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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1973)
Aggie Is Licensed Falconer By PAULA STEPHENSON Looking' more like a Cuban revolutionary than a junior pre- vet student, long-legged and moustachioed Mark Hitchcock is a member of a select group of Texas bird lovers. “Hitch,” as his friends call him, is one of a dozen or so licensed falconers in Texas, and he just received his license in January. Dressed in his “hunting clothes,” blue jeans and a work shirt, and what looks like an ammunition cartridge belt around his chest, he goes tramping around College Station scaring up game for his red-tailed hawk to eat. The car tridge belt around his chest holds gear used in caring for the hawk, and bait to lure it back after the hunt is over. “I became interested in hawks in high school, after I read a book about falconry,” he said. “So, I talked my mom and dad into giv ing me $35 to buy a hawk through the mail. That was eight years ago, and the bird never has come. “Then I got in touch with a guy who helped me trap my very first hawk. My parents thought I’d finally lose interest in fal conry, but I never did.” Hitchcock went through several of the finer points of falconry, telling how he caught a bird, tamed it, and then gradually in troduced it to a leash and a lure in order to teach it to fly freely and then return. After this “con ditioned response” process, the bird is ready to be freed to catch rabbits and small game, and then fly back to Hitchcock. “The only time my hawking ever got out of hand was when I was in high school in Dallas,” he said. “It was a Windy day, and looked like it was fixing to rain—not good hunting weather— so I decided to exercise my bird in our back yard. “Unfortunately, our next door neighbors decided to exercise their poodle at the same time. Well, my hawk flew over and picked up the poodle. The dog was too heavy for the hawk to carry off, so they just kind of struggled on the ground. I yelled at my dad, and we caught the bird and he let go of the dog. The poodle wasn’t hurt at all, but I don’t think he ever went outside by himself anymore.” MARK HITCHCOCK GAZES at his pet predator before they gr> to hunt for its food. Texas Forms ‘Government In The Sunshine’ Hitchcock, as a licensed fal coner, has to know about the medical care and owning of hawks, owls, falcons and eagles, most of which he has learned through reading books on his own. He has participated in the North American Falconer’s Association (NAFA), once in South Dakota and once in Colorado. There are about 400 members of NAFA in the U.S. and Canada, and they meet around Thanksgiving to fly their birds in competition. Aid To S. Vietnam Called A Necessity WASHINGTON <A>)—Congress’ auditors say the United States, which has turned more than $5 billion worth of weapons over to South Vietnam so far, will have to continue both materiel support and technical training “for the foreseeable future.” The ability of Saigon’s fleet of some 600 helicopters to cope with an all-out North Vietnam attack “may be marginal” for example, the General Accounting Office said in a report released Monday. GAO auditors also said U.S. turnover of jumbo C130 cargo planes to South Vietnam last fall because of heavy combat needs will require continued training of Saigon’s pilots and mechanics on how to use them “for some time to come.” The agency’s conclusion that some indefinite U.S. arms supply and training will be needed by South Vietnam was drafted before the Paris peace agreement was reached providing that all arms in Vietnam may be replaced only on a one-for-one basis. The report said that because of the uncertainties of the peace negotiations and defenses that might be required against poten tial renewal of hostilities after a ceasefire, it could not estimate the cost level of continued U.S. arms supplies that might be needed. In greatest need, the report said, is South Vietnam’s air force which was the last major respon sibility turned over to Saigon and which was turned over ahead of schedule. The auditors questioned the capability of Saigon’s helicopter fleet on the basis of its size—550 to 600 helicopters compared to a U.S. force of more than 3,200 during the height of its involve ment in Vietnam—and the fact that U.S. pilots had to take on 40 per cent of helicopter missions immediately after Hanoi’s of fensive last March. This “suggests to us,” the GAO report said, “that the VNAF helicopter fleet may be marginal at this time in its capacity to meet all the burdens which could be placed upon it.” The report said Pentagon of ficials disagree, however, and be lieve Saigon’s fleet “is now ade quate to meet any anticipated requirements.” Bulletin Board TONIGHT Parents Without Partners will hold their organizational meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the CNB Room of the City National Bank, 301 S. Texas Ave. Air Force Corps Wives will meet at Accents Contemporary, 3219 Texas Ave. at 7:30 for a program on “Home Interior Decorating.” Wildlife