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Serving the University community
r#kec011 /ol, 76 No. 173 USPS 045360 10 Pages,
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College Station, Texas
Thursday, July 14, 1983
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egislators describe
state budget problems
•— * by Gwyneth M. Vaughn
- & Battalion Reporter
| Budget problems, which prevented
[lUpr ova l of teacher salary increases,
• the highlight of this year’s Texas
6 Hlative sessions, Sen. Kent Caper-
m and Rep. Bill Presnal said
J fednesday morning.
â– "his year the Legislature had $3
iPion less to work with than ex-
Hed. Ways to increase the state’s
Iffiniue were discussed, but were not
—^proved, Caperton said.
[The Legislature studied sales, alco-
ttl, tobacco and gasoline tax in-
iases as possible alternatives to rais-
l g u venue > f* 6 sa id, and concluded
" "^feiiat the sales tax increase would be
^ Hi least offensive alternative to
>vS
g a !
"A state income tax was not even
Milidered,” Caperton said.
Hperton and Presnal were speak
ing at a breakfast sponsored by the
Bryan/College Station Chamber of
Commerce.
Presnal said the federal gasoline
tax, which went into effect April 1,
may have turned the Legislature away
from a state gasoline tax.
Caperton said the greatest failure
of the session was pushing teachers
into the background. The issue of
teacher pay raises will be considered
again in another special session of the
Legislature in September or October.
A performance evaluation for
teachers is needed, he said, but treat
ment of the educators should be on a
more professional level.
The lack of state funds also is hurt
ing prison reforms, the legislators
said. The state cannot afford to keep
building maximum security units to
meet Texans’ demands for safer
streets. However, bills were passed
that will give the state options for pris
on reform.
The Legislature voted for an elec
tion in November 1984 to pass a con
stitutional amendment that would re
structure the Permanent University
Fund to include all universities within
the Texas A&M System and the Uni
versity of Texas System. The amend
ment also would allow Prairie View
A&M University to receive more
funding.
The Legislature wrestled with sev
eral bills promoted by Mothers
Against Drunk Drivers during this
session. A bill proposing the banning
of open containers in vehicles was not
passed, but some of the loopholes in
the current driving while intoxicated
laws were closed.
Caperton said because the DWI
offender will be dealt with more se
verely, repeated offenses probably
will not occur as often.
PUF securities value up
fiscal year 1981
*s 3-1 vkB
by Angel Stokes
Battalion Staff
Permanent University Fund secur-
roft 5,( ies are valued at 27.6 percent more
ngs, gpcal year 1982 than they were in
i;XP0Si-||l year 1981, according to July fi-
stros ei ures.
i the fit®
?r DaveSf The PUF, the principal of which
airigs ofiKonly be invested, is an endowment
the saujat receives funding from oil and gas
3, CARI&ses located on state-owned land.
Angelecj Income from all the PUF securities
ed a f oes into the Available University
th inninjind, which is divided for use be-
n two(i jeen Texas A&M and University of
and
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ank Pi
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runs ti
Gotta dance
staff photo by Eric Evan Lee
Texas Systems, said William Lobb,
UT System executive director of in
vestments and trusts. The PUF is
administered by UT and Texas A&M
receives income from it.
Typically the increase in the PUF
from year to year is less than 22 per
cent, he said.
But because stock market values
have increased dramatically in the
past few months, overall PUF secur
ities have increased, he said.
Although stock market values are
up, he said, the bond market has been
down most of this year. The PUF has
more bonds than stocks, because
bonds have a higher current yield,
Lobb said.
The stocks are up 46.6 percent and
bonds are up 24 percent from last
years figures, Lobb said.
W.C. Freeman, executive vice pres
ident for administration at Texas
A&M, said that while the value of
PUF securities are up, the principle of
the PUF remains the same.
“The stock market affects only the
market value, not the basic value of
the PUF,” he said. The PUF can only
grow through royalties off the land,
he said, not through increases in mar
ket values.
Members of the Spring Woods High
School drill team, from Houston, practice
routines by McFadden and Haas halls
Wednesday afternoon. The Tigerettes are
one of many dance teams that are here this week
for the drill team camp.
Parties must share fault
in products liability cases
ysler to repay loans
United Press International
DETROIT — Chrysler Corp.’s
TBS 3'|ans to repay its remaining $800 mil-
to !; ion in federally guaranteed loans
the 1 even years early means the Firm is in
n the sec Iposition to grant union pay raise
i three-: [mands, United Auto Workers lead-
the left-i -s say.
sixth as I
ive timet I Chrysler Chairman Lee lacocca
-phe via inounced Wednesday in Washing-
dace Fail 1
af the ft |
he
ton that the firm will hand over a
check in September for the remain
der of $ 1.2 billion in federally backed
loans obtained three years ago in a
brush with bankruptcy.
