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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 1975)
jgt' . - ^ : ^iia^sMsa! __ ^ m^i_ ti Weather Mostly cloudy Tuesday and Wednesday. SE winds 8-15 mph. 30 percent chance late afternoon and evening showers. High both days mid-80s. Low tonight 68. Cbe Battalion Vol. 68 Nol. 116 College Station, Texas Tuesday, May 6, 1975 Students Rescue Cars The 2 Vi inch rains Sunday night coupled with poor chains in efforts to pull parked cars out of the water, drainage caused extensive flooding across the cam- which rose to depths of 4 feet in some areas, pus. Many of the Dunn students formed human Residents of Legett Hall save dorm from sinking Photo by Steve Krauss Room, board hike explained By DAVID ROOP Staff Writer Legett Hall may be nearly as old as Noah’s Ark, but until recently it had never experienced a flood of its own. The torrential rains that drenched the A&M campus Sunday night, however, found their way into the basement of Legett and caused some excitement, a mess, but very little damage. The commotion began around 9:30 Sunday evening when one of the Legett residents discovered that the recreation and television rooms in the basement were filled with several inches of water. Apparently, the drain at the base of the steps leading down to the recreation room was clogged with debris. The stairwell rapidly filled with water which ran under the door and into the recreation area. Soon, water was also leaking through two ground level windows into the basement. By the time Legett residents could do anything, water was enter ing the two halls which lead from the recreation room. By closing a door and packing the base with newspaper, the students kept water out of one hall. But the other open hall, was beginning to fill up. With 15 to 20 people working, a make-shift dam was erected out of newspapers. This kept the water from reaching the end of the hall where resident rooms are located, and none were damaged. Using brooms, the water was swept into the basement bathroom where the only unclogged drain was located. Outside, the two central quads were beginning to flood. Their drains were clogged with paper and debris also. Rick Janoscak, who lives in the basement level of Legett, said the back pressure was so great that water was acutally gushing out of the quad drain. With water in the quad halfway up the lower level windows, several Legett residents waded out and attempted to unclog the outside drain. From the second quad, water was seeping through a wall into the basement janitor’s closet and out into the hall. The door to this room was locked and the residents could only sweep the water into the bat hroom drain. Finally, the residents were able to.keep the drains in both quads and the one outside the recreation room clear. After about an hour and a half of work, the water was out of the basement. The basement was “really a mess Janoscak said, and a layer of very slimy mud was left on the flocr. The University Laundry rooms were locked and the residents could not keep them from flooding. There was no damage to them however. “Maintenance came when we re ally needed them,’ Forest Hessel- bein, another Legett resident, said. Two men from maintenance arrived at the scene around midnight. By then all of the drains were clear and there was nothing for them to do, Hesselbein said. “If we had a keg and some soap suds, Janoscak said, “we could have had a party. ” By JIM CRAWLEY Staff Writer Next year’s proposed room, board and laundry increases are the result of “higher-than-expected’ operational expenses, stated uni versity officials. The increases for room rent range from six-and-one-half percent to 15 percent. Board rates will increase an average 8.4 percent. All laundry charges will increase five dollars. Before the increases go into effect the Board of Directors has to ap prove the new rates. Robert Cherry, secretary of the board, said the increases will be considered on the May meeting agenda. The meet ing is scheduled for later this month, after the spring semester. Part of the increases are incurred from rising utility prices. Officials cited an 85 percent cost increase in heating and a 76 percent increase of electricity expenses. Higher food prices and increased labor wages are contributing factors in the higher board prices. Food prices are expected to increase 12 percent. A state pay raise hiked the Food Services budget by $325,000, since February. The laundry increase is based on a $50,000 payroll increase. The in crease will make a break-even prop- ROOM RATES Krueger-Dunn Aston-Mosher Air-cond.-Suite Type Air-cond.-Corps Type Non air-cond.-w/phone Non air-cond.