Page 6 THE BATTALION
MONDAY, MARCH 20, 1978
Brazos County’s runaways
Their reasons may vary, but 'sometimes it has to be done
By JEANNE LOPEZ
Brazos County is not immune to
the problem of runaway children.
Police brought 109 runaways last
year to the Brazos county juvenile
authorities, an increase of 10 over to
1976.
The Health, Education, and Wel
fare Department estimated that be
tween two and six million children
run away from their homes every
year.
Their reasons for leaving in
cluded: pressures from the family’s
economic situation, divorce be
tween the parents, drug problems,
school problems and pregnancy.
“Some don’t get along with their
parents for some reason,’’ said Er
nest Montoya, juvenile detective for
the Bryan Police Department.
“Their parents are too strict, or they
may think that their parents are too
strict. Sometimes the child just
wants more freedom,” he said.
The average runaway is 14 years
of age and female, seventy-nine of
the 109 reported Brazos County
runaways were girls. No one seems
to offer an explanation for this.
“I would guess that there is much
more open conflict during the teen-
MSC
CAMERA COMMITTEE
invites you to view the
prints from Salon ’78.
They will be in the
MSC Gallery through
March 25.
age years between the mother and
daughter than the father and son,”
said John Godfrey, chief county
probation officer. He said that he
had never read a study listing spe
cific reasons for children running
away.
Some run to escape an undesir
able family life.
“My father sometimes drank too
much at first,” said a young man
who ran away from home as a teen
ager. “His drinking got worse and
when it finally hit him hard, that’s
when he’d start putting me down.
Everything I did was never enough
for him. He’d chew me out, but only
when he drank, We were good
friends before he drank a lot, but
after that, I had to split.”
“The cops would pick me up, my
father would come to take me home
and swear it wouldn’t happen again,
but it always did,” he said.
Authorities estimate about half of
the kids who do run from home are
going for the adventure of it. “They
want to find out what it’s like to be
out on their own,” said a local police
department juvenile officer.
Many leave only to return to their
families.
“I tried being ‘out in the world’
but decided to come back to my
family,” said a 16-year-old girl. “I
managed OK for a while, but I knew
my parents would feel better if I
showed up again. Besides, things
were easier at home. Mainly I
learned a lot about myself, limits.
What I could really do ... or not
do,” she said. She has recently re
turned home after a two and a half
month absence.
Once a police report is out on a
runaway in the Brazos area and he is
picked up by police, the parent or
guardian may arrive at the station to
bring him home. Otherwise the
runaway may be placed in the de
tention ward at the county jail or he
may be taken to Bridge House.
Bridge House, located at 1506 S.
College Avenue in Biyan, is a fed
eral and county funded non-secure
foster group home. There are no
fences surrounding the two-stor
brick house nor are there bars on
the windows. Bridge House was es
tablished primarily for Children in
Need of Supervision (CHINS) and
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runaways fall into that category.
The foster home can accommo
date a maximum of 10 children, ages
10-17, for stays up to 90 days.
“Some may stay for only 24 hours or
several weeks, depending on their
situation. Some of the runaways stay
until they can resolve problems at
home,” said John David. David and
his wife Jerri are the live-in house
parents at Bridge House. “Our main
objective is to establish a hassle-free
family environment and to make the
child aware of his situation now and
in the future,” he said.
Whatever the reasons, teenapl
are continuing to run frond
homes. Some come from heal
stable environments, othersdos™ .. i
According to one teenager, “Huff ^
my parents went through heUwiilL ^
ing for me, but sometimes its"
thing that just has to be done,”
MIDNIGHT MADNESS
All The Buttermilk Pancakes You Can Eat
$-|49 or
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Welcome back to the Restaurant!
103 COLLEGE
political forum presents Hotline gives peace of mint
‘AUSTIN
TRIP”
Meet with representatives, senators,
and other administrators.
Thursday, March 30
Applications Available
March 9-10 and March 20-22
at the Student Programs Office
Apply Early if Possible
By JEANNE LOPEZ
Twenty-four hours a day, seven
days a week, the Operation Peace of
Mind hotline is open to receive calls
from runaways across the nation.
The Peace of Mind hotline is a
service for runaways. Kids may call
the number for referral to a runaway
shelter or to talk over problems with
one of the volunteer operators.
Messages to parents are also relayed
by Peace of Mind. Callers to the
hotline are not reported to the au
thorities or to their parents. All calls
are confidential.
