Page 2THE BATTALION

College Station, Texas Tuesday, September 18, 1973 Gives Right to Private ActionCADET SLOUCH New Law Allows Easy Court Acces

‘Here he comes again to kiss his date!”

By Brad BryantAfter a history of poor protec­

tive consumer legislation, Texas finally has an effective and workable act of legislation cited as the Deceptive Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act. Passed May 21 of this year, the act gives the public consumer easier access to the courts and specifies more illegal deceptive trade practices than have been listed in the past. Among the newly defined illegal deceptive practices are odometer roll-backs, chain-referral sales, misleading warranties, and selling participa- tion in a multi-level, pyramid sales plan.

The most important allowance in the act is the right of private action for damages suffered as a result of false, misleading, or deceptive acts on practices, and providing a class action possibil­ity for similar damages. In order to keep businesses out of decep­tive practices, the act provides that a prevailing consumer in a private action may recover three times the damages plus attorneys fees. However, to prevent un­founded court actions, the court may award reasonable attorneys fees to the business defendant plus the court costs.

The importance of this act to students is that it gives students some bargaining in handling con­sumer complaints. Whereas be­fore, individuals virtually posed

no threat to businesses, individ­uals can now bring court action against deceptive trade practices and collect damages threefold plus court costs.

Court action is not necessarily the recommended immediate course of action. The new act provides student groups enough bargaining power and reasons to negotiate on a low level of con­flict. The Business Relations Committee of the Senate is work­ing to set up a complaint han­

dling procedure by which com­plaints can be negotiated through student and business cooperation.

When asked if negotiation fails, the chairman of the committee, Brad Bryant, replied that the committee works also as a refer­ral service, separating various complaints and referring them to various agencies and the attor­ney General’s office. He also added that the committee has vowed to stick to each complaint until their resolution. Curt Hen­

derson, a committee member, agreed with Mr. Balmain of the Brazos County Better Business Bureau that consumers, too, are unfaithful and sometimes try to deceive businessmen. This also must stop.

and Henderson passage of the

^ Both Bryant agreed that the 'Deceptive Trade Practices Act will enable them and the Busi­ness Relations Committee to work with more negotiative ability in

resolving both student anil^ ness complaints.

If you have a complaint ij, area and, in some cases, town businesses, you may cos these Business Relations [, mittee members: Bryant, 3674, Carol Silverthome, j 7171, Henderson, 845-2982, J Keltner, 845-3481.

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Listen Up—

Campus Laundry Takes Annual Fall

Classroom MannersOn a campus that once featured excellent student-pro­

fessor relations, a bad situation seems to be developing. In more than one instance this semester profs have screamed at students, and there have been many occasions that irrita­bility was shown and general rudeness was the rule. This situation is worse for the fact that some profs may threaten to throw a student out for showing well-deserved resent­ment.

The attitude of professor infallibility in the classroom is ine frequently held by students, especially those who sel­dom meet the instructor on a one-to-one basis. Students de­serve respect as human beings, if for nothing else. There is no more excuse for rudeness in the classrooms than on the street. Everyone has times of anger at work, but to direct irritability at someone who doesn’t know how to fight back is to be a bully.

There are also profs that expect agreement on every issue. Students that disagree are often subjected to being told they know nothing about the subject, or that “this is their classroom and if the prof says it is true it is true.” There is no excuse for an educator who stops educating and starts ruling.

Another bad aspect of this is that it hurts the learn­ing process. A student who fears an outburst or dislikes the prof’s manner will have a hard time learning in the classroom. After all, this campus is for the benefit of the student, not the prof. Students certainly are adults in the eyes of the law and should receive the respect that professors reserve for each other.

—Julia Jones

UCB Now RealityPresident Jack Williams announced Monday to numer­

ous campus leaders that the advisory committee helping to govern the New University Center will now be called the University Center Board, as suggested by the Battalion (Re: Input Problems Repeats, Sept. 11).

The Board will work closely with Chuck Cargill, center director, so that students, faculty and outside interest groups will get a fair shake. Though, the bulk of the change is in the name, that in itself will make it a more effective body and one to be looked to for important and effective problem consideration.

Editor:As a female transfer student

living on campus, I have found little here to complain about, but there is one institution that bor­ders on absurdity—the outdated laundry.

When I was issued my laundry ticket, I looked for items that ap­plied to me on the list. What did I find instead ? Shirts, slacks, jackets, socks, gym shirts, gym pants—almost identical to the male students list.

Since females are now an es­tablished and, hopefully, welcome addition to the campus, it seems that the laundry system should meet our needs.

