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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1985)
Thursday, February 21, 1985/The Battalion/Page 7 f Warped ^fT by Scott McCullar us can | fares’ % % it .. ;•(( j'N National interest group PIRG serves students i u rant i HO I rantatffi^ Drive 3 heduleite t easy! II return'.-; By KIRSTEN DIETZ Staff Writer Students concerned with con sumer ripoffs, acid rain or the arms race can stop protesting and start making changes by working with a Public Interest Research Group. A PIRG is a student organized and directed social change organiza tion that conducts research, educates the public, registers voters and advo cates reforms. Bill Wasserman, PIRG’s California college organizer, says. The students work with a paid staff of lawyers, scientists, organizers and other professionals. Currently, the only Texas PIRG is at 1 Rice University. However, the University of Texas has an approved PIRG organizing committee. While Texas A&M doesn’t have a PIRG, students are still eligible to work as an intern with a professional staff or during the summer or after graduation, 'Wasserman says. As an intern, students can work on anything from a single course credit project to a full-term program with state or national PIRGs. An in ternship can teach a student valuable hands-on training that can help the student find jobs or prepare for graduate school in the areas of law, g overnment, environmental science, usiness and journalism, Wasserman says. Students interested in working during the summer can join a PIRG Citizen Outreach Staff. Staff mem bers educate the public on environ mental and consumer issues while learning communication skills, Was serman says. Summer workers can earn from $150 to $200 a week. After a student graduates, PIRGs offer entry-level professional posi tions concentrating in four areas: or ganizing, citizen outreach, adminis tration and publications. For example, an employee concentrating in citizen outreach might deal with membership recruitment and an or- ganizingjob might deal with mobiliz ing citizen support for an issue. Wasserman says the national PIRG is organizing a national net work to keep student newspapers in formed by mail on student issues. He says the newspapers will also be able to share information with each other through the network. Interested students can begin PIRGs on their own campus. Sources of funding for the chapter are decided by the members. For ex ample, Wasserman says some cam puses vote to earmark part of the student activity fee for the PIRG. While 125 campuses in 25 states have a PIRG program, Wasserman doesn’t know exactly how many stu dents are involved nationwide. How ever, in California, he says more than 40,000 student members on six campuses participate. Wasserman will be visiting to conduct a student leadership ference March 19 on the UT pus. visiting Texas con- cam- Critics attack state payroll deduction bill Associated Press AUSTIN — A bill that would al low union dues to be deducted from state employee paychecks is the first of a series of bills that would bring collective bargaining and compul sory arbitration to Texas, right-to- work backers said Tuesday. J. Manley Head, a spokesman for the Texas Right to Work Commit tee, told the House Labor and Em ployment Relations Committee Tuesday that union dues check-offs would “cede to labor organizations a large measure of control over the public’s work force.” But Willie Chapman, AFL-CIO legislative director, said: “It is just an attempt to give state employees the same right that most public employ ees have in other states and in some cities.” MSC • TOWN • HALL ~^gr~ Presents - TOTO March 21st 8 p.m. G. Rollie White $8.50 & $10.00 MSC Box Office 845-1234 SCHEDULE CHANGE "A WONDERFUL FILM... RICH IN IDEAS AND OVERPOWERING BEAUTY. I WAS AMAZED AND MOVED BY IT." Gene Siskel, "At The Movies" "A SPECTACULAR FUSION OF IMAGE AND SOUND."^ "YOU WON'T FIND A MORE DIZZYING, DAZZLING AND DIVERTING EXPERIENCE ON THE SCREEN TODAY" Christian Science Monitor "A TRIP-FILM FOR THE 'ONLY STANLEY KUBRICK'S '2001' CARRIES THE SAME SUPER-SENSORY IMPACT:' Sacramento Union ORIGINAL MUSIC COMPOSED BY PHILIP GLASS Sunday, February 24 7:30 p.m., $2.50 AUDITORIUM