The Battalion
AHlAt
>155 II
Vol. 71 No. 50
16 Pages
Wednesday, November 9, 1977
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Inside Today:
Pretender or not, you’re a cowboy,
pgs. 12-13.
Predicting the size of the Wurstfest
crowd, pgs. 8-9.
Preparation is the key to the Arkan
sas game, p. 14.
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gtyAM
COUUesSE
STATVOM.
DAM
NAVA^TA
This map shows the proposed Millican Dam and reservoir. The shaded
area shows the extent of the proposed reservoir when completely
filled.
am site planned
y las far back as 1954
Texas
tough
By ROLAND LINDSEY
United Press International
Voters overwhelmingly have endorsed
the 1977 Legislature’s policy of getting
tough on crime, approving constitutional
amendments permitting judges to deny
bail to felons in some instances and ex
panding the Court of Criminal Appeals to
speed consideration of criminal cases.
Bad weather pushed across the state by
the worst cold front of the fall combined
with voter apathy to limit turnout in the
special election to only about 10 percent of
the state’s 5.8 million eligible voters.
Despite the light turnout, amendments
authorizing an additional $200 million in
bonds for the Veterans Land Program, ex
panding authority of the Judicial Qualifica
tions Commission and permitting local tax
breaks to encourage preservation of histor
ical and cultural resources also were ap
proved.
Voters rejected, however, two proposed
constitutional amendments which could
have affected their finances.
A proposal authorizing Texas banks to
utilize electronic fund transfer systems re
ceived only 45.5 percent of the vote, and
an amendment authorizing agricultural
commodity organizations to collect manda
tory assessments from producers received
only 47 percent.
“Naturally the Texas Bankers Associa
tion and a majority of Texas bankers are
disappointed that the voters rejected the
electronic banking amendment, ’ said
Charles Childers of Tyler, TBA president.
Gov. Dolph Briscoe expressed disap-
voters approve
anti-crime policies
pointment at the small turnout, but was
pleased by adoption of the bail proposal
and Criminal Appeals Court expansion,
both of which had been part of his anti
crime program.
The proposal to allow judges to deny
bail to a person accused of committing a
second felony while free on bail from
another felony charge received the
strongest endorsement of voters, piling up
83.4 percent approval. The court expan
sion was approved with 72.9 percent of the
vote.
The five amendments approved Tues
day bring to 226 the number of changes
voters have approved in the constitution
since it was adopted in 1876.
Eight other proposed constitutional
amendments passed by the 1977 Legisla-.
ture will be submitted to voters in the
1978 general election.
County citizens ratify
all but one amendment
Electronic banking was the only pro
posed amendment not ratified by Brazos
County voters in a light turnout Tuesday.
Some 2,329 voters showed up at the
polls, a meager 6.5 percent of the regis
tered voters in the county. Texas A&M
University has 3,617 registered voters, but
only 79 cast ballots.
The banking amendment, which also
failed statewide, would have authorized
state and national banks to exercise bank
ing privileges by use of electronic devices
at points of trade. Such a terminal at a
retail store would allow a customer to pay
for merchandise by transferring money
from a personal account directly to the
store’s account without the use of check or
credit card.
Amendment number one was accepted
in the county by a margin of 1,802 to 452.
The amendment increases the size of the
Court of Criminal Appeals from five
judges to nine. It will also allow the court
to sit in panels of three judges.
Amendment two, if passed, will allow
the Veteran’s Land Board to issue and sell
an additional $200 million in bonds and to
deposit the proceeds in the Veterans’
Land Fund. Surviving widows of veterans
will be allowed to purchase tracts in cer
tain circumstances.
Amendment three will allow a district
court to deny bail to a person accused of a
felony if he or she was on hail for a prior
felony indictment. Bail will also be denied
if they have been convicted of a felony and
are accused of using a deadly weapon in
the commission of the felony.
Amendment four provides for tax relief
to preserve certain cultural, historical, and
natural history resources.
Amendment five passed in a close race
in Brazos County, with 1,222 for and 1,007
against. The amendment would have del
egated formation of association to collect
refundable assessments from producers of
raw agricultural or marine producers.
Amendment seven changes the State
Judicial Qualifications Commission of the
State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
The membership will be increased to in
clude four citizens instead of three and to
add one justice of the peace. The commis
sion will be granted the power to suspend
a judge from office with or without pay,
pending final disposition of the charges
against a judge.
(See related editorial, p. 2)
By GARY WELCH
I Editor’s noted: This is the first of three
Kories re-examining the Millican Dam
antroversy. Parts two and three will ap-
lear in the Battalion Thursday and Fri-
, This section deals with the history of
he Millican project to date.
