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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 1982)
The DaTtaMon Serving the University community 76 No. 2 USPS 045360 26 Pages in 2 Sections College Station, Texas Thursday, September 2, 1982 >-'0011 Record budget iought by System by Denise Richter Battalion Staff 'he Texas A&M University System Wednesday presented a 1984-85 mium budget request of more n $867 million to members of the Kitive Budget Board staff and Hentatives of the governor’s ice. fhe System’s most recent budget juest — for 1982-83 — was more jn$624 million for its four univer- B and six major service agencies. ■Spinal appropriation was $596 lion. fexas A&M University was sche- Kd to present the largest single re-, ■—$460,731,693 — this morn- iThe requested 1984 appropria- nol $231,348,351 is an increase of ut 59 percent over the |)92.004 appropriated for the 1 YflllK" f ,sca l year, which began ■ • UVHesday. j.j n . ■rial items in the University Kinglet request include computer lipment and data processing, )i6 nority student recruitment, en- . leering laboratory equipment and I jO^iilitai v studies institute. |3fter the hearings, the Legislative Bet Board staff and the gov- pr’s staff will draft an appropria- hs bill, which will be submitted to ■ext regular session of the Legisl- ire. Representatives of Tarleton State fersity and Prairie View A&M Diversity presented their budget re- ests Wednesday. Tarleton officials requested $27,614,095 — $13,322,622 for 1984 and $14,291,473 for 1985. Prairie View officials requested $66,790,769 —$32,839,003 for 1984 and $33,951,766 for 1985. The 1984 request is almost twice the $16,387,046 budgeted for 1983. Most of this increase resulted from plan ned construction and building re habilitation at Prairie View. During the hearings Wednesday, System Chancellor Arthur G. Hansen emphasized the need for salary in creases and faculty and staff develop ment leaves. The System has requested 1984 sal ary increases of 15 percent for profes sional employees and 16.1 percent for classified employees. Salary increases requested for 1985 are 10 percent for professional employees and 12.4 per cent for classified employees. “We have to look at salaries not only from the real-dollar standpoint, but also from the standpoint of salar ies being competitive,” Hansen said. “If you want to keep the best, if you want a really fine faculty, you have to pay.” The System keeps salaries in step with inflation, but that isn’t enough, he said. “We have to keep the ball rolling,” he said. “Not only do we have to move ahead from the past — we have to leap ahead." Salaries aren’t the only problem, Hansen said. “We have to make up a competitive package,” he said. “Right now, we’re not very competitive m faculty and staff development leaves and fringe benefits. “Development leaves are absolute ly prime. They give the faculty a chance to grow. If we want this Uni versity to be regarded as first-class, we’ve got to have them.” The lack of faculty leaves can tar nish a university’s image, he said. “There’s a feeling that institutions without (faculty leaves) do not have the respect and confidence of the state,” Hansen said. Persons outside a university some times interpret development leaves or sabbaticals simply as another vaca tion, but that is not the case, he said. “The faculty needs this type of chance,” Hansen said. “It’s up to us to give them flexibility, then see if they can achieve the goals they have set out to accomplish.” Other presentations scheduled for today are the Texas Agricultural Ex periment Station at 1:30 p.m., Texas A&M University at Galveston at 3 p.m., and the Texas Forest Service at 4 p.m. On Friday, budget requests from the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, the Texas Engineering Ex periment Station, the Texas Trans portation Institute, the Texas En gineering Extension Service and the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory will be presented. Syst em Budget Proposals Divisions 1983 Allocations 1984 Requests 1985 Requests Texas A&M University $136,092,004 $231,348,351 $229,383,342 Texas A&M at Galveston $4,369,612 $37,509,072 $9,813,777 Tarleton State University $8,306,864 $13,322,622 $14,291,473 Prairie View A&M University $16,387,046 $32,839,003 $33,951,766 Texas Agricultural Experiment Station $36,295,426 $48,236,964 $52,223,593 Texas Agricultural Extension Service $27,962,922 $44,222,862 $47,634,053 Texas Engineering Experiment Station $4,067,583 $7,182,781 $8,064,674 Texas Engineering Extension Service $1,758,390 $7,850,343 $5,961,022 Texas Transportation Institute $1,201,525 $2,111,623 $2,336,645 Texas Forest Service $7,923,717 $9,735,528 $10,920,634 Rodent and Predatory $2,082,893 Animal Control Service $2,894,833 $3,067,462 Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory $1,692,065 $3,216,381 $2,616,739 System administrative and general offices $1,437,278 $3,165,979 $3,511,909 Total $249,577,325 $443,636,342 $423,777,089 Rudder =riama9ed O Iby fire by Hope E. Paasch United Press International ^ A fire in the kitchen in Rudder ower’s 11th floor dining hall iused extensive smoke damage ■dnesday. College Station Fire bid Douglas Landua said. iCapt. Dave Giordano of the Col- :ge Station Fire Department said re damage was limited to the kitch- I|area, but the entire floor was amaged by smoke. | “Actual fire damage was limited ) a grill, three deep-fat fryers, the Bing over the grill and a couple of uorescent lights,” Giordano said. Hie only estimate on damage is pound $5,000, and that’s only a piesstimate.’ We’re waiting for the tisurance people.” | No one was injured in the fire, 1 mich was reported to the CSFD ab- >ut 10 a.m. I Firemen were unable to reach the K immediately because the stair- veil doors were locked. IpGiordano said firemen were de- iyed 20 or 30 seconds while waiting or a key to the stairwell door. Landua said locking stairwell loors is not standard fire safety pro- (aure, but the Rudder Tower loors always are locked, i Once firemen were able to get into the floor, the fire was exting- jished within two minutes, Landua laid. I Fire and smoke damage would lave been much less if the building lad a sprinkler system, he said. | “If they’d had a sprinkler system, College Station firemen radio in that fire would’ve been out a lot quicker,” Landua said. “A sprinkler system probably would’ve put it out before we even got there.” A dry powder chemical system in a vent hood in the kitchen dis charged properly, but did not ex tinguish the fire, he said. The dry powder was the only fire protection after the Rudder Tower fire. device on the floor, Landua said. The University is exempt from local fire safety codes because it is a state agency. College Station fire codes require unlocked stairwell doors and sprinkler systems in schools. University officials were unavail able for comment. Mexico nationalizes banking system United Press International MEXICO CITY — Choking back his tears, President Jose Lopez Portillo ordered Mexico’s banking system na tionalized, a move that sparked criticism from the nation’s business community and strong praise by communists. Lopez Portillo’s announcement in his State of the Nation speech Wednesday was considered the most con troversial expropriation since Mexico seized assets of foreign oil companies in 1938. In the 1950s, it took over electric companies. “It is now or never,” Lopez Portillo said in his final State of the Nation address before leaving office Dec. 1. The president wiped tears from his face and choked as he tried to talk. “Mexico is not finished.” The government also imposed exchange controls, which require tourists to register money brought into Mexico, order Mexicans to cash in their dollars and theatened jail terms for anyone caught selling currency on the black market. Banks were shut down until Monday to allow author ities to implement the new measures. But the nationaliza tion will not affect depositors, who probably will notice no major changes when banks reopen under government management. The secretary general of Mexico’s communist- dominated Unified Socialist Party called for “all democra tic classes” to defend Lopez Portillo’s decision and “stop political measures that the bourgeoisie evidentally will take.” Seniors must meet deadlines to receive December degree Graduating seniors probably know that graduation is 99 days away. But what they probably don’t realize is that their long-awaited degrees have strings attached. Seniors must fulfill a variety of obligations before crossing the stage of G. Rollie White Coliseum. First they must pay a $ 15 graduation fee at the Coke Building. The fee receipt must be taken by Sept. 10 to Heaton Hall, where the senior must fill out a degree application. If the senior misses the Sept. 10 deadline, he will not be eligible for graduation, Assistant Registrar Donald Gardner said. Overdue library books and other financial matters also must be cleared with the University and all grade changes