Politics
jesday, November 6, 2001
THE BATTALION
Page 3B
duatii
wait for their
g ceremonies:
ion of the a.
ill, a senior;'
itizens urged to vote today
city council supports Proposition Nos. 2, 15
By Elizabeth Raines
THE BATTALION
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College Station City
ncil is urging residents of
I what sets County to vote for two
other school: pro ositions that will be includ-
Romeand: ed i today’s statewide election,
ing their AggierjBProposition No. 15 and
|position No. 2, both of which
"designed to further funding
Texas state roads, are being
have instant, '®ported by the Transportation
said. “That i'• e l' ence f° r the 21st Century
:ial aboutA4.i» x - 21 ) — a statewide coali-
don’thave" V c 'ties and counties to
jrove the level of roads in
Teas. The College Station City
Soincil belomis to TEX-21.
^ creates
B) additional funding meth
od for highways — the Texas
Mrbility Fund and the Toll
Act. The Texas
bility Fund will allow for
lids to be issued to supple-
ain thing tkBnt the current Texas
est is to builBghway “pay as you go”
skills, andgeiMthod. by allowing the Texas
re you can > Timsportation Commission to
issue bonds that will go into a
special account to help roads
to be built.
“Currently, only 36 percent
of the highways needed are
being built,” said Ron Silvia,
member of the council. “The
[Texas Department of
Transportation] needs funding.”
The second part of proposi
tion No. 15, the Toll Equity
Act, allows for toll roads to
built with a mixture of state tax
and toll revenue.
“The Toll Equity Act allows
the state to help by giving
money for the initial startup of
toll roads and toll revenue to fin
ish it,” Silvia said.
Proposition No. 2 provides
money for roads to be built in
colonias, which are residential
subdivisions outside the city
limits but not big enough to be
cities. Silvia said that typically
these colonias are impoverished
and do not have adequate roads.
”If we don’t do something
now then the situation the
roads will deteriorate even fur
ther,” Silvia said.
He said that Texas has
more than 800 colonias and
2,000 roads that need to be
built or fixed.
Kelley Cole, public commu
nications director for College
Station said new roads in colo
nias would provide access for
emergency medical services,
school buses, mail and other
necessary services.
We, as a city coun
cil, are giving our
support in hopes that
voters will vote 'yes'
—Ron Sylvia
CS city council member
College Station Mayor Lynn
Mcllaney said in a special edito
rial in The Bryan-CoIIege
Station Eagle that she joined the
TEX-21 two years ago when
Dell Computers announced that
it was going to ship 10,000 jobs
to Tennessee because Texas was
not committed to providing the
needed infrastructure.
Mcllhaney said that besides
having the roads built, the best
thing about propositions No. 2
and No. 15 is “that we can
have these roads now without
raising taxes.”
Silvia said that the road situ
ation has become critical
because 70 percent of traffic
generated by the North America
Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
runs through Texas.
“We need better highways
and more of them,” Silvia said.
“This may not solve the prob
lem, but it will sure help.”
Silvia said the city council
showed its support through a
resolution passed unanimously
at its Oct. 25 meeting.
“We, as a city council,
are giving our support in
hopes that voters will vote
‘yes,’ ” Silvia said.
ion,” NiedeJ _
Election affects Harris county
AUSTIN (AP) — Nineteen proposed
^H^^^Bistitutional amendments are on the
Tuesday. The challenge for state
,, ^■tc'm'ls is getting voters to the polls to
in on them.
Voter interest is typically low in a
tevvkle election when there are no people
lining for state office.
|"Every now and then we have some-
fng that will really put the numbers up
re" such as past propositions legaliz-
[g a state lottery or gambling on horse
Nt:o<THEBATTA. t | cm 8' Elizabeth Hanshaw Winn,
\egal division director for the Texas
Secretary of State’s Office.
S But no single issue on the Tuesday ballot
g Visattracled that level of attention.
Voter turnout statewide is projected to be
plow 10 percent. Early voting in the 15 most
populous counties was only 1.9 percent,
■cording to the Secretary of State’s Office.
I In Houston and Austin, where there
Jre mayoral races Tuesday, local can-
Sidates and issues could figure deci
sively in statewide balloting on the
proposed constitutional amendments.
Turnout in Harris County is expected to be
above 25 percent. Besides selecting a new
mayor, voters there are being asked about the
fate of light rail and whether the city of
Houston should be banned in the future from
deciding to offer health benefits to the same-
sex and domestic partners of city employees.
Proposed constitutional amendments
that have grabbed some attention include
a proposition that would authorize $175
million in bonds for building roads in
colonias along the Texas-Mexico border
and one that would create the Texas
Mobility Fund, which could lead to new
types of funding for road construction.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry has
campaigned for both proposals.
Perry cites the state’s population
growth and increased traffic because of
the North American Free Trade
Agreement as reasons to branch out from
the state’s traditional “pay-as-you-go”
method of building highways.
Proposition 8 would authorize $850 mil
lion for repairs and maintenance at 13 state
agencies, including the Texas Department
of Parks and Wildlife, which would put
some of the money toward restoration of
the San Jacinto Battleground.
Proposition 7 would allow the Veterans
Land Board to sell up to $500 million in
bonds to finance additional home mort
gage loans to veterans and to operate and
improve veterans’ cemeteries.
Some propositions are aimed at fixing a
local problem or providing a local tax break.
Case in point: Proposition 3.
It would authorize the Legislature to
exempt green coffee and raw cocoa
held in Harris County from property
taxes. This would allow the county to
qualify as an exchange port for coffee
by the New York Board of Trade.
With the voter turnout anticipated in
Houston, this amendment could be one of the
biggest vote-getters on the statewide ballot.
semester
When the I
es, fees anti
f clicking of J
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registration
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The Texas A&M University
Student Media Board
is accepting applications for
Editor •
The Battalion
— Including radio and online editions —
Spring 2002
(The spring editor will serve from Jan. 7 through May 10, 2002)
Qualifications for editor in chief of The Battalion are:
• Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and enrolled in at
least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student) during the term of office (unless fewer
credits are required to graduate);
• Have at least a 2.00 cumulative grade point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) and
at least a 2.00 grade point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) in the semester
immediately prior to the appointment, the semester of appointment and semester
during the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least six hours (4 if
a graduate student) must have been taken for that semester;
• Have completed JOUR 301 (Mass Communication, Law and Society), or equivalent;
• Have at least one year experience in a responsible editorial position on The
Battalion or comparable daily college newspaper,
-OR-
Have at least one year editorial experience on a commercial newspaper,
-OR-
Have completed at least 12 hours journalism, including JOUR 203 and 303 (Media
Writing I and II), and JOUR 304 (Editing for the Mass Media), or equivalent.
Application forms should be picked up and returned to Francia Cagle, Student
Media business coordinator, in room 014A Reed McDonald Building.
Deadline for submitting application: noon Monday, November 12, 2001.
Applicants will be interviewed during the Student Media Board Meeting
beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, November 16, in room 221F Reed McDonald.
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