r
Weather,
Mostly cloudy and mild
today and tomorrow be
coming partly cloudy
Thursday afternoon. 30
percent chance of showers
Wednesday. Winds from
the south 12-22 mph. High
today 84; low tonight 68;
high tomorrow 79.
Cbe Battalion
Vol. 68 No. 109 College Station, Texas Wednesday, April 23, 1975
Inside
Rock notes p* 4
First 100 years p. 5
Fish bites . .. p. 16
Dunn prefers persuasion
over pressure techniques
By JERRY GEARY
Campus Editor
"Our university is giving students a deal ear to our
comments, yet we at Student Government tee! that it
must stop." - Jett Dunn at his press conference,
April 22, 1975.
Stressing that pressure tactics
may do more harm than good in
achieving active student participa
tion in university affairs, Student
Body President Jeff Dunn did not
call for an investigation of the
TAMU Board of Directors concern
ing possible abuse of student funds.
But Dunn left this option open,
saying if the administration did not
respond to his requests for more
student input into decision-making,
he might call for an investigation of
the Board by the Texas Legislature.
“Our goal is not to scold or criti
cize the board for past actions — our
goal is to insure that future actions
will be allowed student considera
tions,” said Dunn.
Dunn also called on TAMU Pres
ident Jack K. Williams to meet with
the Senate Executive Committee
and answer questions regarding
greater student participation in
decision-making.
It had been previously reported
in The Battalion (April 18, 1975) that
Dunn favored a Board of Directors
investigation by the Texas Legisla
ture. By Tuesday afternoon, after
talking to the Senate Executive
Committee and members of the
administration, including President
Williams, Dunn said he had
changed his mind.
“The reason I changed my mind
was because of internal complica
tions within Student Government,”
said Dunn.
Dunn argued that he had no proof
that a majority of students were
upset over the abuse of funds or lack
of student input in to the MSC de
corations, but as the “voice of the
student body” he believed that it
was worth student government s
time and effort to seek out answers
for the student body.
Later, Dunn was asked in what
manner did Student Government
evaluate student opinion.
“All we can do is guess and per
ceive what student opinion is,” re
plied Dunn.
Dunn suggested that the money
spent on the MSC project was
“perhaps spent on priorities which
did not lead to academic excellence,
which is what these funds are set by
law to provide.”
Citing that the current method of
persuasion techniques is more ef
fective in dealing with adminis
trators than pressure, Dunn said,
“We may hurt ourselves more than
we realize” by requesting an inves
tigation.
Dunn also pointed out that cur
rent student input into administra
tive planning was not being utilized.
As an example, he said the Long
Range Campus Planning Commit
tee whose purpose is to place stu
dent participation into campus
planning, has not met in the past
year.
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Fish Swallower
Photo by Glen Johnson
How would you like to try out a
wheelchair for an hour?
Tomorrow is the day to put your
skills at navigating the streets,
buildings and sidewalks ofA&M in a
wheelchair to good use as part of the
Student’s Concerned for the Hand
icapped (SCH) second annual
Wheelchair Awareness Day.
TAMU students can check out
wheelchairs at the MSC from 10
a.m. until 5 p.m. for an hour’s use.
After the hour, students will be
asked their reactions to the
campus’s accessibility for the hand
icapped.
The yearly program acquaints
non-handicapped students with the
barriers that seem insignificant to
average students but are impossible
to the not so fortunate.
Presently the main architectural
barriers on the TAMU campus are
the lack of ramps to several build
ings and the current construction
programs. “Curb-cuts,” small
ramps placed at curbs are also
needed at various sites around the
campus commented Don Gardner,
vocational counselor for the Texas
Rehabilitation Commission.
Later in the day, wheelchair bas
ketball will be featured in DeWare
Field House at 7:30 p.m. The first
game will pit two state finalists in
the wheelchair cage match. The
teams from Dallas and Houston are
both veterans of championship play.
The winner of the first match will
be opposed by the Southwest Con
ference champion Aggie cagers. the
game will last “as long as the Aggies
can go,” said Gardner.
Presently there are only a few
students using wheelchairs on cam
pus but the number will increase
Gardner said.
