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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1979)
he Battalion Friday, March 23, 1979 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 How valid was critical column? — A Texas A&M official re sponds to Jack Anderson’s col umn criticizing the treatment of women in the Corps of Cadets — and he doesn’t give Anderson much credibility. See page 3. Also see page 2 for comment on the story. — People injure and kill 40 per cent of the young birds of prey that die each year, and a Texan spends his own time and money to heal as many birds as he can. See page 10. — Is it just coincidence, or are you PSYCHIC? See page 6. Barron threatens move of Davis case to Bryan ‘Aaaaayyyyeee! ’ Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr. The position of yell leader at Texas A&M took a new shape Thursday night. Freshman Kim Man uel. an Army ROTC cadet in the W-l unit, was the first woman ever to be a Texas A&M yell leader. She was one of five freshmen “yell-leaders” at Thursday’s Elephant Bowl game. "jpuble with a capital T? — maybe ouse group hears A&M l H By LIZ NEWLIN Battalion Staff AUSTIN — Texas A&M University ex ited trouble in the House Appropria- ms Committee hearing Thursday. Trou- e about its use of the Permanent Univer- ty Fund. Rep Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, is long charged that the campus at Col- ge Station is not sharing fairly with the impus at Prairie View the System’s part the proceeds from the endowment. Three weeks ago, at a hearing of a sub- •mmittee of the House Higher Education ommittee, Texas A&M officials were se- ;rely questioned about the fund s distri- ation and possible neglect of Prairie iew. Thursday the “results” of that hearing - what the Higher Ed Committee rec- mmended to the Appropriations Com- littee — were available. The most signifi- mt change the committee made was add- ig about $6.5 million for new construc- on and renovation for Prairie View. These committees cannot significantly feet distribution of Permanent Univer- ty Fund (PUF) income, but Thompson as introduced legislation that would force ie System to give Prairie View the money r abolish the endowment altogether. The University of Texas and Texas A&M sterns split income from the PUF, which i a Constitutionally established endow- lent based on land holdings in West exas. The chief clerk of the Higher Ed Com- littee, George Torres, said Thursday that hoiipson has declined to schedule hear- agsln the bills. He also noted that legis- ators sometimes introduce legislation 'ever intending it should be passed. The dls^re statements of where they stand, «said. One of Thompson’s administrative aides explained Thursday in the Capitol that she is also waiting for the HEW to release its report on higher education in Texas. Thompson has suggested she knows the conclusion of the report, which was re searched last year, and that it may alter PUF distribution. But no one at Texas A&M knows for sure. Thompson, a member of the committee, directed most of her questions Thursday toward the PUF, but it is hard to predict the effect on other committee members. Her impact — or lack of it — will be one factor when the committee draws up the general appropriations bill for the House. Sometime in April that bill and a similar bill in the Senate will be debated, com promised and sent to the governor, proba bly in May. Thursday was the last official chance for the 11-part Texas A&M System to justify its requests for money. Clyde H. Well, chairman of the Board of Regents and acting chancellor, directed the presentation. Much of the four-hour session was dull but mostly important reci tation of figures and justification. Several legislators and spectators nap ped. The hearing was delayed from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. by a speech by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who emphasized the need for education spending. Wells and most other System represen tatives said more of that spending should be on low salaries. Inflation has been dev astating, he said, and has eroded profes sors’ buying power. Dr. Jarvis Miller, president of Texas A&M, said the growth of the school has penalized it because the scheme used to figure 80-85 percent of the budget has not kept up with increasing enrollments. He also said more funds should be allocated for organized research, which was cut drastically last time the Legislature appro priated funds. Moody College President Bill Clayton said growth at the Galveston campus necessitates more facilities. If given the needed dorms and classrooms, he pre dicted, the college’s enrollment of about 700 would double in two years. Dr. Alvin I. Thomas, president of Prairie View A&M, said this is the time for a “bold leap forward” at the predominantly black campus. The $6.5 million recom mended by the Higher Ed Committee in cludes a $3.7 million facility for nursing students and major repairs at the campus. United Press International A district judge — angry about an intru sion by the Tarrant County district attor ney’s office into his courtroom affairs — Thursday said he might move the divorce case of Texas millionaire T. Cullen Davis and his socialite wife, Priscilla, from Fort Worth to Bryan, his central Texas hometown. Meeting with Davis’ battery of attorneys and reporters in the front room of his Bryan home. District Judge John M. Bar ron also said he would not tolerate any more “interference” from either a special Tarrant County grand jury investigating Davis’ financial dealings or members of the district attorney’s office. Barron then signed a restraining order barring the district