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Che Battalion
Vol. 70 No. 7
8 Pages
Friday, September 10, 1976
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Mid-air crash; 176 dead
Associated Press
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — A British
liner and a Yugoslav charter jet carrying
est German tourists collided at 35,000
near Zagreb today, officials said. All
Bpersons aboard the planes were killed,
lording to doctors at the scene.
Awitness among the first to arrive at the
ish site said the body of one plane was
rned out. He said bodies and luggage
ire scattered around the rubble. More
ffl30 ambulances and fire trucks went to
escenebut found no one alive, he said.
The British plane carried a reported 54
passengers and nine crew members. A
British Airways spokesman in New York
said there was one American and one
Canadian aboard the plane. However,
British Airways officials in London said
there were at least two Americans and
some Turkish nationals aboard.
The Yugoslav plane had 108 passengers
and five crew members aboard, company
officials said. Sources said most or all of
them were West German tourists return
ing from vacations on the Adriatic coast.
The planes collided at 6:15 a.m. EDT
about 15 miles northeast of Zagreb, Yugos
lavia’s second largest city and 230 north
west of Belgrade.
The cause of the collision was not im
mediately known. Officials said an investi
gation has begun.
British Airways officials in London said
Flight 476 was on a direct flight from Lon-
to Istanbul. The plane was a Trident 3 jet
liner.
Reports here said the Yugoslavian plane
was a DC9 belonging to the Yugoslav char
ter company Inex-Adria. The DC9 was fly
ing between Split, Yugoslavia, and Col
ogne, West Germany.
n
J
.S. ward hearing recessed
By JERRY NEEDHAM
Battalion Editor
;ainst
pro-
Party
ierals
jnifi-
cy of
tcept
ouik
with
muss
The hearing on the contest of the April 3
ollege Station charter change election
sgan yesterday but was recessed by 85th
istrict Court Judge W. C. Davis until
ivyers for each side draw up briefs of
immary arguments.
Twenty-four persons testified that they
either confused on the ward system
| ne or were aware of voter confusion.
The case was based on a petition signed
700 voters who protested the ward
oposition on the ballot on the grounds
at it was misleading and the results did
it represent true voter feeling.
The lawyer for the case against the bal-
itisCollege Station city attorney Neeley
ewis.
Aplea of intervention was filed by Texas
&M University students Robert Harvey,
lary Ellen Martin and Jerri Ward last
riday. The students’ legal counsel is Kent
aperton.
Harvey said the students filed the plea
ecause they felt no one would defend the
alklityof the election as the city was also
mong those against the ballot and the re-
ilts.
The charter amendment asked voters to
choose between the present at-large sys
tem of electing city councilmen or a ward
system where all six would be elected by
voters in one of six districts of equal popu
lation. The at-large system presently in
use allows each citizen to vote for each of
the council positions.
The amendment passed by a vote of
1,190 to 1,161, a majority of less than one
per cent. The total number of votes cast in
the April 3 election was 3,067 while the
number voting on the ward proposition
was only' 2,351.
Complaints by' voters about ballot con
fusion culminated in the 700-signature
petition of protest which was presented to
the city council at its April 27 meeting.
On April 30 official notice of contest was
filed with the city by Mrs. D. A. Ander
son. It contested the election on the
grounds that the wording of the ballot was
ambiguous and voters were misled, that
the ballot did not contain instructions di
recting voters to the ward proposition on
the last page and that the ballot was
worded to give a “fbr-against” response
rather than a “yes-no response as re
quired by state law.
On May 3 a similar notice of contest
signed by 26 College Station citizens was
delivered to the city.
College Station Mayor Lorence
Bravencec said he withheld the two
notices to wait for the results of the June
29 “straw vote ”.
Results of the “straw vote” showed that
more than two-thirds of the voters pre
ferred the present at-large system.
Contest notices were filed with the dis
trict clerk on July 14 and yesterday’s court
date was set.
In the meantime. College Station offi
cials have been trying to draw up six equal
wards in the city. The ward boundaries
were to have been submitted to the Jus
tice Department for review by the Federal
Voting Rights Commission by Sept. 1.
