Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 2001)
s always looking me positions inc.- ineering AD°alId n A S na r |5S® AA Texas Defensive Dnving and Testing. The is Pro/ENGINEER Pro/Mechamca » ackage is Pro'Man.K e shop consistsoli: i and Lathe. The; 12am. Monday-F^ te schedules. Moi viduals that can wp nt and are comnes Lots-of- un, Laugh-a-lot!! Ticket dismissal/insur- mce discount. M-T(6pm-9pm), W- ■h(6pm-9pm), Fri.&Sat.* Fri(6pm-8pm) ,Sat(10am-2:30pm), Sat(8am-2:30pm). nside BankofAmerica. Walk-ins wel- :ome. $25/cash. Lowest price allowed by 111-Univ. Dr., Ste.217. 846-6117. 5how-up 30/min. early. (CP-0017) Tee Pregnancy Test; Hope Pregnancy Demers. College Station 695-9193, Bryan ovements ol the - ! W6-1097; Post Abortion Peer Counseling the company are>95-9193. ' - : E ' Think you mic.ht be infected by ch*> lynntech.cor ^y-> you can find out for sure in only 1- yg resume to Lym ninute. in the privacy of your own home ark Dr Ccaege .1-minute-hiv-self est.com Toga Classes- Anusava Yoga- All Levels- i^ornings. Evenings- (979)268-3838 iggieyoga.com EB. NEW JOB’ ^art-time SFutl-'-u isible. all magonC^ . Conditions aopy parttime.conVnp SPECIALTY SHOPPING house cleaning etc. SlO/hr. 76 2-boys, ages 1 I hours, 9:30-1 id references s after 6pm ring. Apply at F:i rslooddeltverycar DIATE OPENINGS workforstudentscri average Aisc e hours Apply Ito'j Corral The Re-sale Shop now taking clothes for ash or consignment, 2047 Harvey Mitch- , College Station. 777-6812. 680-6815. TUTORS SOSC 422 Structural Concrete tutor need ed ASAP! Call 693-0993. \ieed INFO 305 tutor Call 260-7465 iTutoring in many subjects, 774-0948. WANTED o Lose Weight T oday! ilth.com LLANEOUS On A Date Herd t Ribeye Diiwi-i Night, S80/Persor ii (Buying used golt clubs. Name brands Dallaway, Ping, Titleist, etc. Call Jason 979-764-8734 or 713-302-8643. Il need Notre Dame or UT tickets. Call |713-294-5432. ( Need single sports pass for Notre Dame game. Will pay. 694-0013/229-6506. ORCYCLF TEXAS A&M vs. NOTRE DAME. Buying all tickets. 1-888-301-8499. gna 750cc, 26!Mm run dally, $1201! ‘ Ninja 500, 7,000 nI -8272. 1USIC 1 ger and lead guitansl rfluenced country M Call 779-3025 1 EEDED 3 passes needed frl Call 693-2017. D ETS jppy. All shots. F'll ‘ul! Call 696-8339 1 NOW OPEN! Jole jewelry and Accessory Boutique 100 Church Avenue, College Station across from Cafe' Eccell Hours: T-Th 10-7 p.m., Fri-Sat 10-9 p.m. We deliver everyday until 9pm. Call Jason’s Deli 764-2929 *10 minimum 3razos Animal SYf] ihelterpets.org -chnauzer puppie:' . 979-776-1136 2i‘| tered Labs. RrS-'i 50/each. 764-6::' d Male. $75. C 15 weeks old. S | 979-364-2998. has a great selecK | adoption! Fee int are. Student dsff® 6295. ESTATE and charming ( i small business(P9j ist of San Marcos ■ house, barn w/d Adjacent lands 1-357-2300/ 738-0651 /IMATES shuttle, female < appliances indi l/l/F needed for c alk-in closet. Cali: F Roommate Nee: It 4bdrm/2bth hou* 900/mo. +1/4utP Daytime Weekend Rates starting at $400 Wedding Events • Parties Family Reunions • Meetings 979-731-8155 www.the-veranda.com 1805 Briarcrest BRYAN 979-776-0999 Come Join The Fun! ommate needed 696-1160. ed, 2bdrm/2bth afi s paid til January L&wsisv i&MSXis Come One! Come All! Come early! — Starting Times — I Ms Wed-Thur-Sat Friday Sunday I 6:45 6:45 & 9:00 7:15 & 9:00 6:00 & 8:00 EXPERIENCE THE ^ ^ THRILL OF WINNING mm Large Non- Smoking Room • Dior Priies • Great Food • Security • Pull Tabs and . Pue to nxvnr changes, no one u/xfcr IS is Alkxsvd to enter Over $30,000 Won Each ’.ek yi*Uven&Ctcf, BOOKSTORES Off-Campus at Aggieland w'Avw.shopaggieland.com \SAP, new 2bdrmD d, w/d, $395 +1/25 I on page 5B 20% Off Any Western Pack Bag or Briefcase Northgate Culpepper Plaza 3 how to PartySmart healthy morning-ait' ibutor of a natural otects your Liver. ore? Call 1-800-ef vw.partysharp.cof Village Center Expires September 30th - Not Combinablewjth other offers Thursday, September 20, 2001 THE BATTALION Page 5B * City of College Station to build a visual and performing arts center By Eric Ambroso THE BATTALION 'The city of College Station is developing a visual and performing arts center that will be made available to the community. According to Charles Cryan, the fiscal ser vices director of College Station, construction on the building should begin in 12 to 18 months. Officials still are in the planning stage of the project and expect the arts center to he completed within two to three years. “The visual and performing arts center will be locat ed on the East side of College Station at the intersec tion of University Drive and Highway 30,” Cryan said. .