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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1985)
I Vol. 80 No. 95 GSPS 045360 18 pages College Station, Texas Wednesday, February 13 Bentsen plugs early primaries Associated Press AUSTIN — The state could have pTexas-sized clout in choosing the M988 Republican and Democratic ' presidential nominees by holding Mprimary elections in early March, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen sdid Tuesday. § An early primary would grab the attention of candidates and the na- tional press, making sure that Tex- 1 ans’ opinions play a big role in deter- 1 mining the two parties’ final choices, Bentsen said. I “Texas could be important in I news and opinion-making, and the I' candidates would be forced to choose issues which appeal to Texas I voters,” he said in a speech to the Texas House. I “When you talk about the number of (political convention) delegates that will be represented by the Texas B'Ote, they’ll concentrate on Texas.” f Texans have been choosing presi dential candidates in a cumbersome caucus system held in May, long af- r ter many other states have con ducted their primaries. Referring to his brief presidential bid in 1976, Bentsen said he learned | the hard way about waiting until af ter the first-round Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. I “Later in the process means it’s all ; over,” Bentsen said. “I want Texas to be up front in that process.” A big advantage of an early pri mary is that candidates would be ■forced to talk about issues important pto Texas, the senator said. 1 “They’re going to be concerned 'with farm problems in West Texas, with what’s happening on the Mexi can border. They’re going to be ad dressing them and saying what they’re going to do,” he said. Because of the number of conven tion delegates Texas has, Bentsen said, “If they can win Texas, then they’re on a real roll. I don’t believe this’ll be just a stepping stone for the nominee, I think it’ll be a launching pad.” Another advantage, he said, is Texas could bask in the spotlight of national press attention because an ' early primary in such a big state would be a big news story. “If you give them the choice of be ing in Boston or New England in the snows of March, or in Texas with all all the delegate votes we have, they’re going to be in Texas,” he said. The senator noted changing the presidential selection system proba bly would require a split primary — choosing presidential nominees in March and state candidates in May. Some political party officials have es- | timated it would cost an additional $8 million to do that. But Bentsen said that’s a small price to pay. “That’s a lot of money,” he said. “But it pales into insignificance when you talk about choosing the ' person that’s going to be president ; of our country.” Bentsen sidestepped questions about whether people should be prohibited from voting in one par- l ty’s presidential primary, then cross ing over to vote in the other party’s ; state primary. “I’ll leave that up to the Legislature,” he said. _ Photo by DEAN SAITO Pacesetters The sundial at the Floral Test Gardens keeps time at its own pace by casting a shadow as the sun moves from east to west. The jogger in the background set her own pace taking advan tage of Tuesday’s mild temperatures and fair skies. Elusive cause triggers A&M power outage A power outage lasting 10 minutes affected the Systems Administration Building, the Power Plant, and the buildings between Sbisa and Rudder Complex Tuesday afternoon. Physical Plant director Joe Estill said the source of the power failure had not been determined as of Tuesday night. “The air conditioners went out in the power plant, butThat’s easily re medied,” Estill said. “In situations like this, we notify the president (of A&M) and vice-president to keep them informed of the latest devel opments. But since the power outage only lasted ten minutes, there wasn’t much to report.” Although the computer systems were down in Sterling C. I^vans Library for 30 minutes, no damage was repo* ted. When the power shut-off, the lights went out all over the library, said Tim Saito, library systems analyst. “We took the necessary precautions to avoid extensive damage to the systems as soon as the lights went out,” Saito said, “but the systems were never in any danger.” The Academic Computer Center wasn’t affected by the lack of power. Curtis Culberson, an ACC counter worker, said the computer center’s systems were down for five minutes, but “since the systems usually shut down for five minutes every day, it’s difficult to attribute this shutdown to the power failure.” Susan Kubenka, editorial assistant for student publications, said The Battalion computer system lost its power for only a few minutes; not long enough to do any serious damage. Budget cuts may cost A&M over $40 million By MICHAEL CRAWFORD Staff Writer Texas A&M may lose almost $5.2 million in federal student aid and $35 million in expected research in creases because of budget cutbacks in federal and state spending, offi cials at A&M said Tuesday. In a briefing session for Rep. Joe Barton, Vice President for Academic Affairs Gordon Eaton said a reduc tion in student aid would prevent some