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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1985)
' C' rmnc III Basic style set since '35 «i Press A Houston ge- pick up where e? late 1800s left hunting for sil- lo mountains. The Battalion / orth .Jr. of says he will be _i ntouched nor- >de believed to .e-d by a geologi- sf years ago. will be an exten- oose Mine, 16 -exkenridge and ri oosier Pass on >ivide. one of Colon-1 ciucers of silver I :1 up to the fault 3. iers believed an Moose Mine on somewhere be- But, Wadsworth not find it witb ipment and 19tb ge of geology. il, 80 No. 139 CISPS 045360 14 pages College Station, Texas Congress pi its on ebel aid Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Derno- atic-controlled House on Tuesday Ight rejected 248-180 President lagan’s proposal for $14 million in ■red military aid to Contra insur ants seeking to overthrow the leftist jwernment of Nicaragua. The same Rsolution was approved 53-46 by Be Republican-led Senate only a few urs earlier nly a month of — year before win osed the roads," * ■Combined, the two votes set up a ■ntinuing debate over whether to n an area when 111 1 ' Reagan to provide non-lethal under 50 feeto Bsistance to the rebels, winter. Bln both houses, Reagan won some ear’s exploratior Bditional support with a last-min- rt the ore depos It' pledge to r eopen direct negotia- rbout 1,700 feet | , ni between the United States and ie said. p Sandinista government, a key is le in Democratic opposition o Rea- said the nek faio policy toward Central Amer- eet length should which, in the re- °w selling trntk.R a | s0 promised not to use it $6.45 an ounce. I e moriev f OI military aid until the i Moose Mine,*^ 0 f curren t fiscal year on ase acquisition in- acres of mineralB^ e House vote was the first of taming lo nMKjwee yn to t y, e Contras, and the <)daction ot go m j remaining alternatives were ex- has a comp'd ^ much closer when votes with gold, sift | r ,. t a ken Wednesday. 1 I* U cfc 1 ) °P eralt ■ One choice sponsored by House nd a 250-ton petij t . mot |. a t s w ould require that the hetownofA.n 1;} million be spent through the Bnited Nations or the International laid he bought tht B(j Cross for Nicaraguan refugees million and has Ind to enforce any peace negotiated )0,000sofar. b\ the countries in Central America. | The second alternative, proposed bt House Republican leader Robert MilHcI of Illinois and supported by the president, would give recogni- tibn to the Contras by distributing Ion-lethal aid to them through the Inited States Agency for Interna- ranal Development. I In the Senate, 43 Republicans and 1() Democrats voted for the Contra aid proposal; 37 Democrats and nine ■publicans voted against. Sen. llha East, R-N.C., did not vote be cause he is in the hospital. Specifically, the Senate approved an appropriation for "military or paramilitary operations in Nicara- la.” f; But Reagan promised in a letter delivered to Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole only a few hours before ie vote that he would use the f unds only for non-lethal purposes for the itesi of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. From the Redwood Forest Ph ' M ’ h y WAYNEl - GRAB E11S This cross-section of a redwood tree’s trunk from California has been donated to the hor ticulture department and is being prepared for exhibit in the Horticulture Forestry Sci ences Building. A polyurethane finish will cover the wood’s surface once Virgil Hartsfield, an employee with the physical plant, sands down the coat of sealer. The redwood slice is a few hundred years old weighs about 1,500 pounds and measures 7V2 feet in diameter, says Dr. Ed Soltes of the Forest Science Department. Wednesday, April 24,1985 — —. — -........ Senate gives tentative OK to tuition bill Associated Press AUSTIN — The Senate on Tues day tentatively approved 18-11 a tu ition bill that opponents claim would end for many the American dream of a college education. Supporters reminded the Senate that there has not been a tuition in crease at state-supported colleges in Texas since 1957, and Texas ranks at the bottom among the states in tu ition. They could not muster enough votes, however, to win final approval Tuesday. Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, who was booed by a crowd of students at the Capitol early this month after he proposed the tuition increase, said the Senate would send the measure back to the House on Wednesday. House sponsor Wilhelmina Delco, D-Austin, said she would ask her col leagues to accept Senate changes. “It’s not the best of all possible worlds,” Delco said. “But I frankly feel that given the fiscal crisis, that’s the best we can do.” The Senate tuition bill would raise an estimated $279 million, or $79 million mote than the proposal ap- E roved by the House. The money is eing counted on to balance the two- year state budget pending in the Legislature. The Senate bill would triple tu ition in September for Texans, to $12 per semester hour. A student carrying a normal course load of 15 hours would pay $180 a semester. Out-of-state students also would pay three times as much, or $120 per semester hour. The following year, tuition would go up to $16 per semester hour for residents but would remain at $120 for non-residents, a decrease of $60 in the second year from the House bill. Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Aus- tin, said the higher tuition would put the dream of a college education “beyond the reach of a lot of peo ple.” Others voiced similar objec tions. Tuition for resident medical and "dental students would go up from $400 a year to $800 in the fall and to $1,219 the next year. Veterinary stu dents would pay $600 and $800 re spectively. Non-residents would pay four times as much. These figures were much higher but were reduced by an amendment by Sen. Chet Brooks, D-Pasadena, which was approved 20-10. Bill sponsor Grant Jones, D-Abilene, es timated the amendment trimmed $8 million out of the bill. Law student tuition would rise from $4 a semester hour to $24 this fall and to $36 the following year. Two amendments to lower iaw tu ition failed by 21-9 votes. Barrientos also lost, 18-12, on an amendment to grant resident tuition to anyone who marries a Texan. Jones noted that any non-resident who has an