Beno trying new tactics 4o offset falling economy THE BATTALION Page 5 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22,1980 lotcd Schwi 1 gonnai iic ^> We wei| t had be said, “I shoulder, 1 you. It waj : to his omesi sident. hwartz an ged epitliet 1 is Prettystm feeling les.” 3r sometliiiij uipaign," jd running for t would forwan] m inary inq® o HUD’s rep Johnson e from hisoi egations using authoii) ich said it hal by tribal y to ask H' ! audit. Authority United Press International R £ N 0 — Nevada’s gaming industry is proving an and of stability in a sea of national economic difficul- es but not without effort and cost. Revenues from gaming, the state’s No. 1 money ear- r rose more than 20 percent for eight consecutive barters before this year, sending gross revenues for + . If 1979-80 to $2,275,750,000. g myself b ^ y earj {Re rate of climb dropped to 12-14 percent. 1 , S () Were lait 5 n d the casinos are having to put more and more of their , , oss into tour packages, junkets and promotions to dge Ed tourists to come to Nevada. They don’t have the movement of people by auto- bde they used to have because of gas prices and the onomy,” said Jack Stratton of Nevada’s Gaming Con- 1 Board. “So operators are having to put out a lot of jney to bring people in.” And one of the things the clubs are putting that money to is bus tour packages. A good share of casinos rent ilf or more of their rooms to “bus people” each jokend. ‘‘A lot of people want to come by bus now because of ie energy crunch,” said Tom Engelman of MGM rand, Reno. Just how much casinos depend on the bus trade is nphasized by the fact some casinos pay drivers to stop their establishments. Pam Carter, bus tour coordina- rat the Sands in Reno, said the going rate is $1.50 per passenger for a bus that wouldn’t normally stop at a given casino. Some have questioned the ethics of paying drivers to bring in customers, but a district attorney’s spokesman said it doesn’t appear to be illegal as long as no contract is being broken. “We wouldn’t survive if we didn’t have the bus trade, ” said Ben Hathaway of the Red Garter Casino in Virginia City. The junkets are high-class plane tours in which rooms, food and beverages are taken care of by the casino if customers agree to bring along a certain amount to gamble, sometimes up to $10,000. Stratton says, however, he’s seeing some evidence a number of casinos are cutting back on junkets. “They’ve looked at the bottom line and found it isn’t as profitable as predicted,” he said. Bob Martin, vice president and general manager of Harrah’s, Reno, said business has picked up this fall with the opening of a new casino section downtown. That addition includes a new bus terminal and Martin said some 500,000 bus customers are expected to arrive at Harrah’s this calendar year. Casinos combine subsidized bus tickets with special room rates, meals and gambling coupons and numerous other promotions designed to draw customers to a casi no and keep them there. ines of $500,000 expected; icket volume ‘ridiculous’ By JENNIFER AFFLERBACH Battalion Staff Texas A&M University Police m>te 118,000 traffic tickets last chool year for a total of $365,000, an mount the director of security and ic called “kind of ridiculous”. It is estimated that $500,000 in raffic fines will be collected this n ear, Col. Thomas Parsons said at [he Residence Hall Association ; on it," dec meting Tuesday night malfeasanctii He attribut 1 ed the hi S her esti mate his year to the increase in parking iolations from $5 to $10 and in mov- ng violations from $10 to $20. “I was in opposition to that in- irease in fines,” he said. “I didn’t hink it was needed.” 1 J | The money raised from traffic tick- 1 C P 5 goes into a Parking Facilities Re- J. iJ {serve Account. That money is used for the construction of parking lots and “has nothing to do with salaries” . , tin the police department, Parsons essionalp ollmj. ie., oneo ei% There are 17,000 parking spaces on campus for the 26,000 parking said, because that number includes night permits and motorcycles, which don’t always take up parking spaces. “At any given time, I could show you a legal parking space,” he said. “We have available spaces but no convenient ones.” Parking is available in the lots at the baseball field which Parsons said he has never seen full. “There really is no additional space available for parking on the main part of the campus, ” he said. In other RHA business, a policy was discussed requiring dorm stu dents to turn in their room keys dur ing the Christmas break. Ronald Hilton, Coordinator of Housing Services, said the policy would eliminate key losses and im prove residence hall security during the break. The chances of someone finding a lost key and using it to get into a vacant