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Ch4 Battalion
Vol. 68 No. 96
College Station, Texas
Friday, Mar. 26, 1976
j
risis averted
Veto encourages Israeli, U.S. negotiations
LABI!
M-g Associated Press
CCL SL AVIV — Israeli Foreign Minister
lAllon said today the American veto of
I. Security Council resolution criticiz-
iraeli occupation of Arab territories
ed “a far-reaching” crisis between
. EFF£( deni and Washington.
without the veto it certainly would
been a big crisis, a far-reaching crisis, ”
| told reporters after meeting with
Ambassador Malcolm Toon. “But
Is to the veto I think the . . . situation
[een restored for the better.”
Damascus the Syrian government
paper Al-Thaoura, reacted angrily to
J. S. veto, saying “the U.S. govern-
R wants to torpedo all attempts by the
n international community to restore
band justice in the Middle East.”
Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman
ed Washington of “protecting and
even encouraging Israel to continue its oc
cupation of the Arab territories.”
In vetoing the U.N. resolution Thurs
day, the United States said it would impede
American attempts to get Arab-Israeli
negotiations going again.
“We are engaged ... at this moment in
an effort to regain momentum in the
negotiating process that has brought some
unusual progress,” America’s U.N. Ambas
sador, William W. Scranton told the other
14 council members, all of whom voted for
the resolution.
In another development, a Palestine
Liberation Organization official in Vienna
pledged the PLO would fight against
splinter groups that carry out terror at
tacks, asserting “we ourselves are no ter
rorists.”
But the official, Rahiem Abou Jayyab,
director of the PLO bureau in Budapest,
,
PR requirement
owered by Senate
UM
iople with a 2.25 over-all grade point
may file for class officer positions after
lision last night by the A&M Student
ib Spiller, senator from the college of
leering, sponsored the bill. A request
uch a bill came from Kelly DeWitt,
of 77, who would have been ineligible
in under the old 2.5 G.P.R. require-
t. DeWitt has been class president for
past two years and had filed for the
ion earlier in the week,
le senate waited 45 minutes for the
erson membership quorum to show
ipon insistence of members present. A
iber of the senators left the meeting in
r s
VET
search of additional people.
A bout 30 minutes of debate was held oti
the resolution. The general argument for
changing the requirement was class execu
tive positions were not as time consuming
as Student Government executive po
sitions. The argument against acceptance
was a lowering of the G.P.R. requirement
would put an executive in danger of more
easily dropping below a 2.0 G.P.R.
Tbe measure was passed on voice vote.
The other measure was on first reading.
It concerned the placement of a student on
the educational television-radio board.
Presently the nine-member board is man
ned by faculty/staflf personnel.
^raft
light
shop usage
during day
\
By DEBBIE KILLOUGH
Battalion Staff Writer
though the whirring and buzzing of
lines can be heard at night, few stu-
p use the MSG Arts and Crafts Shop
;ng the day.
taren Zantow, assistant programs coor-
por, said while many students use the
Jipment in the shop in the evening, the
p time and weekends are very slow.
Zantow said the craft shop is there for the
idents and she would like to see students
it to its full capacity.
The shop opened in February and its
«rs are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday
bugh Saturday and 1 a.m. to 7 p.m.
lirday and Sunday.
The shop gives students an opportunity
[express themselves creatively,” Zantow
Therefore, our function is to provide
icility with the proper equipment and
ruction.”
Equipment in the shop includes a lapid-
|for cutting and polishing semi-precious
lies and equipment for tbe fabrication of
I'elry and copper enameling.
e woodshop draws the most students,
jth its bench saw, jointer, radial arm saw,
press, band saw, lathe, disc-belt san-
rand many hand tools.
)nly students, faculty, and staff are al-
ed to use the equipment and all of it is
e except for the woodshop equipment
|ich costs $2.50 each semester. No reser-
ons for using the equipment are neces-
Index
A camel is the latest unusual
animal to visit the vet school. Page 4.
While the Democratic candidates
are focusing on New York, President
Gerald Ford is concentrating on
California. Page 2.
The Student Affairs Department
s sponsoring a women’s career
conference. Page 6.
“The Final Days” portrays Nix
on’s last days in office as suicidal.
' e 3.
Weather*
THE FORECAST for Friday
is mostly cloudy, warm and
humid with 20 per cent chance
of showers. Decreasing cloudi
ness and cooler Saturday. High
today 85; low tonight 53; high
Saturday 73.
qualified this by adding the PLO would
take such action “as far as this is possible, ”
indicating that some terror groups were
beyond the PLO’s reach.
