e Battalion
Vol. 71 No. 79
10 Pages
Thursday, January 19, 1978
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Inside Thursday:
Government moves in on smokers,
p. 2
A rainy first week of school,
p. 6
Ags host Southwest Texas, p. 10
JFK murder probe
plagued by rivalry
Susan Webb
Early morning lights
Cold and rainy weather doesn’t seem to dis
courage the long lines of traffic Wednesday at
7:30 a.m. on the corner of Jersey Street and
Texas Ave. Both Texas A&M University students
and employees volley to get a parking place
on campus.
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Newly released
internal FBI files undermine the public’s
assumption that the bureau and the War
ren Commission worked in close coopera
tion to establish the whole truth behind the
murder of John F. Kennedy.
Instead, the 58,000 pages of files the FBI
was forced to make public Wednesday tell
of a jealous rivalry between the two over
matters big and small. It also discloses that
Gerald Ford, the House Republican leader
at the time, volunteered his services as the
FBI’s informant on the Warren Commis
sion’s internal operations and disputes.
The FBI refused to store evidence for the
commission. Each accused the other of
leaking material to the press. The commis
sion suggested the slaying might not have
occurred if the FBI had told the Secret
Service all it knew about Lee Harvey Os
wald.
Like the 40,000 pages released in De-
allege Station, Bryan merged?
A look at Aggieland 1997
By KATYE KOWIERSCHKE
itiunn 1997, Aggieland, Texas.
old man sits outside the New City
on Texas Avenue, located just inside
ormer boundary line of College Sta-
The building, a massive structure of
)le and granite, sits on a turf of
tam, (a grass developed at Texas A&M
Os when 523 species of grass existed
azos County).
|e lawns are dotted with oak and elm
interspersed with flaming red berries
ipon. Many of the trees are represen-
of the native varieties and though
is old enough to be a leafy shade-
|wer, none can compare with the
igingTree” that still occupies its spot
jde the Brazos County Courthouse on
Street.
e man has often said how nice it would
4 been if pecans had been planted too,
lie and the squirrels might munch as
ey sit on the bench watching traffic hurry
[o the new shopping center at the inter-
of Texas Avenue and the West
ss — a sprawling five acres of large and
stores under a single mall roof.
I He shakes his head and mumbles to him-
“Never thought I d see the day Bryan
[College Station were one.
Surprisingly, a scarce 10 years ago when
two cities merged into a new eommu-
Aggieland, town leaders managed to
rcome a lot of opposition by arranging
:ach town to retain a limited identity of
iwn. Other problems were solved by
ipromise and a careful timetable for re-
ning responsibility and direction. In
ition a new city charter was drawn up
irporating the best characteristics of
ii towns.
ryan, for example, having no zoning
inances, assumed the existent ones of
ege Station. Then both cities reviewed
updated their building codes. This act
only yielded safer and better buildings,
| allowed a wiser and more efficient use
he land.
Iso, planner Al Mayo, College Station,
Hubert Nelson, Bryan, worked with
igalmost defunct Area Planning Commis-
ion(APC). They molded new life into that
up’s work, the Brazos Area Plan, origi-
illy formulated in the fall of 1957. The
suggestions made then were reconsidered
and the better ones added to the charter.
The resulting outline was then taken to the
polls where it found enough support to in
sure the charter for the new community.
The old APC guidelines suggested area
development along the formation of four
complementary centers. These were cul
ture, business, education and industry.
By 1977, cultural centers were well
under way with the Bryan Civic Center,
the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural Sci
ence and the Rudder Tower of TAMU.
Also, the industrial park had grown along
the county s west loop anti Texas A&M was
surpassing all educational goals.
The main deficit in the community at
that time was the availability of shopping
areas.
The original guidelines called for re
vitalization of downtown Bryan to fulfill the
need. This was done by blocking off streets
and making the old town much like the
plaza areas in European cities.
