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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1986)
A&M business students trying to help peers improve grades -— Page 4 Lady Ags' freshman guard giving rest of SWC a lesson — Page 9 S T TKeBattalion Vol. 83 ho. 84 GSPS 075360 12 pages College Station, Texas Tuesday, January 28, 1986 Special events center possible oon Land donation ih&.M's largest i { fWj 8££li! DUmm /♦Gtfl 1 wn thret Marshai ible.S^ Vaechtet hen ht id zon( ling sea' loss, a Chicago nst the ne of the ,aid Sin- By KIRSTEN DIETZ Assistant City Editor A Texas A&M alumnus and his Wife announced Monday that Ihev have given 265 acres of land [worth S13 million to the A&M University Development Founda- gbn, the largest gif t ever made to ■e University and one of the in ^est to any state institution. ■ The land, donated by Dr. and Mis. Chester J. Reed of Houston, is one mile south of Katy in Fort Bend County. The proceeds Rom its sale will be applied to instruction of a multi-purpose Becial events center on A&M’s 1 west campus. B"My wife and 1 are very happy give this gift,” Reed said. “VVe love this school very much.” ■ A&M President Frank E. Van- jjlvef said that, without Reed’s ■ft, the status of the special jtients center would have been in [jeopardy. B “We were moving ahead with it because I think it’s a facility the lliniversity needs, but it would have been very, very difficult to pm: financing together in any rea sonable time,” he said. “That’s what makes the gift so marvelous, Bcause it comes at an opportu- nity when the University needs to tjthe a step which budgetary limi tations would have made difficult lltake.” A&M Board of Regents mem ber William A. McKenzie of Dal- also expressed his apprecia tion of Reed’s gift. "This gift by Dr. and Mrs. Reed will start the accomplish ment of something that I’ve long fieamed for — an events center that will surpass the events center in Austin, the Frank Erwin Cen ter," McKenzie said. “In my opin ion it will be a state-of-the-art in- Houston investor Chester Reed, who donated 265 acres worth over Si3 million to Texas A&M, holds the top of the model for the special events center. Reed is talking to (from left) Robert Walker, vice- Photo by DEAN SAITO president for development, A&M President Frank Vandiver and David Eller, chairman of the A&M Board of Regents. The land will be sold to provide money to construct the center. rent is ere- ow! ion. lore offi- i.in call be ^offs yoffs p.m ing stallation that will be cherished by the student body, the faculty and by all the inhabitants of this re gion.” The board currently is consid ering several designs for the cen ter, which could cost between $36 and $45 million and seat between 13,000 and 17,000 people, de pending on which design is cho sen. The center, to be built on Ol sen Road at the present site of the Beef Cattle Center, will be used for graduation ceremonies, ath letic and entertainment events, conventions and other sizable meetings and events. The special events center will replace the 32-year-old G. Rollie White Coliseum, which holds 7,000 people for basketball games and 8,000 for commencement exercises and concerts. Reed graduated from A&M in 1947 with a degree in veterinary medicine. In 1984 he received a Distinguished Alumnus Award. He also has donated $1 million for the construction of the new chancellor’s home, two tracts of land used to generate money for 40 Corps of Cadets scholarships and $500,000 for an endowed chair in the College of Veterinary Medicine. High court says Exxon must issue $2 billion refund Associated Press WASHINGTON — Exxon Corp. must repay consumers nationwide more than $2 billion in refunds and interest for overcharging on the sale of oil from a Texas field, the Su preme Court decided Monday. The- court, without comment, let stand a ruling that the money be dis tributed to the states and spent on programs to help the needy and en ergy consumers. The penalty against Exxon is the largest monetary judgment in Amer ican history to be upheld on appeal. Last November, a state district court jury in Texas ordered Texaco to pay $10.53 billion to Pennzoil for improperly interfering with that company’s acquisition of Getty Oil Co. Appeals in the case are pending. The judgment against Exxon was upheld last July by a special federal appeals court in Washington. Exxon, the nation’s largest cor poration, was found to have over priced oil from the Hawkins field near Tyler between 1975 and 1981. The corporation said it was the victim of confusing federal regula tions. Exxon lawyers said the cor poration was penalized for expand ing production at a time of heightened national concern over energy shortages. The Supreme Court also was urged by the airline industry, other oil companies, a utility company, a trucking firm, a taxicab company and a motorist to review the case and order redistribution of the money. They