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Friday, November 11, 1977
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Med school waits for no one, p. 5.
Aggies wait for Razorbacks, p. 10.
Bravenec outlines
solution for airport
Four solutions to the capital im
provements problem facing Easterwood
Airport were the subject of a letter sent to
the University’s vice president for business
affairs by College Station Mayor Lorence
Bravenec.
Bravenec sent the letter dated Nov. 4
to Howard Vestal, detailing solutions that
the College Station City Council finds
acceptable.
The letter proposed that Brazos County
take a more active role and meet its respon
sibility to provide a community airport.
“The responsibility for maintaining Eas
terwood lies with all of the community,
especially Brazos County, said Bravenec. -
The council discussed the proposed im
provements as part of the agenda of Thurs
day night’s meeting. Members expressed
concern that the University cannot meet
the cost of the improvements.
“Costs have overwhelmed the Univer
sity. We would be kidding ourselves if we
think that A&M has the funds to provide for
these improvements from their discretion
ary funds,” Bravenec said.
On the local government level, the letter
proposed the establishment of an airport
district with members appointed by Bryan,
College Station, Brazos County and Texas
A&M.
Third on the list was creating a College
Station Airport District with the authority
to level a “head tax’ on commercial
passengers. Citizens of College Station
would be assured of paying only their fair
share with a head tax system, Bravenec
said.
The last solution proposed a joint Col
lege Station-Texas A&M University Air
port and Utility District. The plan would
allow for administration of the airport and
supply of water and sewage services to the
two groups.
The proposed district would purchase all
wells and transmission lines owned by the
University, with the provision of responsi
bility of providing all services and future
improvements on the system. The council
estimates that revenues generated by this
district would exceed operating costs and
repair costs of both the airport and water
system.
But the council took different action
Thursday night, delaying the action on the
improvements until an Inter-
Governmental Coordinating Committee
can meet to discuss the situation. Bravenec
said he wanted to discuss fair distribution of
the cost of the improvements among the
area groups that use the airport.
Council passed the mayor’s request
unanimously, authorizing City Manager
North Bardell to set up a meeting date.
City Council tables
rezoning for resident
J
Looking good, girls
■I ■
Battalion photo by Angelo Russo
Texas A&M center Mark Dennard gives an ap
praising eye to a spirit poster Thursday night in
a Mosher Hall dorm poster contest. Senior foot
ball players were asked to judge the halls for
spirit for the upcoming Arkansas football game
Saturday.
By MARK POWER
Extensive debate did not prevent the
College Station City Council from denying
a property owner the rezoning necessary to
establish a business on her small tract of
land Thursday night.
An application from Marjorie Eimann,
owner of a disputed 1.6-acre tract of land
directly opposite the Ponderosa Motel
south of College Station, asked council to
rezone her land to match commercial zon
ing of nearby real estate.
“That property is suitable for a commer
cial enterprise, not a residence,” said Ed
Uvacek, a local property owner urging
cquncjl to approve the application. The
property, zoned as residential, lies adja
cent to the east bypass and is bordered by
holdings owned by Uvacek.
“I intend to petition council soon with
commercial plans of my own, ” said Uvacek.
“I would hope the city lets her rezone.”
City Planner Al Mayo disagreed with the
zoning request, advising the city to deny
the application because of location prob
lems.
“The site is too small and could not
handle access problems near that intersec
tion of highways, ” Mayo said. He referred
to the intersection of Highway 6 and the
east bypass near the property location.
“A 75,000 sq. foot site cannot handle the
on-site circulation with such limited ac
cess,” said Mayo. The property owner
wants to establish a western retail store and
plant nursery on the site.
Councilman Jim Dozier accused the city
of selective spot zoning, suggesting that
having the surrounding area classified as
commercial while the Eimann property
was residential might be inteipreted as
prejudicial and discriminatory.
To avoid the problem. Councilman
Larry Ringer motioned to table any action
on the application until the property own
ers of the area could meet to discuss all
future plans for nearby real estate. The
council passed on the compromise unani
mously.
In other items, council approved the
purchase of five new patrol units, at a total
cost of $27,940. Halsell Motor Co. was the
low bidder, providing Dodge Monaco unit
equipped for high speed pursuit with a 400
cubic inch engine.
Council approved the bid from Jordan
and Woods to perform construction on the
Municipal Building Annex, new fire station
and parking area at a cost to taxpayers of
$596,920. Construction will take an esti
mated 270 calendar days.
The city also acquired 1,000 feet of elec
trical cable and other electrical systems
materials from Techline Corp. for $16,545.
