The Senate follies
Aaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuugggghhhhh!
By GREG MOSES
For a good dose of government
inaction and more cheap thrills
than a Frank Zappa concert, stop
by the Student Senate for a few
minutes. I did.
“We are debating Roger
Knight’s amendment to Jeff
Dunn’s amendment,” explains
Senate Speaker Marty Clayton as I
try to close the door quietly be
hind me. Doors in the Harrington
Center are not quiet, no matter
how careful one is not to let them
clack. So a few eyes dart to the
back of the room as 1 find a seat
next to a Batt reporter.
A seated cadet near the center
of the room is telling the senate
why he opposes this amendment
to an amendment while I glance
through the agenda packet. I look
up from the agenda at the clock in
the back of the room. In two
hours of senate haggling, it has
completed two of the five items
under old business. Another 10
items appear under new business.
But I don’t have much time to
waste thinking about the wasted
time because a woman (Troie Ann
Pruitt) jumps up from the first
row and faces the senate. “I can’t
really believe you people,” she
says, flustered. And she spends
the next few minutes telling the
senators how stupid they are. 0-
kay.
Another senator stands. He
says we shouldn’t pass this reso
lution just because Jack and a few
other administrators want to clean
up the litter in front of G. Rollie
White. (Hmmm . . . must have
something to do with football tic
ket allocations.) He says he would
rather have an alternate first-
come-best-served system which
would eliminate the lines. Some
one else complains it would be
difficult to get large blocks of
seats with the new system.
John Tyler, Student Vice Presi
dent for Rules and Regulations
walks toward my seat. Before he
sits — three seats away — he leans
toward me.
“A circus,” he says.
“Did you hear that?” I smile at
the reporter. “John Tyler says this
is a circus.”
“That’s not a quote,” says
Tyler.
“You said it in a public meet
ing, John.”
“Alright, it’s a quote.” He elab
orates and clarifies to the reporter
as another senator stands. He is in
a far corner of the room and I can
barely hear him over the low rum
ble of voices. It’s not just the ad
ministrators who are opposed to
the ticket lines, he says, people
who are serious in their studies
can’t afford to spend a weekend
in line.
Someone stands behind me,
making hand signals toward the
front of the room. What is Dale
Foster doing here? He lives in Dal
las. He resigned from the senate
last month when it found he was
no longer a student. And he’s
back to this?
“Do I still have the floor?”
asks Lisa Swanson. “I can’t be
lieve this,” she shouts from the
front of the room. Everyone leans
to see her. “When I go home to
my husband tonight, he is going
to ask me, ‘What did you do?”’
The senate explodes in laughter
and applause. Swanson beams
with satisfaction. (Isn’t she the
one who fell asleep during the al
locations hearings?) While Swan
son takes advantage of her tem
porary glory, I look around the
room.
G-2 Lasseter sits one row ahead
and a seat to the right. His shoul
ders and neck look like they were
built for the team he supports
from the sidelines in a white uni
form, rolled up at the sleeves.
MSC President Bill Davis and Stu
dent Body President Steve Eber-
hard sit together near the outside
aisle just a few rows below. Newly
appointed Judicial Board Chair
man Sam Walser (former MSC
president) sits to the left of Tyler.
Senior Class President Louie Goh-
mert is busy, talking to people
around the room. Now he is with
SG Executive Director Tom Walk
er, candidate for student body
president. Walker lets out a loud
raspberry. Roger Miller, assistant
to the president and liaison to stu
dent government (also former stu
dent body vice president), stands
in the outside aisle to the left,
decked in suit and tie. Jeff Dunn,
student vice president for aca
demic affairs and candidate for
student body president, sits to
ward the right front. He stood to
clarify the intent of his resolution
tonight; but in piecing this jum
ble, I can’t remember when.
Swanson calls for a vote to de
cide whether to vote on the
amendment to the amendment.
By voice vote, it is decided that
the senate should vote on the
amendment to the amendment.
“We are voting on Roger
Knight’s amendment to Jeff
Dunn’s amendment,” says Clay
ton (a fashionable name for speak
ers these days).
“All in favor say aye.”
“Aye,” says Knight, his voice
cracking when he realizes he is his
only supporter.
So the no’s have it. Knight an
nounces it is time for him to take
a break as he exits to the left.
Sounds like a good idea. I nudge
Jim Peters who came because he
hadn’t seen the senate in action
since three years ago when he cov
ered it for The Eagle.
Student Vice President for Stu
dent Services Barry Brooks bursts
through the door as we leave,
throws his back against the wall
in the outside hall, waves his
hands about his head and
“Aaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuugggghhhh,’
before the door shuts. A cadet
comes out to look for the noise.
As Jim and I turn the corner, the
cadet and Brooks are laughing.
“You should write something
when you get back to the office,”
says Jim as we pass the Physics
Building. He says I should urge
people to stop by the senate meet
ing for a few minutes; and I
should explain what happened
when I did.
Page 2 THE BATTALION
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DA €ND
Olivier s reasoning questioned
6 Cloud 9 viewpoint is for the birds’
Editor:
Gerald Olivier, from his “Cloud
Nine view (March 13) gave us a
quick look,” as he put it, at the vot
ing records of incumbents Dale and
Bravenec, but, contrary to his in
tent, his quick look must have con
vinced even the most casual reader
that Bravenec is the man to vote for
on April 1. My English 210 ar
gumentation students might raise
the following questions about
Olivier s political reasoning.
How exactly did Olivier choose
“at random” the commercial zoning
requests? Specifically, which com
mercial zoning requests were they?
