Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 1991)
State & Local Page 2 i 5 -" f- The Battalion Thursday, July 18,1991 The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of: Associated Press Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Texas Daily Newspaper Association Texas Intercollegiate Press Association 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 Sports Editor Jayme Blaschke Opinion Editor Keith Sartin Editorial Policy The Battalion is published da ily except Saturday, Sunday, holi days, exam periods and when school is not in session during fall and spring semesters. Publication is Tuesday through Friday dur ing the summer sessions. The newsroom phone number is 845- 3316. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper oper ated as a community service to Texas A&M University and Bryan-College Station. The Battalion news depart ment is managed by students at Texas A&M University and is a division of Student Publications, a unit of the Department of Jour nalism. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the edito rial board or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Texas A&M stu dent body, administrators, faculty or the A&M Board of Regents. Comments, questions or com plaints about any of the editorial content of the newspaper should be directed to the managing edi tor at 845-3313. Subscriptions Mail subscriptions are $20 per semester, $40 per school year and $50 per full year: 845-2611. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843-1111. Second class postage paid at Col lege Station, TX 77843. Location: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1111. Campus mail stop: 1111. Advertising Advertising information can be obtained from the advertising de partment at 845-2696 Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by visiting the office at the En glish Annex. Advertising Manager Patricia Heck Battalion Adviser Robert Wegener Production Manager Paige Force BATTIPS The Battalion encourages its readers to 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. Lawmakers propose expansion of prisons AUSTIN (AP) — Plagued by lawsuits and public outcry over the release of violent prisoners, lawmakers took aim Wednesday on the state's prison crisis, roposing a 1.1 billion construction plan to make room for 30,000 more inmates. L t. Gov. Bob Bullock said the Sen- Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock ate may act on the massive prison measure Thursday. House Speaker Gib Lewis said his chamber would consider it next week. "It's a fact of life, we are not safe in our homes, we're not safe in our place of business, we are not even safe in this Capitol from time to time," Bullock said. With a projected $4.8 billion state budget shortfall, the issue of paying for the new prisons be came a hot topic. The Senate is considering a plan to borrow the money by is suing bonds. House members say they fa vor increasing the state's 6.25 percent sales tax rate — already one of the highest in the nation — and dedicating that additional revenue to prison construction. One House proposal would place the question of how to pay for the prisons before voters. Financial aid excludes computers Federal rule restricts repayment By Mack Harrison The Battalion Computers are becoming standard educational tools for college students, but federal regulations do not allow fina- cial aid to cover the cost of buying one. The Chronicle for Higher Education recently reported that Dartmouth College made owning a personal computer an entrance requirement to get around this rule. Texas A&M students, how ever, have other ways to get assistance in buying a com puter. Donald Engelage, director of Student Financial Aid for Texas A&M, said students who qualify for financial aid can receive assistance to cover the costs of books and sup plies as nart of their aid pack age. Stude^s in classes that re quire additional materials can bring the receipts to the finan cial aid office for reimburs- ment. If a professor requires materials costing far more than normal, such as a com puter, Financial Aid will ver ify with the instructor the need for any expensive equip- Students browsing through a computer sale consider prices. Financial Aid at A&M doesn’t cover the costs of computers due assistance with Battalion file photo to federal regulations. Students can get the costs of books and supplies. ment. Engelage said his office can not reimburse the full price of a computer, but there are other means of assistance. "The regulations leave it as an option," he said. "We can't provide financial aid just to cover a computer, but stu dents can get a short-term loan if they have to buy one." Engelage said no professor or class presently requires stu dents to own a computer. "There's nothing like that now," Engelage said. "Ob viously, computers are the way to do things, and if (a computer requirement) ever comes to pass, we'll have to address it then." An Colleges must accept cuts, governor says AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Ann Richards told her top college and university appointees Wednes day that higher education must help pay the freight for a balanced state budget. Richards said educators who protest budget trim ming need to know that av erage Texans worry more about making ends meet than about funding some high-dollar university programs. "It is imperative to understand that the average Texan is far more concerned about taking care of the kids and their elderly parents and the bills than they are about research on cold fu sion," Richards said. "The perception of the people of this state is that we waste a lot of dollars ... They are convinced Gov. Ann Richards that we are fat," she said. Higher Education Coordinat ing Board Chairman Harry Rea- soner responded that colleges and universities have suffered 20 percent reductions since 1986, spending ranks 49th among the states and that Texas schools may be in jeopardy of becoming second-rate. "It would be the wrong mes sage for the people of Texas to believe there's a lot of fat in higher education," Reasoner told Richards. The governor and legislative leaders, facing a projected $4.8 billion deficit, are trying to push an austerity budget through the Legislature based largely on an audit by Comptroller John Sharp. Sharp said many other state agencies — not just colleges — are