Seniors, juniors support Twelfth Man tradition
The Battalion
180 Mo. 120 GSRS 045360 12 pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, March 27,1985
Bright resigns from A&M Board of Regents
By SARAH OATES
Staff Writer
H.R. “Bum" Bright, who served
four years as chairman of the Texas
A&M University Board of Regents,
was replaced as chairman Tuesday,
then resigned from the board, say
ing (i»v. Mark White insisted on
Bright's support it W'hite runs for
re-election.
Bright said W'hite told him “you
have served as chairman for the past
four years at my pleasure because I
control the voles of the board.”
He said White told him he had
done an excellent job and asked if
Bright would support him if White
ran for re-election.
“He said 'If I decide to run for re-
election, I've got to know that the
chairman of the board of Texas
A&M is going to be supporting me,”
Bright said.
“1 told him that I think any mem
ber of a state agency board, be he
chairman or be he a member, should
support the governor in his exec
utive decisions. ... I do not believe
this mandates a support of a candi
dacy of anyone to an elected posi
tion. I would not make that deal.”
White said Tuesday in a prepared
statement that “I would not have
thought his loyalty to Texas A&M
would have been limited to serving
as chairman of the regents board.”
The board by a 7-0 vote elected
Houston businessman David Eller as
chairman. Joe Reynolds, a Houston
attorney serving his second term on
the board, was elected vice chair
man. Both men were appointed to
the board by W'hite.
Eller and Bright abstained from
voting.
Bright said he wished to make an
“editorial comment.”
He objected to Reynold’s election
as vice chairman, saying Reynolds
has too many ties to White. White
once worked for Reynolds’ law firm,
Reynolds, Allen and Cook.
Bright also said he believed a vice
chairman who did not graduate
from A&M “would be a detriment to
the A&M system.”
“My objection is not personal,”
Bright said. “When Mr. Reynolds
was suggested as vice chairman, I
made a personal appeal to him to
withdraw. This is the first time in my
60-year history and knowledge of
A&M that a non-Aggie has been on
this board as an officer.”
S.B. Whittenberg was vice presi
dent of the A&M Board of Directors
from 1973 to 1974. He was not a
graduate of A&M.
“I felt that with Mr. Reynolds be
ing a fellow graduate of the gover
nor’s from Baylor University, and
with the governor professing to me
that he controls the votes on this
board, I felt this would be poorly re
ceived by one of our constituents,
the former students’ group of Texas
A&M,” Bright said.
He said his objection to Reynolds
was not personal.
“As a consequence of our new of
ficers of the board, and based upon
the governor’s statement to me that
he controls the board, 1 leel that it is
inappropriate and serves little conse
quence for me to continue to serve
on the board,” he said. “So I shall
submit my resignation to the gover
nor when I return to Dallas.”
When Reynolds said White does
not influence his votes, Bright re
plied, “I’m only telling you what
your governor said.”
Bright said that he had enjoyed
his service on the board, and turned
the meeting over to Eller, who
H. R. “Bum” Bright
thanked him for “ushering in a new
era at A&M.”
“You’re a hard act to follow,” Eller
said. “You took a business approach
at a time when a university like A&M
desperately needed to be run like a
business.”
Bright told Eller, “Of the people
sitting at this table, I probably know
you best. I know you’ll make a good
chairman. You’ll give it everything
you’ve got. I just see little purpose in
continuing to lunction on the board
in a minority role when the governor
controls the votes as he professed to
me.”
Bright then left the meeting, say
ing the minutes of the meeting
should note he was present and left
early.
Reynolds said as vice chairman he
will “endeavor to serve the System
and the people of Texas, not any cli
que or group.”
Regent John Mobley, one of the
Gov. Mark White’s new appoint
ments to the board, said Bright had
See Bright, page 6
Caperton reveals
bill to counteract
budget proposal
By DOUG HALL
Reporter
State Sen. Kent Caperton said
Tuesday that a new proposal in the
state legislature possibly will coun
teract the budget cuts proposed ear-
liei this year by Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby.
Caperton, addressing the Texas
A&M Board of Regents and a host
of faculty members, said the pro
posed bill would allow state colleges
and universities to maintain current
faculty salaries and flexibility in ma
naging their own funds.
