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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 1986)
The Battalion o|83 No. 20 USPS 045360 14 pages College Station, Texas Friday, September 26, 1986 louse approves federal tax overhaul bill jjtg WASHINGTON (AP) — The rJEFOUSt easily approved a watershed l-D'SHaul of the federal tax code to- A iy, promising a tax cut for millions ■SP8Americans and an increased bur- business. P ».By|a 292-136 vote, the House IQjjHi the sweeping measure and ' ^ mtilto the Senate, where final con- u ^Bonal approval is expected be- end of next week. i r Re) Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., a ]GS SCdl^fcuthor of the bill, said, “We are n to let the American people ioWihat their legislative process is working, that when they request of their leaders in Washington a change, that we respond.” • The legislation, he added, re sponds to a public demand “that the family down the street or the cor poration across town can’t beat the system any longer.” Rep. Jack F. Kemp, R-N.Y., said, “We must not pass up this historic opportunity to make a contribution to those elements of the American economy that have long been ne glected: the working poor, the fam ily, labor and capital.” Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill, D- Mass., in closing the debate, said, “This is the most sweeping tax-re form legislation in the history of this nation. “If we pass this bill, the 99th Congress will assume a special place in the history of this country.” Within moments of the bill’s pas sage, Rostenkowski strode to his of fice and hanged a “Gone Fishin” sign on the door. The bill would cut individual and corporate tax rates deeply and elimi nate or reduce several deductions and exclusions, including those for Individual Retirement Accounts, consumer interest and sales taxes. On the average, individual taxes would be cut about 6.1 percent — less than $4 a week — and more than 6 million working poor would be dropped from the tax rolls. Several million couples and individuals would face tax increases. Over the next five years, corpora tions would pay a $ 120-billion greater share of the tax burden and business would lose a major incen tive for job-creating investments — changes that worry some lawmakers and economists. Members of both parties spoke against the measure — expressing fears that it would damage an al ready sluggish economy, impose an other burden on the middle class or destroy jobs in their districts. Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas, said, “There is both good and bad in this bill. The risks associated with the bad outweigh hoped-for benefits of the good.” Archer tried to have the bill sent back to the Senate and House nego tiators who produced the final com promise — a move that probably would have killed it. He was de feated, 268-160. Rostenkowski told the House the poses no threat to the economy. “About the only people I haven’t heard from are those people this bill does the most for — low- and mid dle-income families,” he said. “They are the men and women to whom we must make our case, no matter which way we vote.” lumni gifts to UT, LSU ay escape tax rules thletic boosters to receive tax deductions <4 I By Sondra Pickard Senior Staff Writer Hth a little strategic lobbying, a _ Y Hluck, and what amounts to be- (ylj Kiti the right place at the right me, the University of Texas and ?nt BE HEU n 20' ^ n 206' n 206 ^ 231 Cuts 'driving faculty away from Texas' jre mlo h AUSTIN (AP) — Spending the Legislature is on the verp of approving are already ■ng a toll on Texas universi- ^Kand the damage must be re- Hed next year, Lt. Gov. Bill ®bysaid Thursday. Bobby said $510 million in (Spending cuts, plus a rollback in Aj raisi s for state employees and J A other cost-cutting measures, have fi?eausr(l some professors to leave Ay^.Texa' schools and kept others from moving to the state. ^IgA survey of 25 of our 37 state unhersities showed that 217 fac ulty members had resigned by mid-July and 220 prospects had jined jobs in Texas,” he said. In most of those cases, Hobby fi, the faculty members cited ligher salaries, better benefits j| more research opportunities Iplable in other states. "Our future economic diversi- icanon depends on our commit- git to excellence in higher edu- Kon,” he said. “And state Hfernment has a key role to play higher education and job cre- ition.” Louisiana State University have managed to outsmart the nation’s tax reform bill in at least one area — athletics. A timely pork-barrel addition to the bill will make UT and LSU the only two schools in the country whose athletic boosters will be able to make tax-deductible contributions as charitable gifts. Earlier this year, an Internal Rev enue Service ruling eliminated the deduction for donors whose gifts earned them the right to purchase specially reserved tickets for athletic events. Scholarship donors who re ceive similar ticket privileges at other universities will be prohibited from taking the tax write-off. For UT, the special addition is a result of the work of Rep. J.J. Pickle, D-Austin, while Sen. Russell Long, D-La., was the first to achieve the ex clusive legislation for LSU — located in his hometown of Baton Rouge. John Havens, Pickle’s press secre tary, said concerned UT lobbyists asked Pickle if the ruling prohibiting deductions on contributions could be changed. Later, Pickle was told by the IRS that the ruling could not be overturned. Meanwhile, in the Senate, Long was able to get the write-off for LSU, at which time legislators decided the House also should have the opportu nity to write in what is commonly called a “transition rule.” “Mr. Pickle happened to be the only member who raised the entire issue on the House side,” Havens said. “There was very little he could do but say yes. It wouldn’t have been a good decision on his part to refuse it for UT because he felt like the pre vious ruling was bad.” Havens said Pickle’s original in tent was to get the ruling overturned for all universities, but he said UT was the only school to get the offer, so Pickle naturally took advantage of the situation. He said transition rules are by no means unusual. “The reason this one came to such attention is that a lot of other univer sities out there feel these two were singled out,” Havens said. “We’re taking a bad rap on this but there was never any effort to exclude A&M or any other school. “UT was the only school in Texas to bring it to Mr. Pickle’s attention.” An A&M System official said this kind of “horse trading” in committee is quite common. The official said Pickle obviously has a close relationship with UT. “Every