|OME EARNED BY PERMANENT UNIVERSITY FUND
AS COMPARED TO TOTAL INVESTMENTS
INVESTMENTS
A&M, UT endowment
faces capital challenge
Actual Cash Basis Accrued Basis
Total Fund Invested
Income Earned
rhe exact income (solid line) earned in ’78 by the Permanent University
fund (PUF) is $64,548,822.53, and it was split one-third for Texas A&M
Jniversity and two-thirds for the University of Texas. The increase in
avestments is also shown (dotted line). For more details on the PUF and
low it grew, see pages 8-9. Chart from the 1978 annual investment report on the PUF
By LIZ NEWLIN
Battalion Staff
The Permanent University Fund — the
billion-dollar endowment for UT and A&M
— is under attack from within and without
the state. And something should break
loose soon.
A bill on the Texas House floor today and
an HEW report in Washington for two
months now will probably change distribu
tion of the fund.
The PUF is built on revenues from 2.1
million acres in West Texas for sole use by
the Texas A&M University and University
of Texas systems to create “a university of
the first class.”
In modern terms, the fund is used as
collateral for construction bonds, and the
profits both repay the bonds with interest
and enrich the campus here and at UT-
Austin.
Last year that enrichment here amount
ed to about $4 million for the campus, $8.5
million for construction here and $8 mil
lion to finance Texas A&M System bonds.
The UT System received about $41 mil
lion, twice what Texas A&M got.
That one-third, two-thirds split was de
cided back in the 1930s by legislators for
“political convenience,” according to Texas
A&M historian Dr. Henry C. Dethloff.
(Before then, Texas A&M had received
scarce benefit from the PUF.) These splits
are imminent. But for some of the same
reasons:
—The PUF and its distribution are out
lined in the Texas Constitution and sta
tutes, so no other state college or university
can touch it. That’s one challenge.
—Within the systems themselves, not all
institutions — like Moody College — can
benefit from the fund, and not equally.
That’s another challenge.
—Finally, the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare will most probably
find some “vestiges’ of racial discrimina
tion from its state-wide investigation of
higher education, as it has in other South
ern states. HEW can theoretically force
redistribution of the PUF through with
holding federal funds. That’s the third chal
lenge.
The constitutional amendment
scheduled for the House floor today is Se
nate Joint Resolution 7 (SJR 7), most fa
mous for its repeal of the 10-cent state
property tax. That tax financed construc
tion at 22 state colleges and universities not
in the Texas A&M or UT systems.
In its place it creates from tax revenues
another fund — known as SHEAF — for
construction. Debate today is expected
over the exact configuration of SHEAF.
Reporters at the Capitol have long said,
but not always written, that Texas A&M
and UT support the SHEAF plan to protect
the PUF.
Robert C. Cherry, Texas A&M’s legisla
tive liaison, wouldn’t comment Tuesday.
President Jarvis E. Miller laughed, but
he would only say, “That’s a very logical
assumption.”
That takes care of one challenge.
The other two appear somewhat linked
through Prairie View University.
But first, SJR 7 would also affect another
part of the Texas A&M System — the Texas
Maritime Academy — known as Moody
College. The amendment, which still must
be passed by both houses and the voters,
would let Moody use PUF bonds for con
struction on its campus; it has not been able
to before.
Miller says Texas A&M could easily af
ford the added expense since the bill also
increases by 50 percent the amount of
bonds the systems may issue. That would
mean a one-time catch-up issue of about
(Please turn to Page 8.)
REP. SENFRONIA THOMPSON
Hullabaloo i canoe...
A pair of Aggies broke the record
over the weekend in winning the na
tional concrete canoeing cham
pionships in Manhattan, Kan. The
sport’s a new one to you, you say?
See page 3.
riri
JLhe
Battalion
Vol. 72 No. 147
16 Pages
Wednesday, May 2, 1979
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
as crunch
Price hikes expected locally
By RICHARD OLIVER
WB , ... Battalion Staff
Citizens in Bryan-College Station can
Ifuy gasoline on Sundays, but shouldn’t
t on this luxury for long,
a survey of 20 Bryan-College Station
stations on Texas Avenue, half indi-
0. they would be selling gasoline on
u|iys, while the other half said gas was
I scarce for them to remain open.
