Page 2 THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 1975
Liberty lacking at TAMU
Editor:
Apropos of your editorial, “Stop,
Look, Listen,” March 5, Disraeli
once described a university as “a
place of light, of liberty, and of
learning. ” Light and learning, wis
dom and scholarship, are found
here, in increasing abundance. But
the liberty is lacking, as you suggest
in your comments.
It seems to me, further, that
Texas A&M, with its strong em
phasis on spirit and community,
needs to recognize that any
meaningful community — espe
cially one devoted to enlightenment
and learning — must have members
who are free. Otherwise the sense of
unity which results is only superfi
cial, a product of forced action and
controlled behavior. Uniformity is
apparent in that kind of society, but
unity is not.
When Texas A&M is great
enough as a university to be truly
free, then we shall be very great
indeed.
Paul A. Parrish
Asst. Prof, English
Who paid?
Editor:
It is very confusing to me to hear
all the different views on the sub
ject, “Who Paid For the Memorial
Student Center Lounge?” Frankly,
I have yet to have a person convince
me his opinion is the right one.
That brings me to my question.
Just exactly who did pay for the
MSC lounge? Was it our increased
building use fees? Was it the
Alumni Association? Just who was
it? I think the answer will settle a
portion of the complaining that ap
pears in this column, as well as in
conversation on campus.
Maybe this question will be ans
wered by someone who can back his
answer with facts. I hope the ap
propriate person reads this and re
sponds. Thank you.
Chris Jochen
Cost breakdowns for the new
University Center, as outlined by
W. C. Freeman, executive vice-
president for administration, ap
peared in the Nov. 14, 1974 and
Jan. 30, 1975 editions of The Battal
ion.
The expense of the $26.5 million
complex is not broken down as to
separate areas. Thus it is not possi
ble to determine exactly how much
money was spent on the Student
Lounge alone.
A diagram detailing the fees
used for construction and furnish
ing of the center appears below.
The student chunk of the pie will
be paid in allotments of $465,000
annually through the year 2001 —
Ed.
Board ‘praised’
Editor:
We were highly entertained
when we read about the new Board
of Director’s annex. We read how
TAMU spent $765,000 decking it
out expertly in antique motif. A
spark of joy shown within us as we
sat in our dorm room in Law Hall
with the handsome mustard yellow
paint peeling off the walls and the
ants crawling around our sink. Our
bunkbeds made splendid creaking
noises as we moved with restless joy
and read about this great thing that
TAMU now possesses.
We were extremely impressed by
the $4,000 busts of Roman senators
and the $2,000 statue of Kwan Yin.
How appropriate for the board
room! What would TAMU be with
out them?
But the most exciting news about
this grandiose establishment was
that it will be used at least five times
a year. We hope it’s not worn out too
soon.
We are glad that the $765,000 was
not used on such trivialities as re
novating 50-year-old dorms such as
Law or Puryear. We would hate to
see this money used for something
as insignificant as new eating
facilities for the dorm students.
Heaven forbid!
We realize it is very important for
the Board of Directors to be up to
par with the “other universities and
corporate headquarters” as quoted
from Gen. A. R. Luedecke.
TAMU continues to push ahead
for the future with that great
achievement so we would like to
suggest some other improvements
for the University. How about con
tracting a famous artist to draw a
replica of Mount Rushmore on the
new water tower, or maybe we
could buy a gold-lined dog house for
Reveille with running dog bones
We just want to commend the
Board of Directors and say, “Keep
up the good work.”
Jamie DeWitt
Tim Hale
Z^.^-STUPEHT TJ\T\OH
_ C- 1.6% foRtflER. STUDCNTS'
-J ' OOK) ArpcM<>
im Peters
TOTAL OF $26.5 MILLION FOR UNIV. CENTER
25.8% $6.83 million Student Tuition and Building Use Fees
63% $16.7 million Permanent Available Funds (state monies)
9.4% $2.5 million Interest of Univ. Local Funds
1.8% $470,000 Former Students’ donations
How they vote
Records of incumbents
By GERALD OLIVIER
Two of the candidates in this
April’s College Station City Council
elections will be incumbents. This
makes the job of discovering how
they stand on the issues a little
easier.
A quick look at the voting records
will tell us how each member of the
present council would like voters to
think he stands.
To speed this process up, the fol
lowing is a synopsis of how Larry
Bravenec and
Don Dale, the
two incumbent
candidates, have
voted on several
issues shaping up
in the campaign.