The city council has encountered diffi
culty in drawing up the boundaries be
cause state and federal laws produce con
flict.
State law says ward lines cannot cross
county commissioner’s or judicial precinct
lines. Federal law says the wards must be
equal in population and must not split up
ethnic or racial minorities.
In a meeting with the county commis
sioners’ court last month, the commission-
(See HEARING, Page 2.)
Alumnus
honored
Saturday
By MARTHA MUGG
“Come to Texas A&M College, where
we make men out of boys,” Capt. Andrew
M oses, commandant of the Corps of
Cadets, invited young Ernest Langford in
1909. . .
That invitation has stuck in Langford’s
mind all these years as the event that
started his lifelong association with the
school. Langford is being honored this
Saturday at the dedication of the Ernest
Langford Architectural Center. Although
Langford has never seen the new portion of
the building, both it and the present ar
chitecture building were designed by his
former student Harwood K. Smith, Class of
’35.
“The last thing we needed was a fifteen-
story tower,” Langford said of the rest of
the new architecture on campus. He feels
the Oceanography and Meteorology Build
ing ruins the main approach to the campus.
He wouldn’t begrudge the new blue water
tower “If they’d only put it somewhere
else.” Preferring uniformity in building
height (four-story), Langford’s list of “good
buildings” on campus includes the
Krueger-Dunn complex and the MSC.
Langford left many notes and articles in
the archives, including a bound mimeog
raph tracing the history of every building
on campus, from Old Main and Gathright
Hall through the present Architecture
Building, when he retired in 1971.
Looking at the campus today, Langford
said the biggest change was the admission
of women. He added that students today
are undoubtedly better prepared, though
not necessarily smarter, than those of the
past. Langford believes where the student
finally ends up ultimately depends on what
he does for himself.
Battalion photo by Ruth Marie Cowie
Natural beauty
Cute, little girls are not usually thought of as being tree climbers,
but when you put the two together, one can see the beauty of
nature blend together. Amy Parks (above), who lives at 800 A
Cross St. in College Station, is the neighbor of the photographer.
hina mourns Mao
The central committee of the Chinese
Communist party issued an appeal for un
ity, and reports from China indicated the
people were calm as they mourned their
revolutionary leader.
“All papers devote the entire front page
to a huge portrait of Chairman Mao Tse-
tung bordered in black,’’ the official
Hsinhua news agency said today in a
broadcast monitored here. It said news
papers used the banner headline: “Eternal
glory to our great leader and teacher
Chairman Mao Tse-tung.”
Peking residents contacted by telephone
Called ‘short term’ measure
said flags were at half-staff through the cap
ital, nearly everyone was wearing a black
armband, some people wept and large
crowds gathered in the huge Tien An Men
Square to put white flowers at a monu
ment.
Written on the monument are Mao’s
words: “The heroes of the people are im
mortal.”
“Peking is somber,” one resident said by
telephone, “but things are very much nor
mal aside from what you would expect for
the mourning of the chairman.”
“People have severe expressions on their
faces,” a second resident said, “but there is
no high emotion. We re all impressed by
the calm atmosphere.”
Chinese broadcasts were devoted to
Mao’s passing. A resident said the broad
casts told listeners to turn their grief into
strength, to follow Mao’s will be build a
socialist system in China and to continue
efforts for unity.
The Japanese newspaper Asahi quoted
an aged Chinese as saying, “The most sor
rowful moment has come. We have lost
Chairman Mao, Premier Chou En-Lai and
Marshal Chu Teh in one year. This year is
the saddest for our country since its founda
tion.”
City adopts master plan
By JAMIE AITKEN
Battalion City Editor
College Station City Councilmen last
night adopted a master plan for the city,
but acknowledged that the plan fell short of
being an effective tool for the community’s
growth.
“This is a short-term, stopgap measure,”
Mayor Larry Bravenec said in presenting
the plan. He said the city was in need of a
tool to base its planning decisions.
Councilman Gary Halter admitted that
the council did not accept all parts of the
plan, but that state law required a com
prehensive plan the city.
It was noted that such a plan would give
the various city departments a guideline to
follow in decisions of land use, transporta
tion and streets, sewage and utilities.
