he
Vol. 71 No. 56
8 Pages
Battalion
Thursday, November 17, 1977 News Dept. 845-2611
College Station, Texas Business Dept. 845-2611
Inside Today:
Restaurateurs complain about grease
thieves, p. 3.
The student senate talks about
ground dedication, p. 6.
Slouch happy about 4,100 cartoons,
p. 2.
appeals court rules
against illegal aliens
United Press International
AUSTIN, — Thousands of illegal aliens
ng in Texas are not entitled to free edu-
ion, the Austin Court of Civil Appeals
ed Wednesday.
the appeals court upheld a district court
Ding barring 10 Houston children from
jemling classes in the Houston Indepen-
|nt School District unless their parents
ay tuition.
rrhe fact that a child leaves his country
ndcovertly enters the state without com-
[ing with the immigration laws should
somehow create a state responsibility
provide him with a free education,’ the
als court said.
The decision will affect an estimated
K)0 alien children living in Houston and
isands more across Texas who are in
United States illegally.
xgal aid attorneys challenged the con
ditionality of a 1975 law restricting state
ration funds to classes for children of
American citizens and lawfully admitted
aliens.
The 10 children named in the Houston
case range from 7 to 14 and have never
attended school. Their parents said they
cannot afford to pay $90 a month tuition
for them to attend classes.
Legal aid lawyers argued barring the
children from school will create an unedu
cated slave class in the United States.
School officials argued admitting the il
legal alien children would diminish the
quality of education available to citizens
and lawfully admitted aliens.
“Indisputably, there is limited revenue
available for education purposes, ” the ap
peals court said Wednesday. The court
said the 1975 law “does not deprive those
who are unlawfully residing in Texas of any
bounty to which they are entitled, but in
stead the law helps insure that those who
are citizens and those who are legally ad
mitted will have access to a certain quality
of education. ”
The court pointed to a U.S. Supreme
Court ruling that free education is not a
fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S.
Constitution and said the fact illegal aliens
are protected by due process does not give
them the same substantive rights as citi
zens or legally admitted aliens.
“No one would argue that the state is
constitutionally obligated to provide a
tuition-free education to foreign children
living abroad,” the appeals court said.
“The child should have no greater rights to
a free education, due to his unlawful pres
ence, than those rights he would have if he
had not come to this country.”
The appeals court ruling seems to con
flict with the position taken by a federal
judge who ordered Tyler school au
thorities to admit 15 illegal aliens without
charging tuition.
The three-man state appeals court men
tioned the Tyler case but said the findings
of U.S. District Judge William Wayne Jus
tice are not final.
Miller favors internal
huttle bus system
By LIZ NEWLIN
Battalion StafT
and an internal,
; system will be
University next
|ust one more step,
■campus shuttle bu«
ted at Texas A&M
nester.
President Jarvis Miller must receive
commendations from the Division of
ident Services before officially approv
ing the pilot program. But he has indi
cated he favors the trial.
Dr. John Koldus, vice president for stu
dent services, plans to discuss final rec
ommendations next week with a commit
tee of people the shuttle would affect. The
Texas A&M Student Senate approved a
resolution requesting the test and
supplied reports on the need for the inter-
Funeral
held for
Wofford Cain
... a major benefactor
Funeral services for Wofford
Cain, 1913 Texas A&M graduate
who became one of his alma mater’s
major benefactors and was a former
member of its board of regents,
were to be held this afternoon in
Dallas and Athens.
Mr. Cain, 86, died in a Dallas
hospital early Wednesday morning
after a long illness.
Services were scheduled for 1
services
Cain, 86
p.m. at the Sparkman-Hillcrest Fu
neral Home chapel in Dallas, fol
lowed by 3:30 p.m. graveside serv
ices at Athens City Cemeteiy.
The Singing Cadets, Texas A&M
■choral group, were to participate in
the Dallas services at the request of
Mrs. Cain.
A delegation of top Texas A&M
officials, headed by Board of Re
gents Chairman Clyde H. Wells and
Regent H. C. Bell, planned to at
tend the services.
Mr. and Mrs. Cain provided sup
port for several Texas A&M
projects, including major financial
assistance in the construction of the
library, athletic dormitory and
Olympic swimming pool. The latter
two facilities bear his name. The
couple also sponsored more than
100 scholarships here.
He was a 1964 recipient of the
University’s coveted “Distinguished
Alumni Award” and served on the
Board of Regents from 1965 until
1971.
