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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 1977)
Inside Today: FBI releases secret data about counter- intelligence Battalion Tuesday, November 22, 1977 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 College Station surrenders bonfire, p. 2. Kim Tyson steps out as a “paper bal lerina,” p. 5. The 84th clash between the Aggies and UT, pgs. 7, 8. shut ik ’inal l« ii N I4 « ss froi tradsl® Traffic on University Drive came to a temporary standstill Monday night as this mobile, 12-foot beer can made a tour of the Northgate area. The can, which was actually a customized electric golf cart, ended up in the parking lot at University Square. United Press International WASHINGTON — The FBI has opened to the public three filing cabinets, full of records, of the dirty tricks it played for 15 years in efforts to disrupt organiza tions J. Edgar Hoover thought were sub versive or violent. The 52,648 pages of documents released Monday showed the late director believed his counter-intelligence program, code- name Cointelpro, was a success — at least as far as the Black Panther Party was con cerned. A memo, dated March 4, 1971, said the Panthers were in a chaotic condition, and the two publicized leaders. Supreme Commander Huey Newton and Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver, were feuding bitterly. “The above developments are attributa ble to the bureau’s coordinated counterin telligence program,” the memo said. It said the FBI’s phony hate letters had turned Newton and Cleaver against each other. The FBI also claimed credit for causing disillusionment among Panther members by covertly circulating news accounts that Newton was living in a $650 a month apart ment. “The poor in the ghetto must really ap preciate this,’ said a spurious letter the FBI sent to newspapers about Newton’s expensive living quarters. The files also detailed Cointelpro tactics the FBI used against the Ku Klux Klan and other “white hate groups,’’ the “new left,’ the Socialist Workers Party, the Com munist Party and a project concerning “Soviet expionage.” Other files involved persons from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Yugo slavia, who became involved in extremist U.S. organizations. Another group of files revealed details of “Hoodwink,” an effort in the late 1960s to start a feud between the Communist Party and organized crime, by planting phony letters that made it appear they were bad-mouthing each other. The FBI believed it could achieve this in part by making it appear the Com munists blamed “La Cosa Nostra — it called it LCN — for a bomb that damaged the party’s New York headquarters. The FBI also sent out spurious Com munists leaflets accusing a Mafia-owned linen supply company of being a sweat shop, and letters to union members claim ing the Communists were going to clean criminals out of their ranks. Utay residents unhappy about possibility of move By CHARLES HARPER Residents of Utay Hall, it seems, are not at all happy with the idea of giving up their dorm in order to allow female occupancy of what is now Corps dorm space. Monday night Utay residents met in the dorm lounge to discuss last week’s events. Evidently the decision to change the resi dency of the hall was made without a rep resentative from Utay present at the meet ing. According to Jerry Mainord, area coordinator, Dr. John Koldus said he had no idea that Utay would be discussed at last week’s meeting or he would have cer tainly invited a representative of the dorm to be present to participate in the discus sion. Koldus is vice-president for student services. Mainord attended the meeting in Utay’s lounge and advised residents to go through proper channels to bring about reconsideration of the recommendation made by the Residence Hall Association. The proposal now stands that Utay will, in the fall, be turned over to the Corps of Cadets for their occupancy. This would allow women to move into Dorm 3 after its conversion to a female facility this sum- merr One question was raised as to the avail ability of space in the other campus dorms and the possibility of women occupying that same space. Mainord said that the space requirements could be met by any dorm such as Utay and that there was no logical reason for the selection of Utay. He said that space is available in Moses Hall adequate to accommodate the females should they move in there. Many were concerned with the reason ing behind the decision. Among these were allusions to lack of school spirit in Utay and their absence in campus ac tivities. Several Corps members attended Monday’s meeting as well as some Bonfire “redpots. They said that Utay was a major factor in the building of the Bonfire and contributed a great deal to its completion. There has been a previous problem with friction between the Corps of Cadets and Utay residents, but many at last night’s meeting felt that this friction was of a more friendly nature and was not really hostile. Things could go either way for Utay now, but Mainord has said that all current residents of the facility are guaranteed dorm space in alternate accommodations of their choice. A&M-UT game to be on closed-circuit TV feminist movement stronger I United Press International IOUSTON — The American feminist [ement was strengthened during the ponal Women’s Conference, emerging i new resolve to seek ratification of the lal Rights Amendment. Hje conference was unique — a gather- ] of American women young and old, and poor, famous and unknown. Iria Steinem called it “a combination of Iminist revolutionary cell, political con- Ition and Woodstock nation. ” [lie 2,000 delegates endorsed ambitious [inist proposals for government action, |e of them binding on anyone. Neither ]sident Carter nor