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TATE & LOCAL
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: riday, March 23,1990
^hnendment increases budget by $511M
Ouse debates education finance bill
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AUSTIN (AP) — Public schools would get an
sdmated $511 million more in 1990-91 under
n education finance reform bill amended
hursday by the Texas House,
will ii ■ * ate a f ternoon > lawmakers had considered
l "'0"'Bibo U t 30 amendments, but Rep. Ernestine Glos-
■brenner, L)-Alice, had fought off most major
5 Bhanges to her measure.
ians,nurse* Legislators planned to offer dozens more
Ttmendments to the bill. Speaker Gib Lewis, D-
l ort Worth, said he expected the House to work
Into the night to pass school finance reform legis-
ation.
Legislative leaders said the House bill would
Ind up in a conference committee to work out
lifferences with a $1.2 billion Senate measure
Defore the special session expires at midnight
Wednesday.
The cost of Glossbrenner’s bill was increased
rom $450 million through amendments adding
45 million to make up for underestimated stu-
lent enrollment this school year, and $16 million
'e the (junior drug and alcohol intervention,
g costs:. A’ 1 amendment requiring the state to pay for
®ts education mandates, with some exceptions,
Iso was approved.
But lawmakers rejected a proposal to whittle
he bill’s cost to $260 million, and another to di
sease it to $950 million next school year.
The proposed $260 million amendment,
//aniinir which included recommendations by Gov. Bill
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Glements’ education task force and was in his
price range, was tabled 85-61, with the bulk of its
support coming from Republicans.
“Everyone of us cares about education in this
state,” said Rep. Alan Schoolcraft, R-Universal
City, who offered the amendment. “What we’re
talking about is not just money. We’re talking
about, ‘What is it we want for the future?’ ”
The amendment would allow the Legislature
to avoid raising state taxes, Schoolcraft said.
But Glossbrenner urged lawmakers to support
her bill, which would phase in changes over five
years, to make the school financing equitable.
“We need to face up to the fact that education
is going ter be expensive,” she said.
Glossbrenner also spoke against an amend
ment by Rep. Gregory Luna, D-San Antonio,
that would have added $500 million to the bill’s
cost, saying she did not know how the state would
raise that much money.
Luna said that should not be the criteria:
“Vote for what is needed. Then we’ll consider
where the money is going to come from.” His
amendment was tabled 110-37.
Lawmakers are working to address a Texas
Supreme Court ruling that the school finance
system is unconstitutional because of disparities
between property-rich and -poor school districts.
The $13.5 billion-a-year public school system re
lies on a combination of state aid, local property
taxes and federal funds.
Clements has promised to veto any bill above
the no-new-taxes level, which he has estimated at
$200 million to $300 million for 1990-91.
Most of the additional funding in Glossbren
ner’s bill would be poured into the guaranteed
yield program, in which schools are assured a
certain amount of money, through state and local
funds combined, if they impose property taxes at
a certain level.
The basic allotment per student, currently
$1,477, would be $1,500 next school year under
the bill, the same as provided under current law.
The measure also includes provisions de
signed to improve education. Among them:
• The school year would by lengthened from
175 to 180 days.
• Power to make education policy would be
transferred from the State Board of Education to
the education commissioner. The commissioner,
currently appointed by the education board,
would be named by the governor, with Senate
consent, from candidates recommended by legis
lative leaders.
• School boards would be required to make
public an annual report for each campus.
• Schools that demonstrate they are doing a
good job of educating students would be f reed of
a number of state regulations.
• Funds would be created for technology and
tuition assistance.
‘Texas Chain Store Massacre’
Japanese company buys 7-Eleven chain
DALLAS (AP) — The founder of
7-Kleven, a pioneer of convenience
shopping and one of the best-known
store chains, said Thursday it’s sell
ing control to a Japanese company
because of crushing debts from a
junk bond-financed buyout.
The announcement by Southland
Corp., which owns 7,000 7-Elevens
in the United States, is one of the
most dramatic examples yet of the
problems facing U.S. companies that
participated in the junk-bond craze
sfthe 1980s.
Southland said it agreed to sell 75
percent of its common stock for
$400 million to Ito-Yokado Co. Ltd.,
Japan’s second-largest supermarket
operator, and longtime Southland
affiliate 7-Eleven Japan, which Ito-
Yokado controls.
Besides the company-owned 7-
Elevens, the deal includes South
land’s six food processing centers
and five distribution centers.
Southland, which sought the Jap
anese buyer, said the deal hinges on
the company’s ability to get 32 bank
creditors to restructure terms of its
outstanding preferred stock and
$1.8 billion in debt. Much of the
debt is in high-interest junk bonds
used to finance the $4.9 billion lever
aged buyout by its founding
Thompson family in 1987.
Almost immediately after the
buyout, dubbed by Wall Street as the
“Texas Chain Store Massacre,” the
company had problems meeting
huge debt payments. It attempted to
raise cash partly by selling such as
sets as a half-interest in Citgo Petro
leum Corp., a major refiner.
7-Eleven is the world's largest con
venience store chain, offering items
ranging from milk and frozen foods
to newspapers, hot coffee, video
rentals and “Slurpee” slushed ice
drinks.
“We believe this transaction is nec
essary to preserve the business we’ve
built...” said John P. Thompson,
Southland’s chairman.
