I
:e
Youth supports pot proposals, police oppose it
A national commission’s recommendation that
criminal penalties for private marijuana use be ended
brought qualified approval Wednesday from young
people and some local officials.
But many law enforcement officers opposed
the recommendations as too lenient or impractical.
Some officials even questioned Congress’ right to
legislate in an area previously reserved for the states.
And the commission’s proposal not to prose
cute marijuana users but not to legalize it either was,
in the words of Alabama public safety director W. L.
Allen, like “trying to follow the line of being just a
little pregnant.”
Allen said he was in total disagreement with the
commission and he described the recommendation
for ending criminal penalties of users as “another
incidence of national assininity.”
But many student leaders around the country
said the National Commission bn Marijuana and Drug
Abuse had taken a step in the right direction.
“I agree with the commission’s report,” said
Mary Scifres, student body president at Indiana
University. “For too long young men and women
have been penalized for using a drug whose effects are
not as harmful as alcohol, in my opinion.”
Alan Fong, co-president of students at the
University of CaUfornia at Berkeley, said the com
mission did not go far enough.
“Full legalization is needed, including sale,”
Fong said.
The commission recommended that felony
penalties be continued for growing and trafficking in
marijuana.
Larry Anderson, president of the Idaho
Association of Student Councils and a senior of Twin
Falls High School, agreed with the commission-
including its assertion that marijuana should not be
legalized until there is more proof on its effects.
“It’s kind of a bad thing when they don’t repeal
laws but rather start turning their heads or going
around the law such as in this case,” said Anderson.
“If you are going to ignore the law, than change it
completely.”
But Harry Burkhart, vice president of the
Purdue University student body and a candidate for
the Indiana Legislature, opposed total repeal of
penalties for smoking marijuana.
“I am a biology student and not enough
research has been done on the hazards,” he said. “I
am not in favor of legalization but do favor reduction
of sentences.”
Police Chief E. C. Hale of Lexington, Ky., was
among law enforcement officers who took issue with
the commission’s recommendations.
“What they’re saying is that the people who
make this thing profitable should be forgiven,” said
Hale. “That isn’t common sense.”
San Francisco Undersheriff Reuben Greenberg
was among officers agreeing with the commission.
“We think the use of marijuana should be
restricted but not made illegal, the same way alcohol
is,” Greenberg said. He said the fact that the drug has
been illegal has led many young people to smoke it in
an effort to rebel against society.
“If Spiro Agnew endorsed marijuana tomorrow,
then the young people would stop smoking it?’ said
Greenberg.
WE
GIVE
WE
JIVE
WE
M
Cbe Battalion
Partly
cloudy,
warm
Friday — Mostly cloudy, after
noon rainshowers. Southerly
winds 10-20 mph. High 79°, low
64°.
Saturday —■ Cloudy in morn
ing. Rain, becoming partly cloudy
afternoon. Southerly winds 10-15
mph, becoming northerly late aft
ernoon. High 78°, low 64°.
Vol. 67 No. 99
College Station, Texas
Thursday, March 23, 1972
845-2226
Women’s rights bill
passes in Senate
WASHINGTON (AP)—The Senate Wednesday completed con-
Bional approval of a constitutional amendment giving women equal
its-including the right to be drafted into the military forces if
'ongress wishes.
The lopsided, 84-8 vote was greeted by a high-pitched war whoop
itwo from women in the gallery hailing a triumph at the end of four
bdes of effort. The House approved it last year 354 to 23.
The Senate’s action sent the question to state legislatures since
residential approval of the proposed amendment is not required.
The states have seven years in which to act and the amendment
mid become effective two years after ratification by the 38th
tate-the minimum number required to make it effective.
The National Women’s Political Caucus viewed the passage of the
:RA as a major victory.
“The significance of women as a new and powerful political force
i demonstrated by the overwhelming margin of passage of the ERA”
lid Rep. Bella Abzug, D-N.Y., co-chairwoman of the caucus.
The caucus is now urging women in all states to maintain the
jomentum by pressuring for ratification in their state legislatures.
“Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do,” said Sen.
Sam Ervin, D-N.C., in concluding his unsuccessful fight for a host of
amendments. This brought a hiss from around the gallery which was
dominated by women three to one.
In voting down a series of Ervin amendments, the Senate by
lopsided majorities pronounced itself in favor of drafting women,
sending them into combat, and lifting work laws some feel discrimi
nate against them.
