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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1981)
un-off elections to be Wednesday Jd s I® \\ inti -4 By DENISE RICHTER Battalion Staff IfCen Johnson and Marc Schneider are in the run-ofi for the office of Texas A&M student body president. H Run-offs in these elections will be iftdnesday from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Polling sites will be the Commons, Evans Lib- the guard room, the Memorial Relent Center and Sbisa Dining Hall. Complete election results were re- ied and certified by the Judicial d Monday night following the spe cial election that gave graduating Seniors the opportunity to vote. IA total of 6,185 ballots were counted intheballotting, which began lastTues- I and Wednesday, and which con- ded with the special graduating ior election Monday. An additional 117 ballots were not counted because of computer incompatibility. Johnson received 2,267 votes (40 cent) to Schneider’s 1,415 (25 per- David Collins received 1,366 [tes (24 percent); Matt Woodruff was rth with 343 votes (6 percent); and jary Elizabeth Herring got 304 votes (5 jrcent). The following offices will be con- ted in Wednesday’s run-off election: Indent body president — Ken John son and Marc Schneider Ken Johnson Vice president for external affairs — Sue Vito and Blaine Edwards Class of ’84 president — John Dungan and Kam Hutchins; Class of ’84 vice president — Nicole Williams and Joseph A. Sandoval Class of ’82 historian — Mark Morris and Bryan Bartels Graduate Student Council representa tives Agriculture (five places) — Paul Pierce, Bruce Clark, Neil Jeter, Morrie Luka, Jim Harris, Marcel Valday, John Roach, Kevin Bond and Saun- dra Hodge Education (two places)—Rick Putnam, Kay Moss and Barbara Tuepek Engineering (one place)—Sam Aleton, Dan Ruhn, Patricia Harding, Der rick Sallee and Afison McFarland Senators Agriculture at-large — Eloy Corona and Curtis Stewart Graduate off-campus (three places) — Tim Sager, George Stork, Frank Stiles, Dan Watkins, Buddy Urbanc- zyk and Shish Mehta Preliminary results indicate the fol lowing winners: Legislative vice presidents Academic affairs — Kathy Bartholomew Finance — J. Terry Smith Rules and regulations — Rhonda Rhea Student services — Chris Langford Yell leaders Seniors — Mike Thatcher, Norris Hod- gin and John Nisbet Juniors—Uwe Wolfgang Guenther and Tom Joseph. Off-Campus Aggies President — Paul Bettencourt Vice President — Bruce Martin Secretary — Rhonda Rhea Treasurer — Melissa Montgomery Residence Hall Association President — Tim Ryan Vice President — Michelle Rowland Secretary — Gaye Denley Treasurer — Kevin Bailey Senators Ward I — Dale Collins, Donna Zim merman, Sherry Trask, Chris Dun can, Chrise Cleveland and Mike Meyer Ward II—Jeff Anthony, Patricia Linck, Roland Flanagan, John W. Porter, Pat Pearson, William Beard, Michael Hafher, Cheryl Roberts and Jerry Ward Ward III — Adren Pilger and James Saxon Marc Schneider Ward IV — Shannon O’Farrell, Ellen Pifer, Eddie King and Cody Whitten University Apartments — Jim Scrivner Graduate off campus — Fred Seals Mosher-Krueger — Kristy Wright Aston-Dunn — George Boozalis Keathley-Fowler-Hughes — Cathy Seeburger Haas-McFadden-Neeley-Hobby — Melissa Gosper Spence-Briggs-Modular — Laura Furr Crocker-Davis/Gary-Moses-Moore — Mike Maddrey Mclnnis-Schuhmacher-Hotard-Walton — Mark A. Stasney Law-Puryear-Hart-Cain — Joe Nuss- baum Geosciences senior — David Close Agriculture at-large — Mike Wolff Architecture at-large — Barton A. De nnis and Brad Simmons Business at-large — Debby Rutledge and Lisa Kueck Education at-large — Beth Castenson, Lynda Beard and Patsy Jenkins Engineering at-large — Dave Ward Geosciences at-large — Linda Holman Science at-large — Bobby Ogdee and Jeff Young Veterinary Medicine at-large — Denise K. Williams and Mark Vara College of Medicine — Satish Patel See complete election results on page 6. Ihe Battalion Serving the Texas A&M University community .74 No. 129 12 Pages Tuesday, April 7, 1981 College Station, Texas USPS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 The Weather Today Tomorrow High 83 High 84 Low 59 Low 61 Chance of rain. none Chance of rain. . . . . . none urant John 311 brd Cain open foi r ) for the ig sched' ) p.m. & 1:00 p.m i:00 p.m v a valie , faculty, vimming 3 r for the rainu liddle-class may be hit hardest Budget cuts affect student aid By KATHY O’CONNELL Battalion StafT Circumstances indicate President Ronald Reagan’s oposed budget cuts in student financial aid would hit iddle-income and working class families the hardest. Financial Aid Director Dr. Bill McFarland, said the roposed cuts would affect the Guaranteed Student loan program and the Basic Educational Opportunity |mnt program. This is due to the fact that the cuts the president ipports would be directed primarily at the same •ograms which have made it possible for middle- and te-income families to finance an