Tuesday, February 9, 1988AFhe Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
Regents take construction bids
n new terminal at Easterwood
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By Jamie Russell
Staff Writer
iThe Texas A&M Board of Re-
sons nec«nts is accepting bids for the con
duction of a new terminal building,
lies upo[ld cess roa d an d parking lot at Eas-
t other' teiw0 °d Airport until Feb. 25.
)r m KThe north passenger-terminal
1 1 •tvB'lding phase of the Easterwood
at witli (■ r p 0rt Improvement Plan is one of
latric ho ;' the final airport construction pro-
are destr fe ts, Moffatt Adams, chief architect
ed masssr for A&M facilities planning, said,
error novi|f The Board of Regents will award
|the construction contract for the
hew terminal at the March 6 and 7
meetings, Adams said.
1 “Actual construction for the new
ad publis Irminal will begin in May and hope-
■ntly of®filly be completed in August of
date efferi |N9.” Adams said,
et Union■ ^ en ' Peel, A&M’s vice chan-
ie T ^ or facilities planning and con
ic Com
must cons
for whaiol
nental I
»r histomi
ruction, said the improvement and
tpansion of A&M’s Easterwood
irport is an important step in the
rwth of Bryan-Gollege Station and
e surrounding area.
, , The construction of the terminal
mn/stfor fo,-the airport is the fourth of five
pojects to be done in the im-
Irovement program.
Peel said the first projects in-
iuded the extension of Runway
i/34, which cost $6.4 million; the
jrth-terminal extension of utility
es, which cost $1.8 million; and
e north-terminal aircraft parking
ron, which cost $ 1 million.
The current terminal project will
cost $4.5 million and will include the
32,000-square-foot north passenger
terminal building, an access road
and an automobile parking lot, Peel
said.
“The accomodations are the best
they (commercial airlines) have any
where,” Peel said.
A&M compiled a list of the top 13
terminal buildings in the Southwest,
Peel said. A&M architects visited the
top six and talked to the airport
managers about what they liked and
disliked about their buildings, he
said.
“It is a pretty doggone compre
hensive list, a thorough study of
what we wanted,” Peel said. “You
won’t find a better terminal any
where for this size airport.”
The old 6,000-square-foot termi
nal building will be remodeled and
transformed into a general aviation
facility for private aviation, he said.
The airport improvement pro
ject’s total cost is $14 million.
“It is the most important project
we, the University, have done in a
long time, not only for A&M, but for
the entire area,” Peel said.
According to the Census Bureau,
the Brazos community’s population
has doubled from 20 years ago. And
A&M’s student enrollment went
from 12,800 students in 1967 to
39,000 students in 1987, according
to A&M archives.
Bryan-College Station Chamber
of Commerce President W.R. Vance
said airport needs have increased
along with this population increase.
“We’re very interested in promot
ing, along with the University, the
very best air transportation service
that we can obtain for the commu
nity and the University,” Vance said.
The chamber’s position in regards
to the airport is twofold, he said.
“First, we want to be of help to the
University in any way we can,” he
said, “to assist them in their im
provement of and operation of Eas
terwood Airport.
“Second, the chamber is very in
terested in the type of commercial
air service available into and out of
Easterwood Airport, particularly to
Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth, be
cause from an economic devel
opment standpoint, quality air trans
portation is very important. This
aspect is something (neither) the
chamber nor the University have
control over.”
Peel said quality air transportation
is directly related to the economics
of the community. An air transpor
tation service will not put in a large
service without being assured of a
large number of passengers, he said.
“It’s a chicken-and-egg proposi
tion,” Peel said. “We can wait until
passenger numbers dictate the im
provement, or we can go ahead and
create our capability. The Board of
Regents chose the latter way to go.”
The airport improvement plan
began in April 1985 with the length
ening of the runway and will be com
pleted with the remodeling of the
old terminal in May 1990, Peel said.
When the final project is com
pleted, the airport will be able to ac
commodate any aircraft in the com
mercial inventory, Peel said.
Funding for the project is pro
vided by the Federal Aviation Ad
ministration, Bryan, College Station
and Brazos County, Vance said.
“Bryan, College Station and Bra
zos County have each committed an
annual amount of $100,000 for Eas
terwood,” Vance said.
The FAA first looks at the con
tract bids on each project and de
cides funds accordingly. Peel said.
“We don’t know how much the
FAA will fund us,” he said.
Treasurer reports
improved outlook
for state economy
AUSTIN (AP) — State Trea
surer Ann Richards, the frequent
bearer of bad financial tidings for
state government, reported good
news Monday.
“We are issuing a report to the
Legislature today giving them the
good news that our cash flow re-
E ort is looking better than it’s
>oked in a very long time,” Rich
ards said.
“We think things look good for
the foreseeable future,” she said.
The upbeat outlook is a result
of last year’s tax increase, state
borrowing and higher-than-pro-
jected tax collections in recent
months.
The state government financial
picture plummeted with the price
of oil in recent years.
