The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 24, 1980 Page: 5 of 16
sixteen pages : ill. ; page 20 x 14 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
ELECTION SPECIAL
Thresher again endorses
Colbert for Texas House
When a special election was held
last February to nil the position of
state representative, District 80,
vacated by City Councilman
Lance Lalor, the Thresher
endorsed candidate Paul Colbert.
Colbert outpolled six other
Democrats but lost the run-off
election by 162 votes to the only
Democrat Paul Colbert
Republican candidate. For the
May 3rd Democratic primary, the
Thresher again endorses Colbert.
Colbert, '30, originally from
Minnesota, graduated with honors
from the University of Houston,
receiving a BA in political science.
After working as a market
researcher and sales analyst for a
number of firms, Colbert became a
legislative assistant in Austin.
Three years later, in 1976, he was
named as director of the Senate
Education Committee and gained
the reputation of an intelligent and
dedicated statesman.
"Experience may not sound like
much," noted Colbert in a
Thresher interview last Monday.
"But if you plan to get things
accomplished you're going to have
to know who to talk to. You never
convince someone by pointing a
finger at them and telling them that
they're wrong , they're stupid, or
they're corrupt. You convince
people by showing them how what
you want to do is consistent with
the values they hold and with the
people they represent. And in
order to do this, you've got to
know something about those
values, and about those people.
That's where my experience will
come in."
Colbert believes that the main
problem facing the Texas
Legislature is trying to improve the
quality of public education. He
feels that the legislators in Austin
have continued to side-kick this
controversial issue.
Explained Colbert, "Providing
quality public education takes up
over half of the state budget, yet we
consistently pass our school
finance bills on the last day of the
sessions, usually in the evening.
That means that a lot of the time
we're not giving adequate
deliberation to whether or not
we're treating things adequately,
whether or no the money is being
used wisely, and whether or not the
resources are being distributed
fairly. The face is—they're not."
Colbert has had personal
experience in the area in which
Rice students are very familiar—
flooding. A few years ago, he had
to climb out of his car window as
9- the flood waters of Houston
seaped into the front seat of his car.
Since then, the candidate has
proposed a complex yet effective,
regional flood prevention plan
encompassing Harris and
surrounding counties that he
hopes will be implemented.
"It does Harris County no good
to try to improve the situaiton if
flood waters flow downstream
from Montgomery or Fort Bend
County, where no flood control
plan exists," said Colbert.
Unlike many politicians,
Colbert avoids general statements
and instead chooses to defend his
viewpoint with precise facts and
figures. He is probably the most
articulate candidate, if not the
most intelligent.
Colbert, listed fifth on the
ballot, will be facing seven less
qualified Democratic candidates
on May 3. He has already received
other endorsements from the
Houston Chronicle, the Texas
State Teachers Association and
the Rice Democratic Caucus.
^wiss Haus
Unique Sandwiches
Note New Hours!
OPEN
Mon-Fri 8 am-8 pm
Sat 8 am-4 pm
Greetings to our old Friends, and
to our prospective customers.
Get acquainted and try our
Specialties of the Haus.
French Dip
2438 Rice Blvd.
522-5647
We hope to serve you soon!
CO |
"D
CO If
<51
toi
CO
o
c
XI
CO
Smaller races also up for grabs
Rice students voting at Precinct
361 (Hammon Hall) will vote on
smaller state and county races as
well as the presidential ones.
Included are the race for state
senator, state representative,
county commissioner, and district
associate justices.
V.L. Briscoe and Mike Richards
are the Republican candidates for
District 7 state senator. Briscoe is a
55 year old engineer who has
served as the chairman of the Sims
Bayor Flood Controll Committee.
Richards, 42, is a financial
consultant and a radio
commentator. On the Democratic
side, candidate Gene Jones is
unopposed.
Seven candidates will battle to
be the Democratic nominee for
state representative in District 80.
They include insurance agent Ray
Lemmon, 54, law professor John
Jay Douglas, 58, teacher Janet
Warner Fisher, 50, lawyer Patty
Bass, 28, legislative researcher
Paul Colbert, 30, and Morgan
Dean Allen. Republican Dan
Downey will run unopposed.
Both party candidates for
county commissioner are also
running uncontested. They are
Democrat Tom Bass and
Republican John "Doc" Miller.
Democrat Fred Darley and
Republican John B. Holmes, Jr.
face no other challengers in their
bids for District Attorney.
There will be six races for
positions on the Texas Supreme
Court, three races for judgeships
on the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals, and twenty races for state
district judgeships.
Copies of the Voter's Guide with
more information about all the
election races, published by the
League of Women Voters, will be
available in the reserve room of
Fondren Library.
Texas' 'beauty contest'
Those voters wishing to sign a
petition to place a minority party
candidate on the ballot in the
General Election should not vote
in either party primary.
When the polls close at seven in
the evening, each party will form a
precinct convention usually held at
the polling places. Delegates will
be nominated from each precinct
to attend the district conventions
on May 10. Delegates for the
national conventions held this
summer will be elected from state
delegates nominated within their
district. The state conventions are
scheduled for June 20 and 21.
If a candidate fails to receive a
majority of votes, a run-off
primary involving the top two
candidates will be held on Sunday,
June 7.
Unlike other state primaries, the
Texas presidential primary will not
determine the number of delegates
won by the presidential candidates
for the national convention.
Because of the walk out by the
"Killer Bees" in the Texas
Legislature last fall which
prevented a change in the state
party primary code, the May 3
results will act only as a straw vote.
Delegates at the state convention
will not be obligated to follow the
straw vote in selecting the number
of delegates for each presidential
candidate.
PROBLEM PREGNANCY?
Are you considering
Abortion?
Free pregnancy testing and referrals
Call
(713) 524-0548
2712 Southwest Freeway Houston, Tx.
Abortion?
(713) 524-0548
LSAT
and
GMAT
Amity
Review Seminars
15 student average class size
Team teaching technique
Convenient weekend classes
EXCLUSIVE MATH REFRESHER
800-243-4767
SUMMER HOURS
SOCIAL HOURS HAPPY HOUR
Mon-Thurs 4 pm-2 am Mon-Thurs 4 pm-7 pm
Fri
Sat
11:30 am-2 am Fri
5 pm-2 am
1:30 pm-7 pm
LUNCH
Mon-Fri 11:30-1:15
CLOSED SUNDAY
The Rice Thresher, April 24, 1980, page 5
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Muller, Matthew. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 24, 1980, newspaper, April 24, 1980; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245440/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.