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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 1974)
Weather Mostly cloudy and mild with possible showers Tuesday afternoon. Cold front tonite should clear sides by noon Wednesday. High today 77°; low tonite 66°; high tomorrow 68°. Che Battalion Today in the Batt Federal Funds . . .P. 3 Navasota P. 4 Japan P. 5 Vol. 68 No. 45 College Station, Texas Tuesday, November 19, 1974 Board hears report TEA wants minority recruitment By ROSE MARY TRAVERSO Staff Writer The recruiting of qualified minor ity teachers by A&M Consolidated School District was recommended n a Texas Educational Agency TEA) report presented to the Con solidated School Board at its meet ing Monday night. The report shows that in 1965-66, the first year of complete integra tion, there were 75 Anglo and 12 Negro teachers. During the current school year the district has emp loyed 171 Anglo, one Mexican- \merican and eight Negro teachers. The TEA examination of faculty and stall assignment within the dis trict showed that the percentage of minority teachers in each school is substantially the same as the per centage of minority teachers in the district as a whole. The report also stated that minor ity participation in the extracurricu lar activities is generally very high but, there was no minority partici pation in some school activities such as cheerleading, yearlxmk stall and the Paper Tiger stall'. There, was minority participation in these or ganizations in previous years. The TEA suggested that capable minority students be encouraged through counseling to enroll in ad vanced academic courses, since there is presently minimal enroll ment in advanced mathematics and physics classes. Other areas of concern to the TEA were lack of department and grade level heads, open-flamed un- vented heaters in kindergarten music/play rooms and poor mainte nance of the middle school facility, said Fred Hopson, school superin tendent, who presented the TEA findings. Hopson said that department and grade level heads would be hired “if we can afford it.” Explaining that the TEA inspec tion was made on a rainy day. Hop- son said that “poor maintenance” re ferred to the muddy condition of the Middle School’s cement floors. He said the TEA representatives sug gested tiling the floors. The TEA representatives pointed out that there were only two magazines and no newspapers in the elementary school libraries and the libraries needed to “weed” out old books, Hopson said. The TEA complimented the con dition of school libraries, the in structional program and the “very happy group of professionals who enjoy their work and assignments,” Hopson said. In other action Monday the board approved a proposal to issue free passes for any school activity in the district to all College Station resi dents 65 years or older. The program, called the Golden Pass, would not cause any expense or reduce the receipts the district is currently receiving, Hopson said. A contract for the TAMU Driver Education Program which includes a $7 per student price hike was ap proved by the board. Due to rising costs in all prog rams, the students will pay $35 for the “unique, multiphase program,” Hopson said. Other area schools’ and private instructors’ courses, which do not include the multiple-car driving range, skid pad exercises or in transit audio-visual sessions, begin at $45 plus, Hopson said. A directive to the school superin tendent that the collection of $124,437 in delinquent taxes be pursued by “whatever legal means are available” was passed by the board. Scheduled with the collec tion of taxes is a loan for $60,000 to meet payroll and operating ex penses. The loan, which will be repaid by Dec. 1, will be the last one of its kind necessary, Hopson said. A recommendation by the Policy Committee that the building use fee schedule be rewritten rather than changing existing policies was ac cepted by the board. Youth, civic or community oriented organizations will be charged lower rates than commer cial groups or those without a tax exemption certificate for use of the buildings. During the last year, the district received about $500 from youth groups but at the new rates about $55 is expected, said Nancy Donaldson, committee chairman. Since records of the building fees previously collected are incom plete, predicting how much differ ence the reduced rates will make “involves a lot of guesswork, ” Hop- son said. Bell Co. executive tells of corruption in suicide message Fred Hopson, A&M Consolidated school superinten dent. Texas' porno law faces federal panel SAN ANTONIO (AP) — South western Bell Telephone Co.’s top executive in Texas left a suicide note which said, “Watergate is a gnat compared to the Bell system, an attorney said Monday. The note was left by T. O. Gravitt of Dallas, who was Southwestern Bell vice president for Texas until he took his life by carbon monoxide poisoning Oct. 17. San Antonio attorney Pat Malone, who represents the Gravitt family, first confirmed the existence of the letter and its author. Con tacted by The Associated Press, James H. Ashley of San Antonio, a dismissed Bell executive who was a friend of Gravitt, confirmed the contents. Gravitt was under investigation by his company at the time of his death. Ashley was subsequently fired in the same investigation. Now, Ashley and Gravitt’s family have filed a $25 million damage suit against Southwestern Bell, accusing the company of conspiracy which