Actual drafting of women, of course, would require congressional
revision of the Selective Service Act and presumably would not come
about unless there were a major warfare emergency. Compulsory
national service including women was invoked by some countries in
World War II.
Ervin, who led the opposition alone through three days of debate,
said the amendment will create chaos in the nation’s legal system.
Ervin saw the amendment as a blow to states’ rights. “State
legislatures will be meaningless zeroes on the map of the nation,” he
said.
Sen. Marlow Cook, R-Ky., said “I was not aware states
maintained their power by legislating discriminating laws against
women.”
Massive bomb damages
Belfast hotel, train depot
6 Bad checks’ creats
problem for A&M
BELFAST, Northern Ireland
W — A massive bomb planted
in a stolen truck wrecked Bel
fast’s biggest hotel and main
railroad station Wednesday,
sending 70 people to the hos
pital.
The bomb damaged more than
half the rooms in the new $9-
million Europa Hotel and caved
in the roof of Great Victoria
Street Station, shattering two
trains.
It damaged stores and offices
within a 100-yard radius, in
cluding the Glengall Street head-
luarters of Prime Minister Brian
Faulkner’s ruling Unionist par
ty.
The Europa had been the ob
ject of two previous bombing
attempts blamed on the outlaw
ed Irish Republican Army. Both
bombs were defused safely.
This time the bomb, estimated
by the army at more than 100
pounds of gelignite, was placed
in a stolen delivery truck in a
parking lot behind the hotel.
The bombers gave 30 minutes
warning but the bomb exploded
within 15 minutes. That was suf
ficient time to clear the neigh
boring railway station, the main
terminus for trains to Dublin,
but not enough to evacuate oth
er buildings.
“It was like an earthquake,”
said a woman who was inside
the hotel. “Glass was everywhere
and it seemed the blast would
blow us through the windows.”
The explosion was the sixth
major blast in Northern Ireland
since Monday.
“Students owe $2,200 to the uni
versity for bad checks,” said Rob
ert Smith, Assistant Controller
Wednesday.
“There are still 89 checks that
have not been cleared,” he added.
Students who write checks to
the university with insufficient
funds are sent notice of their er
ror by the Fiscal Office. If the
student does not respond to the
notice within five days he will
receive another. After the second
five day “grace” period a student
loses his check-cashing privileges
at A&M.
“After a student’s third ‘hot’
check he also loses his check
cashing privileges/’ Smith said.
A penalty of $5 is assessed for
each bad check. The penalty in
creases to $10 after the second
“grace” periods
“Students are never penalized
for errors made by their bank,”
Smith said.
The assistant controller has a
list of all students without check
cashing privileges but refuses to
share it with local business es
tablishments. “We keep this
strictly within the university,” he
said.
The Texas Aggie Bookstore re
acts to returned checks in a sim
ilar fashion. It charges $3 and
sends the customer a notice or
two.
Charlie’s Grocery at Northgate
does not charge for checks re
turned if the customer settles the
problem soon after receiving his
bank notice. If attempts at con
tacting the person are ignored
the customer is blacklisted.
The head of the Campus Photo
Center says the problem of re
turned checks is “practically non
existent” at his establishment.
“We get only one or two a month,”
he said. The Fiscal Office receives
between 10-15 bad checks a day,
according to Smith.
A&M student
leaders will
visit Houston
A&M student leaders will
make a two-day Leadership Trip
to Houston this weekend under
auspices of the Leadership Com
mittee of the Memorial Student
Center.
Trip chairman Bill Webster
said 36 students will participate
in a variety of activities to be
come familiar with educational,
economic, social and cultural
areas of Houston.
They will hear several promi
nent Houstonians and stay in
homes of community leaders.
Part of the expense will be borne
by the participating student.
Webster said the Leadership
Trip group includes representa
tives from the Student Senate,
MSC Council and Directorate,
Civilian Student Council, Uni
versity Women, civilian residence
halls, the Corps of Cadets; class
officers and several TAMU col
leges.
