The Battalion
Vol. 90 No. 175 (ISPS 045360 6 Pages College Station, Texas "Serving Texas A&M since 1893" Thursday, July 25, 1991
Communication key element between linked campuses
By Tammy Bryson
The Battalion
Texas A&M student government
leaders in Galveston and College Sta
tion do not anticipate any problems in
leadership resulting from the merger of
the two campuses Sept. 1.
Susan May , assistant to the student
body president in College Station, said
the structure of student government
will not be affected by the change.
"Because the student bodies here
and in Galveston are so different, it is
necessary to keep two separate govern
ments," she said. "The goal is to sim
ply align the two governments through
communication."
Communication is the key to suc
cessful relations between the two stu
dent governments. May said.
"I don't foresee any formidable prob
lems because of this change," she said.
"In the future there will be much more
contact between the two groups."
Former Student Body President Ty
Clevenger said at first Galveston stu
dents felt uncertain about the merger.
"The students were initially con
cerned that they would be lost in the
numbers," he said. "But now everyone
there is pleased because it (the merger)
will enhance Galveston's credibility as
a university."
A&M presently has more than
40,000 students, while A&M at Galves
ton has only 1,100 students.
Terry Carlson, senate treasurer for
A&M-Galveston, said she believes
both schools will benefit from the
merger.
"Galveston students will become
more aware of College Station students
and vice versa," she said. "It will also
make our student governments
stronger and more organized."
Carlson added that as a result of the
merger, the campus government in
Galveston will try to get students more
involved in Aggie traditions.
"We're Aggies already, but we don't
really know what that means," she
said.
University officials at both campuses
say it is still too early to predict any
possible difficulties between the two
student governments.
"There are so many questions about
the situation, and no one really knows
how it will all work out yet," said Dr.
Carolyn Adair, director of Student Ac
tivities at A&M's main campus. "Each
school has such a unique environment,
and with the separate locations there
will be things to work out between the
two governments."
Grant Shellenberger, assistant direc
tor of Student Services at A&M-Galves
ton, agreed the distance will cause mi
nor difficulties but said both student
governments are prepared for it.
"The two groups have been working
together during the spring semester
and have already had a lot of contact,"
he said. "But it is still too soon for a
definite answer about any problems
that might occur."
Present student body presidents at
both campuses were unavailable for
comment.
Officials
predict
lower hike
in tuition
By Timm Doolen
The Battalion
AUSTIN — Legislators and
Texas A&M administrators say
any tuition hike will probably be
smaller than previously thought
— in the $4 to $8 range instead of
$12 to $20.
A&M President William Mob
ley, however, said it is too early
to give a definite number on how
much tuition will increase.
But Mobley and some legis
lators said if a tuition increase is
necessary, all the money should
be kept by the University. Under
Comptroller John Sharp's propo
sal, 75 percent of the tuition in
crease would be offset by a de
crease in general revenue
appropriations to state universi
ties.
Rep. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan,
said tuition will not rise this fall,
adding that the earliest point
students will have to pay higher
tuition is in Fall 1992.
Mobley agreed, saying even in
Fall 1992 there will probably at
most be a $4 to $6 per credit hour
increase, especially if there is a
phase-in period. A phase-in
would increase the tuition grad
ually over a period of years.
Susan May, assistant to the
A&M student body president
and one of the key students
working in Austin to minimize
A&M budget cuts, said the ad
ministration is hoping for only a
$4 increase for the next fiscal
year.
She said A&M realistically
must expect some tuition in
crease and that $4 would be
much better than $12 or $20 —
the two figures quoted by sup
porters of Sharp's revenue plan.
She said the $20 increase,
which would bring A&M's tu
ition to $40 per credit hour, has
not garnered any support, and
in fact many legislators want no
tuition increase at all.
Jeff Lawrence, legislative aide
to Sen. Eddie Lucio (D-
Brownsville), said a significant
number of legislators do not
want a tuition hike, and some
legislators would rather take
A&M's interest income than
raise tuition.
Interest income is interest off
reserve funds built up by the
University over many years.
The interest off these funds
generates millions of dollars per
year to cover expenses that can
not be covered oy general reve
nue appropriations, such as resi-
dence hall maintenance,
emergencies and future projects.
Mobley said, however, that if
current services funding is ap
proved, but interest income is
taken away, then it amounts to
no more than juggling accounts.
He said no new money will be
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• ' ■ ■■
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Here’s mud in your eye
RICHARD S. JAMES/The Battalion
Judy Binagia of Port Neches glides toward home afternoon. Sliding practice is part of the Texas A&M
plate during sliding practice at Cain Field Wednesday Softball Camp which runs through Friday.
