eniors get
By PHYLLIS HENDERSON
Battalion Staff
tudent body presidential candidate
,tt Woodruffs appeal of the Student
[vernment election procedures con
ing the voting rights of graduating
iors was upheld Thursday night by
Judicial Board after a four-hour
ised meeting.
hairman Paul Bettencourt said the
eting was closed in order to “keep
i burden off the members of the
trd when they are formulating their
Inion.”
ft the beginning of the session both
foodruffand Executive Vice President
[eg Dew presented arguments before
board.
We were asked to come in for infor-
Bation purposes,” Woodruff said.
■Dew said: “My purpose in the meet
ing was to present the case in defense
■the election commissioner.”
be board then requested that
druff and Dew leave the room so
could begin deliberations.
The Judicial Board agreed in an
iinimous decision that graduating
niors do have the right to vote in Stu
nt Government elections and that
jetion commissioner, Leah Whitby,
id violated her authority in denying
e voting rights of these students. It
[ judged, however, that Whitby was
acting with “willful and wanton dis
regard” for the election rules and regu
lations as Woodruff had charged.
The opinion said it was not within the
authority of the election commissioner
to limit voting qualifications over and
above those qualifications set out in the
election rules and regulations.
Bettencourt said the board reviewed
the student body constitution, the stu
dent senate by-laws and the election
rules and regulations to determine all
areas that pertained to voter qualifica
tions.
“The only voter qualifications are two
sentences in Section 3400 of the elec
tion rules and regulations,” Bettencourt
said. Section 3400 states that voter qual
ifications are current enrollment in the
University and a current, valid I.D.
“There were people (graduating
seniors) who were denied the right to
vote who met these qualifications, ” Bet
tencourt said.
The board directed the election com
mission to open a polling place in the
Memorial Student Center Monday
from 9 a. m. to 6 p. m. for the purpose of
allowing graduating seniors the oppor
tunity to vote.
All graduating seniors, including
those whose I.D. was punched in the
March 31, April 1 election, but who
were then denied the right to vote, will
be allowed to vote on Monday for all
offices for which they are eligible.
vote in appeal hearing
The opinion said it was
not within the authority
of the election
commissioner to limit
voting qualifications.
Seniors who were not stopped from vot
ing will be held to the honor system to
not vote again, Bettencourt said.
Offices to be voted on include student
body president, legislative vice presi
dents, living area senators (except
Corps senators), academic at-large
senators, Residence Hall Association
offices. Yell leaders and Off-Campus
Aggies offices.
Rolls will be used to check the status
of voters at the polling place. “We
already have the rolls,” Whitby said.
The rolls were obtained from the Regis
trar’s office and they list all seniors who
have applied for a degree.
Bettencourt explained the board’s
decision saying: “We wanted to make it
as uniform as possible and we wanted to
make sure these people had a full day of
voting. ”
Woodruff agreed saying: “I personal
ly feel that’s the best way to handle it
(the election). I think it’s the only way. I
didn’t foresee it (the appeal) being this
much of a hassel. I’m sorry for the trou
ble it’s causing all the candidates.”
Tensions mounted between Dew and
the board after the reading of the deci
sion. Brad Smith, student body presi
dent, tried to serve as mediator.
“I support your decision,” Dew told
the board, “I’m required to support it.
But I think there are some questions
that have to be answered. ” Dew refused
to allow the release of the election re
sults until his questions were answered.
Dew was particularly concerned with
which offices graduating seniors would
be eligible to vote for. “Established
election regulations do not specify what
are appropriate offices, or this matter
would not have come up,” he said. “It
(the constitution) says what their (the
senator’s) constituencies are, but it
doesn’t say who can vote for them.”
Bettencourt tried to explain the
board’s position on the constituencies.
“The difference is what we define as
at-large,” he said. “Specifically, any
thing tagged freshman, sophomore,
junior or senior cannot be voted on by
graduating seniors.
“This is what we feel like is the only
sensible line we can draw.”
The Judicial Board authorized the re
lease of all election results excepting
those of the offices which would be
effected by Monday’s election. Dew
and Whitby, however, delayed release
of the results of the senior academic
senators for certification by the board
because of questions not only over the
board’s decision, but also to review the
validity of the results.
Tempers began to flare.
“There’s no reason for this conflict
because we made the decision, ” Betten
court said. “We made the only logical
decision.
“It is our responsibility to release
those results. We are the final authority
on election matters.”
Dew countered: “The results have to
be released by the election commis
sion."
Maureen Kerrigan, a member of the
board, said: “We’re not going to change
our minds.”
At one point, the board considered
issuing a writ of mandamus to Dew
ordering him to release the election re
sults of these races. Smith, however,
averted the conflict.
