Thought for today: We ought
never to do wrong when people
are looking—Mane Twain.
Battalion
Vol. 68, No. 47
College Station, Texas Thursday, November 21, 1974
Unanimous vote
Senate wants play
Dominik zone ‘not problem’
Lights, road provide answer
TERESA COSLETT
Staff Writer
The Student Senate passed an
academic freedom resolution con
cerning Marat-Sade by unanimous
voice vote, without debate, at
Wednesday night’s meeting.
The resolution by John Tyler,
student vice president of rules and
regulations, requested the ad
ministration to allow “Marat-Sade”
to be produced.
It also requested that university
policy procedures be amended to
prevent future censorship.
Also at the meeting, a resolution
was withdrawn asking for the reins
tatement of Greg M arc-hand and
Elmer Banes, two students who res
igned from the housing office staff
after writing a letter to The Battal
ion.
The resolution also called for the
censure of Housing Office Manager
Glenn H. Jennings. But the senate
passed, 41 to 10 an amendment
eliminating the censure section of
the resolution before tabling the re
solution.
The amendment by John Nash,
student vice president of external
affairs, took the teeth out of the re
solution, Curt Marsh, student vice
president of finance, said.
After the censure amendment
passed, the bill’s author. Senator
Joe Marcello asked to withdraw the
resolution. The senate granted him
By GERALD OLIVIER
Staff Writer
Building apartments on Harry
Seaback s controversial land behind
Dominik Drive would not cause
serious difficulties for the city. Bill
Koehler, city planner, said in an in
terview Wednesday.
Dominik residents, led by Tom
Kozik, have been fighting a zone
change request which would allow
apartments and duplexes to be built
by Seaback adjacent to his Planta
tion Oaks development.
One of the complaints raised by
Kozik is the possibility of increased
traffic problems in the already con
gested Dominik intersection with
Highway 6.
Koehler said the intersection has
been a problem, basically due to
traffic turning left both onto and off
of Texas Avenue.
Koehler said the completion of
constmction on Highway 30 and the
installation of new traffic signals at
the Highway 30-Texas Avenue in
tersection should eliminate the
problem.
“More cars will use Highway 30
now, Koehler said.
Koehler said no plats have been
filed for the proposed apartment
complex, but a Highway 30 access
road would be logical.
City Manager North Bardell said
no complaints concerning excessive
traffic on Dominik have been re
ceived by his office.
Another complaint raised by
Dominik residents before the City
Council was the additional noise
that would come from the new
apartments. Bardell said he has re
ceived no complaints on the matter.
The main complaint of the
Dominik residents seems to be that
the building of apartments behind
their homes will result in a decrease
in their property values.
Neither Bardell nor Koehler felt
capable of answering this question.
A representative of the Culpepper
Realty Co. said the apartments
would make Dominik homes harder
to sell.
“People don’t want to live across
from apartments,” the representa
tive said.
Seaback contends that the best
use for the land is to build apart
ments. The land is shown as most
suitable for apartments in the 701,
College Station’s currently incom
plete comprehensive plan.
The 701 was produced by Pinnel
and Associates, a local planning
firm, with input from the City
Council, the Planning and Zoning
Commission and College Station
citizens.
The issue of the rezoning was
T oday.
brought to the council last month.
Legal problems arose when a peti
tion against the request was submit
ted by Dominik residents.
If the petition is considered valid
under a clause of the zoning ordi
nance, a three-fourths vote of the
council would be required to
change the zoning. The request was
passed by the council on a 4 to 3
vote, short of the three-fourths vote
needed to override the petition.
At its last meeting the council set
up a conference between Seaback,
Kozik, Councilmen Jim Dozier and
Larry Bravenec (both lawyers), City
Attorney Neeley Lewis, Brooks
Gofer (attorney for Kozik) and
Mayor O. M. Holt.
The conference was to decide the
specific legal question involved so
that the Council can request a state
Attorney General’s opinion on the
case.
After the meeting Friday Holt
said no agreement had been
reached.
The controversy now hinges on
whether or not the petition con
tained the names of 20 per cent of
the property owners within 200 feet
of the zoning request (a require
ment of the ordinance for the three
fourths vote to be needed). The par
ties involved agree they are no
closer to a solution at this time.
Rolando Hinojosa-Smith (see story p. 3)
3?
