' tally m(—
embers ol
contact Jot
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, Jan. 27, 1976
oard of Regents increases
rent, l> oar cl, laundry
By JIM CRAWLEY
Battalion Staff Writer
vri
JY-
"UESD'
Tcom
kating
Cars;
'e Golf!
p r. thont discussion the Texas A&M
^ c I of Regents approved room rent and
^aC[# increases for A&M students during
, iporning’s meeting.
apflS fjjoard fee was set at $423.15 for the
Qinnc plan and $378 for the five-day
' This represents an increase of $15.75
11 * 113165, respectively.
' P-Bormitory rent increase averages
) i (||ei|cent over this semester’s rent. The
rTo-ilH for the married-student housing
' - will average eight per cent.
573(f B card did spend time discussing the
in the optional laundry fee. They
approved the $10 increase unanim-
cided to ask for another set of bids on the
Phase II of the Sbisa Renovation. The rea
son given was that the lowest bids were not
acceptable to the university.
The nine-member panel approved a
$93,000 appropiation for design of a new
baseball field. The planned site is on the
west side of Wellborn Rd. They also ap
proved money for the West Campus Elec
trical Study. The amount appropiated was
$12,000.
The Regents promoted 86 local faculty
members upon the recommendations of
Williams . Also approved by the group was
the offering of tenure to 79 A&M faculty
members.
Seven option plans for doctorate degrees
in the College of Education were approved
by the Regents. This is a conditional ap
proval until the State Coordinating Board
gives final approval.
The panel accepted gifts and grants total
ling $389,822.88 from various groups and
individuals.
students weren’t the only students
ve room and hoard fees increased by
legents today; the students ofTarleton
University, an A&M System school,
Be to pay an additional $25 for a
litoi y room and $27 extra for the board
■gent H.C. Bell of Austin asked Uni-
t^ President Jack K. Williams if the
H would reach a point where it
jilho longer he profitable. Williams
Id the laundry may in the future reach
{■where it would not be profitable to
ite. Williams added that when this oc-
;d some alternative would have to be
5d.
itring the 90 minute meeting, the
d approved changing the name of the
aalism Department to the Department
)mmunications. Bell asked Williams if
■journalism students were being
iseled on the problems of getting a job
ass media. Williams told the members
no specific program was in effect, but
university’s counseling sexvice pro-
jl. tlus kind of counseling for all stu-
s. Bell suggested that additional coun-
g might he appropiate.
though no projects wex e discussed at
meeting, the Board approved the con-
> for a new elevator in the Systems
inistration Bldg, and carpeting for two
s of the Rudder Tower.
uring yesterday’s Building and Plan-
Committee meeting, the group de-
Local Dump
Jim Hendrickson
This pile of assorted trash lies in the field bounded
by the old hospital, the All Faiths Chapel, Hughes
Hall and Houston Street. The area is used as a trash
dump by campus construction workers.
tudent directory delayed;
►ublisher may close down
B) LEE ROY LESCHPER JR.
Battalion Staff Writer
he Midland-based firm contracted to
lish A&M’s 1975-76 University direc-
has all but closed its doors, an employe
this morning.
. P Industries (BPI) is operating with
t a skeleton crew, BPI Production
:rvisor Dwayne Hooper said. He said
t employes are still woxkingat the Mid
plant.
PI had at one time employed at least 60
pie, sources have said,
ichard Taylor, a BPI representative,
fiedGael L. Cooper, A&M’s director of
lent publications, in a Jan. 19 telephone
yersation that BPI woidd not publish
University directory, Cooper said.
PI does not have the capacity to do
thing with the A&M directory, BPI
5-President Aubrey Linne said this
ning. BPI sold the A&M commitment
ilake Publishing Co. last year “in an
Ijjfto salvage some of our obligations,”
ne said.
We re in very poor financial shape,
)per said. BPI’s financial problems were
ssult of “basically just poor manage-
it, he said.
Ene of the reasons we sold it (the A&M
tract) was that our company was
ediving,’ Linne said. He also blamed
njmanagement for BPI difficulties.
1PI had not filed a petition for bank-
ley with the State Bankruptcy Court in
i Antonio as of this morning.
Ike status of the A&M directox y is un-
tain, Linne said. Blake Publishing will
ke the decision on whether or not to
dish the directoxy.
ack Blake, owner of Blake Publishing
learlier told BPI representatives that he
i not going to publish the A&M direc-
i'-
1PI had also run into difficulties with the
tas Tech photo magazine “Photolith,
whose production BPI had contracted
ough September 1976, head of Tech’s
ss communications Bill Ross said last
ech had to pick up copies for the De-
nber “Photolith from the BPI plant.