Congress have prom- to follow the requests made by the Jnen. But the four-day, federally funded con- Tnce did not hurt the feminist cause, as anti-feminist leader Phyllis Schlafly had predicted. Instead it appeared to fortify the women's movement in two ways: • Lesbians and black women, who for years have complained of being on the fringes of a feminist movement dominated Analysis by well-heeled white women, went away satisfied their complaint had been heard for the first time. The conference strongly supported gay rights and minority rights. “What you saw there was the joining of the civil rights movement and the women’s rights move ment,’’ said Eleanor Smeal of the National Organization for Women, • The feminist “network of politically active women was extended; many women political operatives sharpened their skills, and many inexperienced women began to develop a taste for politicking. Feminist leaders held their supporters in line on most controversial conference issues by lobbying and spreading signals through a disciplined, bipartisan network of floor leaders before each vote. “The floor was managed better than I’ve ever seen it done at a Republican conven tion,” remarked ERA advocate Eleanor Peterson. Ms. Peterson predicted these changes — combined with nearly $100,000 in con tributions raised by ERAmerica among the convention delegates — would help the ratification campaign. A few feminists disagreed. Among them, Doris Holmes of Georgia, com plained the conference endorsement of lesbian rights would prove to be an “alba tross” in the ratification effort.” But Betty Friedan, who endorsed les bian rights in a dramatic change of heart Sunday night, said she hoped the confer ence action would unify lesbians and other feminists to work together for the first time on ERA. The conference, however, was not a good test of the political strength of the feminist movement. Feminists won be cause they outnumbered the conservatives by five to one. ERA is another matter. Against strong conservative opposition, the feminists have been unable during the past five years to convince 38 state legislatures to ratify the amendment. Closed-circuit television coverage of the Texas A&M-University of Texas football game is being offered at G. Rollie White Coliseum during the game, Wally Groff, assistant director of athletics for business said Monday. Tickets are on sale at G. Rollie from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. for $5 each. Groff said that 1,000 tickets had been sold so far and that he expects to sell a total of 6,500 of the 8,000 seating. Doors of G. Rollie will open at 12:30 p.m. for the showing of the game. All seats are general admission. Groff said the A&M athletic department pays for the closed circuit television but he has not been able to find out from KAMU-TV how much it costs. KAMU supplies the personnel and equipment. The game will be closed-circuited in San Antonio and possibly at the U.T. campus, in Harlingen and Lubbock, Groff said. Groff said a rumor that freshmen may not be able to see the game with their tickets is false. “Were going to get all freshmen who want a ticket in Kyle Field,” he said. “We may have to issue standing room tickets and distinguish between upper deck standing room and lower deck standing room but freshmen' with ticket books will have the opportunity to be inside of Kyle Stadium. Some frustration felt at conference omen ‘graced’ A&M before 1963 By ANN CASTLE f you thought the women of ‘64 were first females to grace the halls of Texas :M University, you’re wrong. Women ebeen on campus since 1890. Women first appeared at A&M as lonsors" of cadet organizations. The role these ruffle-clad ladies was strictly so- They were referred to as veethearts,” “campus favorites” and Jiity fair.” Until 1910, it seemed that ery company needed a lady to survive, ladies were strictly unofficial. K few women, however, managed to netrate the masculine educational bar- In 1895, Miss Ethel Hutson, daugh- of Professor Hutson, was declared an norary member of her class because of home talent and her help with the arbook. Four years later, Ethel’s twin ters, Sophie and Mary, entered A&M. though they were listed as “courtesy 'dents,’ the twins completed the civil gineering program. In a letter of Jan. 1951, Sophie described her years at iM: We must have been 19 when we 'ished our course in engineering in w 1903..,we did not receive degrees since we were only courtesy students.. .we were required to request each professor to give us permission to attend his particular class...our grades were not always posted on the boards with the regular students.” As Sophie indicated, neither girl received a diploma. Photographs of the twins at A&M show them dressed in cadet uniforms that were gifts from 1901 graduates. “This was done more as a joke,” Sophie said. In 1922, 20 women were admitted as “special unofficial students,” and by 1925, 30 women had enrolled. During the spring of 1925, Mary Crawford became the first woman at A&M to earn a degree. She was awarded a bachelor of arts degree in lib eral arts. She remembers her graduation: “There were no graduation exercises that I remember in the summer. If there were I was not included. Miss Louise Hill- ier, the assistant to the registrar, just called me up and said that my diploma was at her apartment and if I would come by I could pick it up. Mary Crawford, now Mrs. L.B. Locke of Bryan, remembers very little else of those historic days at A&M. She remem bers “no particular attention” being paid to her. “As far as I know, I was treated exactly as the boys were,” she said. “Pres ident Bizzell’s son and I were close friends and in this sense I think things were much more relaxed, but as for special treatment, I remember nothing unusual.” Women didn’t