Biology Association will meet in Room 113 of the Bio logical Science Building-East at 7:30. Speaker will be Don Frels, Assistant Director of Wildlife Restoration Region IV, Laporte, Texas. Agricultural Economics Club will meet at 7:30 in Room 112 of the Plant Sciences Building. Student Senate Radio Commit tee will meet in the Student Sen ate Office at 7:00. ASM and ASME will hold a joint meeting in lecture Room No. 1 of the Zachry Engineering Center at 7:30. Ed Bravenec from Armco Steel Co. will speak. Engineering Technology Soci ety will meet at 7:30 in Room 107 of the Mechanical Engineer ing Shops. Nominations for offi cers will be made. WEDNESDAY Phi Alpha Theta presents Dor man H. Winfrey, Director of the Texas State Library in Room 226, Library Conference Suite at 7:30. He will speak on “The Texas State Library-Resources and Services.” Rodeo and Rick Nelson _ *1.00 1 Off At Houston Post Night At The Rodeo you’ll enjoy both and save $1.00 per seat. Performance time is Tuesday, February 27, 7:45 p.m.. Astrodome®. Just clip the coupon. One coupon, one ticket, one dollar off. It’s the only night to see Rick Nelson . . . and more fun than a “Garden Party’’ By Texas Press Association AUSTIN — The Texas Legisla ture swept away some of the clouds last week and made im portant moves toward “govern ment in the sunshine.” In addition to passing the re vised “open meetings” law—pat terned after Florida’s famous “sunshine law” — House commit tees approved a new “open rec ords” law for Texas and placed on the House calendar a “free flow of information” bill. Changes in the Texas open meetings law will allow the pub lic and press to be informed of all “quorum” meetings of public bodies. It was approved 132 to 13 by the House of Representatives and moved over to the Senate Jurisprudence Committee. Closed meetings will be held to a minimum under the exemptions in the new law. It was authored by Rep. Carl Parker of Port Ar thur and submitted as a part of House Speaker Price Daniel Jr.’s “reform package.” A marathon five-hour hearing by the House Judiciary Commit tee—chaired by Rep. DeWitt Hale —was held on the “free flow of information” measure. This pro posal is H.B. 10, sponsored by Rep. Dave Allred of Wichita Falls. It grants a “news source” con fidential privilege, and allows Texas journalists to get more in formation about governmental, law enforcement and other mat ters important to the public. The House Judiciary Commit tee approved the bill 16 to 4 and sent it to the House floor for debate this week. H.B. 6, the “open records” measure, will allow the public and press access to most all records of government, city, county and state, that are not closed by state statute. A few other restrictions were placed on the bill—sponsored by Rep. Lane Denton of Waco. All of these “government in the sunshine” measures follow the pattem of new House rules which open committee meetings, and follow the trend toward “open ness.” NEW SHIPMENT OF WRANGLER BLUE DENIM JEANS Flare & Cowboy Cut All Lengths Including 36 & 38 BRYAN WESTERN WORLD 3806 Texas Ave. 846-0224 *1.00 Off With coupon on any $4.50 Arena, $4.50 or $3.50 Mezzanine, $2.50 Loge or Upper seat for The Houston Post Family Night at the Rodeo. One coupon per ticket must be presented at time of purchase, no facsimiles allowed. Coupon will be honored at the advance ticket window at the Astrodome®, at all five Foley’s or on the night of the performance at the Astrodome® February 27, 1973 • 7:45 p.m. • Astrodome The Houston Post We Get There First And Stay All Day (Additional coupons available at The Houston Post) Harriso ?ram, a in 1 203 e he pr is, rep its twi st still he coi ts, fiv f the secon lester’: it the the d man, i ges tl class They i about Har Tie sti ignmei mig es and doing mi. Wh The Naked Truth! From locker room interviews to boxscores, we know you look for complete and accurate coverage of the world of sports. That’s why, no matter what the game, our goal is accuracy. And our team is The Associated Press. As a member of the world’s largest news-gathering organi zation, we range the globe to bring you news from the fields, the courts, the diamonds. For, like us,The AP knows that sports is news. Big news. So AP covers sports in a big way. As a result, we provide you with all the statistics and the scores all down in black-and-white ac curacy for you to review and check. At the same time, we take you behind the scenes. You get spontaneous reactions of player and coach alike—uninhibited and spontaneous as only one-to-one personal interviews can be. Down the line—the Olympics—Wimbledon—the Super Bowl—the World Series—you get the best seat in the stadium, and all the playback that follows, through the pages of Cbe Battalion member of THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Byline of Dependability for 125 years Of Sible t< Men cc nould t is G< Wi elves « fere sj ounde< Matt, atisfi* >een l e 'hristi jord I>s me . W ions. ‘Often ■ 6:15.) J y the “are o tii mpa: ing” (; who m this 'hat t j prue, - ^he Lc W [ r om s f Pa\_ h