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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1997)
MUCH MADNESS SALE '^vcv^* 817 Texas Ave. College Station, Tx. 696-6551 GOOD DEALS ON EVERYTHING- BICYCLES & ACCESSORIES CLIMBING GEAR INLINE SKATES & PARTS HURRY IN FOR BEST DEALS! Offer expires on 3/25/97 OPEN 9:30 AM -6:30 PM M-SAT. 12-5 SUN. We accept competitors coupons Candidates: The Battalion needs your help in publish ing its annual voting guide, which will run next week prior to elections. We ask for your cooperation in hopes that your participation will help students make an informed deci- Bring a copy of your statement in 200-250 words to Rm. 01 3 Reed McDonald Building by Thursday at 9 p.m. Candidates for: • Class Presidents • Class Vice Presidents • Yell Leaders , • Class Agents Bring a copy of your statement in 400-450 words to Rm. 01 3 Reed McDonald Building by Thursday at 9 p.m. Candidates for: • Student Body President Also: Come by the Battalion newsroom between noon and 4 p.m. on Friday March 21, or call for an appointment to have a mugshot taken to run with your platform in the special section. Page! Wednesday • March 19,1} Bush supports property tax revisioi AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. George W. Bush stepped up his push for a property tax overhaul Tuesday, portraying the fight as one between struggling homeowners and businesses that now go untaxed. “In our state of Texas, we’ve got a few that pay a lot and a lot that pay none,” Bush said. “Tm not ashamed to say that if we’re going to have a tax system, it ought to be fair. Everybody ought to pay a little.” Lawmakers have been studying Bush’s tax proposal and also looking for other al ternatives to the local school property tax, which generates more than $9 billion a year. Bush wants to reduce school property taxes by $3 billion, paying for it with a $1 billion state budget surplus, a half-cent sales tax increase and a new business activity tax. v Bush But he said various business groups are fighting the business tax idea, and others are trying to protect current sales tax exemptions lawmakers are consid ering for possible elimination. “The noise level is loud at the Capi tol, because there are a lot of lobbyists who are paid a lot of money to protect the interests of those who pay no tax to the state of Texas, and that’s not fair,” Bush said. “My job is to represent those whose voices are not heard ... people who are desper ately worried about owning their most prized possession — their home.” The governor’s comments came in a speech to the Texas Association of Builders. Bush drew repeated applause when he said it would be bad policy for Texas to discourage home ownership. le-c! jFc lam “There’s a lot of talk about the middle-di tax squeeze in our country. One reason\ because the most prized possession ofourn die class is getting heavily taxed.” Bush, a Republican, said the issue isn’t pai He said he hears from working people across state who agree property taxes are too high, /f f-w He read a letter from two retired statei /f ers who said their property taxes rose It $3,197 in 1992 to a projected $5,169 in 199' ’ T ere “Wecanseeno waythatwecanaffordtoli ■—I evi up with these tax increases on our fixed inco: . JL W1 Therefore, we have sold our house ofovet eakwas years and are moving to Tennessee,” Bushrc ity, Padr saying their property taxes in that state totalo e Chick $625 a year. ge stude "I don’t need to take a poll,” Bush saidof iot. Thai public support. “We’ve got a problem in Texas jd” men bad today, and it’s going to get worse tomorra es parth of the mo Conference seeks solution to dispose of plutonid I But cas | aople is rrved foi Ireserved I AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — The Russians never needed U.S. aid in building nuclear weapons, but this week they are enlisting their old Cold War adversaries for help in safely dis posing of their plutonium stockpile. “We’re trying to understand their safety cultures, then offer them our ideas,” said Paul F. Krumpe, with the U.S. Department of Energy. About 30 Russian scientists and nuclear officials are attend ing a week-long NATO-sponsored conference with their American counterparts here, just a hop from this country’s largest pluto nium storehouse. The conference was hosted by the Amarillo National Resource Center for Plutonium, a consortium that includes the University of Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Since Russia is determined to convert an estimated 50 tons of ex cess weapons-grade plutonium into mixed-oxide, or MOX, fuel, the Unit ed States has pledged to help make sure it does so safely, Krumpe said. The United States would like to see the Russians adopt many U.S. regulatory models to strengthen their oversight system, which cur rently differs from plant to plant, one high-ranking federal source said on condition of anonymity. He added the Russians tradition ally have concerned themselves with major disasters while letting every day safety issues go unchecked. The central topic Tuesday was MOX fuel conversion, a process de cried by anti-nuclear forces as a continued proliferation of plutoni um. Most nuclear watchdog groups support immobilization of plutoni um in a glass mixture, supposedly making it unrecoverable for future weapons use. Immobilization is not on the five-day agenda. “Our main concern is that there’s not a full representation of scientific opinion at the conference,” said Don Moniak, president of Serious Texans Against Nuclear Dumping, which