education. I Undercurrent regulations of the GSL program, an idergraduate student may borrow $2,500 annually, a maximum amount of $7,500, while graduate udents can borrow a maximum $10,000. McFarland said students must secure the loans from immercial lenders that participate in the loan •ogram. One change proposed for the GSL program is to iminate interest subsidies to institutions who lend oney to students. Under the current program, the ivemment pays interest to lenders for a designated feriod of time based on the amount the student bor- iws while he is in school. Reagan also proposes contributions from other aid ■ograms and earnings from the family and the student econsidered before granting loans to students. Because these changes would impose a limit on the aount of money a student could borrow, parents or ic student would have to make up the difference, resently, it’s possible for a student to finance the lajority of his education through loans. McFarland said the amount of money a student is eligible to receive is dependent upon the actual cost of education. He said the financial aid office calculates approximate figures for tuition, books, room and board, transportation and personal expenses. Prior to Jan. 1, the GSL program was handled by federal agencies; however, it is now handled by the state. This is advantageous, McFarland said, because applications can be processed faster when the program is under state control. And “when it comes to collec tion time, some people think it’s better to make pay ments at home than sending their money to some bureaucrat,’’ he said. Not only did the program change hands, but the interest rates were changed. Before Jan. 1, the rate was seven percent, with a nine month grace period. This means the government pays seven percent sim ple interest on the total amount borrowed until the time span has ended. The new rate is nine percent simple interest with a six month grace period. McFarland said any student who secured a loan before Jan. 1, still pays the seven percent interest rate, however. Under the new regulations, if a student borrows the maximum amount,($7,500) he would repay approxi mately $19,000 over a ten-year repayment plan. This compares with the old regulations where the student repays $14,000 over the same amount of time. McFarland said the proposed changes are designed to limit rapid growth of the GSL program. Despite these proposed changes, officials expect an increase from 3.2 million to approximately 3.6 million in 1981-82. Without the proposals, there would about 4.5 million participants, he said. The Congressional Budget office estimates that the changes will cut into half the number of students eligible for loans. In the BEOG program, the maximum amount a student can get is $1,750 annually. The average grant paid to the approximate 2.6 million people in the program is $929. McFarland said grants are awarded by calculating the basic cost of education. Appromimately 4,000 students, or 12.7 percent of the 31,443 students at Texas A&M receive BEOGs. But, because of the proposed changes, the federal government has halted the processing of applications until Congress can agree on what changes are to made, McFarland said. Proposed changes in the BEOG program, he said, “seem to be a regressive change which will affect those applicants from lower income families severely.” There are two possible ways in which the grants would be awarded. First, the amount the student would receive would be limited to the lesser amount of the maximum grant minus any expected family contri bution. Second, the student would receive the full cost of education, after family contributions and $750 of the student’s own earnings are subtracted. In a UPI story. Sen. Clairbome Pell, D-R.L, was quoted as saying the cuts in aid are “penny-wise and pound foolish” since the long run affects of the cuts could mean fewer highly trained people in the future. Beginning the 1981-82 academic year, BEOGs will be called Pell Grants after the senator. Don Lee Munsell Glen Wayne Mitchell Jr Bob Leslie Boyles Jr. Tulio Ruben Pena Eva Fees Smith Lobbyists target on tuition bill By TERRY DURAN Battalion Staff Lobbying efforts from several schools lave targeted a state senate bill now in pmmittee that would double undergra- uate tuition at state supported colleges and universities. LThebill, filed in mid-March by W. E. srete” Snelson of Midland, would raise Jiition at state-supported schools from fS (PT ^ e P resent $4 t° $8 per semester hour LltT for in-state undergraduate students. tuition for out-of-state students would heir nes also double, from $40 to $80 per semes- :his best used on hole ha* Class C nined by This I* be con- fternoon. opetitioP S; VVoiP’ In-state medical students’ tuition ild jump from $400 to $3,600 per fc-month academic year, while resi- lent dental students will have to pay a year. The bill calls for out-of-state medical udents to pay $7,200 a year (up