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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1974)
Speaker’s race Head backs out; Clayton claims win AUSTIN (AP) — Bolstered by Rep. Fred Head’s withdrawal and the announcement of 24 new sup porters, conservative Rep. Bill Clayton claimed victory Tuesday in the race for speaker of the 1975 Texas House. The claim was quickly challenged. Clayton distributed a list of 83 representatives or House nominees, from 76 districts, whom ie said have promised to vote for lim when the House elects its pres- ding officer in January. But Rep. Carl Parker, D-Port Ar thur, his chief opponent for speaker, disputed Clayton’s victory statement. “I can see from a cursory look at the list that he does not have it won—absolutely not. He does not have it won with this list by any means,” Parker said. He said a quick check revealed two names of representatives or House nominees, who had not pledged to Clayton, but he declined to identify them. “They’re just trying to log roll,” Parker said. Parker, a veteran liberal with a record of sponsoring corporate in come tax, environmental and pro labor legislation, called a news con ference of his own for 10 a. m. Wed nesday. Clayton’s news conference fol lowed Head’s withdrawal statement by eight hours, during which Clayton and supporters manned telephones in the Driskill Hotel to round up new pledges. He said that in addition to the 63 pledges he announced, he has commitments that he promised not to release until after November. “The ballgame, for all intents and purposes, is over. I expect to gain many more commitments before January, but as you know, it only takes 76,” Clayton said. The speaker is regarded as one of the state’s three most powerful offi cials because of his influence- —-through House committee ap pointments and other means—over the flow of legislation. But Clayton said he would not use his powers to push through pet bills. “I just don’t believe the speaker should use the power of the gavel to control legislation,” Clayton told reporters. Clayton will be 46 Sept. 11. He runs a 2,000-acre corn, cotton and sorghum farming operation near Springlake, a small town in Lamb County northwest of Lubbock. He said no concessions were made to Head for withdrawing in his favor. But he added: “I know what it takes to win . . . those who played an important role in putting me there are going to play an important role in my administration.” Head, his support dwindling, told a news conference Tuesday morning that he would vote for Clayton despite Clayton’s role as a member of the Gus Mutscher “team” in the 1969 and 1971 legisla tures. The elimination of Head from the race reduced it, for all practical pur poses, to a two-man contest bet ween Parker and Clayton, a Demo crat from Springlake in the South Plains area of Northwest Texas. Parker evidently was surprised by Head’s announcement that 15 of this backers—predominantly liberals—were pledging Clayton their votes. Three hours after Head made his announcement. Rep. Bill Sullivant, D-Gainesville, a former Head backer, told reporters he and eight other conservatives would vote for Clayton. Clayton previously had an nounced the names of 26 backer. r Che Battalion Vol. 68 No. 2 College Station, Texas Wednesday, September 4, 1974 i Army Chief of Staff dies from cancer complications WASHINGTON (AP)—Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Army Chief of Staff and former U. S. commander in Vietnam, died early today of complications from lung cancer surgery, the Army announced. His death came at 12:35 a.m. EDI at Walter Reed Army Medical Center with Mrs. Abrams and his six children, including two Army of ficer sons, at his bedside. Abrams died 11 days before his 60th birthday. He had been failing Tor several days and the Army said his death resulted from “complications that developed during recovery from surgical removal of his cancerous lung,” on June 6. After Abrams lost that lung, he returned to duty at his Pentagon of fice on July 25 and attended a White House meeting with the new presi dent, Gerald R. Ford on Aug. 13. But four days later, he developed a shortness of breath and re-entered Walter Reed, where doctors disco vered two blood clots. One clot, it was found, reached the artery of his remaining right lung. The other was in his right leg. Walter Reed officials said, as his condition deteriorated, that his re maining lung was overworked and his heart was under great strain. Secretary of the Army Howard M. Callaway issued a statement say ing that “the Army and the country have lost one of the great men ... of modern times.” And in a reference to Abrams last work of turning the Army around from its Vietnam war disarray, Cal laway said Abrams “pointed the way for the Army in years to come.” Burial will be in Arlington Na tional Cemetery, the Army said. Ar rangements were incomplete. Abrams, once called