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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1981)
Local MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1981 rt'.s IntiTnatjoni! - The Texas Dt; ive Committee a; nal primary electii days is a scheutj iinberofOem y meeting of DfJ eaders passed if sing Gov. Willmj :a of a regional"' ocrats strongly its’ proposal to ial and regular i separate day: jveral other contend a splilJ d draw away Dea[ The primary w; ■ in March for a p iry and a full wl; lar party priraar: iember comioiw iusIv adopted i!’ •ging the govtrj of the nomirai( ’ Dallas, chainrcj il)committee,Sii he governor’s li reappoint the h 'tninent Derm r if she would rej; id pledge tobeia il years, tion, the comm; endorsed a props ;end a resolufa e for a constitufo 5 elect the seaet' 'L-CIO Preside ard gavehisl group Saturday embers to seti| educe Democni ighting. ;aves from unge css International .D, Pa. —Ah ed Roderick Ls injury — or deal! : had driven (lie: ursday night. Lffli gthe rest of the® rse the bridge k 1 earlier by icefc Long remembeit :d his wife goodk and walked had as he did, a se collapsed, re would have f the bridge hi to kiss his wife, ! eased Willi npting Foods Plus Tax, 1. to7:00Pl Former students set funding Photo by Cindy Gee the hand Bob Schoolfield and his son John check out the chicks at the Brazos County Barnyard in Man or East Mall. Local FFA students brought horses, pigs, turkeys, mules, a bobcat and assorted other animals for display Thursday through Saturday. By DIANA SULTENFUSS Battalion Reporter A budget including an 8 percent increase in unrestricted funds was approved for 1981 academic pro jects at an Association of Former Students meeting Saturday. Unrestricted funds are given to the organization with no designa tion as to use, whereas restricted funds are earmarked for a specific purpose. The new budget of over $1.6 million for academic projects is all from unrestricted funds, an in crease of $122,303 over the 1980 budget. More than 30,000 donations to the Association of Former Stu dents provided for total funds of $1,925,695. The $655,060 for academic sup port of Texas A&M University, 40.5 percent of the total academic projects budget, was earmarked for many purposes, including: — $48,400 for scholarships and student awards. — $20,000 for student activi ties. — $35,000 for graduate college merit fellowships. — $30,000 for the inauguration of the next Texas A&M president and an evening with the presi dent. — $21,200 for faculty achieve ment awards. — $45,500 for the deans’ and vice presidents’ funds. — $40,000 as a departmental enrichment fund. — $218,393 for computer re cords and provisions. — $10,000 for a faculty and stu dents’ fund for those unable to find other funding, such as a faculty member traveling to present a paper. -— $25,000 for admissions and school relations. — $10,000 for th'e University Administrative Fund. — $23,800 to Gehrung Associ ates for public relations work to promote Texas A&M in publica tions. — $10,875 for high school prog rams. — $19,500 for the Forsyth Building Fund. — $50,000 for the University Fund for Excellence, used for pro jects which cannot use state funds. — $44,892 for University rela tions. — $2,500 for land transporta tion at Texas A&M University at Galveston. The unrestricted funds budget included $704,677, 43.6 percent of the total, for services for former students and Texas A&M. General and administrative ex penses totaled $257,922, 15.9 per cent of the unrestricted projects budget. In her financial report, control ler Juanita B. Murray said contri butions were higher in 1980 than in 1979. She said that at least 7,000 former students generally contri bute the $15 minimum donation in order to get their name in the Directory of Former Students, which is published every three years. In other sections of the financial report, Murray said the Century Club has passed the 10,000- member mark. The memorial scholarship in come totaled $687,637, Murray said. Total funds controlled by the association in 1980 were over $5.6 million, exceeding 1979 funds by almost $900,000. A&M sponsors patents office By CINDY GEE Battalion Staff When ground maintenance I workers at Texas A&M University ; developed a centralized sprinkler system using radio signals, they [didn’t have University help to commercialize and patent their in- I vention. That’s why Texas A&M created a patent office three years ago—to i help faculty and staff patent their inventions and get them on the | market. The University is trying I to centralize management for in- ] ventions, patent administrator Ed i Lefher said. “Many people don’t recognize ; that they have an invention and it’s patentable,” he said. “They’ll real ize it’s important, so they publi cize it and communicate all the i details to other researchers. Our biggest problem is communicat ing with the faculty and staff that are doing research.” Lefner said that after an inven tion has been publicized, the in ventor has one year after publica