students from receiving a col lege education. Other students, he said, would be forced to attend less expensive community colleges or re main at home and attend school. President Reagan’s budget, sent to Congress last week, would prevent students from receiving grants, work-study jobs or National Direct Student Loans if their families’ ad justed gross income is above $25,000. Guaranteed Student Loans would only be available to students whose families’ incomes are below $32,500. New restrictions would limit total federal financial aid to $4,000 per student per year. If such reductions are approved by Congress, Texas A&M’s snare of federal student aid would fall from almost $14 million in fiscal year 1984, to about $8.5 million in 1986. Eaton estimates that between 30 percent and 55 percent of students currently eligible in each program would become ineligible. Barton said he found the federal osals reasonable, believe that the president’s pro posal to cap student aid to $4,000 per student per year is a good com promise,” Barton said. “I know that at Texas A&M there is a large part of the student body that gets some sort of financial assistance. But it would appear to me that $4,000 is a reasonable number to at least begin the debate on. “If I had to vote on it today, I would support the president in that area.” Barton graduated from Texas A&M in 1972 and financed his edu cation by working part time and re ceiving scholarships. Barton said that students should be able to receive an education with the proposed $4,000 limit even though it may mean students taking part-time jobs and applying for scholarships. Eaton said that despite the reduc tion’s impact at Texas A&M, other institutions have student bodies more dependent on financial aid. Those institutions, he said, would suffer more. But A&M may feel a more severe pinch from federal cutbacks pro posed for research. Associate Provost for Research Duwayne Anderson said the Univer sity has $121 million in research pro grams currently operating. That sum might increase to $175 million over the next three years Without re ductions in federal spending. How ever, with the cutbacks, Anderson said, growth in the same period would reach only $130 to $140 mil lion. “One thing we’re concerned about and, I think, deeply concerned about is we have a trend (the growth) that we can describe in glowing terms,” Anderson said. “But, the fact of the matter is, if you look at it in terms of constant ’72 dollars, we’ve got a long, long way to go to become a Berkley or a Stanford or an MIT.” Barton was optimistic that Texas A&M would continue to receive fed eral research funds. “We, in Texas, pride ourselves on pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps,” Barton said. “In this day and age that has a lot to do with it. The federal government does spend a lot of money, especially in research areas. A&M is qualified to be a recip ient of a fair amount of it if we main tain our standards and continue im provements.” Feline virus prevention Cancer vaccine ready By DAINAH BULLARD Staff Writer A vaccine to prevent feline leuke mia virus, a leading cause of death among domestic cats, is now avail able at local animal clinics. Leuko- cell, produced by Norden Laborato ries, is the first cAncer vaccine developed for mammals. Dr. Gregory Troy, a veterinarian at Texas A&M University’s small an imal clinic, said the vaccine is admin istered in a series of three shots, fol lowed by yearly booster shots. “It’s like all other vaccines in a sense in that it makes the animal F jroduce antibodies against the feline ukemia virus,” Troy said. The feline lukemia virus, which is contagious, can cause tumors or bone marrow problems in infected cats, Troy said. The virus also can suppress the immune system in in fected cats, making them susceptible to other diseases, he said. • In addition to being a break through in preventive medicine for cats, the vaccine could be a step to ward prevention of cancer and ac quired immune deficiency syndrome in humans, Troy said. “I think it has that implication, by all means,” he said. Most area clinics received their first shipments of Leukocell last week. The going price on the vac cine is $15 for each innoculation. There is a three-week interval be tween the first two innoculations, and the third innoculation is give : U I don't know if we're going to push it like the rabies vaccine. But some of our clients own two or three cats, and I certainly think that in that situa tion, it's a good idea, ” — Dr. D B. Coker. three or four months after the sec ond. Though some of the clinics haven’t administered the vaccine yet, area veterinarians are enthusiastic about the new drug. Dr. Elizabeth King, of the King Animal Hospital, said the vaccine is worth the expense. “It is a fairly expensive vaccine, but a lot of research has gone into it,” King said. “We’re very excited about it.” Dr. D.B. Coker, of the Boonville Animal Hospital, said the vaccine will be important to families that own several cats. “I think there’s definitely a need for it, especially in some multiple-cat families,” Coker said. “I don’t know if we’re going to push it like the ra bies vaccine. But some of our clients own two or three cats, and I certainly