Claude Dobbins, owner of Dobbin’s
notation at 306 S. Texas Ave., said, “I
ted closing on Sundays the last time
jot in this mess. It just doesn’t pay
Ipbre to stay open. Profits are down and
e seems to be no end. ”
%y Nash, on the other hand, is doing
^business and plans to remain open on
days.
|fash, part-owner of Nash’s Seco at 200
Jexas Ave., said, “We re going to have
ugh (gas). As long as we re doing good
Bless and no one tells us to close, we re
to stay open.”
jihough some owners are optimistic
ut the gas situation, some distributors
© area are pessimistic about the future,
ick Broach, owner of D & B Oil Co.,
K-ts gas prices to rise in the next few
Bis, causing more stations to close on
pays.
I the present time, we’re cutting hours
j|veral of our stations in the area,’ he
I expect gas will rise another four or
^■ents a gallon in the next 60 days.”
Andy Sustaita, a dealer for Phillips 66,
was more specific.
“Last month they cut our allocation
down to 70 percent of what we were receiv
ing at this point last year,” he said. “I fully
expect prices to rise to a dollar a gallon or
more before the year is up, if not sooner.”
Sustaita said the strange thing about the
rise in gas prices is that the public is con
suming just as much, if not more, than
before.
“I don’t think they’ll cut down in con
sumption any time soon,’ he said. “I sup
pose it’ll stay the same for quite awhile.”
Carl Coslett, manager of Pilger Exxon on
1721 Texas Ave., disagreed with Sustaita.
“I think once school lets out and the kids
take off for the summer, the consumption
will go down,” he said. “It always slows
down about that time.”
Broach, however, said the prime
gasoline consumption months are May
through September, and he expects con
sumption will remain the same overall.
“Sure, the gasoline consumption will de
crease in our area, especially in College
Station,” he said. “But, in our case, our
stations are also on the interstates and
highways, so they’ll add to the total con
sumption when summer rolls around.”
The 20 gas stations averaged a 10 to 15
percent cutback in allocations for the
month of compared to the same time last
year.
Broach said he believes this trend will
continue. ,
“This month we are down to only 80
percent of the allocation we got last year, ”
he said. “It’s becoming a real problem, and
we re having to cut down the hours more
and more in all our stations.”
Coslett, however, doesn’t believe there
is a gas shortage.
“Our gas situation has worked out pretty
well,” he said. “The way things are going, I
can’t see that there is a gas shortage. I really
don’t believe there is one.”
Broach disagrees.
“There is a shortage, no doubt about it,”
he said. “Everything points toward it.”
The stations surveyed averaged 72 cents
a gallon for regular and 78 cents for un
leaded, up 50 percent from last year at this
time.
Gene Zulkowski, owner of Zulkowski
Texaco on 1405 S. Texas Ave., was angry
over the high prices he was paying.
“We re definitely getting shafted price-
wise,” he said. “It’s taking our bread and
butter away from us. Our allocation gets
lower and lower monthly, so we re trying to
stay open all we can.
“The fact remains, however, if a gas sta
tion runs out of gas at any time, it hurts the
very ones who are keeping the station
open, the customers, and I really hate to
see that happen.’
Draft protesters
storm Congress
United Press International
WASHINGTON — A House subcom
mittee’s approval of resuming military reg
istration for 18-year-old men for the first
time since Vietnam already has brought
shouting protesters into the halls of Con
gress.
There will be more of the same across the
country.
The House Armed Services subcommit
tee on military personnel voted unanim
ously Monday to require the president to
register all males who become 18 on or after
Jan. 1, 1981.
The proposal, which must be approved
by the full committee before it can be de
bated by the House as part of legislation
authorizing weapons purchases and setting
military strength ceilings, would not go
into effect until after the 1980 congres
sional and presidential elections.
