Battalion
Friday, April 6, 1979
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
A park is a park?
The “park” on Holleman and
Anderson streets in College Sta
tion is really a vacant lot, and it
seems the owner wants the city
to buy it. See page 7.
Bill limiting state school sales
could close MSC bookstore
: green and white of Texaco was replaced by the maroon and white ot
Aggieland March 29. Mike Fletcher and Jack Pryor do the honors re
painting Bill Walden’s Texaco station. Battalion photo by Colin Crombie
exaco gives m;
station repainted
By SALLY DREYFUS
Battalion Reporter
Never underestimate the power of Aggies.
I “The Texaco station on University Drive has been repainted maroon and white
once again.
^tudents wrote letters to the division sales office in Dallas complaining of the
red and green colors the station was painted, William T. Chesser, supervisor for
maintenance and operations for the Dallas division said.
Lynn Ashby, columnist for the Houston Post, said in his column March 29,
You’d think Texaco would have more important items on the agenda than trying
toforce one station in a college town to repaint, thus losing its uniqueness - and
several good customers - in the process. Get with the program, Texaco.
And so they did. The station was painted maroon and white March 29.
Chesser said the whole situation was just a misunderstanding. “We never had
any intention of changing the color. It was just a miscommunication with the paint
extractors. We just didn’t look into the situation.’
f^hesser and Walding both said they think Ashby’s article helped in getting the
station repainted.
BSure Ashby’s article had something to do with it, but we had already decided
tolrepaint it before the article,” Chesser said.
■The station looks a lot better maroon and white,” Walding said, “The first time
ml' station was painted maroon and white, I fanagled a tea-sip into painting it. He
was the area rep.”
aValding said there was no way of pinpointing whether or not the green and red
station affected sales.
■Gas sales are down anyway, ” Walding said. “We were out of gas over a week
last month.”
HRValding said he did want to thank “you people and Texaco.”
■This situation is a little unusual,” he said. “It shows people can get results out
of a big company. They’ll listen to their customers.”
•ter turnout may be increased
With easier ballot, more booths
By JEAN LONGSERRE
Battalion Reporter
Voting in student elections usually
means searching for voting booths and
standing in long waiting lines, but this
.year things will be different, said Bill
Jentsch, student election commissioner.
jTast year students had to stand in line
bfflse the computer voting machines,”
jentsch said. “The ballots had to be put on
the-machines and students had to punch
^ jtoles by their choices.” Jentsch said the
JWcedure caused long lines and as a re
sult, lack of voters.
^Election ballots this year are similar to
khiovement tests and are in book form.
a voter does is mark, with a number
!s|encil, the candidates he wants to vote
for, Jentsch said.
Jentsch said the votes will be tabulated
by computer in the Teague Center. Last
'ear polling booth were closed at 1 p.m.
•ecause ballots had to be taken to San
Marcos to be tabulated.
The polls will open Monday and Tues-
a4at 9 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.
"We are having eight voting spots this
fear Jentsch said. “Last year there were
I Bseven.”
Joting will be held in the Memorial
Student Center, the Commons, the Corps
Gukrd Room, Kleberg Center, Sbisa and
8t jill three bus stops. Only one polling
place was located at a bus stop last year,
■he new system should make it easier
forltudents to vote,” Jentsch said.
Tolls will be manned by volunteers from
Onjega Phi Alpha and Alpha Phi Omega,
the University service sorority and frater
nity Jentsch said unmanned polls should
Bbe a problem.
Jptsch said the ballot will include a re-
fertndum concerning graduation with
»rs. Voters will decide if the grade
Wit averages for graduating magna cum
Be, summa cum laude and cum laude
should remain 3.9, 3.7 and 3.5 or be low
ered to 3.75, 3.5 and 3.25.
Jentsch said students need their activity
card and and identification card to vote.
By KEITH TAYLOR
Battalion Staff
Texas Aggie T-shirts won’t be sold at the
Texas A&M Bookstore on campus if a bill
in the Texas Senate passes. And student
organizations would probably lose at least
$120,000 in funds from bookstore profits.
The bill, now in the Texas Senate Edu
cation Committee, would prevent state
university bookstores from selling goods
not related to educational purposes.
That means the campus bookstore could
not sell goods such as mugs, sporting
goods and toiletries. The bill would also
close the candy shop on the first floor of
the Memorial Student Center.
John Raney, an off-campus bookstore
owner in College Station, proposed the
bill to Sen. O.H. Harris, R-Dallas.
Off-campus merchants say they feel the
bill would be a victory for free enterprise,
but the campus bookstore management
feels it would cut services and inconve
nience students.
“When you think about it, government
should not be in the business to make a
profit.” Raney said Wednesday afternoon.
“That should be left to private enterprise.
Why don’t they (the University) go into
every kind of business in the world? Then
what would you have — socialism.”
Raney and Judson Loupot, another
Northgate area bookstore owner, feel the
sale of non-educational goods by the
bookstore is unfair competition by the
state against private business.
