Che Battalion
Vol. 68 No. 52
College Station, Texas
Thursday, December 5, 1974
C orrection
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press reported erroneously
Tuesday night that the veterans’ education bill which President Ford vetoed
and Congress overrode raised the rates for a veteran with two dependents to
$336 a month.
The rate for full-time institutional training was raised from $298 to $366 a
month.
Today s election
i defies injunction
S
mm*" 0
By BARBARA WEST
Staff Writer
Freshman election run-offs and a
referendum on constitutional
amendments are being held as
planned despite an injunction filed
by Mike Perrin of the Student Body
Judicial Board, Karla Mouritsen,
member of the student government
election commission, said.
The injunction was prompted by
complaints from James W. Crawley,
freshman, journalism major, and
Douglas Winship, senior
philosophy major, that the
scheduled election and referendum
were in violation of university regu
lations. They allege that proper
notification was not given as stipu
lated in Section II, part 70 (2) (a) of
the regulations, which states that
elections must be announced in The
Battalion at least 10 class days prior
to the date of the election.
The decision to hold the election
Dec. 5 was not made by the Student
Senate until Nov. 20, which made
the earliest possible date of an
nouncement nine class days prior to
the election.
Susan Warren, election commis
sion chairman, said that “it is no
fault of the election committee; it’s
the fault of The Battalion.” She al
leged that despite her efforts to have
notices printed, this was not done.
“It’s not our duty to fulfill the
legal obligations of the Student
Government,” said Greg Moses,
Battalion editor. “If it is their obliga
tion to print notices, they should
buy a legal notice in the classified
ads.”
Steve Eberhard, student presi
dent, backs the decision to hold the
election as planned, on the grounds
that the election should be con
tested after it’s held. In his opinion
the election needs to be held now
for the sake of the freshman class,
and that the outcome would not be
affected whether it is held now or
later.
"It wouldn’t bias the voting in
favor of one candidate over
another,” he said.
Today.
Eberhard also mentioned doubt
about the validity of the injunction,
because he felt that the judicial
board did not have the power to
enjoin. By his interpretation of the
constitution, the only injunctive
powers of the board are to stop il
legal campaign practices. He also
noted that in the board’s own by
laws there is a considerable exten
sion of the powers granted in the
constitution.
Further action on the case must
be at the request of at least one stu
dent, said Mike Perrin, judicial
board member.
After the election is held, a re
quest would be made to have the
results declared invalid and have a
new election held, adhering to the
regulations. The board would then
hear the case and make its ruling. If
they decide in favor of the students,
the election commission would be
instructed to reschedule the elec
tion. Failure to comply could result
in the removal of the commission
members.
Hobos frisked by College Station Police
Hot boxcar
hobo home
ALAN KILLINGSWORTH
Photo Editor
Four hobos came to College Sta
tion last night, stayed awhile and
then kept on going.
They were riding aboard an
empty Southern Pacific boxcar with
their sleeping bags and all the things
they needed to get to New Orleans
and Mardi Gras. Chances are that
hobos ride the rails through College
Station all the time and go un
noticed. But these four made one
mistake. They got cold so they built
a fire.
The fire got a little out of hand
when it caught on some hay. When
the engineer spotted it he called the
fire department and the police be
cause the hobos had refused to give
up their warm little retreat.
The four were arrested and taken
off to jail. There was the chance that
the four could be charged with tres
passing and arson but Southern
Pacific Railways refused to press
charges and by now the four are
probably on their way to New Or
leans and, of course, Mardi Gras.
Inside
RR impact p. 3
On bench p. 4
Pot trial p. 5
Weather
Mostly cloudy Thursday
with scattered showers.
Cooler Friday. High both
days 67°; low tonite 54°.
SE winds 8-14 mph.
4 Law of the land ... not necessarily law on campus
By JIM CRAWLEY
Staff Writer
Due process and rights of the
dormitory judicial board are establ
ished by the individual dorms and
are not necessarily in line with the
“law of the land” (U. S. Constitu
tion), Dr. Charles Powell, director
of student affairs, said in an inter
view Wednesday.
Due process within the residence
halls and this office is not the same
as court procedures of due process,
said Powell.
The individual dorm rules are not
the same as those of the University,
Powell said.
Fowler Hall presently has a con
stitution and judicial board Bill of
Rights that states the University
Rules are the rules and regulations
of the dorm.
Questions have been raised about
the presence of the accuser at dorm
judicial board hearings. Powell said
that the defendant must request
that the accuser be present at the
hearing, and that the board doesn’t
have to present the accuser unless
requested to.
“The defendant has the right to
be confronted by the accuser, but
that doesn’t necessarily say that the
J-Board will bring the accuser in
there,” said Ron Blatehley, as
sociate director of student affairs.
Powell said that the rules con
cerning the due process in the indi
vidual dorms are to protect the stu
dents and are in force at all times.
Additionally, the dorm rules must
be in accordance with the law.
When asked how the board de
termines guilt if the accuser is not
9
Tracks to go
Agencies considering
present, Powell said, “They first ask
the person if they did what was
charged against them.”