resulted in Gravitt’s death. Ashley said the Gravitt family brought him the letter, which has been turned over to attorneys. “You might say the late Mr. Gravitt gave me my game plan. We ll see how good it is in court,” said Maloney of Gravitt’s letter. “But I really am inclined to think that a man like Gravitt, making his last statement on this earth, would have little reason to lie.” The letter makes specific refer ences to alleged Bell contributions to politicians, to lofty Bell execu tives using company jets for per sonal affairs and to a political slush fund to be used by executives who were given salary raises. It is handwritten. Gravitt, 51, composed the letter in the study of his Dallas home and left it there. The next morning, he shut the garage door, climbed into his car and turned on the ignition. Tasty competition The “Eat the Hell out of Rice Kris- pies” contest was sponsored by the MSC Council as a special project, Friday before the Rice game. Col. Thomas R. Parsons, Corps com mandant, competed in the event. Judging was based on who could eat the most Rice Krispies in a set time limit. (Photo by Jack Holm) A panel of three federal judges in Houston, which will determine the future of the Adult Library Club and 14 other Texas clubs through a re view of the state’s obscenity law, questioned attorneys for law en forcement agencies Friday. The federal judge’s opinion is ex pected in about two weeks. The Adult Library Club bad been closed for about a year after police raids and county court orders. It has recently re-opened after a restrain ing order was issued in September by a federal district court in Hous ton barring law enforcement agen cies from making raids and taking any other action against the chibs. The panel’s ruling will affect State court cases pending against the operators of theaters and bookstores for adults in College Station, Au stin, San Antonio, Beaumont, San Angelo, Fort Worth, Wichita Falls and Dallas. Managing Judge John Singleton questioned the lawyers represent ing the police on attempts made to suppress the sales of sexual materi als. Lawyers on both sides predicted any decision by the panel would be appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Arguments Friday tried to pin point police enforcement of pornog raphy laws. They centered on ob taining search warrants, seizing materials and the threat of tempor ary injunctions against club ac tivities until the law is decided upon. The judges questioned the charging of movie house operators with showing obscene materials and again for the use of a “criminal instrument”—the movie projector. Singleton questioned the Bexar County District Attorney Keith Burris about the seizing of the film projectors from the Fiesta Theater, which was showing “Deep Throat. ” “In a book case would you have to have the linotype in evidence in order to test the obscenity of the book?” Singleton asked. Burris said seizing the projectors was necessary for the state’s case. Singleton replied, “You say in order for the state to make a case on the film they have to make a seize on the projector?” “Yes sir,” said Burris. “Inconceivable!” Singleton said. It s a long way from Gastonia... and Earl Scruggs is still movin Briscoe Cash questioned By KEN STROEBEL Special to the Batt Earl Scruggs has come a long way from Gastonia. It was in that North Carolina town that the 15-year-old Cleveland County native first per formed on radio. And he’s not through making tracks yet. Currently on a five-day tour, Scruggs is visiting the enter tainment capitals of the nation—Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boulder and last Friday evening, College Station, Tex. But the G. Rollie White Col iseum audience found him different from the Earl Scruggs that invented Bluegrass and for two decades kept it alive and well and living in the South. AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Dolph Briscoe has been ordered to appear in state district court in connection with a $15,000 cash contribution he received during his 1972 election campaign. Briscoe, in a deposition taken last week and made available Monday to The Associated Press, said he did not report the donation from South Texas rancher-banker Clinton Manges because he intended to give it back. The money was never used, the governor said. T want to make this point,” Bris coe told The Associated Press Mon day night. “If I had it to do again, I would do the same thing. “I’m convinced I was right in not accepting the money. It has not been utilized in any campaign or for any other purpose and I’m con vinced I did the right thing,” he said. Briscoe said the original cash is held by his attorney, Joe Reynolds of Houston. Reynolds supplied a transcript of the deposition to The AP. Contents of the deposition were mentioned in an affadavit filed Monday in 53rd District Court by Terrence O’Rourke and Reymond Needham, lawyers for Frances Farenthold in her election law viola tion suit against Briscoe. Mrs. Frenthold is seeking $2.5 million in damages from Briscoe under the new campaign disclosure law. She alleges Briscoe received contributions for his 1974 election campaign before appointing a cam paign manager as required by the new law. Her lawyers seek to make the 1972 Manges contribution a part of the case, Reynolds said. Reynolds told the AP: “There is no violation of the law . . . none whatever. Briscoe never accepted the money and the guy Manges said he’d take it back. Manges was