-w/o phone BOARD 7-Day Full Payment Installment (per installment) 5-Day Full Payment Installment (per installment) LAUNDRY Male F emale osition for the university, stated university officials. The increased fees are optional for all students, with the exception of campus students, who will be charged the higher rent. 1974-75(Old) 1975-76(New) $350.00 $375.00 $235.00 $250.00 $220.00 $235.00 $137.00 $155.00 $117.00 $135.00 $376.00 $407.40 $128.00 137.80 $336.00 $364.35 $123.45 $114.00 $30.00 $35.00 $20.00 $25.00 CS board wants land annexation By CINDY OSBORN Staff Writer A 351-acre tract of land was re commended for annexation by the College Station Planning and Zon ing Commission Monday night. The land is intended as an addi tion to the Southwood Valley sub division at Texas Avenue and Deacon Drive. The College Station City Council will decide on the annexation at its meeting May 26. The owners of the property, Southwood Valley Corp., submit ted a revised preliminary plat for a shopping center to be built between the east and west by-passes on Texas Avenue. The plat provides for a frontage road to separate the shopping center from Texas Avenue. The road is proposed to reduce conges tion on Texas Avenue by limiting access from the center. The commission also recom mended that the city council revise the city’s building code to prevent fences from being built on front property lines in residential areas. The recommendations provide for construction in commercial areas back to the rear property line if there is a back exit and fire regula tions are met. Commissioner George Boyett re commended public hearing notices for the Planning and Zoning Com mission and the City Council con cerning the same topic be filed at the same time. “It would shorten the time lag be fore consideration and save money,’’ Boyett said. The Commission approved Boyett’s request and also a request from Commissioner Barney Steven son that the city assess fees on appli cations for zoning changes. Stevenson said since zoning changes theoretically improve the price of the land, the city should not be expected to pay for costs of pro cessing applications submitted by property owners. New members of the Commis sion were welcomed and officers were chosen during the meeting. John Longley will remain chairman of the Commission, George Boyett was elected vice-chairman and Ed Miller was re-elected secretary. All figures cover a single semester as proposed to the TAMU Board of Directors. Area landowners generally oppose Millican plans Academic Building Bell Removed The Liberty Bell replica in the Academic Building is being taken to Austin. The bell is being loaned to the Texas Bicentennial Committee for display in a park near the state capitolin 1976. Photo by Chris Svatek Deer-hunting to be replaced with water sports at Millican “First they all were against the idea. But it’s been talked about for so long now, that people have res igned themselves that whatever happens is gonna happen. “If the government needs it they’re gonna build it. But I can’t see any reason for it myself.” Raymond H. Day’s views on the Millican Dam project are echoed by landowners and residents through out the area surrounding the prop osed site. Day has been constable in the Millican area for about 25 years. And ever since he can remember there’s been talk about constructing a dam on the Lower Navasota River. Much of Day’s police jurisdiction in fact would be under water if the re servoir were built. Two communities. Peach Creek and Piedmont, and dozens of families would be inundated by the reservoir’s 1.5 million acre-feet of water. An organization of area landow ners, the Navasota River Improve ments Association, has spent at least $125,000 in opposing the project over the past decade, an organiza tion officer estimates. R. P. Trant and his son, Harold, own about 7,000 acres of land on the east side of the Navasota. Harold Trant estimates that 3,000 to 4,000 The ranchers, deer-hunters and river fishermen of the Lower Navasota River Basin will have to make way for water-skiers, sun- bathers and campers when — and if — the Millican Reservoir becomes a reality. The 4.8 mile long Millican Dam will create a lake encompassing about 24 river miles of the Navasota and inundating between 50,000 and 60,000 acres of river bottomland. Although flood control and creat ing a fresh water supply are the main justifications for Millican, Bryan-College Station residents will no doubt benefit most from the lake’s recreational opportunities. When the dam is built and guns are replaced with fishing rods, sporting interests will turn toward bass, crappie, catfish and sunfish and traditional water sports, such as waterskiing, sailing and boating. (The amount of recreational facilities to be built is as yet unde termined and this question will be examined in a story tomorrow.) , Milliean’s potential for fishing and boating has been questioned by opponents to the dam’s construc tion, most notably, the Brazos County Environmental Action Council{EAC). The group contends that mudflats and extensive aquatic growth resulting from the shallow- Millican Dam BRYAt A series by Jim Peters Rod Speer Greg Moses ness of the lake (which will average 18 feet deep) will make the lake un desirable for recreational purposes. An environmental study done by A&M for the