As years passed. College Station pro
ceeded with plans to create more shopping
by placing another mall at Highway 30 and
the East Bypass as well as a new one across
from the old K-Mart.
Education, however, could not be jointly
handled with the success of business. So in
this area, each community remained a
separate entity with each keeping its own
school district.
The old man smiled as he remembered
the turmoil the townspeople suffered over
whether to merge schools or not. Some said
if the cities joined, the schools were au
tomatically one district.
However, Wesley K. Summers,
superintendent for the Bryan Independent
School District said the Texas Education
Code provided the opposite. School dis
tricts were not part of city government and
the only way school districts could merge
was by public election.
As a result, Bryan schools continue to
bus students across the city while College
Station retains its neighborhood concepts.
The police and fire department pres
ented problems over which police and fire
chief would have jurisdiction. The situation
was solved by neither assuming the job.
Instead, a third man was hired to work
out overall management and the three men
from each department formed the city
commissions for fire and police protection.
W6LC0«€
SggieUind
The stations in each town stayed where
they were as branch offices of the new facil
ity. The chief at the time of the merger
retained his own command.
As a result of this action, maintenance
garages have developed into shops with the
best repair and upkeep equipment on the
market. Operations now run more effi
ciently and economically. Also, the merger
has not necessitated the firing of any per
sonnel from either town.
One problem the old man could recall
was the combining of the city political jobs.
By spreading the merging process over a
number of years, long-time employees or
elected officials would be phased out
gradually through retirement.
In the meantime the city councils sat
together until the conversion of govern
ment. Next week, the man remembered.
‘Student leaders should investigate’
Who does the grade checks?
BY KIM TYSON
Battalion Campus Editor
Texas A&M student leaders are
required to meet minimum scholas
tic standards. But no one knows who
may call down elected officials if
they become academically deficient.
The student government con
stitution requires officers and senate
members to maintain a specified
grade point ratio during their year
in office. The constitution also is un
clear about whose job it is to check.
Students running for offices
routinely have their grades cleared.
Yet routine checks of students’
mid-year grades have not been
made because of the lack of policy.
Student government’s official ad
viser, Carolyn Adair, said Wednes
day she assumes the responsibility,
belongs to the vice president for
rules and regulations, Allison King.
“As chairman of rules and regu
lations it falls within her responsibil
ity to check credentials, Adair said.
She also said she preferred that
students handle their own investiga
tions, but that she would intervene
if necessary.
King said she has begun “check
ing into’ last year’s grade-check pol
icy, after rumors had circulated that
certain student government leaders
may not meet the academic re
quirements.
The constitution states, “All
members of the student govern
ment executive committee shall
have an overall grade point ratio of
at least 2.500 at the time of their
election or appointment and post at
least a 2.000 GPR during their first
term of office.
“Members of the student senate
must have an overall grade point
ratio of at least 2.250 at the time of
their election and maintain a 2.000
GPR during their term of office.”
King said Wednesday she doesn’t
know whose job it is. She said she
will not check grades until she
knows it is her responsibility. She
said that she was not a vice presi
dent in student government last
year, that she was never told it was
part of her job, and that as far as she
knows grades have never been
checked.
Susan Rudd, who held the rules
and regulations post last year, re
calls no formal grade checks.
“We didn’t run a formal check on
grades at’the end of the semester,”
she said.
Both Rudd and King chaired the
rules and regulations committee, a
body “responsible for rules revision
in the senate and in the University,”
according to the senate constitution.
Robert Harvey, student body'
president, said the constitution does
not give the specified duties to any
one. He said he is checking into
whether he or anyone else in .stu
dent government is allowed to in
vestigate grades.
“There is no legislation to date on
any kind of enforcement mecha
nism,” he said. “In our system, if
anyone raised the issue it would be
handled by the judicial board.”
Stan Stanfield, judicial board
chairman, said, “If it’s not prvoided
in the Constitution, the judicial
board must decide who’s responsi
ble.”
