Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 1976)
Basketball stars declared ineligible By TONY GALLUCCI I and PAUL McGRATH Battalion StafT Writers / een tUBpingfurther clarification by the con- closinjE student athletes Karl Gtxline and nA&M’ifc Williams of Texas A&M University 'g list, Hifcclared ineligible for further coinpeti- Uhel infisketball for the remainder of the 20 pointiM’ J statement was issued yesterday ing by Southwest Conference (SWC) hree up wild Carl Gi Willi, tction i' TCU Baylor, Loni lent Kenneth Harrick. It followed a specially-called Sunday meeting in Dallas of conference officials. It is the only official pronouncement in the disclosure of alleged wrongdoing by the two Aggie freshmen basketball players. There is speculation that recruiting vio lations were involved in the case of the pair. However, as of this morning, conference officials had made no clarification. Both Godine and Williams attended Houston Kashmere High School last year. A&M of ficials could make no comment as they are Karl Godine Jarvis Williams bound by a “gag rule” imposed by the con ference. A&M’s official response camfe late yes terday when Dr. Charles Sampson Jr., chairman of the A&M Athletic Council, served a notice of appeal to the conference. The SWC member representatives must now meet to discuss the Aggies’ response. Of immediate concern to the team, which leads the SWC standings, is the pos sible forfeiture of past games. Conference spokesman Bill Morgan said that during the Sunday meeting “forfeitures were not even discussed.” Media speculation about the type of vio lations was triggered by a release by the Houston News Service yesterday. The story, written by Dennis Tardan, said that the players were driving 1976 cars. Tardan also said the two got special privileges such as being allowed to drive to Houston for the Bluebonnet Classic while other team members were forced to ride on the team bus. A&M Athletic Director Emory Bellard said Williams drives a 1974 Cutlass and Godine drives a 1975 Camaro. The news service statement continued: “Two Southwest Conference recruiters were told (last year) by ex-Kashmere head coach Weldon Drew that the team that gets Godine and Williams will have to come up with some cars and some cash. ” Drew, contacted by The Battalion at New Mexico State where he is now an assis tant coach, flatly said, “That is a lie. ” “As far as I m concerned there were no illegal tactics used. They were recruited in the manner that they should have been, ” Drew said. Drew said that heavy recruiting of the pair made it inevitable that such rumors would surface. He said he had told the pair that anywhere they went they would be investigated. The Dallas Times-Herald said in a story yesterday that Godine and Williams were asked to take lie detector tests on Friday by SWC investigators. Godine confirmed the story. Although no official announcement was made, Godine and Williams apparently were investigated earlier in the season. At that time they also apparently took a lie detector test. Conference sources reported that the two passed with “flying colors.” Dr. Sampson said he could not comment on any aspect of the investigation. One SWC official told the Associated Press that no criminal acts are involved. Williams and Godine have both started for the Aggies during the conference sea son. The 6-foot-2 Godine is averaging 13 points per game and 2.7 rebounds. Wil liams, a 6-foot-6 forward, is averaging 7.7 points per game and 5.4 rebounds. ★★★ Godine hit seven of eight shots in the second half of A&M’s televised bout with Texas Tech Saturday to spark the Aggies to a 73-64 win and the conference lead. The Ags have compiled a 10-2 SWC record and are 17-5 overall. The squad has been cut to seven scholar ship players. Seniors Barry Davis, Sonny Parker, Ray Roberts and Gates Erwin re main. Also junior Steve Jones, and freshmen Wally Swanson and Joey Robin son are still playing. Junior walk-on Kevin Jones may see more action and former junior varsity player Brian Barrett has been asked to accompany the team. The starting lineup is currently up in the air, although Cates Erwin and Wally Swan son have been the chief substitutes for Godine and Williams. ★★★ he Battalion Aggies to file suit to retain eligibility , it wets I 68 No 76 College Station, Texas Tuesday, Feb. 17, 1976 of dnf stroytk I INDEX old Cze.:|| f Voter registration deadline nears |city and school elections are ap- kching. Page 3 sSCONA ended Saturday and ers say SCONA 21 brought little lussion. Page 5 President Jack Williams made the State of the University address to pembers of the Association of mer Students. Page 5 Reader’s Forum, a new feature, j^ns today. Page 2 ockheed Aircraft may lose its nadian contract for $1.3 billion iause of financial problems. Page fhe Aggie basketball faces UH Dnight without Karl Godine and ds Williams. PageS Aggie swimmers do well in skend competition. Page 6 [HE FORECAST for Tues- jy and Wednesday is consider- je morning cloudiness becom- partly cloudy in the after- jons. The high both days, :r 70’s; tonight’s low, 55. ■ed siiKfl Eraley Coaclil lay. viil deltl 1 Sara Hi Nibble, nibble Kevin Venner What is it, an experimental lawnmower? No, it’s Moonshadow, a guest at A&M. Moonshadow is staying with Brent Thorpe of Legett Hall. Let’s hope Sbisa doesn’t catch the cute little critter. chool Board