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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 1991)
Monday, September 9, 1991 The Battalion Page 3 J Advocates of higher-education check legislature Universities hire monitors FORT WORTH (AP) - Sev eral Texas universities employ higher-education advocates al most full-time when the state Legislature is in session to moni tor the progress of legislation nd university budgets. It appears to be working be- ause most institutions of higher ducation did better than expect- d during the budget session that nded Aug. 31. Like true lobbyists, which ey can't be, several of the advo cates treat legislators to meals, parties, golf games and gifts, tate law prohibits state employ es from trying to influence legis lation. Records show that in several lases, taxpayers help subsidize ■hose employees' salaries, travel and living expenses, the Fort •Worth Star-Telegram reported Kunday. However, only non-tax- ayer funds are used to pay for ntertainment. Universities and legislators efend the day-to-day presence f the university officials because hey provide valuable informa- ion both to the lawmakers and eir home institutions. "It's a big business," state Senate Finance Committee Chair man John Montford said of the universities, which have com bined state budgets of $7.5 billion for 1992-93. "You can't expect them to wear blinders," said Montford, D-Lubbock. Higher education emerged from the 30-day special session with $250 million more for 1992- 93 than for 1990-91, a significant boost in light of earlier proposed cuts totaling millions of dollars. At the same time major state universities were successfully fending off threats to cut higher- education funding this summer, they had at least 22 officials on their payrolls watching interests at the Capitol. That doesn't count more than two dozen outside lobbyists hired by alumni groups and oth er higher-education interests, or university presidents and chan cellors present for much of the budget session. The university liaisons' salaries and expenses from Sept. 1, 1990, through July topped $1.6 million, according to university and state records obtained by the Star-Telegram through the Texas Open Records Act.Four of those liaisons earn more than the gov ernor's $93,532 annual salary. Seven of them spent more than $1,000 on meals and enter tainment for legislators, aides and officials this year. The top five would rank among the Capi tol's top 100 spending lobbyists, according to a Star-Telegram study. "We buy breakfasts, lunches and pay for dinner," said Texas Tech liaison Mike Sanders. The Star-Telegram reported that Sanders showed up as the biggest university spender on en tertainment, with $11,123 since September 1990. "Basically, it's a way to get access to visit with members about Texas Tech. ... It's a way of doing business." Although technically they are at the Capitol to provide infor mation and line up university of ficials to answer questions, the university liaisons also serve as a first-alert warning system in a chain of higher-education advo cates. Half of Texas' wastewater streams through Galveston Bay, report says The Battalia ance desp'i KKK rally draws 500; few show support jALLy ■ MIDLAND (AP) - A Ku Klux Klan rally drew more than 500 ftople to a Midland park, but sup- *rt for the white supremacist n ! ■ 0U P was hard to find. 1 Of the hundreds who heckled and jeered the eight Klan mem- ha a ii,lp rs w * 10 stood safe behind police b t ai# es at a chain-link fence at Wind- ; .lands Park, few expressed any ap- > uicrease m ec i a ti 0n 0 f ff, e Klan's visit. I ''R l! came h ere f° ask these peo ple why they hate," said 35-year- iz . t j old Allen Nichols of Midland. "It's ). •' /".been the group's history to hate , ir yblacks and Jews. Now I under- '' 1 l s | an d they stand against foreign- 'th KabWi« s t00 » H A man identifying himself as csl Page Lloyd J. Hill, 25, of Dallas waved a Rebel flag during the three-hour rilly and claimed to be a Klan member. He said the organization hates nobody. I "The white race hay as much right as any race to preserve it self," Hill said. "We don't dislike anybody. We just feel real strongly about preserving our race." The late afternoon Klan rally on Saturday was preceded by a "Unity Celebration" that oppo nents of the Klan staged in down town Midland. It drew about 300 people. Greg Owens, Midland Cham ber of Commerce member, said he believed the Klan came to Mid land to create a media event at the expense of the community. "But with the support you've shown by attending the unity rally today, you've turned what could have been a problem into an op portunity," he said. Klan Grand Wizard Thomas Robb, 45, of Harrison, Ark., gazed at the multitude of white, brown and black people behind police lines at the Klan rally and said that Herpetologists express interest in Texas snakes I NAVASOTA (AP) - Fred Friedrichs' snake problems have slithered away but he's got her petologists interested, although skeptical, that some of the dozens of serpents he killed at his small Grimes County ranch may have been a poisonous crossbreed not seen before in Texas. 