“I would say if it’s not defined
specifically in the constitution, the
J-Board would probably have to
then go on precedence in its rul
ing,” he said.
“I would think that for every func
tion student government performs,
it would be ridiculous to list them all
in the constitution,” he said. Stan
field said he believes the grade
check may be King’s implied re
sponsibility.
“We (the board) are bound be
cause we must wait for someone to
come to us to get questions an
swered.” He said Wednesday that
no student had submitted a formal
request for a ruling.
“I guess it’s because no one wants
to hurt anyone else’s feelings,” Stan
field said.
cember, the flood of new information
added a wealth of details about the assassi
nation arid its investigation.
But nothing appeared to challenge the
central finding of both the FBI and the
Warren Commission: That Oswald, taking
guidance from no one, killed Kennedy in
Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.
The files expose the personal scorn J.
Edgar Hoover felt for Chief Justice Earl
Warren and other critics, and his outrage at
the commission’s criticism of the bureau’s
operations.
“We are being clobbered by
everybody. . . The bureau will never live
this down and will be viewed as a second-
rate outfit henceforth, he complained.
As for conspiracy theoreticians like au
thor Mark Lane and comedian Dick Greg
ory, the bureau maintained a public silence
while privately complaining of “monstrous
fabrications . . . absurd . . . trash . . . gutter
talk.”
Many critics were labeled sexual de
viants or Communists.
After the Warren Commission (in its re
port) criticized some aspects of the FBI’s
work. Hoover reported to associates he had
informed President Lyndon Johnson he
was “outraged” at the criticism.
Within days of the creation of the
seven-man commission. Ford went to
Cartha DeLoach, assistant FBI director,
and complained that Warren was trying to
run a “one-man commission” by installing
his own man as chief counsel.
“Ford indicated he would keep me
thoroughly advised as to the activities of the
commission,” DeLoach said in a memo.
“He stated this would have to be on a confi
dential basis...”
In a Dec. 17, 1963, memo on a meeting
with Ford, DeLoach complained of news
leaks and said, “I told Congressman Ford in
strict confidence that apparently Chief Jus
tice Warren was quite close to Drew Pear
son and obviously used Pearson from time
to time to get thoughts across to the general
public.
Ford reported on the commission’s
meeting the previous day, enabling De
Loach to tell associates, “There was no
criticism of the FBI at yesterday’s meet-
ing.”
In 1964, the bureau appeared preoc
cupied with charges that Oswald had been
in its employ. Thousands of pages of the
documents reported on world-wide news
accounts linking Oswald to either the
bureau or the CIA. These were “wild and
ridiculous allegations” planted by “Com
munists,” the bureau said.
Ice, snow cover
Texas highways
the first combined city officials would be
elected.
But politics reached further than just
people, it also touched heavily on the serv
ices offered city residents.
These services saw the first changes
when utilities were turned over to private
companies, removing gas and electricity
from municipal politics.
On the other hand, water, sewage and
garbage remained in Aggieland control
since they were developed early in the new
city. By fusing the operation of these into a
single service (as opposed to the former
two) taxes were kept constant and rates
were dropped.
All in all the merger appeared successful,
thought the old man, conceding only time
would tell. Then he chuckled and said, “It’s
still the only place Aggies come from.”
United Press International
A major winter storm glazed Texas roads
with ice from the Panhandle to the Gulf
Coast today and covered the northern part
of the state with several inches of snow.
The storm caused at least two deaths.
Travelers advisories were in efiect for
most of the state and little improvement in
road conditions was in sight with highs ex
pected to be in the low to mid-30s across
most of Texas today.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area was one of
the hardest hit regions, and many schools
and businesses in the area were closed.
Jim Hallman of the Dallas Streets and
Sanitation Department said residents
were advised not to travel today unless it
was absolutely necessary.
He said, however, despite the poor
street conditions there had not been a sur
prising amount of traffic accidents.
Hallman said apparently Dallas residents
were improving their icy driving habits.
“They are very cautious and get a little
better every year,” he said.
