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.