For 17 years plans have existed for a
[eservoir to be located five miles east of
iollege Station. Millican Dam, would
font lirovide a lake extending 30 river miles, 12
iles south of College Station on the
avasota River to the intersection of the
iverand Highway 21.
The dam was designed primarily for
lood control and water conservation, and
xtensive recreational opportunities would
! available on the lake.
But, Congressional action as well as
economic and environmental issues have
denied any significant progress on the dam
since it was first proposed.
As far hack as 1954, the Brazos River
Authority (BRA) proposed a system of 13
dams on the Navasota River. A severe
statewide drought in the early 1950’s and a
1957 flood helped spark a Texas Water
Commission recommendation that action
be taken on the river flood control
projects. But in 1958 the U.S. Congress
decided that since no detailed plans
existed for the project, no direct grant
could be made to any specific flood control
project.
(See Millican, page 7)
Oz, Dracula, King Kong, Frankenstein:
they’re all part of‘Star Wars’ symbolism
By PHYLIS WEST
The Cowardly Lion, King Kong, Frank
enstein’s monster, Dracula, and the
Knights of the Round Table are just some
of the characters symbolized in “Star
Wars,’’ said Dr. Sylvia Grider, Texas A&M
University’s only professor with a doctor
ate in folklore.
Grider, an English professor, spoke to
50 students and faculty in a speech
es
card plan cost to increase
By ROBIN LINN
An increase in the minimum wage will
ause an increase in the price of the board
blan, but how much it will be or how soon
ft will come are questions that are still un
answered.
Lloyd Smith, Texas A&M’s assistant di
rector for board dining, termed the in-
Icrease in minimum wage as “inflationary’
Jin a recent interview.
• tf The law calls for an increase in the
|minimum wage from $2.30 to $2.65 effec-
Itive January 1978. Continuing increases
(will hike the minimum wage to $3.10 by
11981.
Students’ board fees pay for food,
wages, maintenance, and upkeep of the
buildings, which include Sbisa, Com
mons, and Duncan dining halls. Food
Services does not receive government
funds, said Smith. “We have to act in a
business-like manner, and we can only
spend what we receive,” he said.
Smith said that increased cost of com
modities makes “breaking even” difficult
for Food Services. Most of the board plan
money paid by students goes toward food
and labor expenses.
There are 219 students working for
Food Services. Their salaries vary from
minimum wage to $2.70. Smith agreed
they had problems hiring enough workers
but did not believe the increase in
minimum wage would solve the shortage
of help.
To determine how much the board plan
will cost Smith said estimates are made of
the number of students that will request a
board plan and the price of food for the
projected year. “You calculate what you
need to break even and you work down
from there until you reach a price for the
board plan,” he said.
Presently, board plan costs $403 a
semester for a seven-day and $360 for a
five-day plan. How much will the board
plan increase in cost?
“All we can say now is that in the near
future the board plan will increase, how
much it will increase is unpredictable,”
Smith said.
Texas A&M’s board plan is presently
cheaper than that of private schools Rice
and SMU. It is also cheaper than that at
the University of Texas.
entitled “Folktales, Fantasy and Star
Wars" last night in the Harrington build
ing-.
“Here is a movie that has changed our
vocabulary in only a few months, and
added richly to the national popular cul
ture, said Grider. She said she became
interested in analyzing the movie because
she wanted to understand why it was caus
ing such an incredible response.
Star Wars uses the same techniques that
were used in another George Luciis film,
American Graffitti, only on a much more
elaborate scale.
“The key images in American Graffitti
which represented adolescence in the
1950’s were woven together so that every
body who lived then could recognize and
identify with some part of it.
“Star Wars’ also has something for
everybody. Grider said she has found
about 75 images or scenes that can be eas
ily recognized as being taken from media,
myths and folktales.
Some of the ‘“Star War scenes seem to
relate directly to parts of the “Wizard of
Oz. “King Kong, “Star Trek, “Casab
lanca, cheap westerns and horror movies.
The “walking carpet character,” Chew-
bacca, (chewy) appears almost as the Cow
ardly Lion from the “Wizard of Oz.
“But on another level, he’s also a dog, a
faithful companion, or a friendly Bigfoot,
Grider said.
In a chess game between androids See
Threepio and Artoo Deeto and Chewy
parallels a scene between Kong and the
dinosaur in the movie “King Kong”
The space vehicle technology, such as
Warp three and the reference to the
enemy as Kyrrilians (as oppossed to the
Klingons) show the similarity of parts of
“Star Wars to “Star Trek.”
