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The budget for the the Texas bound volumes— with three for
A&M University System is more the
complicated than your average cam
checkbook. But
is the
In fact, the computer printout with it right nowr pa
and 7.
version is eomi
Filibuster ends
after 9 hours
United Press International
AUSTIN — A handful of Senate liberals
ended a nine-hour filibuster Monday night
against an auto fee bill they said would add
$46 million annually to the price of new
cars after Lt. Gov. William P. Hobby
agreed not to allow a vote on the measure
until today.
Sen. A.R Schwartz, D-Galveston, who
had teamed with Sen. Lloyd Doggett,
D-Austin, in nonstop talking that began at
11:20 a.m., surrendered at 8:20 p.m. for a
vote on the bill, which he called a disgrace
to the legislative system.
Doggett said he will again speak against
the measure s final passage, but will not
attempt a long filibuster against it.
The legislators also failed to force con
cessions they sought on another bill reduc
ing consumers’ power to recover damages
under the state’s Deceptive Trade Prac
tices Act.
Doggett shuttled between the filibuster
and closed-door negotiations with Sen.
Bill Meier, D-Euless, in an effort to reach
a compromise on Meier’s proposed re
visions to the Deceptive Trade Practices
Act.
Meier agreed to eight changes in his
bill, but refused to yield on the most con
troversial section of the bill — one remov
ing provisions in the present law giving
consumers automatic treble damages from
businesses which swindle them and re
quiring the consumers to prove they were
intentionally defrauded before they can
collect any damages.
“It’s not the quantity of changes, it’s the
quality,” said Doggett, who plans to talk
against the bill when it comes up today.
“The changes he agreed to were mostly
cosmetic. On the critical question of
whether it would be possible to collect
treble damages any longer, he’s unyield
ing, I’m unyielding, and there is no com
promise.”
Monday’s filibuster was aimed directly
at a bill by Sen. Tom Creighton,
D-Mineral Wells, allowing auto dealers to
charge up to $35 as a “documentary fee”
for handling paper work on sales of new or
used cars. But Sen. Ron Glower,
D-Garland, said the filibuster also indi
rectly forced Meier into negotiations on
his bill.
“We wouldn’t be having the meeting if
it hadn’t been for the filibuster. It would
have already gone to the House,” Glower
said.
“This state has been in the lobby’s hip
pocket ever since I came here in 1960,”
Schwartz said. “There ain’t no excuse for a
bill like this except the lobby wants it. The
lobby drafted it, the lobby introduced it
and the lobby’s going to pass it.
Price gouging—
hotline can help
set up housekeeping. At last investigation, the bird was incubating one
tiny egg.
Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper
United Press International
WASHINGTON — More than 100
motorists a day are calling a special federal
hotline to report potential overcharges by
gasoline station operators.
Personnel at the Economic Regulatory
Administration of the Department of
Energy have been busy taking calls since
Feb. 14 when the hotline began being de
voted exclusively to gasoline complaints.
Through March, officials said more than
2,500 people had complained, and
spokeswoman Peggy Dalrymple said per-
ISD board elects Bryan
11 & 22
By REGINA MOEHLMAN
Battalion Reporter
Travis B. Bryan Jr., who was unopposed
his re-election to school board Position
was elected president of the Bryan In-
lependent School Board of Trustees
londay night.
■
jBijyan has served on the board for eight
pears He has been chairman of the build
ing Committee and vice president of the .
Mard.
Jaines W. Stegall, who was also re
sected Saturday, was elected as vice presi-
lentmnd Tom Borski was chosen secretary
for the next year.
Diie to new HEW regulations, the
Ward approved addition of maternity cov-
irage to the current Blue Cross and Blue
Shield insurance policy covering the dis
tricts employees.
The added policy will pay all hospital
prfees, 80 percent of doctor bills and will
notlequire a deductible fee, said C.B.
McGown, director of personnel for BISD.
