The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 13, Ed. 1 Monday, September 29, 1975 Page: 2 of 8
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editorial
October 3 is the deadline for
registering to vote in the November 4
general election. The election this year,
running against the usual pattern,
offers voters some important choices.
The mayoral election pits incumbent
Fred Hofheinz against former
television personality Dick Gottlieb
and law-and-order supporter Frank
Briscoe. Voters will also be called upon
to approve the proposed new state
constitution.
Students who have not yet registered
may do so by clipping and filling in the
form at right. The Rice campus
precinct is 361; other precinct numbers
may be obtained from the county tax
assessor's office. The forms should be
returned to Carl Smith, Harris County
Tax Assessor-Collector, 301 San
Jacinto, Houston, Texas 77002.
Do it today.
A new constitution for
Certificate Number
(for Officii) Use only)
VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICATION
Application Number
(for Official use only)
Mail or deliver 10 Tax Amur-Collector of county of residence after completint every
blank. Deliver on or before October 3,1975 for November 4.1975 election.
TYPE OR PRINT IN INK
If naturalized,
court or its
Social
Sacurity
No.
SEX
(M/F)
Last name
First name (do not use husband's first name)
registered Name of County
in another
Texas
County
Phone #
Middle name
Residence Address in County
Maiden surname if married woman
City
Zip
City
or County
Birth
Place
PERMANENT RESIDENCE ADDRESS
I certify that the applicant is 18 years of age or over,
is a citizen of the United States, has met all letal re-
quirements, and holds l«|al residence in this county.
I understand that the giving of false information to
procure the registration of a voter is a felony.
or Foreign Country
Street A apt # or route # or location (not P.O Box)
On Active Military Service
City
Zip
SIGNATURE OF VOTER/AGENT
MAILING ADDRESS IF DIFFERENT FROM ABOVE
Enrolled as a Student in a School. College or University
Street or P O Box
Occupation
Agent must be a registered voter and must be
only: (Circle one applicable)
City
The disclosure of social security number is voluntary only, is solicited by authority
of Section 45b, Texas Election Code, and will be used only by election officials to
maintain the accuracy and integrity of the registration records.
Husband-Wife-Mother-Father-Son-Daughter
Slate
Zip
Month
Day
Year
'Grab-bag' Article X contains miscellaneous provisions
by TED ANDREWS
Article X (Proposition 7 on
the November ballot) of the
proposed state constitution is
almost completely worthless.
It is a grab-bag of miscel-
laneous provisions which the
state legislature (acting on
behalf of the common people of
the great state of Texas and
"invoking the blessings of
almighty God") did not have
the nerve to put elsewehere.
A constitution, as it's
generally thought of in the
United States, creates a
limited government. Consti-
tutions are characterized as
"pure" or "impure" on the
basis of whether the contain
unnecessary provisions. The
most common form of
impurity is found when a
document contains provisions
constricting the ordinary
policy-making powers of a
government. These include
such mundane items as debt
limits, tax limits, specific
governmental policies such as
community property, restric-
tions on gambling, and
prohibitions on branch
banking.
These limitations, one might
ask, limit the power of a
government, so why should
one become upset? The answer
is that there are two sorts of
limitations: one type guaran-
tees the individual's civil
rights and protects against
arbitrary government, while
the other, indicating a basic
distrust of representative
government, puts shackles on
day-to-day government
operation. But if we are going
to go to the trouble of electing
people to represent us, we
might as well trust their
judgment, one might assert.
Why, for example, should the
government mandate a
community property system?
Once a constitution gets into
the habit of including these
special limitations, it gets
hooked. It begins to place
future governments in a
straitjacket.
Article X begins with the
oath of office which state and
local officials must take, and
it's straight downhill from
there. The oath itself is rather
curious, since it contains the
statement "I furthermore
solemnly swear (or affirm)
that I have not directly or
indirectly paid, offered, or
promised to pay, contributed
or promised to contribute any
money or any valuable thing
(such as my soul—TA), or
promised any public office or
employment, as a reward for
the securing of this office, so
help me God." The first few
sections of the proposed new
article concern public officials
and their place of residence.