academic scholarship, no matter how small, can qualify for res ident tuition. The bill also provides increases in subsequent years despite an effort to cut them off after two years. Junior college tuition, which is set by the school’s governing board, would not be affected. Sen. Oscar Mauzy, D-Dallas, sug gested the two-year cutoff, describ ing the tuition proposal as “a tax on education.” He said the 1987 Legis lature could act on future tuition af ter getting a report from a special committee on higher education. His amendment failed 19-11. Barrientos pleaded unsuccessfully with the Senate not to approve the bill, saying, “Not this much, not this ? |uick. We’re going to hurt our oiks.” Sen. Craig Washington, D-Hous- ton, said of the proposed increases in non-resident, tuition, “We’re building a wall around our state with respect to foreign students.” Delco said the bill had “safe guards” for students, including a provision that would allow schools to use 20 percent of the money set aside for need-based grants to b^ used for emergency loans. Jones es timated that $20 million gained from tuition would be set aside for grants and loans. Low oil prices causing Texans to make sacrifices 1 Editor’s Note: This is the First arti cle in a two-part series about the oil iindastrv and how it relates to the pie’s economic conditions. By KEVIN INDA and TRENT LEOPOLD Staff Writers ■ Pete Wilson’s budget and Texas’ budget have one thing in common — they have both been cut to the bone since crude oil prices and pro duction plummeted. “Since I’ve been fired from Tex aco, my family’s lifestyle has changed a little,” Wilson says. “We don’t get to go down to the beach for a relaxing weekend any more. “We had to sell our beach house to make payments on our house here (in Port Arthur). You could say our budget has been cut to the bone.” Texas’ budget also is being cut to the bone. Since the first gusher erupted at Spindletop in 1901, the oil and gas industry has played a leading role in the state’s economy. But economic experts say that leading role now is history. “It’s really rare in this country that a state is as closely tied to an industry as Texas is tied to the oil and gas in dustry,” says Dale Craymer, the state’s manager of revenue estima tion. Texas now produces more oil than any other state. A third of the oil produced in the United States comes from Texas and 27 percent Of the nation’s oil-related jobs are in Texas. The state also produces about 5 percent of the total world oil supply. Texas Comptroller Bob Bullock says that today the oil and gas business is a $37 million enterprise employing more than 400,000 Texans who get oil and gas out of the ground and into numerous companies which support and supply the industry. Craymer said 28 percent of the state’s tax revenues come exclusively from the oil and gas industry. Bul lock says that that dependence isn’t necessarily good. The state has experienced a 33 percent drop in sales tax revenues See OIL, page 8 Texas being hit hard by '85 twister season By CARMEN MOLINA Reporter Tornado season has started. Monday night tour tornadoes were sighted around Waco. Also Monday, the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch in 77 counties in the state. In Olney, a small frame house “exploded” Sunday when it was hit by a tornado. T he bodies of an 88-year-old man, his 85-year-old wife and their 64-year-old son were found nearby. The months of April, May and June are active months for torna does and hurricanes. Hurricanes normally do not reach the Bryan-College Station area, but off-shoots such as torna does have caused extensive dam age-. Tornadoes, also called “twis ters” or “cyclones,” are the prod uct of violent thunderstorms and can be identified by their large rotating wdnd funnels. These thunderstorms are classified as tornadoes only after the funnel has touched ground. According to reports obtained from the state climatologist, tor nadoes are the most violent in semi-arid regions and cause more destruction per unit area than any other natural phenomenon. Each year Texas has an aver age of 129 tornadoes, most of See TWISTER, page 8 Consul: Apartheid gone in South Africa By KIRSTEN DIETZ Staff Writer Apartheid may have been a South African practice a decade ago, but it no longer exists in South Africa to day, said a vice-consul of South Afri can information Tuesday night at an MSG Political Forum program. Cornel Van Rooyen, who is based in Houston, told about 70 people, “It (apartheid) no longer exists in the hearts and minds of South Afri cans.” Apartheid is a system of legal se paration of races. Van Rooyen said, “For most Americans, the name of South Af rica is synonymous with the word apartheid.” He later said, “We are the first to admit there’s been discrimination. . . No one is immune to discrimination and everyone has faced discrimina tion in society.” But Van Rooyen said the country is in the midst of a “dramatic change,” with blacks gaining many rights. W’hen the present situation is compared with the situation of a few years ago, the change is clear, he said. Van Rooyen pointed out several examples of gains recently given blacks: • The number of black schools increased from 105 to 550 between 1970 and 1980; • Blacks can now join trade unions or establish their own; • Resettlement of black commu nities has been discontinued; • Mixed marriages are now per mitted; • Most public facilities are inte grated; Cornel Van Rooyen Van Royen also discussed the im- B ortance of South Africa to the r nited States in economic devel opment, industrial stimulus and transportation. Economically, he said. South Af rica represented more than $4 bil lion of U.S. trade in 1984. Over 6,000 U.S. firms, including 350 ma jor corporations, invest in the South African economy, he said. In industry, he said, the United States is “relying dangerously” on South Africa to supply almost 50 percent of 25 out of 35 minerals vital to U.S. industry. South Africa also is important geographically to the United States, as more than 20,000 ships travel around the Cape of Good Hope each year, he said. Van Rooyen was appointed to his current position in December 1980. He joined the Information Service of South Africa in 1978, and has served on the European and British desks and interior division of the de partment.