by the late Gen. George Patton “the best U.S. tank commander in World War II,” directed the wind-down of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. He was U.S. commander in Viet nam for four years, until the sum mer of 1972, when he turned over the job to Gen. Frederick Weyand, who later became vice chief of staff of the Army under him. Abrams, son of a Springfield, Today ■:<:< Today in the Batt Politics p. 2 Amnesty p. 4 Exchange funds . .p. 6 Weather Clear to partly cloudy thru Thursday. Warm after noons and cool nights. High Wednesday in the lower 80’s. Tonight in mid 50’s. Mass., railroad hand, was one of the few U.S. senior military officers to come out of Vietnam experience with his reputation intact. This may have been because his assigned job, when he took over from Gen. William C. Westmore land, was to disengage U.S. forces with minimum loss of life rather than to win a war, as Westmoreland had been assigned. In World War II, the cigar- chewing Abrams made his reputa tion for gallantry when he led the U.S. tank column which relieved the encircled defenders of Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. With that in mind, Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinge cently spoke of Abrams as “ America’s authentic heroes.” Abrams leave,s his widow, Julia; three sons, Creighton, John and Robert; and three daughters, Noel, Jeanne and Elizabeth. r re- one of STUDENTS GATHER the supplies needed for their classes in the new branch of the MSC bookstore. The old exchange store is now open as an extension of the bookstore. (Photo by Jack Holm) Judge orders reforms Reform schools said brutal TYLER (AP)—A federal judge ordered radical changes Tuesday in the way Texas deals with its juvenile delinquents. The order, if upheld, would mean the closing of the two largest and most troublesome reform schools for boys, at Gatesville and Mountain View. The judge accused school personnel of brutality. The order also calls for commun ity handling of its own juvenile problems locally rather than shifting them sometimes hundreds of miles - • */, V' ' *• • Discipline hearing set today TAMU System Attorney James A. Amis Jr. will defend the * university’s disciplinary action || today. He pleads with the Student Dis- i ciplinary Appeals Panel in Room 401 of the Rudder Tower. The TAMU student appealing the university’s decision will be accom panied by his own attorney. The panel will hear all witnesses and evidence, then vote by secret ballot to either approve or disapprove of the administration’s previous ac tion. The panel’s decision will be hand-carried to President Jack K. Williams, but is not binding upon him. The appeals panel consists of fa culty members appointed by Presi dent Williams and students ap pointed by the student body presi dent with Williams’ approval. Faculty members are Dr. Wil liam R. Smith, professor of psychol ogy and chairman of the panel; Dr. Bonnie V. Beaver, assistant profes- f sor of veterinary anatomy; Dr. Lan- % nes H. Hope, professor of eduea- 8 tional psychology; Dr. Allan C. Ashcraft, professor of history; and Dr. Melvin B"! Calliham, depart ment head for veterinary medicine and surgery. Student members include seniors Debi Blackmon, Michael Perrin and John Nash; junior Don Hegi; and sophomore David Hampe. All the panel members take part in the appeals hearings, but only two students vote with the five fa culty members. The remaining stu dents serve as panel alternates. A second disciplinary appeal Wednesday will not involve lawyers and will be closed to the public. away to the reform schools. Whether Texas will appeal the order issued by U.S. District court Judge William Wayne Justice was not known. Ron Jackson, executive director of the Texas Youth Council (TYC) which takes charge of delinquents, declined comment until he can read and digest the 200-page court order. Already the council has been moving toward local control of de linquents. The number of inmates at the schools has dropped, and Forrest Smith, TYC chairman, has sought to shift financing to local facilities in anticipation of Tuesday’s order. Judge Justice ordered that Gates ville and Mountain View schools be phased out as quickly as possible. He did not issue a similar order for the girls’ school at Brownwood. He ordered the TYC to establish facilities such as group homes, fos ter homes, day care centers or other community-based programs to care for delinquents. The judge, detailing a long list of brutalities, declared that the two boys’ schools are “places where the delivery of effective rehabilitative treatment is impossible and that they must not be utilized any longer than is absolutely necessary as facilities for delinquent juveniles.” The opinion emphasized the rights of youngsters under TYC care to be free from cruel and unjust punishment and to receive re habilitative treatment. The court also ordered the TYC to hire more