Scranton, who on Tuesday called the set
tlements Israel has been establishing in the
occupied territories an “obstacle to peace,”
voiced objection to only one of the charges
in the resolution— that “Israel is persisting
in a policy aimed at changing the religious
character of the city of Jerusalem.”
“We believe, my government and I, that
this conclusion is incorrect,” Scranton said.
But Scranton in his speech Tuesday re
jected one of the cardinal points of Israeli
policy: that East Jerusalem, the Arab part
of the city which Israel took from Jordan in
1967, will not be relinquished. Scranton
said the annexation of East Jerusalem “can
not be considered other tban interim and
provisional.”
The resolution deplored Israel’s efforts
to change the status of Jerusalem and its
policy of settling Israelis in the occupied
territories. It was the product of long dis
cussions by Arab and nonaligned delegates
trying to find a formula that the United
States would not veto.
Zehdi Labib Terzi of the Palestine Lib
eration Organization charged that the
United States had used “the tyranny of the
veto” against a resolution that could not
have been more moderate.
The council debate began Monday at the
request of Pakistan and Libya for an inquiry
into Arab rioting on the occupied West
Bank territory in which two Arabs have
been killed. The rioting was touched off by
an Israeli court decision, later overruled by
the Supreme Court, which permited Jews
to pray in the vicinity of Moslem shrines in
East Jerusalem.
Besides providing equipment, the shop
also provides various workshops and classes
for students in many different areas. De
pending on the particular class, they meet
anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks, and any
where from 1 to 3 hours.
There is a small fee, depending on the
class, for instruction and supplies. How
ever, the arts and crafts shop is not a
money-making function. Instructors of
classes are paid mainly out of the registra
tion fees collected from every student at
the beginning of the semester.
Some of the classes offered are: mac-
rame, tatting (a form of embroidering)
shaping .pottery, painting, illustrating, re
placing the canes on chairs, making kites,
weaving, water coloring, making quilt
ing, sand terrariums, and leading glass.
A student can receive information about
the workshop schedules by calling the shop
at 845-1631. Zantow said the pottery and
woodshop classes usually fill up first.
A gallery is connected to the craft shop
where students and faculty are allowed to
sell their handicrafts. The shop collects 10
per cent of the profits from a student, 15
per cent from a faculty or staff member, and
20 per cent from someone in the Bryan-
College Station area.
Candidate
filing closes
Monday at 5
Filing for the April 7-8 Student Govern
ment election closes Monday at 5 p.m.
Candidates must file in the Student Pro
grams Office, Room 216E of the MSG, to
be on the election ballot.
Candidates have not filed for 45 of the
105 positions to be filled this year. Each
candidate must submit an election petition
when filing. Rules and regulations govern
ing elections are available in the SPO of
fice.
Polling places will be at the first floor of
the MSG and Zachry Engineering Center,
the Commons, the Guard Room and out
side Sbisa Dining Hall. Students must pre
sent an activity card and student ID card
when voting.
Students will be electing yell-leaders,
RHA officers. Student Government execu
tives and senators and Graduate Student
Council members. The general election
will also include referendums on Student
Government constitutional revisions and
the football ticket distribution system.
The football ticket referendum will allow
students to choose between first-come,
first-serve and random distribution sys
tems.
Political Forum will present a student
candidate forum at 7 p.m. April 5 in Room
601 of Rudder Tower.
The runoff election for any undecided
races will be April 15.
About 6000 students voted in last year’s
general election. Student Government of
ficers say they hope for 10-15,000 voters
this year.
Rezoning request
tabled by Council
By JERRY NEEDHAM
Battalion Staff Writer
A controversial request to rezone a 12-
acre tract of land to an apartment district
was tabled by the College Station City
Council yesterday after a three-to-three
vote deadlock on a motion to deny the re
quest.
The request was brought to the council
by Edsel Jones, general partner of Mohawk
Ltd. The land, now zoned single family
residential, is located west of Wellborn
Road and north of Luther Street.
Jones said he initially wants to build 106
apartment units on three acres of the tract.
“What we are trying to do is to provide
housing for the West Campus of the Uni
versity,” Jones said. He said this is the
closest site to the campus on which to
build.
Councilman Jim Gardner pointed out
that the zoning request does not conform to
the Master Development Plan for the city,
which calls for this area to be an industrial
zone.
Jones said he doesn’t think the area will
attract industry and noted that even the
Bryan Industrial Park is having trouble at
tracting industry.
The motion to table the request included
the stipulation that the city attorney check
on using the old Missouri Pacific Railroad
right-of-way as additional access to the
area.
The right-of-way (ROW) was given to the
surrounding landowners when the railroad
company abandoned it.