“This plan would result in the re
duction of not one dollar in faculty
salaries from the 1985 level,” Caper
ton said.
“We are not going to retreat in
Texas. We are strong in our commit-
I tment to higher education. We are
I going to make it clear that when fac-
I ulty go looking, they look first at
Texas. We can do that and we will.”
Caperton’s statements coincided
I with a Tuesday message by Hobby
— which proposes an additional
$487.9 million spending on higher
education. This increase includes
$22 million for worthy research pro
jects and $35 million for a new re-
j search fund.
“I’m advised that A&M will proba
bly do pretty well when it came time
to participate in their share of that
$35 million,” Caperton said.
proposed 1985 levels, which also will
increase non-resident tuition to $120
per credit hour, only two states in
the country will have a cheaper tu
ition than Texas.
Hobby said the tuition hikes,
which will cover only 10 percent of
the cost of education in 1986, will
raise $277 million over the the next
two years. The difference in that
amount and $487.9 million will be
made up by reductions in other
areas.
“It is time to make adjustments in
the cost of tuition,” Hobby said. “But
even making adjustments, Texas still
of fers to T exas students and to non
resident students a great deal, a
wonderful opportunity ... to come
learn in this state. And that is good
policy, it encourages quality educa
tion, it’s strong policy.”
Hobby said colleges should use
the additional funds to “address the
concerns of our faculty, particularly
the bright young middle rank who
are on their way up.”
Caperton said the proposal has
“been in the works for some time”
and that he met with Hobby and
other senators Monday to discuss the
proposition. Caperton also said the
idea was later presented to a large
number of senators who come close
to making the necessary two-thirds
support.
Making possible the additional
funding for state colleges and uni
versities is a proposal to raise in-state
tuition from $4 per semester credit
j hour to $ 12 per credit hour this fall.
\ The price will rise to $16 in 1987.
I Caperton said that even at the
“1 am particulary excited about
this plan . .,he said. “I implore for
your help, the help of the citizens of
the Brazos Valley in seeing that we
get this plan adopted. It is too critical
to the future of Brazos County not
to have it, and to the state ofTexas.”
Election commission
says Royall within limit
Members of Squadron 10 compete in Tues
day’s Corps of Cadets Bloody Cross compe
tition. The competition is a three-mile run
around the Quadrangle. AH of the units in
the Corps participate and the unit with the
fastest time and the least number of mem
bers to drop out wins. The Corps Public Re
lations Officer Albert Muller said the results
are pending approval by the Corps sargeant
major and will be released today.
Panel reviews
plan calling
for closure of
universities
Associated Press
AUSTIN — The House Appro
priations Committee on Tuesday be
gan a retreat from decisions to close
state colleges in Odessa and Galves
ton.
“We’ll work it out some way,” said
Chairman Jim Rudd, D-Brownfield.
“If it’s not here, it will be done some
where else.”
The panel voted Monday night to
phase out the University ofTexas of
the Permian Basin and Texas A&M
at Galveston. Rep. Paul Colbert, D-
Houston, proposed the closings and
said the move could save the state
$61 million.
Colbert conceded Tuesday that
the votes are there to undo the Mon
day decisions. Rudd began looking
for the parliamentary path to recon
sideration of the votes. He said the
committee would take another look
at UTPB and A&M at Galveston
when the rest of the budget is com-
See PANEL, page 6
CS absentee voting starts today
Shuttle for students available
By ELIZABETH MICKEY
Reporter
Students who wish to vote absen
tee for the April 6 city elections will
be able to take advantage of a shuttle
service which starts today sponsored
by a city council candidate.
Mike Hachtman, a Texas A&M
junior who is running for Place 3 on
the College Station City Council, or
ganized the shuttle to make it easier
for students to vote absentee. The
election is scheduled for March 30,
the day before Easter Sunday.
“Devising the shuttle system is not
me the candidate, but me the citizen
being fed up with students not being
able to vote,” Hachtman said.
Shuttles are scheduled to leave
from the staff parking lot between
Haas and Walton halls and from the
circle drive in front of the Commons
at 4 p.m. today through Friday of
this week and Monday and Tuesday
of next week. Absentee voting closes
April 2.
Hachtman said the shuttle will go
directly to College Station City Hall
and back. It takes about 15 minutes
to vote, he said.
