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
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Variety
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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.