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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 1984)
4 id A&M System relieved; fport saijj ‘Led ial oil J ^ naturl aid pot e!1 e a n fis ' “funds and lj I gas in ij ieo is ess ’f* raillii bit feei i: fVyominj L'eoumfo lal oil !>, ids idiU Montm '0 percej By BONN FRIEDMAN Staff Writer ■ State-supported education won a victory in Texas elections Tuesday night. Proposition 2 passed. ■ Proposition 2, an amendment to the Texas Constitution, passed by a more than 3-to-2 margin. Over 2 million voters cast ballots for the am- mendment, while less than a million voted against it. The amendment s’was endorsed by both the University ofTexas and Texas A&M Systems. ■ Texas A&M President Frank E. Vandiver was pleaseci with the pas sage of the amendment. ■ “Passage of Proposition 2 ushers in a bright new era for public higher education in Texas, an era that I think will be marked by unprece- clented progress and a high degree cS cooperation among our state uni versities,” he said. ■ The amendment will make changes in how the Permanent Uni versity Fund can be used and create a new f 100 million annual fund for use by state supported institutions of higher education. But what exactly is the Permanent University Fund, and why are ad ministrators at A&M and the Uni versity of Texas so concerned about this amendment — one of over 250 changes that have been made to the constitution since it was drafted in 1876? The Permanent University Fund is a constitutionally endowed stock pile of funds — dollars — set aside to support higher education in Texas, specifically UT and A&M. As of Sep tember ’84 it holds more than $2 bil lion. The fund, administered by the University of Texas System, is in vested in stocks and bonds and fluc tuates in value with those markets. It receives proceeds from the leasing of 2.1 million acres of West Texas land, much of it used for oil explora tion. The PUF itself is permanent; that is, it cannot be used to build or buy anything, but a certain percent age of it can be used as collateral to issue bonds to pay for construction at A&M or the University of Texas. The use of the PUF as collateral has aided the construction programs at these two campuses. Tne Texas Constitution also provides that the interest from the PUF be placed into another fund: the Available Univer sity Fund. In 1984, the AUF was about $150 million. The AUF is ear marked as a source for the enrich ment of programs at the UT and A&M. The PUF and the AUF were origi nally designated as a way to malke the University of Texas a “university of the first class.” In the 1930’s A&M was added as a beneficiary of the funds. UT now re ceives a two-third cut of the AUF pie and A&M receives the remaining third. Both schools may use the PUF as collateral to float bonds. The 39 word amendment passed Proposition 2 passes by Texas voters Tuesday night says: “The Constitutional Amendment to create from general revenue a special higher eclucation fund for construction and related activities, to restructure the Permanent Univer sity Fund and to increase the num ber of institutions eligible to benefit from the Permanent University Fund.” The amendment, Proposition 2, will make changes in the way the PUF can be used. First, it extends the bonding rate — that means increasing the amount of the PUF that may be used as col lateral to issue bonds. Before the amendment, the bonding rate was set at a limit of 20 percent. The amendment raises that to 30 per cent. Second, bonds issued using the PUF as collateral may be used for more than just new construction at just the parts of the UT and A&M Systems originally designated in the Constitution. It adds three institu tions from the A&M System and nine from the UT System as eligible for PUF funding. The bond pro ceeds may also now be used for ren ovation of buildings, purchase of capital equipment, library books and the acquisition of land. Prairie View A&M University, a predominantly black school and a remnant of the segregated Texas school system, will be designated as “a school of the first class” and re ceive a special $6 million appropria tion drawn from the UT share of the AUF for each year of the next de cade. The passage of Proposition 2 will create a fund for the benefit of other state-supported institutions of higher education. The boards of re gents of UT and A&M both favored this proposition. Both boards feared possible litigation — the same type of litigation that allowed A&M a piece of the PUF pie in the 1930’s — instigated by schools outside of their systems which don’t benefit from the PUF. Successful litigation could in crease the number of schools that would benefit from the PUF, thus reducing each school’s share of the kitty. But thanks to Texas voters, the UT and A&M Systems will hold on to their share of the PUF, and all other state universities will divide a newly created $100,000 million a year building fund. “This assures those of us at Texas A&M that we can continue to count on having the Permanent University Fund as a viable source of revenue for the types of activities that give us the opportunity to become a world university,” Vandiver said. “Like wise, all of the other state universi ties in Texas will have a stable source of f unding on which they can rely — and which provides them a basis for effective and efficient planning for the future.” Battalion Serving the University community ■ Vol. 82 No. 50 USPS 045360 12 pages