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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1987)
RE, ■PW The Battalion /ol.82 rio.98 GSPS 045360 14 pages College Station, Texas Friday, February 13, 1987 Dorm policy in ’87 requires 2-term signup by Bill Hughes petty Unterberger, discussion moderator, and Elliot Richardson listen to Roger Brooks at a Thursday SCONA program. hairman: Gap exists between romises, performance of U.N. By Christi Daugherty Staff Writer il 31 ®® There is a serious shortfall be- I (keen the actual performance of the Bnited Nations and what should JBasonahly l>e expected of it, a U.N, II P reif Hiairman said Thursday. ationsjM Elliot Richardson, chairman of the United Nations Association of •'‘"'Tthe United States, discussed the role " 1 ol the United States in the U.N. be- fSpre an audience of about 150 at ■;ona. ■ Besides this shortfall, Richardson Htid another major area the U.N. Lhtis to tackle within the organization ■ itself is what exactly ought to be (»tne to reduce the shortfall between tl : promise of the U.N. and its ac- performance. I “Here you get the largest area of (Isagreenient about what can and might to be done,” Richardson said. i comp he k # ■saW ik it is* equipH ions. Roger Brooks, director of policy, planning and staff in the U.S. De partment of State, agrees the public image of the U.N. has weakened considerably over the years. See related story, page 3 “It would be an understatement to say Americans have become increas ingly skeptical of the importance of the U.N.,” Brooks said. He blamed many of the U.N.’s problems on abuse of the organiza tion by some of its member states, in cluding the Soviet Union, which he claimed uses the U.N. for espionage purposes. “Many Americans see the United Nations as a bastion dominated by enemies of the United States — a place where America’s views are ig nored or unfairly silenced, her friends and allies are unfairly at tacked and her democratic values are corrupted or destroyed,” he said. Richardson said Congress has tried to combat both the image prob lems and the legitimate problems the United States has in the U.N. To send a message of its dissatis faction with the U.N.’s performance, he said, Congress has withheld funds from the U.N. in the past, and the State Department has attempted to convey a similar message. But Richardson said he feels withholding funds is not the right way to commu nicate with the U.N. “Withholding our share is in di rect violation of the U.N. charter,” he said. “When the Soviet Union in the early 1960s withheld its share to protest the U.N. peacekeeping mis sion in the Congo, the United States led a vehement attack on the Soviets and hauled them into World Court.” Brooks said the U.N. has under gone many changes in the last 40 years, and the United States’ role has weakened considerably during that time. The number of nations m the U.N. has grown from the original 51 to 159. “The average number of coun tries voting with us on issues is 24 percent,” he said, “ranging from Is rael at 90 percent to Libya at 5 per cent.” But even though the United States may have to vote alone,it won’t change its policies to accommodate other member nations, he said. “We have no delusions about the future of the U-S. in the U.N.,” he said. “It is a basically unfriendly, in hospitable environment where we are frequently on the defensive.” By Curtis L. Culberson Staff Writer Dorm residents will have to sign two-semester housing contracts starting next fall and will lose their $200 deposit if they fancy a spring time move to an apartment. Housing Services Supervisor John White says on-campus housing con tracts were changed from one to two semesters to stabilize housing occu pancy for the spring. Many students move off-campus in the spring — a time when it is dif ficult to fill vacan cies, White says. White says there are 62 male and 258 female dormitory vacancies this spring, while last fall about 300 men and 600 women were turned away and put on housing waiting lists be cause dorms were full. “11 the students who moved off-,, campus this spring would have done so before the fall semester, we could have filled spring vacancies with the students on waiting lists,” he says. More than 4,000 incoming fresh man and transfer students have al ready applied for on-campus hous ing for next fall — more than ever before, White says. The record number of housing applications come at the same time as residence hall renovations. Reno vations will start in May on Dorms 10 and 12, closing the dorms through out the f all semester. David McDowell, president of the Residence Hall Association, says ca dets will be moved into Gainer, Spence, and Briggs halls next fall while the two corps dorms are being renovated. He adds that the new policy will probably cause some students to move off-campus before the fall and help cushion the housing shortage for incoming students. The student affairs office