1 Friedrichs' ranch near the Navasota River was invaded about two months ago by snakes up to 7 feet long, prompting him and his wife to arm themselves be fore they ventured outdoors. In the span of a month or so, he killed about 90 snakes, most them in or around a small barn and chicken coop behind his house. 1 The snakes gobbled up eggs like candy and took a liking to his pigeons and chicks as well. I Friedrichs and a local game warden were convinced some of the snakes were a crossbreed in- j volving the venomous water moc casin and the non-poisonous : chicken or rat snake. The individual snakes are common to Texas, but snake ex perts say the crossbreed of a poi sonous and non-poisonous snake | just can't be. "No, no way," says James Dixon, a Texas A&M University professor and wildlife fisheries specialist. "You can dispel that very quickly. "Probably what he has, from what I saw, they are chicken snakes. There are several color patterns. Some are black and the younger ones are more blotched and kind of red in between the skins. It would be easy to not rec ognize these snakes. "But a crossbreed, no way. They're not even in the same fami ly. In snake genes, that's a long way apart." Texas is home to the four North American poisonous snakes: the water moccasin, cop perhead, rattlesnake and coral snake. And the outside chance of a new venomous snake has Texas Parks and Wildlife officials inter ested. Friedrichs says they've asked him to try to capture one of his snakes alive so they can get a look. "I do know that I've looked at snakes for 60 years," Friedrichs, 68, says. "I have barefooted over moccasins and one time was bitten on the big toe." JOCK ITCH AND RINGWORM STUDY Individuals 12 years of age and older with "jock itch" or "ringworm" are being recruited for a research study of an antifungal medication.$125.00 will be paid to volunteers who complete this study. CALL VOLUNTEERS IN PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH, INC.® 776-1417 J INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE If you have proctitis, colitis, or left sided inflammatory bowel disease, VIP Research is seeking volunteers for a one month research study. Participants can qualify either on or off of medication. $400.00 will be paid to those individuals who enroll and complete this study. CALL VOLUNTEERS IN PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH, INC.® 776-1417 HOUSTON (AP) - Half the state's industrial and municipal wastewater flows through Galve ston Bay, threatening more than $2.5 million a day in seafood and tourist dollars, a Houston newspa per reported Sunday. Records from the Texas Water Commission obtained by The Houston Post showed one in five of the 800 groups holding wastew ater discharge permits in Harris, Galveston and Chambers counties have violated at least one limit during two months in the year be tween June 1990 to May 1991. In addition, one in 10 permit holders has violated a limit so of ten that the 12-month average ex ceeds the state-imposed ceilings. The limits pertain to levels of everything from acid, arsenic and concentrations of dissolved oxy gen to oil and grease. "We hate it," said Lucy Gibbs, head of the Texas Shrimp Associa tion, which has noted a loss in productivity of bay shrimpers over the past two decades. "We feel that it's a wonder anything is living in Galveston Bay." TWC regulates wastewater O.K. SO I'VE HAD SORT OF AN UNDISTINGUISHED ACADEMIC CAREER. IT'S NOT TOO IA1T discharges into a series of rivers, channels and bays. In the Houston area, that includes the San Jacinto River which is fed by the Lake Houston Dam, the Buffalo Bayou which travels down to the Hous ton Ship Channel, and a series of bays, lakes and smaller ship chan nels from Burnett Bay in the north to Christmas Bay in the south. The bay has an annual infusion of wastewater that is 15 times its volume. Critics say TWC does not en force its own permits and doesn't fine enough violators. But 22 wa ter quality inspectors police 1,400 permits in Harris and 13 other counties, some of which are more than two hours from their office. "I think there is always room for improvement," said John Ward, program manager for water quality in the Houston office. "There're those who will recog nize a problem and begin to work on it and others that will have to be made to do so." In Texas, dischargers also must have a permit from the Environ mental Protection Agency. To gether, the agencies are adding more conditions on treated wastewater entering bodies of wa ter. Still there are accidents that cause heavy metals, toxins, car cinogens and heavily chlorinated effluent to join treated wastewater returning to the bay. — Last December, Mobil Chemical Co.'s olefins plant in Deer Park spewed benzene in one incident that was five times the le gal limit. — Last August, heavy rains forced the shutdown of the Harris County Municipal District No. 19 as 3 million gallons of untreated sewage flowed out, untreated. — In the first three months of this year, Houston officials watched 75 million gallons of raw sewage flow into the city's three bayous, creating a $3 million mess. The EPA and TWC are impos ing conditions on violators before issuing new permits. 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