' Wn on i
ay night;
TEXAS',
2 Texas [
The Battalion
irJ Vol. 74 No. 101
30 Pages in 2 Sections
points f
grew ccl|
)ack I
,n . 3J,
to 8-6 bIJ
■game ah®
13-11 foil
ped to 54
Serving the Texas A&M University community
Thursday, February 19, 1981
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
The Weather
Yesterday Today
High ....
73 High
...78
Low
52 Low
...57
Rain
■1;
trace Chance of rain .
. . 30%
eagan unveils ‘New Beginning"
at TCU,
mp shi
in the
_ United Press International
WASHINGTON — President Ronald Reagan’s “new be-
ning” economic program calls for a hard right turn in the
ection of the federal government, providing up to $41.4
lion in spending reductions and decisive tax cuts for indi-
o eiv W ua ^ s anc l business,
ible 7g.'ll The program, titled “America s New Beginning: a Program
for Economic Recovery,” has been described as the most
O ipovative since Franldin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in the
depths of the Great Depression.
1 Housteli; “Ifwe do not act forcefully, and now, the economy will get
theSouJorsc,” Reagan warned.
leavic And Reagan said to applause, “There is nothing wrong with
:s aloner:America that we together can’t fix.”
I; If enacted, the program would abruptly slow the growth of
. federal spending from its recent 16 percent rate to 6 percent.
t0 '^ | l | would slow but not reverse the rise in taxes that since 1960
18-6 oveft s doubled the percentage of income individuals pay the
o 6-8 in laslderal governmen t.
re season | j t ^uld make the first broad effort to check the growth in
Bocial programs since the New Deal, cutting among others
[public service jobs, food stamps, Medicaid, child nutrition,
extended unemployment benefits, trade adjustment assist
ance and student aid.
It would — as previous presidents have tried — attempt to
reduce and untangle the federal regulatory machinery.
It would reduce federal subsidies for synthetic fuel de
velopment, the Export-Import Bank, the Postal Service and
dairy farmers and stretch out funds for highways, airports,
sewage treatment plants and water projects.
The program had four main components:
— Spending cuts totaling $41.4 billion in fiscal 1982, which
begins Oct. 1. In addition, Reagan proposed $2 billion savings
by making barge operators, airlines and others pay for federal
facilities they use, and $5.7 billion in additional savings — for
“total savings” of $49.1 billion.
— Individual tax cuts totaling roughly 30 percent over
three years beginning July 1. The tax bill of a typical family of
four with a $25,000 income would drop by $809 by 1984.
Business would get tax cuts retroactive to Jan. 1 in the form of
faster write-offs for depreciation.
— Reduction of “unnecessarily stringent” and “intrusive”
regulations the administration said will require Americans to
spend 1.2 billion hours filling out forms this year. “Fewer
regulators will necessarily result in fewer regulations and less
harassment of the regulated,” the budget document said.
— An appeal to the Federal Reserve Board to cut the
growth of money in half by 1986 to curb inflation. Reagan said
the administration will consult frequently with the Fed, while
recognizing its independence.
Individual tax cuts in the package would total $44.2 billion
in 1982, business tax cuts $9.7 billion.
All of this would add up to a 1982 budget deficit of $45
billion, compared to $27.5 billion projected by President
Carter for 1982. Stockman told reporters Carter’s figure was
based on unrealistic economic assumptions and really would
have been more than $50 billion.
The only major increase in the program was a $7.2 billion
addition to defense spending.
Reagan put the goal of balancing the budget off until 1984.
Administration officials said if their proposals are enacted
promptly and fully, the program would reduce inflation from
an estimated 10 percent this year to 4 percent by 1986, and
create by that year 13 million jobs — 3 million more, they
said, than present policies would create.
But they warned if the program is adopted “piecemeal” — if
(New library
hours start
onday
Students hankering for late-night re-
Jearch will have things a bit easier when
the Evans Library extends its hours
Monday.
