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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 1995)
Formerly Penthouse Bar & Grill 764-8664 ^HOMF BREWERS SUPPLY^ FKUMKXTAI'IONX KIT $5.00 OFF With this coupon start brewing for as little as *38.00 Open: Tues.-Fri. 11-7 Sat. 11-4 764-8486 Located Across From Fuddruckers Makes a great Christmas Gift for Dad. Looking for a Math Course for Spring 1996? Consider some of our new offerings Math 414-500 Fourier Series and Wavelets Introduction to the mathematics used in signal processing and data compression. Prerequisites: calculus and linear algebra. Instructor: Joe Ward Math 489-503 Technology Introduction to computer technology for the teaching of mathematics K-12. Prerequisites: Math 367, 375 or a 400-level math course. Instructor: Vince Schielack Page 16 • The Battalion State Thursday • November 30,1995 Lawmakers seek to clarify gun law □ Many state agencies are considering banning concealed guns on their property. AUSTIN (AP) — With an in creasing number of cities and gov ernment agencies taking steps to keep licensed citizens from bring ing concealed guns on their prop erty, sponsors of the state’s new right to carry law set out Wednes day to clarify the issue. “We have a lot of bad signals being sent and a lot of those are wrong,” said Sen. Jerry Patter son, R-Pasadena, an author of the gun law. Cities — including Austin and Grand Prairie, near Dallas — have approved ordinances restricting where citizens will be able to take concealed guns when state licenses go into ef fect Jan. 1. Transit authorities in Hous ton and Austin have passed rules banning concealed guns. Other transit services, including those in Dallas and San Antonio, are considering similar action. The Texas Department of Public Safety, which is process ing the concealed gun licenses, approved an emergency rule in October that would prohibit con cealed guns on its property. The DPS is taking public comment before making it a permanent rule. The Texas Department of Transportation was to consider similar action. Patterson said local govern ments are violating the constitu tion and the legislative intent of the right to carry law by impos ing restrictions. During a Capitol news con ference, Patterson got so stirred up that he nearly advocated ig noring the local policies being put in place. “I would suggest that a citizen do what state laws allow them to do and ignore metro rules,” he said before backing off from the statement. He later said, “You can be right and still go to jail. Citizens should obey the policies until they can be cleared up, most likely through legal opinions from the attorney general.” But Texas Attorney General Dan Morales’ office said Wednes day that it stands by opinions is sued earlier this year. Those opinions said transit authorities and businesses may ban the carrying of guns; coun ties may prohibit concealed handguns within county parks; and local and state officials may ban guns in public buildings. “We gave good solid legal opin ions and there is no reason to re visit those opinions,” said Morales spokesman Ward Tisdale. Patterson said he expected the DPS and Department of Transportation to reconsider their actions. “The DPS will probably an nounce a retraction,” he said, “The Department of Transporta tion would be overstepping its bounds.” Sherri Deatherage Green, spokeswoman for the DPS, said, “Any time lawmakers specifical ly raise questions about some thing the DPS is doing, we will take another look at it. That’s the point where we are with these rules anyway, taking and responding to public comment.” Green said, “These rules were not intended in any way to reflect on the law. The intent was to maintain safety at DPS offices and driver license of fices. People are routinely ar rested at driver license offices all over the state when they come in to get licenses renewed.” Groups disagree about Texas’ air quality : □ The Clean Air Network said the state has done little to change the level of air pollution. AUSTIN (AP) — The State of Texas is not doing enough — and wants to do less —- j: to curb smog and ozone problems in its | cities, a coalition of environmental groups ; said Wednesday. The Glean Air Network, a Washington ; D.C.-based coalition, released a report on ; states’ efforts to deal with air pollution. The I 1 group said Texas has not done enough to : curb pollution from power plants and re- ; fineries and has done little to reduce motor vehicle pollution. But the Texas Natural Resource Conser- : vation Commission said the group is wrong. “This evaluation is an inaccurate charac- ; terization of what is going on in Texas/’ : said TNRCC Chairman Barry McBee. ; 'Texas has made and is continuing to make ; significant progress in air quality.” McBee said that after new rules were put I in place last year, industrial facilities across • Texas reported lower pollution emissions. And he said the state is working closely / with federal officials on programs to reduce air pollution from automobiles and non road engines, like lawn mowers. Ken Kramer, head of the Texas Sierra Club and a member of the Clean Air Net work, said too many Texans continue to breath air that does not meet federal clean air standards. Four large areas, including Houston-Galveston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Beaumont-Port Arthur and El Paso, do not he federal standards. "Unless we reverse course, we will be breathing dirty air for many years to come." — Ken Kramer Texas Sierra Club Kramer said earlier this year Texas could have been commended for its- efforts to reduce vehicle-related ozone through an emissions testing program that started in January. But the Legislature’s action to cancel the program and come up with a sub stitute puts Texans at risk, he charged. “Unless we reverse course, we will be breathing dirty air for many years to come,” he said. Lawmakers scrapped the emissions test ing plan just after it started because they said it was inconvenient and costly to dri vers. Instead, the TNRCC has submitted to the federal Environmental Protection Agency a three-part testing system that would allow motorist their choice of tests. The plan has not been formally submit ted for approval, TNRCC Commissioner Ralph Marquez said. Neil Carman, another Sierra Club offi cial, said even though thousands of Texans face increased risks of respiratory problems because of the high pollution levels, the TNRCC is backing a plan for lower stan dards. “With slight of hand and smoke and mirrors there will be no ozone problem,” he said. Pollution levels currently are mea sured in one-hour increments at several separate sites in a given area. If any of the measurements shows more than the allowable pollution level, the entire area is considered too high. The new plan would measure pollution in eight-hour periods and would average all monitoring sites in a given areas to come up with an eight-hour total average pollution level. Looking for a great deal on a computer and a printer can be a whole lot easier than finding a roommate. Because right now, when you purchase a Macintosh^ Performa” from the 630 series and an Apple”printer, you’ll get $150 back. Just think about it. You can get your work done faster, it will look great and you can receive an extra $150 at the same time. So take a moment to look into the power that can keep you ahead. The power of Macintosh. The power to be your best! Serving Texas A & M University students, faculty and staff since 1985. M ickoComputerCenter ComputerSales and Service Located in the Texas A&M Bookstore next to the software department. 409-845-4081 Purchase any Apple Macintosh Petforma 630series or 640CD DOS-compatible computer along with any Apple printer ami receive a $150 mail-in rebate. Offer valid through January 15,1996, while supplies tost and subject to availability. If you have any questions about the "Performa + Printer = Payback” offer, please call 800-950-6354 or see stores for a complete list of details. ©1995Apple Computer, tnc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, Performa, SlyleWriter and “The power to he your best” are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. 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