Here are just a few examples of conflicts with the laundry:

I sent a pair of cut-offs to be washed, and I was informed that they must be listed as “gym pants” unless I wanted to pay an extra fee.

My suitemate was returned cer­tain lingerie items recently, and on her ticket lingerie was marked out and replaced with drawers. Really now!

I also asked about procedures for laundering dresses and skirts, (since there is no place for either on our tickets.) We must pay to have dresses laundered by a sys­tem we have already paid dearly

for. Now that washing machines are provided by the dorm, we could be washing for 50^ a week instead of including laundry cost on our room and board plan.

The number of clothing items we are allowed to send in per week is ridiculous also. Who wants to wear only two pairs of slacks dur­ing a seven-day span?

Please let there soon come to the laundry the realization that male and female clothing is not the same. The rest of the campus population seems to recognize this fact already. Catch up laundry!

Velesa Lewis ’76

might try to make our university more unique by requiring that all students ride a horse to class or dismissing school for a month after every winning football game. The question is not just whether refusing to develop a fine arts program will help preserve our “uniqueness,” but how such a development relates to the over­all goal of providing a better edu­cational opportunity for students.

The laundry fee for women is $10 less than for men, in consid­eration of differences in clothing. Lingerie and delicates should be washed by the owner as a result. The University Laundry Commit­tee has not been named, but will have adequate student voice to help you. Appointments should be made before Oct. 1. —Ed.

★ ★ ★Editor:

Curt Marsh is out of sympathy with the proposal to begin a fine arts program at TAMU because it would jeopardize our “unique­ness” and make us “just another big university.” If uniqueness were a good thing in itself, we

Mr. Marsh realizes this and in fact argues that introducing a fine arts program will dilute our financial resources and “make A&M just another big university that does a good job at nearly everything but with excellence in nothing.” I suppose this could be right and that a fine arts program could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and causes all of our programs to degenerate to a level of mediocrity. But some­how this seems unlikely, and I presume President Williams also thinks it is unlikely. It is a mark of a great university that it is not simply good in one or two or three areas but gives students as many opportunities for growth as possible.

students and faculty to pi their interests in the arts, 1) university does not provide! opportunities they simply4 exist. Unless we want to i4s “uniqueness” with a kind of ficially induced narrownesi think we should do all we® encourage the administrate plans to develop a fine arti) gram.

Ed Harris Department of Philost|

★ ★ ★Editor:

This letter is in reference: situation that is apparent to as a student at A&M; thei sional antagonism betweent)« vilians and the corps mem!«

Such a conflict is unneccs and works only to the detiii of the student body as a li

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It is a shame that A&M,i , standingly known for its p I BATTj fellowship and tolerance ii | - scene of this sort of pettyi mosity.

We are not located in the cen­ter of a metropolitan area which provides ample opportunity for

Therefore, I suggest that student body should attemp become more unified with another.

Susan

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Cbe BattalionOpinions expressed in The Battalion are those of The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is

th‘ 'd“" “I th' •ri,‘r °! ,he. ""ck and arc notnecessarily those of the University administration or May, and once a week during summer school.the Board of Directors. The Battalion is a non-profit, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------—self-supporting enterprise operated by students as a MEMBERUniversity and Community newspaper. The Associated Press, Texas Press Association

letters policy “"7 T T~ UTT 7 77 7 ;T , ,i i „ j j Mal1 subscriptions are $3.60 per semester; $6 per schoolLetteTS to the editor should not exceed 300 words year; $6.50 per full year. All subscriptions subject to 5%and are subject to being cut to that length or less if sales tax. Advertising rate furnished on request. Address:longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit Sexas®^^0"' R°0m 217’ SerViCe3 BuiIdin{r’ ColleKe Station’such letters and does not guarantee to publish any ___________________________________________________________________letter. Each letter must be signed and show the address The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use forof the writer. reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it or not

, ’_____._____, . T. . Tr, _ .. otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneousAddress correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, origin published herein. Right of reproduction of all otherRoom 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas matter herein are also reserved.77843 Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas.

Members of the Student Publications Board are: ................................................ MIKE RICELindsey, chairman ; Dr. Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr. Managing Editor ........................................................... Rod SpeerH. K Hierth, W. C. Harrison, J. W. Griffith, L. E. Kruse and News Editor .............................................................. T. C. GallucciB. b. Sears.______________________________________________________ Women’s Editor......................................................Louie Holzem

Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising Sports Editor ....— ................................................ Kevin CoffeyServices, Inc, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Ass’t. Sports Editor .............................................. Ted Boriskie

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