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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1984)
Tuesday, January 17, 1984AFhe Battalion/Page 3 New business center established at UTA United Press International ARLINGTON — Many small msinesses could be more profit- ible if the owners only under- tood how new technology could elp them cut costs and become note efficient, Dr. John Rouse if the the University of Texas at Arlington believes. Rouse’s efforts have been the ley to establishment of a Small lusiness Development Center eared toward new technology it UTA, where he is dean of en- ;ineering. “Ths Small Business Admi- listration is very excited about his concept,” Rouse said recent- y. "There are 29 SBDC’s (na- ionally) but this is the only one hathasa high technology base.” The SBA is putting up 10,000. UTA also is putting 10,000 into the technology levelopment center, $50,000 of nhichcame from local contribu- “I took the position that if I couldn’t get the Dallas-Fort Worth community to put up the money we needed, then I did not think there would be enough community participation to en sure success of this program,” Rouse said. Programs to help small businesses are needed. Statistics show that about 80 percent of all small businesses fail within the first few years. The Development Center will help small businesses become more profitable by helping them use technology in production, by helping in development of a high tech product, or by iden tifying new markets. Faculty members at UTA, which a large School of En gineering, will direct their ex pertise to the specific needs of small enterprise being helped by the Development Center. who hold Ph. D.s in engineer ing,” Rouse noted. Thousands of small busines ses in Dallas-Fort Worth and the surrounding area of North Texas are engaged in some aspect of high technology, Rouse estimates. Many of them exist because the founder de veloped a high-tech product. In such a case the Development Center probably would not help with product development, he said, since the businessman him self has done that. But the De velopment Center might help the developer take the long step from creation to marketing and production. Other small businesses could be helped in choosing computer systems and programs, or in streamlining manufacturing methods. “We have 100 people here “As an example, we recently had a call from a venture capital ist backing a small business man,” Rouse said. “He said the business was not making enough profit and he asked if we could visit it. An industrial engineer ing professor spent one day at the plant and he discovered an inefficient assembly line opera tion.” The professor then put together for the manufacturer a list of suggestions that would make it possible to produce the product with a higher profit margin. If outside consulting is needed to help make a small business project go, the UTA center will direct the business man to a consulting firm. The center does not want to compete with existing businesses. “After all, the consulting firm usually is a small business, too.” Rouse notes. School board reviews options for assistant By CHRISTINE MALLON Staff Writer Monday night’s CSISD meet ing didn’t turn out to be the nor mal, beginning-of-the-new-year meeting everyone thought it would be. As the small meeting room gradually began to fill with a capacity crowd of about 40 peo ple (an audience of 9 is about normal), it was obvious some thing was up. Back-to-school business deci sions were flowing at a fast pace until Board President Bruce Robeck introduced an item on the agenda which discussed the pros and cons of hiring an admi nistrative assistant for the dis trict. Robeck said the most impor tant responsibilities of a poten tial administrative assistant would include having primary responsibility for public rela tions on behalf of the board, maintaining all board records and documents, assisting in drafting board policies and serv ing under direction of the board president. Superintendent H.R. Bur nett said he didn’t approve of the position because under state law many of such an administra tor’s duties are the responsibi- lites of the district’s superinten dent. Trustee John Reagor said no body should be hired as a full time employee of the district to work directly for the board pres ident. ®0<Sla/rt60y-H. KflPLflN U—Educational Center TEST PREPARATION SPECIALISTS SINCE 1938^ 707 Texas Ave. 301 C In Dallas: 11617 N. Central Expressway Call Days Evenings & Weekends It's time to start! Classes to begin Jan. 21 & 29 Call 696-3196 for details All-out effort launched Town calls for post office ist the. a 20- : today ise for lent to f sena- trie ) United Press International GUN BARREL CITY — The esidents of this east Texas town lave their sights set on a post iffice and the woman leading he effort says the community is lot firing blanks. “It may be only through aean strength and awkward- lessthal we get it, but we’re de- ermined,” said former mayor lelen Broome, who saw her ttempt to land the town a post ffice two years ago rebuffed by ostal officials. To that end, Broome and our other civic leaders have onvinced the district’s Demo- raticcongressman, Rep. Sam B. (all, to attend a town meeting eb. 10 to discuss plans for get- ng the post office. T-shirts with slogans calling or a post office in Gun Barrel tty have been distributed and ill be highly visible at the meet- ngnext month, Broome said. Additionally, appeals have been made to Postmaster Gener al William Bolger, who has taken the proposal under advisement, Broome said. All the activity in this com munity of about 3,000 residents 30 miles southeast of Dallas and adjacent to Cedar Creek Lake is “Any number of our 150 businesses have difficulty with identi fication. They adver tise and have to give their mailing address as Highway 90, Mabank. ” — Former Gun Barrel City mayor Helen Broome. as much a quest to correct a quirk of geography as it is an attempt to give Gun Barrel City businesses a fair break, Broome said. Gun Barrel City mail is routed through Mabank, three miles away. Mabank is is Kauf man County. Gun Barrel City is just across the line in Henderson County and is booming. “We’re not talking about a little wide spot in the road,” Broome said. “People who have been down here have no idea what we are. We like to say we’ve -just growed like topsy.” But the return address resi dents and businesses in Gun Barrel City must use is Highway 90, Mabank, Broome said. Highway 90 runs through both Mabank and Gun Barrel City, and that creates a problem. “Any number of our 150 businesses have such a difficulty with identification,” Broome said. “They advertise and have to give their mailing address as Highway 90, Mabank. “Well, they’re not in Mabank. They’re in Gun Barrel City.” And the problem has cost Gun Barrel City in more ways than inconvenience. Broome said the 1 cent city sales tax collected by Gun Barrel City businesses and forwarded to the state comptroller’s office for distribution has occasionally found its way to Mabank city cof fers. “We found out Mabank had gotten credit for $72,000 of Gun Barrel City’s sales tax money,” Broome said. “We got it back, but it took a lot of paperwork.” Broome conceded Mabank officials intent on not dimi nishing their community’s mail carrier routes might oppose anything more than a substation for Gun Barrel City. But she said Gun Barrel City is not seeking to overshadow its neighbor. athlete's foot like SIDEWALK SALE SPECIAL Sale days: Wed., Jan. 18 -Sat., Jan. 21, 1984 Mens & Womens All Leather Kaepa © Tennis Shoes ADIDAS & NIKE Warm Ups Va off Post Oak Mall (Near Dillards) 764-1000 Locally Owned & Operated Youths turn from drugs United Press International A White House expert on rug abuse policy told 2,000 leering El Paso youths today lat young people in America re turning away from illegal rugs. Carlton Turner, special assis- Turner gave the opening re marks at an all-day rally spon sored by the El Paso Parents for Drug Awareness. The White House aide said he was optimistic because high school daily marijuana use has been almost cut in half since 1978. imehcan youth as re- ently as five years go were more wor- ied about drug abuse ban their parents ays Carlton Turner, White House expert n drug abuse policy. mt to the president for drug luse policy, said the youth of le United States as recently as ve years ago were more wor- led about drug abuse than their arents. 5 Other Models Available Aggie Special $550.00 + TTL Aero 1 ” 50 GET AROUND THE HIGH COST OF GETTING AROUND Whether shopping, commuting or just soaking up sun. the Aero’" 50 is the economical way to make itall fun. A stingy49cc two-stroke engine gets the most out of every gallon of gas, while still providing plenty of zip. Plus, an electric start, automatic choke and automatic oil injection make it as dependable as it is easy to handle. 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