sup posed to have picked it up. ” Mrs. Farenthold’s attorney, O’Rouke, asked state District Court Judge Herman Jones, in the Mon day affadavit, to order Briscoe to protect the cash and preserve it from any alteration. Jones ordered Briscoe to appear in court before 9 a.m. Nov. 25 to show why O’Rouke’s motion should not be granted. Briscoe could send his attorney to court, however, and does not have to appear personally. Manges, a prominent rancher- banker, has a long association with (See CAMPAIGN, page 4) Earl Scruggs “I had been doing the same thing for 20 years,” Scruggs said. “That was really what got me so impatient with Bluegrass music. I suddenly realized I was very stale. Unless you’re happy with what you’re doing, you’re not gonna project yourself excitedly.” “I felt I had gone as far as I could go with the type of music I was play ing a few years ago,” he said. “Until I formed the Earl Scruggs Revue, I was practically playing the same numbers night after night, that I had been playing for the past 15 years or so. I just feel the banjo is an instrument that can be used in many forms of music if you phrase it cor rectly. So, I added drums and elec tric instruments to the group to give it a more modem sound.” And the instrumentalists, Scruggs said, weren’t exactly stran gers. On electric bass, harmonica, guitar, spokesman and lead singer is Earl’s son, Gary. Also on guitar, five-string banjo and slide guitar is son, Randy. Earl’s youngest son, Steve, plays rhythm guitar, bass guitar and banjo. Drummer, Jody Maphis, lives near the Scruggs’ home. Josh Graves, who is known as the world’s best dobro guitarist, serves to link the present with the past in country music. This arrangement is advantage ous, says Scruggs. “With six months’ experience together, we were as good as a band that might have worked together for several years.” And, Scruggs said, “The boys are quite talented and I don’t say that just to be bragging. They are good. ” That becomes evident when the Revue takes the stage. Their music is fast, rollicking and varied, from gospel to boogey. The blues from Gary’s harmonica are the bluest sounds since the SMU game and Daddy Earl’s left hand sprints up the banjo neck as his other fingers run in place. Earl is featured in a couple more square dance club recruiters on the five-string. Then there it is, unmis- takeable formula blues, complete with a Ray Charles-type piano part: Everybody wants to laugh, nobody wants to cry, Everybody wants to laugh, nobody wants to ciy. Everybody wants to go to heaven, nobody wants to die. “Randy’s gonna retune his acous tic guitar,” announces Gary, “and play another song which ap peared on the Kansas State album. It was written several years ago by a lady named Joni Mitchell. It’s phenomenal: Hundreds of Ags, clearly impatient for the in evitable “Foggy Mountain Break down,” warm to “Both Sides Now, ” even after the mention of Kansas. Then the Revue does a number “named from a community in which we were born and raised. It s called the ‘Flint Hill Special . The Revue launches into another fast one, with Gary romping on the guitar, if one may romp on the guitar, then it’s Earl’s turn, then Gary ’s harmonica, then Earl again, then the whooping-s tom ping-yelling en semble again. Now it’s Steve’s turn. “Steve’s gonna take the banjo and right aftei I was bom he wrote a song that was called Earl’s Breakdown’. And Gary leaves you wondering if there’s a connection. As Steve’s right hand becomes a controlled blur, there’s time to notice his blue jeans are flared. His denim shirt is embroidered too, but not to the ex tent of his banjo pickin’. For one of the characteristics of Bluegrass is a technique called im provisation, which also charac terizes Dixieland jazz. It involves the performer beginning with a cen tral, simple, well-known theme and “going to town, or making up his own ornamented variations as he goes along. Syncopation is also common to the two types of music. This in volves accenting a beat that would not normally be emphasized. Music from “The Sting” by Scott Joplin, for example, is syncopated. So the inference lingers that Bluegrass evolved as a poor man’s Dixieland, a jazz that somehow lost—or gained—something on its way to—or from—the farm. By now, Steve’s banjo has turned pink under the spotlight and a pair of black headphones are bobbing furiously behind the speaker boxes. Then there’s only one song left. “In 1948, announces Gary, “Dad wrote a song. It was the first song he ever wrote. And later it was used as the theme for a movie. It’s called the Foggy Mountain Breakdown’. ” The whooping-stomping-yelling part starts immediately, then dies^—a lit tle. The Revue’s own music builds to a feverish run as the clapping starts. Actor Warren Beatty called the Scruggs residence to secure permis sion to use that song for the theme to “Bonnie and Clyde.” In 1969, Earl was awarded a Grammy for it. And he still doesn’t read music. They play other songs but the re collection of that ovation lingers: Earl, squinting, reeling away from the crowd, grinning to the sons behind him. “Hoo-wee,” he yells under the roar, wiping the sweat from his brow. Which prompts the memory of something he said in the dressing room with a cold, stale sack of Whataburger french fries at his elbow. T’ve been very thankful and feel honored,” he said. T’ve been very, very fortunate. It’s very nice to be able to do what you want to do when your kids get up and still do what you like.”