^ A student senate bill recommending
longer library hours was passed in De
cember and an amended version was
[Recommended for approval by student
[Services vice president Dr. John
Koldus.
I The new schedule is as follows:
i, Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m. —1
| a.m.;
[ Friday, 7:30 a.m. — 11 p.m.;
| Saturday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.;
j| Sunday, 12 noon — 1 a.m.
|; The reserve reading room only will be
;0pen Sunday mornings from 9 to the
I main library’s opening at noon. The lib
rary will be open for study purposes
, pnly during this period, and no other
services will be available. The reserve
Boom will be open all other times the
[main library is open.
I Entrance to the reserve room on Sun
day mornings will be through the side
door on the building’s north side.
Green scene
Students in Dr. A.E. Nightingale’s greenhouse crop production course
attended a field trip to Troup recently. Greenhouse manager Howard
Blanton, with arm raised, shows the students various
82 greenhouses at Powell’s Plant Farm.
Police get computerized dispatching unit
By BERNIE FETTE
Battalion Staff
The newest addition to the University Police department can
remember any phone call made to the station, word for word. But he
can’t remember his own name, because he doesn’t have one.
A new computerized dispatching unit is being installed at the
University Police station, and one of the features of the system is the
ability to record all phone calls made to the department.
Parts of the system are presently in use and the entire system is
expected to be operating in a month or so, Director of Traffic and
Security Col. Thomas R. Parsons said.
When completely installed, the system, which was financed
through the sale of parking permits, will have cost about $40,000.
“It’s just a higher state of the art than what we purchased 11 years
ago,” Parsons said.
“When we get it in, we’ll have a 24-hour taping ability, ” he said.
“We’ll tape all radio conversations and anytime someone calls the
dispatcher on the telephone, it will be taped.”
Parsons said the taping of the calls is not prohibited by law.
“Some people are going to say that’s against the law, but that’s a
bunch of bull,” he said. “The law says that as long as one party
consents to it, the conversation can be taped.”
The new system also has the capability of “phone-patching,” Par
sons said. In other words, someone calling the police station who
needs to speak to one of the policemen who has only a radio at his
disposal can be “patched-through” for a telephone to radio conversa
tion.
“I don’t know if we’ll use that very often, but if we need it, we have
the capability,” Parsons said.
Attached to the main terminal in the dispatch room is a series of
intercoms located in the police station offices which monitor all radio
calls. Parsons said he finds the interqusis “real handy” since he can
“Some people are going to say that's
against the law, but that's a bunch of
bull. The law says that as long as one
party consents to it, the conversation
can be taped."
overhear the patrolmen and sometimes correct mistakes before they
are made.
He said the intercoms also have a big advantage over hand-held
radios since there is no worry of batteries running down.
Also included in the new system is a “view-graph” information
screen which will contain information for the dispatcher’s conveni
ence. “She’s got a million things to remember,” Parsons said. And
when the screen is in operation, she has at her fingertips any informa
tion she might need, he said.
Another added feature will be a visual display screen which shows
the outside views and floor plans of 98 different buildings on the
campus. Parsons said this will help the dispatcher in the event of a
fire or intrusion in one of the buildings.
A closed circuit TV screen on the main console of the new system
will monitor the police station entrance “for security reasons since a
lot of people come here at night for one reason or another, ” Parsons
said.
One component being used now, which will continue along with
the new system, is a computerized display terminal which stores
information on every vehicle and vehicle owner registered with the
University Police.
Also to remain is the central alarm system which is tied in to some
90 buildings on the campus. Whenever a fire or some other type of
disturbance is reported by an alarm, the dispatcher can know im
mediately what type of assistance is needed and where it should be
directed.
Before the new system is in full operation, GTE must hook up
some telephone lines and Motorola, the makers of the system, still
must install several components. Some of the components were
damaged in shipment, Parsons said, and as a result the completion of
the system is behind schedule.