Zoning seems
to be the major
issue, in particu
lar, the Harry Seaback request for
apartment zoning behind Dominik
Drive.
Dale voted in favor of the Seaback
request over the firece opposition of
Dominik homeowners. In the dis
cussion preceding the vote. Dale
reiterated his belief that an individ
ual should be free to use his land as
he pleases.
“If someone wanted to build
apartments next door to me, I
would not oppose it,” he said.
Bravenec took the opposite
stand. He sided with the residents
and voted against the request.
Bravenec cited citizen disapproval
as his primary reason for his vote.
In a group of commercial zoning
requests picked at random from
those considered by the council this
past year, the results were:
Dale voted for all 10 of the re
quests. He has consistently stated
his position that developers are
what make the city grow.
Bravenec voted for six of the re
quests selected. He has not held
any consistent stand on zoning in
general, but contends he considers
each case on its particular merits.
In the area of apartment zoning,
both men voted for all five of the
requests chosen. The requests
picked were not politically “hot”
items. In general, a few vocal cit
izens can and do sway Bravenec’s
vote, but not Dale’s.
Another big campaign issue will
be the status of principal streets in
the city. A proposal submitted by
the Texas Highway Department to
the council called for the extension
and widening of several streets.
Residents of the neighborhoods
involved were vocal in their oppo
sition of the extensions. Home-
owners from Dominik, Munson,
Glade and Timber streets con
vinced the council to delete their
streets from the plan.
Dale and Bravenec voted with a
unanimous council to include only
roads designated as state highways
in the improvement plans. Both
councilmen showed their desire to
avoid citizens’ wrath on this issue.
In conclusion, Dale has shown a
tendency to buckle only under se
vere citizen pressure (like the Mun
son Street screams). He has devel
oped a more consistent pattern than
Bravenec on zoning. He never
challenges the developer’s request.
Bravenec has been harder to pre
dict. Almost any measure of citizen
pressure will get his vote. When no
pressure is evident, however, his
votes are unpredictable.
Cbe Battalion
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Editor Greg Moses
Assistant Editor Will Anderson
Managing Editor LaTonya Perrin
Assistant Managing Editor Roxie Hearn
Sports Editor Mike Bruton
Photo Editor Glen Johnson
City Editor Rod Speer
News Editors Barbara West
Douglas Winship
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The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is published in College
Station, Texas, daily except Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods,
September through Klay, and once a week during summer school.
Reporters.. .T.C. Gallucci, l Paul McGrath, Robert Cessna, Gerald
Olivier, Rose Mary Traverse, Steve Gray, Judy Baggett, Alan Killingsworth, Sayeefiil
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Schluter, Steve Ussery, B. Babji Singh, Don Middleton, Mike Kimmey, Jerry
Geary, Chris Askew.
Photographers Douglas Winship, David Kimmel,
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Kayser, David McCarrolI.
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Artists and cartoonists Dr. James H. Earle, Nguyen Dziem,
Brad Foster, Rodney Hammack, Tom Brents, Scott Morgan.
Editor:
No joke?
You guys have really outdone
yourselves this time. To think that
winning the Southwest Conference
did not merit the lead story on
March 11 (No choke. Page 1) is
ridiculous. The reasoning behind
your refusal to admit that a basket
ball game was indeed the happening
on campus that weekend, was that it
was sports.
Come on now, Greg, take a peek
outside your isolated little bubble
and peruse the University you pur-
and priorities bad on Batt
port to serve. Your naivete as
tounds me. Maybe sports is differ
ent than news, but winning the
SWC is indeed news and the idea
that very little of your readership is
concerned with sports is Hogwash!
Name me an event the past year
that has drawn over 5,000 people to
TAMU. I can name you more than
12 and all are sports. In the champ
ionships of 1964 and 1969 the entire
front page of the Batt was about the
title game and the headlines were in
maroon ink. And even the Eagle,
that paper you claim to be so much
better than, ran the game story as
Chalk one up for the
the lead.
Eagle.
You claim that doing such is just
Public Relations. That is, you and
your inbred cohorts, LaTonya and
Mike Perrin and Rod Speer. But
was it not you who turned over the
paper to a staff of PR rats the two
days prior to the game so that you
might take a couple days off?
I think back with pain on the
many times I defended the Batt.
