Page 2 THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1975
Coasters and Co.
By Rodney Hammack
Guess who’s coming to dinner
The Board Annex should prepare its finest
because a student may be coming to stay
By WILL ANDERSON
Would you say a Board of Direc
tors that is responsive to students’
needs and desires is unlikely?
Would you say the chances a stu
dent might get on the Board are rot
ten to nonexistent? Well, read on,
Aggies, read on.
Two bills are now before a sub
committee in the Texas House of
Representatives
that seek to pro
vide students
with more input
to their universi
ty’s board of di
rectors.
One was pre
sented by Matt
Garcia of San An
tonio. It calls for a non-voting stu
dent position on all boards. There is
a chance that the bill will be
amended if it gets out of committee
to offer a vote to the student on
board decisions. It would seem the
combined efforts of the TAMU di
rectors and the t. u. regents could
defeat anything, but Garcia is op
timistic.
“Mac” McAlister is presenting
what appears to be a compromise
bill in the same area. His bill speci
fies that at least one member of each
board of directors must be below
32-years-old. He says a great
source of intelligence is being over
looked because of the generally ac
cepted practice of appointing only
older men and women, and notes
that many corporations have people
less than 32 in key positions. The
bill would also provide links be
tween boards and students, he said.
The bills are before a subcommit
tee of the Committee on Higher
Education. The subcommittee is
headed by Bill Caraway of Houston
and includes Don Raines of San
Marcos and Billy Hall of Laredo.
Caraway impressed me because
when he heard I was trying to find
him, he left his seat on the floor of
the House and he found me. He
said if any more public testimony
was needed on the bills that he
would be in touch with The Battal
ion to offer students a chance to
speak to the representatives.
The Committee on Higher Edu
cation is chaired by Fred Head and
also includes Jim Clark, John Hoe-
stenbach, Abraham Ribak, Frank
Gaston, Mrs. Senfronia Thompson
and Doyle Willis.
Students may express their opin
ions of the bills in a letter addressed:
Williams asked how McAlister
had arrived at 32 as the “magic age”
in regard to board membership. He
also said student membership was
not needed because students al
ready have input to the board at its
open business meetings.
As rapidly as the TAMU Board
goes through its agenda, it seems
that most decisions are already
made before the meeting begins.
The meetings are only a ritual to
formalize decisions, so “student in
put” in that form is pretty useless.
The Honorable Bill Caraway
Capitol Building
Austin, Texas 78767
All representatives may be
reached through the mail using that
address. Letters will probably carry
more weight when they’re sent to
your hometown representatives,
but the fates of those bills are in the
hands of the committee now and I’m
sure those representatives would
appreciate some insights.
TAMU President Jack Williams
said the bills are unpractical and un
needed. He asked if every part of
the university system (Agricultural
Extension Service, Tarleton State,
etc.) would be represented, also.
benches in the MSC) and don’t ap
pear to care to find out. While a stu
dent on the TAMU Board would be
very difficult to arrange and prob
ably fairly ineffective, it’s certainly
better than nothing. But there’s
something better than that.
I’m sorry to say that a student
board member would also be pretty
useless. Since a student board
member would be a political ap
pointment, I suspect he or she
would pretty well “tow the line” in
regard to board responsiveness but
all its
The real opportunity for input is
not at the board level, but more par
ticipation on university commit
tees. The real planning is in com
mittees and then passed to the
Board for approval and adjustment.
That is where students should seek
membership to offer student ideas
and not simply approve someone
else’s plans. And it could be done on
a university level.
I’m sorry to say that a student
board member would also be pretty
useless. Since a student board
member would be a political ap
pointment, I suspect he or she
would pretty well “toe the line” in
regard to board decisions. The stu
dents main duty would be to nod
approval all the time. Nothing
would change in regard to board re
sponsiveness but all its acts would
be given a halo because they had
“student input.”
But, write your representatives,
Aggies, and tell them what you
think. If we can make the Board of
Directors aware that we exist, that’s
a step in the right direction. They
might get curious as to what we
think about the way they spend our
money. After all, miracles happen
every day and this just might be
another one.
‘He says it’s the only thing that keeps him awake in class . .
But something needs to be done.
It is obvious to me that the TAMU
Board is out of touch with the stu
dents. They don’t know what stu
dents want (for instance, more
bowling lanes and fewer cowhide
Board investigation urged
Our point of view
City council elections
Two candidates are competing in each of the three races for the College
Station City Council and, although this does not offer a large choice for the
voter, the personalities and political philosophy are diverse enough to make
three interesting races.
Since incumbent Fred Brison did not seek re-election, the race for Place 1
pits two newcomers to the College Station political scene — a liberal and
outspoken political science professor, Gary Halter, and a young up-and-
coming local developer, Jim Jett.
Because of his political science training (oriented toward urban gov
emment) and intense interest in College Station’s government, CAR!