The Athens native was chairman
of the board of Aztec Oil and Gas
Co. and Southern Union Gas. Co.
nal shuttle two weeks ago.
The proposed route traces the perime
ter of the campus, with three buses travel
ing in one direction and three more in
another. Time between buses at each stop
would be about 10 minutes.
“I’ll schedule a meeting Tuesday and
we’ll talk out the proposition in regard to
problems,” Koldus said Wednesday after
noon. “A package of things needs to be put
together before taking it officially to the
president.”
Texas Transportation Enterprises, Inc.,
(TEI) will be able to supply seven 45-
passenger buses if notified by Dec. 1,
Koldus said. Texas A&M contracts with
TEI for the existing shuttle service..
The committee will discuss the number
of buses, any route changes needed, loca
tion of bus stops, safety and funding. The
Student Senate resolved that funding
should come from student service fees.
“I’ll incorporate whatever comes out of
that meeting in the proposal to the presi
dent,” Koldus said.
Committee members will include E. C.
Oates, chairman of the shuttle bus opera
tions committee; Eugene Ray, director of
grounds maintenance; Tom Parsons, di
rector of security and traffic; students
working on the project and possibly
others, Koldus said.
Pearl, a boa constrictor owned by Kim
Cluff, greets Jo Ella Dixon at a meeting of the Her
petology Club held Tuesday night. Most of the club
ftnttalion photo by Janet Veters on
Hi, there
members have brought their pet reptiles and am
phibians home for winter hibernation, but Pearl is
still attending weekly meetings.
City, school district disagree
Property estimates differ
By MARK POWER
Doors were closed to the public for
more than two hours Wednesday night
while the College Station City Council
met to debate purchasing land from the
A&M Consolidated School District.
Joseph Natowitz, representing the
school district, appeared before the coun
cil with a proposal for the sale of two tracts
of land. One was on Holleman Street near
the Sevilla apartments and the other was
the old Lincoln Center.
Natowitz proposed trading the two
properties for a proposed school site in the
Southwood Valley subdivision valued at
$150,000, plus an undisclosed site for a
maintenance operation valued at $15,000.
“I am here to ascertain the level of
May be hazardous
Midnight yell practice: an abused tradition?
By CAROLYN BLOSSER
Midnight Yell Practice, one of Texas
M’s most popular traditions, may also
one of the most hazardous and abused
iditions.
Ideally yell practice is a time when as
any as 20,000 Aggies gather in mass to
omote school spirit and unity. However,
fsome students it is a convenient time to
drunk and raise hell after a long week
studying.
Although no one is supposed to walk on
football field during Midnight Yell, it
become somewhat of a challenge to see
can dash across without getting
ught by the cadets guarding the field.
Invariably during each yell practice
meone attempts to run across the field,
is usually tackled by cadets, roughed
a little, and then escorted off the field.
These scuffles usually result in a few
inor bruises and cuts, but a member of
Aggie Band was seriously injured in
ch n incident three weeks ago at the
II practice preceding the game against
•nthern Methodist University.
Hobert Fields, a junior from Humble,
located two cervical vertebrae in his
ck when he tackled an unidentified stu
nt who ran on the field.
Although X-rays revealed no actual frac
ture or bone chips, this type of dislocation
is commonly called a broken neck.
Dr. Claude Goswick, director of A&M’s
Health Center, said Fields was lucky he
wasn’t paralyzed.
“Anytime you get a dislocation of the
cervical spine, you risk damage to the spi
nal cord,” he said. “He was very, very
lucky.”
Fields was kept in traction for two
weeks in a Houston hospital to relocate the
cervical vertebrae. He will spend at least
another four weeks in a neck brace.
Fields said in a telephone interview
Tuesday that the accident was his own
fault because he was not one of the ones
responsible for guarding the field.
“If anyone was to blame, it was me,” he
said. “I shouldn’t have tried to tackle him.
There are people out there supposed to do
that job. I took it upon myself to stop him
and I shouldn’t have.”
The main reason people are kept off the
football field during yell practice is to pro
tect the field for Saturday’s game, ex
plained Joe Hegar. Hegar is captain of the
band’s bass players, who are responsible
for guarding the field. He said the as
troturf is highly flammable and could eas
ily burn within minutes.
“You can’t distinguish between those
persons who might hurt the field and those
who won’t,” he said. “We have to keep
everyone off.”
Hegar said the main problem with
enforcing this rule is trying to handle the
people who run on the field while they’re
drunk.
