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Vol. 68 No. 73
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, Feb. 11, 1976
ilection system sought
> c in ‘ u * By STEVE GRAY
hnishen Contributing Editor
theycaBs keep the at-large system of voting
Goughlwe have now. ”
sandgrsjo, let’s convert back to the old ward
se sci |nf that we had a few years ago. ’’
lair andi don’t really care. Let’s have a combi-
nts. Q m pf the two.
■e comments by College Station city
iir andBmen reflect the variety of opinions
H-TourciBing the method of electing city offi-
nnarun
w
.i : r the past eight years College Station
perfonHhave elected members of the city
layedwrlB through an at-large system. The
sively. i, It-large, means that elected officials
lent voters throughout the city,
lerlthe “ward’ system, council mem-
r ;represent only those persons who live
S B specific neighborhood (ward). In
Rystem the mayor is elected at-large.
ia pi-cial city election in 1968, voters
fdthe old ward system in effect since
1952 when the city received its
from the state. During those 16
rs the city was divided into three wards,
^presented by two council members.
ti e late 1960s city fathers decided to
d hitter ]
™ 1 ’ ja hard look at the ward system when
W ™jlo councilmen for the North Gate
ff'lvere elected by only a handful of
eball. ■
■ city is now considering letting the
aja,^decide how they want to elect future
rtball® inc ^ rnen ' The city’s charter revision
1-8 retB? sion ^ as recommended to the city
is seajf a re f eren dum concerning the
acts on survey
election system be placed on the April 3
ballot, the date of the city and school board
elections. Voters will be able to choose
from the following three options:
+ Do you wish to retain the present
at-large system of voting? Yes or no.
If a voter should vote ‘no’ on the first
option, he or she will be directed to choose
one of the following:
# Do you wish to elect councilmen
through a system of six designated wards,
with each councilman representing a single
ward?
• Do you wish to elect councilmen
through a combination ward and at-large
system, with three councilmen being
elected at-large and three elected from
wards?
City officials say voters must either vote
for the present at-large system or choose
from either of the last two proposals, thus
eliminating the need of conducting a spe
cial run-off election between three separate
proposals. At least 51 per cent of the voters
must approve either proposal before it
could become effective next Jan. 1.
' Should voters opt for the combination
ward and at-large system of election, Places
1, 3 and 5, now held by Councilmen Gary
Halter, Bob Bell and Larry Bravenec, re
spectively, would be elected from wards
beginning in April 1977. Places 2, 4 and 6
now held by Homer Adams, James Gard
ner and James Dozier, respectively, would
be elected at-large as in the past four elec
tions.
Councilmen Bravenec, Dozier and Bell
have said they want to retain the present
at-large system because it already provides
adequate representation for voters.
Two other councilmen, Halter and
Gardner, say they believe a combination
ward and at-large system would better
serve the interests of voters.
“I’d like to see more representation for
the students, but they could do it (get
elected) the way the system is set up now if
they wanted to, ” Gardner said. “In fact that
is one of the concerns of those who favor the
ward system because it would eliminate the
possibility of a so-called ‘student take-over’
of the city council.’
Councilman Homer Adams is the lone
advocate of the city’s original ward system.
He contends that it would insure equal rep
resentation, yet prevent any one special
interest group or minority, such as stu
dents, from filling a majority of the council
positions.
“I don’t want a dormitory student, an 18-
or 19-year-old or even my own (children)
deciding what bonds are going to be passed
and what taxes I’m going to pay in the fu
ture,” Adams said.
“That’s just the way I feel. I don’t think
they’ve got any business here (on the coun
cil) wen they’re here for a limited period of
time.
“I don’t even think they (students) ought
to be permitted to vote on bond issues.
Anyone that is not a property owner doesn’t
have any business voting on bond issues.”
onger drinking hours requested
St VirjM student Government last night
Bously approved a bill that would
v clubs in College Station to stay open
J2a.m. on weekends.
ecommendation will be presented
ollege Station City Council for a
a's(on.
the existing city ordinance, clubs,
hotel lounges must close at mid-
g^—Junday through Friday, and at 1
“W on Saturday.
KG action was the result ol a survey
Kted last semester by the Student-
Relations Sub-Committee.
Mei
■survey asked for students’ opinions
regarding an extensin of club hours on
weekends and weeknights.
Eighty-seven per cent of the 1,209 re
sponses supported the proposal to extend
weekend hours to 2 a.m.
On the question of weeknight hours, 56
per cent of the respondents supported a 2
a. m. curfew. Fifteen per cent desired a
change to 1 a.m., while 29 per cent were
content with the midnight closing hour.
Eighteen letters asking for support of the
results were sent out early this semester to
the various night-life locations in College
Station. So far, only two have responded.
one eager to participate, the other reluc
tant.
One controversial point concerns the
additional hours the College Station Police
would have to work should the two-hour
Friday extension and one-hour Saturday
extension be approved.