said they should be re imbursed for buying overpriced oil from Exxon. Exxon was found to have made il legal profits of $895.5 million by classifying so-called “old” oil as “new” oil and thus selling it at nearly twice the price. The dispute over what is old oil and what is new' in volves exactly when that accounting changeover took place. Exxon said federal energy offi cials created “an uncertain, con stantly shifting and incoherent crazy-quilt of regulatory prescrip tions” that the corporation found impossible to obey. But U.S. District Judge Thomas Flannery, in his 1983 ruling against the corporation, said, “Exxon w'as hardly an innocent abroad, inter preting in the midst of confusing babble a direction sign labeled in a foreign language.” The balance of the judgment against Exxon is in interest charges ofabout $500,000 a day. Exxon said in a statement it was “extremely disappointed” in the de cision not to review the case. “We had hoped that after a review of the case, the Supreme Court would agree that the district court summary judgement included major inequities and that Exxon and other producers should be allowed to pre sent their complete case in court,” Exxon said. Exxon was ordered to pay the $2 billion to the federal government for redistribution to the states based on their energy consumption during the period of overpricing. The states must spend the money on energy conservation, such as weatherizing buildings and reducing consumption by schools and hospi tals, and to aid the poor with home utility bills. State Attorney General Jim Mat tox said Texas’ share will be about $178 million, which “is being held in escrow, and it’s as good as in the bank.” Regents appropriate funds for design Parking garage gets go-ahead By MONA L. PALMER and MARY ANN HARVEY Staff Writers I The Texas A&M Board of Regents appropri ated $260,000 Monday for the preliminary de sign of a multi-level parking garage for A&M. f Moffatt Adams, architect, said the garage will be south of University Drive between Asbury and Ireland Streets and the estimated project [post is $12,620,000. This is the best location be cause a student can walk to the library in eight or line minutes, he said. ■ Adams said the loss of 600 parking places to ^construction and the tremendous growth of A&Mjustify building the parking garage. [“The parking system has just not caught up ph the needs of the students,” he said. ■A&M President Frank E. Vandiver said, "I’m Jibtsure we ought to spend all of the money, but itjs something we’re going to have to have loner or later so we might as well do it now.” ■ Charles Cargill, vice president for operations, sai l the five- or six-level garage will have park- Jg for students, faculty and staff and will in- Kease parking fees by 5 percent. An ample Ijnount of parking also will be devoted to visi tors, he said. Adams anticipates traffic congestion around the new garage when it first opens but believes congestion is normal and the traffic will adjust. Regent Henry Cisneros, San Antonio mayor, said the architects should concentrate on en trances and exits to lessen traffic congestion. Cargill said the traffic to and from the park ing garage would “trickle in and trickle out” since students and faculty come and go at differ ent times. The board also allocated $1 million to A&M libraries and says it is committed to continuing investments to upgrade the University libraries. In other action the board appropriated $80,000 for a preliminary renovation design for the Physics Building. Adams said the renova tions include cleaning out the building and re working the insides to fit the needs of the psy chology department. The regents also authorized complete renova tion of Corps-style dormitories at the rate of two or four dorms every year. The board also approved the initiation and preparation of requirements for a computer sci ence building. Dr. Herbert Richardson, vice chancellor for engineering, said the building is a crucial facility in terms of size and estimated growth of the computer science field at A&M because the present facilities are very limited. The board also approved a request for Texas A&M to offer a bachelor of science degree in ge netics. The University has offered the master of science and doctorate in genetics since the 1940s. The rapid growth of genetic engineering and biotechnology, however, has made a bache lor of science degree in genetics necessary, according to a report issued by Vandiver’s of fice. Also approved by the board was the College of Agriculture’s proposal to establish an Insti tute for International Agribusiness Studies. The Institute will help facilitate Prairie View A&M University’s international role in teaching and research. The proposed Institute will focus on specific projects aimed at research, development, train ing, and the application of agribusiness on a worldwide scale, according to the proposal sub mitted