reappear on the A&M campus again until the end of World War II. Veterans returned to the school in large numbers and brought their wives with them. Many of these women wanted to take classes, and in the late 1940’s women were granted permission to enroll in “ex tension courses.” As more and more women appeared on the A&M campus, the board of directors felt traditions being threatened. In 1959, the editor of the Battalion was “busted” in rank for an editorial supporting the admis sion of women. In' 1962, a faculty-staff- student survey found “the exclusion of women impeded the developement of academic growth and slowed the rate of enrollment.” One ex-cadet from Abilene reacted to the controversy by saying, “I’m 54 and I still like girls—but not at A&M.” On June 1, 1963, the board of directors made women at A&M legal. With this change, 150 women enrolled. Relations were strained. The women could come, but they were not made welcome. On May 23, 1964, A&M officially conferred its first degree upon a woman, a master’s degree in education to Lynda W. Covington. Sep tember, 1971 finally saw the word “coedu cational” printed in the college catalog. When someone around A&M mentions integration today, that person is still refer ring to females, not blacks. Women and A&M have a long (See A&M, page 6) history By PAM ABBE Thousands of women left Houston yes terday feeling somewhat frustrated after a weekend of hard work at the National Women’s Conference. The Conference was the first of its kind for the American woman, but participants are saying it won’t be the last. More than 2,000 dele gates from 56 states and territories in the United States met together to decide upon a national Plan of Action to aid women. The plan is to be presented to President Carter and Congress. However, after many hours of voting and deliberations, the delegates ran out of time in their clos ing session to vote on a method of imple menting the National Plan. The opening session on Saturday morn ing included speeches from three first ladies, Rosalynn Carter, Betty Ford, and Lady Bird Johnson. Mrs. Carter expressed the best wishes of the President and spoke of his continued fight for equal rights for women. Their daughter-in-law Judy, who was also present, has been chose to lead that fight for three more states still needed to ratify the proposed 27th amendment. Mrs. Ford startled delegates by saying she opposed any extension on the seven-year time limit that was given for ratification of the ERA. That limit is up in March of 1979. But the women who attended the federally-funded conference were not in total agreement of what rights they wanted the government to recognize. The most controversial issues that came to the floor for debate included the ERA, abortion laws and lesbian or sexual preference rights. Although picketers marched out side the Sam Houston Coliseum urging women to “Stop the ERA” and “Re pent..follow God and your husband, the conference gave approval to the amend ment. Many ties during the speech making chants of “ERA now!” broke out among the delegates and hundreds of ob servers. It is uncertain how this historic confer ence will affect the laws of the U.S. but as Congressman Barbara Jordan of Texas said, the most important thing is the chance to be heard. Midge Costanza, as sistant to the President summed it up, “Men have had 200 years to screw things up, and they’ve succeeded beautifully. Now we want a chance to do things right. ourt rules against Austin United Press International NEW ORLEANS — The Austin, Texas tool system intentionally adopted a ra- desegregation plan to create separate 'ools for Mexican-American students, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ed. Monday’s ruling was the third one is- fd by the court on the Austin Indepen- W School District desegregation case. court earlier ruled Austin’s neighbor- lod school assignment plan created gregated schools for Mexican- lericans, but the U.S. Supreme Court irned the case to New Orleans for the Circuit to decide on the school board’s ent. The evidence demonstrates that the legation of Austin’s Mexican-American dents was pervasive and intentional,” said Judge John Minor Wisdom in the 25- page opinion. The court said that although the school district created the assignment plan after being ordered to do so by the federal courts, school officials used the new plan to perpetuate segregation. “The AISD further demonstrated its in tent to segregate Mexican-Americans by assigning the district’s small number of Mexican-American teachers and other pro fessional staff to schools with predomi nately Mexican-American student enrollments,” Wisdom said. Wisdom said Austin school officials used attendance zones, student assignment policies, teacher assignment policies, school site selection and gerrymandering to create predominatly Mexican-American schools. “In dual-overlapping zones, anglos at tended anglo schools; Mexican-Americans attended Mexican schools,” the judge said. “The AISD built new schools deep inside Mexican-American neighborhoods with a capacity keyed to serving only the Mexican-Americans.” The case now has been sent back to#a federal district court in Texas for a hear ing. “We have concluded for the third time that the AISD intentionally discriminated against Mexican-Americans and that the district court applied an erroneous legal standard in assuming that there could not be discriminatory intent when the actions were prompted by what was thought at the time to have been a benign motive, ” Wis dom said. Showing their support for equal rights for women. National Women’s Conference moderator Bella Abzug stands with First Lady Rosalynn Carter, ormer First Ladies Betty Ford and Lady Bird Johnson and Johnson’s daughter Lynda Robb. Battalion photo by Pam Abbe