Che Battalion
Vol. 68, No. 38
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, November 6, 1974
Published remarks
cause resignations
surprises in state races
Incumbents win in Brazos
By GERALD OLIVIER
Staff Writer
A 6 to 1 majority for incumbent
Congressman Olin Teague in
Brazos County reflected landslide
victor)' over his Republican chal
lenger Carl Nigliazzo in Tuesday s
general election.
Teague, a Democrat from Col
lege Station, won easy election to
his 15th term as representative ol
the 6th Congressional District, re
ceiving 52,752 votes to Nigliazzo's
14,984. Teague received 5,905
votes in the county while Nigliazzo
garnered only 1,172.
Teague is chairman of the Demo
cratic Caucus and the House Sci
ence and Technology Committee.
He is also the ranking member of
the Veterans Affairs Committee and
serves on the Committees on
Committees.
Nigliazzo, a self-styled economist
from Hearne, had attacked Teague
on the basis of his age and stands on
the economy, crime and business.
Brazos County followed the state
trend and returned Governor
Dolph Briscoe to office for four
years with a large margin. Briscoe
received 4,812 votes or 65.34 per
cent of the votes cast in the county,
while capturing 990,065 votes
statewide.
Republican Jim Cranberry re
ceived 1,950 votes in the county as
compared with 503,043 in the state.
Raza Unida candidate Ramsey
Muniz managed 5.59 per cent with
412 votes in the county, receiving
89,812 from the entire state.
Socialist Sherry Smith, who made
two speeches on campus last week,
captured only 99 votes in the county
and 2,138 statewide.
American Party Candidate Sam
MacDonnell got 92 votes in the
county while receiving 18,842 in the
state.
Countywide in the Lieutenant
Governor’s race, incumbent Bill
Hobby was high man with 5,238
votes. Second was Gaylord Mar
shall, Republican candidate, with
1,936 ballots. Socialist candidate
Dan Fein received 152 in the
county.
John Hill was re-elected to the
Attorney General’s office, receiving
State GOP loses in House
By The Associated Press
Gov. Dolph Briscoe and the
Democratic ticket held sweeping
election victories today, riding a
wave of national discontent and the
Texas political tradition.
Jim Cranberry, the chief loser to
Briscoe, put it this way: “Appar
ently there was a strong anti-
Republican trend all over the nation
that was difficult to overcome. ”
Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Tex.,
whose term did not expire this year,
had a different view, including the
national one:
"The American people are fed up
with high interest rates, tight
money and a deepening recession.
Democrats capped their efforts
by ousting a Republican U. S.
House member, Bob Price of
Pampa, and holding on in the 21st
district with Bob Krueger succeed
ing retiring Rep. O. C. Fisher, also
a Democrat.
At the legislative level, the GOP
lost two House seats with a Republi
can Senate seat in doubt.
Gov. Briscoe saw his personal vic
tory this way:
I consider this election a vote of
confidence in my record. . .a re
cord of integrity, compassion and
sound fiscal management.”
The governor made the fact that
no new state taxes were imposed his
major campaign point.
The total vote was an estimated
1.6 million out of 5.4 million regis
tered, pointing up pre-election find
ings of serious voter apathy. Edu
cated pre-election forecasts were for
a vote total of 2.75 million.
The latest totals, with Democrats
listed first, Republicans second and
others designated:
Gov.: Gov. Dolph Briscoe
970,078, Jim Cranberry 492,061,
Ramsey Muniz Raza Unida 87,030,
Sherry Smith Socialist workers
7,138, Sam McDonnell American
18,842.
Lt. Gov.: Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby
989,558, Gaylord Marshall 390,943,
Dan Fein SW 12,108.
Atty. Gen.: Atty. Gen. John Hill
1,028,610, Tom Cole 332,122,
Pedro Vasquez SW 26,150.
Comptroller: Bob Bullock
960,508, Nick Rowe 371,627, Sas
Scoggins SW 13,021.
Treasurer: Treasurer Jesse James
898,047, Robert Holt 488,870.
Land Comm.: Comm. Bob Arm
strong 1,002,938, Mary Lou Grier
338,854, William Rayson SW
10,457.
Agric. Comm.: Comm. John
White 988,254, Zack Fisher
365,026.
Railroad Comm.: Comm. Jim
Langdon 909,698, Joe Cain
364,323, Fred Garza Raza Unida
68,244, Rick Congress SW 8,289.
Railroad Comm., unexpired
term: Comm. Mack Wallace
946,503, Dale Steffes 361,211.
The temper of the voters was
shown in the governor’s race when
Briscoe obtained more than 60 per
cent of the ballots. Two years ago
against Republican Hank Grover,
Briscoe won with 47.9 per cent of
the total vote, which included
214,000 for Ramsey Muniz of the
Raza Unida party.