UAW President Owen Bieber said
Chrysler’s announcement “recog
nized the company’s responsibility to
deal fairly with workers’ demands for
more money.”
“As proud as he (lacocca) is of the
company’s remarkable comeback, he
knows full well that it was Chrysler
workers more than anyone who made
the sacrifices and exercised the fore-
bearance which made that recovery
possible,” Bieber said.
Chrysler workers currently make
about $2 an hour less than other ma
jor automakers because of three sets
of concessions granted as part of the
bailout plan.
United Press International
AUSTIN — The state Supreme
Court has ruled that all parties in fu
ture products liability cases in Texas
must bear a proportionate share of
the fault when damages are assessed.
The landmark ruling Wednesday
came in a complex legal fight that
stemmed from a 1976 airplane crash
in New Mexico that killed two men,
Benjamin Smithson, a New Mexico
pilot-instructor, and James Parker, a
Texas pilot trainee.
The widows of the two men sued
Cessna Aircraft Co., the manufactur
er of the Cessna 150, claiming the
deaths were caused by defective seats
in the aircraft.
Juries returned damage awards
against Cessna totaling $2.2 million.
The high court affirmed a $1 million
award to Parker’s widow, but referred
the Smithson case back to an appellate
court.
While the Supreme Court agreed
with the principle that Cessna should
be able to offset damages by making a
claim against Smithson’s estate for
pilot error, the justices said the new
procedure would apply only in future
cases.
The court said it would be unfair to
make its ruling retroactive since par
ties in the cases had been relying for
the last six years on previously estab
lished court opinions.
But Chief JusticeJack Pope sharply
disagreed with the majority’s decision
to apply the decision only to future
Under the previous court rules, de
fendants in a products liability case
paid all of the damages or none.
? irst black astronaut prepares for next shuttle flight
rIANTS
SCO, Jj
three i United Press International
rove in| HOUSTON — Air Force Lt. Col.
I andC J u '°n S. “Guy” Bluford will continue^
on a? he string of firsts for the shuttle mis-.
tsburgh:
ae Gian!
is next month by becoming the
st black to go into space.
In the seventh shuttle mission, Sal-
1 Ride became the first American
jemale to go to space.
iFor his part, Bluford, 40, said he
i never “driven to be the first black
ronaut in space” accepts being a
role model for blacks and anticipates
a fun flight.
“I feel as if I’m a pacesetter but I
don’t feel as if I have to be perfect as
well. I’m very pleased to be flying, I’m
looking forward to it and think it’s
going to be a lot of fun,” he said in
Wednesday’s news conference with
Challenger’s crew.
The eighth mission, set for late Au
gust, will also mark the first night
launch and landing of the shuttle.
Blast off will be at 2:20 a.m. poss
ibly Aug. 20, pending final prepara
tions of Challenger at its Oceanside
space port at the Kennedy Space Cen
ter in Florida.
Challenger Commander Richard
Truly said the night launch and land
ing should provide a spectacular light
show for the public, but the rest of the
mission would be lacking in spectacles
but not in importance.
“I think we have an extremely im
portant mission. I hope we can finally
get to the point where every flight
does not have to be a big pizazz,” Tru
ly said.
“We’re going to see some missions
that make it appear they are more
important than others but I really
don’t think that’s true (in this case).”
Highlights of the five-day mission
include the launch of a communica
tions satellite for India, further work
on a space medicine-making experi
ment and testing of a Tracking Data
Relay Satellite launched from the
Challenger in April.
Joining Truly and Bluford will be
pilot Daniel C. Brandenstein, 40, and
mission specialists Dale A. Gardner,
34, and Dr. William Thornton, 54,
added late to the flight to study space
sickness.
The lauching of a second TDRS,
which is used for communication
links between the shuttle and Earth,
was scrubbed because of problems
with the first satellite.
A new two-stage rocket malfunc
tioned following the first TDRS
launch and caused the $100 million
satellite to assume an abnormal orbit.
mph-
nke,
Phone:
75-1531
,ocal woman is Houston
rimefighter on weekends
by Rusty Roberts
Battalion Reporter
Joy McLean of College Station en
joys an element of danger because,
ihe says, “it kind of spices up my
life.”
f McLean, a mail and consumer re
cords clerk for the city of Bryan,
commutes 220 miles each weekend
to add that spice to her life. She is a
ember of the Houston Guardian
ngels, a community group trained
md dedicated to protecting citizens
in the more violent areas of
how to make their neighborhood a
safer place to live. The easiest way to
secure a community from crime is to
have its residents look out for each
other, she said.