The only access to the area now is Luther
Street. Jones said he planned to use the old
railroad ROW for additional access to the
area.
Councilman Jim Dozier said he was
skeptical that Jones would be able to obtain
the old railroad ROW. He said the city has
been trying to get the ROW for over five
years to build a road, but the owners are not
willing to sign it over to the city.
Gardner moved that approval of the re
quest be denied until the road situation
involving the railroad ROW is resolved.
The College Station Planning and Zon
ing Commission had unanimously recom
mended the rezoning request to the coun
cil at the commission’s March 1 meeting.
The question of improved access to the site
was also raised at that meeting.
Jones said that if construction cannot be
started by May 1, the developers may post
pone the project for a year.
Councilman Bob Bell said that according
to Texas A&M President Jack Williams,
A&M Director of Admissions Billy Lay,
and certain newspaper accounts, the chief
factor limiting, enrollment at A&M is the
inadequate housing situation. He asked
whether the council’s actions were helping
to limit enrollment at A&M.
“I personally have to weigh whether a
bad street or a shortage of housing is the
worst problem,” Bell said.
Councilmen Gardner, Dozier and Larry
Bravenec voted to deny the request while
Mayor O. M. Holt and Councilmen Bell
and Homer Adams voted against denial.
Bell then made a motion to approve the
request. Adams seconded the motion and
then made a motion to table the request.
The motion to table passed.
A second request by Brentwood, Inc.
asking that 50 acres zoned single family
residential be rezoned to duplex residential
was approved.
The land is located approximately 800
feet northeast of the intersection of S. Texas
Avenue and Southwest Parkway.
The council also raised the rates to be
charged for water connections, sanitary
sewer connections and temporary electric
services.
Under the old rates, the city was losing
money on every connection it made, said
Director of Public Works George R. Ford.
A permit to operate a bus service in
College Station was granted by the council.
Roy Ellis, 804 Muckleroy St. in Bryan,
received permission to operate a 48-
passenger school bus in College Station.
The council granted a permit two weeks
ago to Tom Bass of Cameron to operate a
bus service in College Station. Both men
have also received permission from the
Bryan City Council to operate in Bryan.
Neither man has announced starting
dates or prices for the services.
Low bids for the construction of four
tennis courts and surrounding fences were
accepted by the council. The courts are to
be constructed at Bee Creek Park in south
College Station.
Hunt early
to obtain
housing
By STEVE GRAY
and
SUZANNE DEATHERAGE
When Texas A&M students return to
College Station this fall, most will settle
happily into their houses, apartments and
dorms.
Some will not.
They will probably spend a week or so in
a motel or with friends waiting to find a
place to live.
The housing situation is bad and it will be
awhile before it gets better.
The student demand for housing exceeds
the supply provided by the university and
the local community.
A&M officials have said that there will be
no future construction of university-owned
housing.
Ironically, that seems to be part of the
solution for the present housing shortage.
Last of a four-part
series dealing with
the housing situa
tion for students in
Bryan-College
Station.
gMfr::
Staff Photos by Douglas Winshtp
THE HOUSING SITUATION IS BAD
Vacancies disappear quickly
Texas A&M does not have to pay taxes and
high interest on loans, so it can keep room
rents lower than the average apartment
rent.
The most inexpensive room on campus
costs $33 per month. An inexpensive one
bedroom-one bath apartment can cost
around $150 per month. There are garage
apartments renting for $80 a month.
The A&M decision to stop dorm con
struction reduces the university’s strength
as competitor against the private housing
industry in College Station and Bryan.
Builc lers are glad—and it shows.
In 1975, 201 new homes were built,
compared to 132 in 1974. 352 apartment
units were constructed in 1975, while 282
went up in 1974. Including duplexes and
triplexes, a total of 667 living units were
built in 1975. Only 414 living units were
built in 1974.
Generally, the closer an apartment or
home is to campus, the more expensive it
is. Vacancies quickly disappear, however.
Most of these closer apartment complexes
have the advantage of being on a shuttle
bus route.
Maps of the bus routes are free and can
be obtained at the University Police De
partment in the basement of the YMCA
building.
Other apartment complexes and many
trailer parks are less expensive but usually
require a car for transportation to and from
campus. Houses in Bryan and surrounding
rural areas are also less expensive to rent,
but share the transportation problem.
Apartment managers and realtors plan
according to the A&M calender. They will
accept a deposit in the spring for a lease that
begins the next fall. Signing a lease early
gives a tenant greater choice of apartments
and allows him to rent at the older, less
expensive rates.
Houses for rent are rarely on the market
(See housing, page 2 )