The cash flow situation hit bot
tom late last year at a deficit of
approximately $1.9 billion, Rich
ards said.
Her report to lawmakers Mon
day included a chart showing
projected increases in the state
general revenue fund daily bal
ance, reaching a zero deficit by
the middle of 1989.
“The state should have a siz
able cash balance when the bien
nium ends on Aug. 31, 1989,” she
said in the report.
When the balance is below
zero, the state must either sell
cash management notes or do
“interfund borrowing” to meet its
obligations.
A total of $1.25 billion in cash
management notes have been is
sued. Richards said an issuance of
approximately $700 million in
cash management notes is antic
ipated for this year.
“As long as tax collections and
expenditures occur at different
times and you have an imbalance
between cash coming in and the
cash going out, you are always
going to experience some period
of deficit,” she said at a Capitol
news conference.
It’s cheaper to sell Cash man
agement notes than to juggle
money among different state
funds, the treasurer said.
Texas will have “no difficulty
in redeeming and paying off the
cash flow notes that we issued last
year,” Richards added.
She said the “two real factors”
responsible for the improving
economic picture are the $5.7 bil
lion tax increase approved last
year and the “small, but signifi
cant, gains in the Texas econ
omy.”
“We are seeing a slow return of
the Texas economy,” she said.
ast-minute state holidays will not affect A&M calendar
By Karen Kroesche
Senior Staff Writer
After some debate, the Faculty
lenate passed a resolution Monday
lat protects Texas A&M’s academic
^lendar from last-minute state holi-
ays granted by the governor.
Dr. Peter Hugill, chairman of the
enate’s Academic Affairs Commit-
fce, said an unplanned holiday last
year on Good Friday, a holy day ob
served by Christian denominations,
caused substantial problems for fac
ulty.
The resolution proposes that “the
academic calendar approved each
semester by the Faculty Senate of
Texas A&M University be fixed ex
cept in cases of severe emergency as
determined by the president.”
The Senate also listened to a guest
presentation by Lloyd Colegrove,
president of the Graduate Student
Council. Colegrove challenged the
faculty members to work to change
the perception that problems do not
exist on the A&M campus.
“We have allowed ourselves to ig
nore certain problems within this
community that exist on other cam
puses and are dealt with more open
ly,” he said.
Colegrove cited several examples
of naivete on this campus and said
the Graduate Student Council be
came aware of this lack of awareness
when it looked into the Student
Counseling Service.
“These views came from students
and from faculty,” Colegrove said,
“that students at Texas A&M do not
suffer from problems like drug and
alcohol abuse, that students at Texas
A&M do not suffer major emotional
crises or contemplate suicide,
women here do not fall victim to sex
ual harrassment or assault. Aggies
do not lie, cheat or steal.”
In other action, the Faculty Sen
ate:
• formally moved the date of the
next Senate meeting to March 7.
• approved a resolution from the
Academic Affairs Committee that
requires all colleges or departments
to make it clear in their catalog de
scriptions that courses taken to sat
isfy the foreign language require
ment of the core curriculum may not
be used by students to satisfy the cul
tural heritage requirement.
• approved new courses, course
changes and course withdrawals
within the graduate curriculum.
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Class of ‘88
Voting for
Senior
Class Gift
Class Gift Proposals
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Please cast one vote for your choice
of senior class gift.
□ Audobon Collection - “Birds of America” The collection will consist of 435
Audobon prints divided into four leather-bound volumes. These prints will be
limited to 350 sets for worldwide distribution, therefore, making these prints a
valuable rarity. The volumes will be displayed in a very visible location in
Sterling C. Evans Library enclosed in glass. If this gift is purchased by our
class, it will be the largest and most notable gift given to the library by a
class. The class will be recognized as “Major Donor” of the library.
□ Aerobics Track Warm-Up Area The warm-up area will be located on the
corner of Houston Street and Rudder parking lot across from G. Rollie White.
This landscaped corner will enable students to exercise and stretch before
jogging. A bulletin board will post sports and aerobic information including dif
ferent routes and mileage. This area will enhance and beautify the track for
students and visitors.
□ Lettering for Kyle Field Four feet maroon letters spelling “Welcome to Ag-
gieland” and “Home of the 12th Man” will be placed on the 2nd and 3rd deck
of the students side of Kyle Field. This will be an expression of the student
body’s spirit behind their team as defined by the 12th man tradition. It would
also show A&M’s friendliness and hospitality to any visiting teams. Being in
Kyle Field, this will be an everlasting gift.
□ Visitors Information Center Located at the main entrance of campus this
drive through area will enable visitors to park their car and view a graphic
map of the entire campus. This map will be provided along with brochures
and other helpful information that will assist visitors in inquiring about partic
ular points of interest. Because of the growth of our campus this information
center is much needed.
Please bring this ballot and your I.D. to the table located in the MSC flag room.
Monday-Friday, Feb. 8-12, 10:00a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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