Only half a dozen employes were at the
nt then, Ross said.
l|took my car and went down and took
thing of ours that I could find, said
owdy, with Tech s high school news-
and yearbook association,
otolith personnel feared the BPI
would go into receivership, making it
impossible to retrieve any Tech materials,
she said.
Jerxy Kelly, Tech manager of publica
tions, said this morning that several prin
ters in the Lubbock area have purchased
equipment from the BPI plant.
The ’75-76 directory is the first A&M has
contracted with a private firm. University
President Jack K. Williams signed a five-
year publishing agreement with BPI in
January 1975.
On Friday Journalism Department Head
Bob G. Rogers notified President Williams
that problems were developing with the
directoxy. Williams in turn has notified
Systems Attoxney James Amis Jr., who will
determine what legal action may be open to
the University.
“I’ll get to it as soon as I can,” Amis said
yesterday. Amis said it would be two to
three days before he made a decision on the
BPI publishing contract.
The agreement provided that BPI pay all
production costs for the dixectory and
would provide A&M with 10,000 free
copies. In exchange, BPI was to receive all
advertising revenue from the directory.
Such an agreement is faixly standard for
universities contx acting off-campus help in
producing directories, Cooper said.
The University has received no written
notification that BPI will not fulfill the
agreement, he said.
Both Cooper and Tech s Bill Ross said
communications with BPI had been poor
recently.
“They didn’t let us know anything,” Ross
said. He said that to the best of his knowl
edge Tech never received notice that BPI
wouldn’t he able to deliver Tech’s De
cember “Photolith.”
The original agreement with BPI was ar
ranged before Cooper took over as director
of student publications. Lane Stephenson,
university news service associate director,
*¥•¥■-¥•■¥•
THE FORECAST for Tues
day and Wednesday is beautiful
and mild. Southeasterly after
noon winds will cause a warming
trend into Wednesday. The ex
pected high for Tuesday is 53;
tonight’s low 33; and Wednes
day’s high 67.
handled the agreement under then-
director of student publications and uni
versity information Jim Lindsey. Lindsey is
now solely director of university informa
tion news service.
BPI originally approached the Univer
sity through the office of the vice-president
for business affairs, Stephenson said.
BPI was highly recommended to A&M at
that time, Stephenson added. The firm had
produced the Tech university directox y fox-
some time and officials there had been
highly pleased with the result, he said.
Kelly said BPI had had the Tech direc
tory contract for the ’73 and 74 school
years. A Lubbock firm undeibid BPI for
the present directory, he said.
“They (BPI) did a good job for us. I’d
hoped to go back to them, because theirs
was better than our present printing,
Kelly said. Kelly said he had had no contact
with BPI “since a year ago in October.
Several other members of the Tech pub
lications and information services praised
BPI. Jim Hastings, Tech university news
service writer, said the then Lubbock-
based firm did “fantastic” work at that time.
BPI moved from Lubbock to Midland in
spxing, 1975.
The BPI agreement with A&M stipu
lated that BPI would deliver the finished
directories to the University no later than
five weeks after receiving the final set of
student listings.
In a January 23 memo to Bob Rogers,
journalism department head. Cooper said
final listings were sent out January 6. Those
were faculty-staff listings.
The faculty-stafflistings were delayed by
the Payroll Office transition of file cards to
magnetic tape for record-keeping, Cooper
said. BPI received all other listings by Oc
tober 27, Cooper said in the memo.
In the memo Cooper said that after send
ing the last group of tapes January 6, “I
called Taylor to tell him that the tape was
on the way. He informed me that Jack
Blake (BPI sales manager) was ‘threatening
to retui-n all money and cancel the book.
He told me that he wasn’t sure but that he
thought Blake might have started returning
some of the money.
“On January 19, Taylor told me he had
spoken with Blake and that ‘he’s not going
to do it.
Cooper said last night he had begun to
make tentative plans to produce the direc
tory through the university if necessary. It
would take about four weeks for the univer
sity to produce the directory now, he said.
Index
MOTORCYCLE repair and how
to play the guitar axe among the
classes offered by the A&M Consoli
dated School Community Education
Program. Page 3
TWO LAKES north ol’ Houston
ax-e being rapidly overgrown by
water plants, an A&M researcher
says. Page 4
CB radio operators may become
part of a new crime prevention pro
gram in Fort Worth. Page 3
A TRAPPER has been hired in
Collin County to rid the area of
wolves that have been killing lives
tock. Page 4
THE 1974 private pension act has
created confusion that may only be
resolved in the courts. Page 2
THE HOUSE is expected to vote
against further aid to Western-
backed military factions in the Ango
lan civil war. Page 5
OLYMPIC skiing, figure skating
and hockey are previewed on Page 5.
harges filed
3 athletes
STEVE GRAY
Contributing Editor
Two Texas A&M football players and a
former A&M basketball center were
charged Monday morning with mis
demeanor possession of marijuana.
