Che Battalion
Vol. 68 No. 11
College Station, Texas
Thursday, September 19, 1974
Student convicted on lesser
charge in quad incident trial
By LEANN ROBY
Staff Writer
The aggravated assault charge
filed against a TAMU student, Wil
burn C. Bullard, in connection with
aquadding incident in April of 1973
was reduced Wednesday to simple
assault by County Judge William R.
Vance.
A fine of $50 plus a court cost of
$133 was assessed to Bullard in the
Brazos County Court proceeding.
Bullard’s trial, at which he was
convicted of aggravated assault, was
held Sept. 4. The trial adjourned
around 6:15 p. m. with defense at
torney Jack Woods yet to argue if
the assault was aggravated or sim
ple. Vance said he would allow
Woods to argue that point at
Bullard’s sentencing.
During the week’s time Vance
decided to change the charge from
aggravated to simple assault. “The
definition of aggravated assault is
serious bodily injury,” Vance said
after the sentencing.
“No testimony was made by any
witness that constitutes evidence
there was serious bodily injury.
Why go through another day and a
half of testimonies when there was
not enough evidence from the last
trial to warrant a charge of aggra
vated assault?” Vance said.
Dr. Charles Powell, director of
student affairs, who took sub
poenaed records to the sentencing,
commented he was satisfied with
the trial’s results, but believed Bul
lard took the brunt for everyone else
involved.
In regard to the future of quad-
ding, Powell said, “I like traditions
such as quadding, but not to the
point of hazing. There is a thin line
between quadding and hazing.
There must be willing participants
from both sides.
“We have never approved of
i
Quadding is the practice of gang
ing up on an unsuspecting Aggie
and dousing him with water or
throwing him in a nearby mudhole
or fountain. It is usually done in
harmless fun and is a regular activ
ity of dorm life.
quadding. In the future we hope to
rule it out entirely. “Good bull’ is
one thing, but vindictive quadding
must be prevented.”
When asked why yell leaders are
allowed to be thrown in the water
after games, Powell remarked, T’ve
never considered that quadding.”
Vance remarked that one fault
with the trial was a lack of witnesses
and the failure of the police to turn
up more witnesses. In response to
this remark, Tony Gallucci, Hart
Hall resident, said, “The night of
the quad about 40 people, including
myself, went to the university
police and tried to share the blame
and say Bullard wasn’t the only one
involved in the quad. They said that
Bullard was the only one Newding
could identify so they couldn’t press
charges against anyone else.”
“We stqod around for about an
hour and no one took any names or
bothered to ask any questions. They
complained they couldn't get any
witnesses, but mine was the first
name on the petition and no one
ever called me. ”
University Chief of Police O. L.
Luther replied, “I seem to re
member a list of names, but I think
they came from Dr. Powell. But I’m
sure when anyone volunteers in
formation about an incident on
campus, their names would be
taken.” But he said he does not re
member the incident well enough
to make a definite statement.
Bullard appeared satisfied with
the lesser charge. Bullard said,’ “At
the fork in theroad, this was the best
way to choose,” referring to the
choice between appealing the case
or accepting the misdemeanor
charge over the felony charge.
Vice President for Student Ser
vices, Dr. John Koldus, said Wed
nesday the only real significance he
thinks the trial will have on the fu
ture of quadding here is it will make
people more aware they can be
brought to court for quadding. Kol
dus said, “I am opposed to hazing
because it is too easy for someone to
get hurt. That is the reason for legis
lation against hazing.” He said
change will probably be considered
in future policies toward quadding.
HARVARD PROFESSOR Raoul Berger (1) meets Political
Forum Vice Chairman John Weber at a PF presentation Wed
nesday night. See story. Page 6. (Photo by James F. Rattan)
Low charges, high fines
Alleged ‘dirty tricks’
result from bargains
Today
Today in the Batt
Wonder woman . .p.
Speaker p.
Vices—beer p.
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Aggie advises on 50,000 ton
oil spill off Chilean coast
Weather
Partly cloudy Thursday ij;:
with a high of 88° and g
humid. Low tonite 74°.
Mostly cloudy becoming
partly cloudy Friday with £:
40% chance of showers and 5:
thundershowers Friday af- ij:’:
ternoon. High tomorrow
I 85°. *;
%
A Royal Ducth Shell tanker, ag
round near the Strait of Magellan,
has spilled more than 50,000 tons of
crude oil on Chilean beaches
threatening marine life in the area, a
Texas A&M University environ
mental engineer said Wednesday.
“It is bigger than the Santa Bar
bara, Calif., oil spill of some years
ago and it has the potential to be
larger than the Torrey Canyon dis
aster,” said Dr. Roy Hann, chair
man of the university’s environmen
tal engineering department. The
two spills in recent years caused
considerable damage to marine life
and to the overall environment.
Afraid of harrassment
Army says deserters wary
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. (AP)—
The first Vietnam war deserters in
quiring here about President Ford’s
clemency plan were reluctant to
call, afraid of being sent to jail and
worried about possible military
harassment.