Police Chief Marvin Byrd estimates it
wmdd cost the city an additional $3,000 to
$4,000 a year. Recommendations concern
ing weeknight club hours will not be made
until the council has acted on the present
proposal, members of the sub-committee
said.
Denise Edmonds
f : -
mm
vin City Mission
The Twin City Mission television room.
Douglas Winship
n, —p—
se iding the unemployed and alone
h know I’m no damned good, and I
Mr will be, said Andy Anderson as he
Bed back in his chair and lit another
lette. “I don’t intend on trying to be. ”
Rderson has been a resident of Bryan’s
i* City Mission for the past seven
Whs, and like most of the other men at
Mission, he is an alcoholic.
Iiderson, 52, was born in Tennessee,
fte during his youth, he “drank a lot of
■ pey, chased a lot of women” and at-
M college for one year,
dfif ^ came to Bryan in 1961 as a machinist
as held a variety of jobs, ranging from
e-making to driving a beer truck,
en asked why he came to the Mis-
Anderson said he wanted to. “You
hear about places like this, you find
You don’t get an invitation.”
atedatSOO N. Main St. in Bryan, the
on provides clothing, lodging and var-
ther services for needy persons in the
s County area.
Its main emphasis, however, is the re
habilitation of alcoholics through a detoxifi
cation program, says the Executive Direc
tor, the Rev. Warren Barnes.
He said the majority of the alcoholics at
the Mission come on their own. Some are
referred through churches and various wel
fare organizations.
Presently there are about 45 men work
ing at the Mission. Barnes said this number
drops off drastically during warmer
months.
The residents repair furniture and clo
thing for resale in the Mission store and also
work with the recycling program.
Operatingfunds come almost exclusively
from contributions and sales of clothing,
furniture and recyclable materials which
the workers collect throughout the
Bryan-College Station area.
The residents are expected to attend
non-denominational church services twice
weekly, Barnes said. They also are encour
aged to stay on the wagon while at the
Mission.
“We are working with people that are not
capable of accepting a responsibility, ” said
Barnes. “When they start drinking again
they forfeit all of the privileges that the
Mission has to offer. ”
“The Mission has helped me physically
and spiritually, ” Anderson said. “They feed
you good and give you a good bed to sleep
in. I know that a lot of times if it hadn’t been
for the Mission I would have been sleeping
under a bridge or a tree.”
Anderson says he has no regrets for any
thing he ever did. “If I had my life to live
over again I’d go right back through it just
like I did. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
When asked what his plans were for the
future, Anderson replied, “I don’t try to
make plans from one day to the next be
cause it’s not worth it. I may be dead to
morrow so what do I want to plan for?”
— Preston Jones
‘Gad, what an ugly baby
That’s no baby; it’s a chimp
By DAVID ROOP
Three and a half-year-old Lilly ,
climbs trees, drinks coffee, and en
joys an occasional puff on a cigerette.
Lilly likes almost everybody and is
quick to give you a kiss if you’ll let
her. Lilly is a chimpanzee.
She isn’t like most chimpanzees,
however, because for the majority of
her life she has played, eaten and
lived with human beings. Lilly is
owned by Alyse Moore, a graduate
student at Texas A&M working on
herPh.D. in anthropology. For two
and a half years, since Lilly was cap
tured in Kenya, Moore, Ron Rogers
and Rudy Vavra have raised her al
most as they would any child. She is
one of few chimps to be taught to
communicate with humans while
constantly interacting with them in a
“family” environment.
Vavra described living with Lilly
as “just like living with a kid.”
As Vavra talked, Lilly sat next to
him, giving him a kiss now and then
and searching through his pockets.
“Lilly is just a baby now,” Vavra
said, “but she is maturing a lot faster
than a chimpanzee in the wild.”
Chimpanzees are mature at the age
of 10 and they can live to be 60. In
the wild, Lilly would still be clinging
to her mother, but with humans for
constant companions she has learned
to do some remarkable things.
Lilly is being taught sign language
and knows over 40 signs, with which
she can communicate specific de
sires to people. She also understands
300 spoken words, Vavra said. At this
point Lilly was still rummaging
through Vavra’s pockets, but she
stopped when he told her to.
The chimp now weighs 43 pounds
and is about three feet tall. She will
eventually weigh nearly 100 pounds.
Her fur is black, and she has brown
eyes centered on a face which is
every bit as expressive as a human’s.
Vavra, Moore and Rogers have
learned to interpret her gestures,
expressions, and especially her voc
alizations. In chimpanzee “talk”
Lilly can express a desire for food,
fear, agression and excitement, and
caution.
Lilly made the hand sign meaning
food, and Vavra moved the discus
sion into the kitchen where he sat
her down at her own chair and gave
her a banana. She always eats with
her human companions, and often
eats what they do, although her diet
mainly consists of fruits and vegeta
bles.
She is a very intelligent animal and
learns to do things quickly by imita
tion, Vavra said. She is toilet trained,
and that includes using toilet paper
Hi there!