Powell said, “There’s nothing (in
the due process) about them admit
ting that they’re guilty or not guilty.
They don’t have to admit if they
don’t want to, I suppose, but they
would be lying.
The present University Rules and
Regulations state, “Each student
subject to disciplinary action arising
from violations of University regula
tions shall be assured procedural
due process. At all judicial hearings,
an accused student shall be assumed
innocent until proven guilty, and, in
initial judicial hearings, the burden
of proof shall rest with those bring
ing the charges.”
Powell said the dorm J-boards
don’t have the power to punish stu
dents but only advise that certain
punishment be executed. Punish
ment can take the form of a re
primand, visitation restrictions and
if serious, conduct probation.
Both parties, males and females,
are responsible and can and should
be brought before their respective
dorm J-boards, Blatehley said.
Presently, the dorm judicial pro
cess begins with the report of infrac
tion of dorm rules. This may be
done by any resident of the hall. The
dorms judicial board then sets a
time for the hearing and notifies the
defendant in advance.
Then in open or closed meeting,
depending on the defendant’s
choice, the hearing is held and the
defendant may call his own witnes
ses. These are usually character
witnesses. Judicial board members
can ask questions of the defendant
or any witnesses.
The board in closed session, de
cides the guilt or innocence and the
punishment, if necessary. The de
fendant is then notified of the deci
sion and may appeal the ruling.
The appeal usually goes to the
appropriate area coordinator or the
director of student affairs office.
In some cases, for instance, a re
cord of the hearing and the follow
ing decision are sent to the Dean of
Women.
Powell denies any records are
kept of dorm judicial proceedings,
unless the student is given a con
duct probation by the university.
Conduct probation is given to a stu
dent who did a “crime” with a
punishment less than dismissal from
the university.
Blatehley said there is a higher
number of girls brought before the
dorm judicial boards because the
boys don’t care if they are violating
visitation rules and go the the girls’
dorms anyway.
School vandalisms costing
Study thousands of dollars yearly
By GERALD OLIVIER
and ROXIE HEARN
Staff Writers
The wheels of local government
are turning in an effort to do a feasi
bility study on moving the railroad
tracks out of Bryan-College Station
(B-CS).'
“We would love to see a study
done on the possibilities of moving
the railroad, President Jack K. Wil
liams told The Battalion Tuesday.
The railroad in its present loca
tion presents two major problems.
First, it hampers access to the area
See related story p. 3
west of Wellborn Road. TAMU is
planning a multi-million dollar ag
ricultural campus in this area. In a
speech before the B-CS Chamber of
Commerce this summer, Williams
cited the railroad as the major re
striction to westward expansion of
the campus. The chamber unanim
ously voted to support William’s'
proposal.
support William’s proposal.
Some local officials say a second
problem presented by the railroad
is the traffic hazards it creates in
downtown Bryan. The tracks bisect
the business district, crossing many
principal streets and resulting in
safety problems as well as traffic
jams.
In August a presentation was
made by the city of College Station
to the Governor’s Council on Plan
ning and Coordination, listing the
needs and priorities of the Bryan-
College Station area. The need for a
transportation plan, including rail
road relocation, was given top prior
ity.
Restriction of right-of-way at
major intersections, bisection of the
community, condition of the
roadbed and interference with
other modes of transportation were
cited in the presentation as reasons
for moving the railroad.
The Brazos Valley Development
Council (BVDC) is prepared to look
into funding for the feasibility
study, Executive Director Glenn
Cook said.
If the four local entities involved
(the two cities, the county and the
university) will request action from
the BVDC, the executive council
will be happy to consider the prop
osal, Cook said.
Councilman Don Dale of College
Station has agreed to support a re
solution before the CS Council ask
ing the BVDC for financial backing
for the study.
“I think the whole council would
be in favor of this,” Dale said in a
recent interview.
“I think we all feel the same, at
least it ought to be looked into,”
Larry Bravenec, another CS coun
cilman, said.
In Bryan feelings are mixed.
Mayor Julius Skrivanek thinks the
study would be a “waste of the tax
payers’ money.”
“Anybody with common sense
can look at this and see the pros and
cons,” Skrivanek said. “The move
would be too expensive to even con
sider.”
Bryan Councilman Buddy Sledge
thinks the study is a good idea.
“I would like to see the railroad
moved, ” he said. “I think we can get
the council to approve it.” He said
he will have the item placed on the
(See TRACKS, page 3)
By ROSE MARY TRAVERSO
Staff Writer
Vandalism, a “perennial” prob
lem for school districts across the
country, is costing local school dis
tricts thousands of dollars yearly.
“We have never had the kind of
vandalism problem that has rocked
the inner cities but even a broken
window takes money and labor to
replace,” said Wesley Summers,
Bryan School District superinten
dent. “Vandalism cost the district
$2,000 last year. ”
To prevent window and door
breakage, which are damaged most,
an “unbreakable, plastic glass ’ is
Last arguments heard today
on Zipper Lounge murder
Final arguments were to be heard
this morning at nine in the 85th Dis
trict Court in the murder trial of
Bob Maddox, charged in the death
of Charles W. Greer of Bryan.
