Page 2
THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1973
Youth Problems Create Too Many Problems, Few Soluti
By RICK BROWN
On Oct. 16 about 6,000 yelling- sign
carrying- supporters of Brother Lester Rol-
off converged from all across the state upon
Austin determined to show the world their
undying allegiance to Roloff and his efforts
to keep open three unlicensed homes for
juvenile delinquents. Signs read, “Brother
Roloff Today—Your Church Tomorrow.”
The furor originated when the Houston
Post and Corpus Christi Caller-Times re
leased story after story describing condi
tions in the homes inconsistent with com
monly accepted standards of hygiene and
nutrition. Also, according to the Texas Ob
server, “The papers found former students
of the Roloff schools who signed statements
concerning efforts to beat the Devil out of
them and Christ into them.”
Mimi Crossley of the Post gathered re
ports that Roloff was in effect selling babies
of unwed mothers in his homes for “love
gifts” by the adopting parents.
To these allegations Roloff replied, “Our
local newspaper, that I begged to come out
and see the home before they published the
lies and slander, has gone to press on the
front page and the back page accusing us
of brutality . . . Others have picked up the
story . . . Ten or 12 of our girls were picked
up at the home by officers and carried to
the county attorney’s office for some state
ments. These happened to be the meanest
girls at our home, who hated Christ, the
Word of God, and all that we sought to do
for them.” Perhaps Roloff just had not had
sufficient time to indoctrinate them to the
glories of salvation.
On Aug. 3, Dist. Judge Walter Dunham
issued an order that the schools must be
licensed or shut down by Oct. 1. Roloff
went into high gear decrying the state rules
as obstructions to religious fredom. (Simi
lar Catholic and Baptist scholos have had
no problem meeting the minimal require
ments.)
Many of Roloff’s arguments simply do
not hold water. He objects to the hygiene
and P.E. requirements. He refuses to allow
the Department of Public Welfare to in
spect his facilities. The sex education re
quired by state law can even be taught from
the Old Testament and still meet the regu
lations. Yet he objects.
Roloff is the founder of Roloff Evange
listic Enterprises, Inc., and runs homes in
Texas, Kansas and Mississippi. His homes
operate under the protective cloak of thou
sands of religious fanatics attracted to his
defiant attitude to the government they
feel is obstructing their right to force the
will of God down everybody’s throat. In my
opinion he is a demagogue and a hypocrite.
Roloff refuses to comply to state standards
not because of ideological objections, but
because of the publicity and the limelight
such church vs. state clashes inevitably
bring. Another reason is the heavy contri
bution to Roloff Evangelistic Enterprises,
Inc. received when 6,000 yelling supporters
gathered to voice their support of their van
guard for Christianity.
State schools have their problems, too, it
seems. On Aug. 31 Judge William Wayne
Justice of Tyler issued a restraining order
to halt demeaning and unnecessary treat
ment of the students at the Gatesville State
School for Boys. On Sept. 4, just days after
receiving the new freedoms, the boys rioted.
Why?
The GSSB reform school is divided into
two facilities, one at Gatesville and one at
Mountain View. The Mountain View divi
sion handles the “problem” boys too tough
for Gatesville. When a boy has been sent
to Mt. View he is automatically considered
a hardened delinquent. Authorities have
been known to ignore recommendations by
caseworkers for releases. A policy of “keep
’em in there where they can hurt no one but
themselves,” seems to prevail. Punishment,
not rehabilitation, is the key word.
One incident, related in the Texas Ob
server by Charles Derrick, caseworker at
GSSB, involved a retarded 90 pound epilep
tic Chicane. The boy was having seizures
and Mack O. Morris, former assistant su
perintendent at Mt. View, decided to cure
him. He had the boy locked in solitary con
finement and tear gas cannisters were
thrown in through the food slot. The boy
was found curled up in the corner after hav
ing clawed marks into the wall with his
fingernails.
Another student was kept in solitary
confinement for 30 days. Solitary has no
lights or toilet. Why was he kept there?—
obscene language.
Students were required to pull grass and
weeds with knees straight. Mail was cen
sored. Families sometimes were not al
lowed to see their children. Guaz-ds carried
clubs wrapped with tape with which to beat
students whenever the urge struck. Why
would there be a history of riots and disor
ders under such pristine living conditions ?
Judge Justice’s injunction ended the
worst treatment. Why then did the boys
riot? Some students at Mt. View had built
a still in a shed. While under the influence,
they boarded a laundry truck and spun
about in the courtyard. They were stopped,
locked up and charged with auto theft.
