Candidate cancelled ... his own mistake or Election Board's?
By HENRY FRANKE
Staff Writer
Thursday morning Jim Bob
Mickler, junior, was informed that
he had been disqualified for the
coming Yell Leader elections in a
letter from Susan Warren, election
commissioner.
Warren explained that he had
failed to file a proper application.
Mickler sent an appeal to the Judi
cial Board, which will hear his case
at 3 p.m. today in the Conference
Room of the Student Programs Of
fice.
Mickler explained that “it was a
misunderstanding of the filing pro
cedure,” but he believed the Judi
cial Board would reverse the deci
sion. Mickler said he had clearly
shown intent to run before the filing
deadline set on Monday, March 31.
Moreover, his appeal has a prece
dent.
Two years ago, a student had
signed to run for senator, but had
filed improperly. The Judicial
Board heard his case and allowed
him to run.
But unknown to Mickler, a
Political Forum will hold a
candidate’s debate Monday
at 1 p.m. in front of the
MSC fountain.
Cbe
Battalion
Vol. 99
College Station, Texas
April 4, 1975
number of events had taken place
behind the scenes. Yesterday, he
learned about these as well.
Last week, Mickler signed the
roster for candidates for Yell Leader
and believed he had done all that
was necessary. The roster is signed
after applications have been turned
in, but a friend had taken the roster
from the desk to show to Mickler.
Mickler signed it, never seeing the
instructions on the desk concerning
applications.
On Monday, March 31, Dale Fos
ter, a former student who is helping
check election applications, called
Mickler up.
“He told me I had made a mistake
in filing. I asked him if I could still
correct it. He told me it had already
been taken care of,” Mickler said.
What Foster hadn’t said was that
he had written up the proper forms
and submitted them for Mickler.
When Mickler saw these forms yes
terday, he confirmed that it was not
his handwriting.
Warren and Barry Brooks, stu
dent vice president of student ser
vices, reviewing the applications for
Yell Leaders late Wednesday night,
discovered that the forms lacked the
signature of Melva Ball, recep
tionist for the Student Y. Her signa
ture is required as confirmation that
the election forms were properly
received.
Warren then typed the letter in
forming Mickler that he had not met
Election Regulations.
When Mickler found out why he
was disqualified, he explained what
he had done. This led to the uncov
ering of the whole story.
Mickler feels that the Judicial
Board will see that his mistake was
unintentional and that the compli
cations of his case were completely
unknown to him.
Foster and Warren could not be
contacted before press time.
Elections
Campus
The election of yell leaders,
class officers, Senate executive
committee and Residence Hall
Association officers will be held
April 8 from 8 a.m. till 6 p.m.
Polling places will be the
married student housing office,
the old exchange store, Krue
ger-Dunn Commons, the Corps
Guard room, Fowler lounge
and the MSC.
For candidates see p. 3.
CS schools
The lone voting box for
Saturday’s A&M Consoli
dated School Board election
will be in the gymnasium of
the Special Services Build
ing at the Consolidated
Middle School at 1300 Jer
sey.
The polls will be open
from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Jim Bob Mickler
Vietnamese feel helpless
TAMU students relate own experiences
By ALAN KILLINGSWORTH
Staff Writer
Thursday — When one’s country
is on the verge of destruction, it’s
hard to accept. When one can’t help
prevent it, it’s that much worse.
This is the feeling of several South
Vietnamese students here. They
want to go home. They want to help
their country.
Vietnam is involved in the largest
communist offensive there since the
1972 Paris pact. The communists
have control of two-thirds of the
country and the rebels are biting
into that. The Associated Press (AP)
also reported that there are more
than 50,000 communist troops
within 50 miles of the capital. The
weak government of President
Nguyen Van Thieu is on the verge of
collapse.
“Our main concern is for the re
fugees,” says Nguyen Dziem.
“There are so many of them with
nowhere to go.”
Dziem came to TAMU in 1971.
He was born in Hanoi but when the
French withdrew in 1954, his par
ents retreated to South Vietnam.
His family now lives in Saigon and
he says they will stay until the last
moment.
The students don’t believe the
country will fall. They claim the gov
ernment withdrew from the other
cities to protect the capital. They
see their country withstanding the
communist offensive. After 20 years
of fighting communism, they be
lieve they will retain their freedom.
This seems to be the biggest loss
to the students— their freedom.
This is their major point — in com
munism there is no freedom.
Most of the students have never
lived under communism. They base
their beliefs on stories they’ve heard
from others.
In 1954 when the country split
into North and South Vietnam,
more than a million people moved
from the north and took with them
stories of communist atrocities.
