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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1979)
tility metering, billing change ay increase monthly rates !n « o[| eonl ||f: By KIPP SHACKELFORD ' lr .Battalion Reporter aid. ,1 Several thousand College Station ;’ n ” apartinent residents will experience , f ew | an increase in monthly utility bills j w when an ordinance which changes ngl, the metering and billing process be- l es ij. comes effective today. The change will involve raising the cost of electricity for master meter- ingprojects, which have been paying less per kilowatt-hour, to equal the cost of individual metering. -ome disc rodin In individual or residential meter ing, a separate meter is read for each apartment residence, and the indi vidual tenant pays the city. In master metering, one meter is read for an entire apartment complex. These complexes generally include utility costs in the rent. Chuck Hardy, president of the College Station Apartment Associa tion, has formed a committee to study what legal action can be taken to prevent the change from going into effect. # lew students know of or use Campus Chest By MERIL EDWARDS Battalion Reporter Only six or seven students have borrowed money from the Campus sliest loan program this semester, said Jim Pratt, Campus Chest director. “In a student body of 30,000, you’d think there would be more people than this taking out loans,” Pratt said. “Most students don’t know there is such a thing as Campus Chest, though.” Campus Chest is an emergency loan program operated by the Texas k&M University student government. Students may borrow up to [1100 interest free from Campus Chest when they are not able to secure mney from other sources. Pratt defined an emergency situation as an unforeseen combination bf circumstances that calls for immediate financial aid, such as a death jin the family, a fire or an accident. “It is pretty much up to my discretion to decide what is an emergency situation,” Pratt said. “We want to help as many students [is we can, but just want to make sure there is a legitimate need.” CAMPUS CHEST HAS THE authority to block grades if a loan is pot repaid and they have a legal alternative as well. “The suggestion of action on our part to get the money back is usually enough to motivate a student to repay his loan,” Pratt said. “I don’t think many students come to borrow with the intention of not repaying jthe money, but it’s just a matter of neglect, of letting it slip and slide.” Many students in the past have let their loans slip and slide. So last (Fall, the Campus Chest revised their standards. To qualify for a loan, ptudents must not be on scholastic probation or have defaulted on a previous Campus Chest loan. If the loan is not paid back within 60 lays, a charge of 50 cents a month is added to the original amount aorrowed. Last year, the Campus Chest was audited and $3,000 in unpaid loans vas discovered to be missing. Pratt said there was talk at the time of previous directors using the loney. “Mainly, though, it was just a mismanagement of funds,” he [said, “and not enough work was done to get the money back.” “THERE IS ABOUT $1,500 in outstanding loans since 1976 and ve’re working on getting that back now. We re not going back any irther than that right now. Campus Chest also sends flowers to the families of students who die vhile going to school here. In the past, the money for Campus Chest has come from donations Received at home football games. “In recent years, the donations have declined,” Pratt said. “So this year we decided to try a new fund-raisinig project.” Campus Chest will sell 8-by-12 inch wooden plaques with engraved fietal plates of either the school seal or the ring crest on them. Pratt said the student’s name and year of graduation will be engraved on the plaque and special orders for printing variations may arranged. “I feel that it would cost less to buy electricity through one point, as in the master-metering system, than through many individual points,” Hardy said. The Apartment Association is presently in touch with an attorney and hopes to appeal the case. Apart ment operators and owners have also discussed setting up a bank account for contributions to aid the process. Hardy said he feels that expenses and risks are much greater with indi vidual metering than master meter ing. He said that it involves greater labor and transportation costs for the electric company to read and pre pare individual bills than for master-metering projects. Hardy said he feels the city will have more difficulty collecting pay ments from many individuals than from complexes. “Apartment rent has gone up at a slower rate than any other product on the consumer market, but now owners will be forced to raise rents for fall and summer,” said Hardy. The ordinance will greatly affect landlords who have signed leases through the end of May. They will be forced to compensate for dif ferences in the rate increase until the leases expire. They will then have to raise apartment rent. Hardy said. ling in which the change would cause an increase in rates. Similar to mas ter metering, landlords receive a 10 percent discount from the electric company by hiring their own labor to read meters. The tenants pay less due to the discount. Two College Station complexes use submetering. Another plans to convert to the submetering plan in August. Verda, Shelby, manager of the Tree House complex, which plans to change to the submetering process, thinks that prices would be too high for residents if rent was raised to ab sorb the increase in utility rates. Another master-metered complex is Monaco, which has decided to raise rents rather than convert to submetering. “I feel we should get the same break as the submetered apartments because the city has to read only one meter for our complex,” said Ronnie Crow, manager of Monaco. Crow said she feels this ruling will create a hardship on master metered complexes as it will be difficult for them to determine how much rents will have to be raised to compensate for differences in the rates. THE BATTALION THURSDAY, MARCH 1. 1979 Page 5 LOOKING FOR A SUMMER JOB? Camp Waldemar for Girls Hunt, Texas 78024 Will Interview for Women Counselors March 2. Career Planning and Placement Center Rudder Tower OPENINGS FOR 1. Teachers of practically all sports. See complete listing in Career Planning and Placement Center, Rudder Tower. 2. Teachers of dance, drama, body mechanics, aerobics, ceramics, metal and jewelry, textiles and drawing & Painting. 3. Campcraft specialist, camp nurse and office worker. 4. Members of small stage band. Saxes, trumpet, trombone, drums, bass and piano. (All but band members must be at least 2nd semester sophomores) SEE SALARY SCALE AND CAMP DATES IN CAREER OFFICE Sip into something nbie So smooth. Easy to si)). Delicious! Comfort R, s unlike any other liquor. It tastes good just poured over ice. That’s why it makes mixed drink: taste much better, too. Southern Comfort great with: Cola • Bitter Lemon Tonic • orange juice Squirt...even milk Hi ed h 5 ■ Low Noise Preamps I MECHANICAL ■ Mechanisms ■ Packaging DESIGN and DEVELOPMENT IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN GAINING EXPERIENCE IN THE FOLLOWING FIELDS... Servo and Control Optical Design Optical Media ...and you desire a career designing state-of-the-art magnetic DISK AND OPTICAL COMPUTER MEMORIES... Burroughs Corporation located in beautiful Westlake Village, California WILL INTERVIEW YOU ON THIS CAMPUS FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1979. SIGN UP TODAY. DETAILS AVAILABLE AT THE PLACEMENT OFFICE. Bvirroviglas Corporation Westlake Plant (213) 889-1010 Ext. 1035 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER J