Thursday, November 13, 1986TThe Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
Motorists enjoy ‘license to express’
duced fees give new life to personalized plates in '87
By Vickie Faour
Reporter
Hey SEXEE, would you like to
Bl-XME sometime? I’d like to get
INKIE with you. O-HECK, just
uxz I }ETIT!
lizz [ These are just a few messages
KB 312 Brazos County motorists
■fl created to personalize their li-
■e plates for 1987.
ii/d Beginning (an. I, 1987, it will cost
mz b |5 less to tell other motorists
JZZl)iH>K*E, AAARC’Tl, BAAAAH or
t/z H• The annual fee for person-
./■d license plates will drop from
itosm.
The reduction was approved dur-
fir Bne of the recent special sessions
withlB e Texas Legislature in an effort
iattract some of the nearly 1 ()(),()()()
iOti-rists who canceled their special
nujlaKS after the fee was raised from
. jj T5 to $75 during the 1985 regular
tpBon, says Dian Neill, director of
• HDivision of Motor Vehicles with
-—jejfiighway department.
Bhere were about 154,000 per-
;K mllized plates registered in the
ate before the fee was increased,”
eil says. “Obviously we’re not serv-
glll Texans who want such plates,
hetfeliope the fee reduction will help
l.is'c tslrve them better as well as regen-
i 'att the lost dollars to the state.”
u State Department of High
ly! and Public Transportation re-
tives $1.25 from the sale of each
Bal plate, Neill says. She says the
.‘ma nder of the revenue goes into
kn te state’s general funds.
i f i t idPtrsonalized plates were offered
-i-Bexas first in 1965. More than
OOn were issued that first year.
"Neill says names, phrases and
' 1H jbrps relating to the driver’s alma
later are among the more popular
loke.s in individualized plates.
111 In Bryan-College Station some
^hotprists express their Aggie spirit
■ 2TH MN, OIG M AG, AG-
iMO.M and \ A(.(iIE. And there
Bithers who are perhaps doctors,
—/R TANK, DR DIRT, K-9 DR or
le air conditioner repair man —
jRkooi..
Bhen there are those who wish to
Boctors, TO BE MD, ATM MD
ad AG DVM, or even someone who
Photo by Nancy Conces
A&M junior Dale Westbrook has owned this personalized license plate for two years.
might need a doctor — AH CHOO.
“Personalized plates are fun for
both the vehicle’s owner and for
other motorists,” Neill says.
Former student King Hammock,
owner of a 944 Porsche with a li
cense plate reading SURF IT, says
the plates are an extension of the
person who creates them.
“Not only have I personalized my
car with special touches, like person
alized rims and paint,” he says, “but
to complete the package, I had to
have the personal plates.”
Hammock says he kept his per
sonalized plates even after the price
increase.
“I kept my plates because I didn’t
want to lose my identity,” he says.
Hammock says that early one
morning on the way to the beach, his
plates got him out of a speeding
ticket because the of ficer who pulled
him over was a surfer, too.
Another A&M student says he
gets a lot of attention with his license
plates.
Junior Dale Westbrook, owner of
a 1983 Toyota Celica with license
plates ABUZME, says “Driving
down the highway in Houston, there
are always girls who stick their heads
out of their windows and ask me to
pull over.”
Westbrook says he and a friend
saw a car with the plates AMUZME,
and that’s where he got his unusual
idea.
He says he wouldn’t have kept his
plates when the price was increased,
but he had the money at the time.
Neill says up to six letters and two
spaces can be used in personalizing a
license plate. She says requests are
screened to see that they don’t dupli
cate an existing plate and that they
meet basic good taste requirements.
Neill says once the plates are ap
proved, they are issued in about four
weeks. And the plates are registered
to the individual rather than the ve
hicle, she says.
“We’ve had some plates issued to
the same motorist for 20 years,”
Neill says. “They may change vehi
cles, but the plate goes with them.”
