Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1981)
By PHYLLIS HENDERSON I ® Battalion Staff problem in the computer used to late Student Government election •ns caused results to be delayed un- metime today. reg Dew, executive vice president tudent Government, said it was ght that the problem developed in omputer tape which stored the bal- linformation during the running of ie program, but that nothing could be lermined until a supervisor was con- icted today. ■The Battalion will have complete |ition coverage and information on Wednesday’s run-off election Student Government Judicial d is scheduled to review today stu- : body presidential candidate Matt druffs request for appeal of the ommissioner’s decision to voting rights to graduating election procedures challenged e 3 Computer foul-up delays results ruling in favor of Woodruff will |ult in invalidation of the election re- If the board’s decision goes (Woodruff, he will have 48 hours t a formal appeal to the Judicial I for a hearing of the case. “I just made the decision,” Leah Whitby, election commissioner, said. “The decision was based on the fact that these elections are made for the school year 1981-82 and constituency is the big deal here. That’s what I’m basing this thing on — constituency.” Paul Bettencourt, Judicial Board chairman, said: “The decision was made because it (the election) doesn’t apply to them (graduating seniors). It’s all based upon what happens in the fall.” Whitby said the decision was based on a section in the student body consti tution which states the student body president will be elected by his consti tuency for his constituency; however, Whitby could not point out this phrase in the constitution, nor could it be found. “Even if one were to accept that the constitution makes such a statement,” Woodruff said, “one fact remains: the student body president assumes office 14 days after the election is certified. Graduating seniors are still students at this time; therefore, they are consti tuents of the new student body presi dent. “An Aggie is concerned about the University after he leaves. That’s what makes us unique. However, the merits of whether or not they should vote is not the issue.” The issue. Woodruff said, is whether or not the election has been held in accordance with the rules and regula tions governing it. In a letter to the Judicial Board, Woodruff cited three other reasons for his appeal: — “The decision is in direct violation of the 1981 Election Regulations.” Sec tion 3400 states voter qualifications are enrollment at Texas A&M and a valid, current University I.D. — “The decision also violates the student body constitution, Article II, Section II, ‘ . the Student Body Presi dent who shall be elected at-large by a majority vote of the Student Body dur ing the Spring Semester.’ — “The violation is not due to over sight, but rather to a willful and wanton disregard of the aforementioned docu ments by the election commissioner.” “I don’t like loose ends,” Woodruff said, “and that seems to be the problem here — inattention to detail.” Graduating seniors have always been able to vote in Student Government elections before. Woodruff said. “We are now seeing a complete reversal of this,” he said. Although Woodruff made his appeal Wednesday morning, before student elections were over, the decision was made not to review the appeal until af ter the elections were over, Paul Bet tencourt said. “If the policy had been changed in the middle of the elections,” he said, “the elections would have been automatically appealed.” Bettencourt said: “Nowhere is it (the issue of graduating seniors) spelled out in our rules and regulations.” The final decision rests with the Judicial Board, he said. If the board decides in favor of Wood ruff, Bettencourt said, in all likelihood, a special election will be held next week for graduating seniors only. The elec tion, he said, would affect only those offices that the seniors would be eligible to vote in. If the board decides against Wood ruff, Bettencourt said, “he will have 48 hours to submit nine copies of his writ in my office.” Both sides will be given a chance to present their case, he said, and they may obtain legal counsel to represent them. Reaction to Woodruffs appeal was mixed. David Collins, another student body presidential candidate, said he agreed with Whitby’s decision. “You’re talking about allowing people to vote who aren’t going to be here,” he said. “I don’t think it’s necessary to have another election. I don’t think the gra duating seniors make up enough of a proportion of the student body to make a difference in the election. “If there is another election, though, we’ll be in there kicking.” Marc Schneider, a third candidate for the office, said he felt graduating seniors had the right to vote. “I think they should have a say in who’s going to be student body president. If there are enough graduating seniors who want the vote. I’m for them getting the vote. ” The two remaining candidates, Ken Johnson and Mary Elizabeth Herring, could not be reached for comment. Jess Mason, Class of ’81 president and a graduating senior, pointed up a problem with the regulation. “I voted in the election and several of my friends who are graduating voted too,” he said. Enforcement of the regulation was left to the Aggie Code (of Honor), Whit by said. “There’s no possible way we can check 6,200 ballots,” she said. “We ask them if they are a graduating senior,” Bettencourt said, “and Aggies usually respond honestly.” Mason said graduating seniors should be able to vote in the elections. “I think they have the experience at A&M,” he said, “and