The Navasota man is accused of
stabbing Greer to death on the night
of April 26 in the parking lot outside
of the Zipper Lounge on Highway 6
across from the Texas World
Speedway. Greer was stabbed dur
ing a fight involving his brothers, his
cousins, Maddox and some of
Maddox’s friends.
Testimony was heard all day
Wednesday from defense witnes
ses. The trial is being presided over
by 20th District Judge W. C. Wal
lace, visiting from Cameron.
Initial testimony was heard Tues
day afternoon from Grimes County
Sheriff John Darby, who told the
court he was asked by the Brazos
County Sheriff s office April 27th to
assist in the investigation of the
stabbing. Maddox was picked up by
Darby after receiving a list of names
from Brazos County Sheriff J. W.
Hamilton on which Maddox’s name
appeared.
Hamilton said that Maddox gave
up voluntarily and took Darby to the
spot where Maddox had hidden the
alleged murder weapon.
District Attorney Tom McDonald
and His assistant, Bradley Smith,
called several witnesses, including
members of Greer’s family who
were also involved in the fight.
Donald Greer, the victim’s cousin,
testified he was on probation after
serving 10 months in the Texas De
partment of Corrections for theft at
the time the fight occurred.
Maddox’s attorneys, Richard
Fields of Conroe and Neeley Lewis
of College Station, introduced tes
timony to the jury that indicated
that Greer was convicted of a crime
and they should treat his testi -
mony with skepticism.
Falstaff spins a tale
Falstaff explains to Hal how he fought off a
group of robbers when, for real, Hal was in
on the caper. The National Players present
ed a performance of Henry IV Part One in
the Rudder Auditorium last night.
being used in a number of the
schools, he said.
Doors are being replaced “as
rapidly as we can” with metal ex
terior doors and metal “solar
screens are being put on windows
to reduce chances of break-ins,
Summers said.
No private security group has
been employed by the district,
Summers said. “If it ever got bad
enough, then of course, we’d move
in (to tighten security),” he said.
Bryan Police patrol nightly and
officers “stake out buildings in
which a problem has been iden
tified,” Summers said. “We have
also attempted to reduce the prob
lem by staggering custodial help to
keep somebody in the building dur
ing vandalism prone hours — of
course, this doesn’t cover
weekends,” he said.
Weekends and holidays are the
periods when the vandalism rate is
highest, said Lt. B. G. Maddox of
the Bryan Police Department.
“This is when we step up our pat
rols,” he said.
“We work with administrators of
the schools and call them when we
hear about the break-ins,” Maddox
said. “Janitors and teachers often
leave their doors and windows un
locked, unknowingly.
“The schools on the west side of
town are hit the most. The schools
hit most often are Sul Ross Elemen
tary, Anson Jones, Bowie and
Carver,” he said.
“Areas close to a high concentra
tion of people are vandalism prone, ”
Summers said.
Summers observed that most of
the vandals are “juvenile youngsters
whose motive are not usually burg
lary. Schools just don’t have any
thing valuable enough,” he said.
Lt. Bobby Riggs narrowed the
average age of vandals to between
10 and 15 years and gave a different
perspective of the vandals’ motives.
“It’s not like it used to be,” he said.
“The children used to break in the
schools and mess things up to get
back at a teacher or principal, but
now it is to steal an item in the
school and things get messed up in
the process.”
School property most often stolen
is money, typewriters, tape recor
ders, adding machines and radios,
Maddox said.
“They (vandals) are pretty hard to
catch, but we have cleared about 50
per cent of the cases and sometimes
more,” Riggs said. “For adequate
protection all of the doors and win
dows have to be wired to an alarm
system. I don’t think the schools
have enough money for it — it’s
pretty expensive.”
Summers said he feels satisfied
that “most get caught.” “The kids
like to talk and it’s not hard to find
out who is responsible,” he said.
“We have to report every break-
in to the police to protect ourselves
but we don’t want to go an eye-for-
an-eye,” Summers said. “We first
try to work with parents but if they
are unwilling to make restitution or
in a case of repeated offenses, we
turn it over to the police.”
“We are not interested in sending
anyone to Gatesville,” Summers
said.
The A&M Consolidated School
District pays an insurance premium
of $1,375 yearly to cover vandalism,
said Fred Hopson, Consolidated
superintendent.
“The insurance does not cover
glass breakage, which is the most
frequent damage,” Hopson said.
“Glass breakage is what brings our
losses into the thousands, whether
it be for lights, doors or windows.”
Hopson said the district had no
definite figures of the past year’s
damage. “Our maintenance and re
pairs don’t reflect what were normal
repairs and what were the results of
vandalism,” he said.
The problem is not bad in College
Station, said CS Police Chief Mar
vin Byrd. “Not many have occurred
(See VANDALISM, page 5)