dorm room would be reduced, he said. An RHA member argued that stu dents would just have extra keys made, which would mean more keys around to be lost or stolen. ane you ( d power glidi diet micro-l ermit holders this year. irtedly saferjL rat j 0 j s not b ac j ” Parsons g gliding, willF creational 000 Amerii gry hang glii ght the $3/ PROBLEM PREGNANCY? Are you considering abortion? Free counseling and referrals Call (713) 779-2258 Texas Problem Pregnancy, Bryan, Tx. stry is takings irket. easier to [ lers; they caul i level grounj s, pilots cun to fly them, e off in aboutl 32 mphandll ood wind coi| ie power caaj micro-lig! i thermal oil jr should lailj a regular I CAPTURE OF THE OCA hears input on transcripts, bars By USCHI MICHEL- HOWELL Battalion Staff Off-campus support for a stu dent government proposal to rec ognize a minor field of study on transcripts was solicited by the Ward II student senator Tuesday night. Senator Kenzy Hallmark said the proposal will be voted on a second time in the student senate tonight and asked for student re sponse to the proposal. Another off-campus student senator also asked students to give their input to the pending suggestion to sell alcohol in the Memorial Student Center base ment and the Northgate crowd ing problems. The bars at Northgate have drawn attention recently, be cause customers crowd into Uni versity Drive, obstructing traffic, student senator Sue Vito said. In other business OCA re minded attendants that parking annex 62, behind Kyle Field, still needs to be filled with day stu dents’ cars, in order not to be lost as a day student lot. OCA will have a fundraiser for their recently formed apartment councils. Under the motto ‘cell-e- brate’, all students are invited to attend a party at Cellblock 5 on Nov. 6. Since bonfire cutting weekends are getting fewer, OCA asked for cooperation. “More help is needed for bonfire cutting ”, bonfire coordinator Phil Suter said. He offered to take in terested students to the cutting site Sunday. The meeting point will be behind Duncan at 6:15 a.m. In other business, OCA re ported a third place in the campus blood drive which won the orga nization a keg of beer. Kim Lawrence, director of the Miss Texas A&M University pageant, invited all off-campus women to take part in the com petition. Deadline for application is Nov. 3. Leaking Portland oil well won t be controlled soon United Press International PORTLAND, Tx. — Up to two months and between $2 million and $3 million may be needed to drill a relief well to stop gas feeding a burn ing well west of this south Texas city, the operating company says. Richard Phillips, of Phillips and Spradly, said Monday, work should begin this week on the relief well. The well began leaking last Wednesday and ignited Friday. A road near the well has been closed as a safety precaution. Dennis Ivey's Lake view Club The Very Best In Country-Western Music and Dancing" Wednesday is AGGIE NIGHT! AA.M Students Free With Current ID — $2.00 Cover Charge For Everyone Else. FREE BEER! 8 P.M.-9 P.M. Music by DENNIS IVEY & THE WAYMEN Wednesday and Thursday Saturday Night ROY HEAD Cover Charge $44)0 Thursday is NICKLE BEER NIGHT! Cover Charge $34)0 Guys, $14)0 Ladles. Come get acquainted with OF Amarillo, our Mechanical Bull! 3 miles north on Tabor Road off the East Bypass ALVAREZ Highest standards in accoustical guitars. Reasonably priced at Keyboard Center. Guitars for the beginner and the advanced player. KEyboAnd Center MANOR EAST MALL 713/779-7080 BRYAN, TX 77801 Layaway Now for prime time Christmas delivery. lenersy efficient nome?! MADILLO PARTY ■,, 'e*? coulter Q 3- university 75 KEGS OF LORE STAR l BEER J SAT., OCT. 25 Texas Nat’l Guard Armory 1700 E. 25th St. — Bryan 8 P.M. — 1 A.M. Guys $3.50 Girls $3.00 In Advance Giant Armadillo Captured After a week-long rampage through central Texas, the now-famous GIANT ARMADILLO has entered the COL LEGE STATION area. The giant beast has ravaged Lone Star Beer’s brewery and warehouses since Thursday, swallowing kegs of beer whole. Authorities have been unable to explain this armadillo phenomenon, but have now come up with a viable explanation. It seems that the giant armadillo had planned on coming to College Station from the beginning. It’s a well-known fact that AGGIES AND LONGNECKS make Texas the great state it is. Add to that the fact that the armadillo snatched the now-famous band, THE MAX, when he ravaged San Antonio, and the beast’s final stop in College Station becomes certain. Apparently the GIANT ARMADILLO wants to culminate his adventures across Texas with a celebration on Satur day. While the THE MAX plays their own brand of Texas music, the armadillo plans to liquidate his stock of ICE- COLD LONE STAR BEER, the National Beer of Texas. C0UMTRY- ROCK