worked with McDowell and RHA in the de velopment of the policy and is cur rently working on other ways to han dle the housing situation caused by dorm renovations. Tom Murray, assistant director of Student Affairs, estimates the new contract policy will generate an addi tional $170,000 by filling 1988 spring vacancies. The additional money will be used to prevent future housing rent in creases and to fund dorm renova tion projects, Murray says. White says the new policy also will cut administrative costs associated with spring sign-up. “It costs $1,000 in paperwork for dorm sign-ups for the spring semes ter and a total of 600 administrative hours, including resident advisors, head residents, area of fices and the Housing Office,” White says. Jennifer Hynes, third floor resi dent advisor for Mosher Hall, says she understands the reasoning be hind the policy change but doesn’t agree with it. In the fall, her dorm is See Contracts, page 13 Dorm rates may go up in fall term By Jade Boyd Reporter This fall, students likely will find themselves paying more to live on campus. For the first time since 1984, dormitory rates probably are going up. Dr. Donald B. Powell, director of business services at Texas A&M, said, “It looks like the increase is going to be about 5 percent.” A final decision on dorm and board plan rates will be made in late March by the A&M System Board of Regents. At that time, any proposed rate increases will be presented to the Board, along with estimates of dorm occupancy and operating costs. Aside from modular dorms, rates for University housing haven’t in creased in three years. Powell attrib utes this to good fiscal management and prudent maintenance by Physi cal Plant personnel. Modular dorm rates were in creased last fall to $825 per semester because they previously had been priced too low, Powell said. Rates for each type of dorm — non air-conditioned, corps, air-con ditioned suite, modular and Com- See Rates, page 13 ulf State Utilities eeks another rise in electricity rates has ions By Christi Daugherty Staff Writer Gulf States Utilities, still strug- to keep its head above water, [las gone once more to the Public Btility Commission seeking a lifeline from its Texas customers. ■ Doug McCormack, a spokesman for GSU, said the company asked for $81? million as an emergency rate in crease, but last week was given less [an half of what it wanted. The PUC granted a $39.9 million increase for retail customers, which [McCormack said would hold the Bn party until summer, when they will plead their case for a larger and jitore permanent increase. ■This rate change will not affect College Station utility customers, ffllnce the city buys its electricity Biolesale and sells it back to its resi dents. These wholesale rates are reg- iillrled by the f ederal government. ■ Meanwhile, GSU is appealing a decision by the Louisiana Public Bh vu e Committee to reject their re- fipiest for a rate increase. ■College Station’s utility rates in- Beased 7 percent in September, and th< city is still negotiating a contract ^nich would determine its rates jphimigh 1991. ■ King Cole, College Station city manager, said the city has been ne gotiating with GSU since September, atiempting to finalize a contract which would include small rate in- < teases totaling about 3 percent over the next four years. like this, there are rarely any prob lems getting approval.” North Bardell is executive direc tor of the Lone Star Municipal Power Agency, which is the organi zation of all the municipalities in Texas that buy their electricity wholesale from GSU. LSMPA in cludes College Station, Caldwell, Kirbyville and Newton. Bardell said the contract has taken See Utilities, page 13 Rental properties ‘bright spot’ in real estate By Olivier Uyttebrouck Senior Staff Writer The occupancy rate for rental properties has been on the rise for the past few years — a condition one local real estate expert called a “bright spot” in the otherwise bleak real estate market here. In 1986, 92 percent of the apartments in the Bryan and College Station areas were oc cupied, James Conner Smith, president of Brazosland Appraisals, said Thursday at the Brazos Valley Economic Outlook Conference. As recently as 1982, only 82 percent of local apartments were occupied, he said. Smith attributes the rise to the growth of Texas A&M University in the past year. Although the rising occupancy rate may eventually translate into higher rents, for now rents average about 25 percent lower than in the early 1980s, he said. For example, the av erage two-bedroom apartment today rents for $306, whereas five or six years ago it would have rented for $395, he said. Over the next couple of years, however, Smith predicts the local real estate market will remain much as it has since 1983 — overbuilt and undervalued. The surplus of office space constitutes the bleakest part of the real estate market. The Bryan-College Station area has added