Construction near the A.P.
Beutel Health Center has
caused some disturbance; the
eye and ear pollution distracts
the patients and students in
the area. The construction in
volves the resurfacing of Hous
ton St. from the Main Drive in
front of the Health Center.
Photo by Glen Johnson
Dunn accused the administration
and specifically the board of direc
tors with “wrongdoings ’ concerning
the MSC furnishings, saying that
the “wrongdoing is lack of student
input.”
He stated that some of the cur
rent problems could be solved
through better communication with
the Board of Directors by placing
“an ex-officio student member on
the board.”
Citing the Northgate Wall as an
example, Dunn said he could only
assume that “many members of the
board didn’t realize student discon
tent with the wall. ”
Consequently, Dunn Wants to
work with the administration in
order to gain active student partici
pation in campus affairs. As his first
step toward this objective, he
asked, and Dr. Williams has agreed,
to meet with the Senate Executive
Committee and the Senate itself.
In other matters, Dunn men
tioned that Room and Board pay
ments for students are going to be
raised nine per cent or approxi
mately $50 more.
Dunn mentioned that if one-third
of the student body refused to pay
the increase, he would consider
fighting the price hike, which has
been attributed to the rise in the
cost of living.
CAMAC Presents Dr. Cisneros
Cisneros condemns
Class shortages plight of poor Latins
cause new hours
By WILL ANDERSON
Staff Writer
Some TAMU students will be
getting up earlier and staying on
campus longer next semester be
cause of a shortage of classrooms.
Additional classes have been
scheduled for Monday-
Wednesday-Friday at 7 a.m.,
Monday-Wednesday from 4 p.m. to
5:15 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 6:15
p.m. and Tuesday-Thursday from 5
p.m. to 6:15 p.m.
I'he courses scheduled in the new
afternoon slots are Mathematics
130, Political Science 206 and
Economics 203. The economics
course is also scheduled for a 7 a. m.
section.
Brenda Luther, a clerk in the Re
gistration Center, said the addi
tional classes were needed because
the enrollment has increased while
the number of available classrooms
has decreased. Classrooms were
lost in the Academic Building to
provide space for the English Lan
guage Institute which provides spe
cial classes for foreign students who
are not proficient in English, she
said.
Additional offices were made
from one classroom in the Harring
ton Center and one in Bolton Hall,
Luther said.
She said the new class slots were
indicated in the registration booklet
for the fall semester.
There will be an estimated 23,800
students next fall, almost 2,400
more than this year, said Dr.
Charles E. McCandless, director of
academic planning and services.
“We re expecting no relief this
year,” he said. “We expect another
increase in enrollment and no new
buildings in 1976.”
The demands on classroom space
should be eased in 1977, he said,
with the addition of several new
buildings. They are the new Ar
chitecture Building, the two Ag
riculture Buildings on the west
campus (beyond the railroad tracks)
and a Science Lab Building still
being designed.
Dr. McCandless said the main
need is laboratories. There have
been night sections for labs for sev
eral years.
In theory, there is classroom
space for almost 10,000 students at
any hour, he said. The scheduling is
designed to provide as little conflict
as possible with other student ac
tivities.
By DON MIDDLETON
Staff Writer
The plight of poor Mexican-
American families was the subject of
a talk Wednesday night by Dr.
Henry Cisneros, professor of Urban
Economics at the University of
Texas at San Antonio. The lecture
was sponsored by CAMAC, the
Committee for Awareness of the
Mexican-American culture.
“The fundamental problem of
poverty is one of economics,” said
Cisneros, “and until recently the as
sumption was that poverty was
mainly related to productivity — if a
man is poor it’s the fault of his pro
ductivity.”
Cisneros said several government
programs were established in the
60 s with the goal of educating the
poor minorities in order to increase
their ability to acquire and hold
jobs. But such programs dealt only
with the symptoms of the problem
rather than the problem itself— the
relegation of the minorities to what
Cisneros characterized as the “Sec-
ondaiy Labor Market”.
The labor market, according to
Cisneros, is divided into two strata
— primary and secondary level
jobs. The level of jobs is charac
terized by wage level, working con
ditions, skill requirements and
other parameters.
