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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 1977)
The Battalion l/ol. 71 No. 41 12 Pages Thursday, October 27, 1977 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Inside Today: Former councilman sues Consol Board of Equalization, p. 3 Medieval combat thrives in Aggie- land, p. 10 Ags face third freshman quarter back, p, 11 Dr. Williams wants A&M out of airport operations Battalion photo by Ouina Cochran A spider s view eless Lb. 8? *1.4 row Variety >f Package Sizes! Some A&M students find the lack of mail discouraging — hence, the myth of the spider-in-the-mailbox. Beth Scott and Lynne Andrus of 285 Mosher have gone one step further by hanging their own plastic spider linside their Commons-area mailbox. “We started out joking about never ’having any mail for the spiders in our mailbox to eat,” Scott said. Wilbur, the plastic spider, has been hanging in the lonely mailbox for almost three weeks. Wilbur’s photograph was taken from inside the box. Don’t ask how. By GARY WELCH Texas A&M University should get out of the airport business, Chancellor Jack Williams said .Wednesday. Texas A&M sponsors Easterwood Airport and provides funds for maintenance and construction, but Williams said he would like more local support for the airport. “The airport is important to A&M, but I’ve always thought it was a community airport,” Williams said. “Any money com ing out of A&M’s budget for the airport benefits the entire community.” Williams expressed his views to the Texas Aeronautics Commision (TAG) at a Texas Airport System Plan (TASP) regional planning meeting held Wednesday at Texas A&M to discuss the airport de velopment needs of Brazos, Leon, Madi son and Robertson counties. Williams said the University cannot fund the airport from state money or from restricted university funds (those desig nated only for specific university pur poses. Only money from certain grant funds and aviation fuel sales and hanger rentals can be used by A&M to help fund Easterwood. “When we use grant money,” he said, “it is lost for any other purposes.” TAG airport planner Jim McCausland said Easterwood is one of the few airports in Texas not sponsored by a city or county. A sponsor’s funds are matched with state or federal funds to build and maintain air port facilities, he said, and if the sponsor has a limited money supply the airport will suffer. “I would like to make Easterwood a re gional airport to provide for a wider finan cial base,” Williams said. Possibly the counties in this region (Brazos, Leon, Madison and Robertson) could sponsor the airport, he said. Under the TASP, state funds (limited to $75,000 in any given year) are matched one-to-one with local funds to provide for airport upkeep. Under the federal gov ernment’s Planning Grant Program (PGP) and Airport Development Aid Program (ADAP), 80 percent federal funds are matched with 20 percent local funds for the same purpose. “We badly need to get some consensus of local support, McCausland said. “We want the community to pick up the damn ball and carry it. We would like very much to get A&M out of the airport business and let them concentrate on education.” Ed Davis, Texas A&M’s director of management services, said that in the past the community has been content to let Texas A&M run Easterwood. An airport taxing authority (proposed in the late 1960s but never formed) did not earmark any funds for Easterwood, he added. Williams said he would like to see enough money made available to keep Easterwood a first-class airport. Since Davis Airlines (the sole passenger airline operating out of Easterwood) was recently sold to Rio Airlines, Williams said he ex pects an accompanying fare reduction to double commercial traffic. George Dresser, of the T exas Transpor tation Institute (TTI), said two improve ment projects funded under ADAP are pending at Easterwood. He said one of Easterwood’s three run ways is being considered for reconstruc tion because it is starting to crack. He added that an airport master plan study is being carried out with an em phasis on possible runway expansion to ac commodate larger jets. Williams said, “I think there is no alter native to upgrading Easterwood Airport. The airport is essential to the operations of the University. With the research we are conducting (approaching $50 million per year), we absolutely must have access to an airport.” Easterwood Airport Manager Truett Smitt said one way to raise more money for the airport would be to build more hangers to rent to private users. However, he said, the airport has no land on which to put these hangers because the FAA re quires any buildings to be at least 750 feet from the edge of a runway, and the re maining land that meets these require ments includes a 20 to 30-foot drop-off and is unfit for construction. “I will be perfectly willing to present to the A&M Board of Regents whatever re quest the airport makes for extra prop erty,” Williams said. “Plans for upgrading are no problem because the board can try to provide any land for expansion. “The best, cleanest way to meet the needs of the airport is to get community support.” According to TAG figures, about one- half million dollars of local money matched with federal funds will be needed to meet Easterwood’s building and maintenance needs over the next five years. Students participate but many don’t pay Isolation not cure for blues’ Professor has different idea $ i.i le is a 8il.' nan: i-ColM 6 Manuel Davenport. . . post-existential blues By PHYLIS WEST Isolation gives a person the same feeling that comes