(Two barbwire-topped fences, one 10 and
one seven feet high, surround the complex
and guards are stationed at all gates. How
they were to steal the truck was not ex
plained.) The Gatesville boys heard about
“the riot at Mt. View,” and proceeded to
have a riot of their own, a real one. The
administrators, rather than stop the riot,
stood by and blamed it all on the order by
the judge. Presumably they did not know
how to treat the youths if they were not
allowed to beat them or put them in cells
and pour in tear gas.
While everyone was shaking his head,
Gov. Bidscoe created an Inter-Agency Task
Force on Youth Care and Rehabilitation. We
already had the Texas Youth Council, State
Welfare Commission, State Mental Health
Commission, State Mental Retardation Com
mission, Texas Rehabilitation Commission
and the Texas Education Agency. Perhaps
fewer agencies with more competent admin
isters might have been a better idea.
One day •
4c per w
Min
C
$1.0
“It’s the time of the season to get serious
football!”
Listen Up—
Hotard Greivance Group Takes Actionl
'I HOPE ONE OF YOU REMEMBERED TO TURN DOWN THE THERMOSTAT BEFORE YOU
LEFT HOME.'
Butt Commentary
Board Proposals
A dinner meeting Tuesday between the TAMU Board of Directors
plus the TAMU administration and student leaders was the epitome of
the fallacious existence of direct communication links at TAMU.
The meal, primarily a social get-together for all parties, went off
as the administration hoped it would—without a hitch, and with no
help from the students.
Take for instance, the proposal for liquor on campus which the
Senate sent to President Jack Williams recently for approval. His okay
or opposition to it was never formally announced to anyone. All we
were told was, “The Board probably won’t accept liquor on campus,
even with restrictions.” Most Board members, likewise, were never told
that Williams had laxed the liquor rule here to the point where Corps
Commander Scott Eberhart could tell his cadets when to drink in their
dorms via a memorandum.
Some students asked Board members last night to divulge the
reasons the group had, indeed, said no to the proposal. The decision
was made only yesterday, but apparently on the wrong basis. Williams
discussed the liquor subject with the Board, but according to one Board
member, not in the context it should have been. The three-year
president ignored the fact that he had already laxed the rule in his
discussion, said the member. He apparently presented the Senate
proposal by saying students didn’t have liquor on campus at all, when
in fact, he had approved liquor on campus without telling the Board
weeks earlier.
Another blow occurred when the Board held the last of its
infamous private meetings Tuesday prior to a regularly scheduled
meeting. Williams told Student Government President Randy Ross that
he could not be present at the meeting even to only answer questions
about the Senate’s proposal. Williams can never fully represent the
views of students, especially after he told certain individuals that he was
really against the proposal. House Bill 6 should break this bad habit on
January 1, though.
Still, other students were having trouble with Board President
Clyde Wells at the dinner when he was asked why student proposals
that went to the Board through Williams were never placed on the
formal meeting agenda given each member. He could give no definite,
logical reason. Students were only trying to discover the proper way to
bring proposals to the Board. State law allows all to petition the Board
for a spot on the agenda, meaning Williams and students.
Student leaders were going to attempt to quiz the Board again at
its meeting this morning and to oppose or approve the proposal on
liquor is not our purpose here.
Only, we demand that the correct procedure for routing
proposals be revealed to the masses. If we won’t be allowed to petition
the Board for policy changes, tell us. Students and faculty alike have a
right to this information, whether it helps or hinders them.
Cbe Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is
the editor nr of the writer of the article and are not published in College Station, Texas, daily except Saturday,
me editor or OJ me writer OJ me article ana are not Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods, September through
necessarily those of the University administration or May, and once a week during summer school.
the Board of Directors. The Battalion is a non-profit,
self-supporting enterprise operated by students as a MEMBER
University and Community newspaper. The Associated Press, Texas Press Association
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longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit Texas 77843.
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77843.
— —:—^ _ U1 . — — EDITOR MIKE RICE
Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim a tti j;i
Lindsey, chairman; Dr. Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr. Assistant to the Editor ..Rod Speer
H. E. Hierth, W. C. Harrison, Randy Ross, T. Chet Edwards, Managing Editor Greg Moses
and Jan Faber. News Editor T. C. Gallucci
Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising *"••* ^
Services. Inc, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Ass’t. Sports Editor Ted Bonskie
Editor:
We the undersigned Hotardi-
ans wish to make known to the
rest of the campus our grevious
plight.
We demand:
(1) A Hotard awareness com
mittee.
(2) A Hotard Studies program.
(3) Being tired of our secluded
location we want to be moved to
a more central location, prefera-
ply between the statue of “Sul
ly” and the flagpole.
(4) That native Hotardian
dishes be served at least once a
year in Sbisa.
(5) More Hotardians on the
faculty.
(6) An end to the sexist Uni
versity policy that has yet to ad
mit the first female Hotardian.
