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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1986)
Thursday, January 30, 1986/The Battalion/Page 7 Warped by Scott McCullar 1S VOUR DESK ALWA15 JURIED IW PAPERWORK? CAN’T GET OUT FROAA UNDER AND CAN'T CATCH UP?. FRO A THE FEOPI.f: JffTT^ THAT EK0U&IIT VL > WEED EATER CoA\ES OHSK EATTER THE UY)L T'/IAT EFTICIEWTL'/ CLEARS AWAT UNWANTED PAPER WORK. JOST HOLD THE HEAD WITH THE MONO-FILAMEVT UA/E OYER THE CLUTTERED DESK SURFACE, SWITCH IT . ON ^ twenty ninety -NINE, FIVE. X V Z71 4 V by Kevin Thomas Waldo REPTILE HOUSE MONKET House AVIARr MOSES HALL r— r I 'TCzb— 1 Coon's Kingdom by D. Coon KAY, STMElUiNG's einmiHG ME. SO FAR YOU AND ME ARE THE ONLY CHARACTERS IN THIS STRIR DON T YOU THiNK IT ft T/ME TOR SOMEONE. NEW ? < s \ A x m/\TW£... SHOE VO AOU REALIZE WHAT WILL HAPPEN IE mv PUT LIGHTS IN WRiglev fielp anp the CUBS STOP PLAVIN0 \ PAV 6AME9B.. X KNOW. JJ—' ^ /AM THE WALRUS. GOO GOO KACHOO. GESUNDHEIT. X ' jt-4 ,1 i by Jeff MacNelly IT’G GOftHA PESTROV ONE OF GREATEST ANP MOGTCHERISWEPOF TPADITIONG IN TME WINPV CITY... IX jjfo- mim *>y Tnburt# In< A&M prof offers theory about effect of oil price shocks University News Service A Texas A&M economist examin ing the impact of oil price shocks on the U.S. economy has designed a new theory to show how relationships between businesses are changing in response to those shocks. Dr. Steven N. Wiggins, newly ap pointed Rex B. Grey Professor in the Center for Educational Research in Free Enterprise at A&M, says when prices fluctuate and demand is un certain, petroleum-related indus tries tend to merge in an effort to make themselves more adaptable to change. The opposite happens when prices appear to be staole or predic table, he says. During those times, industries are more likely to remain independent of each other and to conduct their financial dealings through contracts. Wiggins’ theory delves into a new area of economic research that largely has been ignored until re cently — the analysis of differing fi nancial arrangements to see which is the most profitable and efficient during times of instability — spot markets, that is, single, one-time purchases; long-term contracts be tween industries, particularly those that are mutually dependent on each other; and firms that have merged in order to become more flexible in the face of change. “Despite the central role played by these financial arrangements in a free economy, the analysis of eco nomic institutions remains in its in fancy,” Wiggins says. “Policy recommendations to change the institutions of capitalism are often made with no thought re garding why an institution took its observed form,” Wiggins says. “If one believes that institutions exist for good reasons the analyst is forced to uncover the advantage of the institution before recommend ing changes.” Wiggins’ on-going research is to test the theory by examining oil prices, investment rates and infor mation from the Securities and Ex change Commission on business contracts and corporate mergings during the past 10 years. A&M prof to test theory on students This rat is used to test economic theories at Texas A&M. By MIKE SULLIVAN Reporter This semester a few lucky eco nomics students will get the chance to earn as much as $50 per hour for what rats are currently doing for free. Dr. Raymond Battalio, a Texas A&M economist, has been conduct ing experiments since 1969 using both human and animal subjects to study economic theories. Battalio said his human subjects for experiments are recruited on a volunteer basis from Economics 203, Principles of Economics, to partici pate in strategy games designed to study decision-making behavior. Battalio said one game places stu dents in a duopoly. In a duopoly a market is dominated by two sellers. Battalio said the subjects have to de cide how to establish price and serv ice levels in order to remain compet itive and stay in business. He said the students are paid on a basis of how well they perform. “I guarantee I’m going to have one or two students leave with $50 in one hour,” Battalio said. He said stu dents have earned from $6 to $70 for a two-hour session. Battalio’s first research using hu mans helped study motivation using a token economy. He said patients in a mental ward earned token money for completing simple tasks. For in stance, a patient might earn five to kens for cleaning his room. Battalio said the patients could then spend their token money on personal items such as cigarettes or magazines. He found the resulting distribution of wealth in the token economy closely paralleled the U.S. economy. Battalio said he began to move from using only human subjects to using human and animal subjects for testing economic theories in the early ’70s. Battalio and Dr. John H. Kagel, an economist from the University of Houston and a former economist at A&M, recently completed a two-year experiment with rats that was de signed to test an economic theory concerning the spending patterns of poor people. The theory holds that poor peo ple tend to spend their money im mediately while wealthier people save their money and invest for the future. Battalio’s design was to place eight rats in separate cages with two auto matic feeding devices which would