
leaning more toward proposals for provid
ing additional state aid to school districts
and requiring local school districts to cut
property taxes across the board.
“Some of the information that we got
indicated that in a good number of the
smaller districts the $15,000 homestead
exemption (voters authorized for senior
citizens last year) practically eliminated all
school taxes for older homeowners al
ready,” Rhodes said.
The average value of homesteads on tax
rolls across the state is only about $17,000,
and with the $5,000 exemption voters ap
proved for such privately owned resi
dences most homewoners already are re
ceiving a sizeable tax break already,
Rhodes said.
Rhodes said for additional tax relief an
approach such as the legislation sponsored
fry- Sen. Bjtll Meier, D-Euless, and Rep.
nMR
Bennie Bock, D-New Braunfels, might be
more beneficial.
Under the $987 million Meier-Bock
plan one eighth of the state’s 4-cent sales
tax would be dedicated to a school prop
erty tax relief fund.
Clements will want a provision in the
measure to make sure school districts flow
through the funds to taxpayers through
property tax reductions, Rhodes said.
The governor has indicated he also fa
vors abolishing the state’s 10-cent prop
erty tax — a move estimated to benefit
taxpayers at a cost of $95.8 million in lost
revenue to the government.
Other tax relief alternatives on the gov
ernor’s desk include:
—a two year freeze on school taxes with
the state providing $524 million in
additional maintenance for public educa
tion during the next two years.
—a state funded 10 percent reduction in
school maintenance taxes to the tune of
$862 million for two years.
—replacing county property taxes with
state sales tax revenues at a cost of $602
million.
—cutting the state sales tax from 4 to 3
cents and allowing counties to adopt a local
sales tax to replace property taxes.
—a $553 million proposal to limit school
maintenance taxes to .5 percent of the true
market value of property. The limit now is
1.5 percent.
—exempting food sold in restaurants,
nonprescription medicine and production
machinery from the sales tax at a cost of
$700 million for the next two years.
—cutting the sales tax from 4 to 3.5
cents at a cost of $645 million, or to 3 cents
at a cost of $1.3 billion.
—repeal utilities tax at a cost of $192
million.
—change gasoline taxes from 5 cents per
gallon to 5 percent of the purchase price, a
move that would reduce taxes $318 million
for the next two years but could be ex
pected to produce additional revenue as
fuel prices increase.
—base natural gas taxes on quantity in
stead of selling price, a move that would
increase levies on out-of-state buyers.
—raise oil production taxers from 4.6
percent to 7 percent and cut gasoline taxes
at the pump from 5 cents to 2.2 cents a
gallon.
—repeal sales tax on commercial
utilities at a two-year cost of $183 million.
Letters to the Editor
Washington Window
The devout President
By WESLEY G. PIPPERT
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Few persons be
lieve that President Carter has become
less devout, but these days the demands of
his office probably have led him to be less
vocal about his Christian experience.
“I wish, in a way, that I were free to do
more,” Carter, noting the strictures of the
presidency, once told the Southern Bap
tist Missionary Service Corps. “After my
service in my present office. I intend to do
more.”
The fact that every word he speaks is
analyzed by every segment of the popula
tion, both in this coutry and abroad, prob
ably has caused him to be more reticent.
He came to the White House after a
campaign in which he spoke frequently
and in detail about his belief in Christ and
how it had .shaped both his public and pri
vate life.
During the 1975-76 campaign, and dur
ing the first 18 months of his presidency,
he taught Sunday School once a month in
the Baptist churches in Plains and Wash
ington. He has taught only twice in the
past six months.
Part of this is the result of his spending
nearly every weekend away from Wash
ington either traveling or at the presiden
tial retreat at Camp David.
A spokesman for the Couples Class at
the First Baptist Church in Washington
has told reporters they may no longer use
tape recorders in covering Sunday School
lessons. The handful of reporters who
cover Carter at church used them for accu
racy in note-taking.
