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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 1986)
Thursday, November 6, 1986/The Battalion/Page 7 discii theR; disc ini ken[ ( it 8:} ’ill cot nt 8:J uber n cart ’8)! iter. H ha<( ichn ).rn. c in 40. Ralplj i.m.ir l ai \ loldil udde: dent eSia- Photo by Anthony S. Casper Student body president Mike Sims gives the crowd at Sully’s Symposium a preview of Wednesday’s student government meeting. Sims, who spoke Wednesday afternoon, fold the au dience student government is addressing such student con cerns as hours at the A.P. Beutel Health Center, changes in the Aggie Point Plan, and construction of new bicycle racks. Texas incumbents all win re-election to Congress seats DALLAS (AP) — The party makeup of the 27-member Texas congressional delegation remained unchanged after voters rejected ef forts by Republicans and Democrats to target certain incumbents and the GOP retained the only wide-open district. All 26 incumbents clinched re- election in Luesday’s balloting as the Democrats re-elected 10 congress men in contested races and placed seven unopposed representatives back in Washington for the 100th Congress. U.S. House Majority Leader Jim Wright, expected to be the next House speaker, was among the win ners Tuesday, along with three Democrats tagged by the GOP as too liberal for their constituents. Wright, D-Fort Worth, handily beat Republican challenger Don Mc- Niel, an Alvarado businessman. Complete returns showed Wright winning with 69 percent of the vote. The expected successor to Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill in the House’s top post, Wright said the budget deficit, the trade deficit and the war on drugs will top his list of priorities in Congress. Wright called the trade deficit “one of our most serious problems, undercutting industrial strength and drying up American jobs.” Freshmen GOP Reps. Mac Swee ney of Wharton and Joe Barton of Ennis, tagged as vulnerable by Dem- : Di| it)’i r-dal panel : di!-t , S ( U f| at I P fo | Kiev I [toil! P . 10 | ein-i itiorjj at [ 1 at' | lost I ? nii-'l i art | io/i. favsj i it. New process for cloning cattle announced by Houston company HOUSTON (AP) — Scientists have devised a way to produce large numbers of identical cattle from an embryo in what is said to be the first successful cloning in large numbers involving animals, officials said. The basic goal of the process, which was designed by Houston- based Granada Corp., is to obtain more of fspring from a superior fe male from the newest method, which is still highly experimental, company officials said. At the present stage, scientists think they can produce four or five calves per embryo. Three actually have been born as a result of the re search. In the future, it may be pos sible to produce hundreds or per haps an unlimited number of offspring per embryo, the officials said. The breakthrough came to light on Tuesday during a briefing for a conference at Texas A&M Univer sity for science writers from across the United States. The research was credited to Dr. Steen Willadsen, a Danish veterinary surgeon who spent a year in Gra nada’s laboratories at Marquez. He recently left the company to continue his experiments in Canada. His work is not yet published, and Granada Genetics President Dr. Joe Massey declined to fully describe the process because of its proprietary nature. Granada Genetics is part of Granada Corp., an agribusiness con glomerate involved in a wide range of activities from cattle feeding to shrimp farming. Company officials say cloning is not the precise definition of the technology and is not the firm’s goal. ocrats hoping to expand the party’s share of the delegation, escaped with second terms, although both were given a scare. In the 14th district, Sweeney won with 52.4 percent of the vote over Democrat Greg Laughlin, an attor ney from West Columbia. Although Barton and Fort Worth lawyer Pete Geren were neck and neck for much of the evening, Bar ton won with 55.6 percent of the vote in the 6th district, which until recently traditionally was rep resented by a rural conservative Democrat. In the only race not involving an incumbent, Republicans retained the sprawling 21st district, which Tom Loeffler abandoned to make an unsuccessful GOP gubernatorial bid. Former Bexar County Commis sioner Lamar Smith easily defeating Democrat Pete Snelson, a former state senator from Midland, with 61 percent of the vote. “We had broad grass-roots sup port from Democrats, as well as from Republicans,” Smith said. Snelson blamed his defeat on party affiliations. “I think the bot tom line was party labels and not ex perience,” he said. Republican efforts to label three incumbent Democrats as out of touch with their constituents failed to impress the majority of voters. Rep. John Bryant won re-election to the 5th district over Tom Carter, garnering 59 percent. Veteran Rep. J.J. “Jake” Pickle of Austin trounced former Austin Mayor Carole Keeton Rylander with 72 percent of the vote in the 10th district, and Ron Cole man of El Paso captured the 16th district with 66 percent of the vote over GOP challenger Roy Gillia. “We saw two weeks of heavy neg ative campaigning against me,” Bry ant said. “We were worried about it. But we made a firm decision to em phasize the positive and to stick with my record. We never mentioned my opponent’s name.” In the 2nd district, incumbent Democrat Charles Wilson rolled to an easy win over Republican chal lenger Julian Gordon, a Liberty salesman, and independent Sam Paradice, with 67 percent of the vote. Low prices spur