Page 2 THE BATTALION FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1975 A bargain moat Compromise fails Crocodiles, piranhas and spirit Editor: I recently graduated from A&M and have since entered graduate school at a university in Washington. Now that it is football season I thought you might be in terested in how school spirit is ex pressed here. When I arrived here I was shocked to see that the University did not have a wall surrounding its campus. But, they do have a 12- foot-wide moat containing crocodiles and piranhas. Curious to know more, I asked a nearby stu dent about the moat. He proudly said it was the only one of its kind and it had only costed $3.2 million to construct. LNii exclaimed my informer. “Remarkable, was all I could say. “Quite a bargain, huh?” he asked. I said I didn’t know because I hadn’t priced any moats lately. He then added that it played an impor tant role in school spirit, too. “How s that?” I inquired. He explained, “Once a year be fore the last football game 1600 bar rels of crude oil are poured into it and set afire. Then all the students link hands and form a continuous ring inside the circle of fire. He went on, “We then yell, 'Claw ’em Cougars,’ and sing our fight song while the band plays. As a finale we take three students dres sed as our opponents and throw them into the flames. “The shouting can be heard two blocks away, and the flames have been seen as far away as 10th St.!” After a short silence I inquired, “Well, does everybody partici pate?” “Naw,” he disgustingly admitted, “there’s a few kooks on campus who are against it.’’ “Well it does seem like a waste of fuel with the energy crisis and ev erything,” said I. “Listen,” he sternly replied, “have you ever realized how much fuel is wasted across this nation i- THIS TUDPlDir th's UMMiMOT/ve FfASK of f CH(0 BC 'riNio CiftTiCYTTCJTiV'C)®/ everyday just from overfilling of gas tanks?’’ “I guess I never considered that, ” I timidly responded. “Besides,” he added, “no cost is too great for increasing our school spirit. “And it really helps the spirit here?” I asked. “Of course!” he said, as if I had asked a dumb question. “We’ve won three out of our past seventeen games against that team.” “Three out of seventeen doesn’t sound too good to me, I stated. “Well, he said defensively, “ii we hadn’t had our Ringfire we might not have won any of them. Besides, this year will be different. ’ He asked me if I was going to be there and I said I thought I’d proba bly be busy. I know this all sounds unbelieva ble, but people do strange things for strange reasons sometimes. GIG ’EM. David Schaub (Continued from Page 1) 5.43 percent. The phone company’s original request was designed to boost the rate of return to 8.4 per cent. If the rates are put into effect, both cities will probably take legal action, asking the district court to issue a restraining order or tempor ary injuction, to stop the rate in crease. The case would then be taken to district court where a final decision on the increase would be handed down, following a hearing. Bryan Mayor Lloyd Joyce said Thursday night the city will fight the rate increase if General Telephone does put the new rate hike into ef fect Monday morning. “We will use every means at our disposal to stop this increase from going into effect, he said. College Station Mayor O. M. Holt could not be reached for com ment. The phone company last sought a rate increase in May 1972. Thatcase was settled out of court between both cities and the phone company after a year of litigation in the85lk District Court in Bryan. During the meeting, the phone company offered to settle fora $688, (XX) increase and agreednotto ask for more until the state utilities commission goes into effect in Sep tember 1976, according to one city official. Both cities turned down theoffer, saying it was still too high. At another point during the meet ing, acording to another city official, the cities offered to grant General Telephone a $375,000 rate hike, an increase of $155,693 from the cities original offer. General Telephone declined the offer. One city official said that during the discussion the phone company again reduced its offer for an in crease from $688,000 to 8550,000. The cities also refused that offer. ackte* Serving The Finest In MEXICAN FOOD Happy Hour Prices 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Daily EL CHICO COCKTAILS ^.$1 ^ 3109 TEXAS AVE. 823-7470 . Ttgc ^ ~ St\u pc // Roger Rozell APPOINTMENTS MADE 1-6 WEEKS IN ADVANCE FROM DAY OF HAIR CUT: SAVE $2.00 ON CUT & BLOW DRY. BAUBLES, BEADS & THINGS Come In & String Your Own MON.: 9:00-5:30 TUES. - FRI.: 9:00-9:00 SAT.: 8:00-5:30 331 UNIVERSITY DRIVE 846-7614 Che Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of the university administration or the Board of Directors. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated by students as a university and community newspaper. Editorial policy is. determined by the editor. The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is published in College Station, Texas, daily except Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods, September through May, and once a week during summer school. Mail subscriptions are $5.00 per semester; $9.50 per school year; $10.50 per full year. All subscriptions subject to 5% sales tax. advertising rate furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone number for verification. Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous origin published herein. Right of reproduction of all other matter herein are also resened. Copyright © 1975, The Battalion Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas. MEMBER The Associated Press, Texas Press Association Members of the Student Publications Board are: Bob G. Rogers, Chairman; Dr. Gary Halter: Dr. John Hanna: Roger P. Miller; Dr. Clinton A. Phillips, Jeff Dunn, Tom Dawsey, and Jerri Ward. Director of Student Publications: Gael L. Cooper. Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising Services, Inc., Represented nationally by National h.d New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Editor Assistant Editor Managing Editor Cits Editor Campus Editor S|>ecial Section Editor S|x>rts Editor Photographs Director . .James Breedloxe Roxie 11 ear:« Steve Goble Steve Gray . Karla Mouritsen Sandy Russo Tony Callucci Jack Holm IMPORTS 1958 Mercedes 190 SL Hardtop convertible. Excellent condition. 4500.00 1975 Volkswagen Bus Air, automatic, AM-FM, luggage rack. 8,000 miles. Save $900 1972 Triumph Roadster 20,000 miles, wire wheels. $2295.00 1974 Datsun 260-Z Automatic, air, AM-FM stereo. 18,000 miles. $5495.00 RUDDER MOTOR CO. 603 TEXAS COLLEGE STATION 846-8011 SAVE A BUNDLE Remember the old, Cash and Carry, money saving trick? Buy a pizza at the Krueger-Dunn Snack Bar and eat it there or take it anywhere you wish. Prices are right, and the pizzas are great. Before Thanksgiving Special Hamburger Pizza 1.29 Sausage Pizza ......1.29 Pepperoni Pizza .$1.29 OPEN Monday thru Friday 11:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. Saturday & Sunday 4:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. QUALITY FIRST” ATTENTION VETERANS OR STUDENTS PRESENTLY IN OFFICER CANDIDATE PROGRAMS! Are you interested in earning extra money one weekend a month while learning or increasing your skills as an aircrewman in naval aircraft? If so, there are openings in several reserve squadrons. Please contact BOB GARRETT for additional information. Phone: 845-3011 or Room 208-A C.E. Bldg. Lcdr, U.S.N.R. At Cla i i i i i fi I i y y i y y i y /- T ar 1