“Everyone’s getting on us for hitting
them, but we have no alternative,” he
said. “You can’t control someone who is
fighting and drunk without using force.”
Hegar said some students abuse yell
practice by bringing liquor into Kyle
Field, which is against Texas A&M Uni
versity regulations. He said he feels the
true meaning of yell practice is sometimes
lost.
“I think people should be sober as Mid
night Yell Practice,” he said. “Throwing
up in the bleachers and drinking beer in
Kyle Field does not promote spirit.”
Another popular trend of Midnight Yell
is trying to break into the band during its
march over to Kyle Field. It seems to be
“good bull” to try to steal a band mem
ber’s helmet (“white pot”), belt or other
part of his attire.
Consequently, the band is surrounded
by two battalions of junior cadets as it
marches to Kyle Field. These juniors also
have to guard their own helmets because
swiping “green pots” is THE THING TO
DO for many civilians.
A recent rumor has been spreading that
Corps and band participation in Midnight
Yell Practice was going to be discontinued.
Corps Commandant James Woodall said
the rumor was completely unfounded.
Despite some of the problems of today’s
Midnight Yell Practice, both Hegar and
Head Yell Leader Joe Reagan agree that
today’s yell practice is calmer and better
controlled than it was four years ago.
Reagan said that more people used to
try to run across Kyle Field.
Col. Woodall blames the problems of
yell practice on “an irresponsible few. ” He
said that with such a large gathering of the
student body, one has to accept the fact
that certain things will happen.
Editor’s note: Yell Practice will be held
tonight at 7:30 in the Grove. Friday’s
Midnight Yell Practice will be at the
Whiskey River Club on Forest Park
Boulevard in Fort Worth.
interest the city has about acquiring these
properties,” said Natowitz. “We want to
give the city the first option on these
lands.”
The Holleman street property has been
appraised by one source for the school dis
trict at $143,000, while Lincoln Center
was valued at $80,000.
Councilman Gary Halter balked at the
estimate for the Holleman street property,
saying that was too much to pay for a
ballpark.
“My interest in the Holleman property
has certainly declined,” Halter said. “At
those prices, my only interest is the Lin
coln Park.”
The council agreed with Halter, and the
Holleman street property was dropped
from consideration even though they had
previously considered building a commu
nity center on the site. Mayor Lorence
Bravenec had the council agree to explain
the veto of purchase to the public at the
next regular meeting.
Serious debate followed consideration of
purchasing Lincoln Center. Council
members had conflicting viewpoints about
past arguments with the school board over
selling the center.
Councilman Jim Dozier maintained that
the school board had agreed verbally to
hand over title to the center if the city
would assume debts for the property.
“The original agreement was a gentle
man’s agreement that we could have the
facilities for the debt,” Dozier said.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Councilman
Anne Hazen when Dozier offered his opin
ion of the agreement. Hazen maintained
there was no agreement because Dozier
could not produce a written document.
Bravenec agreed with Dozier, though
he noted the estimates of the property
value had increased since he last reviewed
them.
Halter seemed more concerned about
I paying a fair price for the property than
arguing over old agreements.
“We have used the facilities and main
tained them through a mutually satisfying
agreement up to this point. Now the
school board wants to stick us with these
prices that might be unfair,” Halter said.
“Any equal value judgments affecting
the price should include the past mainte
nance costs the city has incurred.”
Councilman Lane Stephenson
suggested including the proposed merger
of the school district tax office and the city
tax office in any agreements made with the
school district toward purchasing the
property.
Dozier immediately protested any dis
cussion of the merger or inclusion of the
merger in any agreement.
He cited a history of attempts by the
city to purchase the property which were
foiled by problems surrounding the two
tax offices.
The council then reached an impass
over buying Lincoln Center, and went
into closed session at Hazen’s request to
discuss the proposed purchase price.
Dozier was opposed to the closed ses
sion, saying that the session might be in
violation of the Open Meetings Law. He
left in protest while the council discussed
the matter.
Two hours later, council emerged with a
counter-proposal, offering the school dis
trict $60,000 for Lincoln Center with
additional services in consideration.
Included in the offer was a stipulation
that the city take over heating cost of the
center’s swimming pool. Dozier was the
only councilman opposed to the acquisi
tion.
In other business, council passed a reso
lution asking the Department of Agricul
ture to postpone any action that would
move the Agricultural Stabilization and
Conservation Services office from here to
Temple. The council opposed the move
for a variety of reasons, citing the advan
tages of being located near other national
agricultural offices and related agencies.