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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 1986)
■ Wednesday, August 27, 1986/The Battalion/Page 5B 1 jljfepnce wanted to be firefighter es Sheriff works to meet needs I is< McKinney (AP) — As a ound-faced, 10-year-old boy, he vas the McKinney Fire Depart- nent’s mascot. Now, at age 36, Terry Box is the sheriff of Collin county. Although he wears a suit to ,vork and looks more like a busi nessman than a sheriff, the soft- spoken Box is indisputably a law enforcement officer. Originally, '-diupusi however, he had his sights set on posed am becoming a firefighter like his fa ther, who was a member of the McKinney Fire Department until his retirement three years ago. Box’s parents, C.G. and Doxie Boxjr., now live in Quitman. Even though years have passed since he was the mascot of the fire department, Box can vividly re call the flurry of activity when ever a fire alarm sounded. “My father dropped whatever he was doing and we dashed off to the station and jumped into this fire truck that looked like an , , old Model T. . . . I was really JLi-a!, somebody, I thought,” he said, chuckling. ‘‘But I think being around adults at that time did help form my character, my prin ciples.” Box did not begin to think about law enforcement as a ca reer until he landed a job as a po- ’obiem cent ap mts, wh hope to campus posed at educatio i would I v school "evemioa officials ■ed Press a is that tS Jughenotj they plat: rug otfeiij rity. Michigan ' instance tat have I search a r illegal student's ale or use lice dispatcher in McKinney dur ing his senior year in high school. Three years later, in 1971, he joined the Plano Police Depart ment as a patrolman. After attending the police aca demy in Arlington, Box hit the streets of Plano. With about eight Carrollton are demanding the same quality of law' enforcement that they had in their cities,” Box said. “When they call for help, they want a professional law offi cer at their door.” With growth comes headaches. Box pointed out that providing “I may not be very smart, but I know how to return phone calls. I think people appreciate that.” Terry Box, Collin County sheriff uore and) rather problem. 1 that can iderablvl For mostij r the “dm: or nine officers on the force, Box called it “a thriving department.” In 1981, Box returned to McK inney where he served under Sheriff Joe Steenbergen, first as a lieutenant and then as chief dep uty. Through the years he has watched many changes take place in law enforcement. Because of the large number of people who are moving to McKinney and the surrounding countryside, Box said the department has been challenged to keep pace with the phenomenal growth. “The people who are moving here from Richardson, Plano and good law enforcement can often be frustrated by the sheer num ber of people who might be work ing outdoors at any given time. Box said it’s difficult for offi cers to distinguish people who may be legitimately working on a street or in a neighborhood from someone who may be unlawfully loitering. Many people, especially new comers to the area, are not famil iar with what a sheriff actually does. As sheriff. Box’s role is that of administrator, overseeing the budget and operation of the sher iffs office. Box is sensitive to the fact that everyone wants to talk to “the sheriff’ when a problem arises. He makes every attempt to return all his phone calls. “I may not be very smart, but I know' how to return phone calls,” he said, laughing. “I think people appreciate that.” The road to Collin County sheriff is paved with bittersweet memories for Box. Shortly after he joined the department as a lieutenant, George Brakefield, the chief deputy and a very close friend of Box’s, was killed in a car accident on East Parker Road. “I made chief deputy that way,” he said. A little over one year later, in the summer of 1984, Sheriff Steenbergen was involved in a car accident — on East Parker Road. “He was sick for almost nine months before he passed away. And I got the appointment. I’m sitting here in office because two people are dead. It’s a really weird feeling, if you know what I mean,” he said, looking down at his hands, folded on his desk. Because of the circumstances. Box refused to move into the sheriff s office, preferring instead to keep his office situated in the chief deputy’s office fresno’ to parody soaps, miniseries fts format to outrageous extremes. ■ CBS’ six-hour, five-part saga of if 17,OOO*FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Putting ide put the locus on power, passion and pro sily of i I Jice, “Fresno" is taking the minise- dal Resa' ine-third * their sttlist and greed in the world’s raisin ■pitul is a satire of the prime-time | ■rial, not of this dusty, sweltering anil much-maligned city in Califor nia heartland 200 miles southeast I San Francisco. ■ “If people hope to see a city sav- B;ed, they will lie disappointed,” Bid Barry Kemp, producer of the | )c( l_ a [ K |TM Enterprises production that is st — mar to air in November, eet expense “Fresno" will parody prime-time keep patits W s an( * epic-oriented miniseries he said, o(ii who lad i : for them ats who die: .ominga Some faml ont neighbe bv sendi: savs. ir the meots ome very I: ear familvi or capacin savs. “Wee with a saga of the raisin-rich Ken sington family dynasty in this city fa mous for lacking everything else that California is noted for. If it’s a hit, “Fresno" could usher in a new wave of comedy, break min iseries out of the self-imposed rut ol dramatic or historical TV novels, and make the town johnny Carson loves to mock a place of at least pass ing interest. Ehis town is tired of the jokes. No wonder. When Rand-McNally published its ranking of 277 metro politan cities in the United States two years ago, Fresno