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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 28, 1984)
Thursday, June 28, 1984/The Battalion/Page 3 I r P nn “AmeriJ that on J to heiieve J an Pro-Reaj 1 could bj 'sightful as 4 the new ''lew labels e eepts, but li C 'ie same old® that the De® that Jacks# > importantli “gistered blati n a system ill t ed over 4 istered accon tu of all vottn ginal at best f bear outili lale courts Jad tate conventi: n’t endeared! lacks and ttrl n; we wereid leave the dr man andsa cus system,) trgely shuts; 21 percent; i favored Jad •ven percent ate convents’ reality gap.l i tic strategy b leagan rheto: .e “yuppie”an ds didn’t «t dates’ positi •tty as theyi tout them tk this week's» erve better td B. Mean on jmm dl Gramm) ecent rental! ity and thesul I )e Palma, H* us are in ordf irk is sure toil your alreai ; the couragtt , group of I* . It is indicate msciencewM song our co® na’s assertaW iomosexuals< is group co«l outcome of* highly imp** -ou have k? y and fti* because of Ik! ; be in the in November rk W. Harris'! Classed ; on so iation Conference laff Warped by Scott McCullar .WEIL RETURA/ JO OUR WRPP novit AFTE-R THIS MESSAGE VOW TRY VEW CL I MS-A/OT, THE PLASTIC WRAP THAT DOESN'T CAUSE NASTY, TACKY STATIC CLl/VG ON THE FOOD YOU STORE IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR. THIS NEW CLING-NOT WRAP •IS WONPERFUL! NO MORE. UGLV STATIC CLING ON OUR FOOD WAIT A eSWim. this is ■STALE AS A CRAYON.' Writing center authorized Committee considers plan By ROBIN BLACK Senior Staff Writer To be or not to be — that is the question a new committee created by the Board of Regents must answer about a proposed writing center at Texas A&M University. The Texas A&M University Writ ing Center — envisioned as one of the few activities of its kind in the na tion — was authorized by the regents at their meeting last month. The center will emphasize the devel opment of all kinds of creative and non-fiction writing. Arthur Blair, an assistant to Uni versity President Frank Vandiver, said the center will not be open to Texas A&M students only, but will be at the disposal of the entire Southwest. Similar programs have been es tablished at the University of Iowa, Stanford University, Columbia Uni versity, Johns Hopkins University and other universities. Blair said Texas A&M will not be competing with the other universi ties with writing centers but that the University will strive to have the best writing center. “We won’t he second best,” he said. “That’s why we have a commit tee researching it right now. If we can’t have the best writing center we won’t have one at all.” Dean of Faculties Clinton Phillips is chairman of the advisory board, which is working on a full definition of what the center will do as well as looking for someone to serve as di rector of the center. “We hope to have an interim di rector by the first of September,” Blair said, “and we hope to be able to - open the center sometime within the coming school year.” Vandiver, who recommended the authorization of such a center to the Board of Regents, said the creation of this center provides an opportu nity for an unusual contribution to the liberal arts. “I envision this as an incubator for creative writing in this region,” said Vandiver, who is also a historian and author of several books. Blair said the center would focus on creative writing, non-fiction prose and poetry. The center will not deal with any kind of remedial writing, he said. The highlight of the center’s func tion will be an annual writers’ con ference which will bring nationally prominent writers to the campus to share their knowledge of the craft with developing writers. Interest groups criticize tax plan United Press International AUSTIN — Interest groups rang ing from amusement park operators to advertising executives lined up Wednesday to criticize as unfair and counter-productive a proposed $4.9 billion tax plan. Several of the tax opponents ap pearing before the House Ways and Means Committee criticized the tax measure because it assessed sales taxes on personal services such as dry cleaning and haircuts, but ex cluded professional services offered by doctors, lawyers and architects. If enacted, the tax proposal would be the first general tax increase in Texas in 13 years. The bill’s author. Rep. Stan Schlueter, D-Killeen, pre dicted the House Ways and Means Committee would adopt the mea sure on Thursday, then scheduled floor debate for Friday. Some of the most outspoken crit ics of the plan were advertising exec utives, who face a 5 percent local and state sales tax on the placement of all ads if the bill is enacted. John W. Barger, chief executive officer of Clear Channel Commu nications in San Antonio, said a tax on advertisements would cause sales tax collections on retail purchases to decline. “Everytime you impose $1 in tax on advertising, you ultimately take away $1.65 in retail sales taxes,” he said. Jeremy L. Halbreich, senior vice president of the Dallas Morning News and a representative of the Texas Daily Newspapers Association and the Texas Press Association, predicted a tax on advertisers would be difficult to enforce. “I assure you, the state will spend more time keeping track of these ad vertisers than it will raising tax dol lars,” he said. Halbreich also said the tax would discriminate in favor of out-of-state companies that do advertising busi ness in Texas. Another critic of the tax bill was Harry Hubbard, head of the Texas AFL-CIO. Hubbard said he gener ally supported the bill but was against the sales tax exemption for professional services. “We’re a little concerned that ba bysitters are taxed but doctors and lawyers are not,” he said. Workers inspect United Press International CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Workers swarmed over the crippled space shuttle Discovery Wednesday to find out the full impact of a last- second launch abort and flash fires expected to delay a third blastoff at tempt at least two weeks. Damage inspection teams arrived at Discovery’s oceanside launch pad shortly after sunrise to begin exten sive checks of the