The Battalion Vol. 71 No. 26 10 Pages Thursday, October 6, 1977 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Inside Today: Gradparents hit the books, p. 7 A few ways to skip the books, p. 6 A conference look at the history books, p. 9 Student Senate rejects research committee bill Vench, audience favorite, vins national talent contest Battalion photo by Ken Herrera The sun and the clouds he bright rays of the sun penetrated one the many clouds in the sky last eek creating a mystic impression in the skies. By LIZ NEWLIN Battalion Staff A move to take power away from Texas A&M University’s student body president to appoint members of the blood drive re search committee failed Wednesday night in the Student Senate. The bill would have given the student government vice president for student af fairs authority to appoint a research com mittee to investigate Wadley Blood Bank and the Red Cross each year and recom mend which firm should be used in the Aggie Blood Drive. Vicki Young, vice president for student services, said a subcommittee of student senators would be unbiased and not ob jected, to members of groups which work with the blood drive recommending which firm should be used. “There is inherent bias in a system of that sort,” she said. “I don’t feel we can provide an objective look at these firms now.” Student Body President Robert Harvey said, T welcome the idea of legislative committees that are counterparts of execu tive committees . . . because of its inertia, an executive committee will not change for any reason but its own.” Harvey said since it is “the student’s blood,” they should have input through the Student Senate. Senator Lynn Gibson objected to the bill. He said it was not a legislative action to decide who would be on the research committee, but only to approve its rec oin mendation. Gibson added that groups which must work with the firm (Student Government, Alpha Phi Omega and Omega Phi Alpha) deserve a voice in choosing a firm. The Senate defeated the bill 40 to 16. Senator Joe Beall won approval to offer Texas A&M University as a site for the spring Texas Student Association conven tion. Beall said if Texas A&M hosted the convention, the student body “would have a chance to become more well-versed in student government.” Beall said he could not confirm details of the convention until later, but it will in clude workshops on student government. The convention is tentatively scheduled for March or April 1978. The Senate also approved a $958 alloca tion for 16 senators to attend the fall Texas Students’ Association convention at North Texas State University in Denton. Texas A&M students serve on the board of direc tors of the association. Lighting for the intramural complex across Welborn Road was discussed in the first reading of a resolution recommending that action. By MARK PENNY ^French has passed the first step on auway to a national television ap- anee. ■irteen acts performed on the local i ™n es day night in Rudder Theater 6 ,7, Hope Search for the Top in 13 1 Talent. French, the audience , lte , won. of the contestants offered musical t'n the talent show was on! 3 ° rms entertainment. The irk!/ 15 s °nie combination of band ° Ca * S ^Pi an i S t exce P t ^ or one The seven judges were all connected in some form or another to music. The acts were judged on technical excellence, showmanship and professionalism, and treatment and interpretation of material. Many of the entertainers wrote their own material. French was a member of that group. French performed three numbers. The first, “Mutiny of the Red Sky,” was a bal lad. “Blue Shadows” is the opening number to a “space opera” French is writ ing. The thrid number was written by St. Williams, one of French’s “favorite conn- udge rules confession voluntary’; can be used By SCOTT PERKINS W !|; nfe f ion of capital murder sus- ...” , er Joe Coleman was ruled “vol- y Both District Judge W. C. ebv r, 3 P fe h ear ing Wednesday, Permitting the use of the confes- ima e n UPt '° ming triaI “ . •tinu r 1S accuse d of robbing and i; arry T Baugh, a Texas A&M b Div , ^ raon when arrested, will be released in his own custody if he is able to raise the sum. Dist. Atty. Tom McDonald protested, saying he did not want a capital murder suspect on the streets. Judge Davis offered to schedule a hearing on a motion to re voke Coleman’s probation, but the date was not set. Severity-two motions were presented to the court, most of which involved the dis closure of evidence held by the prosecu tion. Numerous requests were made by the defense for court-appointed specialists in such areas as chemistry and firearms to re peat tests which already had been made by the state. Judge Davis offered