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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1987)
Every Friday & Saturday Night El Chico MEXICAN RESTAURANT & BAR Special Hours 5 PM- 10 PM ENCHILADA DINNERS (TWO) 2 for $ 5 95 Reg. $ 9.90 Cheese, Beef, or Chicken Major Credit Cards - Cash - Approved Checks 3109 S. Texas Ave. Bryan 823-7470 Page 6/The Battalion/Friday, February 13,1987 Economic Outlook Conference Officials say 1987 will be record year for A&M By Olivier Uyttebrouck Senior Staff Writer RIBEYE SPECIAL with bake potato salad & tea $5 50 + tax just show your A&M Student I.D. Happy Hour 4-7 gr«l>) 2005 Texas Ave. S. 1 Across From The Water Tower Texas A&M officials project that 1987 will be a record year in two ways: The University may secure $172 million in research funds, and the U niversity may award as much as $100 million in construction con tracts. Wesley Peel, A&M Vice Chan cellor for Facilities and Construc tion, told an audience at the Brazos Valley Economic Outlook Conven tion that the University currently has 15 major construction projects un derway with a combined value of $70 million. During the next 10 to 14 months, A&M may contract 13 new projects, he said. Peel said the contracts for the $22 million biochemistry and biophysics building and the $12 million parking garage may both be awarded at the Board of Regents meeting in May. terms, emphasizing A&M’s value to the community. A&M also is considering a $10 million expansion of the University Center, which will probably be con structed between the Memorial Stu dent Center and Rudder Tower. Peel said that the $36 million spe cial events center A&M hopes to build just west of Kyle Field is still on hold because of a lack of funds. With many of the area’s business leaders assembled for the Chamber of Commerce-sponsored confer ence, Texas A&M administrators seized the opportunity to describe the University in dollars-and-cents Duwayne M. Anderson, A&M as sociate provost for research, said A&M may receive as much as $172 million in research funds in 1987 — a substantial increase over the $146 million A&M received in 1986. Of the projected 1987 total, $90 million would be federal research funds, Anderson said. Nationally, A&M ranks 11th among all universities in the amount of money it receives for research, Anderson said. The money A&M re ceives from all sources has grown dramatically since 1981, when it was ranked 18th in the nation, he said. A&M owes its funding growth in 1983 and 1984 to the $30 rnillion-a- year Deep Ocean Drilling Prop the National Science Found- awarded the University, Andes said. Now A&M is close tosecun: companion project, the $15 mil a-year World Circulation Prop, also sponsored by the NSF. Anderson said Texas hasap chance of attracting the$5.6bL Su perconducting Supercollider cause of the cooperative work.!i and three other Texas univei! have done at the Texas l ('.enter, located at the Woodk. outside of Houston. Anderson said the four-univts consortium gained a nationalr tation by building a supercondur magnet that could becometheij of Superconducting Supercollid? Houston economist: State will see job increase over next two years By Robert Morris Staff Writer After an unprecedented drop in ' ll a employment in 1986, Texans will see an increase of more than 140,000 jobs in the state over the next two years, a Houston economist said Thursday. In a speech at the Brazos Valley Economic Outlook Conference, Dr. James Cochrane, chief economist for Texas Commerce Bancshares Inc., said that last year, Texas lost about 6,500jobs. Yet that small loss was tough for Texas because the state is accus tomed to growing by 200,000 jobs per year, Cochrane said. Growth is expected to return in the future for several reasons. “At this time, we have several ex ternal forces shaping the way the Texas economy is performing,” Cochrane said. “The first is the be cause each quarter our state econ omy and the U.S. economy are be coming more and more in sync.” TrTr~T?Tr?^ lief that under the current lead ership of the Federal Reserve Board, the United States will probably not have an erosion in the economic growth that it has enjoyed since the Christmas buying season of 1983. “We have had an unprecedented period of expansion in the U.S. economy, and the overall U.S. eco nomic climate looks pretty good this year. That’s important to Texas, be- The second area of importance is the world oil export market. “There are some fundamental barriers set in place to keep the price from breaking through $20 (per barrel) or from dropping below a $15 to $18 level in any serious way,” Cochrane said. “So I think there will be some enhanced activity in the in dustry.” However, the bad news about $18 per barrel of oil is the reduction it causes in domestic exploration, he said. “Most companies can’t engage in any new oil and gas activity unless oil is at least in the $20 to $22 per barrel range,” Cochrane said.