The plan, called the Pinnell Plan after
the designing firm, Pinnell Associates, has
been under consideration by the council
for 18 months.
The Pinnell study was criticized during
the meeting as being sadly representative
of College Station today. Mary Ellen Mar
tin, Student Government liaison to the
council, asked that the Pinnell Plan not be
considered, and that a fully acceptable plan
be developed instead. Another student,
Jerri Ward, said the city should operate
without a master plan entirely.
Councilman Jim Dozier said he thought
the existing zoning map constituted a com
prehensive plan. Councilmen agreed that
the biggest problem was defining the term
“comprehensive plan.”
The vote to accept the Pinnell Plan as a
short-term master plan carried with the
approval of Councilmen Lane Stephenson,
Anne Hazen and Halter. Dozier and Coun
cilman Jim Gardner voted nay; Larry
Ringer was absent.
In other business, councilmen resolved
to fund the Community Appearance
Committee for a $500 study of trees in Col
lege Station. Through the aid of aerial in
frared photography , trees will be studied
for the incidence of death by disease.
Bravenec was authorized to request con-
Police battle illegal parking
Battalion photo by Kevin Venner
Battle protection
The wrapping of the cannon bone is an important part of injury
prevention during polo matches. This part of the horse, which
corresponds to the shin bone in man, is susceptible to powerful
blows from the players’ mallets and unless covered, the bone can
be easily broken. The wrap is insurance against serious injury, said
one player, but is no guarantee against breakage. Debbie Asistent
(above), a member of the Texas A&M Polo Club, prepares her
horse for a workout.
Students who choose to forsake campus
parking will find little refuge in the area
north of Texas A&M. Local businesses and
city police are currently combating illegal
parking in an effort to keep parking lots
clear. According to Bernie Gessner, presi
dent of the Northgate Merchants Associa
tion, “We re just interested, as busi
nessmen, in maximum traffic flow.”
The area in question includes the North-
gate and University Square shopping com
plexes, as well as other businesses,
churches and vacant lots, located directly
north of the A&M campus. Students are
seeking parking in these locations in an
effort to stay nearer to classes.
According to Chief O.L. Luther of the
University Police Department, however,
these areas are relatively the same distance
from the center of campus as the more
distant student lots on the south side of the
university, located near Kyle Field. Luther
suggests that if students would park in
these lots (56 and 61) “ we could alleviate
some of the problem.”
Gessner, who operates the University
Cleaners on College Main, says, “There’s
never going to be enough parking.”
Gessner and other area merchants are
attempting to use a nearby vacant lot, con
trolled by Aggieland Studies, for the own
parking. This, he says, should clear more
space for customers.
Gessner and other merchants are not
complaining about customer’s parking, but
rather prolonged use of available space by
A&M students. Several streets in the area
are set up to accommodate one hour and
two hour parking. Gessner says students
will park in these spaces and spend the day
in school, closing off space to short-term
customers.
Gessner claims it hurts business and
“engenders a lot of hard feelings.” Gessner
suggests a certain “arrogance” among car
owners and adds, “A parking place is not a
God-given right.”
Captain Edgar Feldman of the College
Station Police Department admits,’There
is a problem over there (Northgate) with
the vehicles.” According to Feldman, Col
lege Sation Police can do nothing about the
situation itself, but can only continue to
enforce existing laws.
These laws leave police powerless to
ticket automobiles not on public property.
Citizens and businesses are left with the
task of clearing unwanted vehicles from
their property.
City ordinances, (one specifically covers
the Northgate area), allow complainants to
remove these vehicles by tow truck, at the
owner’s expense. In this situation, police
are notified by the wrecker services and
attempt to locate the owner. Feldman says
owners usually call in and claim their car as
being stolen before the police can even
contact them.
Some businesses employ the use of
wrecker services to patrol their lots. A&M
Wrecker Service, which controls the Uni
versity Square parking lot, (Skaggs Al
bertsons, Mitchell’s, etc.), through a con
tract with Culpepper Properties, refuses to
disclose details of their operation; but, ac
cording to Officer Linda Andrews of the
College Station Police, “their business is
pretty good.” Andrews says, “If they find a
car that’s not supposed to be there, they get
thrown out real quick.”