Most of the callers seemed eager
to return home, but wanted to think
it over for a while, officials at Ft.
Benjamin Harrison said.
The Army Clemency Information
Center had received 49 calls by
Wednesday morning from persons
claiming to be Army deserters or
from families or attorneys repres
enting them. Other inquiries had
been made by deserters from other
branches of the service, but the
Army was not including them in its
total.
Officials had predicted the in
quiries would increase sharply by
Wednesday, but it might be next
week before any sizable number of
deserters report for processing.
The information center is merely
four telephones on two wooden ta
bles pushed together in the middle
of a large file room at the Army Fi
nance Center at Ft. Benjamin Har
rison here. The green metal filing
cabinets contain the records of all
Army deserters.
Four men at a time, working
eight hour shifts, man the tel-
phones.
What are the attitudes of the
career soldiers assigned the duty of
handling the calls?
“It’s not my decision. Someone
else decided to give them amnesty,”
replied Sgt. Francis Stewart, a
13-year veteran.
Capt. Phillip Barnett took the job
in stride. As chief of the Army’s ab
sentee and deserter division, his
task has changed from helping au
thorities track down deserters to
helping guide them home.
The callers were asked first to
give their names, service grade,
date of birth and Social Security or
service number. Then they were
asked for their addresses, where the
Army could send a letter informing
them if they were eligible for cle
mency.
Only those who deserted or went
AWOL during the Vietnam era of
1964-1973 and who had no other
charges against them could qualify.
The address proved to be the
stumbling block.
“Some refused to give it and said
they would call back in a few days
after thinking it over,” Barnett said.
“I had about half a dozen say, ‘If I
give you my address, will I be ar
rested?’ ”
Stewart, who worked the same
shift, said, “Mainly they wanted to
know what their responsibilities are
going to be; what’s going to happen;
are they going to go to jail. ”
Some had others call for them.
“At times it would be a wife cal
ling, but you could tell the husband
was standing behind them funnel-
ing information,” Barnett said.
In each case, the caller was as
sured there would be no effort to
apprehend him, even if he rejected
♦the clemency offer or was ineligible.
Officials said about half the calls
Tuesday were from within the Un
ited States.
“The idea is not entrapment,”
said Col. Leonard Reed, public af
fairs officer. “The idea is leniency.”
One caller was assured he would
not be required to get his hair cut
during processing.
Ft. Harrison will provide direct
processing for Army deserters and
administrative support, including
housing and food, for those from
other services. The other services
will supply their own processing
and legal personnel.
Capt. John Seawell, post deputy
public information officer, said per
sons accepting clemency are ex
pected to report slowly with no
large numbers arriving im
mediately.
“They’re going to wait and see
who’s first and what happens to
him,” Reed added.
Once a deserter reports, Reed
said, plans are to process him within
four days. During that time, there
will be no incarceration and no
guards and the deserter will be free
to take liberty in the evenings.
Processing will include a records
check to guarantee eligibility, legal
counseling, a physical examination
and a review of finance records to
determine if the man had any pay
due from the time he entered ser
vice until he deserted.
Then he will be asked to sign a
loyalty oath, issued an undesirable
discharge and provided transporta
tion to the location of his alternate
service job. The discharge may be
changed to a clemency discharge
upon completion of the alternate
service.
Dr. Hann went to Chile as scien
tific advisor to the team of the U. S.
Coast Guard National Strike Force
which is providing assistance to
Chilean authorities in trying to free
the tanker Metula. The tanker ran
aground Aug. 9 shortly after it en
tered the Straits of Magellan loaded
with 194,000 tons of Saudi Arabian
crude oil intended for Chile.
Rough seas, high winds and high
tides have hampered salvage opera
tions and helped the spread of the
thick crude on Chilean beaches. Dr.
Hann said.
“Right now, their biggest worry is
what will happen to the tens of
thousands of penguins expected to
pass through the area in the next few
weeks in their annual migration to
three islands nearby,” Dr. Hann
said.
The islands are Chilean national
parks and nesting grounds for the
penguins.
Dr. Hann said the oil spilled so far
covers more than 75 miles of coast
line on Chile’s mainland and on
Tierra del Fuego.
“The coating of oil ranges from
one to three inches in thickness and
from a few to 75 feet width,” he
added.
“The beaches are not recreational
areas as we know them because of
the cold weather,” he said. “It is
mostly grazing land and the closest
city is Punta Arenas about 70 miles
to the west.”
Dr. Hann said Chilean officials
hope most of the heavy oil slicks will
be carried deep into the Atlantic by
the strong winds and will not rep
resent a danger to the mainland.
But he noted that the oil already
spilled on the coastline will affect
marine life and will have an impact
on the environment.
He said one of the reasons he
went to Chile with the U. S. team
was to study the situation first hand
and learn from it at a time when
construction of superports and the
use of supertankers are being consi
dered in Texas.
By JACK HODGES
Staff Writer
“There was a possibility of dirty
tricks when County Judge (William
R.) Bill Vance issued fines of $250
for not having an inspection sticker,
$200 for having a defective tail
light and others,” said W. R.
