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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 1969)
Page 2 THE BATTALION College Station, Texas Wednesday, February 12, 1969 TELEPHONE CADET SLOUCH by Jim Earle “ One thing: for sure, some of those guys in the class of ’72 will make it big: as house painters!” Liquor by the Drink: A Texas Melodrama The Associated Press report (page 3) on yesterday's liquor-by-the-drink hearings in Austin referred to the action as “an annual performance.” Maybe the term “melodrama” would be more accurate, because all the major elements are there for a legislative production of “The Perils of Pearl Pure water, or Lips that Touch Strong Drink Will Never Touch Mine.” The scene opens with the heroine in a compromised position: the voters of Texas, acting as the Fickle Finger of Fate, have opted for liquor-by-the-drink, thus leaving Pearl’s homestead vulnerable to foreclosure. Enter The Villain (hiss, boo), Wicked Willie Wet. “Aha!” cries Wicked Willie, twirling his handlebar mustache. “At last you are in my power!” He brandishes the results of last spring’s vote on the issue and cackles lewdly. The heroine puts her fist to her forehead in anguish and wails something vague about honor and virtue. This is the cue for (fanfare) the entrance of The Hero (cheers and huzzahs). Dashing Danny Dry. “Have no fear, Pearl,” he intones. “Although 42 of the 50 states have been foreclosed upon by Wicked Willie’s liquor-by-the-drink laws, Texas shall remain pure! Even if it doesn’t want to.’ “Curses! (Continued from page 1) agement services director. “Phones are a private contract between the person and the com pany. The university has no part in it at all.” “THE LOCATION policy was adopted by us,” Erwin said. “We were trying to get a standard lo cation so the phones would be easier to install. If, however, someone wants a different model or location, we will be happy to do it if he will call 18 and let us know.” Many people commented on difficulties encountered when trying to reach the operator. M. C. Hairgrove, an English profes sor, complained that he some times had to wait three to five minutes for the operator to answer. “WE RAN A traffic check,” Erwin said, “and found that be tween 12 midnight and 2 a.m. we had a fairly large volume of traf fic. We have since changed the shift schedules to allow for this and make sure we have enough operators on duty. “We have had some supervisor changes in the last year or so,” he continued, “and we run an Automatic Time Record (ATR) to see how long it takes to get a call answered. Last month, for instance, we had an index of 7.3. This means that 82.7 per cent of the calls were answered within ten seconds. “We also have encouraged our operators to ‘overlap’ calls, or take information on one and then answer another call before put ting the first one through. It has improved our service somewhat.” ROBERT McKinzie wanted too know why an AT&T credit card could not be used unless a student signed the long distance agree ment with the phone company. Frank Bemgen had the same ques tion concerning collect calls. “When a student signs the re lease on his phone,” Edwin ex plained, “we allow that student access to the Bryan operator. We have no way of knowing whether or not he will make only collect calls, or whether or not someone else might use his phone. We have to require the release for our own protection.” Some students complained about the length of time required to change long distance service from one room to another. They were also worried about calls being made on their old phone. “A STUDENT’S responsibility ends when he notifies us to dis connect,” Erwin emphasized. “The changeover is basically paper work. The actual changeover at the central office is relatively easy.” A number of people also com plained of loud volume in the phones, poor connection on long distance calls, and a lack of dial tone when the handset is picked up. “As far as the volume is con cerned,” Erwin said, “the current in the lines is of a standard value. If a student feels the bell volume is too loud, he can call repair service and have it changed. “IF SOMEONE experiences a poor connection,” he continued, “he should flash the operator and tell her of his trouble. A lack of dial tone is simply because many circuits are in use, and the line finder is taking a little longer to find an open line.” The final big complaint of stu dents was incorrect billing. Many reported bills every month for calls