“All we’re asking is they could be in the
market place in the same manner we are
and they can’t do it as long as they are
provided with money from the taxpayers
of the state of Texas,” he said. “How can
they compete with us fairly?”
Howard Vestal, vice president for busi
ness affairs, said the bill would probably
not help the off-campus merchants.
“I don’t believe most visitors will go
off-campus to buy these things,” he said.
“It is impulse buying.” He said most gift
item sales are to visitors on the campus.
The Northgate merchants say visitors
would go off-campus to buy the goods.
Charles Cargill, director of business
services, which runs the campus
bookstore, also opposes the legislation.
“It is doubtful the store could survive if
the bill is passed, ” he said Tuesday after
noon. “The bill would completely elimi
nate any contributions to the students.
The bookstore cannot exist on the mark-up
on books alone.
“There has not been anything in many
years that could be as financially disastrous
to the students or the taxpayers as this bill.
“The campus organizations would have
to get their money somewhere else. Stu
dent service fees are possible, so this could
cost the student more money.”
A proposal already in the student gov
ernment would raise the limit on student
service fees from $20 to $23,
Profits from the bookstore help finance
150 student organizations, including the
Texas Aggie Band, the Residence Hall As
sociation and the bonfire.
In fiscal year 1978 (ending Aug. 30,
1978), the bookstore showed a profit of
about $400,000. Campus organizations got
$100,000 of the profits.
Fiscal year 1979 will not end until Au
gust, but Cargill said the store has already
allocated $120,000 for campus organiza
tions.
The rest of the profits were turned back
into a reserve fund used to support the
inventory of the store.
“That $120,000 is a spit in the bucket
compared to what you are already paying
in student service fees that goes to the
same projects,” said John Raney. He said
the students are essentially forced to pay
this money when they buy goods from the
campus bookstore.
With a campus population of about
30,000, the bookstore share for each stu
dent is about $4.
Raney and Loupot said the campus
bookstore has many advantages that give it
an unfair edge in competition. They said
the University bookstore does not have to
pay the taxes that they do as private busi
nesses.
Loupot said up to half of his gross profits
are used to pay taxes and utilities. Raney
added that the campus store does not have
expens ve capital and does not have to pay
interest on loans.
Raney asked, “Do you know that Con
gress passed a law about two years ago, the
Postal Reorganization Act, that allows in
stitutional bookstores to receive (by mail)
their books at library rates, which is almost
one-half the cost of fourth class book rate I
have to pay for my books?”
Cargill said he knew of no law that al
lows tbe campus bookstore this advantage.
According to the Newspaper
Enterprises Association World Almanac,
the postal service law allows a special rate
for the exchange of books between col
leges and libraries.
Raney and Loupot also say the location
of the bookstore creates an unfair advan
tage, but Cargill said the location provides
the students a convenient service.
Cargill said he does not feel the campus
bookstore is unfairly competing with off-
cam pu s' m erchant s.
“If we went off-campus, then we could
be accused of competing with them, but
we are on campus,” Cargill said. “We
don’t advertise anywhere except in The
Battalion. We are an auxiliary service.
“We look at the campus as a family and
we are an internal part of it. Our motive is
service and there is obviously a need.”
The Texas A&M Bookstore does have an
advertisement in the Yellow Pages.
Vestal said the Texas A&M administra
tion has sent a position paper that opposes
the bill to the Legislative Budget Board,
which evaluates bills for the Legislature
and estimatzyeir economic impact.
“There is no real purpose for this bill
except a profit motive by those instigating
it,” Cargill said.
Texas A&M University’s polarized ion source is
hard at work in the Cyclotron. Officials say that an
No possibility of accident here
accident similar to the one near Harrisburg, Pa.,
could not happen here. Battalion photo by Bob Cook
A&M’s nuclear reactor safe
By RHONDA WATTERS
Battalion Reporter
It would be impossible for an incident
similar to the accident on Three Mile Is
land to take place at Texas A&M Univer
sity’s nuclear reactor, said a coordinator at
the Texas A&M Nuclear Science Center.
“The reactor here is used for teaching
purposes, research and the production of
isotopes,” said Dr. Rion Causey, a profes
sor in the nuclear engineering depart
ment. He said that the reactor is not a
power reactor and does not have high
enough temperature and pressure to be a
potential danger.
Causey explained that the danger in
reactor plants comes from the reaction of
steam with the zirconium barrier on the
New Batt, Aggieland editors picked
fuel rods, releasing hydrogen gas. The
Texas A&M reactor has no steam system,
so there is no possibility of an accident
such as the one on Three Mile Island.
Ken Walker, reactor coordinator for the
Texas A&M plant, said that although no
one is really sure what happened at Three
Mile Island, preliminary indications show
the problem was due to human error. He
said that it'seems that someone had turned
off a valve.
Walker said he blamed the media for
creating a situation appearing to be worse
than it was. “It (the accident) caught us by
surprise ... but in my opinion it was not
even ‘almost’ catastrophic.” He also em
phasized that there were no deaths from
the accident and no immediate known
injuries.
