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THURSDAY—Cloudy to partly
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Northerly 15 to 25 m.p.h. High
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Vol. 66 No. 59
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, December 16, 1970
845-2226
Minorities want
ways ‘righted’
LETTERS TO SANTA CLAUS by local elementary school
students, on display in the A&M library, draw smile from
students busy wrapping up the semester. (Photo by Hay
den Whitsett)
Galley witness says
Medina told company, ‘ be quiet’
FT. BENNING, Ga. (A>)_Capt.
Ernest L. Medina was quoted
Tuesday as advising his infantry
company to “be quiet” about the
!o-called My Lai massacre, and
telling one of the GIs not to take
it up with his congressman.
Testifying as a defense wit
ness at Lt. William L. Galley
Jr.’s court-martial, former rifle
man Michael Bernhardt, 24, of
Tarpon Springs, Fla., said:
“Capt, Medina addressed the
company and said an investiga
tion was under way. He said he
advised us to be quiet because
lie d back up anybody who might
i* in trouble.
“He took me aside and said it
would not be a good idea if I
wrote my congressman or the
inspector general and not to do
Under questioning from the
judge, Bernhardt said, “It was
my platoon sergeant that gave
Medina the idea that I was a
letter writer.” Bernhardt said he
had told the sergeant he might
write.
Galley, 27, is accused of the
premeditated murder of 102 Viet
namese old men, women and chil
dren during an infantry sweep
through the village, March 16,
1968, by Charlie Company of
which Medina was commander.
A former company platoon leader,
Galley faces a maximum sentence
of death if convicted.
Galley’s defense is based in
part on a contention that his
actions in My Lai were based
on orders received from superior
officers, including Medina. The
latter currently is undergoing the
equivalent of a grand jury in
quiry into his actions at My Lai,
but has not been ordered to trial.
It was a year after My Lai
assault before the allegations of
atrocities in the village came to
Washington’s attention. A House
investigating subcommittee sub
sequently found evidence which
it said tended to substantiate a
“coverup” of the incident.
Earlier at the court-martial,
a former squad leader in another
of Medina’s platoon, Charles A.
West, Chicago, testified he took
part in the killing of 10 Viet
namese civilians at My Lai be
cause “according to our orders
everybody in the village was to
he killed.”
A series of defense witnesses
has testified that Medina, during
a briefing on the eve of the as-
Arts magazine
now published
by A&M prof
The first issue of “Quartet,” a
magazine of the arts, to be pub
lished from Texas A&M has gone
on sale.
The magazine was founded in
1962 at Purdue University and
obtained in 1968 by Dr. Richard
H. Costa, Associate Professor of
English here. “Quartet” was pub
lished for two years at Syracuse
University before Dr. Costa joined
the A&M faculty this fall.
The 32-page issue (Fall ’70,
Vol. 4, No. 32) contains short
fiction, verse, sketches, and book
reviews.
All fiction and verse is free
lanced to the magazine. Nonfic
tion material is assigned by the
editor.
The new issue contains a lead
review of the poet May Swenson’s
new volume, “Iconographs”
(Scribners) by Dr. Harry P. Kroi-
tor, professor of English at Texas
A&M. Editorial assistance in pre
paring the finals proofs was given
by Mrs. Elizabeth R. Turbin, a
doctoral candidate in English.
Next issue will be published in
February.
The magazine is being printed
by the Texas A&M Press.
University National Bank
“On the side of Texas A&M.”
—Adv.
sault, gave an impression that
My Lai was to be leveled—in
West’s words, “leaving nothing
walking, crawling or growing in
the village.”
However, none of them was
able to say there was any specific
order directing the execution of
men, women and children. West
was the first to say he had
actually killed anyone in carrying
out the purported order.
MSC hours
for holidays
announced
Most departments of the Me
morial Student Center will be
closed during the holidays.
The fountain room will be
closed Dec. 22 through Jan. 18.
The bowling and billiards room
will be closed Dec. 23 through
Jan. 17.
Closed Dec. 23 through Jan. 4
will be the cafeteria, the gift
shop, the guest rooms, the brows
ing library, the barber shop and
the general offices.
The travel service and Western
Union will close Dec. 25 through
Dec. 27 and Jan. 1 through Jan. 3.
The former Students Association
will be closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1.
WASHINGTON <A>)_The
chairman of the White House
Conference on Children agreed
Three dorms
to remain open
during break
Three residence halls will be
open during the Christmas holi
day period for students who will
be on campus, Housing Manager
Allan Madeley said Tuesday.
Schumacher and Hotard Halls
and ramps C, D and E of Hart
Hall will be available, Madeley
said, and all other halls will be
locked at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Stu
dents who expect difficulties in
clearing their hall by 3 should
make arrangements with their
hall counselor, Madeley said.
