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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1986)
Friday, April 25, 1986/The Battalion/Page 3 5$ tioni Gi ation mai- Kha- aresi- pom! uasl mo* sord Loeffler campaigns at A&M, differs with White's policies Photo by Grog Bailey Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Loeffler By Frank Smith Staff Writer Tom Loeffler brought his gu bernatorial campaign back to Texas A&M Thursday, saying his iampaign has the grass-roots mo mentum necessary for him to win the May 3 Republican nomi nation. The fourth-term U.S. con- Tressman from Hunt spoke to an mdience of about 125 at Rudder Fountain. In his speech Loeffler echoed he themes he has emphasized throughout the campaign, in- tluding tough talk on prison re- orm and criticism of Gov. Mark White's “inflexibility” on House Jill 72, the governor’s educatio- ral reform package. “Ifsa sad day when the gover nor of Texas turns loose con- acted criminals from our peni- entiaries before they’ve served jut their terms,” Loeffler said. He said the state’s increased •rime rate can fall squarely on the tack of Mark White. Although Loeffler said MB 72 las succeeded in starting to give he school day back to the process jf learning, he assailed White’s inwillingness to amend the law, jarticularly the no-pass, no-play jrovision. “1 believe in no pass, no play jecause I want a system, first, that juts discipline into that student o get into those books and to earn,” Loeffler said. “1 want a to-pass, no-play concept that also incourages our young students to nove up the higher basic elective :ourses. "Mark White’s inflexible posi- ionon the six weeks no-pass, no- jlav penalty box fails on the sec- md:' Loeffler suggested a three- iveek penalty period as an alter ative. He said discipline needs to be eturned to classrooms, teachers icedtobe relieved from an abun- iance of unnecessary paperwork, he governor needs more input rom teachers and the teacher ap- jraisal system needs im- jrovement. Loeffler also called the teacher :ompetency test a total waste of teachers’ time and taxpayers’ money. In addition, Loeffler said Texas needs to diversify its eco nomic base. He praised the w’ork of A&M’s Texas Agricultural Extension Service with farm interests and said all universities must likewise reach out to the business sector by sharing technology and research. Loeffler also said he had a bet ter chance than his Republican opponents, Bill Clements and Kent Hance, of defeating Demo crat White. "It’s a fact that Bill Clements lost and lost big to Mark White when he was governor,” Loeffler said. “And it’s fair to ask the ques tion, ‘If he lost when he was gov ernor, can he win as a challeng- er?’ ” Similarly, Loeffler questioned Hance’s electability in light of his loss to Lloyd Doggett in the 1984 Democratic primary for senator. Following his speech, Loeffler said his grass-roots support effort throughout the state is moving rapidly and, despite predictions of low voter turnout for the pri maries, he said he was confident of his chances. He also praised President Rea gan’s call to repeal the windfall profits tax. “The sooner we can do that, the better,” Loeffler said. Ask for Bud Light. Everything else light. CS finance department unveils budget proposal By Craig Renfro Staff Writer The College Station finance de partment presented the city’s pro posed S62 million operating budget for fiscal 1986-87 at the City Council meeting Thursday night. About S44 million of the budget revenues will be derived from the city’s utility fund. The city’s general fund will contribute an additional 813 million to the budget. The rest of the budget will be de rived f rom the hotel-motel tax fund, the debt service fund and the sanita tion fund. City manager William Cole said this year’s proposed budget rep resents a 81-38 million dollar in crease over last year’s budget. The main reason for the increase is rising utility costs, he said. Assistant city manager Van Van- Dever said each city department has made its individual budget as streamlined as possible. The pro posed budget will not allow for the addition of new' programs, or addi tional personnel, he said. “Each department is going to have to tighten their belts a little,” Van- Dever said. Cole said this year’s budget is a re flection of the economic conditions in the city. “This has been a particularly diffi cult year in Brazos County,” Cole said. “This budget is an attempt to reflect the conditions in the county.” Cole said the city expects to re ceive S 100,000 from the federal gov ernment’s revenue sharing fund. This represents a $550,000 decrease from last year, he said. The city’s general fund will make up for the decrease. Cole said. A public hearing will be held May 8 to consider how the city should di vide the money in the revenue shar ing fund. The budget is scheduled for final approval June 6. In other action the council ap proved a resolution that will allow the city to obtain reimbursement from the State Highway Department for issuing littering citations. City attorney Cathy Locke said under this incentive program the city will receive $20 for every citation issued. The purpose of the program is to promote public awareness of stricter litter law enforcement, she said. Under the program the city stands to make $25,000, she said. Mexicans Vital’ in development of Texas By Bridget Brennan Reporter Mexican-Americans have played an active yet unacknowledged role in the settlement of Texas, Dr. Joe Gra ham of Texas A&M’s Department of English said Wednesday in a panel discussion on the role of the Mexi- can-American in Texas history. The discussion, sponsored by the Memorial Student Center Commit tee for the Awareness of Mexican- American Culture, featured guests from five academic departments at A&M. They were Graham, Dr. Rob ert Calvert of the Department of History, Dr. Victor Arizpe of the De partment of Modern Languages, Dr. David Hinojosa of the Department of Educational Administration and Dr. Norma Williams of the Depart ment of Sociology. Graham, who spoke on Mexican- American folklore, said, “Much of our built environment has the stamp of brown hands all over it, if not even their very fingertips. “It was Mexican hands who built the ranching industry in Texas. They also built the railroads in the Southwest. They provided the most important element — the hands — even though they had no money.” The most profound evidence of “We’re (the United States) a salad bowl —we’re not a melting pot at all. ” — Dr. Robert Calvert of the Texas A&M Depart ment of History. Mexican-American culture is found in the language, he said. “It’d be difficult to even talk to each other about the way things are in Texas without using Spanish words,” he said. Calvert said Mexican-Americans are affecting the current political re alignment. “This is the first time in my life time, or at least in the last 15 years, that the Republicans have had an in terest in the Mexican-American,” he said. He said Mexican-Americans de manded their political rights when they came back from serving in World War II. “They had the highest percentage of medals of honor, saw a high per centage of combat, and when they came back to this country, their re sponse was, ‘We’re not going to take it anymore,’ ” he said. Arizpe said he had a fresh per spective on the Mexican-American in Texas after living outside the state for 12 years. “We are trying to justify and find our own place in the history of a land which was once the homeland of our forefathers,” he said. Arizpe said that politicians use whatever term for Mexican-Ameri cans they think will get them the most votes. “We are used and abused for dif ferent goals,” he said. “Universities lump us under the improper head ing of Hispanics.” Arizpe said although he feels Texas is very fortunate to have such cultural diversity, many people don’t like it. People have a tenaency to criticize anything Mexican-Ameri can, he said. “The melting pot idea is no longer valid,” he said. Calvert said, “We’re a salad bowl — we’re not a melting pot at all.” But Hinojosa said times are much better than they used to be for Mexi can-Americans in Texas. “I believe in the Texas dream — where people have the opportunity to become upwardly mobile, to be in the mainstream,” he said. Two Can Dine for $4.99 Bring a friend to Long John Silvers where two can dine for one low price. 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