I 11 The Battalion Sfuesday, February 24, 1987 College Station, Texas Vol.82 No.105 GSPS 045360 10 pages Board approves 9.8% increase in car insurance AUSTIN (AP) — The State Board of Insurance Monday approved a 9.8 percent average increase in auto mobile insurance rates, an increase the board chairman said would have been higher if Texans were not buckling up. The increase, ef fective May 1, fol lows two years of Ixtard-ordered rate decreases and brings premiums back to 1984 levels. Because of the increase, Texans’ could pay an additional $270 million a year in premiums. Insurance in dustry officials pushed for a 19.7 percent increase that would have added about $550 million to annual premiums. Auto insurance rates in Texas vary widely. In addition to separate rates for 66 territories set by the in surance board, many insurance com panies are granted permission to charge rates lower than those set by the board. Kick Gentry, spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, es timated that 65 percent of Texas motorists pay rates that are lower than those set by the board. The largest average increase ap proved Monday was $88, or 16.6 percent, for Kaufman and Rockwall Counties. The next highest was $79, or 14.9 percent, for Bexar County. Chairman Lyndon Olson and board members David Thornberry and James Nelson voted for the 9.8 percent increase recommended by the board staff. However, Thorn- berry said the 9.8 percent increase was “on the lower end of what a rea sonable rate would be,” and Nelson said, “It’s on the high end of what should be considered.” Olson said the 19.7 percent in crease sought by the industry was not reasonable. “I totally think the industry’s rec ommendation is out of line,” he said. “They probably knew better than that.” Olson and Gentry agreed the in crease would have been higher if not for the seat belt law. Olson said seat bells have reduced injuries and deaths and so have saved Texans money on their insurance bills. Gentry said the industry was pleased to get the rate increase, but he said, “I don’t think what they ap proved is what we thought should have been. I think it would be fair to say we were disappointed.” He said many Texans still will be able to find auto insurance at rates below those set by the board. “There are some 400 to 500 insur ance companies in Texas competing for the auto insurance dollar,” Gen try said. “Each of these companies will have to make their own market ing decisions based on where they feel they are positioned in the mar ket. “It’s a very competitive market place out there, and I think if people look around they will find that peo ple are aggressively seeking their business.” 'r. Heckle and Mr. Gibe Hecklers at Sunday’s baseball game at Olsen Field showed little re spect for the visiting team of McNeese State. While the Aggies swept Photo by Doug La Rue McNeese in three games over the weekend, A&M only managed a tie Monday against Sam Houston State. See story, page 7. Coast Guardsman charged after bizarre campus chase IS leform bill dead, but not forgotten Legislation questioned effectiveness of Student Senate fed iti# i of In' By Christi Daugherty Stall' Writer I Miles Bradshaw stepped out of his it)le as Senate Speaker Feb. 1 1 to lobby for the reform legislation. Handing his gavel to the speaker- nro-tempore, he pleaded with the senators to pass the bill that would Have cut the 87-member body in Half. ■ But the much-debated Student Senate reform bill, which had the support of the most powerf ul mem- :rs of the Senate, including both e student Ixxly president and the aker, failed by a considerable argin to garner the necessary two- tfiirds majority. It was the latest and most drastic Reagan said to like parts of proposal bn welfare vsAf WASHINGTON (AP) — The na- pOft * ion’s governors came away from a fVhite House meeting with President Reagan on Monday saying he agreed with low-cost elements of their work- Iriented welfare reform proposal >ut not their call for a national stan- lard for welf are benefits. attempt to end the Senate’s prob lems with attendance, apathy and low productivity. The co-authors of the bill, Chris Dowdy and Jay Hays, heatedly de bated the issue for almost two hours with other senators before a vote was taken, and Dowdy admits some friendships were permanently dam aged in the sometimes angry debate before the vote. But Dowdy said his inevitable dis appointment at the bill’s failure is tempered by the fact that a majority of Senate membeTs voted for the bill, and he feels it made the rest think about the possibilities. Dowdy, a senior biochemistry ma jor, said the Senate’s failure to achieve a quorum in the last meeting of the fall semester spurred the writ ing of the hill, which had been dis cussed for years but never seriously attempted. “We decided to try the bill because we felt that even if it lost, if it caused everyone to be less sure of them selves, and to he a little more wor ried about their jobs, it would be a success,” Dowdy said. “It made peo ple think.” Some senators said the bill, which used a mathematical formula to as sign a number of senators to each living area and college, might have had a better chance if changes still weren’t being made on it during the Senate meeting. Others said if the cut in size, which would have made the Senate a 51-member organization, had been less drastic it