I think they have the respon sibility to vote.” Battalion Serving the Texas A&M University community Thursday, April 2, 1981 College Station, Texas USPS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 The Weather Today Tomorrow High 82 High 84 Low 63 Chance of rain. md. jer, Fr<! )fficer [.Taste Clayton introduces college financing bill -^frady speaks first word ince shooting incident Z Two explosions called attention to a fire in the Facilities, Planning and Construction Building on the corner of Asbury Street and University Drive around 7:20 p.m. Wednesday. Kenneth Stephens, night custodial superin tendent, said the cause of the fire is unknown. He said the explosions were probably caused by chemical spray cans on janitorial carts in the closet where the fire apparently started. Lt. Robert Krupe of the College Station Fire Statt photo byUreg Uammon Department said firemen had the fire under control 21 minutes after their arrival. Krupe said the fire gutted the janitorial closet where it began and scorched the ceiling in the hall and rooms which adjoin the closet. He said smoke damage occurred throughout the building. No estimate of damage was available Wednes day night. By LIZ NEWLIN Battalion Staff Easter may bring more than chocolate bunnies to Texas state colleges. By that time, the House of Representatives is expected to approve a bill to create a huge endowment for college construction and repair. The plan, presented by House Speaker Bill Clayton, would also protect the Permanent University Fund basically as it is now. For several years, universities outside the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems have been greedily eyeing the fund, a guaranteed source of money during uncertain budget times. The proposed constitutional amendment would re institute the state property tax to finance the new endowment until it exceeds $2 billion, then abolish the tax. In hearings earlier this week, Texas A&M and the Univer sity of Texas endorsed the plan along with the Coordinating Board, Texas College and University System, and other uni versities not covered by the PUF. George Works, press secretary for House Speaker Bill Clayton, said Wednesday that the bill should pass the House. Now the bill is in a subcommittee for technical revisions. “We’re fairly certain it’ll be passed out of subcommittee and to the floor,” Works said in a telephone interview from Austin. “He (Clayton) is fairly confident that it will pass in the House and get a thorough airing in the Senate.” Seven constitutional amendments were scheduled for hearings at the session, but only Clayton’s bill was heard. Robert G. Cherry, assistant chancellor for Texas A&M, said, “The speaker, apparently, had been able to get the authors of these bills together behind a common bill. All seven of the bills were laid on the table, with the exception of the ... substitute for House Joint Resolution 111.” Cherry, a long-time observer of the Legislature, expects the bill to pass both the House and Senate. The only significant opposition to the plan is from Rep. Wayne Peveto, D-Orange, who said Monday the PUF will be big enough to finance construction and repairs needed by all state colleges. He released a study that shows the deregula tion of oil prices will increase the PUF to more than $4 billion by 1990. Other legislators, however, disagree, and Works said the Peveto’s opposition is rooted in the state tax provi sion. “It’s because of the taxing structure,” Works explained. “He does not want to reinstitute any kind of state income tax. It was a Peveto bill that wiped out all but a tiny fraction of the tax.” Technically, the 10-cent state property tax is still on the books, but a 1979 Peveto bill levies the tax against only .0001 percent of property market value. The Clayton plan calls for reducing the tax rate to 3 cents and levying it against 100 percent of market value. This, it is estimated, would raise $133.8 million in 1983 and $315 million a year by 1992. Clayton’s bill proposes dedicating $100 million a year of the revenue to use for new construction, land acquisition, major repair and rehabilitation projects, equipment and library books. Each school’s board of regents would decide how to spend its allocation. The excess would be put in a “higher education endowment fund” every year until it totaled $2 billion, estimated to occur in 1992. The property tax would be abolished the next year. Thereafter, the new endowment would provide $100 mil lion to $200 million annually for state universities outside the UT and Texas A&M systems. The PUF, shared by the state’s two super-systems, would remain about the same. In one change, all schools in both systems would be able to use the fund for construction and major repair. Now in the Texas A&M System, Moody College is ineligible for construc tion funds, as are several of the newer schools in the UT System. Those schools have moved into the system since the Texas Constitution was last amended to include then-newly added schools as participants in the fund. The bill would bar schools in the UT and Texas A&M systems from asking the Legislature for money for projects included in the plan. Only Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern University, the state’s historically black collges, would be able to petition for money to bring them up to current standards. In another provision, the “enhancement fund” would re main the sole possession of UT-Austin and TAMU at College Station. This fund is composed of money left over from PUF profits after construction bonds and interest are paid. In the fiscal year ending 1980, for example, Texas A&M received a