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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 1983)
Page 4/The Battalion/Monday, April 4, 1983 DELIVERS! For a Hot beaming Pizza — or anything on our Menu. CALL Shiloh Place 693-0035 University Square 846-3412 (after 5 p.m.) ($1 OFF Campus Delivery After 9 p.m. with this Ad.) ‘Spending bias’ in Congress by Lezlee Hinson Battalion Reporter U.S. Rep. Phil Gramm told a group of public school educa tors Friday that government spending continues to be a ma jor problem because of the deci sion-making process in the leg islature. Gramm told about 200 edu cators attending the Conference on Education in Free Enterprise ’MSC • TOWN • H AT .1. w presents JOPN JETT L that the decision-making pro cess in Congress results in a pro spending bias. The group that will benefit from any given measure is well- organized and pressures its con gressman to vote in favor of the bill, Gramm said. On the other hand, the aver age taxpayer, who will ultimate ly pay for the measure, doesn’t even know a vote is being taken. The only way to minimize the influence of special interest groups, Gramm said, is to place binding constraints on govern ment spending. If a balanced budget were required, many programs receiving federal funding would have to compete with each other for the available funds. This would mean funds would be distributed on the basis of merit rather than according to who has the most influential lobby, Gramm said. Gramms’ wife, Dr. Wendy Gramm, a chief economist for the Federal Trade Commission, also addressed the conference and explained the complexity of the decision-making process within the bureaucracy. The FTC is one of about 20 independent regulatory agen cies, Dr. Gramm said, and is re sponsible for maintaining com petition in the marketplace and protecting the consumer. The FTC is subject to a great deal of pressure from a number of sources, Dr. Gramm said. All decisions are made by the FTC commission, which consists of five members appointed by the president for seven-year terms. When considering an issue, the commission examines all evi dence compiled by the attorneys and economists employed by the FTC. It tries to determine if the firm in question has violated the law, if the proposed action makes economic sense, if the ac tion will benefit the consumer and if the benefits will exceed the costs. The FTC tries to ignore the outside pressures and judge each individual case on its merit, Dr. Gramm said. But this isn’t always easy, and this is why changes within the bureaucracy take so long. Congressman Phil Gramm spoke to a group of about 200 educators Friday afternoon in Rudder at the 6th Annual Conference on Education in Free Enterprise. Gramm was awarded i Distinguished Service Award from the American Academy of Who’s Who in Small Business. Library, snacks don’t mix by Donn Friedman Battalion Reporter Sterling C. Evans Library offi cials say they want out of the vending machine business be cause students continue to smuggle snacks into the book section of the library. The officials say the smug gled snacks create problems V Gthe N.0GKME0RT6 in concert Thursday, April 28 in G. Rollie White Coliseum Tickets $ 7 50 , $ 8 50 , $ 9 50 MSC Box Office 845-1234 Option Pass Period: General Sales: March 28 April 6 fchicken Fried Steak 2 for 1 Sale Monday April 4th and Tuesday April 5th Buy on Chicken Fried Steak at regular price & receive another FREE! Served „ with baked potato or french fries & I Texas Toast or homemade rolls. 2for $ 2® 9 j Offer good with coupon only l (No carry out orders) I a Ken Martin’s Steak House ■ 1803 Texas Avenue Bryan L 3 * hou«c with littering and insects. But, the business services depart ment which is in charge of the machines says no immediate ac tion is planned. Library officials want to re move the vending machines from the second floor lounge, said Dr. Irene Hoadley, director of the library. “If we could keep the food in the lounge, then we wouldn’t ob ject to it,” she said. “But people carry their Cokes and candy out of the lounge. This attracts bugs. And bugs and books don’t get along too well.” The library requested that the Office of Business Services re move the machines, w hich con tain soft drinks, candy, coffee and cigarettes, but the machines remain. “At this time there are no plans for