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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 1971)
*.*xW- be Battalion Partly cloudy, warm 0 1. 67 No. 45 College Station, Texas Tuesday, November 16, 1971 Wednesday — Partly cloudy. Southerly winds 10-15 mph. High 81°, low 64°. Thursday — Partly cloudy to cloudy. Afternoon rainshowers. Southerly winds 10-15 mph. High 79°, low 68°. 845-2226 oter registration roblem is resolved i The voter registration hassle | it has occurred recently be- ten A&M students and Ray- Jb. Buchanan, tax assessor- lector and head of Brazos cnty voter registration, has ithed another compromise. Friday, A&M student Senate iresentatives presented about (voter registration forms from earapus registration to Buch- mat his Bryan office. Buchanan accepted them all, ling that he would register all »qualified to vote. The forms those that had been coi led by the Student Senate lerregistration drive to be used the 1972 elections. Buchanan said that if he tepted them all he could legally rate all the registrants and itty registrants that had regis- tJ before they had lived in uos County for six months, isconstituted about half of the registrations since most stu- its had assumed they were [istering for the 1972 elections. Ike prosecutions, which Buch- u said he would not carry lough, would be felonies. All dents who have not lived in nos County six months and deputy registrars who signed m up would have been liable prosecution. The students aren’t liable, how ever, because Monday James Mc Leroy, senate issues chairman and head of the voter registra tion drive, returned to Buch anan’s office and talked him out of the forms. McLeroy said that he will sort through all the registration forms and take out those that have mistakes or have not lived in the county for six months. “We’re out of the fire now,” he said. He estimated that about 350 to 400 will still be good for the 1971 elections. All these will have to reregister for the 1972 elec tions. The current compromise is the fourth different stand Buchanan has taken on students voting in the Dec. 14 City Council elec tions. Buchanan first said he would not register any students at all because of “lack of per sonnel and supplies.” Last Wednesday he moved from this position to one of regis tering students in his office in Bryan. Wednesday afternoon he changed this position to provid ing special booths on campus to register A&M students for the 1971 elections only. Friday he decided to accept all the regis trations, about 900 to 1,000, pre sented to him by McLeroy with the demand that he “comply with the law.” He has now taken the stand that he will accept all the quali fied registrations. Zwolinski scheduled to speak at University Lecture Series kite-in candidate to run n special council election An A&M student announced Friday he will run as a write-in pdate in a special Dec. 14 election to fill a vacancy on the College Hion city council. Bruce Clay, 21-year-old senior in the Corps, will be the fourth “Mate in the council race. Clay was unable to file as a regular candidate because of existing pistons in the city charter which state that councilmen must own ilproperty within the city. He admitted legal questions would arise concerning his seating as ttber of the council if he should win the election. Clay, who is studying finance, is a member of the Student Senate Hives on campus. Clay said he believes his election would give the city government to balance and afford the students more direct representation. With the new voter registration laws, the students can now vote , and we represent a large portion of the College Station filiation,” said Clay, who describes himself as a “conservative. If I were in office, I feel it would offer better representation of Allege Station residents,” he added. The city council vacancy was created when J. H. Dozier, a Texas ^ professor, resigned Oct. 29 following recent court decisions that employees could not be paid if they also held elective positions in ^ or local government. Dozier was the laSt of several A&M %-staff members to resign from the city council and school board. Clay will be competing for votes against Mrs. John L. Sandstedt, 5 has been active in civic affairs and whose husband is an attorney j part-time professor at the university; Homer Adams, a businessman former council member, and Robert Knapp, a retired naval officer it one time taught mathematics at A&M. The Student Senate has been actively supporting voter regis- file search for a black identity at a white university N nion on campus. A&M’s 1971-72 University Lec ture Series opens tonight with a presentation by Dr. Bruno Zwo linski, director of the university’s Thermodynamics Research Cen ter. Dr. Zwolinski, officially desig nated A&M’s 1971-72 Faculty Lecturer, will discuss “A New Breed of Scientists—Data Epis- temologist” at 8 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center Assem bly Room. The lecture series is designed to provide the opportunity for faculty-staff and students, as well as the general public, to hear renowned authorities discuss sub jects of broad social, political and intellectual interest, noted Dr. W. A. Landmann, University Lectures Committee chairman. He emphasized there is no charge for any of the four lectures in the series. Dr. Zwolinski, who also is pro fessor of chemistry, founded the Thermodynamics Research Cen ter in 1961, the same year he joined the A&M faculty. The center is now generally recog- W. T. Doherty dies at age 73 HOUSTON — Wilfred Thomas Doherty, prominent