^U/IN DVl
Inside
Traffic p. 3
CAMAC p. 3
Aggie Players . . . .p. 7
Weather
Continued fair and mild
Thursday and Friday. High
today 73°; low tonite 42°;
high Friday 75°.
Texas faculty wants
to approve president
AUSTIN (AP) — University of
Texas System Chancellor Charles
LeMaistre refused again Monday at
a faculty meeting to say why he fired
Stephen Spurr as president of UT-
Austin.
The school’s General Faculty
voted approximately 300 to 10 for a
resolution saying it would refuse to
recognize any successor to Spurr
not approved by a faculty-student
advisory committee.
Sixteen written questions to
LeMaistre were taken up after he
read an 18-page statement. One of
the questions was posed by student
body vice president Bill Parrish:
After exec suicide
Bell rate increases denied
DALLAS (AP) — A trend ap
peared developing Wednesday for
city councils to take a closer look at
Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
petitions for rate increases in the
light of accusations by former execu
tives, one of whom is dead.
The accusations claim the com
pany keeps one set of books for its
internal use and another set to sup
port its requests for rate hikes when
its representatives go before city
councils.
The attack came in a $26 million
suit filed by the family of T. O.
Gravitt, former head of Bell reg
ional operations, against South
western Bell. Joining the suit is
Janies Ashley, a top Bell executive
in San Antonio who was fired.
The suit claims that company rep
resentatives hounded Gravitt, 51,
to his death. He was found dead in
his garage Oct. 17 with the motor of
his car running.
The court petition is based on a
note or notes left in his briefcase in
his home.
The handwritten memos also told
the family what data it should sub
poena in case of a suit.
The notes were not made known
to investigative officers until this
week. Sources said Bell officials
searched Gravitt’s home im
mediately after his death and took
possession of Gravitt’s memos and
would not release them until a
member of the family insisted.
One of the most concrete acts
concerning rate increases was taken
by the Beaumont city Council
Tuesday when it postponed action
and asked its lawyer to look into
legal points. It apparently was ready
to grant the company an 8.5 per cent
increase until charges were made
against the company.
The San Antonio city council has
asked the city attorney to determine
what action it should take about
rates. A city official said the council
will be taking a much harder look at
a $5.7 million increase request.
Dallas City Councilman Gary
Weber said the case points up the
need for a thorough investigation of
rate requests by a consultant. The
council will name a consultant
Monday. Bell is asking a $24.3 mill
ion increase for the Dallas dialing
area.
State Rep. Bob Vale, D-San An
tonio, said Wednesday he will in
troduce legislation to establish a
state utilities commission. Texas is
the only state without one.
“The Ma Bell situation added im
petus” to the state commission
question, said Vale. “It’s the little
matchstick that broke the camel’s
back. ”
One of the largest rate requests
has been for Austin, where Bell is
asking a 24 per cent hike. The city
council has hired a Dallas consulting
firm, Hess and Lim, to determine
whether it is justified. A report is
expected next month.
The Harlingen City Commission
members indicated they plan to re
scind a rate hike granted earlier, but
this apparently was in a dispute over
service.
The telephone company already
was running into a different kind of
trouble. The Rio Hondo City Com
mission Monday night refused a rate
increase until service is improved
and until Bell can provide further
proof that the increase is justified.
Bell officials met Tuesday with
several Rio Grande Valley city offi
cials and said delays in improving
Valley service are because of erratic
growth patterns and lack of trained
installers and repairmen.
Officials of several cities where
Bell has rate requests pending made
no comment on whether they would
investigate further. Among them is
Fort Worth where a 17 per cent in
crease is requested. A staff study on
the matter is basically completed.
Bill Nix, Bell’s district manager
from McAllen, is one of the few who
have commented on the accusations
and the firing of Ashley.
Speaking to Valley officials,
Nix said, “Regardless of what ap
pears in the news media, our com
pany has a code of conduct for emp
loyes which applies to all. You may
rest assure that Ashley’s dismissal
by the company was very, very care
fully considered before action was
taken.”
A diflFerent type of suit is before
the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appe
als in New Orleans.
The plaintiffs claim Bell set artifi
cially low prices on certain types of
equipment to undercut indepen
dent manufacturers. The plaintiffs
contend that phone users have to
subsidize the company’s competi
tive fight. They seek to have the
present phone rate-setting system
declared unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge Wil
liam M. Taylor Jr. dismissed the suit
claiming consumers cannot bring a
suit under antitrust laws. This rul
ing led to the appeal to the New
Orleans court.