tion to obtain a U.S. patent. However, an inventor cannot get a foreign patent if the invention was publicized. The patent service is free to anyone employed by the Univer sity or anyone using facilities own ed by or under the supervision of the school. Patents usually cost the inventor about $4,000, Lefher said, and then all you have is a piece of paper which is good for 17 years. He said many patent cases take a minimum of three to 10 years from the filing date to com mercialization. “We immediately begin to con tact companies,” Lefner said. “Our primary goal is to get the inventions into use. Industries are very unlikely to develop a product if they don’t have patent protec tion. “It’s not as easy as you might think. The company looks at it as an opportunity and also as a re sponsibility. If they don’t do something with the invention, they could lose their rights.” He said the University usually tries to maintain the rights to the invention, but gives the company the right to make, use and sell the product. But very often the Uni versity gives exclusive rights to an invention, he said. To be patentable an invention must be new, useful, and not ob vious. It can never have been made or used anywhere in the world. A person can patent one component, or an entire piece of equipment. “Many people say small com panies and individuals are being squeezed out because they couldn’t afford to protect their pa tent rights,” Lefner said, “but those problems don’t happen very often. Patents serve as an incen tive for development.” Fourteen patents were filed by Texas A&M in 1980, Lefher said. The University patent policy says that after a reduction of 15 percent for administrative costs and a de duction for the cost of patenting and protecting the patent, the in ventor will receive 50 percent of the remaining royalties or other patent income. The other 50 per cent will go to the system part re sponsible for the invention. In 1980, the University re ceived $40,000 from two licenses on a device that electrically tende rizes beef. Some recent patents and patent inventions are: a method and com position for bacterially induced re sistance to the boll weevil, new composition of a method for use of nitrogen fertilization, and a method and apparatus for isolating protein from glandless cotton seeds. Monday Night Madness Sit back and enjoy the evening with a hot, delicious pizza delivered right to your door! Monday Night Madness Special A Hot 16" Ham, Onion and Mushroom Pizza With Two 32 oz. Pepsis.. ^ tooo only N>0 Fast., . Hot... Free Delivery! Offer Good Monday, Feb. 23 Only 846-7785 New library hours start today E-Systems continues the tradition of the world’s great problem solvers. 3NESDAY NG SPECIAL n Fried Steak earn Gravy d Potatoes and e of one other egetable i Bread and Bui [fee or Tea Reminder: Late-night research will be a bit easier when the Evans Library extends its hours Monday. The new schedule is: Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.- 1 a.m. Friday, 7:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.5 p.m. Sunday, 12 noon-1 a.m. The reserve reading room will ing at noon. Entrance during this only be open Sunday mornings time will be through the door on from 9 to the main library’s open- the north side. TENDER LOVING CARE! f FOR YOUR THESIS OR DISSERTATION OF A LIFETIME. We Care At KINKO’S COPIES 201 College Main • 846-8721 Open Every Day Developing the ana lytical theory known by his name, Joseph Fourier gave the world a basic tool for engineering analysis and system design. Today, E-Systems engineers are carrying on his tradition. They’re using Fourier's mathematical accomplishments to solve some of the world’s tough est electronics problems via computer-designed circuitry. E-Systems designs and produces communica tions systems, data systems, antenna systems, intelli gence and reconnaissance systems that are often the first-of-a-kind in the world. For a reprint of the Fourier illustration and information on career op portunities with E-Systems in Texas, Florida, Indiana, Utah or Virginia, write: Lloyd K. Lauderdale, VP. Research and Engineering, E-Systems, Corporate Headquarters, RO. Box 226030, Dallas, TX 75266. E-SYSTEMS IDS. \Y SPECIAL nd EVENING JRKEYDINN0 rved with ierry Sauce ead Dressing n Bread-Buttef j ffeorTea let Gravy r choice of any vegetable | CAN YOU SPIT? IF NOT CAN YOU DANCE? ! I IN PROMOTION FOR CHARLIE DANIELS BAND MSO TOWN HALL GIVES YOU A CHANCE TO SHOW OFF YOUR 1 TALENTS 1 i TUES. FEB. 24TH — RUDDER FOUNTAIN TOBACCO SPIHING CONTEST 1:00-1:30 BY0D — (BRING YOUR OWN DIP) ... C & W DANCE CONTEST — 12:15-12:45 n2x. P i: ES SIGN UP F0R DANCE CONTEST AT THE SEC RETARY’S DESK IN nt 6EC- ROOM 216 MSC OR CALL GREGG NOLA 696-7160 TICKETS WILL BE AWARDED AS PRIZES The problem solvers. An equal opportunity employer M/F. H, V . v* or /V/L. J. 4 Jf ^ Jr-r'-rW - I. £ ^ y.,«4.«. I. 4- EX OUR GARLAND DIVISION WILL BE INTERVIEWING ON CAMPUS FEBRUARY 24 & 25, 1981 OUR GREENVILLE DIVISION WILL BE INTERVIEWING ON CAMPUS FEBRUARY 26, 1981