The previous system, which had been is use for 11 years, was
damaged by lightning in September 1979 and until the system was
repaired, hand-held radios had to be used in the dispatch room.
Congress enacts only the “politically palatable” sections —
the result will be no better than past economic policies.
The budget package would preserve a “social safety net” of
established programs — Social Security retirement; basic
unemployment benefits; cash payments for dependent fami
lies, the elderly and disabled; and veterans benefits.
But it would make sweeping cuts in these social programs:
— Eliminating 300,000 public service jobs under the Com
prehensive Employment and Training Act, returning that
program to its original purpose of training the hard-core
unemployed and saving $3.5 billion.
— Cutting $1.8 billion from the food stamp program by
limiting eligibility to a typical family of four with income
under $11,000, and saving $1.5 billion by eliminating subsi
dized school lunches for children whose parents earn more
than $15,630.
— Cutting $1 billion from Medicaid, the health program for
the poor.
— Cutting $1.5 billion from child nutrition.
— Saving $1.2 billion by changing the rules for extended
unemployment benefits and halting unemployment benefits
to those who will not take other jobs.
Schools
cheaper
than prisons
By MARJORIE MCLAUGHLIN
Battalion Staff
Politicians, teachers and parents all
have the responsibility for preventing
children from growing up to be crimin
als, Texas Attorney General Mark
White said Wednesday.
Speaking before a conference of
Texas county comissioners and judges in
College Station, White said prisons can
not be built “as fast or as cheaply as
schools can.”
“If we can train children to follow
rules in school, they can obey the rules
of this society,” he said.
During his speech. White praised
Jim Estelle, director of the Texas De
partment of Corrections, as “the finest
prison administrator in the nation.”
“He (Estelle) has no control over the
numbers (of prisoners) that are sent to
him or the numbers that are released
from that institution, but he does have
the responsibility for making certain
that those who are there are kept
safely.”
These comments were in reference to
the civil rights case, filed last year by
Texas prison inmate David Riuz, charg
ing that the Texas prison system is over
crowded and unsanitary.
White has acquiesced to a federal
judge’s demand that Texas prisoners re
ceive better medical care, but as ex
pected he has failed to agree to other
demands that he said involve “hard
money problems.”
The attorney general said the state
would implement a plan that would pro
vide prisoners better care, but he would •
not agree to Justice’s demand that each
cell house but one prisoner.
White also praised the role of the
Texas A&M administration and Board of
Regents in keeping the federal govern
ment “out of Texas’ business' of higher
education.”
White was referring to a January De
partment of Education letter order find
ing Texas in partial compliance with the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, dealing with
integration of public universities.
White credited the Texas A&M
Board of Regents and administration
with setting up a policy “which affirmed
compliance with the law. ”
In other education areas, White said
he supports appealing the court-
ordered madate for bilingual education
from kindergarten through the twelfth
grade.
Staff photo by Brian Tate
crops grown in the
Gramm: U.S. must be
ready to ‘bite bullet"
By MARJORIE MCLAUGHUN
Battalion Staff
President Reagan’s economic bills
could cut inflation and interest rates
down to 6 percent by 1982, if Amer
icans are ready to “start biting the bul
let,” said Congressman Phil Gramm.
“We can’t stop runaway inflation
unless we put federal government on a
budget just like everyone else,”
Gramm said in a speech Wednesday
morning to a conference of Texas
county judges and commisioners held
in College Station.
Gramm, the Democratic represen
tative from District 6, divided
Reagan’s spending cuts into three ma
jor categories.
— Reduction and consohdation of
directly federally funded programs.
Gramm cited as an example 27 diffe
rent nutrition programs for poor chil
dren, many of which have conflicting
and overlapping purposes. He said
such programs could be consolidated
into one program, which would enable
a budget cut of about twenty percent.