We are not the highest paying school
Strict, but we must not forget the tre-
\-board allows Morrison
to continue campaign today
mendous insurance our employees get
free,” McGown said.
The benefits will be in effect May 1, in
accordance with federal requirements.
At the same time, board members ap
proved an overall increase of 40 percent in
school insurance costs, 13 percent of
which is due to the added maternity bene
fits. The increase is due to greater usage
and medical costs in the last year, said Dr.
Wesley K. Summers, superintendent for
BISD.
Presently it costs BISD $16.51 per year
to insure each employee. With the added
coverage, it will cost $22.61.
McGown said he could not find another
insurance company that could offer BISD
a better program at a better rate than the
current Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan.
The board accepted the interest rate bid
of First Bank and Trust of Bryan for school
deposits and loans for the period of Sept.
1, 1979, to Aug. 31, 1981.
City National Bank of Bryan was the
only other bank to offer a bid.
Finally, the board affirmed its responsi
bility to educate children who will live in
100 new units of low rent public housing in
Bryan. The units will be located at the
corner of Leonard Road and Bittle Lane in
Bryan.
Some evacuees of deadly fumes
allowed to return; others cant
TRAVIS BRYAN
By KEITH TAYLOR
Battalion Stall
J Wayne Morrison will be able to con
tinue his campaign for student body presi-
pt today. Just after midnight today the
Went government judicial board over
timed an earlier ruling by the election
lommissioner.
The judicial board met Monday night to
wle on a petition filed by Morrison pro-
pting his suspension from campaigning
0n >Monday and Tuesday.
1 Bill Jentsch, the election commissioner,
pred Morrison from campaigning after
M e amed Morrison had obtained a mas-
py of the election ballot Friday from
the desk of the student government secre
tly without permission.
jfentsch contended that although there
I no specific rule in the election rules
ing with the situation, Morrison’s ac
tion is illegal under the Texas Open Rec
ords Act.
The open records law says that open
fcfirds cannot be obtained from personal
[les without the permission of the custo-
dian of the files.
■he custodian of the files in this case is
■secretary for the student government.
■orrison said Monday night that he —
as a vice president of student government
— regularly retrieves items from the sec
retary’s desk. He was asked to get the bal
lot for publication in The Quadrangle, the
Corps of Cadets’ newsletter, he said.
In the petition, Morrison protested his
suspension on grounds that the election
commissioner does not have the power to
prevent a candidate from campaigning. He
said only the judicial board has this power.
The judicial board ruled that Morrison
did not violate election rules per se, be
cause such a rule is not written there. The
board also ruled that Jentsch had acted in
good faith and had made a difficult and
conscientious decision in suspending
Morrison. It concluded that Morrison had
received enough punishment by missing
campaigning time and allowed him to
campaign today.
Morrison did not campaign Monday
morning because of the suspension, but
started campaigning again that afternoon
after he filed the petition with the judicial
board. He was not able to campaign
Monday night because of the five-hour
judicial board meeting.
Morrison, presently vice president of fi
nance, said that he had taken the master
copy of the ballot from the student gov
ernment secretary’s desk. Morrison took
the copy and gave it to a student govern
ment aide to be copied so it could be re
printed in The Quadrangle, the Corp of
Cadets’ newsletter. He said he did it as a
favor Steve Fulton, editor of the Quad
rangle.
Fulton said he had sent a freshman to
the student government office to obtain a
copy of the ballot. The freshman was de
nied the ballot and went to Morrison.
Morrison copied the ballot and gave it to
the freshman.
Morrison said he did have a list of can
didates in his room, but he felt it would be
easier to copy the ballot in the desk. He
said he did not think at the time he was
violating election rules.
“I admit my judgement was not up to
par. I made a mistake.”
The master ballot that Morrison copied
had the computer-coded numbers next to
the names of the candidates. A person
with this ballot and the answer sheets
would have the means to cast false votes in
the election.
Jentsch said he did not question the
honor or integrity of Morrison.
Mark Watts, chairman of the judicial
board, agreed.