College Station, Texas Reagan retains White House United Press International WASHINGTON — American voters re-elected President Reagan by a landslide over Democrat Walter Mondale Tuesday, as Republicans kept their majority in the Senate and moved closer to working control of the House. “Good habits are hard to break,” a smiling Reagan said reflecting on his re-election victory. “I have no words to properly thank you.” Mondale conceded shortly after the West Coast polls closed, congrat ulating Reagan on his victory and saying “we honor him tonight,” but imploring his backers: “Let us fight on... let us continue to seek an America that is just and fair.” At 1:45 a.m. with 80 percent of the vote counted nationwide, Rea gan had 42,979,352 for 59 percent to Mondale’s 29,833,320 for 41 per cent. Reagan had won more than 451 electoral votes, taking at least 44 states. Mondale had captured the District of Columbia’s three electoral votes. Reagan’s victory margin hovered below the record 61.1 percent of the popular vote Lyndon Johnson re ceived in his 1964 landslide over Barry Goldwater. The president may be stopped short of sweeping all 50 states as Mondale held slim leads in his home state of Minnesota. The Democrat carried the District of Co lumbia. “We sent out the word 20 years ago that we could start a prairie fire here in California,” Reagan told cheering supports. “We’ve sent that message to every corner of Amer ica... that message is the American people here are in charge. “Our work isn’t finished, there’s much more to be done. “Tonight is not the end of any thing, its the beginning of every thing.” With a Reagan landslide pre dicted in the polls for weeks, the big question on Election Day was whether his coattails were broad enough to elect enough Republicans to the House to give him voting con trol when conservative Democrats cross the aisle to support his pro grams. A weary House Speaker Thomas O’Neill summed up Mondale’s de feat shortly after midnight, saying: “He probably ran against the most popular figure in the history of the American government.” Republicans captured bellwether Democratic House seats in Connecti cut and New Jersey and were run ning close in several other key races. But initial results did not show a GOP pickup as big as the 20 to 25 seats needed to give them ideological control. In the Senate, Democratic incum bent Walter Huddleston of Ken tucky was upset and Democratic Rep. Albert Gore picked up the Tennessee seat vacated by Majority Leader Howard Baker. But GOP Sen. Roger Jepsen was defeated by Democratic Rep. Tom Harkin in Iowa and Republican Sen. Charles Percy was running behind Rep. Paul Simon in Illinois. In the most bitter Senate contest. Sen. Jesse Helms, the godfather of the conservative movement, de feated Gov. Jim Hunt in North Car- Wednesday, November 7, 1984 key olina in a race that cost a record $21 million. Republicans won at least six gov ernors races — Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Rhode Island, for the first time in 16 years. But voters ousted North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Allen Olson. In congratulating Reagan on his victory, Mondale did not concede the issues as he addressed 500 sup porters in St. Paul, Minn. Of his running mate, Geraldine Ferraro, Mondale said “we didn’t win, but we made history” with the first woman vice presidential candi date. An hour later Ferraro conceded at a rally near her New York home. ; Gramm beats Daggett = to take seat in Senate 1 I. SEATS HI-SCH. ( HTMEIII iTSWTH I.C.-MW abated United Press International AUSTIN — Republican Rep. Phil ; Gramm, clinging tightly to President Reagan’s lengthy coattails, easily de feated Democrat Lloyd Doggett Tuesday in the battle to succeed re tiring GOP Sen. John Tower. ■ With 89 percent of the vote in, ■Gramm had 2,670.761 votes for 58 percent compared to Doggett’s 1,908,397 and 42 percent of the vote. Gramm out-polled Doggett in all portions of the state — including many Hispanic areas. P “We can swim upstream, but it’s a little hard to take on a tidal wave,” I Doggett, who had never lost an elec tion before, told supporters in Aus tin. “I’ve suffered a few knockdowns before but I’m not out. I’ll be up again.” I At his College Station election ! night headquarters, Gramm was ju- | bilant, saying he may well have won ithe biggest victory for the GOP in Texas history. | “This is not a victory of an individ- ^ lal,” Gramm, a Democrat-turned Bi*" I Republican said. “It’s not a victory of FA I party. It’s a triumph of philosophy. W»JJ | “And I believe that we are seeing | all over this country today, a welling |up of the ancient pride and confi- 1 ience that is part of America, and I think it was a key factor in this race.” 7:20 Gramm and Republican candi dates across the country apparently benefitted greatly from President Reagan's extremely strong showing. By all accounts, the Doggett- Gramm race was one of the nastiest contests in recent political history — a race in which seemingly petty claims and counterclaims frequently overshadowed discussions of the is sues by the markedly different can didates. It also proved to be an expensive race, with the candidates expected to spend a combined total of $13 mil lion this year alone. In both philosophy and de meanor, Doggett, 38, and Gramm, 42, offered Texas voters their most divergent political choice in years. Gramm, who taught economics before entering politics, centered his campaign on a strong