Students who will be on campus
and who will need a place to stay
during the holidays must contact
the Housing Office and make ar
rangements to live in Hotard, the
housing manager said. Students
already living in Schumacher,
Hotard or Hart who wish to stay
there between semesters must
tell the Housing Office so they
may be located if necessary.
There is no charge for staying
in a hall room between semesters,
Madeley said, but any student—
including a permanent occupant—
found living in a hall who has
not registered with the Housing
Office will be subject to disciplin
ary action.
This also applies to students
found in one of the locked halls,
Madeley said.
Students finding it necessary
to enter a locked hall during the
break must secure permission
from the Housing Office, Madeley
said, adding that all halls will
be unlocked at 1 p.m. Jan. 10,
and students who had moved to
one of the open halls for the
break must move out at that time.
University dining halls will
close after Tuesday’s noon meal
and will not serve again until
the breakfast meal Jan. 18.
Today’s Batt
last until 1971
This is the last issue of The
Battalion for the fall semester.
The Batt staff now takes a well-
deserved break to cram for finals.
We will publish on Jan. 6 and
Jan. 13, and resume our regular
schedule Jan. 19.
The entire staff of The Bat
talion wishes you a merry Christ
mas, a happy new year and safe
conduct home.
Please drive safely.
Tuesday to present personally to
President Nixon a list of de
mands by black and Spanish
speaking delegates.
Chairman Stephen Hess agreed
also to a request for a special
session for minority groups Wed
nesday night and to the naming
of a permanen t committee by
delegates to advise and assist in
the followup of recommendations
agreed on by the conference.
“We consider this . . . the open
ing of a communications conduit
to funnel to the President the or
der of priorities as we see them,”
Charles G. Hurst Jr., of Chicago,
spokesman for the black caucus,
told a news conference.
He added: “We feel the chair
man is as desirous of righting
wrongs as we are.”
Black and Spanish-speaking
caucuses had criticized what they
said was a lack of attention to
minority-group problems at the
conference, held every decade to
make recommendations to the
president concerning the welfare
of children.
“How many poor children have
you seen in the films shown
here?” asked Emelio Rivera,
spokesman for the Spanish
speaking caucus. “How many
rats? How many slum homes?
“A migrant worker couldn’t
get in the door here. You have
to pay ten dollars just for a
badge.”
Stores suffering;
sales down in ’70
NEW YORK (AP)—Many major retailers across the country are
expecting a blue Christmas this year, reporting holiday sales down from
a year ago.
Some department stores say the only items selling well are the
inexpensive things.
Hardest hit are stores in areas like Dallas and Seattle which are
suffering from the slump in electronics-aerospace industries and
cutbacks in defense spending.
A spokesman for Frederick and Nelson Department Store, a
Seattle store owned by Marshall Field Inc., put it this way: “Why rehash
a painful subject? Everyone knows things are bad all over, especially in
the Northwest.”
An executive at Sears’ Roebuck and Co. in Seattle candidly
admitted: “We’re uptight.”
Department stores in Dallas are faring no better, with a few
predicting a sales drop by as much as 25 percent. The Federal Reserve
Bank of Dallas, said sales have been down all year in Dallas and were
down three percent for the week through Dec. 5.
U.S. Department of Commerce figures show that for the first two
weeks of the Christmas shopping season retail sales were up from 1969
in terms of dollar value. For the week ended Nov. 28 they were $7.2
billion, about the same level they were running at last year. For the
week ended Dec. 5 total retail sales were $7.97 billion, up 3 percent
from 1969.
But with a cost of living increase of between 5 percent and 6
percent this year, these figures actually reflect a decrease in the physical
volume of sales, economic observers say.
Forum requests
budget increase
The Student Senate and Great
Issues are making a supplemental
budget request for public rela
tions material concerning the
soapbox forum.
“It’s my opinion that it’s a good
program, and would get more
support if people could just hear
about it,” Senate President Kent
Caperton said.
Caperton said that in a meet
ing with the Great Issues execu
tive committee Monday, a policy
for getting the public relations
out was set and will be adhered
to.
Soapbox forums have been set
for Jan. 20, Feb. 11, Feb. 25, Mar.
11, Mar. 25, and April 15.
GREAT SAVINGS PLAN made
even better by new legal rates at
FIRST BANK & TRUST. Adv.
A PASSERBY notices an exhibit of Iranian art in the
Memorial Student Center this week. The exhibit was
placed there by the Society of Iranian Students. (Photo
by Hayden Whitsett)
Merry Christmas, happy new year and drive safely