about 1 See related stories, page 6 million square f eet of of fice space since 1980, mostly in the early years of the decade, he said. But today, only 66 percent of area of fice space is occupied — down from 94 percent in 1981, he said. What’s more, office rental rates were lower in 1986 than they were in 1985, he said. Shopping centers have fared little better than office buildings, although the larger and better-placed shopping centers have actually pense of smaller and less strategically located centers, he said. For example, shopping centers in the Uni versity Drive and Harvey Road areas, includ ing Post Oak Mall, have an 80 percent occu pancy rate and have shown “healthy growth overall,” Smith said. The occupancy rate for shopping centers in the Briarcrest area, on the other hand, de clined to 67 percent last year, and the rate on the Southwest Parkway declined to 62 per cent, he said. In the new home market, Smith said certain conditions lead him to believe that the market is getting back to normal following the huge surplus of homes Bryan and College Station have had in recent years. Only 205 new homes were constructed in the Bryan-College Station area in 1986 — the lowest number ever since 1974, Smith said. Texans debate raising speed limit to 65 ■The contract has been submitted to the regulatory commission for re- vilw,” Cole said. “I don’t anticipate am trouble. When both sides agree By Amy Couvillon Staff Writer Does 55 really save lives? As Congress prepares to consider raising the speed limit to 65 on cer tain roads, Texas researchers and lawmakers continue to debate the pros and cons of higher speeds. “If you raise the speed limit and people begin traveling at higher rates of speed, you are going to ex perience more fatalities,” says Dr. Quinn Brackett, an A&M research specialist at the Texas Transporta tion Institute. “I don’t think there’s any disagreement among research ers that the 55 mph speed limit has resulted in life-saving.” Tacked on to a highway and mass transit bill passed in the Senate Feb. 4 is an amendment that would raise the speed limit on rural interstates to 65 mph. The highway bill will give states federal funds to pay for mainte nance and construction for their highway systems for this fiscal year, Brackett says. “There is a lot of pressure from the states to get that spending bill out of Congress,” he says. “The states need that money.” Brackett says the Senate, where the bill passed overwhelmingly, is trying to press the speed limit issue by attaching it to the spending bill. But the bill still faces opposition in the conference committee, where the House and Senate versions of the bill must be reconciled. “Something’s going to have to give here, and it’s going to have to give pretty soon,” Brackett says. “Either they’re going to pass the spending bill without amendments ... or someone’s going to have to compro mise on the 65 business.” Both Texas senators voted to al low states to raise the sp>eed limit. Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, who wrote the Senate bill, has said the ac cident argument is overstated. “Only 4 percent of fatalities occur on rural interstates,” Gramm told the Houston Poston Feb. 5. Gramm also argues that many motorists are already going 65 mph, and the only effect of the proposed bill would be that many drivers would no longer be breaking the law. Brent Boultinghouse, Washing ton press secretary to Rep. Joe Bar ton, R-Ennis, agrees. He says the states should have the right to set their own sp>eed limits. “In states like Texas where you do have large stretches of rural intersta te,” Boultinghouse says, “normal law-abiding citizens in every other aspect are being made criminals, simply because the interstates do provide them with the ability to drive 65 mph. And the federal gov ernment is saying, ‘No, this is not something that you should be doing.’ IL Boultinghouse compares the situ ation to the federal government’s raising of the drinking age to 21 last year. “The basic argument is individual choice of the states,” he says. “The federal government does not have a right to come in here and (threaten to cut off highway funds.) What they’re doing right now is blackmail ing the states.” On the other side of the fence, highway researchers opposed to the sp>eed limit hike argue that if you give drivers an inch, they’ll take a mile. In other words, Brackett says, if they’re given 65 mph, they’ll take 75 mph. “People in general tend to drive faster than the sp>eed limit — at least a certain proportion,” Brackett says. “We’ve got almost 30 percent ex ceeding 65 now, when the sp>eed limit is 55,” he says. “It doesn’t take a whole lot to extrapolate that this proportion will be exceeding 75 (if the limit is raised).” Another argument is that drivers will become so accustomed to driv ing faster on the controlled access highways that they may also drive faster on roads not designed for See Limit, page 10