Before adjourning, the council discussed
the motorcycle helmet law, concluding on
the basis of research by the city attorney
that College Station could not enforce a
separate ordinance requiring motorcyclists
to wear helmets within the city limits.
am would provide recreation
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=PTED
BY GARY WELCH
Editor’s note: This is the third in a se-
s of three articles re-examining the
illican Dam controversy. In this article,
: benefits of the proposed reservoir are
jeussed.
Ilhe proposed Millican dam and reser-
ir would provide flood relief to area res-
ents. But the water recreation areas it
fold provide might serve the area even
are.
A report issued recently by the Texas
rks and Wildlife Department said that
creational needs for the Bryan-College
ation area will more than double by the
ar2000. Many of these people will de
ad on area lakes to provide the facilities.
The local Environmental Action Council
AC) is concerned that water level fluc-
ations in the reservoir would make the
keuseless. But Col. Walter Wells, gen-
al manager and treasurer of the Brazos
er Authority (BRA), said recently the
servoir would be safe for such uses.
Millican will have a normal maximum
u
level, Wells said. “Our efforts will be to
keep it at that level as much as we can.
“When we have a flood, he said, “any
empty spaces in the reservoir would be
filled and then water would be let out of
the reservoir with consideration to
downstream conditions. Of course, during
a drought the water level can be expected
to go down.”
However, Wells said, in most years
there will be neither drought nor flooding.
The water level should be fairly constant.
The Brazos River watershed encompasses
an area about the size of the state of Ken
tucky.
Last year a Texas House of Representa
tives subcommittee concluded Texas was
“sadly lacking” in recreational facilities for
its residents.
Since 1968 pleasure boating alone has
increased by about 300 percent. Millican
Lake would be closer to Bryan-College
Station than Somerville. Less gasoline
would be used to the lake and more people
in this area would have access to water
recreation.
The EAC has officially recognized the
recreational benefits the reservoir would
provide. However, the EAC maintains
that other claimed benefits are not valid.
Wells does not agree.
“The flood control aspects are a very
important aspect of the project,” he said.
“Millican is one element of the U.S. Corps
of Engineers basin-wide flood control plan
that was authorized by Congress. Until
Millican is built the basin-wide system will
not be complete.”
Flood control is expected to benefit
about 53,000 acres in the Navasota flood
plain downstream of the dam. Since the
flood plain is not used extensively for ag
riculture, most of the farmland protected
will be in Brazoria County.
Wells said flooding at the Millican Dam
site and on the lower Brazos River will
continue to be a problem if the dam is not
built.
“There have been times when water
covered the entire area between the lower
Navasota River and the Brazos River,”
Wells said.
The BRA estimated that a repeat of the
1913 flood, the largest recorded for the
lower Brazos basin, would cause over $74
million in damages.
Flood control benefits will necessitate
water level fluctuations, but Jim Herbert
of the Corps of Engineers said that should
have little effect on recreation and
tourism.
“Any flood control dam has a high fluc
tuation potential,” he said, “but that didn’t
stop 36 million people from using Texas
lakes last year.”
Millican reservoir could also be used to
supply water to Bryan and College Sta
tion, but groundwater is sufficient to fill all
municipal needs in this area for now. Res
ervoir water could also be used to supply
Houston and help alleviate the severe land
subsidence problem caused by extracting
too much ground water in that area.
“The BRA will control the use of the
water supply,” Wells said. The lake water
would be used to meet water needs in the
lake area and downstream, he said.
In the past College College Station has
supported the dam for the future water
supply it would supply.
“The cities of Bryan and College Station
do not anticipate any water needs in
(See EAC, page 6)
Center offers many
types of activities
By MARIANITA PADDOCK
Oh Lincoln High we love you true
We love the purple and gold too
To you we will always be true
Oh Lincoln High how we love
you.
Four white, brick buildings stand
alone. A brown wooden sign in
scribed with the words “Lincoln
Center” links the community’s past
with the present.
Behind the sign, a cracked con
crete sidewalk leads to the entrance
of a gymnasium. Inside sits a full
trophy case, and across the room,
two rows of brown bleachers face a
large basketball court.
The College Station Parks and
Recreation Department uses Lin
coln Center as a recreational center.
Located on Eleanor Street, it caters
mainly to the Negro community that
surrounds it.
But, what is now a recreation hall
for the black community, once
segregated a school for College Sta
tion blacks from the 1920s until
1966.
Lucile Young, a 1962 Lincoln
graduate, said she doesn’t re
member having a new book. They
used books from A&M Consoli
dated. They had a cafeteria, but the
food was cooked at A&M Consoli
dated and then delivered to Lin
coln.
