: 'IT-
I fj
he Battalion
|Vol. 74 No. 162
Pages
Serving the Texas A&M University community
Tuesday, June 16, 1981
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
The Weather
Today
Tomorrow
High
82 High
87
Low
65 Low
70
Chance of rain
50% Chance of rain. . . .
. . . 30%
eather service
redicts more
exas flooding
United Press International
With a 50 percent chance for more
ain in the forecast, officials in central
Texas spent another uneasy night fear-
|i! heavy rain could push rain-engorged
faterways over their banks and bring
pore death and devastation.
Since the Memorial Day weekend,
|ooding has taken 22 lives in the Austin
ad central Texas area, and caused mil
ls of dollars worth of damage.
Wide areas of south central Texas and
be Hill Country have been inundated
intermittent, heavy thunderstorms
the past seven days and the area was
i saturated, any further heavy rainfall
las sure to cause flooding.
The National Weather Service con-
inued. to issue flash flood watches for
be area, warning it could he threatened
By thunderstorms for another three
lays.
Federal officials were in Austin Mon-
ry to resurvey flood damage after resi-
jfdents were denied federal assistance
om the Memorial Day weekend flood
ing that took 13 lives in Austin and one
in a neighboring county.
At least eight people died last
jekend in the high waters that chased
2,2(X) people from their homes. The
worst of the flooding was in San Marcos
and Austin.
Four of the weekend victims were
visitors to Pedernales Falls State Park,
near Johnson City, southwest of Austin,
who were swept away when they ven
tured onto rocks protruding from the
river.
Blanco County Sheriffs Department
officials on Monday recovered the
bodies of George Cooper, 54, academic
dean of the Hutchinson, Kan., Com
munity College; his wife, Wilma, about
50; their son, Eliot Cooper, 26, of Au
stin; and Leslie Lehman, 21, of South
Hutchinson, Kan.
Two other drowning victims were lo
cated Monday. Mario Zamora, 13, was
found at Six Mile Creek in San Antonio
about a mile from where he pulled his
brother to safety Sunday, then slipped
and fell in, The body of Rosalee Haw
kins, 4, was found in Nolan Creek, ab
out 100 yards from where the car in
which she was riding stalled.
Antonia Flores Jimenes of Muldoon
and Billy McFerrin of Houston, died in
separate accidents Saturday when their
vehicles were swept into floodwaters.
iss A&M pageant
in financial trouble
rs
By KATHY O’CONNELL
Battalion Sta*f
■ A proposal by the MSC Hospitality
J Committee to change the format of the
1981-82 Miss Texas A&M University
Pageant was tabled by MSC Council
members until furthur information can
f be found.
aplayingw* B ecause ti lt , scholarship pageant has
ZftnlfeWperated in the red for the past two
d oyer MiMgars, th e committee has proposed sev-
ght, 12-3. ]|ral changes in the pageant format. The
ing to cot 1981 pageant resulted in a $3021 loss to
toinom 1 ’ the committee.
ame won®* With the intention to make the 1981-
the pi'! f!82 pageant financially successful, the
iayStrike“■ommittee i ias suggested “a double-
h- w KfB -own ing, switching to a one-night for-
ith relieftlniat an( l revising the budget to better
<, agre™ Bianage finances.”
E Shortening the length of the pageant
a bad li» f to one evening would cut hack on audi
torium costs and other expenses, said
Holly Day, Hospitality Committee
chairman.
§. The double-crowning would include
a second title, Miss Bryan-College Sta
tion, in addition to that of Miss Texas
A&M University. This would mean a
dual pageant with expenses shared by
the committee and the two cities.
I To have a Miss Bryan-College Sta
tion, both cities would have to become a
impledot 1 '?’ member of the Miss America franchise,
singledisf-® Faculty representative Ward Wells
a two-rucT questioned the idea of a dual pageant.