struggling to provide serv ices. "The need is endless in most of state government," Sharp said. "There are needs for tax payers, too. And they don't un derstand it when we spend $2 million remodeling a chan cellor's office." Sharp proposed numerous economies in higher education — including tuition hikes com bined with increased schol arships, making schools use in terest on "local funds" for operations, and suggesting that higher tuition help reduce gen eral tax spending. University administrators and their powerful lobbyists have been waging a full-scale Capitol blitz, saying such proposals could damage colleges and uni versities, force faculty layoffs, cancelled classes and reduced li brary hours. Sharp said higher education officials who last week claimed that his budget would cut $622 million from their programs were wrong. "We believe it was an honest mistake," he said. "But it was certainly a mistake." He said his audit recommends l pc idin spending of all funds, a $310 mil lion increase to $7.92 billion for 1992-93. Richards told her university regents and coordinating board appointees that their help was needed in the legislative strug gle. "We need you inside this tent —not outside setting fire to the canvas," she said. "Since higher education rep resents 14 percent of state expen ditures, it is unreasonable to think that we can balance the budget without trimming higher education's budget requests." The governor said she wasn't frustrated with university offi cials but warned that many tax payers are. "I ... have (been hearing) a lot of hostility on all those kids driv ing Camaros and BMWs and paying very, very low tuition to attend the University of Texas or A&M or any of these schools," Richards said. Mosbacher's cancellation of speech angers many HOUSTON (AP) — Hundreds of Hispanics angry over Com merce Secretary Robert Mos bacher's last-minute cancellation of an appear- app ance Wednes day at a na- t i o n a 1 convention booed and walked out on a speech given by an official sent in his place. Mosbacher, Council approves plan to sell beer, wine at Texas Stadium DALLAS (AP) — A three- point plan to implement beer and wine sales at Texas Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, was approved Wednesday by the Irving City Council and en dorsed by the arena's operators. The plan would exempt the stadium from a restrictive city or dinance that dictates alcohol sales total no more than 40 per cent of a facility's receipts. State law allows for 75 percent of an establishment's sales to be in al cohol and 25 percent food-re lated. But before the plan can be im plemented in time for this year's football season, voters would have to approve it in an Aug. 10 referendum, and the Legislature would have to validate the local ordinance, said Mayor Roy Brown. Texas Stadium Corp., which leases the arena and han dles operations, also would have to drop its lawsuit against the city, he said. "We've become a model where on the one hand the fans can be entitled to their alcoholic beverage," said Mayor Pro Tern Harry Joe, "and on the other, the safety of the fans can be as sured." Thursday CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST: Everyone welcome! Philosopher Wes Baker will be speaking on the holiness of God at 7:30 p.m. in 308 Rudder. Call Pat at 696-1091 for more information. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: General discussion at noon. Call COPE at 845-0280 for more information. ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS: General discussion at 6 p.m. Call COPE at 845-0280 for more information. GAY AND LESBIAN STUDENT SERVICES: General meeting at 7 p.m. in 230 MSC. Call 847-0321 for more information. Friday STUDENTS OVER TRADITIONAL AGE: Supper club meeting at 6 p.m. at Pop’s Barbeque. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: General discussion at noon. Contact Center for Drug Pre vention for more information at 845-0280. 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. W e 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. m mm mm mm mm wm mm cut here mm^mmmmmmmmmmmm Defensive Driving Course July 20, 1991 (8 a.m.-5 p.m. ) & July 24 & 25, 1991 (6-10 p.m. & 6-10 p.m. College Station Hilton For more Information or to pre-register phone 693-8178 24 hours a day. n ■■■ hhi nan mm mm mm ,CUt here T I I I I I 1 I J Robert Mosbacher who on Monday refused to ad just the 1990 census that missed more than 5 million people, was scheduled to speak at a luncheon at the National Council of La Ra- za's annual convention, but he cancelled Wednesday, only hours before he was to appear. Hispanics who were anxious to hear Mosbacher explain why he would not adjust census fig ures that missed millions of mi norities fumed over his decision. "We don't understand why a public official cannot defend his policy before the public," NCLR President Raul Yzaguirre told about 1,000 people attending the lunch. Mosbacher, in a letter to Yza guirre sent Wednesday, said he had to cancel because of dis cussions with four Latin Ameri can governments and the White House on rescheduling a trade mission. The late July trip by Mos bacher and Vice President Dan Quayle had to be rescheduled because it fell at the same time as the U.S.-Soviet summit, an nounced Wednesday. The council said it was angry at Mosbacher for canceling his appearance when the census count was such an important is sue for Hispanics. "The suggestion that the sec retary would cancel a speech in his hometown for no other rea son than to dodge the census is sue is absurd," Mosbacher's press secretary Marci Robinson said. After Yzaguirre blasted Mos bacher, commerce undersecre tary Roger Wallace was intro duced to the crowd. Many booed as he began to talk about sup porting free trade with Mexico and then about a third of the crowd walked out of the hotel ballroom. WA U.S.-f in Loi third trol ment past years, tual i mode ready alteri balan ‘7,1 eeth fates deals ability beyor lowin Cr foi of ZAi Croat that team Slove: the sc lence. A killed and t TV a can, c slight! the Ci Yu* presic other cuss t meeti reput The Croat depei long larges of tl Fighti Slove dead. Lea indus in Lo in the pean in tl reach- The rived tia's c fi Ri W> rem Thon Tues< cratic and e black cans Derr Hous hers whih the ! deU nomi Se Nun hood Thor the i c« B£ tions fort stall* thef Bi noul atic n l Wou the ( U.N Tl Peac Tl nam the i