dispense food when the rat pushed a lever. One lever would dispense a single food pellet after a six-second wait, while the other lever dispensed four pellets after a 20-second wait. Battalio found the poorer, or skinnier, rats opted to wait the longer amount of time in order to receive more food, while the wealth ier, or fatter, rats chose to cash in early and receive less food. Battalio found that when the skin nier rats became fatter they no longer wanted to wait the additional time for a bigger reward. Battalio explained that his experi ment doesn’t necessarily refute the old economic theory, but he said it does have some significance. “It (the experiment) says an awful lot about whether any of this is ge netic or cultural,” Battalio said. “The basic behavioral response does have continuity across species.” Even if rat economics isn’t appli cable to age old economic theories, Battalio said the controversy is im portant because it’s generating re search. CONTACT LENSES pr.* - daily wear soft lenses pr.* - extended wear soft lenses pr.* - tinted soft lenses call 696-3754 FOR APPOINTMENT ‘ EYE EXAM AND CARE KIT NOT INCLUDED OPEN MONDAY THRU SATURDAY CHARLES C. SCHROEPPEL, O.D.,P.C. DOCTOR OF OPTOMETRY 707 SOUTH TEXAS AVE-SUITE 101D COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS 77840 1 block South of Texas & University Dr. QS5 Chimney Hill Bowling Center "A Family Recreation Center’ 40 Lanes — Automatic Scoring League & Open Bowling Bar & Snacks Bar STUDENT SPECIAL MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9 AM to 6 PM $1 Kagame student ID required 701 University Dr. East 260-9184 HELP?! Rudder Theatre Complex Needs Student Workers For Stagehand and Spotlight Work. To Apply Come To: Rudder Auditorium Mon. Feb. 3 7 p.m. COME SIGN UP! WINTER CLEARANCE r num Athletic Shoes M Kaepa new Dcrtonce G 20% to 50%off Men’s, Ladies’ & Children’s Warm-Ups 25% .o50% Off v. r Men’s, Ladies’, Children’s Nike, Bonnie, Winning Ways Ski-Wear 25% to 40% Off After Ski Boots • Goggles • Men’s & Ladies’ Jackets & Bibs Jackets starting at $59.95, Bibs starting at $39.95 J k. Nyl ?"i“‘: kets 30 % Off l.oi ker Room -TV mm 1 ilU M.iru Hd. t ri»\s Inun M.tnm f .1*1 M.ilti 0 'iiiiiimiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimimmn.uiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuMiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiimiiiii Paid advertising, prepared by the Business Student Council Companies Host Students At Career Fair Dinner Almost 1000 people are expected to gather at the College Station Hil ton and Conference Center at 7 p.m. on Tuesday February 4 for the an nual Business Career Fair Banquet. Representatives of some 75 compa nies will be hosts at the dinner for hundreds of students interested in talking careers with recruiters while enjoying a very fine evening meal. The banquet is one of the high light features of the three-day Fair sponsored each year by the Business Student Council. Doug Boughton, Council President, said that students look forward to this evening with a greatof enthusiasm. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, attorney with the law firm of Hutchinson- Price-Boyle & Brooks which special izes in municipal finance in Dallas, will be guest speaker for the Tues day gathering. Hutchinson is also President of Bailey-Hutchinson Company, a diversified investment company. Organizer and Director of Fidelity National Bank of Dallas, and former member of the Texas state House of Representatives, Hutchinson will address the topic, "Challenges to Business Students in an Informa tion-Based and Deregulated Interna tional Economy." She has also served as Vice Chair man of the National Transportation Safety Board, Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Dallad, and Press Secretary to the Co-Chairmen of the Republican National Committee, Washington, D.C. Hutchinson was the first woman television news re porter in Houston early in her ca reer. A particular attraction for students attending the banquet is the oppor tunity to have a personal conversa tion with a re Kay Bailey Hutchison cruiter from a chosen company. Each company is assigned a banquet table and students may choose which company they wish to have dinner with. Sign-up lists for com pany tables are located in the first floor lobby of the Blocker building this week and until January 31. Student tickets, purchased at the time of making a company choice, sell for $8.00 per person. In addition to hearing an out standing speaker and talking with company recruiters, students will be honoring their outstanding class mates. Each year at the banquet the College of Business Administration presents awards to the top Junior and Senior of the College, the top Ju nior and Senior in each of the Col lege's five major departments, and all of those students who have earned distinction on the Dean's Honor Roll twice in the past year. Persons interested in attending the Banquet on Tuesday February 4 at the Hilton should buy their tickets early at the BSC table in the Blocker lobby. iiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiimiiiiiiiiiiiimmiiiimiiimiimiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiHiiiiimiiiiimmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 111