Name issue
remains
unresolved
Former regent requests authorization
to use A&M's name for corporate use
By Chris Vaughn
The Battalion
Texas A&M's Board of Re
gents could decide in this week's
meeting whether to allow a for
mer Board chairman to use the
System's name in his private
non-profit corporation.
The regents begin their meet
ing at 1:30 p.m. today in the
Board of Regents annex in the
MSC. The schedule continues at
9:30 a.m. Friday morning with
formal voting late in the af
ternoon.
David Eller, a Houston busi
nessman and former Board of
Regents chairman, incorporated
the business, named the Texas
A&M University System Re
search Technologies Corp., in
May.
Eller, chairman of Granada Bi-
oSciences Inc. and Granada
Food Corp., wants to use the
non-profit business to market a
$40 million bond issue to acquire
more assets in his biosciences
corporation.
A&M Research Technologies
then proposes to contract with
Texas A&M and pay it between
$10 million and $70 million over
10 years to provide research ca
pabilities.
Although the University or
System would not be liable for
the performance of the bond
debt, the regents are reviewing
whether a default or problem
with the bonds might reflect on
A&M's name and investment re
cord.
Board Chairman Ross Mar
graves said earlier this month
that A&M is obtaining legal
opinions and is in the process of
discussion with Eller's group.
The item is not on the posted
agenda for today's meeting.
Regents also are expected to
vote again on a controversial
anti-harassment and discrimina
tion policy.
In May, the Board approved a
System-wide policy, but many
groups protested the decision
since no discussion took place in
an open meeting.
To curtail complaints from
groups who believed the Board
tried to hide its decision. Mar
graves said regents might vote
again.
The policy, which was partic
ularly decried by gay and lesbian
groups, removes mention of spe
cific types and replaces it witn a
general condemnation of all
types of discrimination and ha
rassment.
Margraves met privately with
several gay and lesbian students
and faculty from A&M earlier
this month, but no invitations
were extended for gays to speak
at the meeting.
Also on the regents' agenda
for Friday:
□ Authorization to increase
the general use fee from $6 per
hour to $8 per hour beginning
this fall and institute an interna
tional education fee of $1 per se
mester.
□ Authorization to enact an
undergraduate engineering
equipment access fee of $70 per
lao-intensive course to maintain
and upgrade the University's en
gineering laboratories.
□ Appropriation for prelimi
nary design for the new College
of Business building, and also
for the recreational sports build-
. ingand natatorium.
□ Appointment of a new pres
ident for Tarleton State Univer
sity, and several appointments
at the vice president and dean
levels for Corpus Christi State
University, Texas A&I Univer
sity and West Texas State Uni
versity.
House passes student regent amendment
By Greg Mt.Joy
The Battalion
The success of a non-voting student
regent amendment in the Texas House of
Representatives Wednesday brought the
possibility of student representation on
university boards one step closer.
The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Sherri
Greenberg, D-Austin, and Rep. Steve
Ogden, R-Bryan, passed with a 66-57
vote that Ogden said should be viewed
positively.
"This type of legislation has never
made it out of the House before," Ogden
said. "That it was able to pass in this ses
sion is very significant."
Ogden said the amendment, as part of
the education-based House Bill 2, could
face stiffer opposition in the Senate.
"The amendment has a fair chance in
the Senate," he said. "Sen. Carl Parker
has strongly opposed the student regent
idea in the past, and this should be an
uphill fight."
Ogden said he believes the time has
come for students to be given a greater
voice in university administration.
"At a time when the state is saying stu
dents should be paying a greater share of
the costs of education, students should
have more to say about how schools are
run," he said.
Ogden said he stressed possible tu
ition hikes in his closing argument to the
House.
"I said students at A&M are ready to
bear their fair share of the state's budget
problems," he said. "A&M students are
old enough to vote, old enough to fight
— as many did in the Persian Gulf — and
we are saying that they are also old
enough to have some say in how their
university is run."
Student regents would posess all the
powers of a regular regent, with the ex
ceptions of not being able to vote or sit in
on executive sessions. Ogden said, how
ever, even a non-voting student regent
would be a vast improvement.
"I believe that a student regent, even a
nonvoting one, would be an asset to the
board by providing more diversity," he
said. "A student would have a perspec
tive that other regents, who probably
graduated from college decades ago,
simply could not posess."
Ogden said the student regent amend
ment fit the efforts of the state govern
ment to make state services more re
sponsive to their customers.
"I have always believed that govern
ment should be operated more like a
business, and in business the customer is
given top priority," he said. "The cus
tomers of a university are its
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