;ohertscln i ®Tve been hearing a lot of things that
is 5-4, bf include outside organizations and two
Shhisttef
15-0 lead |
we repiw
aying t<®|
” Medicisj
powers Wj
Wcdnesij
ell broujllj
single and*!
ise his s®!
, toolad-dl
ning. Wl
city councils that haven’t been able to
decide on anything for years,” he said.
Questions were also raised concern
ing who would be liable for debts if the
1982 pageant again suffered financial
losses.
Council President Doug Dedeker
suggested the pageant might be refer
red to the Program Study Committee if
the pageant continues to operate at a
loss. The Program Study Committee
was established to review the effective
ness of MSC committees.
It was suggested the Hospitality
Committee investigate all questions
concerning the proposal before the
council makes a final decision.
This year’s pageant deficit will be
made up through MSC reserve funds.
In other business, MSC Director Jim
Reynolds mentioned plans to install a
$30,000 data processing system for the
Memorial Student Center. He said this
system will be used mainly for account
ing purposes. “We plan to move very
slowly and very carefully (in initial use
of the system). ”
He said a good part of the money will
come from the MSC reserve fund.
There are also two other major projects
under way; one is the rennovation of the
Basement Coffeehouse, which is ex
pected to be completed by the fall.
The other plan is to expand Rudder
Box Office by adding another ticket win
dow and building more space for a dis
play area to announce upcoming events.
ifll
m
0
rge
By DENISE RICHTER
Battalion Staff
The City of College Station has been
awarded a $343,000 community de-
Hfelopment block grant from the U.S.
epartment of Housing and Urban De-
elopment.
The grant program was established
by the Housing and Community De
velopment Act of 1974.
Cities receive the grant if they are
classified as entitled cities, fill out the
proper forms and have properly spent
noney received in the past, said Jane
lees, a College Station zoning official.
Cities qualified for grants are those
ith a population of at least 50,000 or
hat are in a Standard Metropolitan Sta-
istical Area (SMSA).
Both College Station and Bryan are
qualified cities, Kees said.
Money received through the block
yant program is to be used for streets
and drainage, housing rehabilitation,
learance, street lighting, water sys-
iems and park improvement.
College Station Mayor Gary Halter
aid, “The grant is given, not for a speci-
ic project but for broad projects. The
3ity decides how to spend the money.”
The community development grant
rogram is not competitive, Halter said,
he city applies for the money and, with
[he exception of 1978, has received the
funds each year since 1975 when the
rogram was started.
Kees said, “Every year, if we fill out
the application properly and have been
pending the money we’ve received in
the past properly, we’ll get the grant. ”
College Station received its first
block grant in 1975. The $75,000 grant
was spent on street improvements, as
were the grants that were received in
1976 and 1977.
However, to remain eligible for a
block grant, some of the money re
ceived has to he used to provide hous
ing, Kees said. Since all of the money
College Station had received in the past
had been used for street improvements,
the city did not receive a grant in 1978,
she said.
To have the grant reinstated, the
money left over from the 1977 grant was
used for a housing rehabilitation prog
ram, park improvements, the installa
tion of water lines and fire hydrants, and
the installation of street lights in low-
and moderate-income target areas,
Kees said.
The grant was reinstated in 1979.
Cities apply for the block grant in
January, Kees said, and in the applica
tion tell the Department of Housing and
Urban Development exactly how the
money is going to be spent.
The $343,000 grant will be divided in
the following manner:
— $144,000 for housing rehabilita
tion.
— $105,000 for street construction.
— $24,000 for parks improvement.
— $20,000 for demolition.
The rest of the money will be used for
contingency and administrative funds,
Kees said.
Dog on Wheels
Stuff photo by Greg Gammon
Caesar, a shepherd mix dog, gets a little appreciation for his work as
man’s best friend in the form of a free ride. Mike Evans’ dog seemed
to enjoy the motorcycle trip, which beat walking on the hot pave
ment. The ride was good for a few stares from passing students.