Patrick S. Thomas, 21; Alvin Ray (Skip)
Walker, 21; and Cedx ic V. Joseph, 23; will
be arraigned before County Judge William
R. Vance at a later date, according to
County Attorney Roland Searcy, Jr.
Also charged was Julie K. Willis, 18, of
306Redmond, Apt. 138 in College Station.
All four were charged with possession of
less than two ounces of marijuana, a Class B
misdemeanor. Conviction carries a fine of
up to $1,000 or a six-month sentence in the
county jail, or both.
The charges wex'e the result of a five-day
investigation that followed a raid of a party
late last Tuesday in a unit of the Monaco II
Apartment complex in College Station.
Police, who had a search warrant bearing
the name of A&M senior safety Jackie
Williams, said they noticed a “heavy smell
of marijuana but saw no one smoking.
No arrests were made at that time.
According to police, nearly fifty persons,
including Thomas, Walker, Joseph and a
number of other athletes, were attending
the party after A&M had defeated the Uni
versity of Houston, 74-67.
Officers found “less than a lid” at the
apartment rented by Williams. Police la
ter, acting on a tip, confiscated between 10
and 11 pounds in another apartment rented
by Kevin Giant Gunnard.
Possession of moxe than four ounces is
considered a felony in Texas and is punish
able by a prison term of two-to-ten years or
a fine of $5,000 or both. No arrests have
been made concerning the larger amount of
marijuana, pending further investigation.
District Attorney Tom McDonald had
said earlier he would present evidence to
the grand jury next month that could result
in the indictment of two others on felony
possession charges.
A two-time All-American as Aggie cor-
nerback, Thomas also was named to All-
Southwest Conference squads in three of
his four years as a letterman.
Walker was a four-year starter at halfback
and won AlI-SWC honors his sophomoxe
year. Joseph, who ended his basketball
career last season was one of the top scorers
and xebounders for the Aggies.
Professor proposes
‘Big Bird’ identity
BY TONY GALLUCCI
Battalion Staff Writer
Dr. Keith Arnold, Associate Professor
and Ornithologist in the Wildlife Depart
ment at A&M, is pretty certain he has come
up with an identification for the mysterious
“Big Bixd which is terroxizing or at least
stirring the imaginations of South Texas na
tives.
Arnold believes the “Bird’ is a Jabiru, a
very large stork native to Central America.
He cited various reasons for naming this
particular species, “We know there has
been breeding of this stork near Tampico
(central Gulf Coast of Mexico); at least three
times in the last five years the bird has been
seen in the U.S., plus the fact that it is so
large. The fact that it has been seen in Texas
and Oklahoma so xecently xeally clinches it
for me,” said Axnold.
J.K. Strecker, Jr. listed the biids in his
checklist of Texas in 1912 on the basis of a
specimen he stated was taken near Austin.
American Birds, the field record journal of
the National Audubon Society, stated that
the specimen was taken about 1867 and was
at the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences
hut had been lost recently.
A Jabiru was seen in Kleberg County on
several occasions in July of 1971 and was
photographed by a graduate of the wildlife
dept. This bixd, the first appaxently seen in
over a century and only the second known
for the U. S., was described as being wild in
behavior, although many scoffed and
claimed it an escapee.
Then in July 1973, another was seen often
and well photographed by Bob Farris near
Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was determined that
the bird had neither escaped from the Tulsa
or Oklahoma City zoos and no other zoo
claimed it.
In that same month, Arnold i-eceived a
Jabiru that was taken near Houston “found
sick or wounded, I don’t know which. All of
these birds have been immature birds,
which axe mainly brownish on the back,”
said Arnold.
The bird would produce large footprints
about eight by four inches from mea-
surements made on the A&M specimen,
but nowhere near the nine to twelve de
scribed by valley observers. The
wingspread is about ten feet, also not close
to the “Big Bird’s” 15-20 foot wingspread,
but no other bix d in the ax ea comes as close
as the Jabiru.
Eaxly identifications called the bird a
condor, but the world’s two species of Con
dor are both extremely rare and stick to the
i-eaches of higher mountain cliffs, making
them a much mox e remote possibility than
the Jabiru.
Composite drawings resemled a pelican.
However most observers called the bird
dark or grayish, dispelling chances that it
was a White Pelican, the larger of Texas’ two
species. The other, the Brown Pelican is
now rare in Texas and is limited to the
lagunas of the central coast.