attorney’s office “or anyone else from interfering with this trial” and indicated he would move the bitter, longrunning case to Bryan if both parties agreed to the change and if an available courtroom could be found in the Brazos County courthouse. But Mrs. Davis’ attorney, contacted in Fort Worth, said there was “no way” he would agree to the trial move. And even Barron admitted there was little possibility of finding an available courtroom. After signing the injunction, Barron told reporters: “Goodbye, I’m going rabbit hunting.” The divorce trial was thrown into an immediate recess Thursday when the re tired judge, appointed as presiding judge after Fort Worth Judge Joe Eidson with drew from the bitter 6-year case, failed to appear in court. “I’m not going to put up with this,” the normally goodhumored judge told re porters after Assistant District Attorney Jack Strickland subpoenaed thousands of pages of records of the divorce trial Wed nesday. “I’ll go back to Bryan and hunt rabbits. ” A court spokesman said that’s appar ently what the judge did. He disappeared from his Fort Worth hotel room and re mained unavailable by telephone in Bryan. At one point, Barron said he was going to declare a mistrial, but that threat sub sided with his failure to appear court. Barron’s courtroom humor had been one of the few bright spots in the five weeks of tedious proceedings in the case reportedly involving millions of dollars in community property. But the witticism turned to criticism when Strickland ap peared in court saying he needed the fi nancial records for a Wednesday afternoon meeting of a special grand jury. The subpoena said the information was sought in connection with the murder- for-hire charge against Davis. Davis, who was acquitted of murder two years ago, was tried earlier this year for soliciting the death of his previous divorce court judge, Joe Eidson, but that trial ended with a deadlocked jury. Barron, who said he would have gladly turned over the divorce trial records once the trial was over, apparently was offended by the intrusion and later called Strickland iggieland. Battalion seeking next editors Applications are now being accepted for J mnier and fall editorships of The Battal- B ancl for 1979-80 editorship of the Ag- ielanT Applications forms are available from M must be returned to Bob G. Rogers, •'aihnan of the Student Publications bard Room 301 Reed McDonald Build- H . Be Battalion summer editor will serve ®rci|May 14 through August 22, 1979. "eBattalion fall semester editor will -fvi from April 23, 1979, through De aler 1979 (with the exception of the J ®lier term). He Aggieland editor will serve for the ^dknic year 1979-80. jpalifications for editor of The Battalion ff e:E.O overall and major GPR at the time Paling office and during the term of of fice; at least one year of experience in a responsible editorial position on The Bat talion or comparable student newspaper, or at least one year of editorial experience on a commerical newspaper, or at least 12 hours of journalism including Journalism 203, 204 or equivalent. The 12 hours of journalism must include completion of journalism law or enroll ment in the course during the semester served. Qualifications for editor of the Aggie land are: 2.0 overall and major GPR at the time of taking office and during the term of office; at least one year in a responsible staff position on the Aggieland or compar able yearbook experience elsewhere. The Student Publications Board will interview candidates and select the editors on April 5 at 5:15 p.m. in Reed McDonald 301. “that little squirt” and “a wet-eared fool prosecutor having no respect for anyone.” Strickland was unavailable for comment Thursday. “He could have worked it out with me very well that after I’d made a decision in the case I’d have give him the whole rec ord,” Barron told a reporter Wednesday. “But he comes up there and just kicks us around like we were a bunch of dogs.” The reaction in the Priscilla and Cullen Davis camps was one of surprise. “I did not know it was going to happen,” said Ronald Aultman, Mrs. Davis’ attor ney. Aultman said “as a matter of ethics” he preferred to withhold further comment until “I know what the judge is going to do.” But one of Davis’ attorneys, Cecil Munn, presented motions to Administra tive Judge Charles Murray Thursday after Barron failed to show in court, asking that the divorce trial be moved to Bryan — Barron’s hometown — and that the district attorney “and everyone else” be enjoined from interrupting the case “for whatever Munn and two other attorneys then drove to Barron’s house and local re- porters were called to witness Barron’s signing of the injunction. “I don’t know what his (Strickland) mot ive was, but it was extremely abusive to the judicial process,” Munn said. “This stunt that Jack Strickland pulled was about the most stupid thing I’ve ever seen a socalled responsible lawyer do.” Munn also claimed the district attor ney’s office was trying to sabotage the di vorce case. Strickland told reporters Wednesday he asked for the records because he felt there was a “significant” chance not all the in formation would be available if he waited until after the trial ended. “I was very respectful to that judge, as I would be to any judge,” he said. “I don’t have anything against the judge, person ally.” Judge Murray said he had contacted Barron and that the Bryan judge indicated he was willing to resume the case Monday morning. $5 health fee increase likely By DILLARD STONE Battalion Staff Maintaining competitiveness in the local health care job market, and thus the qualty of services provided, is the rationale behind