A&M regents sell bonds, refuse
state attorney general’s legal bill
Permanent University Fund bonds
totaling $20 million were sold Thursday
hy the Texas A&M Board of Regents to
finance future construction and related
projects at System locations around the
state.
Bache, Halsey, Stuart and Shields,
Inc. of New York City, the low bidder,
purchased the bonds at an effective in
terest rate of 9.4 percent.
System officials noted the proceeds
from the bond sale primarily will be
used to provide additional facilities to
accomodate enrollment increases and
expanded programs at several locations.
Texas A&M University, which has been
the nation’s fastest growing university
in the past decade, is expected to have a
1,500 enrollment increase this fall for a
total of approximately 35,000 students.
After considerable discussion the re
gents declined Attorney General Mark
White’s request to pay $117,080 for leg
al fees incurred when a Washington,
D C. law firm was retained to provide
counsel to the state regarding Depart
ment of Education rules on desegrega
tion in higher education.
A decision on the matter had been
deferred from the Board’s May meeting
pending additional information and pre
cedents.
The attorney general had proposed
that the University of Texas System
Board of Regents also pay $117,080 to
cover expenses noted in a final billing by
the firm of Verner, Liipfert, Berhard
and McPherson. The attorney general’s
office paid an earlier bill of $78,846.
The regents also named two new
modular dormitories scheduled to open
in the fall in honor of Rita Crocker Cle
ments, wife of Gov. Bill Clements, and
Ammon Underwood of Houston, Class
of 07, who has made substantial finan
cial contributions to the University.
In the special meeting held in Dallas,
the regents also named Dr. Svetozar
Pejovich, acting president of the Uni
versity of Dallas, the new director of
Texas A&M’s Center for Education and
Research in Free Enterprise.
Pejovich s appointment is effective
July 1. He succeeds Dr. Gene Uselton
who continues to serve as professor of
finance.
Pejovich, who earned a law degree at
the University of Belgrade in 1955 and a
doctorate degree in economics at
Georgetown University in 1963, served
on Texas A&M’s economics faculty from
1967 to 1970 and was a visiting profes
sor from 1977 to 1980.
The regents also appointed Dr. Carl
F. Raba Jr. of San Antonio to the Board
of Consultants of the Center for Educa
tion and Research in Free Enterprise.
Raba, who holds three Texas A&M de
grees in civil engineering, is president
of Raba and Associates Engineering Inc.
He succeeds James Galloway of Hous
ton, a retired Exxon executive.
Cities' public transportation future dim
College Station awarded
$343,000 federal grant
By RACHEL BOSTWICK
Battalion Reporter
The chances that a public transit system in the
Bryan-College Station area will be started are slim,
and the chances that it will be successful are even
slimmer.
In 1979 the Texas Transportation Institute drew up
a transit improvement plan for Bryan-College Station
considering the need for public transportation, the
existing services, alternative services, cost, financial
alternatives, ownership and management.
The plan goes into operation when approval is given
by the two city councils and requires a minimum of
three years for the financing, federal reviews and
grants, selection of facility sites and completion of
buildings and delivery of the buses.
Recently, the Bryan City Council voted to turn
down the federal funds available for an investigation
into the need for public transportation.
The transit improvement plan would call for capital
costs of around $2 million, and operating deficits of
$425,000. The federal government would pay 80 per
cent of the capital costs, the state government would
pay 13 percent and the local government would pay
seven percent.
The problem is the payment of the operating de
ficit. At the time of the report, the federal government
was planning to pay for one-half the deficit, with the
other half being shared between Bryan and College
Station, depending on the number of vehicle-miles of
service to each citv.
The need for public transportation is as great as it
was at the time of the report and is getting greater, said
G.S. Bridges, head of the Economics and Planning
Division of TTI.
However, there are several problem with public
tansportation in the area.