“My father had to leave my family
for three years,” Dziem says. “He
could never come near the house. If
he had, he would have been killed.
We are lucky to be alive today.”
Nguyen V Anh is from the former
city of Nha Trang. The city was
abandoned a few days ago by gov
ernment troops and left in com
munist control. His parents who
were still living in Nha Trang were
last heard from two weeks ago. Anh
doesn’t know if they got out of the
city or not.
“My father wrote me two weeks
ago and said that the communists
were near by,” Anh relates. “He
said he would get out if he could. ”
A majority of Anh’s relatives were
living in Da Nang and he doubts
very seriously they escaped. If they
are alive they are all in occupied
areas, he said.
The concensus of the group is that
if there ever was a communist take
over, it wouldn’t be without a blood
bath. Nguyen Q Chau says he saw
the bodies of those killed by the
communists after the city of Hue
was retaken in the late sixties.
“They (the communists) will use
any means to make the people do as
they want,” Chau said. They use
any method to scare them.”
Chau also tells the story of his
great uncle being murdered by the
communists as a deterrent to the
other people of his village. They
came into the village one night and
called his name. They took him out
into the jungle. He was found the
next day, cut in half.
The students say the people of
South Vietnam want no form of
communism. If they thought that
South Vietnam could live with a
form of communism, they would
have started negotiations long ago.
Nguyen Chau said he feared the
same thing will happen in South
Vietnam as in Laos. The govern
ment is half communist and half
non-communist. Eventually, the
communists, through terrorism,
will control the country, he said.
The students didn’t have any hard
feelings over the Americans leaving
South Vietnam. They only regret
Today.
Inside
Candidates p. 3
ECOFAIR p. 4
Alcoholism p. 5
Weather
Mostly cloudy and mild Fri
day with a high of 66. Low
tonight 54. Mostly cloudy
and warmer Saturday. High
tomorrow 74.
that aid was diminished.
Tram Hanh said if the people had
the supplies they could handle the
communists.
“When the Americans were
there, it was three against two (Vie
tnam, United States, vs. North Vie
tnam, China, Russia),” Hahn says.
“Now it’s three against one.”
The 32 Vietnamese students on
campus have been uneasy since the
start of the offensive. Many have
wanted to leave school and go
home. They met Wednesday night
and decided they could do more
good here. They have contacted
local churches and organizations
and asked them to donate funds for
the Vietnamese Refugee Relief
Fund. The money collected from
the drive will be given to the Red
Cross to aid in the purchase of food
as well as the relocation of the re
fugees. They are in the process of
contacting the other schools in
Texas and trying to attain an or
ganized effort. Any one wishing to
contribute to the fund may do so by
sending contributions to:
The Vietnamese Refugee
Relief Fund
c/o The Battalion
Room 216 Reed McDonald
Building
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas 77843
Fish want quad;
date suggested
Despite rumors of its death, good bull made an appearance
in front of Duncan Dining Hall yesterday evening. Fish from the
Combined Bands sealed off every exit to the west wing of the
dining hall in hopes of apprehending three juniors from Com
pany E-2.
They were after the juniors because they had violated the
sanctity of the bands’ drill field before spring break. The story
varies, but the three are alleged to have either parked their car
on the field while they walked on it or to have turned “dough
nuts” on the field in their car.
The fish got a description of the car and traced its owners, or
so the story goes. It is not known how they knew who all three
offenders were. (Look under your desk — you never know
where the BQ fish’s network of spies may reach.)
A get-away car was waiting outside the front door to take the
three away. It is not known what the fish intended to do with the
juniors, but murder has generally been ruled out. There have
been no executions in the Corps area for almost two semesters.
The three would not leave the dining hall and the fish did
not attempt to drag them out (perhaps because of the presence of
at least one member of Corps staff. Bill Helwig.)
Helwig tried to work out a “peace with honor” for the two
factions. He suggested a supervised quad job to be scheduled at
4 p.m. Monday.
“An appointment for a quad job,” chuckled one Corps
member. “That’s our Corps staff.”
Helwig played the “Henry Kissinger of Aggieland” and a
truce was called. The fish went back to the dorm, and the juniors
went their merry way. But the matter is said to be unfinished.
So if you’re driving down a lonely road outside of Texarkana
or near a deserted Louisiana bayou, and you see a clean-cut
fellow with a sheet, a dime, an embarrassed smile and nothing
more, pick him up. Chances are, he’ll need to hurry back to
Aggieland for evening formation.
mTeer denies starting
^ rumor about Robeck
Joan Teer, vice president of the A&M Consolidated School
District and campaign manager for school board candidate
Cubby Manning says she did not instigate the rumors that
candidate Bruce Robeck was an atheist.