with listening to the blues, says Dr. Manuel Davenport, professor of phi losophy at Texas A&M. Davenport, speaking at Rudder Tower Wednesday night, presented his lecture “Post-Existential Blues,” dealing with the trend away from existentialism. His speech was part of the Texas A&M lecture series. Existentialism which stresses alienation, seeks to find a solution for the so-called blues. The philosopher Sartre first realized that isolation results in “a sort of sloppy sufier- ing,” said Davenport. The American blues music best expressed this feeling. Draft may be resumed to bolster army reserves ■ y,. United Press International .ooaj JV^HINGTON — The United States s ecide by the end of 1979 whether to ■fime the draft to provide adequate J'P° Wer f°r the dwindling military re- ' ,! y sa y s Gen. Bernard W. Rogers, the top commander. lev tti^ rm ^ °f staff said in an inter- j ' . 1at draft machinery should be reac- )hvL l( nnie diately “to register, classify, ■aS™ y 7T ine and track ..f er ' ^ decision on drafting women Committee hears bill for amendment °fniarijuana law Wictt Press International ■a, ,, UNGTON — The senator reached ‘ >’ into a packet of materials on a bill the federal criminal code and Sc ' tour very suspicious looking plas- onto the table. erv 0 C0 , nta '" e d a substance that looked w niUc 'h like marijuana, and two more Sp 10 r some hand-rolled cigarettes. _f n - J am es Eastland, D-Miss., crusty r| nan of the Judiciary Committee, Jitl It not , a w °rd. He just puffed his cigar 1 are d at Sen. Birch Bayh, D-lnd. James Abourek, D-S.D., and *anLl ( K T n ’ D ' S D -, asked Bayh if he F ’dwa.-i ?. s iar e a smoke later, while Sen. Othe Kenne dy> D-Mass., chuckled, laugh ( !j rS * n jammed committee room Bavh’^ sa id, “It’s only oregano. " (| u ' S demonstration came Wednesday wnri Comrn ‘ttee considered his amend- titut( ° r ^M 1 ° Ve udminal penalties and sub- ou * h ne for possession of up to 1^; nc f °f marijuana — an amendment lVel y approved on a 6-4 vote. also must be made if the nation turns again to non-volunteer military service, he said. "I think we are talking about two years ... because if the reserve components are as important as I think they are, we just can’t continue to postpone this problem if we don’t find a solution,” Rogers said. The deadline for a decision, he said, would be Oct. 1, 1979. The draft ended officially in early 1973. The last draftee was inducted in De cember, 1972. Volunteers for military service are plen tiful enough to fill the ranks of the active Army for the foreseeable future, he said. Conscription for weekend training mili tary reserve units would cause some prob lems, he conceded, because "you can’t draft from Buffalo for somebody to serve in Birmingham.” Resumption of the draft might be a solu tion, Rogers said, in the standby pool known as the individual ready reserve — trained soldiers that do not attend regular meetings but are on hand to provide re placements for combat losses in time of war. The pool is short more than 400,00 men and is expected to fall more than half a million men short of its required strength of 679,000 five years from now. The Army already has taken steps to in crease reserve recruiting. Other steps are planned during the next two years, he said. “After we’ve done all the things we can think of, some consideration has to be given to another solution,” Rogers said. Rogers said the. Selective Service sys tem, now in “deep standby” inactivity, should again register potential draftees because starting from scratch in a national emergency would take at least 110 days to get the first man into basic training. That time should be reduced to 30 days, he said. “The feeling of being isolated from our world, alienated from our bodies, incapa ble of love or even friendship, abandoned by God, if there is a God... to be aware of the human condition as such is to be in a state of despair, ” he told a crowd of about 150 students and faculty members. Our bodies belong to a world of things — bits of consciousness — trapped within ourselves according to the forerunners of existentialism, said Davenport. But Davenport pointed out that later philosophers found they couldn’t identify friendship in physical relationships. Sartre presented the problem as such “to be free, we must destroy all relationships with the world,” said Davenport. But the A&M professor contended that man’s rela tionships with the world are important. People often ask “What will it cost me to change?” rather than “How will my re sponse affect others,” he said. People are afraid of being the only one to change. “If I gave up all my idle belongings and joy, I’m afraid that I might be the only one,” said Davenport. Someone must step forward to give a moral example, even if there’s a chance that no one follows it. “At least when someone provides an example, there’s a chance that others will respond,” he said. The moral question, according to” Davenport, is based on the belief that reality is what man has experienced and will experience. People must either recon-“ struct their attitudes or reconstruct the world, he said. “The problem is evident in the case of a possible serious shortage of food. People would either share with others or plunge themselves into final exploitation.” Davenport believes the world would just “slip into extinction if such a food shortage occured. The point, he said, is that response to the social condition must be made. Davenport added that “living with cer tain problems is less destructive than solv- ing them. He cited the use of chemicals to combat certain diseases. But some