“Were there conditions existing
on the UT-Austin campus which
were of significant detriment to re
quire the immediate resignation or
dismissal of the president? If so,
what were these conditions?”
“I have an answer to that,’’
LeMaistre said, “but I have been
advised by counsel not to give it.”
This was followed by a few boos,
and LeMaistre said, “I’ll pause and
let you get it out of your system.”
Under federal case law, an ad
ministrator can sue a board of re
gents which details reasons for his
dismissal that reflect on his profes
sional reputation. But no suit can be
maintained where the ouster is
made without explanation.
The General Faculty voted ap
proximately 500 to 50 to call for
LeMaistre’s resignation after he
fired Spurr in September.
In support of the resolution ap
proved Wednesday, its author,
physics and education professor
David Gavenda, said a president
not accepted by the faculty would
have legal authority over budget
matters but that the faculty should
not yield to him “in those academic
areas where the authority clearly
lies with the General Faculty.”
“There is no reason why we
should accept as the presiding of
ficer at General Faculty meetings an
‘agent’ of the chancellor, to use his
LeMaistre’s terminology. As a de
liberative body we can select our
own presiding officer.
“There is also no reason why we
cannot have an executive officer of
our own choice sign the letters of
appointment to standing commit
tees of the General Faculty,”
Gavenda said.
LeMaistre was not present when
the resolution was presented. He
exited the auditorium in the
1,000-seat Lyndon B. Johnson Lib
rary after an hour and 45 minutes of
reading his statement and answer
ing written questions. No oral ques
tions were presented even though
President Ad Interim Lorene Ro
gers said a brief one could be voiced
despite the late hour.
A lanky, silver-haired, self-
possessed man, LeMaistre occa
sionally misread his prepared text
but otherwise appeared unruffled.
He pushed his glasses back to the
top of his nose from time to time as
he spoke in a low, deliberate voice.
Approximately 800 persons at
tended the meeting, including
about 200 students and 100 mem
bers of the press. Many left before
the long meeting ended.
Occasionally, a few boos and his
ses mixed with polite applause fol
lowing statements or answers by
LeMaistre. The only loud reaction
by the audience was prolonged ap
plause for Gavenda’s argument and
for some of the critical questions
read to LeMaistre.
In his statement, LeMaistre said,
“I, for one, have heard enough
about the few academic stars who
have left this campus in times of
controversy and I believe it is high
time that we acknowledge our debt
to those who persevere.
This was an apparent reference to
the dozens of professors, many of
world rank, who left the school
within two years of the dismissal in
1971 of Arts and Sciences Dean
John Silbur, now president of Bos
ton University.
LeMaistre gave a different view
of who owns the university than that
expressed in a question by four
members of the faculty.
LeMaistre said, “In turning to
concern for the overall governance
of the University of Texas, we must
be ever mindful that it belongs to
the people of Texas and cannot be
possessed by the administration,
the faculty or the students. ”
Professors Neill Megaw, James
L. Kinneavy, Lawrence C. Shepley
and Irwin Spear said, “Our view of
this university — at the risk of some
over-simplifications — is that it be
longs to its students, past, present
and future, as a gift and also as a
long-term investment on the part of
the tax-paying citizens of this state.
On the question of recruitment of
minority students, LeMaistre said,
“I fully support minority
recruitment . . . We have not
achieved what I consider an accept
able goal.
“This is not an easy problem that
will be solved by a chancellor, the
Board of Regents or perhaps even
by all those in this auditorium,” he
said.
Some reports have indicated one
of the reasons Spurr was fired was
his support of minority recruitment.
LeMaistre also said he favors giv
ing faculty a voice in regent deliber
ations but that the presidents of the
system’s universities twice have
voted against it. “I abided by the
presidents’ wishes,” he said.
approval, 48 to 13.
Also at the meeting, Student
Government President Steve
Eberhard’s appointment of Tom
Walker, as executive director, was
approved unanimously with 65
senators voting.
Walker was appointed to replace
Tom Taylor whose resignation was
effective last Friday.
Eberhard said he appointed
Walker without interviewing others
because Walker was both qualified
and experienced. He said Walker
had been filling in for Taylor several
weeks previous to the resignation.
As associate director under
Taylor, Walker had been involved
in campus chest, blood drive, Aggie
Muster, student government radio
and the book exchange.
Walker resigned as senior senator
from the College of Agriculture be
fore assuming his new position. His
former senate seat will be declared
vacant.
