Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 1977)
Battalion Vol. 71 No. 16 Thursday, September 22, 1977 News Dept. 845-2611 10 Pages College Station, Texas Business Dept. 845-2611 Lance resigns from post; Carter maintains loyalty United Press International WASHINGTON — The Bert Lance af fair is over. President Carter, deprived.of his closest friend and adviser in govern ment, must find a new budget director. No matter who fills Lance’s chair at the Office of Management and Budget, the re lationship will not be the same. T don’t think there is any way I could find anyone to replace Bert Lance who would be as competent, as strong, as de cent and as elpse to me as a friend and adviser as he’s been,’ Carter said, near tears during a nationally televised news conference Wednesday. ‘His replacement will be adequate, of course,” Carter added. “But I don’t think I can find anyone to (truly) replace him.” Lance, who remained popular and ami able to the end, gave no indication of when he intends to leave the nation’s capital and return to Georgia. Carter promised there would be an “or derly transition” in the budget office. He said Lance’s chief aides at OMB — deputy director, James McIntyre, Bow man Cutter and Harrison Welford — were “highly competent” and would carry on until a new budget director is selected. Because McIntyre handled most of the day-to-day activities at OMB, speculation has centered on his taking over Lance’s job. However, Carter may want to bring in an outsider with stronger ties to the busi ness community. Lance was considered the administration’s “ambassador” to busi ness. The reason for Lance’s exit from na tional politics involved subjects that were foreign to most Americans — "corre spondent relationships” between banks and the double pledge of collateral to ob tain loans, for instance. Also, there were allegations almost everybody understood — check overdrafts and contradictions of sworn testimony. Lance and Carter met for 45 minutes before dawn Monday to discuss the situa tion and review each allegation that had been lodged. “I told Bert I thought he had exonerated himself completely,” Carter said at his news conference. He said he asked Lance “to make his own decision about what his choice would be. The decision came Tuesday afternoon when, according to Carter, Lance told him he thought it was best to leave Washing ton. The President was somber and unsmil ing throughout the news conference. He made it quite clear he would remain loyal to the end. “Bert Lance is my friend, he said. “I know him, personally, as well as if he was my own brother. I know him without any doubt in my mind or heart to be a good and an honorable man.” Carter read the letter from Lance, drafted with the assistance of respected at torney Clark Clifford, which said it was important to Lance "that my name ami reputation be cleared. . . I believe this has been done. As I said at the Senate hearings, my conscience is clear.” And then came the line that hurt Lance — and obviously Carter —- the most. “I have decided to submit my resigna tion as director of OMB. I desire to return to my native state of Georgia. May qualify Some students eligible for food stamps Battalion photo by Ken Herrera Ummm good! tk Johnston, new Saddle & Sirloin Club member, used his face to rch for a jelly bean buried in a mound of floor at Wednesday’s iation. (See related story this page.) By KARIN KNAPP Food stamps aren’t just for the poor. Many Texas A£cM University students are unaware that they may be eligible to re ceive food stamp benefits. Georgie Heyde, food stamp supervisor for the Brazos County Department of Human Resources in Bryan, said she is trying to enroll more eligible people in the Food Stamp Program. The program was originally established to improve the nutrition levels of low- income families. "I don’t feel we re reaching people adequately,” Heyde said this week. "I doubt if we have 50 or 60 student house holds using food stamps. Students either cases reported in 6 years Many co-eds fear rape on campus By JOHNNIE HENDON irts of rape may just be rumors, but ittack is a reality on the Texas A&M . Many women admit being afraid the campus alone after dark or ride ittle bus at night. Jones, a sophomore, said she heard ere many rapes at A&M before she 1. lever. Colonel Parsons, director of jty and traffic with the University e Department, said there has not ^reported case of rape on campus in Kt six years. pre are reports of minor attacks,” Is said, “such as guys grabbing girls, py don’t turn out to be serious rape of the victims of a “minor attack” |eincident was not very serious, but Is disturbed because it occurred in a lit area on a main campus street, cadded that there was no one around dime of the attack. veral other women have said they f feel safer if lighting was better in all especially around the Rudder eom- and )n the north edge of campus. Ions said that although some areas are better lit than others, the campus is patroled at night and is safe. He said the A&M campus is safer than most college campuses because of a friendlier attitude students here have to ward each other. Many students agree that rape is not as likely to happen here because of the fear of retribution from other students. “There is less chance of rape because of the spirit,” said sophomore Dennis Webb. “Aggies are more grouped together like brothers and sisters. We re protective of our fellow students.” Despite this attitude, fear of attack is one