Army Corps of En gineers, who 11 build the dam, points out that eutrophication (a high level of organics which usually results in algae growth) is difficult to measure on an existing lake and “all but impossible ’ to determine for a proposed lake. This could be a problem, the re port continues, considering the high amount of nutrients flowing into the lake from Carter’s Creek, which drains through Bryan and College Station. The aesthetic qual ity of the lake would be hurt most, while fishing, boating and swim ming in some shallow areas could be impossible. Eutrophication can also lead to massive fish kills from decaying plants, stinking vegetation on the shore and skin irritation for fish and swimmers. In hearings before Congressional committees last week in Washing ton the EAC argued that the Corps plans do not provide for the gov- Last week the U.S. Senate and House appropriations subcommit tees on public works held hearings in Washington, D.C. concerning this year’s funding for the Millican Dam project. The project is still in the preconstruction planning and design stage. ernment to buy and develop a con tiguous land of equal habitat value to replace what will be lost by Milli can Reservoir. This is a violation of the National Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the EAC con tends. Art Zaloudek, a civil engineer with the Corps of Engineers, said “it is still too 6arly to say” whether any replacement of wildlife losses will be included in the Corps plan. He said the Corps is working jointly with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study the problem. This study will be included in the) “Phase I General Design Memorandum” the Corps is prepar ing for Congress. The report already past due, is scheduled for comple tion early next year. It is generally agreed that deer hunting in the dense oak forests of the Navasota bottomland is among the finest in the state. One area rancher says hunters must travel to Edwards Plateau in West Texas to find comparable deer hunting. The majority of landowners along the river lease their land to deer- hunters at $2 to $3 per acre a year. The A&M study estimated that 8,000 deer would be affected by the 50,000-acre lake, based on one deer per six acres. This represents about three-tenths of 1 per cent of the state’s deer population. The deer will lose a feeding area and the protection of a dense forest, but they are fairly mobile. How ever, the gray squirrels and swamp rabbits in the area, according to the report, would be endangered, since they would be unable to adapt to the upland-forest habitat. JOHN E. “It ain’t for a thing in the J)Y (Photo by Jim Peters) world but a place to fish” acres would be covered with water. “There’s a few things money can’t buy,” Trant said, “and my home is one of them. I was born not more than 30 steps from this house and here is where I want to die.” Trant remembers that when re servoir plans were first gathering steam in the early 1950s the gov ernment price for land was $68 an acre. In the late 1960s that figure had been revised to $350/acre. Now, Trant estimates, an acre will bring more than $1,000. The majority of the area residents were bom and raised in the region and earn their living off ranching and deer leasing. That, they say, is about all the land is good for, it being mostly wooded bottomland. They’ve heard talk about Millican for decades, but few believe the massive project will actually be built. “I’m tired of hearing about it,” one lifelong resident of Millican said. “They told us 13 years ago when we were building our house near the Navasota the lake was com ing in, but we ain’t seen it yet. Kitty Lunsford says the long de lays are a part of the Corps of En gineers tactics to wear the opposi tion down. She owns hundreds of acres along Peach Creek, which empties into the Navasota. The small nearby community of Peach Creek would be inundated by the proposed re servoir. Bill Beene grew up in the Peach Creek area and has heard plenty of tales and rumors about Millican. “People hear a little bit here and a little bit there. Then they add a bit of their own. It’s like a snowball. Starts small and then gets massive as it gathers motion.” Numerous maps of the reservoir are circulating throughout the area, some showing half of Brazos County under water, residents say. Many don’t even know if their own prop erty will be flooded or not. “I think they’re just doing it (cir culating the bogus maps) to scare people so they’ll sell their land cheaper,” Beene opined. He didn’t know who “they” was. “It’s too deep for me,” Constable Day said of the entire project. “Maybe I’m not supposed to under stand this.” Another large landowner in the vicinity has sharply differing views from most of his neighbors. R. W. Waltrip, a Houston mil lionaire, has purchased about 3,500 acres of land along the proposed re servoir site, nearly all of it over the past 10 year. Only a couple hundred acres would be flooded, his ranch foreman says. (See LANDOWNERS, Page 3)