Certainly one cannot conclude
that because Bravenec and Dale
voted for all five apartment zoning
requests which “were not politically
“hot ” (whatever that means), that “a
few vocal citizens can and do sway
Bravenec’s vote but not Dale’s.”
What is the difference between
representing one’s constituency and
being “swayed by a few vocal citi
zens,” as Olivier puts it?
What is the difference between
Dale’s “tendency to buckle only
under severe citizen pressure” and
Bravenec’s vote to uphold the
“fierce opposition of the Dominik
homeowners”?
Why does Olivier examine only
the voting results and not the
criteria applied by Bravenec?
What is the virtue in “developing
a consistent pattern” in zoning
votes?
Should one vote for or against a
candidate because his vote is pre
dictable or unpredictable?
There is no proof in the editorial
to back the conclusion drawn by
Olivier that “almost any measure of
citizen pressure” will get
Bravenec’s vote. Olivier was con
vincing, in spite of himself, of
Bravenec’s integrity and good sense
when he notes that “when no pres
sure (citizen concern?) is evident,
Bravenec’s votes are unpredictable
(“he considers each case on its
merits”).
May we have more councilmen
like Bravenec and fewer political
reporters like Olivier. Such mud
dled writing is unworthy of the
readership of the Battalion. I invite
Olivier to come down from “Cloud
9” and let mycEnglish 210 students
teach him how to argue a more con
vincing case.
Judith A. Finn
Department of English
Goal lost
Editor:
Here goes another complaint
about the expenditures of the Board
of Directors. As an Aggie wife and
employee I have seen and read of
the great and, in my opinion, un
necessarily large expenditures on
the MSC and the “wall”. I have
been in Crocker, Puryear, Walton,
and Milner halls, and I feel that the
Board cannot justify those great ex
penditures considering the living
conditions of many of our students,
not to mention the lack of sufficient
recreational facilities.
This institution was supposed to
have been created for the students,
not the administration, and it would
seem that somewhere along the line
the original goal was lost.
Lori Smith
Yea, John
Editor:
We would like to congratulate the
Battalion on its fine record review of
the new Blue Oyster Cult album,
On Your Feet or On Your Knees.
John Vanore did a great job on re
porting the facts about this group
and their new album.
Blue Oyster Cult exemplifies
what a good rock band should be in
every aspect. Their band, as well as
having outstanding individuals, has
a unique tightness in that each
member compliments the other.
Blue Oyster Cult goes beyond being
called a rock band — its more than
rock-n-roll. It explodes from
screaming guitars to soaring synth
esizers. This band should be placed
in the category with the other greats
— the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led
Zepplin, and in more recent rock
groups, Jefferson Starship, and
Aero Smith.
With the growing number of fol
lowers of music that is one step
beyond rock-n-roll, hopefully there
will be more radio stations leaning
toward this type of music. Two of
the stations to take an early lead are
KMAC AM and KISS EM in San
Antonio. KMAC is what every other
progressive rock station wishes it
could be including those bumper
sticker stations out of Houston.
With more great reviews of bands
like the Cult in the Batt, it is possi
ble that the general public of
Bryan-College Station/TAMU can
be made more aware of this music.
And possibly, even though it’s
beyond our fondest dreams, some
day a band of this caliber will be
brought to TAMU — the strong
hold of American Top 40.
Thanks for the good review John,
Jim Brannen
Gerald D’Ambrossio
then ^5)(y) ARE. The Kind
op person to handle the
Job as editor of "the
battalion.’’ WITH
AT LEAST A E.O G.P.R.
MAY APPLY FOR THE OOS!
PHONE 84-S-afoll FOR
MORE. INFORlAATiO/u! (,
Chains anl whips suPPUfcbt)
Cbe Battalion
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Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room News Edl,ors Barbara West
217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Douglas Winship
Reporters ... . Paul McGrath, Robert Cessna, Gerald
Members of the StudenT Publications Board are: Jim Lindsey, chairman; Dr. Olivier, Rose Mary Traverso, Steve Gray, Judy Baggett, Alan Killingsworth, Sayeefiil
Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr. H. E. Hierth, W. C. Harrison, Steve Islam, Mary Jeanne Quebe, Cathryn Clement, Cindy Maciel, Jim Peters, Mark
Eberhard, Don Hegi, and John Nash, Jr. Schiuter, Steve Ussery, B. Babji Singh, Don Middleton, Mike Kimmey, Jerry
■ Geary, Chris Askew.
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Columnists Bill Sheen, Mike Perrin, John Vanore,
John Tim Cowden
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Station, Texas, daily except Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods, ^ and carto onists . .i ........ Dr. James H. Earle, Nguyen Dziem,,
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VOTE
GARY HALTER
College Station City
Council
Place 1
April 1, 1975
Stand on Major Issues
Planned orderly growth, strict enforcement of the zoning ordinance
No disruption of established neighborhoods through zoning changes or
street extensions.
Development of City Recreation Center, neighborhood parks and enforce
ment of park land dedication requirements of developers
Improvement of city services and enforcement of present ordinances, ex
panded services for the retired of the community
Background and Qualifications
Native Texas, Former TAMU student, Resident of City for past 7 years, Age
33, Married, Two Children.
Recipient, Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award for work with students.
Chairman, District 10, Citizens Advisory Committee for C. S. city plan.
Ph.D. in Political Science with specialty in Local Government and Public
Administration.
Administrative Experience in State and Local Government
Advisor to numerous Texas cities on city management and technology prob
lems. Other cities pay me for advise which College Station can receive free.
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