But Neill says many names and
phrases previously taken now may
be available because of the drop in
demand after the fee increase.
“With about 100,000 plates
canceled. I’d encourage interested
motorists to inquire whether their
choices are now available,” she says.
“A few of the hard-to-obtain names
and words are now free.”
So BIG-TEX, you might be KRU-
ZIN in your XKALBR, drinking
your CUTTY-S, but if GOD-C-U he
won’t be saying CHEERS!
Two oilmen favor
a 10 percent cut
in oil production
AUSTIN (AP) — Two Dallas
oil producers said Wednesday
that Texas, along with Louisiana
and Oklahoma, could help stabi
lize petroleum prices by lowering
oil production by at least 10 per
cent.
But major producers, joined by
many of the state’s independents,
told the Texas Railroad Commis
sion that such a move would cost
oil producers and the state mil
lions of dollars.
Everett Hutchinson, spokes
man for Exxon Corp, said, “A 10
percent reduction in the state will
not in any way strengthen our do
mestic energy industry and will
have a significant negative impact
on Texas.”
R.J. Swaggert, speaking for
Mobil Production of Texas and
New Mexico, said, “If this 10 per
cent reduction went into effect,
Mobil would have to shut down
300 wells in Texas.”
The few supporters of a reduc
tion claimed it would stabilize
Texas industry and bring back
better oil prices.
The Wednesday hearing was
held on a request by Dallas inde
pendent oil producers William
Burrow and H.S. Bennett that oil
production be cut by three to five
days a month.
“We’re amending our original
petition of 10 percent to include a
five-day reduction because that
has been recommended by T.
Boone Pickens (prominent Am
arillo oil operator),” Burrow told
the commission.
“T. Boone said a 25-day pro
duction schedule would firm oil
prices, and I think he’s right,”
Burrow said.
Susan Cory, the N commission’s _
chief legal counsel, said the three-
member panel would decide
Monday whether to schedule a
decision on the proposal for Nov.
17. The commission also could
ask her to make a report and a
recommendation on the idea, she
said.
Supporting Burrow’s request
was W.R. Edwards, a Houston en
ergy consultant, who said the
commission’s current method of
using estimates of market de
mand from refiners produced
surpluses.
"Low prices are obtained by
surplus supplies,” Edwards said.
“Nominations now exceed the
market demand. The Railroad
Commission should have reduced
allowables by 30 percent during
the last 10 months to meet market
demand.
“The curtailment of produc
tion and reduction of the surplus
will result in a rapid recovery of
prices to oil producers.”
Burrow said the governors of
Louisiana and Oklahoma already
had indicated they would reduce
production in their states. He also
proposed that any major com
pany that increases it’s imports
next year be penalized by reduc
ing its domestic production the
same amount.
Bennett said he was not back
ing the import penalty.
Hutchinson said the reduction
would result in other countries
merely producing additional oil
to replace Texas’ lost production.
In addition, the state would lose
about $27 million in oil and gas
taxes, he said.
Mid-Continent Oil & Cas Asso
ciation said a 10 percent reduc
tion would be equal to a daily sev
erance tax loss to the state on
crude oil of $59 million annually.
di!
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THE ORIGINAL
• CHICKEN RANCH
LA GRANGE, TEXAS
Now you can own a surveyed parcel of
the ''Original Chicken Ranch" in La
Grange, Texas! This can actually be
recorded in the Fayette County Court
house as your permanent record to be
passed on from generation to
generation.
FOR ONLY
Plus $2 shipping & handling.
This handsome real estate deed will be
sent to you documenting your owner
ship of a parcel of land on the
ORIGINAL CHICKEN RANCH — site of
the "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas".
A great gift idea!
There is a limited supply of land, so
order now to ensure your piece of Texas
history.
Actual size of deed is 11 "xl 7" suitable
for framing.
THE ORIGINAL
CHICKEN RANCH, INC.
C P. O. Box 396, La Grange, TX 78945
OB CALL 1 ■800-622-0190
^fieec/
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