Business Notes RAIDERS

Time was when T. Boone Pickens was the toast of Texas, a relentless raider who could outwit all those corporate bigwigs back East. Lately, though, Pickens' lone star seems to have fallen. His efforts to take over Homestake Mining, a leading gold producer, and KN Energy, a natural-gas company, have fizzled. Because of the continuing slump in the oil patch, profits at his Mesa Limited Partnership have dropped from $70.6 million in 1986 to $31.9 million in 1987, a performance so poor that Pickens has had to borrow money to pay dividends.

On top of all that, Pickens has upset many folks in Amarillo, where he has long been a local hero. The controversy stems from his role as chairman of the board of regents of West Texas State University, near Amarillo. In an effort to put the school on a business footing, Pickens has overseen the removal of 19% of the faculty since 1984 and the closing of such departments as anthropology and industrial education.

Faculty members and students who oppose the cutbacks have mounted a drive to oust the school's president, Ed Roach, whose appointment was pushed by Pickens. If that fails, Pickens' critics plan to make his heavy-handed treatment of the school an issue in this year's state elections. Pickens dismisses his antagonists as a "few noisy malcontents." Says he: "We're only trying to create a quality school to keep our top-notch young people in the Panhandle."