Several hundred young people, waving
Vietnam-era signs that depicted draft card
burnings and resist-the-draft slogans, pro
tested against registation as a step toward
resuming the draft and chanted, “Hell, no,
we won’t go!” outside the Capitol.
Diploma dispenser
About 100 of them later jammed a House
office building hallway outside the office of
Rep. Paul McCloskey, R-Calif. They con
tinued their chant and argued noisily with
the congressman, who has proposed that all
youths — men and women — be obligated
to perform either civilian or military serv
ice.
Rev. Barry Lynn, head of the Committee
Against Registration and the Draft, con
demned the registration plan as “a fraudu
lent and cowardly act” and said, “We want a
full-blown debate before they take any of us
away again.”
Congressmen who addressed the rally
pledged to fight the proposal. The demon
stration was one of 70 scheduled across the
nation this week.
The last draft callup was in 1972 as
American troops prepared to leave
Vietnam. Registration, scorned by many
young men who refused to comply, was
scrapped three years later.
But registration and possible return of
the draft now are being discussed because
of claims the all-volunteer military system
cannot draw enough qualified recruits.
Battalion photo by Lynn Blanco
Back-saver invented
[he‘diploma shelf is demonstrated by Craig Clark, one of the three
Mechanical engineers who built it. The shelf, which rises as the number ot
: Pnntas on it decreases, was designed by Fred J. Benson.
By PEGGY C. McCULLEN
Battalion Reporter
Do not despair, Jarvis, the mechanical
engineers love you — at least they love
your back.
Three mechanical engineering seniors
have designed and built a diploma shelf
which will rise as the number of diplomas
decreases, alleviating the problem of stoop
ing to pick up the remaining diplomas as
the last few hundred students cross the
stage.
The device was invented by Fred J. Be
nson, vice president of the College of En
gineering, and Registrar Robert Lacey.
The three students who built the shelf
are Craig Clark, Joe Bulovas, and John
Lusk.
The shelf is practically noiseless. A
hand-turned crank keeps the diplomas at
arm’s reach throughout the entire gradua
tion exercises.
The estimated cost was $300 and the bill
was footed by the mechanical engineering
college, Clark said. Should the device
prove successful for the engineering gradu
ation exercises, five or six more will be built
for future ceremonies, he said.
Raghumal B. Agarwal, the students’ ad
viser, who said he acted only as a consultant
and added no ideas, is proud of the stu
dents. He said the cabinet has already been
approved by assistants to President Miller.
The students, who spent from eight to 10
hours per week building the shelf, began
the project at the end of the fall semester.
The cabinet itself was built by a cabinet
maker. The internal mechanical device,
which uses a crank and beveled gears with a
jack screw and was built by the students,
remains concealed from the audience.
The restrictions given to the engineers
were that no wires could extend from the
shelf, meaning it could not be electric; that
there could be no air hoses used, and that it
had to be silent.
Cake and ice cream, please
Tuesday marked the fourth birthday of Reveille IV, Texas A&M Univer
sity’s mascot. Nine freshmen from Company E-2 gave her a party, com
plete with a cake.
Auto liability insurance
may become mandatory
United Press International
AUSTIN — The House Tuesday over
whelmingly gave preliminary approval to
legislation requiring Texas auto owners to
obtain liability insurance before being al
lowed to drive on the state’s streets and
highways.
The bill by Rep. Gene Green,
D-Houston, which faces one more House
vote before being sent to the Senate, would
require autos to display window stickers
similar to state inspection stickers showing
the driver had at least minimum liability
insurance or that the owners had posted a
minimum $25,000 bond with the Depart
ment of Public Safety.
Failure to comply with the mandatory
liability sticker provision would be a mis
demeanor.
“This is the strongest system that we
have considered to this date,” he told
House members.
The House also approved an amendment
by Rep. Ron Coleman, D-El Paso, requir
ing vehicles from foreign countries such as
Mexico to attain the liability insurance
stickers before driving in Texas.
Coleman said Mexican drivers without
liability insurance are frequently involved
in accidents in border cities.