qualified staff and maintain a much higher staff-pupil ratio than at pres ent. Further, it said the council emp loyees must observe strict proce dures in the use of solitary confine ment. The judge ordered all parties to the suit, including the Justice De partment, to meet within a month to prepare a plan to comply with his orders. He further said he believes the court should monitor progress in carrying out his orders. The order was the latest growing out of a six- week hearing in the summer of 1973 whereby 11 inmates and former in mates sued James Turman, then the director, claiming they received no rehabilitative treatment. Witnesses told of extensive, se vere disciplinary methods which many called brutality. Judge Jus tice, in . an interim order, had or dered a sharp curb in use of solitary confinement as a means of discip line. Turman blamed this change in discipline for ensuing riots and building damage at Gatesville. The order forbids indiscriminate use of major tranquilizers on juveniles, and says the TYC must upgrade its academic and vocational education program. It further ordered bilingual edu cation for Mexican-Americans. Peter Sandmann of San Fran cisco, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers, said, “I think the order will have a national impact. “For one thing, it established a principle—that large institutions for delinquent children simply do not work. They are merely prisons in which children are locked away, at least in Texas. I would hope that it will serve as a model for other juvenile systems all over the coun try.” Sandmann said, “I think it would be unfortunate for the state to ap peal this. It establishes minimal constitutional requirements for juvenile treatment programs. “It seems to me it is the state’s interest to maintain meaningful treatment programs instead of junior prisons.” The girls school at Brownwood was not ordered phased out, al though Sandmann said the court’s order indicated that the delinquents whether boys or girls should be treated nearer their homes. The lawyer said Brownwood long has been noted as having a much better program. The TYC also was told to end cen soring of inmate mail except to re- (See BRUTAL, Page 7) Committee on ambulances questions service quality SPECTACULAR LIGHTNING announced the arrival of the first cold front of the season. This view looking south over the YMCA building was one of several such sights. (Photo by Steve Ueckert) Ed Sherrill put Sherrill’s Ambul ance Service into operation March 1, as the ambulance service for Brazos County. Since then, a number of complaints have been aired regarding the quality of ser vice rendered and the employment of minors for ambulance runs. Members of the Brazos County ambulance committee met with Sherrill on Aug. 29, to discuss the complaints. Present were County Judge W. R. Vance, J. Louis Odle, Bryan city manager, and North Bardell, Col lege Station city manager. The meeting, which lasted sev eral hours, resulted in Sherrill agre eing to make certain improvements. Sherrill said he will enroll his emp loyes in an Emergency Training School as soon as a state approved course can be established, hopefully by October. Currently, Sherrill is the only Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in the employment of Sherrill’s Ambulance Service. One of Sherrill’s attendants is a licensed practical nurse. Sherrill stressed that no one, regardless of his train ing, may administer anything but first aid until the patient is under doctor’s supervision. Sherrill informed the committee that his 15-year-old son will no longer be allowed to make ambul ance runs, but he may use him as a dispatcher. The three officials noted that EMT training is presently not a state requirement for ambulance at tendants but that it probably will be in the future. The 81-hour EMT course as taught by the American Red Cross is in the process of being updated to a 120 hour course requiring 40 hours of in-hospital practical training, ac cording to Odle. Mass murder jury sets sanity trial HOUSTON (AP)—The jury will assemble Nov. 4 to decide if a de fendant in the Houston mass mur ders case is mentally competent to stand trial. District Court Judge William M. Hatten today set a sanity trial for Nov. 4 for David Owen Brooks, 19, a young father accused in four of the 27 deaths discovered last year in Houston. It was a case of what offic- ‘ers said was homosexual rape- torture executions. The jury will determine if Brooks, whose 7-month-old child was born after Brooks was jailed, is now com petent to help in his defense against the charges. If the jury finds him sane, a trial on the first of four cases would be set. Ted Musick, Brooks’ lawyer, said if the defendant is ordered to stand trial, he will seek a change of venue and enter a plea of temporary insan ity. A ruling of insanity would pre clude prosecution and Brooks could be sent to a mental hospital.