must be completed by Dec. 9 in order for a senior to graduate, Gardner said. Next on the list are invitations. They can be ordered between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in 217 MSC. French-fold invitations cost 60 cents each, cardboard souvenir in vitations are $2.50 and maroon souvenir invitations are $3. A box of 100 name cards costs $6.50. Invitations should be ordered by Sept. 30, and they should arrive Nov. 15, said Faye Yeates, supervisor of the Student Finance Center. They can be picked up in the MSC Browsing Lib rary. And of course, no graduation is complete without a cap and gown. They will be available in the MSC Bookstore beginning Nov. 1 until the day of graduation. A bachelor’s cap and gown costs $ 11.50, and a master’s cap and gown costs $12.50. Doctoral caps and gowns can be rented for $23.50. Women will need a white col lar for their gowns. Reagan seeks home for Palestinians United Press International 1 BURBANK, Calif. — President agan, stepping out of the tradition- U.S. role of Middle East mediator, spelled out a precise, “fresh start” in Rmerican policy toward finding a me for the region’s displaced Pales- ians. While grounding his comments pth the vow: “America’s commit- Bent to the security of Israel is iron- fiad, and I might add, so is mine,” the president, in a surprise address to the tion Wednesday, called for Palesti- iian self-government in the Israeli- cupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, der Jordan’s guidance. He said the plan, first proposed by : late Egyptian President Anwar idat, would involve an exchange of ^ ydfmtory for peace. He warned Israel against expand ing its settlements in its occupied areas of the West Bank and Gaza and said the United States would not sup port an Israeli annexation of the those lands. “It is the firm view of the United States, self-government by the Palesti nians of the West Bank and Gaza in association with Jordan, offers the best chance for a durable, just and lasting peace,” the president said. But even before Reagan spoke, Israeli officials vowed to resist any U.S. attempts to sidestep the Camp David formula for Middle East peace and said they would never allow the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank or Gaza. When Israeli Prime Minister Begin received the Reagan proposal in a let ter Tuesday, he cut short a vacation and scheduled an emergency meeting of his Cabinet today to review the new U.S. stand. It was uncertain how Jordan’s King Hussein would react. Reagan did not detail the exact relationship envisioned between Jor dan and autonomous Palestinians in the areas currently administered by Israel. Reagan was lauded by two Repub lican senators for making a courageous proposal in his surprise nationwide television address on the Middle East. But a House Democrat said Reagan had damaged the role of the United States as a mediator by laying down conditions in advance for Israel to accept as part of a comprehensive Middle East peace. “I’m afraid the Israelis are going to panic and that will just blow the whole show,” said Rep. Benjamin Rosen thal, D-N.Y. Officials of major Jewish organiza tions said they were pleased Reagan reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security and ruled out sup port for an independent Palestinian state Sounding weary of the continuing Middle East conflicts, Reagan said the now-completed evacuation of PLO fighters from Lebanon offers a chance for “a more far-reaching peace effort in the region — and I was determined to seize that moment.” The president said the defeat of the PLO did not diminish “the yearn ing of the Palestinian people for ajust solution of their claims; and ... while Israel’s military successes in Lebanon have demonstrated its armed forces are second to none in the region, they alone cannot bring just and lasting peace to Israel and her neighbors.” He said he would never ask Israel to live in the shadow of enemy guns, but feels “a new realism” is demanded in the area. He said A vital part of the new process would be recognition of Israel as a state with unchallenged legitimacy. “Israel exists,” he said. “It has a right to exist in peace behind secure defensible borders.” But he added, the Lebanese war dramatizes more than ever the homelessness of the Palestinian people. inside Classified 8 National 9 Opinions 2 Sports 17 State 3 Whatsup 6 forecast Today’s Forecast: Same as usual. Very slight chance of afternoon showers. High in the high 90s, low in the mid-70s.