total of about $28 million. Of that, $8.5 million paid for bonds and interest on projects throughout the system. The $19.5 million left over went to Texas A&M at College Station. Cherry said no opposition surfaced to continuing this arrangement. This year Texas A&M used part of the $19.5 million to hire 40 professors to help cope with the unexpected growth in enrollment. Reagan still progressing, may leave hospital soon United Press International Washington — “Raccoon,” lispered White House press secretary Brady, his first word since losing a flionofhis brain to a would-be assas- (s bullet. Raccoon” is Brady’s nickname for wife Sarah. And Mrs. Brady, at his dside, then gently encouraged her IIcritically ill husband to count aloud im one to 10. Itwas that kind of progress Wednes- y, considered against the backdrop of near-fatal wound, that prompted bite House chief of staff James Baker call Brady’s recovery “miraculous.” There were other encouraging signs R Brady, 40, was responding well to iatment after the attack Monday that also left President Reagan, a Secret Ser vice agent and a District of Columbia policemen wounded. Doctors said Brady was “breathing well” on his own, was able to wiggle his left arm and leg and even “played catch” with a rolled up ball of gauze in the intensive care unit of George Washington University Medic al Center. Brady was able to move his right side Tuesday, but movement of his left side was considered crucial to his recovery. The movement was “minimal, but hopeful,” a spokesman said. A large portion of the right frontal lobe of Brady’s brain, which controls the left side of the body, was removed dur ing a 6A4-hour operation Monday. The bullet entered his head above the left eye and passed through the tip of the left frontal lobe before tearing into the right side of the brain. Considering the severity of the wound, news that Brady and his wife were “playing catch” was warmly greeted in the White House press room. Mrs. Brady, whose nickname “Rac coon” relates to her dark eyes, was said in classic White House understatement to be “very encouraged” by her hus band’s progress. And, through Brady’s deputy Larry Speakes, she relayed her appreciation for the support and prayers for his recovery from Brady’s friends and erstwhile antagonists in the White House press corps. United Press International WASHINGTON — President Reagan, still suffering some soreness on his left side where a bullet pierced his lung, had his “best night’s sleep” since entering the hospital and was in “ex tremely good spirits” today, his doctor said. Dr. Daniel Ruge, Reagan’s personal physician, reported the president “looks fine,” had nine hours of sleep, and was “awake, alert and talking to hospital personnel” at 6 a.m. EST. “His vital signs are normal, although he is still complaining of soreness on his left side, which is quite normal,” Ruge said. The doctor said the president is in “extremely good spirits” and had his “best night’s sleep” since he entered the hospital. Senate and House committees called hearings today to pose questions about how well the president was protected during Monday’s assassination attempt — which left three others, including White House press secretary Jim Brady, critically wounded. Reagan’s accused assailant, John W. Hinckley Jr., 25, also had a preliminary hearing scheduled for today. While still sore from the surgery he underwent for removal of a bullet lodged in his lung, Reagan was up and around his $234-a-day hospital room Wednesday for the first time since Mon day’s assassination attempt. Law enforcement sources said the bullet that hit Reagan — one of six fired in his direction — probably ricocheted off his limousine and then struck him in the chest. There was speculation a ricochet would account for the badly “mangled” slug removed from Reagan’s chest. CBS News reported FBI analysts based the ricochet theory on a microsco pic fleck of black paint found on the slug. There also were reports Wednesday the president was more seriously in jured than first thought when brought to George Washington University Medical Center. Two paramedics who helped Reagan enter the emergency room said he looked pale, his eyes rolled back and his knees buckled. “By the look on his face — he was so pale — we thought he was having a heart attack. I thought we were going to lose him,” said Roberto Hernandez, a fire department paramedic. Officials said Reagan’s condition was never serious. But in Los Angeles, son Michael Reagan said the president told him Tuesday he felt “like the gun had exploded against his rib” — he coughed up blood, had trouble breathing and “said it was the biggest fear in his life.” There have been no photographs of the president in the hospital, but depu ty press secretary Larry Speakes said some may be released today. Officials insisted the delay was not a coverup but a matter of privacy. In a medical bulletin issued Wednes day afternoon. Dr. Daniel Ruge, Reagan’s personal physician, said: “The president continues to make excellent progress toward full recovery. He experienced some pain during the day, which is normal for one experienc ing an injury and surgery of this type. He is now resting comfortably.” With his recovery picture bright, aides were saying Reagan may be able to leave the hospital sometime next week to continue his convalescence at the White House. The president would like to travel to the West Coast as planned to meet with Mexican President Jose Lopez Portillo April 27 and 28 in San Diego, Calif., and Tijuana, a spokesman said. But there were estimates it would take at least two months before he is feeling up to par again.