from ); dental students’ tuition would i $5,000 a year. The proposal is a result of recommen dations by a special committee charged by the senate with a “study of the financ ing of higher education in Texas with particular emphasis on providing the highest quality ... in the most efficient manner possible.” The committee, chaired by Lt. Gov. William P. Hobby and appointed by Gov. William P. Cle ments, submitted its report in January. The committee recommended rais ing faculty salaries 40 percent by fiscal year 1983, increasing state funding of organized faculty research, a tuition in crease as outlined above, and changes in the handling of available funds from the Permanent University Fund. It would also set aside funds from the tuition in crease for schools not eligible for PUF financing and scholarships for students needing financial aid. The committee’s report acknow ledged that higher tuition rates might cause up to a five percent enrollment drop. It also recommended 10 percent this ye^j ce at th e ! ; will pu! 5 faculty x-hostage speaks at A&M tonight ,ccept e ' ow (Ap rl ice (roo 1 " Former hostage Richard Queen will >eak at 8 tonight in Rudder Theater. Queen, who spent 250 days in captiv- yin Iran, will speak on “An Analysis of '^Iranian Hostage Crisis.” The speech I sponsored by Political Forum. During the embassy siege in Iran, Queen took on the task of organizing a makeshift library for the hostages. He is now employed as an Iranian analyst by the State Department’s Bureau of Intel ligence and Research. of fees collected under the new statute be set aside for those hit hardest finan cially. The study estimates a net increased income due to higher tuition of $51.9 million if enrollment figures remain stable. If enrollment dropped five per cent, about $46.2 million in extra funds would be generated. Mike Martin is a leader in the Texas Student Lobby, an independent group of mostly University of Texas students working to defeat the tuition increase proposal. Martin, who is also head clerk for the senate natural resources com mittee, says the senate is “taking advan tage of a group that can’t defend them selves” by raising college tuition. “When you’re a student, you don’t have a lot of time” to compete with professional lobbyists,” he said. Although the TSL does not officially represent the UT student body — UT has no student goverment — Martin said efforts are being made to sway sen ate higher education committee mem bers to kill the bill in committee. He said four committee members already oppose the measure; two more will be needed to keep the measure from mak ing it to the senate floor. The TSL is not the only group lob bying against the tuition increase. A Texas A&M Student Government lob bying group has been researching the situation for “quite a while, ” said David Collins, 1980-81 external affairs vice president, as well as the Texas Student Association. Collins said Monday that a report on the situation should be finished within a week. The report will state and support a specific position representative of the Texas A&M student body, he said. An SG student survey was conducted in March, asking students if they fa vored the tuition increase and whether the added “financial burden” would be enough to cause the student to leave school. Texas A&M biology major Tom Schwartz (son of former Texas legislator A. R. “Babe” Schwartz of Galveston), said it’s “unfair” to raise tuition, espe cially in conjunction with President Ronald Reagan’s proposal to cut the Education Department budget by $9.2 billion over the next five years. “They (the committee) admit at least a five percent enrollment drop,” he said. “They don’t care who the five per cent are or where they go, just as long as they get their extra money.” Texas currently has the third lowest tuition rate for in-state students of the 48 states ranked; Texas tuition for out- of-state students is 25th of 48. Medical school tuition for both resident and non resident students is currently the lowest of any in the nation. “They’re just raising tuition because it’s low,” Schwartz charged. He warned of a “triple-threat” to Texas A&M stu dents, due to recently-approved in creases in room and board fees, the im pending tuition increase and cuts to fed eral grant and guaranteed student loan programs. Collins, Martin and Schwartz all say the best thing to do right now is write state representatives. “The important thing is to write,” Martin said. “If no one writes, those guys will never know how we feel. ” Silver Taps tonight The Silver Taps Ceremony will be held tonight at 10:30 in front of the Academic Building. The following Texas A&M students will be honored: Don Lee Munsell who died March 15, Glen Wayne Mitch ell Jr. who died March 16, Bob Leslie Boyles Jr. who died March 19, and Tulio Ruben Pena and Eva Fees Smith who died March 25. Lights on campus should be turned off from 10:20 p. m. to 10:50 p.m. during the ceremony.