SPRING TRAINING HAS BEGUN at TAMU and new head coach Emory Bellard is get
ting his first chance to show how things are going to be run. Scrimmages will be held
this Saturday and practice, which is open to the public, is held daily at 4 p. m. (Photo
by Mike Rice)
PARTICIPATING IN THE RIDE A BIKE TO WORK DAY sponsored by the A&M
Wheelmen was President Jack K. Williams. Williams, caught mounted on his trusty
Schwinn in a parking lot next to the Syste ms building, traded the bike in on a car later
in the day however. (Photo by Robert Williams)
Hawkins receives MSC
T. H. Rountree Award
Kirk Hawkins, Town Hall com
mittee chairman at A&M, was
presented the Thomas H. Rountree
Award Wednesday at the Memo
rial Student Center Awards Ban
quet.
Hawkins and 13 other students
and faculty-staff members were
recognized for outstanding service ~
in the MSC during 1971-72.
The 1972-73 MSC Council and
Directorate headed by Sam Walser
of Chillicothe officially took office
at the banquet.
Dr. Haskell M. Monroe, Jr., fac
ulty councilman and advisor to
several MSC committees, received
the Lawrence Sullivan Ross
Award. Monroe, assistant vice
president for academic affairs
and history professor, advises
SCON A, Travel and Leadership
Committees.
Faculty Distinguished Service
Awards went to Dr. W. D. Harris,
Radio Committee advisor; Dean
W. David Maxwell, SCONA XVII
chief advisor, and Mrs. Leslie M.
Reid, Host and Fashion advisor.
Six students received Distin
guished Service Awards. They are
Jan C. Bertholf, Radio chairman;
John C. Dacus, 1971-72 Council
and Directorate president; Sam
Drugan, Great Issues chairman;
Keith Kauffman, council pro
grams vice president; Ben Thur
man, SCONA XVII chairman, and
Paul Turner, Political Forum
chairman.
Outstanding underclassmen in
MSC programs were junior Mi-
University National Bank
“On the side of Texas A&M.”
—Adv.
chael K. Lindsey, 1972-73 Political
Forum chairman; sophomore Chet
Edwards, SCONA XVIII chair
man, and freshman Naomi Logan
of the Great Issues committee.
The Rountree award presented
to Hawkins annually goes to the
student leader making the most
significant contributions to rec
reational, educational and cultural
programs of the center.
Established in 1966 by Mr. and
Mrs. J.L.H. Rountree as a me
morial to their son, the Thomas
H. Rountree plaque spotlights ac
complishments of the Council and
Directorate.
Previous recipients are Henry
D. Mayfield III, 1971; Joe Mac
Spears III, 1970; David T. Mad
dox, 1969; Scott H. Roberts, 1968;
Andrew S. Kovich Jr., 1967; John
H. Rodgers, 1966, and Craig G.
Buck, 1966.
A graduating senior in political
science, Hawkins headed the com
mittee that “has presented some
of the most successful and popu
lar entertainments in its history,”
the citation states. He also has
worked on Great Issues, the Lib
eral Arts Council, pre-law and
M.B.A. luncheon and polling com-
piittees.
The San Angelo native com
mands the First Brigade in the
Corps of Cadets, is a member of
the Ross Volunteers, a Distin
guished Student and Distinguish
ed Military Student. Hawkins was
a member of the freshman swim
team, the Russian Club and out
standing freshman and sophomore
of his company and brigade, re
spectively. He was operations
sergeant on the corps staff last
year.
Hawkins participated in the Ex
periment in International Living
last summer, spending two
months with a Yugoslavian fam
ily.
“Kirk is low key in his actions
and movements,” commented Hal
Gaines, MSC student advisor who
worked closely with Hawkins on
the $150,000-budge ted Town Hall
program that encompasses four
entertainment series.
“He appears at first too easy
going to be a firm and capable
leader, but this picture is not a
true one,” explained Gaines, 1971
recipient of the Ross Award. “He
has an extraordinary ability to
pick good people to serve in key
positions, assign them tasks, in
spire them to the importance of
their duties and then supervise
only enough to insure the task
is accomplished in the time al
lotted.”
Gaines added that Hawkins “is
conscientious to the point of suf
fering from it.”
The Ross award recognizes ex
emplary service to Texas A&M
through the Memorial Student
Center. Formerly assistant grad
uate dean and a Facility Distin
guished Teaching Achievement
Award recipient, Dr. Monroe has
“contributed keen insight and
guidance and long hours to MSC
programs.”
Also identified at the 22nd MSC
awards banquet were 81 recipients
of committee appreciation awards.
Banking is a pleasure at First
Bank & Trust. —Adv.