Thompson’s family will retain a
15 percent stake in the company and
positions on the board of directors.
Geography students
return from vacation
with water samples
By SELINA GONZALEZ
Of The Battalion Staff
While some Texas A&M stu
dents returned from spring break
with a tan or a hangover, students
in some physical geography labs
brought water samples from their
vacation spots.
Greg Schlenker, graduate tea
ching assistant in the geography
department, said the students
tested the quality of different wa
ter samples including samples
from the A&M campus and
Bryan and College Station.
Although it appears the quality
of campus water is poorer than
that of Bryan-College Station,
Schlenker said the area water
quality in general rates average
compared to areas tested by the
students.
The water properties eval
uated were copper, iron, pH
level, sulfates, sodium chloride,
total dissolved solids, nitrates and
total chlorine.
“There may be other chemicals
or elements in the water system
that we aren’t detecting because
we aren’t looking for them,” he
said.
Some of the water samples
were from such areas as Central
America, California, Utah, Flor
ida and all across Texas,
Schlenker said.
The test results showed the so
dium chloride content in campus
water to be slightly higher than in
water of Bryan and College Sta
tion, Schlenker said. Total dis
solved solids and copper were
comparable to Bryan-College Sta
tion water, while total chlorine
was slightly lower on campus than
in the community.
The chlorine level of the
Bryan-College Station water level
rates in the middle of the range
of areas tested.
“Austin uses a lot more chlo
rine because they have a lot of
sulfates and higher incidences of
bacteria in their water supply,” he
said. “Chlorine has a strong im
pact on the water’s taste.”
Although chlorine is used to
get rid of bacteria of living orga
nisms in the water supply,
Schlenker said, it has a negative
effect on humans over the long
term and in high doses.
Schlenker said improving the
water quality can be expensive.
“Studies of the sink-top carbon
filtration water treatment system
indicated higher quantities of so
dium chloride and the chloride
salts than untreated water, but we
had almost complete removal of
chlorine,” Schlenker said.
The water tasted better be
cause it was conditioned or soft
ened.
“The best quality water indi
cated by our ranking was the
vending machine water from in
front of the supermarket,” he
said.
The reverse osmosis method,
which is expensive and popular,
is used to purify this water.
“In this process, the water is fil
tered through some kind of
membrane which takes it down to
approximately the size of a water
molecule removing all the impu-
rifications,” Schlenker said.
There is a remarkable im
provement when comparing un
treated College Station water to
reverse osmosis College Station
water, he said.
Got Those After Spring Break Blues?
Traditions Council has a solution!
ite
stu^
n Jt'
/r
*1/
HOWDY JAM
Sat. March 24th Texas Hall of Fame $2 00 with a student I.D,
Remember to keep saying “Howdy”
you could win $100!
Drawing to be held at Midnight at the Hall of Fame
T-shirts
$8 00
on sale
in the MSC
HOWD)/
HOWDY! It’s not just a word, it’s a tradition.
Sponsored by Traditions Council and Student Government
Look out
below
It’s time you gave yourself a GSE
If you’re sexually active, you should know about the
GSE. GSE stands for genital self-examination. Ifs
a simple examination you can give yourself to check
for any signs or symptoms of a sexually transmitted
disease. Send for your free GSE Guide today. Be
cause when it comes to sexual relationships, there
are some important things to look out for.
To receive your free GSE Guide, simply fill out and
return the coupon or call, toll-free, 1-800-234-1124.
Sponsored by Burroughs Wellcome Co. in conjunction with the American
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Copr. © 1989 Burroughs Wellcome Co. All rights reserved.
For your free GSE Guide, fill out this coupon
and mail to: GSE, FO. Box 4088,
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Name (please print)
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□ English version □ Spanish'version
| Are you over 18 years of age? □ Yes □ No
You left to make
your mark.
Now come home for
the same reason.
At Nippon Motorola Ltd., we know the pride you feel in
your American academic achievements, and your desire
to apply your skills in a supportive environment when
you return home.
We are a wholly-owned subsidiary of Motorola Inc.,
one of the world's leading manufacturers of communica
tion systems, semiconductor devices, automotive and
industrial electrical components, and information
systems equipment.
As one of Japan's most highly respected American
high-tech companies, our dynamic expansion means we
can offer Japanese students who have studied in the U.S.
a number of summer internships in the U.S. and Japan.
Full-time career opportunities in both technical and non
technical positions are available at our Tokyo, Osaka, Sen
dai and Aizuwakamatsu facilities, and require superior
Japanese communication skills, both written and spoken.
If you missed our on-campus visit and are interested
in summer internships or full-time career opportunities
with Nippon Motorola Ltd., please complete the coupon
below or call collect (602) 994-6394.
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YES! I'm interested in pursuing a future in Japan with Motorola's wholly owned subsidiary -
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ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
ACCOUNTING & FINANCE
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
MIS/COMPUTER SCIENCE
SUPPORT/PERSONNEL
ADDRESS
CITY
PHONE NUMBER(
SCHOOI :
EXPECTED DATE OF GRADUATION
DEGREE
CITIZEN OF
Where did you attend high school? C japan
Equal Opportunity Employer
MAJOR
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MOTOROLA INC.
Please fill out coupon
and mail to:
Nippon Motorola Ltd.
College Relations
725 S. Madison Drive
Tempe, AZ 85281.