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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1974)
THE BATTALION FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1974 Page 3 S0I1E , SO I losi oontb ^OR^yi 'Bout [ ''’hatii / 8 Monday a.m. in Navasota means work catch-up time Tl :*■,*« LOO 41 00lN61 kcles! > ^ - ' y a ..■■■ yy .... -v„ S0 iEASURES AND JUNK combine at one of the stores in downtown Navasota. The old street car is •iginally from Dallas. It is the old Akard Street Trolley. (Photo by Rodger Mallison) qual opportunity provision lammed by school district By CINDY TABER Staff Writer A statement voicing disapproval fan equal opportunity provision in roposed HEW regulations will be nt to President Ford, pending the iproval of the board of trustees of le A&M Consolidated Indepen- ent School District at its monthly leeting Monday. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. in le board room of the Special Ser- ices Building, 1300 Jersey. The statement was prepared by upt. Fred Hopson and concerns roposed regulations to implement itle IX of the Education mendments of 1972. The regula- lons, awaiting Ford's approval, will equire schools to provide equal ihysical education facilities for both exes and provide equal opportun- ty in extracurricular sports. The egulations will also prohibit dis- rimination in class assignments and esting materials. In his letter to Ford, Hopson re quested that the regulations pro- ide for “separate, comparable inter-school programs for boys and 0A£li| girls.” He stated that these prog rams would not allow direct athletic competition while providing equal or comparable facilities and prog rams for both sexes. “I definitely believe the goal of equal programs and equal facilities’ will become confused with the same programs and the same facilities,’ said Hopson, thus allow ing few female participants in sports activities to attain honors while competing against males. “Let us weigh our directives care fully and consider those girls who have the ability but are not all Billie Jean Kings!” said Hopson. In other action the board will: • Consider a policy revision to allow the superintendent to make temporary policy decisions during the month, instead of waiting until the regular monthly board meetings as is the current practice. • Consider an administrative directive to teachers for obtaining their principals’ approval for not at tending the 10 mandatory inservice workdays. • Hear from its financial adviser concerning the district’s financial standing for a possible bond issue to be proposed later. • Consider a loan for covering payroll and current operating ex penses until state funds are re ceived. • Set a date for an informal board meeting with the High School Stu dent Council. • Consider continuance of buy ing supplies from Texas Surplus Properties. • Meet in closed session to dis cuss personnel and to consult with the board’s attorney. Grads return A&M graduates of 1929 and 1954 will reunite this weekend with their activities centered around the A&M-TCU football game. Gen. Ormond R. Simpson, as sistant vice president for student services, will address the Class of ’29 group at a Friday evening banquet. Their reunion head quarters will be the Aggieland Inn. By RODGER MALLISON Special to the Batt Monday morning is a busy time in the small southeast Texas town of Navasota. There is shopping to be done, business to tend to and the ever-pressing need to talk with friends over an ice cold bottle of pop. For the city manager, Wayne Yeager, Monday is a time to catch up on work that piled up over the weekend. Yeager has people to see, tele phone calls to answer and com plaints to handle. The various papers and memos on his desk speak of a man with a lot on his mind. A single folding partition is all that divides his office from the reception area. The screen serves only to make the secretary walk a few steps farther on her frequent trips to ask questions or to inform the city manager that someone else wishes to see him. The privacy af forded is minimal. Yeager has learned the art of being brief. He is not given to much elaboration when a simple answer will suffice. Talk is much easier at the chamber of commerce. Mrs. Dolly Armatys tends the shop and at tempts to answer the questions of the curious. The office is cluttered with maps, bulletins and informa tion about lakes in the area. Mrs. Armatys speaks fondly of her town, but is quick to point out that Navasota has its problems. Navasota is the largest town in Grimes County, which is the fourth largest dairy county in the state. The masthead of The Navasota Ex aminer serves as a daily reminder that this is the “Land of Milk and Honey.” Besides dairy farming and other types of agriculture, the largest in dustry is Hackney Iron, which emp loys 108 people. There are several other industries in Navasota, in cluding machine shops, a mobile home factory, a cheese factory and the telephone company. Mrs. Armatys says new industry is moving to the area, although no real efforts are being made to get new plants. Vultex Alloy Steel is a new addition and Central Freight Lines is considering a new depot in Navasota, she said. Unlike many small towns, there are enough people to keep industry going and enough jobs to keep the people in the area. The 1970 census showed the population at 5,111 and Mrs. Armatys said the figure might increase by about 300 by 1980. Although the population is rising, both Yeager and Mrs. Armatys say there is evidence of some migration of the youth to the larger cities. Basically, there is little for young people to do in Navasota. A home football game provides some relief for the weekend bore dom, but the alternatives for enter tainment are exhausted quickly. Miller’s Theater is the only movie house and it shows the same movies on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The theater owner used to own a pool parlor and game room, but he closed it down for lack of business, Mrs. Armatys said. The biggest weekend activities are beer drinking, dancing at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post, and “hanging around” (the police call it loitering). Now that 18-year-olds can buy liquor a night of drinking is no problem for the high school stu dent. In fact, it wasn’t too much problem before the law was changed. Mrs. Armatys says there is a place in Washington on the Brazos that will sell beer to anyone without requiring proof of age. The city isn’t totally lacking in re creational facilities, though. There is a golf course, some tennis courts and lighted baseball diamonds, but beer guzzling seems to be a more popular sport. Navasota is proud of its football team. Mrs. Armatys is quick to pull out a picture of this year’s team when the subject is mentioned. She is just as quick to mention that the team is all black, except for two whites and one chicano. , The racial split is wide in Navasota. At noon the high school students split into groups on the school lawn, with little or no in teraction between the races. Others go to the Dairy Queen across the street. There they sit in segregated groups of three or four. The black students may pass around a Black Muslim newspaper. The latest issue had a full page headline about a group of Muslims being freed from jail in Atlanta. There is a Muslim movement in Navasota and the white community can’t quite get used to the idea that the blacks don’t show the same re spect for the whites as they used to, Mrs. Armatys says. The Muslim leader in Navasota is Joe Tex, a former singer. Mrs. Ar matys says he sometimes goes out on Washington Street (the main street) to preach and pass out litera ture. His headquarters is a hamburger stand run by a group of Muslim nuns near the junior high school, which used to be the high school for the black students. Mrs. Armatys says the next time he starts to preach on the streets the town leaders intend to stop him by charging preaching and soliciting without a permit. She didn’t say if he could get a permit. * < PEDERSON DRUG STORE is a common place to go for lunch or just for coffee in Navasota. Clyde Pederson serves his custom ers himself. His daughter sometimes helps him during rush hours. Everyone knows Pederson and his daughter. (Photo by Rodger Mallison) 2700 SOUTH TEXAS AVE., COLLEGE STATION