\long with many other components, the arts center is intended to include two theaters. One will be able to hold 1,100 to 1,200 people, and the other 200 to 300 people. “The theaters will have a number of different uses, such as plays and lectures. Classrooms w ill also be made available for University functions and public use,” Cryan said. An estimated $ 12 to $ 15 million will be needed to fund the arts center, he said. Funding for the project will come from gifts, grants, donations and possibly a tax increase. Officials are asking die citizens of College Station to approve a revenue tax increase of two percent. TTie tax will be assessed to people who rent hotels and motels witliin College Station. To implement die tax increase, the City Council first must call for an election, and citizens must approve the tax, Cryan said. The center will provide the citizens of College Station with some of the same opportunities that are available to stu dents at Texas A&M University. — Charles Cryan, College Station fiscal services director “The visual and performing arts center will certainly offer many cultural opportunities to the community of College Station. The center will provide the citizens of College Station w ith some of the same opportunities that are available to students at Texas A&M University,” Cryan said. The City of College Station is also planning to improve the quality of its parks by imple menting parks maintenance standards. The city will begin to establish intergenerational park design standards for new parks and will retro fit current parks as the opportunity arises. According to Curtis Bingham, the Parks Operations Superintendent, the City Council has made a five-year goal to meet standards in every type of park. “Athletic facilities, picnic areas, tennis courts, bas,- ketball courts, volleyball courts, ponds, and general recreational parks are all involved in the City Council’s plan to improve the quality of its parks,” Bingham said. An estimated $25,000 is included in the proposed budget for park replacement and restoration funding. According to Bingham, capital funds, bond funds and park land dedication funds also will be used to finance the operations. “Improving the quality of parks and recreational facilities in College Station will benefit the whole community,” Bingham said. “ New parks and facili ties will be created and current parks will be restored in order to offer the citizens of College Station iml- proved recreational opportunities.” PUBLIC NOTICE BRIEF EXPLANATORY STATEMENTS OF PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS Special Election NOVEMBER 6, 2001 PROPOSITION 1 tHJR 52) FYoposition 1 would amend the constitu tion to relinquish the state's claim to cer tain disputed land in Bastrop County. The amendment would confirm legal title to that land, excluding any mineral inter ests, to the individuals who hold a dis puted title to the land. The amendment would prevent a loss of title by people who bought and paid for property that was never transferred by the state because of faulty surveys. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment providing for the clearing of land titles by the release of a state claim of its interest to the owners of certain land in Bastrop County.” PROPOSITION 2 (SJR 37) Proposition 2 would amend the constitu tion to establish the process for issuing up to $175 million of state general obli gation bonds and notes to provide aid to counties for access road projects to serve border colonias. Generally, a colonia is an economically distressed geographic area with inadequate public services (such as water supplies, sewer services, or paved roads) in a county without ade quate resources to provide such services. These projects could include the con struction of access roads, the acquisition of materials used in maintainigg those roads, and projects related to the con struction of those roads, such as road drainage. The Texas Transportation Commission, in consultation with the Governor, would be authorized to deter mine what constitutes a border colonia for purposes of selecting the counties and projects that would receive assistance. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the issuance of state general obligation bonds and notes to provide financial assistance to coun ties for roadway projects to serve border colonias.” , PROPOSITION 3 (SJR 47) Proposition 3 would amend the constitu tion to authorize the legislature to exempt green coffee and raw cocoa held in Harris County from property taxes in order to qualify Harris County as an exchange port for coffee by the New York Board of Trade. The authorization of exemption would not apply to any other county. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation raw cocoa and green coffee that is held in Harris County.” PROPOSITION 4 (HJR 1) Proposition 4 would amend the constitu tion by setting the term of the fire fight ers’ pension commissioner at four years. The constitution currently provides that the duration of all offices not otherwise fixed by the constitution may not exceed two years. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment providing for a four-year term of office for the fire fighters’ pen sion commissioner.” PROPOSITION 5 (SJR 32) FYoposition 5 would amend the constitu tion to allow a municipality to donate outdated or surplus equipment, supplies, or other materials used in fighting fires to an underdeveloped country. Current state law does not allow anything of value belonging to the state or its politi cal subdivisions to be donated to another nation. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment authorizing municipalities to donate outdated or surplus firefighting equipment or supplies to underdeveloped countries.” PROPOSITION 6 (HJR 45) Proposition 6 would amend the constitu tion to require the governor to call a spe cial session of the legislature so that the legislature can appoint presidential elec tors when the governor determines that it is reasonably likely that the outcome of the election for a presidential candidate’s electors will not be clearly determined in time for the appropriate electors to meet before the federal deadline to cast their votes. Under current law, when the peo ple vote for a particular candidate for president, in reality they are voting for that candidate’s electors who will meet to cast their votes for president. If the elec tors are not determined by the certifica tion date, no electoral votes may be cast for the state. The proposed amendment ensures that the state’s electoral votes will be cast. