Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1986)
Monday, November 3, 1986/The Battalion/Page 3 State and Local White's A&M speech focuses on university research fund !) 9 e money ause if m’t re- ds they these . “Or who Kjlitical free to etoas achie- Cash ny dif- ecause lespite their : that to im perial poli- polit- )S." to un- Cash jnder- ormal, he pic- Unless dol- jaJisw iattal- By Olivier Uyttebrouck Staff Writer Gov. Mark White took the op portunity Friday at a pre-election speech at the Texas A&M Engi neering Research Center to dis cuss the $500 million permanant research fund the state intends to establish for funding university research. In its last regular session in 1985, the Texas Legislature ap propriated $35 million to serve as the “seed corn” for a permanant research fund to be drawn from private funding sources through out the state, White said. “We are going to be naming a L committee very shortly that will I be the base of that funding ef- ^ fort,” White said. “The yields from that fund will give that con tinuum (of funding) that you en joy today as part of the Perma nant University Fund.” White responded to a strongly worded question regarding cuts to higher education funding in the Legislature’s recent special sessions by saying the cuts were largely administrative and didn’t affect research or faculty salaries. “There’s a difference here in how you go about making those cuts,” White said. “We didn’t cut a single faculty salary . . . (or) any research program. Those cuts were administrative cuts.” White took time to praise the job A&M and other Texas uni versities have done in drawing “the best and brightest minds” to the state. “You’re taking the initiatives 1 today that will be seen in years to p come as the right step at tne right || time,” White said. “This is going I to be the new Spindletop that is 1 being discovered today in Texas. "What we’re doing today by in- I vesting in education in research, p we’re literally bootstrapping a I' new boom for Texas.” White also said that the current I slump in the agriculture and pe troleum industries points to a Photo by Anthony S. Casper Gov. Mark White greets a student in his A&M visit Friday. need for research and innovation in those fields in which A&M his torically has excelled. “I think now is not the time to turn our backs on agriculture, ” White said. “It is an industry in desperate need of rejuvenation.” Petroleum technology will grow in importance as an export commodity, White said. “Oil and gas is a long-term technology that will be utilized around the world,” he said. “But the technology has historically been Texas-based. We want to keep that here. ” B-CS faces tug-of-war in 4th Precinct election Skin color may bias commissioner's race By Olivier Uyttebrouck Staff Writer Although the issue is not publicly debated, the winner of the race for 4th Precinct Brazos County commis sioner may be determined by the color of the " candidate’s Analysis skin. The election is a classic example of the tug-of-war Bryan and College Station have been having for years. The Democratic incumbent, Milton Turner, was raised on a farm in Bra zos County and has owned Turner’s Paint and Body Shop in Bryan for years. Turner, who refers to College Sta tion as “the silk-stocking addition,” is black and draws his support largely from the predominantly black com munity in the 4th precinct. In contrast, his Republican oppo nent Rodger Lewis is a 1975 grad uate of Texas A&M and is the pro gram director for KAMU-TV. Lewis is counting on the support of A&M students to elect him Tuesday. He’s also years younger than his oppo nent and white. Lewis says the present districts were drawn up as a result of a law suit the League of United Latin American Citizens filed against the Brazos County commissioners. The suit charged that the commissioners had drawn up the districts in a way that precluded a minority candidate from ever being elected in Brazos County, Lewis says. So in 1981, the U.S. Department of Justice re-drew the county’s four precincts, Lewis says. The 4th Precinct includes the Northgate area and A&M’s north- side dormitories. It also includes nearly all of downtown Bryan and the areas immediately north and west of Bryan, which are occupied largely by blacks and Hispanics. Lewis contends that Turner’s color is the reason he is in office. “The way these boundaries are drawn, the largest block of people who vote in the primaries are black,” Lewis says. Turner was opposed by Ramiro Quintero both in this pri mary and the 1982 primary. But Quintero was defeated in a runoff both times, Lewis says, because there are more black than Hispanic voters in Bryan. Turner does little in the way of campaigning. His total advertising budget amounts to about $500 this year, and consists of a few radio and television spots with Bryan station KBTX-TV and K94 radio. He re fuses to speak to the Bryan-College Station Eagle, saying it has turned his words around in the past. “Some things they did in the pri mary with Quintero, I didn’t ap- The election is a classic example of the tug-of-war Bryan and College Station have been having for years. prove of the way they said it,” Turner says of the