“There was no dishonesty in this case.”
United Press International
MILLIGAN, Fla. — Officials Monday
permitted some of the 5,000 persons who
fled possibly deadly fumes spewing from
derailed tank cars to return to their homes
as the leaking subsided.
Shortly before noon, Okaloosa County
Civil Defense Director Thomas Nichols al
lowed families living outside a TV^-mile
radius of the derailment site in a swampy
pine forest in Florida’s Northern Panhan
dle to return to their homes.
He had no firm figure on how many
people returned, but estimated about
1,000.
Officials evacuated a 395-square-mile
area around the wreck site Sunday after
the morning derailment, which triggered a
series of explosions that blanketed the area
with deadly fumes.
Voting OK
for all ‘zips’
Some graduating seniors were not al
lowed to vote in campus elections due to a
“misunderstanding” Monday morning.
Bill Jentsch, election commissioner,
said there was no policy written on
whether to allow graduating seniors to
vote. He said the rule as written was not
clear.
“We got it all cleared up,” Jentsch said.
Melanie Zentgraf, a member of the elec
tion commission, said the commission had
decided not to let graduating seniors vote
this year.
But Jentsch said he changed the rule
Monday morning when he found out that
graduating seniors had been allowed to
vote in past elections. He said he went to
the polls around noon and told the poll
workers of the change.
“All a senior has to do is go back to the
polls and he will be allowed to vote,” he
said. “All you have to have is an ID and an
activity card.”
Jeb Hensarling, a candidate for vice
president of external affairs, said he
brought the matter to the attention of
Jentsch after some seniors had come into
the student government office complain
ing of the rule.
He said the present student govern
ment had not passed a resolution to pro
hibit graduating seniors from voting and
he saw no reason to stop them.
“In my opinion he (Jentsch) overstep
ped his bounds,” Hensarling said.
Workers at the polls said that before
Jentsch told them of the rule change, they
had been using the honor system by asking
seniors if they were graduating or not.
Technicians wearing gas masks who
moved into the wreck site after daybreak
Monday said 27 cars of the east-bound
Louisville & Nashville train had derailed
and that deadly gasses were still leaking
from four tanker cars.
“There are potential dangers that still
exist at the site, ” said Peter Gill, a hazard
ous materials expert from L&N’s parent
company. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad.
“However, the commodities that are leak
ing are not leaking as bad as last night.”
sonnel taking the calls “have been
swamped.”
As a result of the calls, the agency has
sent out more than 1,000 letters notifying
gasoline stations of the complaints. About
170 stations have been targeted for special
audits and 12 stations have been singled
out for legal action.
Many of the complaints have been re
ceived from callers in or near Washington,
D.C., New York City, Chicago, southern
Florida, Southern California, Detroit,
Boston and Baton Rouge, La.
But Dalrymple said it may be that
motorists in those areas are more aware of
the hotline’s existence, rather than it
being an indication of excessive price
gouging.
Personnel are available until 3:30 p.m.
GST Monday through Friday to take calls
on the no-toll national hotline (800) 424-
9246. In the District of Columbia area the
number is 254-5474.
Dalrymple said callers should) provide
“the dealer’s name and address and some
specifics about the grade of gasoline, what
the sticker price on the pump said, and
how much they paid for the gasoline.”
Violators can be required to refund
overcharges to customers and face fines of
up to $10,000 a day per violation in the
case of willful gouging.
A group of Texas A&M students cast their votes for the Student Gov
ernment elections at the bus stop by the Reed McDonald Building
Monday. Other polling places, which will be open today from 9 a.m. to 6
p.m., are the Memorial Student Center, the Commons dormitories, the
Corps Guard Room, Kleberg Center, Sbisa dining hall, and at the three
bus stops (east of the MSC, south of the Oceanography and Meteorology
Building and by the Reed McDonald Building). Students must show
their ID Cards and aCtivitiy Cards to VOte. Battalion photo by Lynn Blanco