A
The Battalion
Vol. 82 No. 45 GSPS 045360 16 pages College Station, Texas Friday, October 31, 1986
Profs work to start club
despite money barriers
By Sondra Pickard
Senior Staff Wr iter
With tentative approval from the
rogrd of Regents and President
Frank E. Vandiver, a group of A&M
professors is working to overcome fi-
■pial barriers so a faculty club can
je esiablished on the 11th floor of
ludper Tower.
An interim board of directors, ap-
poinit'd in the spring by the Faculty
Senile and made up of several fac-
altynnembers, has been negotiating
frith) University officials and study-
ngfhe feasibility and costs of such a
Sub.
I Dr Brann Johnson, associate pro-
fessoi of geophysics and a board
neraber, said the major worry has
jeen how to finance the club.
|“As it is now,” Johnson said, “we
ire lot working on the premise that
/le’iy going to get any type of finan-
jallubsidy from the University, al-
iiough that would be nice.
^Hie board is certainly looking at
:veiy option it can to get some assis
ts — if not money, then maybe
iervires.”
if not subsidized by the Univer-
lityldues from club members and
Htions would have to finance the
club, lie said.
^kny other major universities in
Texa^ have faculty clubs. The Uni-
kersitv of Texas faculty club, for ex
ample, gets about $100,000 per year
the school to cover its ex
penses, Johnson said.
| He said the problems of where to
mouse the faculty club and whether
^Bol can be served are no longer
jissues
He University has made the up
per two stories of Rudder Tower
available for lease by the club and
the Board of Regents has said alco
hol i>uld be legally served there.
Jcfinson said the interim board of
directors is trying to get a lease from
the University.
^«’ve been attempting to get a
spedf r lease from the University,”
he said, “but it’s still being put toge
ther.”
Although Rudder Tower is the
primai \ location being considered,
Johnson said the board also is con
sidering locating the club at a facility
jffqtmpus.
Bui he said no specific offers have
teeflmade, only suggestions.
In the near future, the board
plans to poll the A&M faculty
hrough a questionnaire to deter-
nine what the club members want
and will be willing to support, John
son said.
“The board is trying to establish
what services are going to be avail
able that are consistent with the ex
penses the membership would be
able to sustain,” Johnson said. “It’s
essentially a market and cost analy
sis.
“Since we were not promised any
type of financial subsidy, we are try
ing to find a way to make the club as
economical as possible so as to en
courage as broad and complete a
membership as possible.”
By Craig Renfro
Staff Writer
A surplus of stolen bicycles has
spurred the city of College Station to
consider passing an ordinance re
quiring bike owners to register their
vehicles with the city.
City Manager William Cole said
that under the ordinance it would
cost $3 to register each bicycle, and
that persons who fail to register their
bicycles could face a fine of up to
$200.
The city council considered the
ordinance at its last meeting, but de
layed action to give the item further
consideration.
Cole said some council members
were concerned over the amount of
the fine, and how the law would be
enforced. Another concern was
whether the registration would be
voluntary or mandatory.
The council will discuss the item
at its workshop meeting Wednesday,
Cole said.
College Station Police Lt. Bernie
Kapella said he hopes the ordinance
is passed, because it will enable the
city to return stolen bicycles to their
rightful owners.
Kapella said 250 bicycles are sto
len each year. The department re
covers 80 percent of the stolen bicy
cles, but can’t return them because
they don’t know who the owners are,
he said.
The unclaimed bicycles are sold at
a city auction, he said.
The two major financial troubles
the board is facing are the day-to-
day operational costs of the club and
possible construction costs if the up
per floors in Rudder Tower have to
be remodeled to meet the club’s
needs.
“We don’t want to make money,”
Johnson said. “We want to have a
club that will provide an area for in
teraction among faculty.
“If you’re in the faculty, the way
that we’re structured, there is very
little opportunity for faculty to inter
act with each other except within
their immediate work environment.”
“We recover 200 (bicycles) and
don’t know who they belong to,” Ka
pella said. “Some of these are $600
bicycles that we auction for $100 just
because we don’t know who the
owner is.”
Bryan Police Chief Charles Phelps
said Bryan has had a similar ordi
nance in effect for 25 years. How
ever, he said, the law is not strictly
enforced.
“The problem is that we don’t
want to create a negative image with
youngsters,” Phelps said.
Another problem with the law is
that citizens don’t take the time to
register their property, he said.
“It’s just apathy,” Phelps said.
“People don’t take the time to do it
and they don’t worry about it until it
happens to them.”
Kapella said another reason the
ordinance should be passed is to
help the police identify bicycle riders
involved in accidents.
“Our concern is that people ride
their bicycles, but often don’t carry
any identification,” Kapella said. “In
the event of a serious accident the
police would be able to identify the
person if the bicycle was registered.”
If the ordinance is passed, Kapella
said special registration drives will be
conducted to encourage people to
participate.
“The idea is not to generate reve
nue for the city, but to have some
way to get these bikes back,” Kapella
said.
CS council considers
ordinance requiring
bicycle registration
Crews raised the centerpole for bonfire 1986 at
4:03 Thursday afternoon on Texas A&M’s
Duncan Field. Bonfire is scheduled to be lighted
Nov. 25 at “dark-thirty.”