Eagle’s coverage. “So I’lljust live without them. “Everybody knows me. I’ve been here all of my life. I’ve been in busi ness here 30-some years. Everybody knows me here in Bryan.” Turner has drawn heat because he will not meet Lewis in debate. Of three major candidate forums held this year, Turner has attended only one, and he stormed out immedi ately after Lewis’ talk, scarcely mak ing a reply. “I don’t believe in somebody get ting out in public, dominating some body,” Turner says. “It’s not right. I don’t approve of it. I stay out of it. Now if you want to talk to me man- to-man, I don’t care what it is, I’m willing.” Lewis says Turner’s aversion to public speaking is consistent with Turner’s unavailability to the public. Turner takes exception to this charge, saying that he and his staff are good about returning calls and responding to complaints about county road maintenance. The Northgate area, the north- side dormitories and the apartments between Nagle Street and Wellborn Road are included in a voting area called the 35th voting precinct, which is the most populous of the 40 voting precincts in the county. The 35th voting precinct falls within the 4th Precinct. Lewis says he will win if he can get out the student vote. To this end, 60 of his volunteers have launched a student voter registration drive, yielding around 1,500 newly regis tered voters. This brings the total number of registered voters in the 35th voting precinct to over 3,300. “When I filed in February, some of the best political thinkers in the county told me, ‘Well, that’s a nice gesture Rodger, but you don’t stand a chance,’ ” Lewis says. Lewis says that about one-third of the voters in the 4th Precinct are stu dents. However, students are well- known for political apathy, espe cially toward local elections. In 1982 when Turner was elected, only 312 voters from the 35th pre cinct turned out, Lewis says. Correction In Friday’s issue of The Battal ion, an article on the results of the mock election on campus con tained an incorrect percentage in the race for 6th District represen tative. The article said U.S. Rep. Joe Barton received 43.7 percent of the vote. However, Barton actu ally received 53.7 percent of the vote to opponent Pete Geren’s 46.3 percent. The Battalion regrets the er ror. ? their hey’H e de- know in at' MW’s essive ves as have they coun- tobe ed in peo- from or the ifel of them teca- nany to be don’t fred Vhen 11 be indi- Christmas Workshops Registration for the 1986 Christmas Workshops begins Monday, UTov 3 at 10am in the University Plus Craft Center, located in the basement of the Memorial Student Center. Registration will continue until either classes fill or they begin to meet. For further infor mation, call or come by, 84-5-1631. Ornaments Student/ UToustudent Gifts Sl Decorations Student/ UTonstudent Bread Dough Ornaments Tues, Dec 2 6-9pm glO/811 Appalachian Gift Baskets Mon, Dec 8 6:30-9:30pm 818/813 Bread Dough Ornaments Wed, Dec 3 6-9pm 810/811 Christmas Potpourri Thurs, Dec 4 5:30-7pm 818/813 Etched Ornaments Thurs, Dec 4 6-9pm g8/89 Classic Baskets Mon, Dec 1 6:30-9:30pm 810/811 Gingerbread Men "Pues, Dec 9 5:30-7pm g 9/glO Cutting Boards T/W, Dec 2&3 5-7pm 810/811 Stained Glass Ornaments Thurs, Dec 4 6-9pm glO/gll Cutting Boards T/W, Dec 2&3 7:30-9:30pm 810/811 Stained Glass Ornaments Wed, Dec 10 6-9pm glO/gll Flashed-Glass Serving "Prays Tues, Dec 2 6-9pm 830/831 Stenciled Ornaments Wed, Dec 3 6:30-8:30pm g8/g9 I loliday Calligraphy Thurs, Dec 4 6:30-9:30pm 810/811 Ukrainian Eggs Tues, Dec 9 6-9pm 818/813 I loliday Calligraphy Wed, Dec 10 6:30-9:30pm 810/811 I loliday Geese Serving Trays Wed, Dec 3&10 7-10pm 816/817 Mahogany Serving Trays Thurs, Dec 11 6-9pm 818/813 Wreaths Mouse & Sled Door Hanger Picture Frames Wed, Dec 3&10 Tues, Dec 9 5:30-6:30pm 6-9pm 810/811 810/811 Cornhusk Wreaths Tues, Dec 9 6-9pm 818/813 Stick I lorses Sat, Dec 6 9am-12 noon 810/811 Pinecone Wreaths Mon, Dec 8 6-9pm 815/816 Watercolored Christmas Cards Thurs, Dec 4 6-9pm -810/811 Pinecone Wreaths Tues, Dec 9 9am-12 815/816 Pinecone Wreaths Thurs, Dec 11 6-9pm 815/816 Winter Wreaths Winter Wreaths Mon, Dec 1 Sat, Dec 6 6-9pm l-4pm 814/815 814/815 Holiday Bakery Student/ UTonstudent Buttercrunch Toffee Mon, Dec 8 8-9:30pm 88/89 Cake Decorating Wed, Dec 3 5:30-7pm 810/811 Let’s Party / UTonstudent Cookies, Cookies, Cookies Egg Rolls Tues, Dec 9 Thurs, Dec 11 7:30-9:30pm 7:30-9:30pm 814/815 818/819 Messina I lof Premieres Tues, Dec 2 6-7:30pm 89/810 Flaming Desserts Mon, Dec 1 5:30-7pm 818/813 Waltzing Mon, Dec 8 6-7pm 85/86 Fudge Mon, Dec 8 6-7:30pm 86/8 7 Whmcn’s Make-Up and Gingerbread Houses Tues, Dec 2 6-9pm 815/816 Colorization T/Th, Dec 2&4 6-9pm 830/831 Gingerbread Houses Wed, Dec 10 6-9pm 815/816 Seasonal Strudels Thurs, Dec 4 6-9pm 818/813 Texas Tamales Sat, Dec 6 9am-12noon 818/819 Tortillas \ ule Logs & Fruitcakes Thurs, Dec 11 M/W, Dec 1&3 5:30-7pm 85/86 7:30-9:30pm 818/819 Christmas Craft Festival The University Plus Christmas Craft Festival being held Tues, Dec 2 and Wed, Dec 3 in the Rudder Fountain Mall is now accepting )lications for vendors. If vou would like to participate in this juried app show, please phone 845 it you \ 1631. 7*5-^