of the main reasons most women enroll in the self-defense classes offered by Free University, said Mike Buttle, self- defense intructor. Buttle said common sense, such as stay ing away from poorly lit areas, is the best defense against attack. Steve Powell, owner of Brazos Valley Karate and Nautilus, said he was recently asked to give self-defense demonstrations to various wives’ clubs and sororities. “I think they’re especially interested now that the campus has gotten so big. There are bound to be some deviants out there,” he said. \ity Councils at odds er Northgate area By MARK POWER ible disruption of sanitary sewer serv- Northgate businesses and residents e College Station City Council in a la. regular session Wednesday after- the council considered several pro to solve the fight between Bryan »llege Station over sewage disposal. troversy centers around a 10-year- lim by Bryan that the sewer lines g the area of Northgate within Col lation city limits are overloaded and ;ed to be replaced or re-routed soon, sently, College Station and Bryan sewer lines along their city limits in Northgate area. 'an has claimed in the past that the are being used to capacity and that rannot handle the required load, liege Station officials are unsatisfied hat approach and took measures yes- ' to break from the Bryan sewage n. ryan is going to make us spend y,” said Councilman Jim Dozier, should get out all the way.” zicr referred to a plan that woidd the city build a new pipeline to a Je treatment plant west of the High- i by-pass. lat City Manager North Bardell ed “the most economically feasible would have College Station build an indent pipeline incorporating 8, (XX) >f gravity flow piping. A new lift sta tion for pumping the sewage would be built near the intersection of University Drive and Texas Avenue. The cost of the project was not im mediately available, but Bardell estimated the construction costs at $815,(XX). A recent bond election allots $360,000 for sewage construction, leaving $450,000 that would have to be provided by the city' before construction could begin. Bryan currently is considering a plan that would construct a new pipeline in the Northgate area parallel to existing lines and linking up with other Bryan city lines, a plan that might force College Station to adopt the plan considered in Wednesday' s meeting. Council member Gary Halter suggested that the city manager inquire about shar ing the costs of construction of a new pipeline with Bryan. Halter was also con cerned about how the city was going to pay for this proposed plan. “We need a capital improvements committee, said Halter during the meet ing. “It is time for a comprehensive review of our capital needs. Mayor Lorence Bravenee placed the pipe financing plan on the agenda for the first city council workshop following Wed nesday’s meeting. In conjunction with the proposed plan, it was recommended that Bardell pursue an old plan attempting to create a Brazos County regional authority that would con trol disposal of both cities’ sewage, in addi tion to Texas A&M University sewage. are unaware they may qualify or have qualms about applying for the stamps, maybe because of their status or because their parents wouldn’t appreciate them using food stamps.” A “common” student household, Heyde explained, consists of a graduate degree candidate with a family. Such a household might pay $0-142 for $166 worth of stamps monthly, she said. Students whose parents claim them as tax deductions are not eligible to receive food stamps, but Heyde said there is no way to be certain that a student is a tax deduction. “It’s easy when you’re filling out the ap plication form to check no’ in the box that asks if you are a tax deduction,” Heyde said. It may sound simple to lie on the eight- page application, but Heyde said candi dates for food stamps are interviewed for an hour as part of the application process. The social workers who interview the ap plicants are highly trained and experi enced, she said, and can usually spot a person who is lying. “We’re not looking for dishonesty,” Heyde said. “We look at the case as a whole. If an applicant is telling us a big story, we can usually tell.” Heyde said there has been no problem with students using food stamps fraudu lently this year because most of them withdraw from the program before they receive benefits. “I believe they get scared,” she said. “If we suspect a case of fraud, we call the fraud unit in Austin and they do a com plete investigation.” Food stamp fraud has been a felony since May, 1977, punishable by fine or imprisonment, Heyde said. Misuse of food stamps is uncommon in Bryan-College Station because recipients are counseled on the use of the coupons, she said. Since the program came to Brazos County in 1971, merchants have become familiar with what food stamps can and cannot buy, she added. Oliver Bishop, store director of Skaggs, said he has not noticed any intentional misuse of food stamps at Skaggs. “We have our checkers check these things carefully,” Bishop said. "Sometimes people misunderstand what can and can’t be bought with the stamps, but I don’t think many people do it intentionally.” Only edible items may be bought with the stamps; dog food, paper produc ts, de tergents, alcoholic beverages and ciga rettes cannot be obtained with the* stamps. Eligibility is determined according to nationwide standards for income and work registration. The amount of coupons allo cated is based on the number