The change in Carter’s open and em
phasis from personal to more general con
cerns — was seen even more clearly in his
remarks to the annual National Prayer
Breakfasts, the event which more than any
other allows a president to speak out about
his faith.
At the first breakfast, a few days after his
inauguration, he spoke about the biblical
notion of servanthood and Jesus’ admoni
tion that even leaders must be servants
first.
At the 1978 breakfast, he spoke again of
being “born again” and his commitment to
Christ. But the Mideast now was weighing
on Carter’s mind and he spoke of the bond
C ommentary
he shares with Egyptian President Anwar
Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin — all three worship
God.
A few weeks ago, after two years in of
fice, Carter said little directly about his
personal trust in Christ. Speaking in gen
eral terms, he called again for prayer about
the Mideast and he talked about the timid
ity of churches in dealing with con
troversy.
Carter spent several hours on a recent
Sunday with a group of evangelical Chris
tians at the home of former Sen. Harold
Hughes, D-Iowa. It apparently was one of
only a few times, as far as reporters know,
that Carter has met for Christian fellow
ship other than at a worship service. Per
sons who were present said the occasion
was deeply moving.
Chaplain Cecil Reed, who ministers to
Carter at Camp David, spoke recently of
the problem that a president faces.
“There’s a loneliness at the top,” Reed
said. “I’ve seen it over the years, even
with generals. People just won’t let you let
your hair down.”
Aggies don’t
‘hotshots’
Editor:
While reading a leading Houston news
paper, I stumbled across an “exclusive” on
the front page of the sports section. The
article was concernimg Eric Dickerson’s
verbal commitment to play for Texas
A&M. A statement by this supposed hot-
shot, schoolboy blue-chipper upset me ex
tremely.
Dickerson was quoted as saying, “If I
don’t start, he’ll (Wilson) have a hell of a
time keeping his job.” Ha ha, giggle gig
gle, tee hee. What a guy.
Well, what have we got to say to that
Ags? This is my first year here A&M and I
wasn’t so sure about Aggieland when I got
here, but now that I’m here I’m proud to
say that I’d be no other place than here. I
feel that anyone who goes to school here
should be very proud that they are part of
this institution.
Now if this schoolboy (emphasis on
BOY) thinks that we are going to be graced
by his presence here at Texas A&M, he
has got a very rude awakening in store for
him. We don’t need a big-headed high
school kid here, we’ve already got a hell of
a football team.
Hey Eric, the gestalt is now. Either get
your head together or keep looking for a
place to hang your cleats, bucko.
—Mike Carroll, ’82
Editor’s note: According to a Houston
Post column Sunday by Jack Gallagher,
Dickerson’s comment about Wilson was
made in jest.
According to Gallagher’s column Dic
kerson was referring to Tom Wilson’s
comment, “I can’t promise you you’re
going to start. All I’ll promise is I’m going
to play my 11 best. If I don’t do that Ill
lose my job.”
Just to clarify...
Editor:
I would like to clear up some miscon
ceptions and misrepresentations concern
ing mv letter which appeared in the Battal-
need any
The creation theory is a scientifically-
based explanation of origin. It is not a reli
gious doctrine, as some of the people ap
parently thought.
I said that this alternate model of origin
should be taught on a “comparative and
non-religious basis.” When I used the ex
pression “comparative and non-religious,”
I expected the reader to understand that
“comparative” referred to a comparison of
the various assumptions and interpreta
tions of actual facts which the two theories
incorporate.
At no point did I then, or do I now,
advocate the teaching of religion in a pub
licly supported education program. I did,
however, say that the exclusion of the cre
ation theory from the classroom creates an
“intimidating and discriminatory situa
tion” as well as “a most hypocritical depar
ture from scholastic ethics.”
I can still be reached at 845-3897 if any
one has a question or would like to discuss
my letter or the theories.
