lre e outs, ver ing foil] 1 backing e refuted allegations made ||it the Texas Maritime Acad- tny training ship at Galveston pwo professors previously noti- | they were not being re- ppointed to faculty positions. A&M President Jack K. Wil- |s announced the Coast Guard |ings Tuesday after receiving copy of a six-page letter writ- en by Capt. J. F. Mundy Jr. of lew Orleans, chief of the Mer- Correction Ci ■he Battalion erroneously re- brted Monday that fee slips and cards would be required of [lents voting in Thursday’s off elections. Fee slips and Ivity cards are required. chant Marine Safety Division for the Eighth Coast Guard District. Dr. Williams said the Coast Guard is the official agency charged with the responsibility for inspecting vessels licensed in the United States. “The vessel (the “Texas Clip per”) is considered seaworthy,” Captain Mundy emphasized in the concluding sentence of the de tailed letter to Dr. William H. Clayton. Clayton, dean of TAMU’s Col lege of Marine Sciences and Mari time Resources and acting TMA superintendent, formally request ed a Coast Guard inspection of the 15,000-ton vessel following allegations by Paul Dempsey and J. G. San Martin. A document prepared by the two faculty members questioned the stability of the “Texas Clip per,” in addition to alleging san itation provisions and improper preparation of food. “There is absolutely no cause for concern about the Texas Clip per’s stability,” the Coast Guard officer stated. The Coast Guard investigation also determined there was no basis for the two men’s charges about lighting, ventilation, sani tation, food preparation or any other major allegations. “I would be glad to furnish any interested person a full text of the Coast Guard letter,” Dr. Wil liams said, “and I hope the letter will put to rest the unfounded allegations made by these two disgruntled persons.” IT’S A BRICK, and the object of a fast and furious hunt in three feet of mud and water. There was nothing- special about the brick; it was just part of a contest conducted as part of Civilian Week. Kendra Ward, with the brick, won third place. (Photo by Robert Williams) Martin issues opinion Legislators can’t hire others’ relatives toard moves ahead on plans or marine agriculture center sJ The A&M System Board of Di- rtors moved ahead Tuesday h plans to establish the state’s rst agricultural research and ex- msion center with marine hphasis. The facility will be lea ted at Corpus Christi. A $17,000 appropriation was (proved for detailed design of e new center, supplementing a evious appropriation of $14,- o. University officials noted the :ility represents an expansion TAMU’s highly successful con cept of building agricultural re search and extension centers at key locations throughout the state, specializing in programs unique to each particular area. The Corpus Christi facility will be jointly operated by the exper iment stations and extension serv ices of the Colleges of Agriculture and Engineering. Programs planned for the cen ter include agricultural studies, along with research in maricul- ture and aquatic foods and engi neering activities related to coast al problems. AUSTIN UP) — Atty. Gen. Crawford Martin issued a legal opinion saying Texas’ nepotism laws prohibit a member of one house of the Legislature from hiring a relative of a member of the other chamber. Martin’s opinion went to Speaker Rayford Price, whose wife at one time served as a secretary to former Sen. Jim Wade of Dallas in 1967. For years, the chief clerk of the House and the secretary of the Senate have interpreted the nepotism law as allowing law makers’ relatives to hold legisla tive jobs so long as they were not in the same chamber as their kin. The Houston Chronicle ran a survwy last week that showed at lease 75 relatives of 45 present lawmakers have been on legis lative payrolls at intervals since 1967. “The statute clearly prohibits a member of one house of the Legislature from hiring a rela tive ... of a member of either house of the Legislature when such employe is to be paid from public funds,” Martin’s opinion said. Martin also said the Speaker could not appoint a senator’s relative as an employe of the House itself, such as a clerk, page or assistant sergeant-at-arms. Shortly after Martin’s opinion was released, Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, the presiding officer of the Senate, said he had ordered each Senate employe to sign a statement indicating any kinship At Adult Library with legislators. “If any employe is related, he will be immediately dropped from the Senate payroll in order to comply with the attorney general opinion,” Senate secretary Charles Schnabel said. Sen. David Ratliff of Stam ford denied Tuesday that he in tentionally committed any mis deed in putting relatives on his legislative payroll and said he would resign if he thought the Senate would “be adversely af fected.” It was Ratliff’s first comment on newspaper stories that he had five relatives on his own Senate payroll and several more in the employ of other legislators. Barnes said in Abilene Monday that Ratliff should resign from the Senate. “I do not feel under the cir cumstances that I have, with any criminal intent, committed any wrongful act. However, under the present circumstances, I am considering the matter