Teer’s comments followed a Battalion story yesterday
which claimed one rumor was traced to Teer. The rumor was
originally published in The Eagle with a disclaimer from
Robeck.
Teer says she heard the rumor and called several of
Robeck’s friends to find out if it was true. She says she called
those people back when she found the rumor wasn’t true and
apologized.
by Glen Johnson
Shown above is reporter Alan Killingsworth (L), questioning Vietnamese students (L to R) Nguyen
Dziem, Nguyen Chau, Tram Hanh, Nguyen Q Chau, and Nguyen V Anh.
City Council
Fire ant program approval delayed for study
Correction
The Battalion incorrectly reported yesterday that students
applying for credit cards would automatically receive a card to
be used on a one time basis. Instead, the firm decides upon eac
individual application before sending a card. Therefore, there is
a possibility that the student may not receive a card.
Also it was reported the card was only good for purchases ot
under five dollars. This is incorrect as there is no limit on the
purchase except that which the bank puts on each indivi u'
card. The card is good with any merchant who accepts Master
Charge.
By STEVE GRAY
Staff Writer
The College Station City Council
voted Thursday to delay approval of
a fire ant control program until the
city can give the idea some study
and hear recommendations from
the local Environmental Action
Council (EAC).
The council considered a request
from the state and U. S. Depart
ment of Agriculture to treat College
Station with a solution of Mirex, a
pesticide, that would be contained
in granules sprayed from an airp
lane.
A large variety of fire ants have
been migrating north from Mexico,
and present a problem for livestock
and grazing land.
Bill Jones, a representative from
the state department of agriculture,
told the council the program will
treat an estimated quarter of a mill
ion acres in Brazos County to help
eradicate the pest. He said the fire
ants are slowly making their way
toward this area and several ant
mounds have been spotted near the
intersection of Highway 6 and the
east by-pass.
“If you don’t have a problem now,
you will have,” Jones said. “I think
this program will help prevent new
mounds from forming in the area. ”
Jones said the four-year program
usually controls the ants for about
three years before another applica
tion of the pesticide is needed.
“This is not a total eradication
program, but I would hope we could
kill about 80 or 90 percent of the
ants,” he said.
Fort Bend County, near Hous
ton, was the first to grant permission
to the state agricultural department
to apply the program in that county,
Jones said. He said the program is
under the supervision of the En
vironmental Protection Agency
(EPA).
“All of our flights are supervised
by the EPA and we avoid treating
areas with nearby streams that flow
into the Gulf of Mexico or other
water supplies,” he said.
The state has contracted with
Global Airways of Arizona to pro
vide the spray plane. The agricul
tural department will fund the prog
ram should the council approve it
for the city.
Councilman Jim Dozier asked
Jones if it woidd be possible just to
spray the infested areas only.
“I don’t think it would be a good
idea to break up the city limits,”
Jones said.
Cornelius Van Bavel, president of
the local EAC, appeared before the
council and posed several questions
concerning the possible harmful ef
fects of the chemical and whether or
not the pesticide could be applied in
a different manner.
“I think the council had better
give this program some serious con
siderations before approving the
program,” Van Bavel said.
Councilman Gary Halter, at his
first meeting, suggested that the
EAC make recommendations on.
the matter at the council’s next
meeting.
The council’s only action regard
ing the state’s proposed program
was to allow the airplane with pes
ticides to fly over the city without
spraying on its way to other parts of
the county to spray infested areas.
Mayor O. M. Holt conducted the
swearing-in ceremony for Council-
men Gary Halter, Bob Bell and
Larry Bravenec, who were elected
Tuesday. Bravenec has a year’s ex
perience on the council, while the
other two are newcomers. The
council agreed to present plaques to
former councilmen Don Dale and
Fred Brison for their services to the
city at a later date.
In other business the council ap
proved a request from the city’s re
creation council to have the city as
sume responsibility over the recrea
tion council’s activities. Paul Woj-
ciechowski, chairman of the coun
cil, said the recreation programs
have grown so much that they need
professional supervision.
Wojciechowski said the staff
would probably come from mem
bers of the Community Education
Program and the Parks and Recrea
tion Committee. He said the city
should take over activities con
ducted on city property while the
education committee would super
vise programs conducted on various
school campuses.
Bob Bell being read his oath during city council swearing-in ceremony. photo by jack ndm
CS school board elections tomorrow, 8-7