member probably got to put in a little pet project,” the official said. “That’s part of the way they do business — that’s pork barrel.” Neither UT nor LSU is specif ically mentioned in the tax bill’s pages. But Craig Helwig, UT assis tant athletic director for devel opment, said the added wording clearly indicates which schools are designated. UT is referred to as an “institu tion .. . mandated by a state constitu tion in 1876 . . . established by a state legislature in March 1881, and . . . located in a state capital.” Also, the bill says “the campus of such institution formally opened on Sept. 15, 1883, and such institution is operated under the authority of a nine-member board of regents ap pointed by the governor.” Harry Green Jr., executive direc tor of the Aggie Club, said he doesn’t understand how a section of the tax ruling can be confined to only two universities in the country. “I would think it’s either going to have to be amended to do away with those two,” Green said, “or amended to include everyone.” Down The Tubes Jos6 F. Rodriguez conducts an experiment in volving the electrochemistry of iodine Thurs- Photo by John Makely day afternoon. Rodriguez is a Texas A&M doctoral degree candidate. Handcuffs used in hazing at UT AUSTIN (AP) — Handcuffs were used to restrain fraternity pledges during the night of activities that led to the alcohol-induced death of a University of Texas pledge, the Aus tin American-Statesman reported Thursday. Quoting unnamed sources close to the investigation, the newspaper said the finding increases the likeli hood that hazing played a part in the death of Mark Seeberger of Dallas. Seeberger, 18, was a pledge of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. His body was found in his dormitory last Thursday, and authorities said he died of alcohol poisoning. Investigators in recent days have said that Seeberger died after cruis ing in a van with three members of the fraternity, two other pledges and a woman who attended UT. The other pledges were put out of the van and left to find their own way home, but Seeberger was con sidered too drunk, and was brought back to his off-campus dormitory, the American-Statesman reported. The newspaper said details of what occurred while the handcuffs were applied to the pledges were not available. It also said it was unknown whether all pledges had been re strained or whether the handcuffs had been used all evening. The fraternity told university offi cials last Friday that the cruise in the van wasn’t a fraternity-sponsored event and that no one had been forced to take part. Randy Leavitt, lawyer for two fra ternity members and the woman stu dent, said that his investigation indi cated everyone in the van acted voluntarily and had intended the outing only to be fun. itudent Body President aims for tangible goals By Rodney Rather Staff Writer illxas A&M Student Body Presi- ■ Mike Sims says he hasn’t set ■goals for his administration — f’s set attainable goals. Htead of promoting abstract Incepts that can’t be measured, iident Government will implement ngible services that benefit the stu nts, says Sims, a senior agricultu- 1 education major. feel like I have to be realistic, pause I’ve only got nine months to )the things I want to do,” he says. ^One year isn’t enough time to re objectives such as adding 40,000 books to the University li brary or solving A&M’s parking problems, he says. More feasible projects, like re vamping a campuswide quiz file, cre ating a tutorial program and form ing a committee to oversee the University Police Department are being launched by Student Govern ment this year, he says. A campuswide quiz file, spon sored by Student Government, al ready exists at the University library, but few people know of it and it’s hardly been used since its creation three years ago, Sims says. He says • See Goals, page 14 Brett Shine Mike Hachtman Marty Roos Jim Cleary Former candidates active on campus Student Body President Mike Sims By Rodney Rather Staff Writer Those who campaigned unsuc cessfully last spring for the student body presidency remain active in Student Government and other campus organizations this year. Former presidential candidates Mike Hachtman, Jim Cleary, Brett Shine and Marty Roos were defeated in the election by Mike Sims, but that hasn’t kept them from pursuing other interests. Hachtman, a senior industrial dis tribution major, is the Student Gov ernment liaison to the College Sta tion City Council — a position he’s held for more than two years. “I’m not directly connected with the mainstream of Student Govern ment,” he says. “Tm still in Student Government, but I’m off on my own tangent, doing the same stuff I’ve done every year,” he said. Since he isn’t involved directly with Sims’ administration, Hacht man says he doesn’t know much about his policies, but believes the Student Government’s “Get Invol ved” campaign, which is a drive to get students active in Student Gov ernment, is a good idea. Cleary, a senior history major, is the Student Government represen tative to the Faculty Senate — a post he was appointed to by Sims. “I accepted the position because I felt that I could be competent and help Student Government in an area that few people know much about,” he says. Cleary says Sims should be a good leader simply because he’s different from past student body presidents. “I think Student Government really needs a shot of somebody who has a different approach,” he says. “No matter what happens, I think it will be good in the long run. “I think Mike’s smart enough, also, to bring in people who help him in areas where he really doesn’t have a lot of knowledge.” Shine, a senior political science major, also accepted an appointed position from Sims. He’s co-chairman of the student body president’s advisory board, he says. Shine says his job is to coordinate the views of both student leaders and less active students as they per tain to Student Government. Sims’ down-to-earth attitude is the reason he’ll appeal to students, Shine says. “In the past, Student Govern ment’s been more administrative,” he says. “It hasn’t been very active to serve student needs, and Sims is really committed to getting out and help ing the students, which is what it’s all about,” he says. Roos, a senior accounting major, is the only one of last spring’s candi dates not currently involved in Stu dent Government. Because of his involvement with Memorial Student Center commit tees, like Town Hall, Roos says he doesn’t have much time for Student Government. Although Roos says it’s too early to discuss Sims’ policies, he does say Student Government needs to focus on realistic objectives.