Owens, advisor to the Watchdog
Council.
Vance told The Battalion there
have been no dirty tricks. The low
charges and high fines are the result
of plea bargaining, he said. The de
fendant could have been charged
with driving while intoxicated, he
said, but after plea bargaining, the
charges could be lessened with the
judge’s consent and with a higher
fine set.
If plea bargaining occurs, the de
fense attorney and the county attor
ney work out an agreement and
make recommendations to the
judge for the final decision. The
judge then announces the fine and
charge.
This has happened in most cases,
said Vance, when you see someone
charged with a lesser charge and a
high fine.
“When you plea for a lower
charge you usually pay a higher
fine,” County Attorney Roland M.
Searcy Jr. said.
Owens said if there is some plea
bargaining for a lower charge then it
should be entered into the record
and should include the initial
charge.
“Put the truth in for the record,”
he said.
“The courts have taken a low
opinion of some Aggies, and they
are persecuted, not prosecuted,
said Owens.
Heavy fines and low charges
could become commonplace if al
lowed to continue and could be
stopped with public protest, Owen»s
said, adding the protest could come
in the form of a recall petition
against the county judge.
Enough support from the voters
could force the officials out of office
and maybe they might start acting
before it comes to that, he said.
Resolution by Aggies
on service fees tabled
By TERESA COSLETT
Staff Writer
A resolution, sponsored by the
TAMU Executive Board, to insure
students the right to allocate stu
dent service fees was tabled at the
Democratic State Convention.
Students attending the Democra
tic Convention were Vice-President
of Academic Affairs Jeff Dunn, Vice
Chairman of Political Forum John
Weber, Dale Foster and John Mur
ray.
Attending the Republican con
vention were NSL delegate Carol
Moore and Keil Thinney.
Dunn, serving as a delegate from
Harris County, District 7, was on
the Resolutions Committee. He
worked to get the student service^
CONSTRUCTION OF A FOUR-LANE street in front of the Systems Building i s back in progress after
the rains. (Photo by Douglas Winship )
fee resolution included among the
four resolutions in the minority re
port, but explained the committee
adjourned before the resolutions
were voted on.
The one resolution that passed
was to hold future conventions in
cities with enough hotel accommo
dations. Housing facilities in Austin
were inadequate for all the dele
gates, said Dunn.
“The student service fee resolu
tion received a lot of praise and was
good Public Relations for TAMU
since we took the initiative,” said
Dunn.
John Weber, an alternate to the
convention, had supported the re
solution but doubted it would pass.
He said, “Experience at TAMU has
demonstrated that students can
manage their student service fees
well, in a fair manner.”
Incumbent State Democratic
Chairman Calvin Guest, backed by
Gov. Dolph Briscoe, defeated
Houston City Controller Leonel
Castillo 3,125 to 2,183. The number
of delegates was 5,308.
Dunn called it a “Briscoe-
controlled convention” which he
was happy about as a Briscoe sup
porter.
People unhappy at Guest’s selec
tion, Dunn said, should blame
apathy, not the system.
Weber was unhappy at Guest’s
handling of some convention busi
ness saying, “He had the votes to
get it passed and he knew it, so I
think he could have made it look a
little more democratic. It looked
like railroading when he brought
down the gavel before all the votes
were in. ”
But Weber said, “I don’t think
the party has suffered under the
leadership of Mr. Guest.”
Democratic National Commit-
teewoman Billie Carr has a good
chance of winning her credentials
fight, which would be a big blow to
Briscoe, according to Weber.
Calling the convention “horribly
mis-managed,” Weber saw a need!
for streamlining procedures, using
time better and holding the conven
tion in a hall large enough to seat the
alternates on the floor.
Dunn described the convention
as tumultous, unorganized and con
sisting of many factions.
The many varied groups, Dunn
said, gave the party strength and
made for give and take.
Summarizing his reactions, Dunn
said, “I learned a lot about power
and who really controls the dis
tricts.” Those with most political
knowledge were in control.
Dunn also mentioned learning
maneuvers a minority can use to
stall and confuse the other side,
such as roll call votes.
Ex-judge
files suit
on threats
General Telephone Co. of the
Southwest has answered a petition
in a civil suit filed against it by a local
former district judge.
The suit, filed Aug. 15 by John M.
Barron, 2522 Willow Bend, charged
Bryan police officers with forcing
their way into Barron’s home on the
night of July 19. The official claimed
the entry was made during an inves
tigation on the source of obscene
phone calls.
Barron said in the suit none of the
company officials or officers had a
search warrant. The suit also alleged
that threats were made on Barron
and his family by the officers and
phone company officials.
Later that night the phone com
pany admitted the mistake and
apologized to Barron and his family.
The original petition was ans
wered by the phone company about
a week ago, according to Wayne
Goodrum, an attorney at the phone
company’s office in San Angelo. The
suit was filed in Federal District
Judge Woodrow Seal’s court in
Houston. Barron is asking for
$100,000 in damages. *
A hearing date has not been set.
Yell practice is 5:30 tonight at Kyle Field