“Last year we lost 300,000 barrels of pro- See Economist, page 10 Develope A&M attrac businesses By Clark Miller Reporter Texas A&M is an imponr attraction for bringing nr>! businesses to the Bryan-Co! lege Station area, three led I economic developers sai: Thursday during the Brmf Valley Economic Outlooil Conference at the College^ J tion Hilton. “We have a great advantajj over many other industrJ parks because of the prestif of A&M," said Dr. Mark 11 Money, A&M vice chance! | f or research park and ra f {xn ate relations. See Parks, page 10 James Bond Duals the Man with the Midas Touch. Goldfinger Rudder Theater Feb. 13, 14 7:30/9:45 $2oo Hungry? Forget Pizza trv Eating Raoul M ///—/ 4 . Rudder Theater Feb. 13,14 $1 5() Midnight Task force head: Texas must ‘think nationally By Sandra Saldivar Reporter Texas has built walls around itself and needs to think more nationally to bring new businesses into the state, a co-chairman of Gov. Bill Clements’ job creation task force said Thursday at a Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce con- regulation as an example of one of the barriers Texas has put around it self. Not only are routes and prices regulated, but the commodities on the trucks also are regulated, and that may be one reason Texas is los ing business to other states, he said. Texas has more small businesses than any other state in the nation. However, Texas government has not been known to give support to small businesses, Adams said. vention. Speaking at the Brazos Valley Economic Conference luncheon, Jim Adams used intrastate trucking Adams said that one discount chain overlooked Texas because the trucking industry is so regulated. “Walmart, for example, settled a large distribution in Louisiana in stead of Texas,” he said. “The governor will be signing a proclamation to encourage entrepreneurship and small business development, because he believes the governor and legislature should reflect to the world how important small business is,” Adams added. To show that state government is more attentive to small businel Small Business DevelopmentC project has been started thaj work in partnership with thei Business Administration toacu| source of information. Adams said a two-year-olddtf opment center in Beaumont; been successful in helping ove: new small businesses by pro® such information ashowtoent business plans, get partners, ft ■ nance and learn about bidsfor j eral and state projects. Experts forecast economy as ‘partly cloudy By Melanie Perkins Staff Writer According to area experts who gathered at the College Station Hil ton for the 1987 Brazos Valley Eco nomic Conference Thursday, the economic sector forecast for the Bra zos Valley is partly cloudy with a slight chance of rain. Though most analysts are project ing an even tougher year for retail ing in 1987, starting off with slug gish sales and consumer spending growing only 2 to 3 percent, Dr. Larry G. Gresham, associate director of the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M, sees things in a brighter light, at least for Texas. He said 1987 retail sales in the Brazos Valley will be at least as good and probably somewhat better than 1986 sales. Mark Arnold, general manager of the College Station Hilton and Con ference Center, has high hopes for tourism in Bryan-College Station in 1987, even though estimated occu pancy for 1986 was 42.8 percent, only .8 percent above 1985 occu pancy levels. He said Bryan-College Station is a good place to hold meetings in Texas because 79 percent ol the state’s population lives within 200 “ soft! help the hotel industry ini Arnold said. miles of the area. Steven A. Holditch, proftfS petroleum engineering at H doesn’t see such a bright ft® 5 ! the oil and gas industry, buts# | ter the trauma of 1986,thereto even a little confidence in oilp 1 1 This fact, combined with a vigor ous new advertising campaign aimed directly at meeting planners, should very important. He said there is a direct tion between the amount of® Get The Most From Your Contact Lenses, Soft contact lenses. If in the past you couldn’t wear them, Ask again! Today’s advanced technology makes contact lenses avialable for just about everyone’s specialized needs: • Astigmatism • Near-Sightedness • Far-Sightedness See your Eye Doctor, and ask again for soft contact lenses from Bausch & Lomb. You’ll not only look better, you’ll see better, too! 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