W-
Arnold doesn’t thixxk it is a pelican be
cause, “ it must be something vexy unfamil
iar to the people in the ax ea. The bixd has
been described also as having a monkey like
face, which might account for the Jabiru
which has a head and neck devoid of feath
ers and is colored black with a red collar. It
also has the very large beak described on
“Big Bixd.
Other possibilities which have been dis
cussed are Sandhill Cranes, Great Blue He-
rons, White-Faced Ibises and Wood Stox ks.
Arnold dismissed them as too small and
cited the familiaxity factor. All occur regu-
larly in good numbers in South Texas.
The actual center for the sightings has
been in the Raymondville, San Benito Area.
Sightings or mistaken identities of the mys
tery bird have come from such distant
places as Eagle Pass, Arlington and Laxedo.
In fact the bird was simultaneously seen in
Laredo and San Benito over 200 miles
apart.
T in sine this is pax t of mass hysteria,
said Arnold.
Nevertheless the sightings continue and
a couple of new twists have been added.
Now the bird attacks humans, a propensity
fbxeign to Jabirus or any other of the bird
species considered. And there is also some
considerable monetaxy considerations to
searchers for the elusive bird.
Radio station KRIO in McAllen is offering
one thousand dollax s for the captux e of the
bird and a geologist in San Antonio is offer
ing five thousand dollars for its capture. In
older to certify for the five grand the bird
must be alive, be certified by the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Dept, to have a
wingspxead of over fifteen feet and be either
a species new to science or thought to be
extinct. TP&W officials warn that capture of
a protected or endangered species is subject
to prosecution.
Meanwhile chances that the bird is a
cosmic phenomenon, intexplanetary visitor
or satanic monster do not outweigh the
chances of it being a partygoer in a Sesame
Street,costume, a figment of someone’s im
agination or a Jabiru. So, put away the shot
guns and open the blinds. At least “Big
Bixd” hasn’t invited himself into anyone’s
home yet.
Colby admits news leak
Bush may be successor
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Amid charges and
countercharges over the leakage of intelli
gence secrets turned over to the House
intelligence committee, CIA director
William E. Colby has acknowledged that
he too was once an anonymous source for a
newspaper story exposing CIA contacts
with journalists.
Colby and other Fol d administration of
ficials accused the House panel Monday of
violating its oath by disclosing top-secret
intelligence operations contained in the
committee’s final report which was to be
x eleased this Friday but which was leaked
to the news media over the weekend.
“The committee seems neither able to
keep secrets nor its agreement,” Colby
told a news conference in one of his last
official acts as head of the CIA.
Meanwhile, the Senate is expected to
vote today to confirm former Republican
national chaix man Geox ge Bush as Colby s
successor at the CIA. Also, former CIA
director Richard M. Helms, currently
under investigation by the Justice Depart
ment for his role in past agency misdeeds.
is scheduled to testify before the Senate
Government Operations Committee on
legislation that would create a new panel to
monitor the intelligence community.
FBI director Clarence M. Kelley told the
committee Monday that the establishment
of such a committee could jeopardize the
bureau’s investigative work.
Colby acknowledged in an inteiwiew
Monday that he had revealed to the Wash
ington Star in November 1973 that the
agency had some three dozen American
journalists working abroad on its payroll.
Colby said the question was raised by a
Star staffer during a meeting he was having
with the newspaper’s editorial board.
Colby said he “couldn’t be in a position of
telling them something false and so he
responded affixmatively to the question.
During the interview and a later news
conference Monday, Colby also:
— Denied a statement in the House
committees xeport that the CIA manipu
lated the British-owned Reuters news
agency. Colby accused the panel of distort
ing a hypothetical reference to Reuters and
said the name was raised for the hypotheti
cal discussion by someone on the commit
tee, not himself.
— Said he doesn’t know of any pornog
raphic films made by the CIA other than
“Happy Days,” a phony film reportedly
produced to make President Sukarno of In
donesia angxy with the Soviet Union.
According to sources, the House com
mittee report says Sukarno was caught in a
sexual affair in Russia and the CIA made a
film — using an actor—- pui poi tedly show
ing him in an embrace. The film was to have
been distributed in Indonesia in a way that
made it appear to be peddled by Russian
agents.
— Confirmed that Sen. Henry M.
Jackson, D-Wash., once gave the CIA ad
vice on how to try to avoid testifying at a
Senate hearing on Chilean activities. He
called Jackson’s action “perfectly appropri
ate.
— Declined to confirm the House com
mittee report’s statement that the CIA
supplied weapons to Kurdish rebels in Iraq
at the older of President Richard M. Nixon
despite the agency’s opposition to such a
step.