removing the machines,” said Jerry Smith, associate director of business services. “Removing the vend ing machines would be a disser vice to the library patrons.” As long as the machines re main, the library requested that a monitor be hired to prevent people from taking their snacks out of the lounge, Hoadley said. Since last fall, the library has had a student worker who serves as a monitor to check forln and drinks outside the loui and for excessive noise leva the building. Library officials saythem tor has been somewhat efftti in fighting the transit offt from the lounge into thers the library, but the problem! exists. Evidence of the problems hard to spot. Wrappersforls items such as candy batsi snack chips were scatta around the study areas) shelves Wednesday. Sevetalt dents openly sipped softdtii as they studied. Carol Ann Ross, a seii animal science major, said of ten eats snacks while ski dies in the library. “Even though they ask to take food out of the lornift do sometimes take stuffomi the library,” Rosssaid.itlii lot of people take foodoutof lounge. If they issued an uliii turn maybe people wouldsij Officials in the business! vices office don’t think re® ing the machines wouldre« the situation. “What is needed,” Smiibii “is cooperation of the studi who use the lounge area toll the food in the designated)® J Book Clearance STACK A FOOT OF BOOKS AND THEY ARE YOURS FOR ONLY $4 99 per foot c« Choose from over 1,500 titles at c?ur sales table Now in Progress At Psychiatrist fly to keep sanity United Press International HARLINGEN — Psychiatrist Richard Bohannon may deal with crazy people all day, but he says he keeps his own sanity by Hying an airplane over desolate miles of South Texas ranchland. Bohannon manages to com bine the two things he loves most — psychiatry and flying — by flying to see patients in the re mote towns between San Anto nio and Brownsville on the Mex ican border. “I’d rather fly than do almost anything,” he said. “It’s not as good as sex, but it lasts longer. It’s an escape, and it keeps me from going insane.” Bohannon is clinical director of the Rio Grande Mental Health-Mental Retardation cen ter in Harlingen, conveniently located at the airport. He flies the 30 miles from his McAllen home each morning, spends a few hours at the clinic then points his twin-engine Azttt Falfurrias, Freer, Alice,Com cion or Laredo. Except in Laredo, Bohap is the only psychiatrist inM He visits Alice and Laredoe# two weeks and the other to* monthly. A private practice make him richer, but Bote® said his work is more reward 1 than sitting in a plush offe day talking to depressed mid class people. “It commands a lotofresf for people, even if they’re sit there in dirty, smelly clothes, said. “It’s an inspiratio® makes me feel like I shouP more with less.” Bohannon pays for the tl' himself, and it is notpartofl job at MH-MR. He simply as® other MH-MR clinics P would mind his flying in on sionally to visit their patient* Short-hop rocket planes in fuW United Press International With the Space Shuttle a routine operation, the next ven ture may be something called the Sortie Vehicle, a compact space plane that kicks free and fires its engines from the back of a rather unconventional Boeing 747. If Boeing Aerospace desig ners can prevail upon the Air Force, Science Digest reports, these short-hop rocket planes could be a reality by 1988, since the ship could be launched with existing and proven aeronautic al equipment. The Sorite Vehicle would be carried aloft on the back of a Boeing 747 supplemented by a specially fitted space shuttle main engine mounted in the back. That would be needed to carry the craft to a 37,500-foot altitude and a 45 degree flight angle. At this point, the SortieVd cle would break away and up, carrying on its undent mammouth fuel tank feed its nine ravenous < During flight—andaftff tisoning the fuel tank—the- tie Vehicle will be able to» glide” in and out of the up? fringes of the atmosphere. 1 ' tering and leaving orbit at The logical use for the veb' would be military surveill® and reconnaissance. Because would not be fixed in would be much more than military satellites. A( this point the Sordeid cle is no sure thing. But Boe engineer James Jenkins is he? ful and says, “People have ways dreamed of a space pl» you could just hop intoai around the world.”