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