Hachtman also said that those
needing a ride but are unable leave
with the shuttle may call him at
' home and he will drive them to city
hall.
“If I drive someone over, that one
vote could make the difference,” he
said.
Another reason Hachtman said
he is sponsoring the shuttle is be
cause the City of College Station
combined the three campus pre
cincts used in the November election
into one precinct. All on-campus stu
dents now will vote in the College
Station Municipal Building on
Church Street behind Northgate.
Students care about what, is going
on in College Station, and the com
bining of these precincts makes it
very inconvenient for students to
vote, Hachtman said.
In order to vote absentee, stu
dents must sign an affidavit stating
that they cannot vote on April 6 and
why, said Dian Jones, a secretary at
City Hall. The State Election Code
lists physical handicaps, religious be
liefs or absence at the time of the
election as reasons for voting absen
tee, Jones said.
Those wishing to vote absentee
may vote in Conference Room A in
City Hall at 1101 South Texas Ave.
through April 2.
1985-86 school catalogs available
but now students will pay for them
By JERRY OSLIN
Staff Writer
The Student Government’s elec-
lion commission said Monday night
that Sean Royall, a candidate for stu-
S dent body president, did not exceed
| the spending limit for campaign
| materials.
After reviewing Royall’s printing
I receipts, Jim Collins, election co
commissioner, said he is convinced
j Royall did not go over the $300
c spending limit.
The rules of the election commis-
sion prohibit a presidential candi-
{ date from spending more than $300
| on campaign materials.
3 Collins said he saw Royall’s print-
! ing receipts and the receipts from
! the lumber and paint Royall used to
build his campaign signs.
Collins said the cost of the materi
als Royall has used in the election so
far totaled $286.86.
“I consider this whole situation to
be very unfortunate; however, at
this point I don’t think it will have an
effect on my campaign,” Royall said.
A complaint was filed by two Texas
A&M students Thursday accusing
Royall of exceeding the spending
limit.
The complaint contained price es
timates by three local printers esti
mating the cost of Royall’s campaign
materials at more than $300.
Karl Brock, one of students who
signed the complaint, said he met
with Royall Sunday night and looked
at some of Royall’s receipts and at an
itemized list of his printing ex
cuses. Brock said he decided Royall
ad not gone over the spending limit
after looking at the receipts and the
list.
By DAINAH BULLARD
Staff Writer
Texas A&M students who go to
Heaton Hall to pick up a 1985-86
undergraduate or graduate catalog
are in for a surprise. The catalogs
are no longer available at Heaton
Hall — and they’re no longer free.
They can be purchased at the
bookstore in the Memorial Student
Center. Undergraduate catalogs are
$3 each, or $4.15 if ordered through
the mail. Graduate catalogs are
$2.50 each, or $3.63 through the
mail.
Mary Helen Bowers, director of
educational information services,
says the change was made to save the
University money. Toyas A&M
spent $125,443 for 80,000 1984-85
undergraduate catalogs, and
$36,672 for 36,110 1984-85 grad
uate catalogs.
“It’s just an awful lot of money,”
Bowers says. “The University simply
couldn’t afford it any more. We ex-
ect quite a savings to the University
y selling them (the catalogs).”
By selling the catalogs, Texas
A&M joins the ranks of other uni
versities (such as the University of
Texas, the University of Arizona
and the University of Oklahoma).
The University bought 51,500
copies of the 1985-86 undergrad
uate catalogs for $86,000. Fewer cat
alogs will be needed because stu
dents will be buying them instead of
just picking one up anytime they
need one, Bowers says.
“I suspect the fact that we gave
them away encouraged waste,” she
says.
The cost of the undergraduate
catalogs for Texas A&M was about
the same for both issues (about $ 1.57
each for the 1984-85 issue and about
$1.67 each for the 1985-86 issue).
But the University will recover the
costs of the 1985-86 catalogs, Bowers
says.
The University is supplying fac
ulty and staff members with 1985-86
catalgs. However, the price students
pay for their own catalogs does not
fund the faculty and staff copies.
“We don’t want students to have
the feeling that when they buy cop
ies in the Book store, they’re paying
for the ones the faculty is using.”
Bowers says. “The University pays
for those.”