Nation IN BRIEF : TEXAS : Board of Education Keeps Tobacco Stock
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
The Texas Board of Education voted to keep tobacco stocks despite protests that owning the shares sends conflicting signals to schoolchildren. The board rejected on a vote of 8 to 6 a proposal to divest 1.5 million shares of Philip Morris Cos. stock, worth at least $94 million, from the Permanent School Fund. “If you go through our portfolio I guarantee you’ll find a substantial number of stocks that someone will object to,” said board member Bob Akin of Commerce, Tex., who had quit smoking after 20 years.
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