new lending criteria Texas banks cautious on oil loans MIDLAND (AP) — The new era of energy lending which began with the oil price collapse of 1986, has taken banks “back to the future” in terms of the criteria they use in lending money for oil and gas operations. Not since before the Arab oil embargo of 1973 have financial institutions been so cautious in their application and approval processes, accord ing to Marvin Schiebout, executive vice president of energy lending for RepublicBank First Na tional Midland. The days of revolving “borrowing base” loans and loans for lease acquisition costs seen during the period from 1973 to 1981 have been rele gated to the history books, with today’s loans be ing made only using proved producing (or shut- in produceable) reserves and secured collateral for backing. An increasing number of banks are lending on the basis of the applicant’s balance sheet position, rather than on the basis of in-the-ground re serves. Bankers have learned the lesson of the unpre dictability of oil prices and the adverse effects rapid movements can have on their loan portfo lios. So, each base case economic evaluation is run with two price sensitivity analyses: one based on flat $14 per barrel prices through mid-1989 with 4 percent annual escalation from there; and. an acid test “worst case” scenario of $10 a barrel prices remaining flat for the remainder of the decade. These economic criteria are used to evaluate the effect on the applicants’ future cash flow and their ability to repay the loans. Gas project economics are founded on a base case of current prices remaining in effect for one year and then adjusted up to $2 per thousand cubic feet (Mel) through July, 1989. • Price analyses are run for gas price scenarios of current prices remaining in place for the next year and moving to $1.62 per Mcf through mid- 1989 and another scenario based on prices flat at $ 1.25 per Mcf for the remainder of the decade. Local bankers say that loan demand for fi nancing of new drilling projects is virtually non existent and that the bulk of current loan busi ness is refinancing of existing debt. Bankers note that most borrowing is for main tenance of operations, as experienced operators adjust to current economics. Because of low prices, production costs of proved reserves are being factored in as a degree of the risk analysis on new loans. With price lev els falling to near the break-even point, a high- cost producer becomes a higher risk borrower. “Cash flow is the key,” says Schiebout. The importance of bank financing as a source of drilling funds is growing oecause competing sources of outside capital are drying up at an alarming rate. Proceeds from public and private placement drilling fund sales peaked in 1981 at $1,976 bil lion out of total energy fund sales of $2,884 bil lion. In 1985, those funds shrank to $371 million in drilling funds from total placements of $698 million. Reclassification and less favorable treatment of passive investments under the reformed tax code may further contract the funding pool in 1987 and future years. What effect the advent of insterstate banking may have on the availablity of energy credit re mains open to debate. Backers of interstate banking, including the state’s largest banking associations, note that 38 other states already permit interstate banking. They argue that the Texas economy needs the immediate influx of money that interstate bank ing may allow, and note that deregulation in the national banking industry has broken down old, geographic barriers. Opponents, including consumer groups, say out-of state banks won’t have the best interests of Texans at heart and would allow large New York-based banks to drain Texas institutions of their deposits. SAVE 5(K ANY £Tol^ Sil ve l Li s h , ts CIGARETTE PAPERS CIGARETTE PAPER RETAILER: You are authorized to act as our agent for redemption of this coupon. We will reimburse you 50« plus 8« handling providing that you and the consumer have complied with the terms of our offer. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law. Good only in US A. Cash value 1/20®. The consumer must pay any sales tax. Any other use constitutes fraud. Mail coupon to: Republic Tobacco Co.. PO. Box 730335, El Paso. TX 79973. Umit one coupon per purchase. 7T0A3 100CH3 PREGNANT? Child Placement Center offers free counseling to help you cope with your unplanned preg nancy. Call 696-5577 NEED MONEY??? Sell your BOOKS at University Book Stores Northgate & Culpepper Plaza OLYMPUS MICROCASSETTES NOW IN STOCK at CAMPUS PHOTO CENTER MON-FRI 8:30-5:30 one block from campus in Northgate SCHULMAN THEATRES 2.50 ADMISSION 1. Any Show Before 3 PM 2. Tuesday - All Seats 3. Mon-Wed - Local Students With Current ID’s. 4. Thurs. - KORA “Over 30 Nite" •DENOTES DOLBY STEREO PLAZA 3 226 Southwest Pkwy 693-24571 XR0C0DILE DUNDEE ra u X0L0R OF MONEY r CHILDI LESSE REN OF A ER GOD r 7:35 9:50 | MANOR EAST 3 | Manor East Mall 8?3-8300 I TRICK OR TREAT r 1 •LET’S GET HARRY r I TOUGH GUYS p« SCHULMAN 6 2002 E. 29th 775-2463 TOP GUN ps SiJS SKYBANDITS KKYS 105 Presents $ DOLLAR DAYS $ This Week’s Features Are: STAND BY ME r ^ RUTHLESS PEOPLE r 1% ‘RUNNING SCARED n T t :£ BACK TO SCHOOL psu £!i cut here Defensive Driving Course Nov. 10, 11 and Nov.14, 15 College Station Hilton Pre-register by phone: 693-8178 Ticket deferral and 10% insurance discount cut here Stage Center presents Thorton Wilder's “Our Town” Nov. 6,7,8 & 13,14,15 A&M Presbyterian Church College Station Adults $6 Students w/ID $4 Tickets at Box Office Senoir Citizens $4 Children under 12 $2. 50 Reservations 693-0050