not placed. “If a student feels he did not make a call,” Erwin explained, “he should call the business of fice, 823-0911, and tell them he did not make that call. We will check with the other party, and if they cannot remember receiv ing the call, the student is not billed. “We have to send a credit voucher to San Angelo, and some times it doesn’t get there until after the bills have been sent out. “A STUDENT will not have to pay for a call he did not make. “We can only do something about trouble experienced when we know about it,” Erwin con cluded. “As soon as we know, we try to get right on it. If people will remember to dial 18 when they have trouble we will be able to serve them better. Bulletin Board TONIGHT Psychology Club will meet at 8 p.m. in room 6 of Nagle Hall. 1* . „ ., s v , , Pat McGraw from neurophysi- Foiled again, is, of course, the expected ology will be guest speaker, reply from you-know-who. , ' Hillel Club will meet at 7:30 The trouble is, this turn-of-the-century morality play p . m . in the Hillel Building. Fri- is being staged before a national audience and financed by tax dollars. Dashing Danny is, of course, the personifica tion of witnesses before the House Constitutional Amend ments Committee, among whom yesterday was a Houston grandmother credited by AP with the following remarks: “Liquor by the drink has the history ever since the Civil War of defiling everything it touches, and I hate to see my state defiled . . . The more you are exposed to tempta tion, the more likely you are to succumb to it . . . No state has the right to enrich itself by the degradation of its citizens.” The AP also noted, however, that the measure was referred to a subcommittee with a “wet” majority. Wicked Willie and the voters of Texas may yet change the script. 203 of Spring the Academic party will be Hillel Club will meet at p.m. in the Hillel Building, day night services will be held at 8 p.m. THURSDAY Grayson County Hometown Club will meet at 7:30 p.m. in room 3-C of the Memorial Student Center. This is a reactivation meeting and all Grayson County residents are urged to attend. For further in formation contact Tom Bonn, 845-6004, or Jack Roy, 50 Mitchell Hall. DeWitt-Lavaca County Home town Club will meet at 7:30 p.m. THE BATTALION in room Building, planned. Texas A&M Chapter of DPMA will meet at 7 p.m. in room 104 of the Teague Building. The charter meeting of the organization will be discussed. All members and prospective members should at tend. Panhandle Area Hometown Club will meet at 8 p.m. in room 3-B of the MSC. Bell County Hometown Club will meet at 7:30 p.m. in the MSC lobby. Picture will be taken. Sweetheart will be chosen; bring pictures of candidates. Class “A” Winter or midnights, coat and tie for civilians. Texas A&M Gavel Club will meet at 7 p.m. in the YMCA basement. I LISTEN UP | Lk-— the hatt forum —J Editor, The Battalion: After having been recently re located from a College View apartments (scheduled to be re placed by a new unit) to another apartment in the complex, I was somewhat annoyed to discover that the local telephone company was telling me my telephone would be placed in the bedroom and I could no longer have a wall phone installed in my apartment. (Which is quite convenient, con sidering I have a two-year-old daughter who likes to play with telephones within reach.) I was told only table phones would be allowed. However, upon inquiring further, I was informed this deci sion was made by the “Univer sity.” Supposedly, installation of a wall phone defaces the walls, since subsequent occupants will probably request that their phones be placed in a different location. If I remember correctly, very little damage is done to a wall during installation or re moval of a wall phone. Consequently, the purpose of this letter is twofold: • To clarify to fellow students in College View that the decision to require phones to be placed in the bedroom did not originate either at the local telephone com pany or at the Student Apartment Office, but at the “University,” according to telephone company personnel. • To ask why all phones, re gardless of type (table or wall) must be placed in the bedroom? Is the “University” that con cerned with the condition of walls in College View apartments? (If so, we will be led to believe that nails, etc. will henceforth not be used to hang pictures, etc.) I, and I am sure many other College View residents, would ap preciate an explanation. Aren’t we paying rates equal to other