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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 1981)
Page 10 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15. 1981 State Bill passes House to rid ‘hodge podge’ in schools United Press International AUSTIN — The House passed and sent to the Senate Tuesday a bill repealing state laws requir ing school districts to teach specific courses, and authorizing the State Board of Education to estab lish general required subjects. A drug parapher nalia bill also passed. The bill passed 90-52 despite protests from opponents that some Texas and American history courses could be jeopardized in Texas’ clas srooms. to review curriculum every two years because the Board of Education — through the Texas Educa tion Agency — would be required to submit cur riculum reports to the Legislature before each session. The bill by Rep. Bill Haley, D-Center, would require the State Board of Education to establish 11 general required subject areas. Local school districts, however, would still be able to decide what specific courses will be offered. Rep. Dan Kubiak, D-Rockdale, tacked on an amendment requiring American and Texas his tory textbooks be used in conjunction with read ing courses, nullifying an amendment passed Monday by Rep. Lanny Hall, D-Fort Worth, requiring the teaching of specific courses in American and Texas history and free enterprise. Hall argued that the bill, as amended by Kubiak, would no longer be “back to basics” legis lation. But Rep. Wayne Peveto, D-Orange, argued that under the bill the Legislature would be able “That’s something that the education agency is not mandated to do now,” Peveto said. Haley said the legislation would eliminate the “hodge podge” curriculum currently used in Texas schools. He said many unnecessary courses would be eliminated and “back to basics” courses would be reinstituted. The legislation was heavily backed by Gov. Bill Clements, whose interim committee on educa tion recommended the curriculum change. The House also gave final passage — 135-9 — to a bill by Rep. Charles Evans, D-Hurst, pro hibiting the sale or possession of drug parapher nalia. The bill, which is part of Clements’ anti-crime legislative package, will effectively close “head shops” in the state. The legislation was passed with no debate. However, the House spent two hours debating the measure on Monday when the bill was tenta tively approved. CBS TV reporter defends journalists’ use of deception United Press International DALLAS — Television repor ter Mike Wallace Tuesday de fended journalists’ use of decep tion to get a story in order to serve the public good, but warned against journalistic “terrorism” that would allow journalists to be come a law unto themselves. Wallace, co-editor of CBS tele vision’s “60 Minutes,” made the statements during a speech on journalistic ethics to the National School Boards Association, meet ing at a convention in Dallas. He said there was a certain skepticism among the public re garding how the media operates, as well as debate among journal ists themselves over techniques and ethics. While acknowledging the dan gers inherent in supporting de ception, Wallace nonetheless made it clear the ends often justi fied such means. “The point is, sometimes, a re porter does have to dissemble. masquerade or role play to assem ble information,” he said. “You have to make up your mind what is reasonable. “But there are times that a worthwhile end justifies a decep tive means to get the story.” Wallace gave as an example the assembling of information on a story describing “ghost surgery," a controversial practice in which an operation is handled by an in tern or resident instead of the surgeon hired by the patient. The patient is unaware that the surgeon paid to do the operation actually will not be operating. He said the story could not have been written had hospital officials known the reporting crew was interested in “ghost surgery.” The hospital was told the crew was working on a story regarding the training of surgeons. Similarly, he recalled a story in which a “60 Minutes” employee masqueraded as a sick man to get into a California health spa, whose Here’s the difference between a bank’s interest-bearing checking account and ours: Ours has a $300 minimum balance. Theirs requires more (in some cases, much more). m MoneyStore was the first interest-bearing checking account in the Brazos Valley. And it’s still the best. Look at these features: • $300 Minimum Balance (not $500, $600, $700, $1,000 or $1,200). You pay no service charges at Brazos Savings if you maintain only a $300 minimum balance. • Maximum Interest—Regardless of Balance. MoneyStore pays you 5 1 /4% interest, compounded continuously, on your balance (an effective annual yield of 5.47%). Even if your balance drops below $300, you earn maximum interest on your funds. • Telephone Bill Paying at No Extra Cost. With your authorization, MoneyStore will pay some of your bills direct. Just call us, tell us who to pay, how much and when. Keep your funds earning interest until you need to pay your bills. (On telephone bill paying, we pay the postage. If we miss a due date through our error, we pay the late fee.) • Overdraft Protection. Brazos Savings has automatic overdraft pro tection for qualifying MoneyStore customers. And it costs you nothing — until you use it. It’s easy to open a MoneyStore checking account. And we’ll pay you to use it. BRAZOS Savings COLLEGE STATION: Texas Ave. at Southwest Parkway/696-2800 Main Office: 2800 Texas Avenue/Bryan/779-2800 director was coming under ques tion as a charlatan. The man has since been jailed on various charges. Wallace said most editors pol led on the use of such deception were in favor of it because the public was often well served. However, he cautionedi acceptance of outright illegals and made it clear journals should not be “judge and jira law unto ourselves. i “Journalism is not a type of(J rorism,” he said. “Wecan'tbrt the law any more than yotu Senate OKs prison overcrowding funds! §§5 United Press International AUSTIN — By an overwhelming margin of 291 the Senate approval an emergency appropriation of $35 million to help alleviate ove| crowded prison conditions. Funds were appropriated for the construction of three prison urJ to provide beds for over 2,000 inmates now having to sleep on«|| floors. Senators had originally wanted up to $250,000 of the money tokl used for a work furlough program that would allow the inmates towoii| outside the prison. “This is not to say we have backed off on that issue. We cannot afo!| to back off that issue,” Sen. Kent Caperton, D-Bryan, said. Caperton said a separate bill will be introduced this week providigl the funding for the work furlough program. “The underlying issue is to get those people up off the hopefully by Dec. 1,” Caperton said. “This is a step in the right direction, but it’s one of three steps setml| by Jim Estelle to get people up off the floor.” Estelle, zone director of the prison system, has called for: imraei-l ate construction of the barracks-type housing units at three existiiij| prison sites, an expanded work furlough program, and constructiont! additional prison units — particularly one in Grimes County forwlit the state has acquired about 6,000 acres of land. i Use of Texas land for missiles opposed t Out on a limb v [Berger had to 1< lover and recruit his bike back to f him to find it in United Press International AUSTIN — The Defense De partment should base the MX mis sile system on arid government land rather than basing it in the Texas Panhandle where it would force 143,000 acres of prime agri cultural land out of production, a legislator said Tuesday. Rep. J.W. Buchanan, D- Dumas, said residents of the eight effected Panhandle counties are willing to do their part for the na- TLOUPOT'S'P tion’s defense, but are noteage:'| see 1,400 families displacedbyti missile system if the Air Fottf chooses to use a split-basing si tern that would put a portionoWk| MX system in Texas and ^jOl|ll Mexico. “We feel like it’s absolute® ridiculous to take 143,000 proM tive acres out of production wJ q^DALE? L^- the federal government owns^L were wounded h hons of acres of land, BuchaM*^ violence , ate sai ‘ phorities closed sc ffituted a curfew as :■ 'Allen Parish Sheri said a group of blacks out 9 p.m. Monday sidential area and be BOOKSTORE guns into the air At Northgate Across from the Post Office WE BUY BOOKS EVERYDAY! Officers on routin' town of about 7,000 _ units to help turbance when a gun patrol car, Durio sai' and two civilians wei the exchange of gu AND GIVE 20% MORE IN TRADE ON USED BOOKS! DIETING? 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