a student government request for the creation of a new health center fee, according to Dr. John Koldus, Texas A&M University’s vice president for student services. The new $5 compulsory medical service fee is needed “to maintain the current level of services,” Koldus said. The proposal for the new fee is currently in the form of a senate recommendation to Koldus, but he is expected to approve it in time for next year’s fee assessment. The University’s A.P. Beutel Health Center has been operating at a deficit since 1973, he added. However, funds in reserve enabled the center to operate with the deficit. Also helpful was the fact that the health center has in the past had problems in fill ing its budgeted staff positions. However, Koldus said, the University recently lost $60,000 to $80,000 per year because the center no longer receives the money to provide mandatory University Workmen’s Compensation physicals. The physicals are no longer mandatory, and the University has thus cut off their funds. More money was needed, Koldus said, to attract good quality people into the Texas A&M health center. The former sal ary of $29,000 “wasn’t too competitive for physicians,” he said. President Jarvis Mil ler recently approved a $38,000 ceiling on physicians’ salaries designed to attract more doctors to Texas A&M. “However, it is not mandatory to em ploy someone at a base salary of $38,000. A physician with less experience would be employed at less than $38,000,” he added. Nurses’ salaries have also been in creased to provide more competition, Koldus said. Many students had believed the current $15 compulsory group hospital fee charged at Texas A&M was the ceiling, set by state law. Koldus said this was true, but that another section of the Texas Education Code allows the University to charge another fee, the compulsory medical serv ice fee. The ceiling for that fee dlso is $15, Koldus said. “The fees are not by law going into the same place, but they are tied,” he said. “In terms of operations, I don’t see how they can separate the two, which is what they are doing legislatively.” Koldus said the comptroller of the Uni versity System had wanted a $10 increase. “But I thought that would be too much,” he said. The current fee charged by the Univer sity brings in about $850,000 per year, Koldus said. The projected increase when the new fee is implemented will be one- third of that, or about $280,000, he added. “I hope the fee will meet the needs for the next three years. I hope we don’t have to raise it again for a good long time,” Kol dus said. “The problem is keeping pace with inflation.” Jackson preaches hope, not dope in joint session The Rev. Jesse Jackson appeared before the Texas Legislature Thurs day. Battalion photo by Liz Newlin United Press International AUSTIN — The Rev. Jesse Jackson, leading a cheer of “down with dope, up with hope,” com manded legislators at a joint House-Senate session Thursday to regain their moral authority and search for a higher vision. “It’s not so much the strength of our eyes, but where we stand and what we see,” Jackson told the legis lators, the state’s governor and a packed gallery, who came to hear his speech supporting education and morality. The civil rights leader led the legislators in a recitation of a former black power chant that said in part “I am somebody, I am God’s child. Down with dope, up with hope, no one can protect us from ourselves. I can learn anything, I am God’s child.” Jackson, 37, is leader of Opera tion Push. He described the pro gram as “a human rights organiza tion that tends to be the voice of the underpriviliged and unrepre sented.” Another program led by Jackson, EXCEL, is the educational arm of Operation Push and is aimed to encourage youths to stay in school and improve their lives. “Education costs — it does cost,” Jackson said. “But ignorance costs even more.” He compared the cost of a four- year public college education at $20,000 to the cost of imprisonment for four years at $50,000 to $126,000. “Education and employment costs less than ignorance and incarc eration. Schools at their worst are better than prisons at their best.” Jackson urged the lawmakers to guard against the backlash of tax re lief amendments — which he labeled neo-conservative — that might damage educational pro grams. “This is fundamentally based upon a sense of economic panic,” the gray-suited leader said. “These people say: ‘We’re going to lead a tax rebellion,’ while the fact is we need a tax reform.” He added that giant corporations are paying less taxes than before, while citizens are paying more. Jackson was introduced to the joint session by Rep. Al Edwards, D-Houston, who told reporters he invited the minister to address the Legislature because crucial educa tion bills will be discussed this ses sion and he is concerned over their success. Edwards said legislation has been introduced to get state funding for Operation Push and EXCEL in Texas. He said 60 percent of the nation’s students are bused and only 6 per cent for racial reasons. He said stopping busing would greatly harm students, especially rural children. “He was one of the great visionaries of the 20th century, perhaps of our nation,” Jackson said of the former president. “He could rise above the trees and see the forest of human rights.” Jackson was not as approving of other presidents, particularly Presi dent Carter, accusing him of ignor ing the mandate to be a visionary of human rights and claiming “It ap pears cataracts have set in.” The educator recommended voter registration certificates be dis tributed with high school diplomas to encourage young citizen in volvement in government.