Houston businessman and former presi dent of the Texas A&M Univer sity Board of Directors, died here Tuesday morning at age 73. Funeral services are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the George Lewis and Sons Funeral Home, corner of Sage and West-* heimer. Burial will follow in For rest Park Lawndale Cemetery on Wayside, The Rev. Fred Burford, pastor of Grace Episcopal Church, Alvin, officiating at the services. Mr. Doherty, a 1922 chemical engineering graduate of Texas A&M, suffered a heart attack two weeks ago in Houston. He had been hospitalized in the Di agnostic Center Hospital. Mr. Doherty was president of the Robert A. Welch Foundation, and he is directly credited for the foundation’s $1 million support to the Texas A&M Cyclotron and the Welch Foundation Chair of Chemistry. nized as the leading facility of its type in the nation. A native of Buffalo, N. Y., Dr. Zwolinski earned his B.A. degree at Canisius College, M.S. at Pur due and M.A. and Ph.D. at Princeton. He is a member of numerous honorary and professional organ izations and earlier this year was selected by the State Department to serve as a visiting lecturer at the Institute of Physical Chem istry in Warsaw, Poland. Jr* : Raymond B. Buchanan, Brazos County tax assessor-collector, speaks with A&M stu dents James McLeroy and Mike Bunch Friday afternoon in his office. (Photo by Hayden Whitsett) Equipment needed Bonfire progress is hindered By JOHN CURYLO The usual equipment is still peeded and the usual setbacks have slowed progress, but the Bonfire will be built this week end and lighted next Wednesday night at 7:30, head yell leader Jim Ferguson said Monday. He reported that the center pole was to be placed in the ground this afternoon and that full-scale work will commence Saturday morning. “We had trouble getting the crane that was promised us, and the communications van we were supposed to use was sent to Fort Stockton, but we’re still moving ahead,” Ferguson said. “We finally got a crane to set the center pole, and the light poles will be put up too. Boswell Con struction Co. has given us a van, and the Army Reserve is letting us use some shelter tents for equipment.” The cutting area this year is located 15 miles from the campus on Sandy Point Road, the pro posed site of the new-Bryan Lake. A secondary cutting area is south of Easterwood Airport. “The reason for having two different places is that the Bryan Lake area is partially restricted because of the proposed park,” Ferguson explained. “Also, East erwood will provide us with some good core logs, which are what we build the Bonfire with.” In the past, there has been the problem of having trees left in the cutting area without being brought in for the Bonfire. Ferguson said that most of the logs have already been chopped down in the primary cutting area, and any left over will be stacked and burned by the de velopers of the Bryan Lake. Work will begin Saturday morning at 6 a.m. and will con tinue until early Wednesday afternoon, when members of the Firemen Training School take over. They will pump 300 gallons of JP-4 airplane fuel onto the stack. At 7:30, the fire will be lit and yell practice will be held. “Visitors to either the cutting area or the stacking area must have university identification cards or access passes issiied by the Bonfire Committee,” Fergu son said. “These passes are hard to get, but we have issued them to every member of the football team, so that they can come out and see what’s going on.” Ten trucks, five of which are semi’s, have been promised for use in work on the Bonfire. Ferguson pointed out that prom ises cannot be relied on, and equip ment is not considered secured by the Bonfire Committee until it is in use. In order to encourage safety, first aid and safety have been separated for the first time. The safety committee will try to pre vent accidents due to misuse of equipment, carelessness or horse play. “In order to take the financial burden off the Food Services people, it will be necessary for students on the five-day board plan to purchase meal tickets to eat in the dining halls or in the cutting area this weekend,” Fer guson explained. “These tickets may be purchased at either Sbisa or Duncan Dining Hall until 5 p.m. Thursday.” He added that three meals would be served Saturday and two Sunday. For all five meals, the tickets will total $4.45. For the two sack lunches in the cut ting area, the cost will be $1.78. One of these meals may be bought for 89 cents. Individual tickets may be pur chased at the doors for each din ing hall meal, but seven-day board students will be required to show their identification cards to prove they are on the full plan. Working with Ferguson are the other senior yell leaders, Rick Perry and Tommy Orr. Perry is in charge of the stacking area, while the cutting area is the re sponsibility of Orr. Barry Reiter is the civilian chief, and Gene Evans is the safety chairman. “We still need trucks, tractors and chain saws,” Ferguson said. “Anyone who can get these for us should contact me or whoever has jurisdiction over where they will be used.” Bonfire worker insured against serious accidents The Student Senate voted Mon day to take out an insurance pol icy with Mutual of Omaha cover ing students who work on the Bonfire. This policy, which will cost $1,580.50, will cover students on their way to and from the Bon fire as well as those actually working. The insurance is $500 non-deductible for all injuries. “We feel there is a need for this,” John Sharp, Senate presi dent, said. Sharp