allegiance to Reagan and his policies. Doggett, an intensely serious Aus tin state senator with a liberal repu tation, derided nearly all aspects of the Reagan presidency — partic ularly the economic policies Gramm helped shape. The general election winner suc ceeds Tower, the Texas GOP’s high est elected official for nearly 25 years. Gramm, co-author of Reagan’s 1981 budget initiatives, bet all along that the president’s popularity would remain high in Texas despite the fact that several parts of the Texas economy have not enjoyed the ongoing economic recovery. He also was confident his effort to paint Doggett as an ultra-liberal would pay off with the state’s huge conservative bloc of Democrats — many of whom voted for conserva tive Democratic Rep. Kent Hance in a runoff battle Doggett narrowly won. Doggett, meanwhile, cast himself as a moderate while blasting Gramm’s voting record on federal aid to public education and Social Security issues. He also has borrowed a campaign tactic from Mondale by accusing Gramm of harboring a secret tax-in- crease plan for balancing the federal budget. Gramm, who outspent Doggett 2- to-1 in the race, was the acknowl edged front runner throughout the long campaign. However, Doggett seemed to rel ish his underdog role, frequently portraying himself as the Biblical David battling the Goliath Gramm. Doggett had waged similar battles before — most notably in 1979 when Photo by PETER ROCHA Rep. Phil Gramm talks to Texas A&M Presi- dent Center Tuesday. Vandiver was at the det Frank E. Vandiver at the Memorial Stu- MSC voting. he and 12 other “killer bee” lawmak ers walked off the Texas Senate floor to block a change in the presi dential primary that would have benefitted ex-Democrat John Con- nally. Doggett saved his money for the final month of the campaign and managed to cut Gramm’s margin with blistering television attacks in which he accused Gramm of insensi tivity to the plight of the elderly. ELECTION ’84 Results as of 8 a.m. Wednesday President REAGAN 42,979,352 59 percent MONDALE 29,833,320 41 percent Senate DOGGETT 2,135,064 41 percent GRAMM 3,023,589 59 percent U.S. Representative KUBIAK 98,477 44 percent BARTON 126,719 56 percent State Representative LEWIS 21,231 46 percent SMITH 25,419 54 percent Proposition 2 FOR 2,830,607 72 percent AGAINST 1,104.884 28 percent Mondale says ‘Fight has just begun’ United Press International ST. PAUL, Minn. — Walter Mon dale conceded defeat Tuesday night, saying the American people had honored Ronald Reagan in victory but declaring, “We didn’t win, but we made history — and that fight has just begun.” Mondale, facing cheering, weep ing supporters in his home state, said he had called Reagan “a few minutes ago” and “congratulated him on his victory.” “He has won, we are all Ameri cans, he is our president, and we honor him tonight,” Mondale said. Mondale, heading for defeat in one of the most powerful landslides in American presidential history, said he accepted the verdict of the people. He thanked running-mate Ger aldine Ferraro, the first woman on a major party national ticket. “We’re very proud of Gerry, very proud of Gerry,” he said. Mondale consoled his supporters. “Do not despair, this fight didn’t end tonight, it begins tonight,” he said. “I’ve been around for awhile and I have noticed in the seeds of most every victory are to be found the seeds of defeat, and in every defeat can be found the seeds of victory. Let us fight on, let us fight on! “My loss tonight does not in any way diminish the worth and impor tance of our struggle. The America we want to build is just as important tomorrow as it was yesterday. Let us continue to seek an America that is just and fair. Tonight, tonight espe cially, I think of the poor, the unem ployed, the elderly, the hc.nd- icapped, the helpless and the sad, and they need us more than ever to night. “Let us fight for jobs and fairness, let us fight for these kids and make certain they have the best education that any generation ever had. Let us fight for the environment and pro tect our air, our water and our land.” Continuing the campaign themes he hammered out in his losing cam paign, Mondale said: “And while we keep America strong, let us use the strength to keep the peace, to pro tect our values, and to control these weapons before they destroy us all.” “Good night and God bless you, and God bless America,” he said, as supporters cheered and pumped American flags up and down. Mondale watched the election re turns in a' 19th floor suite of the St. Paul Radisson Hotel with family and senior staff. “I would describe the mood as quiet,” said press secretary Maxine Isaacs. “It is not a very weepy scene at all, just quiet.” She said Mondale was working on his speech as he watched the returns and greeted visitors. Though early in the evening Mondale said he felt good, the feel ing in his camp was one of defeat. Mondale was joined by his wife Joan and three grown children when he went to the hotel from his subur ban North Oaks home where he worked on his concession speech. An aide said some members of Mondale’s campaign staff wept w'hen he spoke to them privately, but “most people cheered him and hooted jtnd clapped.” ‘“You have learned more in the last 1 */2 years than most people learn in a lifetime,”’ the aide quoted Mondale. “T know that you did this because you believe in a better America.’” Mondale, she said, urged his sup porters to “treasure those memories as you go forward.”