might have passed. But Dowdy said the point of the bill was to increase the importance of the senators’ jobs, without making the group elitist, and to make the member^ feel more needed. Cutting the size of the Senate also might eliminate students who join for the purpose of resume enhance ment but don’t intend to attend meetings, he said. With an average attendance of 50, more than 30 members miss each Senate meeting. In an ironic twist, exactly 51 sen- See Reform, page 9 By Olivier Uyttebrouck Senior Stull' Writer Gus Peter Grammas’ arrest in the north campus area of Texas A&M Sunday night began with a report to University Police that the Coast Guardsman was astounding the resi dents of Dorm 9 with a pistol and a bizarre story. Grammas was charged Monday in Brazos County Court with felony charges of possessing weapons on school premises, which carries a maximum penalty of two to 10 years in prison, and misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest, said Bob Wiatt, director of University Police. Grammas, who came to A&M early Sunday to stay with a friend, told dorm residents that he was a po lice officer fleeing for his life, Wiatt said. Grammas had three bullet holes in his jacket and shirt to substantiate his story, he said. Grammas claimed that a bullet- proof vest he wore under his shirt had saved his life from mysterious assailants, Wiatt said. Grammas had, in fact, tied his clothes to a tree stump in some re mote place and fired three shots into them with a stolen .45 caliber auto matic pistol, he said. Police said Grammas stole the pis tol, two ammunition clips and the bullet-proof vest from the arms room of the Coast Guard cutter Point Monroe. He is believed to be absent with out leave from the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard administrative office in Houston refused to com ment Monday. Police cornered Grammas follow ing a r(x>m-to-room search of Dorm 9, but the armed man jumped from a second-floor window and fled to the PA 25 parking lot pursued by patrol officer Vici Jarrott, Wiatt said. Grammas then drove off in his friend’s 1969 Buick, Wiatt said. See Guardsman, page 9 will) 27 f S# besu" re# “He basically agreed to support nore of our program than I thought ie would,” said Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, chairman of the National governors’ Association. New Hampshire Gov. John Sun- Unu said, “I think the governors and fhe administration, at least on the ulk of the kinds of things we’re try- ng to accomplish on welfare reform, |li(l reach an agreement.” The governors, holding their an nual winter meeting, are expected to ipprove a formal policy statement today calling for major overhaul of Ihe welf are system. Clinton said Reagan endorsed irtions of their proposal requiring vork for any welfare recipient with a child 3 or older, and establishing a lontract between the government nd each welfare recipient prom sing job assistance in return for an tlfort to get off welfare. 'Dorm eviction notice'draws fire from parents Walton residents given short-term reprieve Walton Hall’s E-ramp residents vacate the premises. By Carolyn Garcia Stall Writer Walton Hall E-ramp residents, who had been ordered to lie out of their dorm rooms by last Satur day, were given a reprieve until Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. by Uni versity officials to help the stu dents juggle relocating and tak ing exams. “We (officials) decided to give them an extension because so many of them had come to us say ing that they couldn’t make the deadline,” Mhry Keck, assistant area coordinator said. “This deci sion was based entirely on the stu dents’ needs.” All 32 E-ramp residents are be ing relocated by the North Area Office of campus housing be cause officials believe this to lie the best way to fight the recurring incidents of vandalism and rough-housing anti to improve the students’ study environment. The students were given a choice between alternative dorm assignments or moving off cam pus. Almost 50 percent of the stu dents have opted to move off- campus, David Smith, a senior fi nance major and former Walton Hall president, said. Although University officials say they cannot pinpoint those re sponsible for the incidents, apart ment manager “B” Riley was given a “clean bill of conduct” on students that she called A&M of ficials to ask about. But the evicted are not the only ones upset by the upheaval — some parents are not pleased, ei ther. Ron Sasse, associate director of student affairs, said that about a dozen parents have called his of fice. Donna Canario, mother of a junior aerospace engineering ma jor from the ramp, said she and her husband are very upset. “My husband got on the phone as soon as he heard about it to try and get this resolved,” Canario said. “I tried to call both (John) Koldus (vice president for stu dent services) and Sasse, but I didn’t get any further than the secretaries. “We went through orientation and everything together and what impressed us was what we were told about the family atmo sphere of living on campus. I ■ don’t know if I would want my son back in a dorm now. We have a son in high schsing to move off- campus are being offered pro rated rent refunds and rm de posit refunds. John Southard, manager of McCaw Cablevision, said the com pany will not charge a cable re connection fee for those students who rel