— Cutting federal subsidies to pri
vate industries by about 25 percent.
— Targeting areas “we don’t like to
talk about changing” such as Medi
caid, food stamps and social security
for waste and fraud investigations, and
instituting felony punishment for
abusers of such programs.
“The , federal program cuts will be
felt by everyone,” Gramm said. But,
he added that if the opinions of his
constituency are any indication of na
tional attitudes, Americans are ready
to do what they can to stop the nation’s
economic woes.
Sena te deba tes alcohol proposal
By TERRY DURAN
Battalion Staff
Preparations for upcoming student elections and
debate on a stance regarding a proposed extension of
College Station’s alcohol-selling hours dominated a
three-hour-long student senate meeting Wednesday
night.
Senate bylaws require selection of polling places 30
days before elections. Five primary polling sites — the
minimum called for by election regulations — were
chosen: the Memorial Student Center, Evans Library,
the Corps guard room, Sbisa Dining Hall and Com
mons.
Two secondary sites, to be manned only if there are
enough election workers, will be in Zachry Engineer
ing Center and the Kleberg Center. After some discus
sion, two third-level polling places were approved, if
manpower is enough to operate the first two levels: the
bus stop nearest the Commons and the bus stop out
side Bizzell Hall.
Filing for office opens March 3; elections will be
held March 31-April 1.
Following unanimous approval of a proposed Texas
A&M student government lobby in the Legislature
and acceptance of minor bylaw revisions, the senate
approved new election regulations based on revised
student population figures.
Two new senate seats were created; the colleges of
Business and Engineering and the off-campus Ward
IV area (north of University Drive and west of Texas
Avenue) gained one seat each, while redistribution of
dormitory representatives created a new dorm senate
slot. The College of Science and off-campus Ward III
(north of University Drive and east of Texas Avenue)
lost one senate seat apiece.
Six bills appearing for the first time would:
— Organize a weekly open forum in front of Rudder
Fountain.
— Support a proposal currently before the College
Station City Council which would extend alcoholic
beverage sales hours to 2 a.m.
— Request changing parking ticket fines back to $5
and reinstating multiple ticketing.
— Request the Board of Regents to assign “at least
one” new modular dormitory to male students.
— Support the Learning Resource Center in the
Heldenfels Hall basement.
— Request expansion of computing facilities in all
academic areas.
Legal sales hours for alcoholic beverages currently
end at midnight weekdays and 1 a.m. Friday and
Saturday nights. A Student Government survey to be
run Feb. 23-25 will provide the senate with input
regarding student feelings on the hours extension
proposal.
External affairs vice president David Collins
seemed confident as he asked the senate to place “The
Pink Elephant” bill on emergency status, which would
require immediate action on the measure. The bill was
placed on emergency and passed because the city
council is expected to take action on the hours-
extension proposal Feb. 26, which is before the next
senate meeting.
The senate moved on to other matters until senator
Scott Hall moved for reconsideration of the “Pink
Elephant” bill. Grumbling mounted as debate drag
ged on; discussion was once more cut short and a
motion to adjourn — which would have killed the bill
permanently — was defeated narrowly.
Off-campus graduate senator Fred Seals had favored
the bill all along: “This is a chance for College Station
to grow up and join the rest of the world,” he said.
Others charged the bill had been considered too
hastily.
The measure passed once again, although not by as
large a margin as before.
A second reconsideration effort was defeated after
rapid-fire parliamentary bickering. Another motion to
adjourn was withdrawn in a compromise move, as the
bill was amended to include the provision that the
senate would support an hours extension only if the
survey results backed up the measure.
:s
)f
st
t-
ic
>y
m
}d
V.
JP
he'
he
of
mt
:ed
‘all
sp
iles,
t or
i or
’ or
aan
t of
. It
>nal
any
iik.
I in
the
ison
mar
glas
ton,
Lied
the
por-
cur-
gas
1 by
the