On first reading at the meeting
was Senator Troie Pruett’s resolu
tion that the senate purchase a
non-pay phone for the library.
The phone would cost $8.50 for
installment, $5.00 per month, and
be financed from the Refrigerator
Account.
Pruett said the library has only
one non-pay phone for students,
causing long lines.
Also on first reading was a resolu
tion by Marsh calling for the senate
to recommend consideration of an
athletic “user” fee proposal to the
Student Service Fee Allocation
Committee.
Such a proposal would mean
men’s intercollegiate sports would
be approximately 50 percent sub
sidized by student service fees.
The remaining funds would come
from charging about $1 for home
football game tickets.
A third resolution, on first read
ing, concerned religious freedom.
The resolution by Jeff Dunn, stu
dent vice president of academic af
fairs, would replace prayers at pub
lic campus gatherings with a silent
meditation time.
Dunn said there was no such
thing as a nonsectarian prayer.
In other business Marsh said, in
his finance report, the senate
budget has $460 less in available
funds than expected last spring.
Funds for academic affairs were
reduced from $1,700 to $1,500;
Copy Center funds from $2,600 to
$1,800; Texas Student Association
dues and fees from $600 to $350.
The travel fund was increased from
$1,200 to $1,350.
Marsh said the revised budget of
$17,600 would be “pretty tight” and
that new student government pro
jects would be primarily financed
from the Refrigerator Account.
The senate approved Dec. 5 as
the date for freshman run-off elec
tions. The next senate meeting will
be Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. in Harrington
204.
Texas’ high court
hearing utility fight
AUSTIN (AP) — Lawyers for
several public utility companies
tried once again Wednesday to con
vince jurists that the state does not
have the power to apportion natural
gas, even in times of need.
Lawyers for other utility com
panies insisted before the Texas
Supreme Court, however, that it is
the Railroad Commission’s respon
sibility to protect the public’s in
terest in the sale of gas.
At stake is hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of natural gas in the
Lo-Vaca Gatherin Co. system.
Austin, San Antonio and the
Lower Colorado River Authority
contend that Lo-Vaca discriminated
against them by contracting to sup
ply gas to Texas Utilities Fuel Co.
TUFCO and others, which resulted
in gas cutbacks for the two cities and
LCRA.
LCRA supplies more than 30
Central Texas communities with
electrical power generated from
natural gas.
The cities and LCRA filed suit
after the commission, which regu
lates Texas’ oil and gas industry, re
fused to set aside Lo-Vaca’s con
tracts with TUFCO and others,
claiming it had no such authority.
An Austin district court and the
3rd Court of Civil Appeals here
ruled that the commission had the
power to apportion the gas, and
those rulings were appealed to the
Supreme Court.
Nine applications were filed ask
ing the court to hear the case, and 31
other briefs — probably a record —
were submitted supporting the ap
plications.
T’ve never seen such a flood of
help for the court in any other case, ”
said LCRA lawyer C. C. Small of
Austin.
Eight lawyers addressed the
court, including Small, and Dan
Moody Jr., son of the former Texas
governor. Another former Texas
governor, Price Daniel, sits on the
court.
The court’s chambers were filled
for the oral arguments, with
bearded University of Texas law
students squeezed in next to
lawyers in dark-hued pinstripe
suits. One law professor had as
signed his class to listen to the de
bate.
There were approximately 175
persons in the room, including 25 or
20 who stood at the back taking
notes, an unusually large gathering
for a case.
Ira Butler of Fort Worth, a
TUFCO lawyer, said TUFCO paid
more than $40 million four years ago
to build a 395-mile pipeline from
the Permian Basin to south of Dallas
to deliver Lo-Vaca gas.
“We wanted to insure our cus
tomers electricity at the lowest pos
sible cost, and this is no cause for
condemnation,” Butler said.
TUFCO supplies gas to Dallas
Power and Light, Texas Power and
Light and Texas Electric Service
Co.
Small said “The commission has
the power to throw the gas into the
same pot for all the parties that have
claims against the Lo-Vaca system. ”
Such authority is a “devastating
concept to be lodged in the hands of
a state agency,” said Asst. Atty.
Gen. Rex White, representing the
commission.
Money-eater
A sporting spirit and a handful of change are re
quired to slake your thirst in the Reed McDonald
Services Building. You learn to take your chances.
(Photo by Alan Killingsworth)