the defense results of those tests, but refused to have the county pay for similar tests. The defense was granted a motion which restrained the prosecution from tel ling the jury that the state would be “happy” to execute the defendent if he was found guilty. ,, , ,, , Judge Davis said he would hold under advisement a defense motion to restrict press coverage of the trial. No date was set for the next hearing. The first reading of a bill or resolution is an opportunity for senators to learn about the bill; the Senate will debate and vote on the measure at their next meeting Oct. 19. Dennis Gorrington, director if in tramural activities, answered questions about the lighting plan. “I don’t know where the money would come from,” Gorrington said. Several sources are available to the Texas A&M board of regents. If the past is an indicator, he said, the money, would not come from student service fees. He estimated the cost would be about $160,000. “We would havg no less than five times the facility by lighting it (softball fields),” Gorrington added. He explained if the softball fields were lighted, 266 games a week could be scheduled. Without lights, 126 games can be played on 14 fields. The number of possible football games would increase from 210 to 410 per week. “Hopefully, the quality of officiating would improve,” Gorrington said. If stu dent officials could work longer shifts, they could be better trained, he said. Another item to receive a first reading was a resolution to create an Intramural Council to “oversee the operations of the Intramural Program.” The nine-member board would have advisory and policy-making functions in the regulation of intramurals and the ap proval or disapproval of the Intramural Budget. “The council would, we hope, have the authority to divy it (the budget) up,” Har vey said. Students have no voice to the president concerning intramurals, said Gorrington. The council, he said, could provide stu dent input. But Gorrington said the council’s policy-making authority would “hamsting” the intramural staff. Most universities which have similar boards only allow them to advise on in tramurals, Gorrington said. A proposal for easily accessible dorm di rectories also received a first reading in the three-and-a-half-hour meeting. Joe Nixon, Resident Housing Associa tion president, asked, “How in the heck are you (the Senate) going to make the dorms do this?” Harvey said he would ask the dorms or “I’ll go around at night and do it.” Action on the bill will be taken at the next meet ing. Senators defeated a by-law revision which would have required four senators to speak on an issue before it could be voted on. Senators also heard a first reading on resolution to place Student Radio under the control of the executive branch of Stu dent Government. “The Student Radio Board has proved to be ineffective in handling its fiscal respon sibilities, as is evidence by the $5,783.64 debt (owed internally to Student Govern ment),” the resolution stated. In other business, the Senate passed a student service fee procedure resolution and heard first reading of a bill to rescind a bill creating a “committee on committees” passed last year. Harvey nominated seven students to fill senate vacancies, the nominations were approved by the Senate. New Senators are Frank Box, Jeanette Faye Alterhoff, J. David Sandlin, William C. Altman, John K. McNutt, Virginia Lee van Hardevelt and Dara M. Flinn. Harvey also appointed Bill Rademacher to the University Planning Committee and himself to the University Center Board. Proposal answers proposal Council wants cooperation By RUSTY CAWLEY Battalion City Editor Cooperation, yet. Merger, no. The College Station City Council an swered Bryan City Manager Lou Odle’s proposal to merge the two cities with a proposal of its own. Cooperation, not merger, is the answer to the water and sewerage problems that face the two cities, the council says in a letter approved yesterday. "If we cannot cooperate on simple mat ters such as water and sewerage, the let ter asks, “how can we cooperate in the larger framework of the merger?” Cooperation, the letter says, is “the only feasible approach. The letter, expected to be mailed this week, turns down Bryan’s plan and out lines the council’s reasons for doing so. Bryan city officials suggest that merging the two cities and sharing public services will save tax money. But the College Sta tion City Council calls this idea “a myth. " The larger the city, the more money spent per resident, the council says in the letter. Differ dices in approach to land use is another point for dismissing merger, the council says. College Station has strict laws governing land use, including ordinances