Primary jobs are those with rigid
skill requirements, union affiliation
or other organization and competi
tive wages. Secondary jobs are un
skilled without any form of organiza
tion and pay only a high enough
wage to attract minority workers.
“The secondary level labor mar
ket is just about completely minor
ity, ” Cisneros said, “Whereas in the
primary labor market we find the
opposite situation.”
“The fight,” continued Cisneros,
“is trying to create a situation where
the ethnic differences between the
primary and secondary labor mar
kets is not distinguishable. We re
out of the era of Martin Luther King
and whether or not you can ride in
the front of the bus and we re going
into the board rooms where the de
cisions are made. ”
Cisneros proposed two solutions
to the current situation. First, to
give poor people the money
through programs such as negative
income tax; or, second, to open up
the labor market and give everyone
an equal chance at jobs.
Rejecting the first solution as bas
ically unacceptable to the American
people, Cisneros said that “our goal
is to eliminate the condition that ex
ists where a Mexican-American is
placed into the secondary labor
market because his economic situa
tion prevents him from joining the
primary level.”
CS utilities
Supplying own still in future
By KATHY MORGAN
Contributor
Four College Station City Coun-
cilmen say the only way to deter
mine the advantages of College Sta
tion supplying its own utilities is to
try it someday and see what hap
pens.
The city has contracted with
Bryan for water, sewage and elec
tricity since 1950. The contract ex
pires in January, 1979.
The possibility of the city having
its own utilities is being studied by a
city council committee. The com
mittee is presently investigating
possible future water provisions.
“There are three possibilities for
water,” North Bardell, College Sta
tion city manager, said. “One is a
water-well field in Bryan and
another is using water from the
upper Navasota River Reservoir.
The third would be the Millican Re
servoir if it was a reality now. ” (The
Millican Reservoir is under pre
construction planning.)
There are also problems in get
ting good water sources.
“There’s not enough good ground
water. Councilman Gary Halter
said. “Most of it is in north Bryan
and that’s where they’ll drill test
wells. ” Halter described the water
situation as “rather complicated.”
Halter said there are other pos
sibilities for water supplies.
“There’s a lake being built on the
Upper Navasota River that could
serve as a water supply for private
use,” Halter said. “College Station
could buy water from Navasota and
put in a small holding lake, outside
the city, pumping it out to a filtra
tion plant and water system. It’s re
latively inexpensive.”
Another alternative. Halter said,
would be to bring water from Lake
Somerville. “But pumping uphill
might cost more,” he said.
The top prize in the MSC gas week goldfish eating contest was taken by fish Ted Slem-
mons. He downed 27 goldfish in one minute.
Students observe world
of handicapped first-hand
Halter also said Bryan makes
money when they sell water to the
city.
L. P. Dulaney, Director of Col
lege Station Public Works, said
Bryan puts a No. 2 demand charge
on each monthly bill. Dulaney de
fined the demand charge as the sum
of the greatest average number of
kilowatts registered on each indi
vidual meter during any 30-minute
interval of the current month.
“The energy charge varies,”
Dulaney said, “but it’s about $.55
per kilowatt hour.”
Water sells for $35 per 1,000 gal
lons, he said.
The possibility of College Sation
supplying its own electricity is “an
extremely expensive proposition at
this time, Halter said.
He cited Gulf States Utilities as
one source of electricity. “I doubt it
would be any cheaper to buy from
an electric company than Bryan,”
he said, however.
J. Louis Odle, Bryan city man
ager, said building a generating
plant for electricity would be ex
tremely expensive.
“There are problems to consider
with an electric plant,” he said. “It
costs money. A 105,000 megawatt
plant would cost about $27 million
to construct. You need transmission
and distribution facilities. College
Station has part of it already, the
production and transmission ends.
But they have to consider if they can
afford to generate their own.”
North Bardell said the possibility
of College Station building its own
generating plant is “highly improb
able because of the high cost of capi
tal involved in operating.” He said
other alternatives would be to buy
from independent utility companies
both privately and publicly owned.
“These are possibilities, not
plans, ” Bardell emphasized. “These
ideas are being studied for future
reference: monumental sort of
plans.”