meets Suggests school bond issue hestkl | Moss® cjtj zen ’s advisory Committee re- " njl1 npended a $6.43 million bond issue to AkM Consolidated School Board last ;S into If in sq h Board will consider the committee’s ughopffrt in preparation for a potential bond r)lin Bif jpn later this spring. committee recommended that a containing grades five and six be JJfed in the old middle school building at 1(11)0 Jersey St. projected cost of renovations, site ements and equipment for the old P lBle school building is $1,785,600. ■e committee also recommended ing $1,545,600 for a new vocational y^ilmg at A&M Consolidated High Expansion of physical education facilities, cafeteria expansion, a service drive, correction of existing building prob lems and other equipment at the high school would total $835,600, according to the committee Suggestions. The committee advised the school board that $774,900 is needed at College Hills Elementary School and $710,000 at South Knoll Elementary School for additional classrooms and improvements. An expenditure of $396,500 was also suggested by the committee for building and salvage work on maintenance facilities in the district. The committee advised the board to begin studying the possibility of acquiring property for future building sites. Committee chairman Alvin Jones said the committee did not recommend using any funds from the forthcotning bond elec tion for land acquisition. The Professional Consultation Commit tee of the College Station Education As sociation (CSEA) presented the board with a statement of needs as seen by the teachers in the district. The consultation committee’s percep tion of school needs was included in the advisory committee’s information used to calculate the recommended building prog ram. Betty LeBlanc, chairman of the consulta tion committee, said the need for a voca tional building has been evident since the high school opened. the A field house was also needed for high school, LeBlanc said. She said currently there are no facilities for girls’ athletics in the high school. The athletic teams are now using the high school s physical education classrooms and lockers. LeBlanc said with the addition of a field house, overcrowding in the physical educa tion facilities would be eliminated. LeBlanc said the teachers also felt there was a need for general improvement at the Middle School, including drainage, light ing, ventilation and security. Additional classroom space and expan sion of the library and caf eteria are needed at the Middle School, LeBlanc said. Associated Press Texas A&M was ready to file suit for an injunction today, a lawyer said, to keep two of the school’s freshman basketball stars from being declared ineligible by the Southwest Conference. He asserted the league ruling Monday against the players — Karl Godine and Jar vis Williams — “was made on hearsay and erroneous information” that failed to sub stantiate charges of recruiting violations on which they were cited. The Aggies already had appealed the matter officially to the conference. Texas A&M faculty representative Charles Sam son Jr. served notice of the appeal late Monday afternoon, a few hours after the SWC office in Dallas disclosed the two players had been held ineligible for the rest of the current season. Lawyer Hugh M. Smith told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times from his Dallas office, where he worked on the case past mid night, he would file the injunction suit on behalf of Godine and Williams during the day in state district court. After asserting the ineligibility ruling was based “on hearsay and erroneous evi dence,” Smith added, “No one has even advised us of the charges against them. The Southwest Conference has not informed me of the charges against them and has refused to divulge any charges. ” The lawyer said the hearsay to which he referred was contained in a report on an independent investigation performed for the conference and submitted to Smith Jan. 2. He said this report grew out of allega tions made against the two players and it did not back up the charges. Smith said the independent inves tigators looked into charges that: — Each of the two A&M players re ceived a new automobile. — These cars probably were registered in the name of a “Coach Boyd,” which the lawyer said he understood is the name of a junior high school coach in Houston. — The two players received bonuses placed by speculation as high as $6,000. — Mothers of the pair received electric washing machines and dryers. — The two freshmen were furnished jobs in which they were paid well above the normal amounts which would have gone to other employes in those jobs. Smith said the report further stated that the automobiles in question were purch ased by the parents of the players and pay ments were being made by members of each family; that Williams’ mother, Mae Frances Williams, has a washer and dryer which she bought at a department store, while the Godines have neither a washer nor a dryer and that the two athletes had received no bonuses or anything of value. Smith said, “I was told by a committee of three people affiliated with the Southwest Athletic Conference that unless they, Godine and Williams submitted to a polyg raph examination, the conference probably would rule against them.” This led the players to undergo polyg raph examination Friday, he said. “On