“Just give me five minutes to talk with
them,” Smith told Bettencourt. Lance
Wright, a member of the board, said:
“We re sacrificing our principles for di
plomacy. It (the refusal to release the
results) is like insisting that the world
stop turning.”
When satisfied that the results were
valid, Dew and Whitby released the
results to the board for certification.
“Their decision to allow graduating
seniors to vote,” Dew said, “does not
change the fact that it is the responsibil
ity of the election commissioner to en
sure that the results of the election are
valid before they are released to the
public.
“Their decision has made it especially
important for us to exercise extreme
caution throughout the remainder of
the election.”
Fhe Battalion
Serving the Texas A&M University community
Vol.74 No. 127 Friday, April 3, 1981 USPS 045 360
12 Pages College Station, Texas Phone 845-2611
The Weather
Today
Tomorrow
High
82 High
84
65 Cow
63
Chance of rain.
none Chance of rain. . . .
. . none
Staff photo by Brian Tate
Comprehensive Coverage
Along with the rain Thursday came a problem for Lin Peterson. Her
photographs being sold in the MSC Craft Show had to be protected
from the elements and so did she. A piece of plastic provided a quick
answer to the drizzly problem.
Incomplete results released
By DENISE RICHTER
Battalion Staff
Following a one-day delay, partial Student Govern
ment election results were released at 11:20 p.m.
Thursday.
Complete returns will be released after a special
election Monday in which graduating seniors, pre
viously forbidden to vote, will have the opportunity to
cast ballots.
From that election, winners of the following offices
will be determined: student body president, legisla
tive vice presidents, yelUeaders, Off-Campus Aggies,
Residence Hall Association, living area senators ex
cept for the Corps of Cadets; and several senatorial
positions.
Certified results indicate the following winners:
Class of ’84 secretary-treasurer — Jay Still; social
secretary — Barbara Brunner.
Class of’83 president — Mike Lawshe; vice presi
dent— Larry Collis; treasurer—John Motley; secret
ary — Ann Home; social secretary — Debbie Rich
mond.
Class of ’82 president — Gary Branch; vice presi
dent — James Bond; secretary-treasurer — David
Moyer; social secretary — Susan Pavloski.
Graduate Student Council representatives: Agri
culture — David Kee; Architecture — Celia Hall;
Business Administration — David Montplaisir,
Stephanie Moore; Education — Romy Rivera; En
gineering — Robert Kosnetz, Thomas Geerjames
Martin; Science — Ken Fredeen; Veterinary Medi
cine — David Snyder.
Senators: Corps sophomore — Bill Montgomery;
junior — Jeff Greenwade; senior — Lee Flagg.
Senators: Agriculture sophomore — Brian Terrell;
junior—Jim Harris; senior— Dale Langley; graduate
■>—- Brian Hay.
Senators: Business sophomore — Margaret
O’Brien; junior — Alison Sanders; senior — Trisha
Enke; graduate — Tracy Cox.
Senators: Engineering sophomores — Rodger
Drew, Judy Marcotte, Steve Forman; juniors — Greg
Bates, Dan Kahler, Kevin Bordelon; seniors — Bill
Price, Tony Marshall, Ross Walton; graduate — Cliff
Walton.
Senators: Liberal Arts sophomore — Sharon Hall;
junior — Larry Gottlieb; senior — David Close; gra
duate —- Mark Shomaker.
The following offices will be contested in a run-off
election: Class of ’84 president — John Dungan and
Kam Hutchins; vice-president — Nicole Williams and
Joseph A. Sandoval.
Class of ’82 historian — Mark Morris and Bryan
Bartels.
Graduate Student Council: Agriculture (five places)
— Paul Pierce, Bruce Clark, Neil Jeter, Morrie Luka,
Jim Harris, Marcef Valday, John Roach, Kevin Bond
and Saundra Hodge.
Education (two places) — Rick Putnam, Kay Moss
and Barbara Tuepke.
Engineering (one place) — Sam Aleton, Dan Ruhn,
Patricia Harding, Derrick Sallee and Alison McFar
land.
Run-offs in these elections will be held Wednesday
from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Polling sites will be the Memo
rial Student Center, the Commons, Evans Library,
Sbisa Dining Hall and the guard room.
The delay was caused by computer programming
problems when tabulating the returns and the Judicial
Board’s review of presidential candidate Matt Wood
ruff s request for appeal of the procedure concerning
the voting rights of graduating seniors.
After a four-hour closed meeting of the Judicial
Board, the decision was made to uphold Woodruffs
appeal.
For complete election results, see page 10.
Senate approves battered budget
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Some said it
would mean “ruined lives and shattered
hopes,” but the Senate overwhelmingly
approved a package of budget cuts that
would reach into nearly every facet of
government except defense.
The Republican-controlled Senate,
after days of beating back Democratic
efforts to amend it, Thursday accepted a
package containing $36.9 billion in fiscal
1982 reductions.