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment requiring the governor to call a special session for the appointment of presidential electors under certain cir cumstances.” PROPOSITION 7 (HJR 82) Proposition 7 would amend the constitu tion to authorize the Veterans’ Land Board to issue and sell up to $500 mil lion of additional general obligation bonds to finance additional home mort gage loans to veterans. Additionally, the proposed amendment would authorize the Veterans’ Land Board to use assets from the land and housing assistance funds to create, operate, and improve vet erans’ cemeteries. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the Veterans’ Land Board to issue up to $500 million in general obligation bonds payable from the general revenues of the state for vet erans’ housing assistance and to use assets in certain veterans’ land and veter ans’ housing assistance funds to provide for veterans cemeteries.” PROPOSITION 8 (HJR 97) Proposition 8 would amend the constitu tion to allow the legislature to authorize the Texas Public Finance Authority to issue and sell up to $850 million of gen eral obligation bonds. The proceeds of the sale of the bonds would pay for con struction and repair projects or for the purchase of needed equipment by the General Services Commission, the Texas Youth Commission, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, the Parks and Wildlife Department, the adjutant gener al’s department, the Texas School for the Deaf, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Public Safety, the State Preservation Board, the Texas Department of Health, the Texas Historical Commission, or the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the issuance of up to $850 million in bonds payable from the general revenues of the state for con struction and repair projects and for the purchase of needed equipment.” PROPOSITION 9 (HJR 47) Proposition 9 would amend the constitu tion to authorize the legislature to pro vide for filling vacancies in the legisla ture without an election if only one per son is a qualified candidate in the elec tion to fill the vacancy. Under current law, a special election must be held to fill a vacancy in the legislature even if there is only one qualified candidate. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the filling of a vacancy in the legislature without an election if a candidate is running unop posed in an election to fill a vacancy.” PROPOSITION 10 (SJR 6) Proposition 10 would amend the consti tution to authorize the legislature to exempt certain items of personal proper ty from property taxation by political subdivisions of the state if the property is warehoused temporarily in a location in Texas to be assembled, stored, manufac tured, processed, fabricated, or repaired and then forwarded to another location inside or outside Texas. The proposed amendment would authorize a political subdivision that imposes ad valorem taxes, at its option, to tax this type of property after a local public hearing on the matter. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: "The constitutional amendment to promote equal tax treat ment for products produced, acquired, and distributed in the State of Texas by authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation tangible per sonal property held at certain locations only temporarily for assembling, manu facturing, processing, or other commer cial purposes.” PROPOSITION 11 (HJR 85) Proposition 11 would amend the consti tution to allow a schoolteacher, a retired schoolteacher, or a retired school admin istrator who serves as a member of a gov erning body of a school district, city, town, or other local governmental dis trict, including a water district, to receive compensation for serving on such a gov erning body. Currently, state employees or other individuals who are compensat ed directly or indirectly from state funds are barred from receiving a salary for such service. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment to allow current and retired public school teachers and retired public school administrators to receive compen sation for serving on the governing bod ies of school districts, cities, towns, or other local governmental districts, including water districts.” PROPOSITION 12 (HJR 75) Proposition 12 would amend, repeal, or relocate several sections of the current constitution to improve the clarity, organization, and consistency of the constitution. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment to eliminate obsolete, archa ic, redundant, and unnecessary provi sions and to clarify, update, and harmo nize certain provisions of the Texas Constitution.” PROPOSITION 13 (SJR 2) Proposition 13 would amend the consti tution to allow the legislature to author ize a board of trustees of an independent school district to donate real property and improvements formerly used as a school campus in order to preserve that proper ty. The board may make the donation if the board determines that the property has historical significance, that the dona tion will help to preserve the property, and that the school district no longer needs the property for educational pur poses. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to authorize the board of trustees of an inde pendent school district to donate certain surplus district property of historical sig nificance in order to preserve the proper ty.” PROPOSITION 14 (HJR 44) Proposition 14 would amend the consti tution to allow the legislature to author ize a taxing unit, other than a school dis trict, to exempt travel trailers from prop erty taxation as long as the travel trailers are lawfully registered with the state and are not held or used for the production of income. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to authorize taxing units other than school districts to exempt from ad valorem tax ation travel trailers that are not held or used for the production of income.” PROPOSITION 15 (SJR 16) Proposition 15 would amend the consti tution to create the Texas Mobility Fund, which would be administered by the Texas Transportation Commission. The Fund would finance the construction, acquisition, and expansion of state high ways and would pay a portion of the costs of public toll roads and other public transportation projects. The legislature may reserve specific sources of state rev enue for the Fund and may authorize the Commission to guarantee the payment of any obligations or credit agreements with the full faith and credit of the state. The attorney general shall determine the legality of any such obligations or credit agreements. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment creating the Texas Mobility Fund and authorizing grants and loans of money and issuance of obligations for financing the construction, reconstruc tion, acquisition, operation, and expan sion of state highways, turnpikes, toll roads, toll bridges, and other mobility projects.” PROPOSITION 16 (HJR 5) Proposition 16 would amend the consti tution to reduce the waiting period required for a valid home improvement lien on a homestead from 12 days to 5 days. Currently, a lien may not attach to a homestead for a home improvement loan if the homeowner executed a con tract for the improvements less than 12 days after applying for the loan. In addi tion, the proposed amendment would authorize the conversion and refinance of a personal property lien secured biy a manufactured home to a lien on a hd]me- stead. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutipnal amendment prescribing requirement^ for imposing a lien for work and material used in the construction, repair, or reno vation of improvements on residential homestead property and including/the conversion and refinance of a personal property lien secured by a manufactured home to a lien on real property as a debt on homestead property protected frofri a forced sale.” PROPOSITION 17 j (HJR 53) in" ni f *1 Proposition 17 would amend the consti tution to allow the state to relinquish claim to certain state land and to dear title defects for persons who claim title to those lands. The proposed amendment would apply to land whose owners have disputed title to the land, but for which no patent from the state, giving clear Jitle to the land, was ever issued. Ampng pther requirements, all of the taxes due on the land must have been paid. Under current law, there is no procedure allow ing the state to settle title disputes With out a constitutional amendment for each piece of land in dispute. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to settle land title disputes between the state and a private party.” PROPOSITION 18 (SJR 49) Proposition 18 would amend the consti tution to authorize the legislature to cre ate a program to consolidate and stan dardize the collection, deposit, reporting, and payment of criminal and civil court fees. If the legislature creates such a pro gram, any new fees imposed by the legis lature may not take effect before January 1 of the following year, unless an earlier effective date is approved by a vote of two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment to promote uniformity in the collection, deposit, reporting, and remit ting of civil and criminal fees.” PROPOSITION 19 (HJR 81) Proposition 19 would amend the consti tution to allow the Texas Water Development Board to issue up to $2 bil lion of additional general obligation bonds. The Board issues bonds to pay for water supply projects, water quality enhancement projects, flood control proj ects, state participation in water and wastewater facilities, and projects ■ for economically distressed areas. Current law limits the amount of bonds that the Board can issue. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of additional general obligation bonds by the Texas Water Development Board in an amount not to exceed $2 billion.”^ '* Estos son los informes explanatonos sobre las enmiendas propuestats a!' la contitutidn que aparecerdn en la bolet^ el 6 de noviembre de 2001. Si usted noiha recibido una copia de los informes' in espafiol, podrd obetener una gratis jjor llama al 1/800/252/8683 or por escribii; al Secretario de Estado, P.O. Box 12060, Austin, TX 78711. it » PUBLISHED BY SECRETARY OF STATE HENRY CUELLAR, Ph.D. j