“The whole bar scene is in response to
“Casablanca. The sleazy bars of “Casa
blanca” and the “Star Wars” bar were the
meeting place of “all the desert rats,” or
social outcasts.
The good guys could be easily distin
guished from the bad guys by the color of
their clothing: the good guys wear the
white, while the bad wear the black.
“This idea is based on the grade B
westerns,’ she said. But “Star Wars
brought this theme to near perfection.
Darth Vader is a combination of many
things including a kind of Frankenstein
and Dracula, she said.
“The big clunky way in which Darth
Vader walks is typical of Frankenstein,”
Grider said. His cape could be a take-off of
Dracula.
“Star Wars ” scenes are also based on
myths “that branch of oral literature which
deals with religion and possibly historical
personages,” she said.
Luke, the hero, is like a young Arthur
waiting to take his place among the knights
Dr. Sylvia Grider
of the Round Table, she said.
“Star Wars follows along the lines of a
typical folktale with an “always happy end
ing,” Grider said. Luke is a universal hero
because he is a child.
The movie, she said, clues the audience
in on the fact that the “Star Wars’ is a
folktale from the beginning, by saying, “A
long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
20-year brick collector finds
personality, interest in each
By SARAH E. WHITE
Storing little pieces of historical
landmarks like Ford’s Theater, the
Roman Coliseum and The Elms in
your garage may sound illegal or
improbable. A local souvenir brick
collector, however, is doing just
that.
Dr. Haskell Monroe, dean of
faculties and professor of history at
Texas A&M University, started col
lecting bricks about 20 years ago and
now has a 220-brick lead on poten
tial brick collectors.
“I began to stumble on to the
ruins of old buildings in the woods, ”
he said. “I became intrigued by
what these represented. Why is this
fine plantation home now deserted
which was once the home of a weal
thy person? I became intrigued by
them because all the bricks were
hand-made and each of them has its
own personality.”
Monroe has a brick from Ford’s
Theater in his collection. He said
that the theater was being re
modeled for the 100th anniversary
of Lincoln’s assasination and work
ers were carting loads of brick to the
dump. Monroe obtained a brick
from the load, labelled it, and stored
it.
0
He said his interest in these
bricks is tied to his interest in his
tory.
Recently a student brought him a
brick from Jesse Chisholm’s home in
San Antonio. Chisholm was famous
for the cattle trail he blazed to Kan
sas, Monroe said.
The oldest brick in Monroe’s col
lection is one from the Roman Col
iseum. The coliseum was made of
very small bricks, much smaller
than those used today. Monroe said
that he satisfied his conscience by
taking only those pieces which were
lying on the ground.
While touring the South, Monroe
picked up many bricks from aban
doned plantation houses.
One of his favorites came from a
structure which was once a
showplace near Charleston, S.C.,
called The Elms. It belonged to a
prominent family and was badly
damaged in an 1888 earthquake and
later in a fire. One column and the
corner of a wall are the only portions
left standing. Monroe found blocks
of hard pine wood shaped like
bricks, built into the wall about four
feet up. These blocks, he said, had
been exposed to the elments 50 to
60 years with no signs of decay.
Monroe said his favorite brick
came from a house located just
south of Shreveport, La., which is
one of the oldest structures in the
Lousiana Purchase territory.
This brick rates as his favorite be
cause it contains the imprint of a left
hand. Monroe assumed that the
brick was picked up by a left-handed
person because of the thumb and
forefinger arrangement of the im
print. He said the person could have
been a slave because slaves often
made the bricks. The personal touch
makes it special, Monroe said.
“As buildings are built here at
Texas A&M or have been torn down
I’ve tried to remember to get one
brick or a piece of brick from every
one,” Monroe said.
He has bricks from the Old Main
building which stood on the Texas
A&M campus until it burned down
several years ago. He said these
bricks were made from clay dug
from the large trench in front of the
president’s home.
Monroe also has a brick from the
lab and classroom building which
was recently completed. This brick
has no distinguishing marks or sen
timental value, he added.
Monroe said that he cannot place
a price tag on his collection. Al
though he has never bought a brick
for his collection, he has seen them
priced up to five dollars in antique
shows.
“My plan always was to put them
in a fireplace and identify each one,”
he said.
So far he has not built his fire
place display, so he stores his trea
sures in sacks with identifying labels
tucked inside.
Dr. Haskell Monroe shows off some members
of his brick collection. He is holding a handmade
brick from the building where Thomas Jefferson
lived in Philadelphia while he wrote the Declara-
Battalion photo Sarah E. White
tion of Independence. A sentimental addition to
his collection is the brick labeled First Presby
terian Church. Monroe was married in that church
in Mebane, N.C.