by Prairie View. The two universities plan to work together to strengthen their individual and joint capabili ties. The establishment of a new undergraduate degree program in computer science for marine See A&M regents, page 12 Bisor first block chosen to heod MSC Council By JEANNE ISENBERG Staff Writer Robert Bisor, a junior socio logy major from Bryan, became the first black chosen to be Me morial Student Center president Monday night. Bisor, who is currently serving as the MSC executive vice presi dent for marketing and person nel, was elected by the council at its first meeting of the semester. Bisor was MSC vice president for cultural programs in the fall, but when his current position opened up, he interviewed and was chosen to fill it, Davis said. “Bobby Bisor has always been instrumental to many phases of the MSC,” she said. “He started out his freshman year as a committee worker on the Black Awareness Committee and then moved up to "executive vice chairman of that MSC com mittee.” Bisor is the first of the new of ficers to be announced for next year. The nominating process for the officers takes place in several dif ferent stages, starting with the highest position of president and working down through the exec utive vice presidents and chair men, followed by the selection of the vice presidents and directors. The nominating committee will be interviewing for the un filled positions through the mid dle of March, and the new offi cers will take over their jobs in April. The council also approved for mer presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, as well as Dr. Ste phen Ambrose, an authority on U.S. foreign relations and mili tary history and the author of “Rise to Globalism”, as the speak ers for the April 1 Wiley Lecture Series, “Interventionism: The Role of the U.S. in Resolving In ternational Conflicts.” Reuben Brochner, the director of research for the Wiley Lecture Series, said the program will ex plore the current state of interna tional relations, attitudes of Americans toward interventio nism and the history of interven tionism in America among other related topics. hatcher pulls her party through derisive situation Associated Press LONDON — Prime Minister laigaret Thatcher battled shouts of Vision and calls for her resignation [onday in what the news media Slled a life-or-death Parliament leech to rally her Conservative Irty from the embarrassment of tio major Cabinet resignations. ■ Thatcher won solid backing from ■rConservatives, including former fieiense Secretary Michael Hesel- pe, whom she had blamed for spar ing the political crisis. Heseltine had said he was leaving because the prime minister had used unconstitu tional means to steer the Cabinet to ward favoring an American bid over a European attempt to rescue Brit ain’s failing Westland PLC heli copter company. Thatcher won a technical vote to close the raucous, three-hour debate in the House of Commons by 379- 219. Her Conservatives have a 143- seat majority in the 650-seat house, but the significance of the action was that nearly all her party members were present and voted together. During the debate, opposition leg islators accused her of a cover-up in volving a leaked letter, critical of He seltine, that subsequently led to the resignation of the second Cabinet member, Trade and Industry Secre tary Leon Brittan. He took responsi bility for the news leak. David Owen, leader of the centrist Social Democratic Party, said Thatcher “is not worthy to hold the high office that she does.” Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock had called Monday’s emergency de bate, saying it was to determine if Thatcher was involved in the leaking of the letter and if she had lied in earlier statements to Parliament. Thatcher maintained that for 16 days after Brittan leaked the letter Jan. 6, she did not know of his in volvement. She said an inquiry determined that the letter was leaked to the news media as a result of a misunder standing between officials of the- Trade and Industry Department and bureaucrats at her office. “I did not give my consent to dis closure,” the prime minister told Parliament. “It was not sought. And I have indicated I deeply regret the manner in which it was made.” Brittan, who resigned Friday after Thatcher first disclosed his responsi bility for the leak, backed her ac count saying: “I accept full responsi- bilitv for the fact and form of disclosure ... I profoundly regret the way it happened.” Heseltine, who left the Cabinet Jan. 9 following a'Confrontation with Thatcher, said her speech had ended the political row over the Westland affair. The crisis had developed as He seltine backed a West European con sortium’s bid to rescue Westland Owen said,“The prime minister must have hoped this debate would end this whole affair. I fear it will not. I don’t think the prime minister has come out of this with her integ rity intact.”