—Fallon Foster, ’80
Beautify MSC area
Editor:
This is in response to Ray Godsey’s letter
on the Memorial Student Center grass. I
am part of the group that is calling for a
student vote on the hedge. I am not a
veteran, yet I believe the objective is very
commendable. Our group is for the me-
morialization of the grass, but we feel
The What’s Up column is for or
ganizations, clubs and societies that
want to inform readers.
Information should be submitted
on a form available in The Battalion,
Room 216, Reed McDonald Build
ing.
T-'frvm-’-’V-n cFmil4 include the
the hedge is totally unnecessary. This
hedge is to be erected to stop a few people
from walking on the grass.
The first point I would like to make to
Mr. Godsey is that his position on the use of
the money sounds like a person in the fed
eral government. If we don’t stop excess
spending, we re not going to be able to
afford to live. The next point I would like to
make is the most important point of this
letter.
With the hedge you are not upholding
tradition, but legislating it, which totally
breaks down the idea of a tradition. Peo
ple who don’t walk on the grass do so out of
respect, not because they are forced not
to.
Quite a few people that walk on the grass
do so because they don’t know our tra
ditions. Several signs placed in strategic
points on the grass would do much better.
In our petition, we are not saying the
money is to be used on a veterans’ fund, but
we feel the money should be used toward a
much more advantageous purpose.
—H.C. (Hank) Hering, Jr., ’80
Hedge unnecessary
Editor:
I would like to discuss one of the very
controversial issues on campus — the
Memorial Student Center grass. Many dif
ferent solutions have been offered, and
I would like to offer mine.
First of all, does anyone really believe
name of the organization, time and
place of the meeting, and any im
portant details, like the subject of
the meeting.
Forms are next to the black box in
the Battalion office. Information
should be submitted three days
prior before the event.
that putting up shrubs will keep all the
people off the grass? There are people who
are totally against the idea of not being
able to walk and sit on the grass. The
bolder ones would do as they pleased no
matter what was done to try to stop them.
Therefore, the idea of shrubbery would
not accomplish its task.
Personally, I believe the grass should be
memorialized. However, my idea of a
memorial is different from many. I do not
see the harm of a few people walking on
the grass. There is only a very small minor
ity of people who would consider walking
on the MSC grass. This means that I like
the idea of calling the MSC grass a
“memorial,” yet if people really want to
walk across it, they should have the right
to do as they please.
The solution I have to offer is more sim
ple than shrubs, and it would accomplish
the same task much cheaper. The effort
should be made towards making the
grounds look so beautiful that no one
would want to walk across the grass. The
grass should be fertilized and watered in
order for it to stay green. Even flowers
could be planted to add beauty to the area. 1
Signs could be put up saying the grass was
a memorial and asking for everyone’s
cooperation in order to keep it looking like
a memorial. This is the simplest solution, j
and I feel it should be considered.
The idea of memorializing the MSC
grass is a good idea. However, some
people will never agree to that side of the
issue no matter what is done to convince
them. So shrubs, which would be expen
sive, would not eliminate the problem.
Improving the grounds would not be
nearly as expensive and would probably
accomplish as much as the shrubs. There
fore, this is my solution to the problem of
memorializing the grass. I believe people
on both sides of the issue should be able to
relate to my suggestion and that is the rea
son it should be considered and as a solu
tion to the problem of the MSC grass.
—Michelle Tannert, ’82
Tell the Battalion just ‘What’s Up’
Top of the News
CAMPUS
Disco contest will he Friday
Sign-up continues today for a disco dance contest sponsored by
Aggie Cinema. The contest will be Friday in conjunction with the
group’s showing of “Saturday Night Fever.” Semi-finals will be in the
Memorial Student Center Lounge from 11 a. m. to 1 p.m. Finals will
precede the 8 p. m. showing of the movie. There is no entry fee in the
contest, which is open to faculty, students and staff of Texas A&M
University, and prizes will be awarded. Sign-up will be in room 216
of the MSC until 5 p.m. Thursday.
