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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 12, 1991)
I Page 2 Wednesday, June 12,1991 Pari-mutuel gambling Law lowers race taxes AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Ann Richards has signed into law an 80 percent cut in the state's share of horse race wagering, which supporters said will bring major league horse racing to Texas. "There is no reason for Texas to take a backseat to anyone, and racing is no exception," David Free man, executive secretary of the Texas Racing Com mission, said Tuesday. But opponents described the tax break as a breach of trust between state officials and voters who ap proved pari-mutuel gambling at the state's current tax level. "It makes us look like we've been fooled again," said Sue Cox, executive director of the anti-gambling group Texans Who Care. The new law scraps the 5 percent tax on each dol lar gambled and replaces it with a sliding-scale tax that would start at 1 percent for the first $100 million wagered at a track. The law also allows wagering at Texas horse and dog tracks on televised broadcasts of races held in other parts of the country and sets up a new cat egory for county fair horse racing, which will be al lowed to run 5 days per year. The law does not change the 6 percent tax on grey hound racing. Richards has said the lowered tax is needed to get major horse tracks in Texas. Only a few smaller horse tracks are currently oper ating. No Class 1 tracks, allowed in the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio areas, have been licensed. Horsemen, who initially agreed to the 5 percent tax when the question was adopted by voters in 1987, subsequently said that tax was too high to al low profitable operations of a Class 1 track. "I think people felt that when racing passed, they had in mind something more in the nature of Re mington Park (in Oklahoma City)," Freeman said. He said lowering the tax will help that become a reality by making it more attractive for investors to sink money — estimates are in the $45 million to $75 million range — to build and operate top flight tracks. Harris County court rejects state's prison reform plan The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Editor Timm Doolen Managing Editor Todd Stone City Editor Sean Frerking News Editors Jennifer Jeffus Callie Wilcher Art Director Richard James Lifestyles Editor Rob Newberry Opinion Editor Krista Umscheid Sports Editor Jayme Blaschke Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non profit, self-supporting news paper operated as a commu nity service to Texas A&M University and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the edi torial board or the author, and do not necessarily rep resent the opinions of Texas A&M students, administra tors, faculty or the A&M Board of Regents. The Battalion is an entirely student-managed branch of Student Publications, an inde pendent entity that operates closely with the Department of Journalism. The Battalion is published daily, except Saturday, Sun day, holidays, exam periods and when school is not in ses sion during fall and spring se mesters; publication is T ues day through Friday during the summer session. News room: 845-3313. Subscriptions Mail subscriptions are $20 per semester, $40 per school year and $50 per full year: 845-2611. Our address: The Battal ion, 230 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, Col lege Station, TX 77843-1111. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POSTMASTER: Send ad dress changes to The Battal ion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, Col lege Station TX 77843-4 111. Advertising Advertising information can be obtained from the ad vertising department at 845- 2696 Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or visit the of fice at the English Annex. Advertising Manager Patricja Heck Battalion Adviser Robert Wegener Production Manager Paige Force BATTIPS The Battalion encourages its readers (o contribute story ideas and suggestions by call ing BATTIPS, The Battal ion's phone line designed to improve communication be tween the newspaper and its readers. The BATTIPS number is 845-3315. Ideas can include news sto ries, feature ideas and person ality profiles of interesting people. Readers also are en couraged to offer any other | suggestions that could im prove the newspaper. HOUSTON (AP) — The Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday rejected the state's offer to solve crowded conditions at county jails, scuttling the Legis lature's $500 million prison reform plan. Last month, the Legislature ap proved a bill that would end law suits against the state over inmate backlogs. Twelve counties are su ing to force the state to take thou sands of felons currently held in local jails. But a provision in the bill holds that if afl of the counties involved do not agree to a settlement by June 15, the bill automatically dies. The state is offering to accept all its prisoners from overcrowded county jails bv Sept. 1, 1995. But counties that accept the plan would have to agree to drop jail crowding lawsuits* against the state and would only be partially reimbursed for the costs of hous ing the prisoners in the meantime. "Either way we go, Harris County's going to be out of mon ey," Harris County Judge Jon Lindsay said Tuesday following the commissioners' closed door session. The commissioners said they could not agree to the state's re quest to drop the lawsuit, con tending that only the inmates who sued the state nave the right to drop the lawsuit. Harris County attorney Mike Driscoll said the 12 counties that sued the state are in a position to ask for a better deal. "All the counties in Texas now are starting to see that the state of Texas has been asleep at the wheel for the last year," Driscoll said. Court punishes Texas family in benefits scam DEL RIO (AP) —- A federal judge sentenced seven members of an Eagle Pass family to prison or probation for an elaborate scheme to collect unemployment benefits for 1,800 migrant workers in 22 states. The scam was uncovered when a computer discovered checks for 1,800jpeople were going to the of fice of a notary public in the border city of Eagle Pass, prosecutors said. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Emilio Garza of Del Rio sentenced Daniel Ibarra Jr., 62, and six of his family members. All had pleaded guilty April 3 and admitted their roles in the scheme in which unemployment benefits were collected from Texas and 21 other states and forwarded to the workers in Mexico for a fee. Prosecutors were able to prove only about $15,000 in fraudulent claims in this case, which was cracked with the use of an under cover agent. Officials said in many of the cases the migrant workers were not entitled to the unemploy ment benefits. U.S. Attorney Ronald Ederer of San Antonio said the case was the first of its kind. Federal officials said variations of the scheme have existed from Brownsville to El Paso. What’s Up Wednesday ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: General discussion at noon. Call COPE at 845-0280 for more information. TEXAS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COMMISSION (TEAC): General membership meeting — plans for activities during the summer months. Everyone interested in environmen tal concerns welcome at 7 p.m. in Zachry 119A. Call Charlie at 823-3577 for more information. EPISCOPAL STUDENT CENTER: Eucharist and community dinner at 6:15 p.m. at Can terbury House at 902 George Bush Drive. LUTHERAN STUDENT FELLOWSHIP: Evening prayer at 6:30 p.m. at the University Lutheran Chapel. Thursday ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS: General discussion at 6 p.m. Call CDPE at 845-0280 for more information. CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST: Weekly meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. in Rudder 308. Everyone Welcome! Call John Ferguson at 696-1091 for more information. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: General discussion at noon. Call CDPE at 845-0280 for more information. A&M CYCLING: To discuss summer racing and training. New members welcome at 7 p.m. in 231 MSC. Call Stephen Haydel at 696-3945 for more information. Items for What’s Up should be submitted to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, no later than three business days before the desired run date. We publish the name and phone number of the contact only if you ask us to do so. What’s Up is a Battal ion service that lists non-profit events and activities. Submissions are run on a first- come, first-served basis. There is no guarantee an entry will run. If you have ques tions, call the newsroom at 845-3316. & From school selection to admissions, we're the answer to your questions about college and beyond. ■THE EDUCATIONAL GROUP College Station 764-8303 900-number blocking offered by students' long-distance carrier By K. Lee Davis The Battalion Texas A&M students living on campus do not have a call blocking option because Univer sity phone lines cannot directly access the possible long-dis tance phone numbers. Local telephone companies throughout Texas are offering customers the opportunity to block 900 and 976 pay-per-call information and entertainment services where the technology exists. The block option was man dated by the Texas Public Utili ties Commission in an attempt to relieve some of the problems consumers and business have had with the numbers. A representative with the A&M communications office said the block option has to be exercised through a student's long-distance carrier. Tim Raven, president of the Texas Telephone Association, said his organization believes the call-blocking option will alle viate most concerns about abuses connected with 900 serv ice. Meloise Canales, a customer service representative for GTE in Bryan-College Station, con firmed that the option was avail able in the area, but she added that few complaints have been received. Philip Bode, a marketing di rector for AT&T in Houston, said major phone carriers have been working with the PUC to solve some of the problems associated with 900 number abuse. He added, however, that some responsibility must be taken by the consumer for his or her actions. "If you see a 900 number these days, you should know that there will be a charge for the call," he said. Bode added that the calls ranged in price from 95 cents ?r minute to a maximum of 19.95. Under the call-blocking plan, telephone subscribers through out Texas will receive ballots in their telephone bills notifying them of the 900 and 976 call blocking option. If a customer decides to block access to these numbers, the op tion initially will be carried out free of charge. If a customer later decides to remove the* block and then reinstate it, there will be charge of $10.25. In areas where individual call blocking is not technically possi ble, access to 900 pay-per-call services will be blocked to all customers until the local tele phone company's equipment is able to provide the selective blocking. < Storage tank leaks suspected carcinogen FORT WORTH (AP) — A storage tank has leaked as much as! 20,000 gallons of a suspected carcinogen at a U.S. Air Force-owned air craft facility, the government said. But General Dynamics officials said Tuesday the leaking chemical, tricholorethylene, would not affect Fort Worth's w^ter supply. "Experts are studying possible damage to two ground water aquif ers, but Fort Worth doesn't draw its water from ground water aqui fers," a Fort Worth Water Department statement said. "All Fort Worth water comes from above-ground lakes and reser voirs; therefore, none of the city's drinking water sources are involved with the spill in any way." A&M students perfect shuttle arm controls Continued from page 1 tion to a computer on the shuttle. Students and professors are working on perfecting the com puter's resolution and sending the information to the arm to direct its movements. Everett said the arm's sensor might ultimately be used in other activities, such as docking the shuttle at a space station, instal ling the shuttle's solar panels, picldng up tools in space or align ing machine tools. Redfield said the project also might be used in the space sta tion's proposed construction. "All these activities need an arm that is very dexterous and requires a specific degree of accuracy," he said. "The computer will be used to control the accuracy of the sys tem." Redfield said NASA is looking at building smaller arms for the space station and the computer be ing used in this project might en able the arms to pick up tools and use them in the construction. "This summer we'll be imple menting the control of the arm with the manipulator devel opment system down at Johnson Space Center," he said. The relationship between the students working on the project and NASA was initiated by A&M alumnus Aaron Cohen, Class of '52, a director of Johnson Space Center. Redfield said a good possibility exists that the results or this pro ject will be useful to manipulators of mechanical arms throughout U.S. industry. Are You Studying ForLastYears LSAT? If you’re not taking Stanley H. 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