and will determine in the shortest time possible what action to take,” said Ratliff, a tall, silent West Texan who seldom does more than vote on bills before the Senate. “If I determine that the Texas Senate, a body in which I have served for 17 years, will be ad versely affected, I will resign. If, in retrospect, I find that I have committed illegal acts, I will take the proper steps to correct these wrongs. This will occur in the next few days.” Ratliff, who will be 60 on Thursday, was paired with an other senator by redistricting in 1971 and is unopposed for elec tion to the House this year. He gives his occupation as public re lations counselor. “The press in Texas has charged me in the newspapers with wrongdoing in the discharge of my office of state senator. My family has suffered much from these innuendos and accusations,” Ratliff said in a written state ment distributed by Schnabel. Ratliff did not meet with news men in person. Senate records show that Rat liff at various times employed his daughter, son-in-law, father-in- law, sister-in-law and grand nephew. XXX-rated entertainment available > .. ■ ^ V * ; ' . .* .. " I r -v IITCHELL HALL BITES THE DUST, though quite a bit slower than expected. De- nolition of the old dormitory started Tuesday and quite a bit more resistence was met rith than was suspected. The building was well constructed and age had not weakened nuch of it. The cleared site will be used to hold he new health center. (Photo by Mike lice) By LARRY MARSHALL Staff Writer Adult entertainment is readily available to Aggies now with the successful operation of the Adult Library Club on University Dr. at Northgate. The private club, which shows XXX-rated films daily, has been in operation about two and a half months. It now has about 1,400 members, the proprietor said. He asked that his name not be used in the story. Membership is open to all adults, 18 years old or older. The age requirement is set by the state law, and it is rigidly en forced. The dues are $1 per year to join and an entrance fee of $3 is charged for each show. “Right now we show double features continuously from 3 p. m. until 12 p. m. everyday. Each feature runs about one hour in length and is in color with sound, and all are highly-rated XXX movies,” he said. Because the club is private and enforces age restrictions, there have been no problems with the police, he declared. “We haven’t had any problems at all. Probably we will have the police coming around in the fu ture to check us out, but they haven’t yet,” the proprietor noted. The patrons of the club are well-behaved, he said. Everything goes along very well and no one causes any problems. Aggies are well-behaved here, he added. A wide section of society uses the club. “Usually our business is about 50 per cent community and 50 per cent students. Our busiest times are the weekends when a lot of students come in. Also, surprisingly, many women come with their husbands and dates,” the proprietor said. “Also very popular, are the Sunday and Monday night shows when we let women in free with an escort,” he noted. At the present time, the club does not handle any pictures or printed material. “We are getting ready to re model the place so we can handle other things. Right now we just do not have the facilities to do it,” he said. The club hopes to expand its services in the future. “Later on we are going to try to get some professors from universities to come in and talk about por nography,” the proprietor said. The business is owned by a corporation now, who the proprie tor said would remain nameless. All in all, business seems to be going very well at the new club, the proprietor said. Barzun to give Rudder Memorial Lectures A&M’s first Rudder Memorial Lectures Thursday through Sat urday will be a fitting tribute to the late TAMU president, Dr. Haskell Monroe, assistant vice president for academic affairs said. The three-part presentation on “American Illusions” will be de livered by Dr. Jacques Barzun, distinguished author and cultural historian who holds the presti gious position of University Pro fessor at Columbia. Dr. Monroe said the general public is invited to the admission- free presentations financed by the Association of Former Students and intended to provide an “added dimension” to the university’s academic and continuing educa tion programs. “We feel this series of lectures will be a rewarding experience for persons representing a broad sector of the university, as well as for people throughout the community,” Monroe pointed out. Dr. Barzun’s Thursday and Fri day talks will be at 8 p. m. in lecture hall 102 of the Zachry Engineering Center. The Satur day program has been changed to 10 a. m. at the same location. The opening talk by the emi nent scholar will deal with the illusion “That Casual Manners Allow Greater Individual Free dom.” He will continue the fol lowing evening with a discussion of the illusion “That the Modern World Suffers from an Excess of Reason and a Shortage of Feel ing” and conclude with the obser vations on the illusion “That the Increasing Concern for the Arts Will Make for a Better World.” The lecture series honors the memory of Gen. James Earl Rud der, TAMU president from 1959 until his death in 1970. University National Bank “On the side of Texas A&M.” —Adv.