Yeah, I said, “Hell no, we’re not
muckrakers!” But I take that back
now; that’s all you and the Perrins
>P'
Ha! Sports couldn’t run leil
story, huh. Well, Moses, mailt
you better read your lead ston c
Tuesday and Wednesday as welj
stories given higher priority onlit
front page and you’ll see they in
sports but only muck.
Sorry, Greg, but you don’tb
an excuse this time. 1 regrell
wasted two years working at fc
Batt and claiming you forafrieiii
For in your haste, you have slightft
a championship basketball team®:
humiliated a University.
Tony Galluic
I
Ticket sales
Bigger and better hassles devised
By ALAN KILLINGSWORTH
I heard an Aggie joke last football
season when there was a possibility
that A&M would win the Southwest
Conference
which went
something like
this: If the Aggies
were No. 1 in the
conference they --
wouldn’t know
how many fingers
to hold up during
the chant.
Well, at the last basketball game,
when the team proved that A&M
could win in a major conference
sport, I didn’t see but one person
holding up two fingers. I think he
was trying to get the attention of the
Coke boy. The only problem was
that the Coke boy was holding up
the "We re No. 1” sign.
If I never compliment anyone
the rest of the year in my column, I
have to congratulate the basketball
team on winning the SWC. So ends
the longest four-year losing streak
in the four years I’ve been here.
Thanks. I needed that!
So all eyes turn to football. Can it
be done? Can the Aggies win the
conference this year? Can they beat
the hell out of Texas like I’ve heard
them say for four years? Can we go
to the Cotton Bowl (where?)? Most
important, can I get tickets?
It’s funny as hell that more Aggies
worry about getting tickets than
they do about winning in football.
The lines in front of G. Rollie White
look more like bread lines. Fresh
men are running through campus
yelling, “I’m on the 10 yard line! I
made it!” By the end of senior day
all the tickets to the out-of-town
games are gone. Why don’t they do
something? They are. The Student
Senate is thinking ahead.
A committee of the Senate has
been looking into ways to end all the
hassle which goes with acquiring a
football ticket. With a little luck, we
might see the change by next year.
But then again, it might take the
Senate that long to figure out what
they’ve come up with.
I have several plans which would
work and at the same time be just
about the funniest thing you ever
saw. But no one ever wants to have
fun anymore. Well, I’ll pour my
little plans on you anyway.
An Easter egg hunt! Now don’t
start saying “Why didn’t I think of
that?” Hide the tickets all over cam
pus and let the students find the
ones they want. Think of all the
hiding places that we have. The
construction, the University Cen
ter, the Quack Shack (nobody
would ever look in there) and Sbisa
(hide it under the chicken fried gris-
sle). With all the students looking
under things, there’s no telling
what little tidbits they might find.
The Battalion has been doing it for
more than a year and it’s very in
teresting to see what comes out
from under rocks. Be careful of
mousetraps.
Another plan would be to crop all
the tickets out of an airplane and let
them float over the campus. Don’t
tell anybody when it’s gonna be
done, just get the Air Craps to do it
anytime. But no bias, boys. Drop a
few on the civilian side as well. It
would all be a matter of who is in the
right place at the right time.
The last proposal I have is tk
“YOU’VE BEEN A GOOD
plan. In this plan all the tickets^
given to the Administrationti
divide amon$the students theyftd
fit. If someone on scho pro gets*
“A” on a test then the peoplet]
front give him a ticket. Ifthesto
dent hasn’t questioned any feet
creases, he gets a 50 yard liner.
If the student has done well int
CONSTRUCTION EXTRAVl
GANZA, he receives a ticket inth
mail. All the student hastodoislt
a good boy. You have it made.you
are guaranteed a ticket every wed
But don’t step out of line. Onefek
move and you’re in the bleadien
That plan does have its drawback
The Battalion staff would watch a!
the games from the end-zone.
'OH, WELL—TIME,
SUPPOSE, TO TURN THE WHOLE THING OVER GRACEFULLY TO THE
CIVILIANS . .
APPLICATIONS FOR TOWN
HALL ARE BEING TAKEN
MARCH 10-14
in the
STUDENT PROGRAMS OFFICE
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A&M CLUB
INVITES YOU TO
0UR WEEKLY MEETING AT
12 NOON ON MONDAY
MARCH 17 - RICE HOTEL
LUNCH WILL BE AVAILABLE