com munity residents and shouldn’t we be given the prerogative to decide the most convenient loca tion for our phones? If it is nec essary to standardize location (which I doubt seriously), wouldn’t a more central location be more convenient? Again, some clarification from the person(s) responsible for the decision would be appreciated. Nelson L. Jacob Howard Vestal, management services director, emphasized yes terday that the university has issued no such directive. Bill Erwin, division manager for General Telephone in Bryan, ad mitted that the policy was set up by the phone company for stand ardization, but that anyone desir ing a change can request and obtain it. —Ed. For all your insurance needs See U. M. Alexander, Jr. ’40 221 S. Main, Bryan ' A* L State Farm Insurance Companies 823-3616 UTAH FARM INSURANCE Home Offiow Bloomington, 111. JADE EAST if she doesn't give it to you, get it yourself! Jade East After Shave from $3.00, Cologne from $3.50; and a complete collection of masculine grooming essen tials. As an alternate fragrance, try Jade East Coral and Jade East Golden Lime. SWANK, INC.—Sole Distributor cm/p§ St lice i wen STARTS TODAY HUM ffWl KIRK DOUGLAS! |<VM / “THti BROTHERHOOC mpjwtfro QUEEN LAST NITE AT 7:15-9:1j ADULT ART SERIES “CALL GIRLS Al| FRANKFURT’ CIRC LI TONITE AT'6:30 P. 51 “COOGAN’S BLIT With Clint Eastwood At 9:00 p. m. Rock Hudson In “TOBRUK” PALACE For : ; K«w w f<6-47] Brqijn NOW SHOWING Walt Disney’s “SNOW WHITE 41 7 DWARF’S Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the student writers only. The Battalion is a non-tax- supported, non-profit, self-supporting educational enter prise edited and operated by students as a university and community newspaper. LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor should be typed, double-spaced, and must be no more than 300 words in length. They must be signed, although the writer’s name will be with held by arrangement with the editor. Address corre spondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim Lindsey, chairman ; Dr. David Bowers, College of Liberal Arts ; F. S. White, College of Engineering; Dr. Donald R. Clark, College of Veterinary Medicine; and Hal Taylor, Col lege of Agriculture. The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M is published in College Station, Texas daily except Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and holiday periods, September through May, and once a week during summer school. Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising Services. Inc., New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. MEMBER The Associated Press, Texas Press Association Mail subscriptions are $3.50 per semester; $6 per school year ; $6.50 per full year. All subscriptions subject to 3% sales tax. Advertising rate furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all new dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous origin published herein. Rights of republication of all other matter herein are also reserved. Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas. EDITOR JOHN W. FULLER Managing- Editor Dave Mayes Sports Editor John Platzer City Editor Mike Wright News Editor Bob Palmer Staff Columnists John McCarroll, Mike Plake, Monty Stanley, Jan Moulden Staff Writers Tom Curl, Janie Wallace, Tony Huddleston, David Middlebrooke Assistant Sports Editor Richard Campbell Photographer W. R. Wright ATTENTION! All New Freshmen Have your picture made lor the 1969 AGGIELAND at University Studio NORTH GATE Between Feb. 3-15 Only Most of the cars that are competitive with Chev- rolets are clamoring for you to buy them now. Big deal. (You hope.) Chevrolet offers something even better than hope. Many popular items are priced less than a year ago. Such as Powerglide and large V8’s. Head restraints are now standard. New advanced-design power disc brakes are priced over a third less than our power disc brakes were last year. So we’re offering a ’69 Camaro Sport Coupe for less money than last year. $147.00* less if you equip it with the new 350-cu.-in. 250-hp V8 (as compared with last year’s 327-cu.-in. 275-hp Eight), the Powerglide and power disc brakes, whitewalls and wheel covers. Help us deflate inflation. Show up at your Chevrolet dealer’s Showdown. You’ll win. ^ Based on manufacturer's suggested retail prices t including federal excise tax and suggested dealer new car preparation charge. Value Showdown: $147.00 less than last yearns Camaro with comparable equipment Tire Just othe 220