The seminar also will advise
citizens on rape prevention includ
ing suggestions on how to stay out of
a rape situation.
The few simple self-defense tech
niques that will be demonstrated at
1 nC Houston.
^nU The
r
underlying goal of the
, pngels is to stop crime before it hap-
=s 0 . pens, McLean said,
ne Me “The police usually arrive after
Ce" the crime has been committed,”
cost McLean said. “We (the Angels) try
at t# )o get there before it happens.”
it is 101 Crime prevention will be the ma-
e at U 0r theme at a free seminar that
BlcLean and fellow Angels will hold
from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in
02 Brazos Center.
The seminar will focus on corn-
unity involvement, rape preven-
an and “being street smart,”
cLean said.
The group’s main goal, McLean
id, is community involvement,
he Angels want to show citizens
30-7 P'
Tl.-Zp'
Joy McLean
the seminar can benefit all age
groups, McLean said. Even those
who use walking canes can benefit
from a special demonstration on
cane defense, she said.
“You don’t have to be in fantastic
shape to protect yourself on the
streets,” McLean said.
The Angels are unarmed at all
times. McLean said the only weapon
they carry is a keen understanding
and mastery of the martial arts.
Each Angel also projects an im
penetrable wall of self-confidence,
she said.
A patrol of only 18 Angels can
seem like a patrol of 100 because it
splits up into groups and spreads
out to create a visual deterrent to
crime, McLean said.
The Angels job, however, is
simply to prevent crime before it
occurs, she said, and cooperate with
local police upon request.
McLean said no definite plans for
a Guardian Angel chapter in the
Bryan-College Station area have
been proposed. She said she w T ould
like positive public feedback on the
idea first.
She said a program should be
started before the cities need it be
cause of the Angels’ desire to pre
vent crimes before they occur.
Poland to debate martial law
United Press International
WARSAW, Poland — Police broke
up a demonstration just hours before
parliament’s session today to begin
legal preparations for ending 19
months of martial law in Poland.
Riot police Wednesday dispersed a
peaceful crowd of Solidarity suppor
ters who staged a regular 13th-of-the-
month protest marking the govern
ment’s imposition of martial law Dec.
13, 1981.
Helmeted officers scattered a
crowd of people singing anti
government songs outside a church in
the capital’s Old Town section, a ral
lying point for sympathizers of the
outlawed Solidarity union. Witnesses
said two or three people were taken
into custody, but no violence was re
ported.
Police have avoided confrontations
with opposition gatherings since Pope
John Paul IPs visit last month, in
keeping with the government’s claim
that it is time to ease martial law re
strictions because life is returning to
normal in Poland.
But after listening to the pro-
Solidarity crowd’s songs for an hour,
including several loud renditions of a
ditty declaring, “We’ll never surren
der to the Communists, to the KGB or
the secret police,” the police broke up
the gathering.
MX missile opponents
prepare battle plan
United Press International
WASHINGTON — A core group
of Senate opponents of the MX mis
sile prepared for a coordinated
assault today against the intercon
tinental nuclear weapon in a debate
they predicted will extend into next
week.
Led by Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo.,
the group said they will propose sev
eral amendments attaching condi
tions to the MX.
Their purpose: to prolong debate
in the hope of gaining support from
the half-dozen or so senators needed
to turn around the 59-39 vote by
which the chamber endorsed the nuc
lear weapon last June.
Hart’s amendment would delete
all funding — $5.04 billion — for pro
duction of the first 27 missiles and for
further research.
“If deployed, the MX missile would
radically change our world and place
at risk the very future of civilization,”
Hart, a presidential contender,
charged.
“I’ll talk as long as I can hold the
floor,” Hart promised.
The shadow of the MX has hung
over this week’s debate on a $200 bil
lion military spending bill that also
includes funding for production of
the first 10 B-l bombers and for re
sumption of nerve gas production af
ter a 14-year ban. The comprehensive
military bill would authorize $199.96
billion in 1984.
inside
Classified 7
Local 3
Opinions 2
Sports 9
State 4
National 10
forecast
Cloudy today with a 50 percent
chance of showers and a high of 83.
A 30 percent chance of showers
tonight with a low near 73. Mostly
cloudy Lriday with a 40 percent
chance of showers and a high of 88.
Partly cloudy this weekend with a
20 percent chance of thunder
showers.