Lilly, a three-and-a-half year old female chimpanzee, is
owned by Alyse Moore, an A&M grad student in anthropolo
gy. Lilly is being raised much as a human child would be and is
being taught sign language.
Volorie Lyng
and flushing. And, she has a pet cat
which she plays with.
“Sometimes you have to re
member that she is a chimp, and not
a person,” he said.
Lilly sat down with us at the
kitchen table and drank a mug of cof
fee. Vavra gave her more when she
gestured the hand signal meaning
“drink”.
The project with Lilly is long
term, that is, more is learned about
her the longer she lives with people.
Vavra, Moore and Rogers are all very
personally involved and hope to be
able to study and teach Lilly until she
reaches maturity.
One problem arises, however.
The longer Lilly is with Vavra and his
companions the harder it would be
for her to adjust and indeed, survive,
if she ever had to be separated from
them. Female chimpanzees often
die when taken from people they
ihave become attached to, Vavra said.
Right now, though, they have no
intention of abandoning their study
of Lilly. Moore is in the process of
setting up a non-profit foundation
she will call the “Lilly Foundation for
Cross-Species Communication.”
This would enable them to receive
grants and raise the money necessary
to buy equipment and study Lilly in
depth.
Presidential star fades
Bentsen contends no longer
Associated Press
AUSTIN — Texas’ political “star” —
Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bentsen — has fal
len from the presidential galaxy.
Bentsen celebrated his 55th birthday
today and maintains he’s happy to be in
Texas and not “tramping the snows of New
Hampshire.”
Bentsen withdrew Tuesday as a national
contender for the presidency, a job he has
openly coveted for the last few years. “I
don’t believe in those people who are coy, ”
Bentsen once said.
He told a news conference at the state
capitol Tuesday that after studying his poor
showings in the Mississippi and Oklahoma
caucuses, “I do not think it would be either
useful or productive to continue campaign
ing across the nation. ”
He said, however, his name will be on
the presidential primary ballot in Texas
May 1.
He also said he would concentrate on his
INDEX
Non-resident students may have
their enrollment deferred if the
housing shortage continues. Page 2
For the first time in its history,
A&M has a women’s drill team. Page
7
The prosecution is trying to call
three witnesses who have been
granted immunity in the Patty
Hearst Trial. Page 6
Wheat crops in the wgreat Plains
are being plowed under in an at
tempt to prevent wind erosion. Page
8
THE FORECAST for Wed
nesday and Thursday is con
tinued mostly cloudy and mild.
High today, 79; low tonight, 57;
high Thursday, 75.
re-election campaign, which includes a
Democratic primary race against a former
Texas A&M economics professor, Phil
Gramm, and “piffling together a united de
legation from Texas to the Democratic con
vention in New York City.”
If he wins the primary, as expected,
Bentsen would probably face Rep. Alan
Steelman, R-Tex., in the November gen
eral election.
His withdrawal from the presidential
race leaves eight active democratic candi
dates, and he declined to endorse any of
them.
Asked why his presidential campaign
had not generated any more support,
Bentsen said that “part of it is the polariza
tion in this country . . . caucuses have a
tendency to attract activists.”
Can a “moderate” — such as Bentsen
describes himself — win the Democratic
nomination? he was asked.
“Pretty tough,” Bentsen replied, “and
that’s too bad.
Bentsen stressed that “Mr. Uncommit
ted” had done well in the Mississippi and
Oklahoma contests, and he added, “People
just haven’t made up their minds.”
If that is so, isn’t it “premature” for
Bentsen to withdraw? he was asked.
“Oh, cut it out,” he replied. Later, how
ever, Bentsen said, “Whoever you believe
will be that strength today at the Democra
tic convention won’t be. One month is a
lifetime in politics.”
Bentsen said he would vote for Gov.
Dolpb Briscoe to be the chairman of the
30-member Texas delegation to the conven
tion.
It was Briscoe who touted Bentsen as a
“new star on the horizon” when Bentsen
announced for president Feb. 17, 1975.
Reflecting on his year-long campaign,
Bentsen said, “There has to be a better
way, but Tm not sure I know what it is.”
Senate approves
service fee budget
The Student Senate last night approved
1976-77 Student Service Fee allocation re
commendations for 12 of 14 organizations.
The total student service fee budget was set
at $1,031,125.
Changes made by the Senate in the re
quests of two organizations included an ad
ditional $1,125 to Student Programs for the
purchase ot filing cabinets. Also, in approv
ing a $55,000 Town Hall request, the Se
nate added an amendment setting aside
$5,000 of that for OPAS to be placed in a
separate account.
The Senate held its first reading of the
revised constitution of the Student Body.
Debate on the new constitution will begin
at the next meeting of the Student Senate,
Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
The Senate also passed a bill recom
mending that the College Station City
Council extend the drinking hours on Fri
day and Saturday nights to 2 a.m.
— David Roop