HALTER is the best choice for the position. Halter has been a regular visitor
at council meetings and was chairman of a citizens advisory group which
helped the city with its Comprehensive Development plan. He has studied
the problems and needs of the city and has data at his fingertips to compare
our town with other Texas cities.
Jett’s vocation presents an inherent conflict of interest should he be
elected to the council. As a councilman, Jett’s vote on a rezoning request or
the paving of a street could affect the value and use of land in the city. As a
realtor, developer and apartment owner, that vote could affect the value of
his property. Halter’s realty, however, consists only of the lot his home sits
on.
Competing for Place 3 is the 32-year-old general manager of KTAM-
KORA radio, Bob Bell, against the older establishment man and incumbent
Don Dale. BOB BELL would be a refreshing and needed change on the
council and earns our endorsement. Bell has committed himself to reflecting
the opinions of College Station residents.
Dale, however, has been forced to defend a rezoning request he sup
ported that was petitioned against by 280 Dominik Drive residents.
In addition, Dale’s ownership of a local construction company creates a
situation similar to Jett’s. The amount and use of commercial property in the
city cannot help but affect local construction. And whether or not this has
been a factor in his decisions, Dale has said it’s developers that make the city
grow and has consistently voted for developers’ zone change requests re
gardless of citizen opposition.
The Place 5 race features incumbent Larry Bravenec, a TAMU accounting
professor and local attorney, and a dark-horse candidate, Greg Magruder, a
TAMU sophomore and president of the Residence Hall Association.
Although Magruder has good intentions, LARRY BRAVENEC should.be
re-elected to the council. It’s a difficult task to determine what Bravenec’s
political philosophy is. However, one thing is perfectly clear — Bravenec
will bend to citizen opposition, which shows a responsiveness to his consti
tuency. Also, Bravenec has qualifications Magruder can’t hope to match.
Bravenec has a law degree and can draw upon has experience as an attorney,
a professor and as a councilman for a year. Maguder has not yet reached the
halfway point in his undergraduate education and has been wrapped up in
the problems of dormitory life, not in off-campus affairs.
T " Cbe Battalion
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Editor:
There is a need for an investiga
tion and hearing on the actions of
the Board of Directors of Texas
A&M University. If the Batt will
print where to write for action
(Board of Directors? Texas Educa
tional System? Governor of Texas?),
I’m sure many students will send
letters and lists of names of people
demanding an investigation and
hearing.
Too many things have been hap
pening without any consideration or
concern for the student body opin
ion; the actions of the Board of Di
rectors could be in direct violation
of the Basic Policy of the University.
A lot of money is being spent, de
partment budgets are beingcut, the
departments are urged not to fill
vacancies (a lot of people are looking
for jobs), budgets on assistantships
are being cut, fees are raised, an
unwanted wall is being built, an owl
tower is on campus, a Board of Di
rectors room has been built ($1.4
million worth) and gaudy art objects
are in the MSC. Traditions are
being destroyed.
An investigation and hearing is
just what is needed to clear up a lot
of questions and justify a lot of
claims about the Board of Directors’
actions here on campus. Also the
investigation and hearing could
answer a very vital question — is a
University supposed to benefit the
people attending it or benefit the
people running it?
Laura Beall
An investigation and hearing are
not likely, but there may be other
ways to make the Board more re
sponsive. See your man at Batt —
Ed.
Domino theory
Editor:
As a matter of record I would like
to quote some facts I have pieced
together from the news in the past
few days.
In S. Vietnam, heavy artillery fire
pours into Hue as a 75 mile long line
of refugees flee south, away from
their Communist “liberators’ . US
officials say the drive is bigger than
the 1968 Tet Offensive.
The reason for the impending loss
of Hue and the actual loss of 10 pro
vinces to the Communists is that the
promised $1.45 billion in US aid has
been cut by Congress to under $700
million. Well, what can you expect
after selling out our obligation to
them under the SEATO treaty and
the Mekong Delta Resolution? We
might as well rescing on our prom
ise to aid and resupply them follow
ing our departure in 1973.
The news doesn’t stop there.
Cambodia is under seige with 65-70
percent of the country in Com
munist hands and rocket attacks on
Phnom Penh. President Lon Nol
announced Friday that the Number
1 national priority was to seek
negotiations with the Communists.
Thailand is also being forced into
a coalition government with the
Communists. Once our strongest
ally (at one time the US had six air
bases in Thailand), they are now ask
ing us to leave the airbases they
were once so willing for us to oper
ate. What is the reason for this
change in attitude? As a Thai dip
lomat said, “Our government must
look to the dominant power in S. E.
Asia. Guess who that is now.
1 hope the people who laughed at
the domino theory will pause now
and watch as Laos, Thailand, and
Cambodia follow South Vietnam
into Communist domination.
Bill Ibbotson
Louis
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