added that this insurance on the Bonfire workers is not in tended as a “put-down” to those who prefer other activities, such as community projects, to show their spirit. The cost of the policy will be 43 cents per person. It has been designed for approximately 3,500 people. Students who work on the Bon fire will be asked to give 50 cents to cover the cost of the policy. This 50 cents is not mandatory, however. The Senate will make up the remainder. “I think this insurance is the appropriate thing at the time,” James P. Hannigan, Dean of Stu dents, said. “I personally :.hink it’s a darn good thing.” Editor’s note:.. This is the lr5t °f a four-part series deal- 7 "dth blacks on cam pus. In next three days we will pre- iii , v ' ews a black coed, ac k in the Corps, and the Ministration. Linda Zehl ^ Writer U *^n Whitsett Hitor ftere itendin are about 100 blacks S this university. y contrast starkly with the I 1 whites, not only in the ^ °f their skins, but in the Hat they are on the short " of a one to 140 ratio. 0u Sh we live in a state that l' P er cent black, the univer- ^ r °les hold less than one per- we are a university for tate of Texas, there are ( , lmes as many foreign stu- 5 attending than black. 0 orrow from novelist Allen 0 s book about aparthied Africa, we live in “a very . society.” , a L it is like to be black in 'ai ira their thoughts. To quote from Allen E. Giles, a recent graduate of A&M and a black: “The college and university campuses of America are a long way from where most of us come. Our homeland (known to white folks as the ghetto) is hardly conducive to the growing of ivy. ‘Mother wits’ was our thing, not encyclopedias. We have been the companions of every evil, cycle, syndrome, or mania that would strike fear in the hearts of our white compatriots. Those of us who survive have seen everything but the end. Thus many of us stayed by treking from our home land to your midst; to your col lege and university campuses. We could not have imagined what awaited us. As students on the white col lege and university campuses of America we have learned some thing which we choose never to forget. “We are not white. We do not wish to be white. What is good for white people is oftentimes worse than bad for us. .j ^society, A&M is beyond our Mion. We are white. But it Ss ible to turn to blacks for University National Bank^ “On the side of Texas A&M. —Adv. Or from Barbara Bucannan, a black freshman coed; “When most blacks first come to A&M, they have to become adjusted and psyche their minds to become accustomed to the at mosphere . . . Around this campus, there are many hard, cold blacks. They know they are black, there fore, they have to try extra hard to break the color barrier. All they want to do is strive and strive, so they can be something.” Or from Willie Nixon, a sopho more in the Corps: “A&M is based on many tradi tions that evolve around whites. The Corps is the most staunch tradition upholder. To me, it doesn’t bend in any way toward helping the freshman black stu dent coming in. The organization doesn’t take into consideration the black’s adjustment to an al most all-white atmosphere.” Whatever it is for each black as he enters A&M, it can’t be easy. The blacks here know this and, through personal help and the Black Awareness Committee, seek to help each other and the incoming freshmen. “There has always been black unity, even when there was no official organization such as the Black Awareness Committee. Blacks are bound to be together, especially when there are so few of us on campus,” Marvin Bridges said of the organization of which he is chairman and vice-president. In answer to the short-comings in relation to blacks at A&M, the Black Awareness Committee be gan last fall. “Our most important aim is to help the entering black student to become a functional part of the university. Making white students and the adminis tration aware should also be add ed to the purpose of this pro gram—this committee isn’t here solely to make us aware of black ness, but to aid the entire univer sity’s awareness,” Bridges said. In achieving these goals, BAG, on a budget of $1,538, will have several black politics programs, such as State Senator Barbara Jordan on Dec. 3, and a “Black Week” this spring. The BAG is also involved in actively recruiting blacks to come to A&M. They present film strips and send letters to schools throughout the state encouraging blacks to attend A&M. But the BAG is only a partial answer to many of the blacks’ grievances, Bridges said. “Many problems exist. First of all, there are very few, if any, black profes sors whom we can identify with. Next the athletic program was “lilly-white” until recently, and the social life is lacking—most bands are white and most blacks don’t relate to the music they create.” “More important,” he empha sized,” our committee is trying to put pressure on the adminis tration to accumulate more black literature in the library, and to begin a black studies program of minority cultures and history.” “One of the administration’s main excuses (in not having a black studies) is the fact that there aren’t enough blacks on campus,” Bridges said, “but, this small number of blacks at A&M certainly isn’t our (BAG) fault!” Only blacks are allowed on the BAG, except for honorary mem bers, but visitors can attend by getting in touch with one of the committee members ahead of time. Sometimes the blacks at A&M are questioned about why they don’t attend Prairie View A&M, the almost totally black college in the A&M System. (See The Search, page 4)