Cranberry was able to win only
five counties, including his own
county of Lubbock. The others were
Midland, always a GOP power,
Ochiltree, Randall and Smith.
Grover two years ago won 23
counties, and led in the combined
voting of the eight counties with the
larger vote.
Cranberry lost in all of the eight
counties which have the largest
vote, although he did win in the city
of Houston. He lost in Houston’s
suburbs.
All the statewide candidates were
elected Tuesday for four-year terms
instead of the usual two. Never
again will state officers be running at
the same time as presidential candi
dates.
Ramsey Muniz appeared to have
lost ground after his 214,000 votes
in 1972. A part ofhis poorer showing
this year was because only half as
many persons voted this year.
There was one new face in the
statehouse ranks. Bob Bullock, an
outspoken Democratic party
loyalist, won the comptroller’s job
from which Robert S. Calvert is re
tiring at 82 years old after serving
the office for 25 years.
Bill Hobby was returned by a
wide margin to the office of lieuten-
see page 5 for national results
ant governor, often a stepping stone
to higher responsibilities.
Republicans staged moderately
strong campaigns for comptroller,
treasurer and agriculture commis
sioner but failed to win office.
The defeat of Republican Rep.
Price was blamed on his remaining
too long in Washington on congres
sional duties.
Meanwhile, Jack Hightower of
Vernon was criss-crossing the
continued on p. 4
Early Watergate
investigator quits
Today
Today in the Bait
BVDC drug program Pg. 3
Houston bus strike . .Pg. 6
MSC schedule control Pg. 7
Weather
Mostly cloudy and mild
today and tomorrow. 20%
chance of rain Thursday.
High today 71°; low tonite
54°; high Thursday 74°.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi
dent Ford’s chief spokesman an
nounced Tuesday that Henry E.
Petersen, a key figure in the early
stages of the Watergate investiga
tion, is resigning as an assistant at
torney general.
At the same time. Press Secretary
Ron Nessen refused to deny specu
lation that Ford is planning to re
place Arthur Sampson as head of the
General Services Administration.
Petersen has been in the Justice
Department 27 years and now
heads its criminal division. He^will
resign Dec. 31.
Asked if Petersen had been asked
to resign, Nessen said, “No, Mr.
Petersen as I understand it decided
to resign on his own.’
Atty. Gen. William B. Saxbe, in a
statement, said: “All of us in the
Department of Justice view with re
gret Henry Petersen’s decision to
retire but at the same time we fe^l a
profound gratitude and admiration
for his 27 years of dedicated, con
scientious service. His decision to
retire is completely his own, and I
believe he can look back on many
notable achievements.”
In a letter dated Monday, Ford
accepted the resignation with “deep
regret” and lauded Petersen for “a
record of unique achievement’ dur
ing nearly three decades in which
Petersen was said to have upheld
“the highest standards of both the
federal career service and appoin
tive office.”
The President has yet to pick a
replacement, Nessen said.
Asked if Ford was moving to re
place Sampson, whose agency hand
led much of the public expenditures
or improvements to properties
owned by resigned President
Richard M. Nixon, Nessen replied,
“There’s been no decision made to
replace Mr. Sampson.”
When a reporter suggested that
this implied that the matter was
under active consideration, Nessen
said, “You will have to infer what
you want.”
, JT i
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- *
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cSlM
Forgotten cannon found
5,565 in the county. Republican
Tom Cole managed 1,606 votes loc
ally, while Socialist Pedro Vasquez
garnered 84.
The campus precinct turn-out
was less than the countywide aver
age. Twenty-two per cent of the re
gistered voters cast ballots in the
county, while only 15 per cent voted
of those registered on campus.
The results of the on campus pre
cinct were:
For Governor: Dolph
Briscoe-154; Jim Granberry-226;
Ramsey Muniz-39; Sherry
Smith-15; Sam MacDonnell-10.
For Lieutenant Governor:
Hobby-256; Marshall-168; Fein-15.
For Attorney General: Hill-276;
Cole-143; Vasquez-11.
By BARBARA WEST
Staff Writer
Two students were asked to res
ign from their jobs with the Housing
Office because of a letter they sub
mitted to the editor of “The Battal
ion. ”
The letter which appeared in the
Oct. 29 issue attempted to explain
the problems encountered by stu
dents who contacted the Housing
Office for phone numbers and were
referred to the Centrex operators.
Apparently, students found it dif
ficult to get an answer on the Cen
trex lines due to a small number of
persons manning a large number of
lines.
Working hours in the Housing
Office have been reduced to 35
hours beyond the normal work
week and the night and weekend
personnel now seem to act as a re
ferral service.
Greg Marchand and Elmer Banes
violated procedure, said Housing
Office Manager Glenn H. Jennings.