Causey said he thought the incident was
a “newsworthy” event and felt it merited
much of the heavy coverage it received by
the media. “I don’t think it has all been
blown out of proportion,” he said.
Causey added that the lack of confirma
tion of stories was very confusing and
caused much of the public alarm.
As for the effect of the incident on the
future of the nuclear industry, Causey said
that he thinks nuclear energy is too eco
nomical to be discontinued. He said that
there is a referendum in Chicago calling
for a moratorium on the building of future
plants, but he feels Chicago voters will
vote in favor of nuclear energy, primarily
because 40 percent of the city’s power
comes from nuclear plants.
In Austin Saturday, citizens will vote -to
see whether they want to hold onto their
16 percent interest in the $2.07 billion
South Texas Nuclear Project, which is
building a plant about 70 miles southwest
of Houston.
Bringing the incident to a local level,
Causey said that “something interesting
will be to see how many freshman enter
nuclear engineering in the fall.”
He said that parents of incoming
freshman could possibly influence their
children against going into the nuclear
field as a result of the incident.
By RUSTY McDONALD
Battalion Reporter
Liz Newlin has been selected fall editor
of The Battalion, Karen Rogers summer
editor of The Battalion and Pat O’Malley
editor of the 1980 Aggieland.
The three were elected Thursday eve
ning by the seven-member Student Publi
cations Board, an advisory group made up
of three students and four faculty and staff
members. Newliq and Rogers were
elected unanimously while O’Malley won
with five votes.
Newlin, a junior communications major
from Tyler, plans for more consistent and
in-depth coverage of the campus and re
search done at Texas A&M University.
She said in her application that she wants
to put the emphasis on Texas A&M stu
dents in the weekly Focus entertainment
section and have more participation in the
editorial page by both staffers and readers.
Newlin was editor of her high school
newspaper two years and has won several
awards for reporting and editing. She has
worked for the Tyler Courier-Times-
Telegraph and the Bryan Eagle.
Her awards include Outstanding Junior
for the College of Liberal Arts, a first place
in Spot News Reporting from the South
western Journalism Congress (’79), presi
dent of the campus chapter of Women In
Communications Inc. and a President’s
Endowed Scholarship.
Rogers, a senior journalism major from
Houston, plans to have more in-depth re
porting in The Battalion along with more
Carter unleashes prices
he hopes to cut energy use
LIZ NEWLIN
feature stories.
During the summer of 1978, she served
as an intern for the Houston Chronicle
covering the civil courts and writing gen
eral assignment features.
Rogers has had two years exprience on
the campus newspaper as both a staff
member and as a city reporter. Her honors
include a first place in headline writing at
the Southwestern Journalism Congress
(’79) and membership in Sigma Delta Chi,
the society of professional journalists.
O’Malley, a junior industrial distribu-
PAT O’MALLEY
tion major from Houston, is presently co
editor of the 1979 Aggieland. As editor he
plans to keep the job of head photo
grapher, which he says cuts out time and
money by reducing this step in the pro
cess.
O’Malley has been a free-lance photo
grapher for publications in Houston, Dal
las and College Station. In high school he
was a photographer, sports editor and
editor of the yearbook. He has also been
on the 1977, 1978 and 1979 Aggieland
staffs. \
United Press International
WASHINGTON — President Carter to
the American people: Drive less and pay
mo^e per gallon — it will hurt you in the
wallet, but eventually it will make the
country energy-strong.
Carter to Congress: Don’t let your con
stituents bear all the pain — declare war
on the petroleum lobby and slap the big oil
companies with a windfall profits tax.
The president, despite some evidence
to the contrary from Europe, is gambling
the political and economic impacts of end
ing U.S. oil price controls will be more
than offset by the conservation benefits of
higher fuel prices.
And he is challenging Congress either to
ease the sting of his decontrol move with a
windfall profits tax or to bear the onus for
letting oil companies reap an unearned
bonanza.
It is a large gamble. And Carter is well
aware it will provoke a fight.
“I’ll give it to you straight,” a somber
president told Americans in a formal, na
tionally televised address Thursday night.
“Each of us will have to use less oil and pay
more for it.”
Gradually removing price controls from
U.S. crude oil between June 1 of this year
and Sept. 30, 1981, will drive gasoline
prices up anywhere from 5 to 20 cents a
gallon by 1982, depending on who makes
the estimate, and boost the price of every
other product — nitrogen fertilizer and
synthetic fabric to auto tires and plastic —
tbat is derived from petroleum.
Administration officials said their esti
mates showed higher prices in the long
run would curb energy use, reducing U.S.
oil imports.
But in France, where gasoline pump
prices have soared in recent years from 80
cents to more than $2.50 a gallon, con
sumption is at record levels.
Reaction came swiftly. It split generally
along geographical lines — praised by
those from oil-producing states and
damned by others.
“It’s a declaration of war on the North
east,” said Democratic Rep. Toby Moffett
of Connecticut, which is heavily depen
dent on oil.
But Republican Sen. Henry Bellmon,
from oil-rich Oklahoma, said Carter s plan
was “the first step in the right direction
and should have come sooner.