Alumnus to discuss energy policy
Robert Herring, a Distinguished Alumnus and chairman of the
board of the Houston Natural Gas Corp., will be featured on the
University’s Visiting Executive Speaker series today. He will discuss
“The Domestic and International Impact of the National Energy Pol
icy Act” today at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in room 201 of the Memorial
Student Center.
STATE
Sergeants charge unfair recruiting
Army recruiters have helped Fort Worth enlistees cheat on service
qualifying exams and Army officials have covered up the actions, two
recruiters charge. The cheating occurs in an attempt to meet lagging
manpower quotas, according to a copyrighted story published Satur
day in the Fort Worth Star Telegram. Two recruiting sergeants, who
asked they not be identified for fear of Army reprisal, said the Army
had conducted two investigations into recruiting practices in the Fort
Worth-Dallas area between July and October 1978. They said a third
investigation begun in Dallas in October 1978 still was underway.
The sergeants said the Army inquiries were “whitewashes” and “su
perficial.
Jury picked in Beaumont trial
The selection of the final juror is expected this week in the Beau
mont capital murder trial of Linda May Burnett, accused of aiding in
the killings of five members of a Winnie family. District Judge Larry
Gist Friday denied a defense request for additional jury strikes, over
ruled a defense motion to release Burnett from jail and refused to
sequester the jury. The 31-year-old Nederland mother of three was
declared competent to stand trial Thursday.
NATION
Pilot safe after jet crash
A Navy Reserve pilot lost power in his single-engine jet over
southeast Louisiana swampland Sunday and ditched the craft. He
ejected safely. Lt. Cmdr. J.A. Omlid of Houston was on weekend
training duty with reserve squadron 204. He was flying a training
mission from the Naval Air Station in Plaquemines Parish when the
engine in his A7-B jet fighter stalled. Omlid ejected from the plane
southeast of Eunice, La., and landed in Adams Bay. A pleasure boat
picked him up from the water and a Coast Guard helicopter returned
him to the air station.
John Wayne leaves hospital
John Wayne went from the hospital Saturday almost a month after
cancer surgery and was reported “feeling fine. The 71-year-old actor
left UCLA Medical Center at 10:30 a.m. and was driven to his home
in Newport Beach on the Southern California coast. No advance
notice of his departure was given, apparently to avoid alerting news
men. Wayne was operated on Jan. 13 for what was supposed to be
routine gall bladder surgery but a low grade malignant tumor was
discovered in his stomach. His entire stomach was removed and a
new stomach fashioned from intestinal tissue. The cancer was found
to have spread to lymph glands near the stomach and they were also
removed.
UPI reporter dies of wound
United Press International reporter Judy Danielak, who was shot
in the head Tuesday while driving home from work, died Friday
without regaining consciousness. The 21-year-old University of
Arkansas-Little Rock student had worked for UPI since mid-January,
covering the Senate in the current session of the Legislature. Police
said they were conducting interviews in an effort to establish a motive
and find a suspect in the mysterious slaying. Detective Sgt. Walter
Miles of the North Little Rock Police Department, which is heading
the investigation, theorized Danielak was the victim of an indiscrimi
nate shooting.
Susan Ford marries bodyguard
Susan Ford, 21, daughter of former President Gerald Ford, Satur
day married Charles Vance, her father’s 37-year-old former body
guard, before a packed house in Palm Desert, Calif. The guests in
cluded singer Frank Sinatra and other celebrities.
WEATHER
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Overcast of fog and stratus this morning becoming fair to
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Editor Kimljs
Managing Editor LuNet
Assistant Managing Editor .Andy Willis*
Sports Editor David f
City Editor Scott 1
Campus Editor Steve 1:
News Editors Debbie Per
Beth Calhoun
Staff Writers Karen Rogers, M
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Blake, Dillard Stone,
Bragg, Lyle Lovett
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Photographer Lynnl
Focus section editor Gary Well
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