Clements wins majority of votes in MSC mock elections
By Jinks Gholson
Reporter
■ The results are in, and students of
(Texas A&M predict Republican can
didate Bill Clements will reclaim his
Igovernor’s chair in Austin.
Clements claimed 63.4 percent of
the vote over Democratic incumbent
Mark White and Libertarian candi
date Teresa Doyle in the mock elec
tion sponsored by the Memorial Stu
dent Center Political Forum on
Thursday.
Natalie Hopkins, travel and spe
cial events coordinator of Political
Forum, said she expected students
to vote a highly Republican ballot,
but results didn’t come out close to a
straight ticket at all. Libertarians re
ceived only a slight percentage of the
vote.
Before the election, Hopkins said
she expected about 3,000 students to
participate in the mock election. But
only 498 students marked their
choices at the polls this year.,
In a close race for District 6, Re
publican U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, re
ceived 43.7 percent of the vote to top
Democrat Pete Geren.
In the race for lieutenant gover
nor, Democrat Bill Hobby received
58.6 percent of the vote to win out
over Republican David Davidson
and Libertarian Bill Howell.
In the race for attorney general,
Republican Roy R. Barrera received
51.2 percent of the vote over his op
ponents, Democrat Jim Mattox and
Libertarian Mike Stephens.
In other results:
• Democrat Bob Bullock stole
83.1 percent of the vote for Comp
troller of Public Accounts over Lib
ertarian George Meeks.
• Democrat Ann W. Richards
won 85.7 percent of the vote for
State Treasurer over Libertarian
Robert F. Reid.
• Democrat Garry Mauro re
ceived 51.2 percent of the vote for
Commissioner of General Land Of
fice over opponents Republican M.
D. Anderson Jr. and Libertarian
Homey Sue Lanham.
• Democrat Jim Hightower won
with 52.1 percent of the vote for
Commissioner of Agriculture over
Republican Bill Powers and Liberta
rian Rebecca Reed.
• Republican Milton E. Fox
barely squeaked by with 47.9 percent
of the vote over Democrat John
Sharp’s 47.4 percent and Libertarian
Chloe Jack Danie in the race for
Railroad Commissioner.
• Democrat Kent A. Caperton
walked away with 100 percent of the
vote in the opponent-free race for
state senator, District 5.
Oil prices rise
after firing of
Saudi leader
NEW YORK (AP) — The removal
M Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani as
Saudi Arabia’s oil minister sent
prices of crude oil and refined prod
ucts soaring Thursday.
Analysts attributed the reaction to
i combination of technical factors
ind uncertainty over the effect his
departure would have on future ef
forts by the Organization of Petro-
eum Exporting Countries to limit
production to boost world prices.
Some analysts speculated Yama-
li’s departure would remove a long-
espected voice of moderation
vithin the fractious cartel, making
uture agreements to limit produc-
ion and higher oil prices less likely.
Others said that King Fahd’s
nove smoothed the way to better co-
iperation within the 13-nation car-
el, which would boost chances for
tigher prices in the future.
At die New York Mercantile Ex-
hange, contracts for December de-
ivery bf West Texas Intermediate,
he benchmark U.S. crude oil grade,
ose$l.31 a barrel to close at $ 15.04.
Prices for November deliveries
Iso rose significantly.
Tom Lenahan displays his Halloween creation. from his father, says it takes about three hours
Lenahan, who learned how to sculpt pumpkins to carve one.
Newspapers endorse
governor candidates
based on economy
DALLAS (AP) — Texas newspa
pers cited the state’s downtrodden
economy as a key theme in their en
dorsements in the governor’s race,
and the bitterness of the campaign
between Gov. Mark White and chal
lenger Bill Clements concerned
some editors.
The Abilene Reporter-News,
which endorsed Clements, sug
gested the campaign styles of the two
candidates were not of service to the
voters.
“Texans have a difficult choice in
this race, not because both candi
dates are highly qualified to serve as
governor, but because neither has
distinguished himself in a lackluster,
non-informative, often dirty cam
paign,” the Reporter-News said.
The Lufkin Daily News declined
to endorse either candidate, writing,
“The final month of campaigning
has been characterized by mudsling-
ing TV ads geared to appeal to the
intellect of the village idiot.”
Several newspapers that backed
Clements pointed to his experience
in the private sector as a needed
component in the fight to balance
the state budget.
“Clements is a businessman,”
wrote the Beaumont Enterprise.
“He understands the bottom line, ef
ficiency and waste, much better than
White, a man with a background in
law and politics.”
But the San Angelo Standard-
Times, in endorsing White, said the
incumbent was better suited to the
state’s changing economic environ
ment.
“Texans live in a different state
from the one they called home in
1982,” the Standard-Times said. “It
is the same one in most of the ob
vious ways . . . but its economy and
its problems have undergone a sea
of change that outdates old ap
proaches to leading state govern
ment.”
Other newspapers backing White
praised his leadership during the
state’s budget shortfall.
The Houston Post said White “has
earned four more years by backing
programs vital to this state, as well as
the taxes to pay for them, in a period
of severe economic hardship.”