of the chemicals, he said, in turn induce other diseases. Davenport spent most of his life in Col orado. Before entering college, he was a migrant worker picking crops along the coast of California with his family. He re ceived a bachelors degree in philosophy at Bethany Nazarene College, a masters de gree in philosophy and religion at Colorado College, and a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Illinois. He was selected by students, faculty and college deans to be this fall’s faculty lecture speaker. By GLENNA WHITLEY Battalion Staff Though many Texas A&M University students enjoy worship services and reli gious activities sponsored by local churches, most don’t contribute signifi cantly to the churches’ financial support. Of the 11 churches in College Station, eight are self-supporting. They operate solely on members’ offerings. Others re ceive funds from their respective diocese, synod or conference. Most students who attend church at col lege retain membership in their home town churches. At some of the local churches, attendance is greater than that by members who live here permanently. For instance, College Heights Assembly of God has an average attendance of 250, but only 90 members. The Grace Bible Church has an average attendance of 450, but only 80 members. Every local church has services or ac tivities geared specifically toward college students. Organizations like the A&M Methodist Wesley Foundation and the A&M Baptist Student Union provide a full range of classes, fellowships and activities for A&M students. But who supports these activities finan cially? In most instances, the permanent local members provide the funds for ac tivities, not the students who attend them. In at least one case, a College Station church is having financial problems and is attempting to get students to contribute more money. St. Mary’s Catholic Church has about 500 students who attend regu- larly. At a recent Mass, the Rev. Tom Hanus explained the problems and said the chtirch would have difficulty paying its bills for the rest of the year. He said that if - each person who came to the services would donate one dollar per week, the problems would be alleviated. He de clined to comment on the problem after the Mass, however. Rev. Andrew Seidel of the Grace Bible Church said he didn’t have figures about financial support from students. “We don’t break it down. I’d rather not know who gives what,” he said. “I would expect most of the financial support would come from the family members because they have the re sources” he said. Pastor Hugh Beck of the University Lutheran Church said his church is sup ported by the three Lutheran synods in Texas. A synod is a church governing body. “We are only here for the university. We are placed here by the District (synod) "and they support our work,” he said. “Of ferings are really quite meager. It’s not the_ fault of the students. They are not wage earners.” “When their parents support the church back home, that in turn supports us,” Beck said. “If we asked them to give more, that would be like asking them to give twice. I’m thankful we don’t have to worry about finances.” Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, across the street from University Lutheran, is self-supporting. Our Saviour’s is family oriented, while University is student oriented. The two churches have a symbiotic rela tionship. They share a secretary and a nur sery, and various activities are planned in which members of both groups partici pate. Our Saviour’s contributes money di rectly to University Lutheran. “When their parents support the church back home, that in turn supports us,” Beck said. “If we asked them to give more, that would be like asking them to give twice. ” “We haven’t taken a survey as to the student dollar against the family dollar,” said Rev. David Rowland, First Baptist Church of College Station. The amount of money given by each member “is very private.” There is an extensive program for col lege students at First Baptist. Across the street, but not directly affiliated, is the Baptist Student Union, an organization founded strictly to serve university stu dents. BSU programming is supported by more than 42 area churches and associa tions. Staff salaries and the buildings are provided by the General Baptist Conven tion of Texas. Another student union, the A&M Methodist Wesley Foundation, has about one-fourth of its $45,000 annual budget contributed by students. The 250 mem bers give $10-11,200 per year. “Most of that comes out of their poc kets,” said Pastor W.C. Hall, director of the foundation. Members are now at tempting to raise money to remodel and expand their present facilities. The Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church contributed $75,000 of the $300,000 needed for the expansion. Through fund raising activities like bar becues, garage sales and a Halloween spook house, the students have raised an additional $75,000. The rest should be raised by January 1978, Hall said. (See Students, page 10.) Freshman class candidates’ campaign signs in front of the Commons re mind voters of today’s election. Offices to be filled include class of ’81 officers and Student Government senators, as well as Off Campus Stu dent Association representatives from all classes. Voting is taking place f-, , C" 1 • Battalion photo by Ken Herrera Signs oj the time at the Memorial Student Center, the Corps guard room, the Throck morton St. bus stop, and the Ireland St. bus stop next to the Reed McDon ald building. Student activity cards and ID cards are required and polls close at 6 p.m.