one of the tests,’ Smith continued, “there were no discrepancies but on the other test there were some. I was then permitted to appear before Southwest Con ference officials, and Dr. Ken Herrick of Texas Christian University, who is the con ference president said I had 20 minutes to review the results of the polygraph tests. ” There was a precedent for the A&M players’ court move last season, when Southern Methodist L T niversity football player was declared ineligible by the Na tional Collegiate Athletic Association. He still played several games, however, after a state court in Dallas issued a temporary restraining order against the NCAA. Faculty representatives of the confer ence acted against the Texas A&M players after a meeting Sunday at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. CS Council finds problem in amendment The College Station City Council in a special meeting yesterday sent a proposed city charter amendment back to the Char ter Revision Commission. A referendum planned in conjunction with the city elections on April 3 asks Col lege Station voters to choose from three systems of electing councilmen: the at- large system, the ward system or the com bination ward-at-large system. Councilman Larry Bravenec said a prob lem arose which will not allow the amend ment to be placed on the ballot as planned. Bravenec said that according to Texas law, voters must vote yes or no on every proposition on the ballot. The way the elec tion had been planned, if voters decided to retain the at-large system, the two other items on the ballot would not need to be answered. The council submitted several sugges tions to the Charter Revision Commission on how to rework the proposed amend ment so a referendum can be held in April. Time is also becoming a major considera tion, Bravenec said. The council must submit the ballot to state officials and to the voters at least 30 days prior to election day. This leaves two weeks for the Charter Revi sion Commission and the council to take action. The council also added the place 3 vac ancy to the April ballot. The vacancy was created by the resignation of Councilman Bob Bell, effective March 31. Bell has an nounced his candidacy for mayor. Three other councilmen positions are up for election on the April ballot (places 2, 4 and 6). tllasft anal I ie ytf oflOli 1 »Kan* e O hat * w* itball I )ected : iaf Politics seen through eyes of second graders By PAUL ARNETT and CAROL MEYER Another election year is upon us tte fl md the second graders of College [scasl* 1 -Jills and South Knoll Elementary chools already have a favorite in ind. President Ford is the unanim- |us choice, with Ronald Reagan finishing second. 1 None of the children knows any of [the individual^ running on the )emocratic ticket. “1968, that’s when I was born,” vas the response of one boy when old that Hubert Humphrey, a pos able candidate for this year’s elec- ion, had run against then-President lichard Nixon in 1968. Local politics eemed to interest the children the east. Very few of them knew that Dolph Briscoe is the governor of Texas. A girl responded to the ques- :ion with, “Isn’t George Washington he governor?” Other answers anged from God to Abraham Lin coln. Teachers Cherry Burnett of South Knoll and Julie Click of College Hills ippeared to have done an excellent job teaching their students about American history and its govern ment. All the students had a strong feeling, of nationalism. “My favorite thing about America is the flag because it’s cute,” one girl said. Another added, “I like the presi dent, the police and electricity.” There were varied replies to the question of who runs the country. Some responses were God, Jesus, firemen and the police. When asked about the President of the United States, a quick “I hate him rose from a boy in the crowd. That boy changed his mind when he found out that Ford was the Presi dent, not Nixon. The Pledge of Allegiance is an everyday occurrence for second graders. Parents often wonder if the children know exactly what they are saying. “I pledge my allegiance to God and to the flag,” was one girl’s ans wer. Another said, “I pledge my (See Children, page 3) al- Early views remain In high school, Chuck is president of the student council, vice- president of his class, and once helped campaign for the senator from his hometown. Most people would say Chuck dis plays the first signs of an interest in politics. However, a pair of resear chers maintain that this interest ac tually was kindled in elementary school, where a child begins for mulating his political attitudes and values. “Early impressions acquired in childhood are likely to change much more slowly than those developed through later experience, especially in maturity,” say David Easton and Robert D. Hess. Their study of more than 12,000 elementary school children is related in their essay, “The Child’s Political World.” The Easton and Hess findings cor relate with the attitudes of second graders whom The Battalion talked with at South Knoll and College Hills Elementary Schools in College Sta tion. For example, the children realize, as Easton and Hess learned, that “they are different from other mem bers of a society.” One boy in The Battalion’s interview said he was glad all the children didn’t have to wear (See Growing, page 3) I like the President, the Police, and Electricity’ J