think that in thdt situation, it’s a good idea.” Dr. John Harris, of the AAA Ani mal Clinic, said the problem in using the vaccine is in determining if a cat is already infected. If a cat already has leukemia, the vaccine will not do any good. “Grown cats should be tested to see if they have any trace of feline leukemia,” Harris said. “We got the vaccine in a few days ago. We let the clients read the literature and decide what they want to do. I would like to see tests performed on them (the cats) before the first shots.” Testing for feline leukemia will mean an additional expense, Harris said. But in spite of his doubts, he said the vaccine is a breakthrough. “I think the vaccine will be fine if we can determine what has feline leukemia and what doesn’t,” he said. Cecil Metzger, director of cor porate relations for Norden Labo ratories, sbid the vaccine was origi nally created by Dr. Richard Olsen at Ohio State University. “We’ve been involved in feline leukemia research for about 10 years,” Metzger said. “Then about five years ago we became aware of the work Dr. Richard Olsen was ac complishing.” Olsen originated the vaccine, and Norden Laboratories developed the drug for mass production and mar keting, Metzger said. The vaccine re ceived its federal license in Novem ber 1984, he said. Rejected committees look for alternatives By CATHIE ANDERSON Staff Writer Students will continue to need the programming the Memorial Student Center Basement and Outdoor Rec reation Committees have given, committee members say. These two committees were elimi nated during the MSC Council’s Jan. 28 meeting. The two groups will stop programming April 20. Lani Balaam, MSC Council exec utive vice president for program ming, says the MSC Town Hall com mittee may now be taking control of Basement’s programming, but the council is unsure where Outdoor Recreation’s programming will be transferred. While MSC Council President Pat Wood maintains both committees have known they were under special scrutiny for the past three years, for mer Basement Committee Chair man Tom Reinarts and Outdoor Recreation Committee member Nicholas Antoniou say that their committees were not informed. Antoniou is heading a Basement subcommittee, which is seeking an alternative to the elimination of his group. Reinarts resigned his posi tion as committee chairman two weeks ago. He says that he became disenchanted with the MSC after the council decided to cut his committee. If Reinarts’s disenchantment and resignation can be taken as an exam ple of the committees’ feelings, Wood may have little hope of realiz ing his wish that the two committees’ members find other places to work at the MSC. “It wasn’t a vote to get rid of the people,” Wood says. “It was a vote that simply says, ‘This is not an area where we can adequately address the students’ needs.’” Wood says a problem may have developed since the council did not inform the committees in writing. “We informed the (past) chair men, but the chairmen may not have passed it (the information) down to the next chairmen,” he says. The council has learned from this experience, he says. From now on, committees put on probation will be notified in writing. But Reinarts wishes word had reached him sooner. “The reaction that I had, well, I was stunned and shocked,” Reinart says, “and I don’t agree with a lot of their reasoning. They (council members) say the MSC would be unable to commit re sources to upgrading and maintain ing the committee’s programming facilities and equipment, but that’s not necessary. Basement already has equipment, and the facilities, though not the best, are satisfactory.” “First of all, all of our shows are done in Rumours,” Reinart says. “We can’t put on the acoustically- best shows there, but we can still have good shows. We’ve also put on shows in the Grove. Even though there’s not a lot of power there, it’s one of the best places I know of for putting on an outside show.” But Wood says Basement could not adequately address the students’ needs with the facilities that it was currently using. The MSC is unable to support the financial risk of Basement’s mid range entertainment at this time. Wood said, especially since Base ment has not consistently made a profit on each show. Outdoor Recreation did not al ways make a profit either, but Anto niou says the committee was not aware that it had to make a profit. “They never explained to us that we had to generate a profit,” he says. “We thought that it (the require ment) was strictly to break even. The committee has lost some money, but there was very little guidance on how the committee was to be run.” Hoping the council would recon sider Outdoor Recreation’s elimina tion, Antoniou said he proposed that the group be retained as a commit tee but given probation and refused a student fee allocation. Antoniou felt Outdoor Recreation could then prove it had the ability to make a profit or break even consis tently. “I don’t understand their hesi tation in letting the committee do this since renting the equipment would be beneficial to students,” he said. Outdoor Recreation rents equipment from the Grove for ca noeing, kayaking, backpacking and other sports. Reinarts, like Antoniou, also pro- See Rejected, page 6