One of these proljlems is that neither city has a
business district center. Another is the wide disperse-
ment of jobs other than Texas A&M University, which
is the largest central employment agency.
These sort of things work against a system. Bridges
said.
“Ideally we d like demand to be concentrated, fairly
Proposed tax cuts may not
steady jumping inflation rate
a tax adjustment to inflation would from one period to another.
high density of living, and for places of employment to
be fairly well concentrated. ”
Bridges said the bus system proposed in the transit
improvement plan will not replace the shuttle bus
system at Texas A&M.
Major traffic problems are growing more serious
each year during the morning and afternoon peak
hours, Bridges said. Right now, he said, it is only about
15 minutes in the morning and 15 to 20 minutes in the
afternoon.
Bridges said these few minutes are going to start
spreading out to 30, 45, and 60 minutes. He said more
vehicles have already been measured on Wellborn
Road than were being forecast in 1985.
“Let me emphasize that whether we put in a public
transportation system or not in the Bryan-College Sta
tion area, it will not have any kind of large impact on
traffic congestion,” Bridges warned. He said the ma
jority of people who will ride the public transportation
are those from the low-income families who don’t have
access to an automobile in the first place.
Nothing would ease America’s eco
nomic woes like a tax adjustment to in
flation, not even the tax cuts being
offered by the government today, sug
gests a Texas A&M economist.
“Once you could predict an annual
rate of inflation at about 2 to 3 percent a
year,” said Dr. Thomas Saving, “but
since the rate has started jumping from
zero to 18 percent on a month-to-month
basis, hardly anyone is willing to predict
what it will be.”
Saving and doctoral student Gregory
Hoelscher suggest that until investors
feel more secure about being able to
predict what the inflation rate will be,
the amount of money poured into busi
ness investments and savings accounts
will continue to drop.
“The uncertainty of inflation in
creases the risk and costs of savings and
investments, hampering economic
growth,” Saving said.
A tax adjustment to inflation would
help to reduce the size of government,
as opposed to current tax-cut proposals
that only help reduce the rate it is grow
ing, Saving said. It would also help
Americans retain more income by pre
venting “bracket creep,” which has
acted to reduce purchasing power.
“The present tax system is outdated
as it doesn’t account for the kind of infla
tion that we have experienced sine
1965, Saving said. “Other countries
such as England and Brazil have already
adopted tax adjustments to inflation to
reduce the size of government and en
hance their economies. It’s time we do
it, too. "
While currrent economic thought
suggests tax cuts and a strict monetary
policy would spur the economy along,
Saving predicts the inflation rate will
continue its “roller coaster” fluctuation
Saving said the government could ad
just taxes for inflation by taking the cur
rent tax structure and multiplying it by,
say, the increase in the consumer price
index, which would increase the
amount of deductions people could take
as inflation increases the amount of ex
penses they incur. Such a move would
also keep people in the same income
bracket unless their income rose faster
than prices.
“Right now. Congress likes inflation
because it increases revenue in a more
subtle way than tax increases,” Saving
said.
“Perhaps we should overcompensate
for inflation in our tax structure to make
inflation hit government where it hurts
— in the pocketbook,” he said. “That’s
how it’s been working for consumers.”
Evacuation
caused by
false alarm
A false alarm sounding at 12:59
p.m. Friday summoned two College
Station fire trucks and one ambu
lance to the System Administration
Building on the Texas A&M Univer
sity campus.
Charles Yeager, assistant chief of
the College Station Fire Depart
ment, said the alarm was probably
the result of a malfunction in the
building’s alarm system. “I’m pretty
sure it was the smoke detector, he
said.
Yeager said there were no injuries
or damages resulting from the inci
dent. The building was evacuated
while fire station officals made their
investigtion.
The Administration Building
houses the offices of the System
chancellor as well as the University s
College of Agriculture and the Texas
Agricultural Extension Service.