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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 1974)
Che Battalion College Station, Texas Friday, March 29, 1974 Battalion survey Today is the last day for student government candidates to fill out The Battalion opinion poll. Re sults of the poll will be printed Tuesday. All candidates (even those previously interviewed for publication) are urged to participate. The questionnaires can be filled out at The Bat talion offices in Room 216 of the Reed McDonald Serv ices Building. Today Streakers hit Sully; More on streakers p. 2 g ' Dallas track meet p. 7 mob bugs Williams Weather Fair and mild Friday with northwesterly winds 8-15 m.p.h. High today 79°. Low tonight 53°. Continued fair and mild Saturday and Sunday with temperatures in the mid 80’s. Northeasterly winds tomorrow 10-12 m.p.h. No precipitation expected this weekend. - By CLIFF LEWIS & GREG MOSES A boisterous streak ended with a confrontation at the president’s door last night when a nude stu dent was taken to the University Police Department. Magic marker signs posted around campus Thursday announ ced a “Streak In” in front of the Academic Building at 10 p. m. “Help A&M set a national re cord,” they read. “(Bring your streaker sneakers).” At 9:30 p. m. a group of 15 was standing around a bench in front of the Academic Building. “You gonna streak? asked one dressed in gym shorts and a T- shirt. “You gonna go first?” answer ed another in gym shorts and streaker sneakers. “I’m really gonna take off my clothes if everybody else does.” “Yea, but nobody’s gonna do it.” By 10:30 there were 500 people, packed in a circle before the sta tue of Sullivan Ross. Students filled the trees ai’ound the mall; they were standing on benches, they were standing on each oth er’s shoulders—they were wait ing for something to happen. Streakers show A few minutes later they were cheering and whooping. Someone saw some streakers and people rushed to get a look. Then more streakers ran behind the crowd. A motorcycle weaved through the crowd and around the streak ers. “A kid just about got hit by that motorcycle,” said a plains- clothed policeman. The crowd formed a double line along the front of the Academic Building and began clapping in unison. Three streakers took the dare, leaped out of the shrubs and ran through the line as the crowd cheered. A nude team of three guys and a girl, chased by clothed Aggie football players, ran from Nagle Hall to the Legett parking lot. “We almost caught them,” said an athlete. “We ran like hell,” said the girl from her locked car. “Why did you do it?” asked a reporter. Historian calls for accounting By CLIFF LEWIS pany’ prestige because a few Dr. Arthur Schlesinger stepped board members had been involved before the podium, congratulated the audience for waiting 45 min utes to see him and called for “the return of accountability” to the presidency. Schlesinger was late to his noontime Great Issues presenta tion here Thursday with trans portation problems. He suggested impeachment pro ceedings be taken against Richard Nixon as means to return a strict er sense of accountability for its actions to the presidency. Nixon has, with his theories of executive privelege and control of the military and the budget, sustematically sought to deprive the Congress of its controlling power over the executive branch, the famed historian suggested. “Yet he holds an attitude of re sentment toward scrutiny and criticism of his actions. Perhaps he believes that being President means never having to say you’re sorry. “The President should be watch ed closely, and reminded twice a day that he is not as big a man as he is always being told he is.” Schlesinger wondered how the stockholders of a corporation would regard their chairman if he appologized for losing the com- in embezzlement or misuse of their power. “Watergate may be the best thing that’s happened in a while. It has thrown new meaning at the administration for the values of prison reform and amnesty,” he stated. “And it has brought at tention to presidential power.” He indicated concern that the government should rehabilitate the system of accountability and raise the consciences of future presidents. He recommended that the best way to make these im pressions would be to take im- pachment proceedings against the President. “Failure to take impeachment proceedings would endorse the imperial presidency,” he said. Schlesinger’s latest book is “The Imperial Presidency.” “Impeachment is a method al ready provided for the Constitu tion, and charges would be placed only after careful deliberation by Congress. It would punish the of fender without punishing the of fice. And if Nixon really is the victim of a left-wing conspiracy, what better way to vindicate him, than to give him a fair trial?” Several rounds of applause fol lowed Schlesinger’s comments. Campus Briefs “We wanted to give these peo ple something to come here for,” answered the girl’s boyfriend. Two of the more modest streak ers dropped their pants briefly while standing on the fourth-floor ledge of the Academic Building. A few minutes later and a few windows away, four naked fig ures stood together with their hands stretched out above their heads. Police show A plainsclothes policeman cor nered them in a room as they were dressing and took down their names. By this time the crowd, which had grown to around 2,000, was becoming aware of the presence of university officials. “If you see a cop, block him out,” shouted a student. “Dean Powell’s over there,” warned another. Charles Powell, dean of men, took the license number of a car load of streakers and said, “They will be in my office tomorrow. They’ll