came in last for quality of living. The sneers by i m a g e - c o n sc i o u s Californians haven’t stopped. “This is our chance,” boasted Mayor Dale Doig, who gets to play a hit part in a costume ball dressed as Yul Brynner playing the King of Siam. His big line is to ask series’ star Carol Burnett to dance. She turns him dow n. “Fresno people are bound to feel better about themselves. This series makes the point that Fresno is a place of glamour, greed and re venge, all the things that make life worthwhile,” deadpanned actor An thony Heald in a break during two recent days of shooting here in 102- degree weather. What’s different about “Fresno” is this: For the first time, a television miniseries will be a comedy kind a major-length parody. CBS is betting on a ratings winner with a cast that includes Miss Bur nett, Charles Crodin, Teri Carr, Gregory Harrison, Dabney Coleman and Jerry Van Dyke. The story of the Kensington fami ly's battle for control of the raisin in dustry and thus control of this city will be played out as a commentary on the fascination with w'ealth, power and shallowness evidenced by the popularity of shows like “Dy nasty” and “Dallas,” the producer said. Study links traffic jams to stress TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — “A traffic jam is like a haunted house — itchanges a normal citizen into we can'tfli®a monster,” savs Raymond W. Novaco, associate professor at the University of California at Irvine. Novaco, an authority on trans portation and the behavior of drivers, told an audience at his [speech on “Traffic Congestion [and Commuter Stress” that con gestion has been a worldwide problem since the Romans first used horse-drawn carts. He said his studies have veri fied a relationship between expo sure to rush-hour traffic and ad verse physiological reactions. To make matters worse, No vaco said, increased temperature and a high noise level in traffic produce higher levels of stress, as well as discomfort and general f a tigue. The heat and humidity of traffic also result in decreased driving performance and errors, Novaco said. He said his research also indi cates that people who drive their cars to work alone have higher absenteeism rates than people who carpool or use other kinds of transportation. Apts. eciai 5drm,S ye, Carpel campus '8 Tax bill won’t hurt oil industry too badly, state experts say DALLAS (AP) — Texas oil indus try officials say the nation’s new tax bill is likely to siphon off investment capital because of scaled-down de ductions, but most said the tax over haul didn’t put as big a squeeze on the industry as had been feared. The tax bill could have been worse, said Jim Hunt, chairman of Dallas-based Cenergy Corp. But he said it still will add to the problems of the industry, which was hit by a sharp decrease in oil prices at the be ginning of this year. “It’s certainly not going to help (exploration),” he said. “The shame of it is they’ve done it all in the name of reducing taxes.” The tax changes come at a time when the Texas economy is reeling from collapsing oil prices and the ac companying high unemployment rates and low sales tax revenues. Legislators are meeting in a special session this month to make up for a predicted $3.5 billion shortfall. “We’re just in what’s known as a plain old classic recession,” said Tony Proffitt, spokesman for Comp troller Bob Bullock. Proffitt said the fact that much of the oil and gas industry’s tax deduc tions were left intact will help stabi lize the industry, thereby helping the state. “In the short run, it (the tax over haul) will kind of pinch us a little bit, like the sales tax deduction. In the long run it should be beneficial be cause it will mean more people will retain more of their income and can spend that income on things that will generate economic activity,” he said. The tax overhaul eliminates the deduction for sales taxes and retains the one for state income taxes — doubly painful for Texas, which has no state income tax and depends on sales taxes for much of its revenue. The bill leaves intact property tax deductions. Proffitt said 27 percent of taxpay ers itemized in 1984, taking an aver age $449 each in sales tax deduc tions. Under the new bill, taxpayers will pay a greater share of the bur den because there is no state income tax here, he said. Texans tradition ally have been strongly opposed to such a tax. The final tax overhaul plan ap proved by a House-Senate confer ence committee preserved a one- year writeoff for intangible drilling costs and depletion allowances. However, the lower tax rates and loss of investment tax credits proba bly will dampen the enthusiasm of investors, said Richard Adkerson of Arthur Andersen & Co. in Houston. ROTHER’S BOOKSTORES Complete Line of Used Books 340 Jersey (across from Univ. Police) 901 Harvey (Woodstone Center) 'The Beautifully Natural or Naturally Beautiful? Zotos Light Strokes..The Most Natural Looking, Durable Nail Extensions Ever! 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Tom Haywood of the North Texas Oil and Gas Association said investment-related portions of the tax bill make it a “nail in the coffin instead of a hammer trying to pry the lid off the coffin.” But Haywood conceded the in dustry had braced for a less favor able tax bill. “There is no doubt the fear cast into the oil and gas industry over what might happen makes this look good,” he said. Wichita Falls oilman Ed Spragins said the tax bill is a risky experiment because of the investment-related provisions. McCarter Middlebrook, vice pres ident of taxes for Dallas-based Di amond Shamrock Corp., also said changes in energy-related taxes, such as the loss of investment tax credits and lower tax rates, would hurt in the short run. 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