opposes a MOX plant at Pantex. Russia doesn’t trust immobiliza- “From my point of view, the main reason is to expend weapons grade plutonium rather then keep it and have the opportu nity to use it again for military purposes.” Victor Bolyatko Russian Researcher Russian researcherVictorBi tko said MOX fuel would b t f ,shec ”rty won arms race. , I^ul “From my point of view.J 1 u main reason is to expend weap:J 1 s 0 nu grade plutonium rather than kel 11 ^ 1 1ltl and have the opportunity to u* e ma e 5 again for military purposes, 1 Bolyatko, of the Moscow Enginij ing and Physics Institute. “It’s not for profit, except profit of removing this plutonift res 10 ^ from military use.” I™ 111 * 1 Since Pantex houses lOJl 13111 * ncc For soi ls approved to eventually si* '‘'beled twice that, Moniak fears the will build The wc Jched to ge in se ow well tion and wants to see the United States burn its plutonium in reac tors. At least two Russian cities might someday rely on MOX fuel for power, Krumpe said. MOX facility on premises just east of town. Pantex is one of four DOE sites der consideration for such a fai “Once the plutonium isallhi it creates more of an incentive toi it (MOX) here,” Moniak said." issue of processing is entirely di ent than the issue of storage.” Go to a [lenty of | Objections to abortion bill dismay sponso Judges concerned over bill that would require parental notification for minor AUSTIN (AP) — Last-minute objections to a bill that would re quire parental notification for mi nors to get an abortion were de nounced Tuesday as a “red herring” by Sen. Florence Shapiro, the bill’s author. The concerns came from Harris County judges over provisions in the bill that allow for a girl to go to a judge to get around the parental no tification requirement. “I’m very dismayed and disap pointed in those judges for wait ing until the last minute before we get a hearing on the Senate floor,” said Shapiro, R-Plano. The Senate on Wednesday was expected to take up her measure, the first time that chamber has voted on a major abortion bill since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, al lowing the procedure nationally. Anti-abortion activists support the measure, which Shapiro de scribes as a “parental rights bill.” Some abortion rights activists say it would invade a young woman’s pri vacy and would drive many teen agers to seek illegal abortions. The Senate’s new Republican ma jority is expected to pave the way for that chamber’s approval of the bill. The House has voted once on a sim ilar measure providing for parental consent, approving it in 1981 but watching it die in the Senate. Shapiro said the “judicial bypass” section of her bill hasn’t changed in the four years, since she first filed the measure “be cause we had con stitutional lawyers that helped us to create and draft” the provision. “This is the 11th hour after four years, and I think it’s a red herring,” she said. Shapiro said she could not im mediately remember the names of all four Harris County judges who visited her office on the mat ter. She said one was state District Judge Don Wittig, a former attor ney general candidate. He did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press. Sen. Jon Lindsay, a former Harris County judge whose wife is a state district judge, Fin very dismayed and disappointed in those judges for waiting until the last minute before we get a hearing on the Senate floor.” said the judges’ concerns about Shapiro’s bill were serious. He said he planned to offer amend ments to im prove the mea sure. “I think they are valid con cerns,” said Lind say, R-Houston. “Why they didn’t come up before, I don’t know. I think the bill was very poorly drafted.” Lindsay said the bill would provide for a minor to go to a county court at law rather than to a state district court to initiate the process of getting the judge’s per mission. Lindsay said the minor should go to a district court that Florence Shapiro R-Plano r heci coni non ther pha: elevant. | ated to al earch of; I Questic netvjm'i a “/ightstan deals with family law matter r0J1 gwit] Shapiro said she was willing make that change. Lindsay also said questis) have been raised about howa# nor’s court-appointed guj/ift and lawyer would be pa/(//A bypass process, and whetlieiau thorities could be notifiedincas- es of rape under the bill’sconfv dentiality provisions. Shapiro said she is confidentol having the necessary 21 votesin the 31-member Senate to up the bill. “Hopefully after tomorrowwh® the bill is passed out of the Sent then we’ll start working over on i House side to see what wedoovti there,” Shapiro said. Under the bill, doctors who patriots ha form abortions would be requited) fed to pro notify a parent or guardian ofamitt tons that seeking the procedure. Adoctorwfe °untry u n failed to meet the requirementcoii Answer: onteone (g winning f a wi iisually exli eing tooted to tl y, hr toe-night s r : enjoy feat [n ice. be charged with a ClassAmisd) a ytheirri een strip] meaner, punishable by up to ( year in jail and/or up to a $4,000Iliyas a&jv The bill would not requi 0l nrnissic parental consent. A separate me sure on the subject is pending. A And we've been making leaders since 1989! We are pleased to announce that we are currently accepting applications for our 1997-1998 Resident Advisor Staff at University Tower and The Forum. Applications can be downloaded from our web site at www.ssrs.com or can be picked-up in the lobby at University Tower or The Forum. 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