be with their parents the next day. I’ve got better things to do than come over here.” Don Blatchley, assistant to Dean Powell, said, “I’m just ready for bed.” Dean of Women Toby Rives said the students were just losing sleep, and that the police didn’t want to make any arrests. A uniformed policeman said, “We’ve got a lot of the police force out here tonight, many of them not in uniform. We’re not trying to catch anyone, just to keep order.” Chief O. L. Luther of the Uni versity Police said most of the policemen were on regular as signment. “There are three or four here in plainclothes,” said Luther. He also said the police ★ ★ ★ weren’t going to catch anyone. About thirty streakers appear ed during the night on bicycle, motorcycle, and foot with clothes ■ clutched to their stomachs. Around 11 p.m. a streaker was escorted to the police station. As he walked between the YMCA and the Health Center with a man at each elbow, a small crowd began booing and hissing. The crowd grew to several hundred students and the booing turned into chants of “Let him go!” There were cries of “let’s get him loose” and the crowd tight ened around the streaker and his escorts. After the trio entered the station, people began pound ing on windows, walking on po lice cars and chanting about cer tain university officials. A window to Luther’s office was broken. A spokesman stepping out of the police station faced the crowd and said the fate of the streakers was up to the administration. Stu dents yelled a while longer, di rected some of the yells at Presi dent Jack Williams, and began to disperse. The night seemed to be over. Motorcycle tracks rutted the de serted lawn in front of the Aca demic Building. A broken branch lay on the ground. Second wind A shout of another crowed echoed in the distance. “Where did that come from?” a group of students wanted to know. “Maybe from the President’s house,” a shirtless male answered. “I think that’s where the crowd went.” The crowd before the presi dent’s house simmered behind self-appointed spokesman John Johnson. “I just asked the questions the (See STREAKERS, p. 2) ★ ★ ★ Decision postponed Several streakers were identi fied by university officials Thurs day night but there has been no decision on what will be done. Investigation and disciplinary action on the night’s activities are in the hands of the office of the Vice President for Student Services headed by Dr. John Kol- dus. Koldus is out of town and his assistant, Howard Perry, is fill ing in temporarily. “No decision will be made until all the individuals involved are talked with. We don’t have our data together,” said Perry. He said therke is no vindictive ness on anyone’s part. “Students seem to feel there is an adversary relationship between them and the administration. I wish they didn’t feel this way,” said Perry. He said the decision to appre hend and identify students was reached in a conference and they were designed as precautionary steps to prevent violence. Neither Chief O. L. Luther or Perry could explain why people were apprehended after assur ances to reporters that the police were there to observe only. ■ M x . m. * FLASHING LEGS and a blur of flesh marked |A&M’s first streaking hap pening last night. At top left, two streakers sprint past Goodwin Hall clutch ing their clothes in their hands. At left, an uniden tified girl prepares to make a run down a boot line alley of spectators. IBelow right, a defiant streaker is escorted by po lice to the campus station, bout 30 streakers, mak- their appearances in [various ways, drew a rowd of about 2,000. Seven comedies Student directors in the Aggie Players present seven scenes of comedies in the Forum Fx-iday night. As a second exercise for a student directing course, the scenes will be free and public be ginning at 8 p.m. Black Experience A dance and a picnic will com plete the activities of Black Ex perience IV. The Afro Ball will be held on University National “On the side ot Texas Bank A&M.’ 1 Adv. the second floor of the MSC from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. A Houston band, Ghetto Sounds, will perform and, in keeping with the theme of the week’s activities, African dress is suggested. The sweetheart of the Black Awareness Committee will also be announced. Tickets at the door will be $2.50 and advance tickets, $2, are on sale at the Rudder Ticket Office. Events will end with a picnic at Lake Somerville, Saturday. Rides are leaving from the M.SC. Six indicted in Hearne FRANKLIN UP) _ Six top Hearne city officials have been indicted in connection with a con- troversal $12,000 check and a grand jury is investigating a sep arate $10,000 discrepancy in city books. The Franklin County grand jury returned indictments Thurs day against Mayor Jake Abrams, City Manager E. C. Suggs, and councilmen Tommy Mayfield, John Miles Jr., Grady Griffin and Julian Kwasnica. Abrams, Suggs and Mayfield were named in two counts of mis application and conspiracy while Miles, Griffin and Kwasnica were named in one count. The charges concern a $12,000 check drawn in 1971 for a non existent enineering firm. The check controversy was revealed when Hearne city bookkeeper Mae Beth Bishop said the money was intended as a campaign contribu tion for Rep. Bob Poage, D-Tex. Poage denied the accusation and called for an FBI investigation. Mayor Abrams later apologized to Poage for what he said was a mistaken impression the money was to be given to the congress man. There has been no explanation of where the money went. Meanwhile, the grand jury ask ed for a recess Thursday while investigators probe a separate money discrepancy, this one of $10,000, for 1973. That shortage was found by an auditor.