But there were enough highway mis
haps to keep Dallas wrecker services work
ing at full capacity.
“Business is good,” said one wrecker
driver, who said he had been steadily haul
ing cars stuck on the frozen roads since
Wednesday afternoon.
Dallas motels also did a brisk business
because of drivers who did not want to risk
the trip home Wednesday.
“Quite a few are stopping because of the
weather. They say they’re uneasy about
trying to go any further,” said Holiday Inn
employee Debbie Sandlan. “A number of
people holding reservations also have
been calling saying they’ll either be very
late or may not make it at all.
“Were also blocking a number of rooms
for our employees so they won’t have to go
home. They ’ll stay here instead of trying to
make it home.”
The storm, which entered the state late
Tuesday as a wet and windy cold front,
caused at least two deaths when the
wooden roof of a Nocono, Texas, clothing
store collapsed from the weight of heavy
snow.
Store employee Jean Crain, 55, the wife
of the late University of Texas All-America
halfback Jack Crain, and a customer, Clif
ton Baxter, 40, were killed in the accident.
The snow began in the Panhandle Wed
nesday, and six inches fell in Dumas by
Wednesday afternoon. The storm caused a
50-vehicle traffic snarl south of Dumas.
Most of the snow was confined to the
northern half of Texas but sleet and freez
ing rain hampered driving conditions as far
south as San Antonio.
Sleet and freezing rain also iced roads in
Houston and Beaumont.
Carter to announce
name of FBI director
United Press International
WASHINGTON — President Carter
was reported ready today to conclude a
year of frustrated search for a new FBI
director by announcing his chcfice of
William Webster of St. Louis.
Webster is a judge of the 8th U. S. Circuit
Court of Appeals.
While the White House has said for days
the nomination would probably come this
week, doubt about the timing was finally
removed late Wednesday by Attorney
General Griffin Bell. Bell was in Waco,
Texas, for a speaking engagement at Baylor
University.
He told reporters a tentative decision
had been reached and the nomination
would be announced today in Washington.
He was scheduled to make the nomination
at the White House on Carter’s behalf.
The fact that Bell judged the decision
still “tentative” at that late hour came as a
surprise because Bell said more than a
week ago the choices had been narrowed to
Webster and Frank McGarr of Chicago.
But Bell, who has been searching since
he took office a year ago for a successor to
retiring Director Clarence Kelley, said fur
ther information about the two nominees
was still being gathered by the Justice De
partment.
Authoritative sources later said Webster
had gotten the nod. Gerald Ford consid
ered Webster for the Supreme Court in
1975.
Bell last year chose federal Judge Frank
Johnson of Alabama after nearly eight
months of futile searching, but Johnson
then underwent major surgery and asked to
be replaced because of a slow recovery.
But with Johnson out of the picture Bell
did not, until recently, find prospects with
the administrative talent and experience in
law or law enforcement that he was seek
ing.
Webster, 52, has been hailed as having
broad legal knowledge. He is a graduate of
Amherst and St. Louis’ Washington Uni
versity law school.
He served as U.S. attorney for eastern
Missouri from 1959 to 1961, then practiced
law until Richard Nixon appointed him a
U.S. District Court judge in 1971 and pro
moted him to the appeals court two years
later.
California county
stops rationing
residents’ water
United Press International
SAN FRANCISCO — After two years of
short showers and diplomatic use of toilets,
residents of Marin County across the Gol
den Gate Bridge are free again today to live
a little.
Water rationing caused by the great
California drought was' officially ended
Wednesday for 170,000 Marin residents.
For a month, heavy rains have drenched
the area that gained national attention as a
model of water conservation.
The county’s six reservoirs are 95 per-
fcent full from the torrential rains that
doused northern California for 25 of the
previous 31 days. The Marin Municipal
Water District abolished the rationing at a
special meeting.
Marin residents were under the tightest
urban water restrictions of any area during
California’s three-year drought, but they
responded with remarkably good citizen
ship.