The vote was 88-10, with Sen. Lowell
Weicker, R-Conn., joining nine liberal
Democrats in opposing the measure.
President Reagan was reported
pleased with the Senate action by Sen.
Strom Thurmond, R-S. C., who saw him
in his hospital room Thursday night.
The spotlight now turns to the
Democrat-controlled House, which be
gins drafting its own budget package
next week.
“This resolution means the Senate
for the first time in years has come to its
senses,” said Budget Committee Chair
man Pete Domenici, R-N.M. He said it
would begin to reverse a trend of exces
sive government spending.
But Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-
Mass., said the budget “makes no sense
in economic terms or in human terms.”
“In its wake will be the ruined lives
and shattered hopes of millions in our
society,” he said. “The cold and dry
statistics in the budget resolution do not
begin to tell the real story of this
budget.”
Sen. Alan Cranston, D-Calif., said
the American people may have voted
last November to eliminate fraud and
waste and curb the federal bureaucracy.
“I do not believe, however, that they
voted for a cruel abandonment of Amer
ica’s commitment — indeed, America’s
obligation — to help those most in
need,” he said.
Among the reductions are a $1.5 bil
lion cut in the food stamp program, a
nearly 25 percent cut in elementary and
secondary education programs that
would be funded through block grants,
a phase-out of public jobs, a $1 billion
cut in Medicaid, elimination of the Eco
nomic Development Administration
and eight regional commissions, and
termination of the minimum benefit
payment under Social Security.
The Senate did not, at Reagan’s re
quest, tamper with basic Social Security
payments, despite attempts to reduce
them.
Total savings under the Reagan plan
include the $36.9 billion in Senate-
approved cuts, as well as $8 billion in
reductions to be achieved administra
tively and an additional amount in Car
ter administration programs that were
never accepted.
Reagan, recovering from a gunshot
wound suffered in an assassination
attempt Monday, had proposed
slashing the budget $48.6 billion.
The Senate’s action will serve as in
structions to its spending and authoriz
ing committees. The measure contains
recommendations, or options for the
panels to consider, but the committees
themselves will decide where the cuts
actually will come.
In the House, Democratic leader Jim
Wright, D-Texas, predicted the mea
sure approved by that chamber would
approach the administration’s total fi
gure “very closely.”
But he hinted Reagan would not get
as much of a military increase as he
wants, and that the tax cut approved by
the House would be smaller — reduc
ing the size of the deficit below Reagan’s
projected $45 billion.
Hobby stresses involvement for leadership qualities
Campus roles help students become future leaders
By RACHEL BOSTWICK
Battalion Reporter
The development of leadership qualities now can help
guide the steps of the future, Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby said Thurs
day evening in Rudder Tower at Texas A&M University.
Sponsored by the Class of’83, Hobby spoke to an audience
of about 70 people which included a few anxious student
government candidates who were awaiting election returns.
Hobby pointed to members of the 67 th Texas State Legisl
ature as examples to follow for developing leadership qual
ities,
Before elected by their constituents, he said, the legisla
tors served as leaders in their schools and communities. And
by following steps such as those they took and getting in
volved in activities on campus, Hobby said, students can
become leaders of tomorrow.
The lieutenant governor expressed concern about the
purchasing power of faculty salaries, which, he said, has
decreased 20 percent in the last 10 years. The salaries have
not kept up with rising inflation, he said, making it difficult to
bold tbe quality educators that are needed.
The conditions of the Texas Department of Corrections
prison system, which is the largest in the country, is also of
major concern, Hobby said.
Originally planned to house 16,000 inmates, the prison
system is now housing over 29,000 inmates, due to an annual
increase of 10 percent. Overcrowding is a real problem and
calls for emergency construction of dormitory units and ex
pansion of the work release program, he said.
The establishment of a prison such as the one in Grimes
County is like the establishment of a nuclear waste disposal
site. Hobby said. There are things that have to be done, which
is why government has the power of eminent domain, Hobby
said.
The lieutenant governor said he didn’t envision the prob
lem being resolved through the death penalty.
He said he doesn’t know of any evidence that indicates the
death penalty is a deterrent to crime. There are about 40
death-row inmates awaiting execution now in Texas, but
these are on appeal, he said.
Hobby, a native Houstonian, is a graduate of Rice Univer
sity. After graduation, he joined the Navy, where he served
for three years in naval intelligence. First elected lieutenant
governor in 1972, Hobby said he plans to run for the office
again.
Photo by Margarita Jaime
Lt. Governor Bill Hobby spoke on how developing
leadership skills can be beneficial to students in
their careers Thursday night in Rudder Tower.
Here Hobby, who was sponsored by the Class of
’83, speaks with Class President Mike Lawshe an
another member of the Corps of Cadets.