Lincoln was the only school for
blacks until it burned in January
1966, destroying the wood frame
buildings, leaving the four remain
ing brick buildings.
Taylor Riedel, school superinten
dent in 1966, said the fire was
caused by a heater malfunction. Col
lege Station Fire Department rec
ords show the cause of the fire has
never been determined.
Although the events are still un
clear in her mind, Florence
Caldwell recalls the night of the fire.
It was cold and drizzling,
Caldwell said. The fire occurred
about the time the adult education
classes were in progress. By the
time the Fire Department arrived,
the wood frame buildings were
gone. The fire did more than des
troy the buildings. It forced deseg
regation of College Station public-
schools.
Integration of the school district
on a one grade per year system had
already started, said Riedel, but the
fire helped speed the system along.
Because there was not enough
room at A&M Consolidated to ac
commodate all of the students, only
the first and second grades were
moved to A&M Consolidated. The
third through twelfth grades were
partially combined and remained at
Lincoln to finish the school year.
Lincoln was known for its out
standing athletes in football, bas
ketball and track. Lucile Young,
who played basketball, said there
was much school spirit. J.R. Deiley,
Lincoln’s coach from 1946 until
1965, never recalls a losing season.
A community organization called
the Community Knights petitioned
the school board to use the gym and
remaining buildings as a recreation
center.
The trophies remain as a remin
der of the community’s past—a
memorial for those who loved Lin
coln.
enter reschedules
executive meeting Women’s drill team ready for meets
Suppose they gave a Brazos Valley De-
dopment Council executive meeting and
^ody came.
'Veil, half of the executive committee
to the meeting Thursday, but that
'snot enough to establish a quorum, so
•action could be taken on any issues on
«agenda.
This is the first time we haven’t had a
•orum since I can remember, ” said Glenn
-<>ok, BVDC’s executive director.
One of two conditions must be met to
'slablish a quorum. Either nine of the 16
Nninittee members must be present, or
•'ere must be at least one representative
from Brazos, Leon, Madison and
■’rimes counties.
Neither condition was met because only
eight members showed up, none of them
from Madison County.
“There is no quorum present,” said
Brazos County Judge and BVDC board
chairman William Vance. “We will re
schedule the meeting for next week.”
Cook said there are only a few important
issues on the agenda that the BVDC needs
to consider right away.
“As far as I know some of it could wait
until the Dec. 8 meeting,” he said.
He said he has never been to a BVDC
meeting where a quorum did not attend.
“We will make a determined effort to get
people here from four counties,” he said.
By MARGIE KOVAR
Twenty-three cadets assemble in a park
ing lot near the Military Sciences building
dressed in maroon t-shirts, army-green
fatigue pants and black combat boots.
They ready for an hour of precision march-
ing.
“Drill team, attention!” orders the
commanding officer.
Immediately, the members of the Texas
A&M University Women Drill Team snap
to attention and begin one of their three
team practices for the week. Last year
their efforts resulted in their receiving the
Texas State Championship in the unarmed
division.
There are two divisions of drill teams.
armed and unarmed, said Thelma Roman,
team executive officer and guidon (flag)
bearer.
“The armed drill teams use weapons
that are being used or have been used by
the United States armed forces, such as
M-16 rifles or sabers,” Roman said.
“We use two and a half-pound rifles that
are specifically for drilling.”
In competition, the women wear light
weight dark green shirts, known as “mid
nights, culotte skirts, low quarter shoes,
black berets, white pistol belts and white
ascots.
This year’s competition includes meets
in San Antonio, Austin, College Station
and the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
If the Texas A&M football team goes to
the Cotton Bowl, then we ll march with
the rest of Company W'-l before the
game,” said Susan Graesser, the com
manding officer. If another team goes, the
drill team will march in the Cotton Bowl
parade.
Last year the women won first place in
the Houston meet, first in San Antonio,
second in Austin and first in College Sta
tion.
Teams are judged primarily on precision
marching.
Judging is done on a point system and
teams can lose points for dropping
weapons while drilling.
More than half of the team has prior
drill team experience, most of it in high
school.
The team, whose commanding officer is
a junior, has no senior members and even
tually membership will exclude juniors
and seniors.
“That is just in the planning stage,”
Graesser said. “Juniors and seniors are
needed in positions in the outfits, so even
tually the bulk of the command will be
given to sophomores,” Graesser said.
In order to join the drill team, each
member must be in the Corps of Cadet.
They must have and maintain a 2.0 grade
point ratio.
“Besides that, all they have to do is be
interested,” Graesser said. .r