The state is committed to
protecting the quality of the
environment of the State of
Texas. "The legislature by law
shall implement and enforce
this policy." Section 8 of the
article gives a detailed
description of how the state
will do this; however, "No
state fund established for
purposes of water develop-
ment, transmission, transfer
or filtration may be used to
finance a project that
contemplates or results in
removing surface water from
the river basis of origin if the
surface water is necessary to
supply the reasonably
foreseeable water require-
ments of the region for the
ensuing 50 years." Section 9
defines the meaning of the
noun 'beach' for the voter:
"beach means the land on the
seaward shore of the Gulf of
Mexico, whether island or
mainland, that extends
inland from the line of mean
low tide to the natural line of
vegetation or the larger
contiguous area to which the
public has a right of use...since
time immemorial."
Section 11 defines the
community property rights of
the married. Section 12 is a lot
longer and a lot more boring
than Section 11, going on and
on about the Homestead. The
point of the section is that a
homestead may not be taken
in order to pay for a debt.
Garnishment of wages and
forced sale of certain personal
property is also prohibited by
the legislature.
The rest of Article X
concerns practitioners of
medicine; lotteries and gift
enterprises; liens of mechanics,
artisans, and materialmen;
retirement benefits for public
employees; regulation of
interest and lending; e<fhal
treatment of the handicapped;
and access to health care.
This is the fifth in a series of
articles describing the new
state constitution, to be
approved in sections by voters
in November. Articles in
future issues will examine the
remaining sections of the new
charter.
The SA has announced that it has received
notice on several conferences which could be of
interest to the university community.
The conferences include (besides the 1st
Annual Dance Marathon for the Texas
Association of Retarded Citizens to be held on
November 22) the 2nd Annual National
Conference on Student Legal Rights, October
17-19 at the University of the Pacific in San
Francisco; the Texas Public Hearing on
Financial Aid on October 11-12 at St. Mary's
University in San Antonio; the JFifth Annual
Spindletop Invitational Forensics Tournament
and Festival, October 30-November 1 at Lamar
University in Beaumont; and the Southwestern
Life Insurance Leadership Conference in late
October in Dallas.
The SA has some money available to sponsor
people who might be willing to attend one of the
conferences. Those interested should apply by
5pm October 6 by either calling extension 320 or
coming by the SA office on the second floor of
the RMC.
H&crs o*T
C&TDMEUA
-TUtH KEXOttT
UK6 AUWT
thres
m
GARY BREWTON
Editor
JANET DOTY
Business Manager
Jim Carroll Advertising Manager
Cathy Egan Assistant
Business Manager
Bill Studabaker... Production Manager
Bill Leach Circulation Manager
The
Indelible
the rice thresher, monday, September 29, 1975 — page 2
Nancy Taubenslag..Managing Editor
Philip Parker Sports Editor
.Ted Andrews News Editor
Debbie Davies Associate Editor
Wiley Sanders ... Photography Editor
Elaine Bonilla Fine Arts Editor
Mark Linimon Back Page Editor
Editorial Staff: Carla McFarland, Dale Baker, David Butler, Larry Fossi, Tom
Brown, Marc Lieberman, Forest Davenport, Hannes Vogel, Lee Sowers, John
Anderson, Clint Carlson.
Fine Arts Staff: Karla Painter, Paul Alley, Fritz Morsches.
Sports Staff: Joel Slade, Debbie Osterman.
Photography Staff: Richard Jensen, Robert Dougherty, Tim Bishop,
Barbara Ladner.
Production Staff: Dale Baker, Susan Bechtel, Cynthia Smith, David White, Betsy
Bergtholdt, David Butler, Donna Boyce, Stephanie Shine, Marc Hairston, Irene
Fuentez, Susan Baker, Michael Schmelzle, Kathy Collmer.
Business Staff: Mary Craig, Jim Davis, Rosine Wilson.
Austin Bureau: Emily Coffman, Steve Jackson>
The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper at Rice University since 1916,
is published semi-weekly on Mondays and Thursdays during, the school year,
except during examination periods and holidays, by the students of Rice
University, 528-4141 ext 221. Advertising information is available on request, 528-
4141 ext 356. Mail subscription rate, $10 per year. The opinions expressed herein are
not necessarily those of anyone except the writer.
Obviously.
' Copyright 1975, The Rice Thresher. All rights reserved.
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Brewton, Gary. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 13, Ed. 1 Monday, September 29, 1975, newspaper, September 29, 1975; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245253/m1/2/: accessed July 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.