of persons in a household and their net income after de ductions. Deductions include expenses for educa tion, child care, income tax, shelter costs, social security, required union dues, court-ordered child support, medical ex penses over $10, arid 10 per cent of earned income up to $30 per month. A household may not have resources worth more than $1,500. A house, ear (two if needed for work), personal belongings, household goods, life insurance policies and pension funds are considered resources. One person living alone w hose monthly income is not more than $262 is entitled to $52 worth of food stamps. A household of four persons, whose monthly income is not more than $567 a month, is eligible for food stamps worth $166 a month. The food stamps represent an average saving of 40 cents on the dollar. To apply for food stamps, an application must be filled out and the candidate inter viewed. Rent receipts, bank statements, utility bills, proof of medical bills and proof of all income in a household must be* brought to the interview. “As long as someone fits the rules for income and resources and w e can see how they pay their bills, we have to give them stamps, social worker Bonnie Rahe said. After eligibility is established, food stamp recipients get an ATP (authorization to purchase) card which must be pres ented to buy the stamps. Stamps are sold at post offices, and only cash is accepted. Heyde said she wants more people to benefit from food stamps, which are no dif ferent than any other type of grant-in-aid, she said. College Station backs Easterwood operation Battalion photo by Dick Wells Walking across Texas A&M’s “friendly” campus at night may not be safe for women. Initiation unpleasant at times; but, there’s always next year By MARSHA MOULDER “Let me out!” cried Shirley Williams as her teeth chattered on a warm Wednesday night at the Saddle & Sirloin Club initia tion. About 200 new members of the Saddle & Surloin Club were inflicted with the chilling experience of standing in a tub of ice water w hile old members drilled them with questions concerning the club. The club is made up of students interested in the animal industries. The new members also were subjected to an “egg bombing”. They had to lie on their backs and hold paper cups in their mouths while initiators tried to hit the cups with the eggs. More often than not, the egg-tossers missed the cups. “This is a good way to get to know people,” said Dennis McBroom, an offi cial tormentor, as he introduced oiie of the races in which the initiates had to com pete. There was a “down on the farm atmo sphere during the penny-finding test. The penny was submerged in a bucket of cow feces. The new members were “branded w ith syrup and flour. First, they were in structed to pick a piece of candy out of a bowl of syrup with their teeth. Then, using only parts of their faces, they had to find a jelly bean in a mound of flour. After all the new members completed the tests, Pete Gibbs, Agriculture Council Representative for the club, welcomed everyone to “the largest club at Texas A&M University." He expressed his con fidence that everyone would feel that the initiation was worth while once they lx*- came involved in the club’s activities. Pete reminded the new members that next year they would get their chance to bring dis comfort to the club’s newcomers. By GARY WELCH The College Station City Council Wed nesday passed a resolution supporting con tinued operation of Easterwood Airport's control tower, joining the Bryan City Council and Texas A&M University in protesting the tower’s proposed shut down. In a unanimous vote, the council re quested that the Federal Aviation Admin istration (FAA) keep the tower open. “I think this whole proposal to close the tower borders on the absurd. Council man Lane Stephenson remarked. He w'as referred to an FAA study re leased earlier this month that projected Easterwood s tower would cost more than it s worth from 1978 to 1992. The study named 73 towers in the nation, six in Texas, whose costs outweigh their bene fits. If the FAA implements this study, Eas terwood s tower will be closed. Stephenson said he believes the idea of closing the tower resulted from adminis trative error. He noted that the FAA re cently upgraded the airport. He pointed out that Easterwood serves a five county area, and that from Sept. 1, 1976 to Aug. 31, 1977 the airport experi enced a 16.5 per cent increase in service over the same period a year earlier. He said people need to support the airport more than in the past. Mayor Lorence Bravenee suggested tax ing commercial passengers and using the revenue to support the airport. He ap pointed a committee comprised of Coun cilman Jim Dozier, Stephenson and him self to enger tax. fA&M-Tech game to be broadcast on closed-circuit The Class of 78 and the* Texas A&M Athletic Department are sponsoring a live, color, closed- circuit broadcast of the Texas A&M-Texas 'l ech football game. Student tickets with IDs are S3 and date tickets are $5. Tickets will be on sale Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at C. Rollic White Coliseum. If available, general public tickets will go on sale Saturday at 4 p.m. and will cost $5. “We set this up lx*cause so many students wanted to go to the game. Wally Groff, assistant athletic direc tor for business affairs, said. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. The game will bo shown on a 12- by 15-foot screen. Concessions will be available.