Andrews, a 24-year-old graduate of
A&M, has been patrolling Northgate on a
regular 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. beat since mid-
August. She says, on the average, she hands
out 20 parking tickets a day.
Oddly enough, College Station parking
tickets cost the offender $3, while Univer
sity Police parking tickets cost $5, which
makes it cheaper to violate city law.
Feldman adds, however, that vehicles
violating city law will be ticketed daily.
After repeated violations, the vehicle’s
owner may be contacted. The only instance
in which the police will have vehicle towed
away is when that vehicle is in a position
where it might cause some danger, either
to the vehicle itself or to passing au
tomobiles or citizens. In a situation where a
vehicle must be moved, Feldman says the
vehicle will be removed by one of the
wrecker services that the city has on rota
tion. “It’s nothing we enjoy doing,”
Feldman says, “but for the safety of
everyone concerned, we do it.”
The offenders are apparently not all stu
dents. Andrews claims that some mer
chant’s vehicles are parked illegally. She
suggests that merchant parking in the va
cant lot should “help a whole lot.”
Andrews says her usual procedure is to
place chalk on the tires on one and two hour
spaces. If she returns after the appropriate
time period and finds the chalk still on the
tires, she tickets them. Some people, she
says, will drive their cars around the block
every hour, just to escape ticketing.
Cadets blame
Borman’s son
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Despite denials, two
men convicted in West Point’s cheating
scandal stand by their sworn allegations
that former astronaut Frank Borman’s son
accepted a $1,200 bribe to “fix” an honor
code case while he was a cadet.
The son, Army Capt. Frederick Borman,
denied the charge and offered to take a lie
detector test to settle the issue.
The two cadets who are accused in the
affidavits of having bribed Borman to fix a
plebe’s case also denied the allegation.
But the two members of the Class of 1977
who signed the statements refused to re
cant when told of the denials late Thursday.
One of them said he had learned of the
incident from two friends who told him
they in turn had heard of it from the alleged
bribers. The second cadet said the two al
leged bribers had boasted of their deed to
him and to others in their cadet company.
tract information from the Bureau of the
Census in Washington, D.C. after council
members expressed interest in a special
census of College Station. City Manager
North Bardell said that if the increase in the
city’s population is documented in the cen
sus, it could mean an increase of at least
$58,000 in revenue sharing funds for the
year. The census has an estimated cost of
$15,000.
The council agreed to consider an
amendment to its new wrecker ordinance
that would require wrecker to display their
names and phone numbers for owners of
cars that have been towed away. The new
ordinance allows anyone meeting security
requirements to operate a wrecker service
in the city.
The council denied a variance request
for a 160-foot curb cut in the development
of a proposed 14-unit apartment complex
on Meadowland Street, behind Ramada
Inn. Councilmen denied the request
unanimously, citing substandard de
velopment of the complex and a look to
ward better development of the area in the
future.
The complex, if reduced to 12 units,
would be within city building require
ments and no variance would be necessary.
Martin opposed the council’s decision in
light of the current housing shortage.
Bravenec responded that the shortage
might well be oyer in five years, and that
the council was making long-range deci
sions. He said his decision was based on
providing for quality development for the
future, and not on substandard building for
immediate problems.
The council also changed zoning along
University Drive from Jane Street to
MacArthur. The property will be zoned
Administrative-Professional District two
lots deep along these blocks.
r
Index
It’s still not too late to register to
vote. Page 2.
Classifieds. Page 4.
A history of the engineering school
at A&M is reviewed on Page 5.
The Over the Wall column begins
today. Page 6.
Batt Picks of this weekend’s win
ners are on Page 8.
Parking problems
All Texas A&M University stu
dents should move their vehicles out
of parking lots 48, 56, 60, 61, and 62
by 10 a.m. on hometown game days.
University Police Chief O. L.
Luther warned yesterday.
Students need to move their vehi
cles from those areas so that visitors
will have a place to park, Luther
said. “I suggest that Lot 50, (East of
Zachry,) is a good place for students
to park their vehicles during this
time.”