spaceship’s sys tems. At one point, a giant crane hoisted a truck equipped with a “cherry picker” on top of the pad to give workers access to hard-to-reach areas. A NASA spokesman said an initial inspection revealed only minor dam age from Tuesday’s dramatic abort just four seconds before Discovery’s giant solid rocket motors were to fire, blasting the billion-dollar space freighter off the pad on its maiden voyage. But he said “closer inspection” of the damaged areas is necessary, as well as tests of various systems be fore a new' launch date can be set. Troubleshooters suspect either a softball-sized fuel valve or the com puter that controls it failed Tuesday when the signal to start the shuttle’s powerful main engines was given. The No. 3 engine controller told Discovery’s master computer it had a malfuntion and in fractions of a sec ond the engines received shutdown commands. But explosive hydrogen gas briefly collected around the base of the orbiter and flash fires scorched about 25 square feet of a wing-like flap designed to protect the shuttle’s engines from the fiery heat of re-en tering the atmosphere. Land fill filling up says CS manager By LESLIE HEFFNER Reporter The College Station land fill will run out of room by the early 1990s, said North B. Bardell, College Sta tion City Manager Wednesday night at a workshop meeting. Composting, a method for solid waste disposal was discussed as an al ternative to land filling. Leon Potter, spokesman for the Riewe and Wisch- meyer study of composting said ’’there are three ways to get rid of garbage: you can either burn it, compost it, or put it in a land fill.” He added that composting it is probably the most beneficial choice because 21 to 30 days after sewage sludge and solid sewage have been blended together, it is odor free and rich in organics, making it a good fertilizer. Burning garbage. Potter said, is not a feasible alternative because of its mass quantity. He added land fills are not feasible because they are not always safe for the environment. College Station Mayor Gary Hal ter said it would be worthwhile to re search benefits the city would re ceive if composting was used. Whether it would be feasible de pends on the economy of scale, sys tem adequacy and machine technol ogy, Hatler said. The composting study will he fur ther discussed and voted on at the July 12 council meeting. A demonstration of a population survey computer program was pre sented by the city planning depart ment. The demonstration consisted of showing population growth on graphs, showing the housing indus try growth spurts, and explaining the system’s two files (building per mit and land use inventory files). Bryan, College Station, and the Texas highway department pur chased three complete computer sys tems to keep accurate data of pop ulation increases, city growth rates, and serial zone changes, Halter said. A1 Mayo, city planner said the sys tem can evaluate growth projection impact and it can graphically show vacant land areas. “It is an extremly valuable tool,” Mayo said. In other business at the meeting, the council voted to pass an ordi nance which will levy taxes for the use of the municipal government, the City of College Station, and pro vide for the 1984-85 Interest and Sinking Fund. They also voted to pass the 1984-85 fiscal year budget and authorize expenditures. The council unanimously ap proved the Lone Star Gas Co. rate increase for installing new gas serv ice main lines. shuttle Jim Mizell, a spokesman for the National Aeronautics and Space Ad ministration, said scorch marks also were found between the shuttle and its huge external fuel tank and around service masts that supply power to the orbiter when it is on the pad. Glynn Lunney, shuttle program manager at the Johnson Space Cen ter in Houston, called the launch abort a “minor setback,” but he pre dicted it would take about two weeks to get Discovery ready for its third launch attempt. Discovery’s first effort was canned when an onboard computer failed Monday with just 20 minutes to go for blastoff. Shuttle commander Henry Hartsfield praised the shuttle system for detecting the engine failure and jitopping the launch sequence . Educators don’t like teacher test United Press International EL PASO — Competency tests are a waste of time for experi enced teachers, said educators from throughout the country at tending a national convention. Members of a national sorority for women educators, meeting in El Paso Wednesday, made clear their displeasure with a proposal approved Tuesday by a Texas House-Senate conference com mittee. If both houses pass the measure all Texas teachers will be required to pass a competency test by June 1986 to retain their jobs. “A lot of people have book knowledge but don’t know how to be good managers or how to han dle children,” said Elaine Wills of Odessa, Texas, one of about 500 members of Kappa Kappa Iota meeting this week. “I’ve got my degree and I took the NTE (Na tional Teachers Exam), and through the years I’ve proven that I’ve been an able teacher.” Wills, a special education tea cher, said school districts should continue to use in-class obser vations when deciding whether to hire or fire teachers. If you’re bossed down in your apartment search, don’t lose hope. Help is on the way? This summer, there’s Treehouse Villas^, a brand new community of one- and two-bedroom apartments, includes the popular two- bedroom roommate floor plan. Within walkins distance to the A&M campus, Treehouse Villase offers convenience TREEHOUSE VILLAGE- and a wild assortment of features - includins fireplaces, ceilins fans and dry bars. And to soothe the savase in you after a beastly day of classes, relax in Treehouse Villase's pool, heated Jacuzzi, party pavilion or on the private jossins trail. Don't settle for less. Hold out for Tree- house Village Apartments, your oasis in the apartment jungle. APARTMENTS LEASE NOW FOR FALL 1984. Treehouse Villase Apartments. From $305. For information, visit the Treehouse Villase Apartments Leasins Office at 800 Marion Push Blvd. at Luther Street 409/764-8892 Professionally managed by Callaway Properties.