on eom- News Analysis mercial landscape, parklands and com mercial signs. “Bryan has seen fit not to adopt these land use controls,” the letter says. The council also opposes involving Col lege Station residents in Bryan Utilities, a power company owned by Bryan. The utilities company has been plagued with problems, among them losing Col lege Station as a customer. College Station is phasing Bryan Utilities out of its system, replacing it with Gulf States Utilities, Co. It thus is our position that a merger is much more complicated than deciding what the ‘new town would be called," the letter concludes. The letter is expected to be signed by College Station City Manager North Bar- dell. The letter is another in a series of pro posals and counter-proposals concerning sewerage problems in the Northgate area of College Station. Bryan, which presently handles North- gate’s sewerage, wants College Station to handle the sewerage itself. College Station doesn’t have the facilities to do so. Bryan has offered to annex the North- gate area from College Station, an offer the council answered with a firm “no." The next Bryan proposal was to merge the two cities, a proposal College Station s council never took seriously. try writers. ” It was the “Long Gone Lone some Blues.” After the contest French said his former roommate talked to him about entering the contest. French said he learned to play in the sixth grade on his little brother’s guitar. A 23-year-old senior from Beaumont, French began performing in high school with friends. “We use to play at Lions Clubs and old women’s clubs,” French said. He said one of the things he enjoyed about singing for women’s organizations was watching their faces when he would sing “Daddy Please Don’t Get Drunk At Christmas.” His repertoir consists of some 260 songs. French works weekends at the Tokyo Steak House as an entertainer. He has also performed in the Basement Coffeehouse, Mr. Gatti’s and Peanut Gallery. He said in November he would proba bly put on a concert in the Basement since he doesn’t get a chance to perform there very often anymore. Formerly a meteorology major, French changed to the communication depart ment this year. He is interested in the broadcasting field. French is currently a disc jockey at WTAW-AM. French said he considered the work another form of entertaining. He said it was just as enjoyable as performing. Previous broadcasting experience con sisted of working at KANM, the student radio station, and KAMU, Texas A&M University’s educational radio station. Ethel shared the spotlight with French. Ethel is his guitar. He named it after his great-grand mother. “She was a cool of woman. I think she would have smoked marijuana,” French said. The next step for French is the area con test to be held at Wayland Baptist College in Plainview, on October 21-22. Section finals will be held at Texas A&M in December. Kansas City will host the national finals in January. The national winner will perform on a Bob Hope television special in February. Hot summer y recent rains produce ‘cricket explosion By STEVE MAYER You’ve probably seen them. They’re those little insects swarm ing all over the Bryan-College Sta tion area. They’re the ones squashed under your feet and car tires, jumping up your pant leg and around in your room. The recent large number of field crickets in the area is due to favor able environmental conditions when their eggs were laid last spring, said Phil Ham man, entomologist for the Texas Agricultural Extension Serv ice. Female crickets can lay 150 to 400 eggs, Hamman said. A dry, hot summer produced cracks in the soil and gave the young crickets a shelter against predators. Recent rains have provided favor able weather and green food sources for the crickets, he said. “Add these reasons together,” Hamman said, “and you’ve got a hell of a lot of crickets.” Hamman noted that environmental conditions change; a lot of crickets this year doesn ’t mean there will be an abundance next year. He said an extremly large number of them can damage crops, but that it is a rare occurence. Inside a house, they will feed mainly on ny lon, wool, and plastic fibers. “The cricket population will start to decline through the next 2-3 weeks,” Hamman said. He said most of the crickets which are now mating, will be dead by the first freeze. Hamman also gave advice on how to cope with them the next few weeks. By keeping fewer outside lights on at night, the crickets will stop migrating toward houses. Household insecticides can be used to kill crickets found around doors, windows, and baseboards. Picking up litter and lawn clip pings will decrease the number of shelters for the crickets. Battalion photo by Ken Herrera