(7) An end to the prejudiced
University policy which has set
the percentage of Hotardians at
.4 percent of the actual student
population.
We are not calling for revolu
tion, we are just asking for our
basic human rights.
Steve Tanner ’75
John Emery ’75
Jay Wright ’77
Hotard Grievance
Committee
★ ★ ★
Editor:
Your decision to run the gay
lib story on November 16 without
your personal editorial comment
leaves confusion on the part of
the reader as to the BAT and
the University’s stand on gay lib
expression. The lack of such state
ment might lead to a conclusion
you favor this deviation from the
behavioral norm.
Although it is the duty of the
journalist “to inform,” it is also
important you remember your re
sponsibility to society. You are
responsible for what is NOT said
as well as what is said.
Psychologists talk about be
havior modification. Perhaps it
might be possible to soften public
opinion against the homosexual.
State and federal legislation can
be altered so that the homosex
ual would not suffer the legal dif
ficulties he may now experience.
The author of the article made
attempts to note the inclusion of
homosexuals in the church, and
among the clergy. He seems to
lay “blame” upon the church and
Christianity for much of the anti
gay feelings.
It should be pointed out that
although man may change his
own laws, the scriptures, the Bi
ble, which Christianity considers
as the Word of God, has very spe
cific comments about homosex
uality, as it does towards any and
all sexual activity outside mar
riage. Man may compromise with
his own laws, but t he Bible
doesn’t even imply that man can
compromise, or rationalize (situ
ation ethics) with any success on
Judgement Day.
Praise God, however, that He
has provided a way. He does not
leave us stranded, but provides
forgiveness and a New Life to all
who yield their full allegiance to
His Son, Jesus. Men and women
alike who may have problems of
this nature, or any other, can
find complete freedom, the in
stant they yield themselves to
tally to the full Power of Jesus
Christ.
Howard Eilers
Associate Professor, Journalism
★ ★ ★
Editor:
Intellectuals have a nasty habit
of exhibiting eminent stupidity at
times, especially when a non-in
tellectual phenomena is involved
(the plaque in the Zachry Engi
neering Center speaks to this
point). I can imagine what 250 of
these fruit-cakes would come up
with on the subject of suicide.
Texas A&M, through the years,
has characteristically had a spe
cial spirit that makes it just a
little better than the run-of-the-
mill university. The students who
have “checked out” early on pur
pose have had nothing, but noth
ing, to do with the growth of this
reputation.
Rationalizing suicide for three
weeks was the high point of one
writer’s academic career? Right
on.
Experience indicates that peo
ple who invoke the unloving-and-
apathetic-society routine are usu
ally people-haters, and these
types are definitely two-percent-
ters.
To reiterate— Suicide cases
should not in my opinion be ac
corded the honor of Silver Taps.
Perhaps, though, if you can
round up 250 idiots you can start
the Texas Aggie Suicide Society.
Taylor Scaly
★ ★ ★
Editor:
I am a student at the Univer
sity of Texas at Austin, but I have
been on the A&M campus a num
ber of times and know that the
student newspaper prints letters
to the editor. I do not know if
you accept letters from students
at other universities, but I have
written this with the hope you
will. I would rather you not sign
my name to it, but if you wish to
contact me, my address is P. O.
Box 7854, University of Texas,
Austin Texas,
As a student at the University
of Texas at Austin who attendei
the Rice-A&M game, I was shocl
ed by the behavior of the A4!i
students during half-time and al
ter the game. Who are you to
place your trite traditions abon
everyone else’s? You can steal
our mascot and parade him around
your campus like a bunch o!
spoiled children as you did last
year, but you can’t take a harm
less spoof on your own mascot and
traditions. By your actions this
Saturday you have proven once
again that the University of Tex
as is the only school worthy of the
name of Texas. I do not want to
put down the academic status of
A&M for in some areas it is a fine
school. But the attitude ai
‘spirit’ of the ‘True Ag’ leaves
lot to be desired. I sincerely hope
you grow up by Thursday so that
our traditional meeting will not he
marred by such antics. I would
hate for the police to have to es
cort anyone off the field again.
What sort of satisfaction can that
possibly give you. It’s time yon
Aggies grew up.
John Cunningham
LET US
Every F
7 i
Babysitting
borne. Call
Hensel.
PLAYLA
Will be c
12:00
Babysitting
home. Call
★ ★ ★
Editor:
Obviously Mr. Sealy does not
understand that a person who
has committed suicide had a very
serious and complex emotional
problem. But, if Sealy does grasp
this fact, I fail to see why he of
fered such a simplistic and naive
view of Mr. Scott’s character.
Perhaps James Scott should not
have been honored, but for our
own good we should at least try to
understand the real situation.
Anthony M. Kalenak ’77
UJ
cou