"As employes of the university
there is a certain procedure to fol
low in filing a complaint,” Jennings
said. He said employes are asked to
take a complaint to their immediate
superior who will take it up the line
of authority until it reaches those
who can make a change. The two
students, reportedly, did not file a
complaint with their superior.
He also cited the comment made
in the letter about “our administra
tion with the usual foresight” as sar
castic.
The students were given the op
portunity to resign to spare blemish
on their employment records. Jen
nings said they would have been
dismissed if they had not agreed to
resign.
Banes termed the request for his
resignation “polite” and said no
threat of firing was made at the
time.
“We didn’t want to be vindic
tive,” Jennings said. “They made a
mistake and they seemed to under
stand this.” He said both students
would be recommended for re
employment in another area.
Banes said the letter was not writ
ten with intended animosity. He
indicated that no sarcasm was meant
in the comment about the administ
ration.
Jennings admitted there was con
fusion over the procedure for ob
taining student phone numbers and
he agreed the change is definitely an
inconvenience.
The change to contacting Centrex
for student numbers went into ef
fect approximately six weeks into
the semester after the computer
printouts were received.
Banes said the change had been
in the works for some time and he
understood that a letter of explana
tion was to be published.
“In the two semesters I worked
there I never saw such a letter,” he.
said.
Denton Fluker casts one of 450 campus ballots. (Photo by Chris Svatek)
Watergate
Prosecution enters tapes
Bonfire workers found this cannon in the
area where they are cutting wood for the
annual blaze. Sgt. Alfred Petty, drill in
structor, suggested it was left from some
field training exercises about 1968. (Photo
by James Ebdon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Water
gate prosecutors won a preliminary
victory Tuesday in a developing bat
tle over the use of White House
tapes as evidence in the Watergate
coverup trial.
Overruling objections from de
fense attorneys, U. S. District
Judge John J. Sirica permitted the
prosecutors to begin presenting
evidence authenticating tapes even
though the judge hasn’t yet decided
whether they can be used as evi
dence.
A principal issue involved is the
prosecutor’s attempt to use tapes
which they can’t authenticate
through the testimony of a particip
ant in the conversation.
After Sirica’s ruling, the pro
secutors called Alexander P. Butter
field, the man who first publicly dis
closed the existence of the tapes,
and he described how he helped the
prosecution identify the voices on
nearly 30 tapes.
Butterfield, administrator of the
Federal Aviation Administration,
was a special assistant to Richard M.
Nixon during four years and two
months on the White House staff.
Earlier, testimony was given by
three FBI agents who interviewed
defendants John N. Mitchell and
John D. Ehrlichman within weeks
of the June 17, 1972, break-in at
Democratic National Committee
headquarters.
The agents testified that both
Mitchell and Ehrlichman told them
in separate interviews that all they
knew of the break-in was what they
had read in the newspapers. One of
the charges against each is that the
statement was false.
Battle lines formed over prosecu
tion plans to play portions of 20
more White House tapes as the pro
secutors began calling witnesses to
describe how the taping system was
installed, how it operated and to
identify the voices.
John J. Wilson, lawyer for H. R.
Haldeman, the former White
House staff chief who was a particip
ant in most of the recorded conver
sations, said he would demand that
when the government plays a por
tion of any tape that the entire con
versation be played.
William G. Hundley, lawyer for
Mitchell, said that playing tapes
which include incriminating refer
ences to Mitchell could deny him
his right to face his accusers.
Daniel C. Mahan, an FBI agent,
testified he interviewed both
Mitchell and Ehrlichman as part of
his assignment “to determine all the
persons involved in the break-in. ”
Mitchell was interviewed on July
6, 1972, and according to Mahan’s
written report, he stated, “he had
no knowledge of the break-in of the
Democratic National Committee
headquarters other than what he
has read in newspaper accounts of
that incident.”
On July 26, 1972, Ehrlichman
told Mahan “that he is in possession
of no information relative to the
break-in of the Democratic National
Committee headquarters on June
17, 1972, other than what he has
read in the way of newspaper ac
counts of that incident. ”
“Mr. Ehrlichman stated that he
has sought no information in this
regard either from the Republican
National Committee or from the
Committee to Re-elect the presi
dent of the United States. He also
advised that he has received no in
formation in regard to that incident
and, in fact, did not wish to receive
any due to a pending suit filed by
the Democratic party against the
Republicans,” the report said.
Defense lawyers pointed up er
rors in the FBI reports including
misspellings of names and reference
to “Saturday, June 18, 1972, ” when,
in fact, June 18, 1972, was a Sunday.
All the agents, when questioned,
said they asked neither Mitchell nor
Ehrlichman what newspapers they
had read and what they had read in
them.
William S. Frates, Ehrlichman’s
lawyer, asked Mahan what he did
with his notes from the interviews
and the agent replied they were de
stroyed.
He explained that Justice De
partment regulations require the
destruction of such notes after they
have been transcribed and incorpo
rated into reports.