The toll-free number, 1-800-
392-3352, is accessible from any
where in the United States except
Alaska and Hawaii. The operation is
based in Houston and is housed in
the downtown Holiday Inn motel.
There are five out-of-state WATS
lines and one Texas WATS line.
Peace of Mind is one of two such
hotlines in the Country. The other is
based in Chicago, Illinois.
“We receive between 4,000 and
5,000 calls from runaways a month
and relay about 300 or 400 calls to
parents per month," said Marilyn
Davidson, unit coordinator for the
Peace of Mind project in Houston.
There are some parents who call
and ask if any messages have been
left for them by their runaway
child,” she said.
Most of the runaways (65 percent)
who call the hotline are female. “We
were surprised. We had
stereotyped a runaway as male,
said Roy May, the program’s project
director.
There are only two paid staff
members, Davidson and her assis
tant, Peggy McGrath. The remain
ing 65 staff members are volunteers.
Before answering the calls during
the usual four-hour shifts, the vol
unteers are put through an orienta
tion which lasts between two and
three hours. After observingani f.); 111
perienced worker for four hoursa I. ai
then working two shifts with I®* 11 ' 1
the Operation Peace of MindvolJj |‘ l
teer is ready for the switchboard!^
Operation Peace of Mind was■f 0 ’
tablished by Texas Governor DM" 16
Briscoe in September 1973aftei®l a 5
bodies of 27 young boys werefosM^J 1
buried in the Houston area that.
gust. All the boys were repoitK 1,
runaways. ■roa
The project is funded by ay» es t
grant of $149,000 from theCrkiphe
Justice Division of the eoverrlpfi
office. The grant covers alTexper§ unt f
related to the operation, saidSlfh boo
This includes posters and ^
publicizing the hodine, as \vellip an
personnel salaries, WATS lines,« ance
rent to the motel. Ip5
Television and radio timel| m tai
newspaper space are donated M' an
public service to publicize Opi® evs v
tion Peace of Mind. ai! s
I tin sh<
m
£ McDonald's
DRIVE-THRU
WINDOW
MCDONALD’S
INTRAMURAL HIGHLIGHTS
AA
g McDonald's
et Si
tfat
Mifo
ro-d;
Isday
|3p.
BREAKFAST EVERY
1 p.
MORNING
|Min
Teeing on the green
Double your skill, double your
fun with golf doubles. Entries
open today, March 20 and will
close March 28. Entry forms are
available in the IM Office in De-
Ware Fieldhouse. The qualifying
round will be held Sunday morn
ing, April 9. Rainout date is April
16.
Each team will consist of two
people, a men’s, women’s, or
co-rec team and will play a qualify
ing round of 18 holes. Scoring will
be medalist (stroke) system. The
top 8 to 16 teams in each class (A,
B, or C) will go into the 9-hole
playoff rounds. The single elimina
tion tournament rounds may be
played on the TAMU or city golf
courses.
Green fees will be $2 on week
days and $2.50 on weekends for
students. Faculty and staff will pay
$2.50 for weekdays and $3.50 for
weekends. All TAMU students,
faculty, and staff are eligible to
enter if they meet the require
ments set in the IM Handbook.
We strongly encourage the golf
couples to come out to compete.
Three skill classifications for A —
highly skilled, B — moderately
skilled, and C — casual skill level
are available in all divisions. IM
t-shirts are awarded to all
university champs in men’s, wo
men’s, and co-rec.
Rated MM*
Over the hill after 35? Pshaw — anyone knows that’s
not true. Want to prove it? IM is sponsoring the Master’s
Mile in its annual track events. The Master’s Mile is for
individuals over 35 years old, men and women. So come
on out and show your prowess. Entries will remain open
until Friday, March 31.
The TAMU rules and the IM
rules will apply. A copy is available
in the Intramural Office.
Schedules will be posted on
Thursday, March 30. To practice,
teams must arrive at least 15 min
utes ahead of the scheduled tee off
time. Teams will forfeit their
match if not prepared to tee off at
their assigned time.
IM Picks
Well, at last the weather has
lightened up and flickerball has
now reached the playoff stage.
Playoffs will begin Tuesday,
March 21. Our wise man of sports
has decided to try his luck at pre
dictions even though there are
many teams he hasn’t seen play.
So, here it is — our IM picks:
CLASS A — MEN’S
The Infinity Machine
F-l
Utay Longnecks
CLASS B — MEN’S
F-l
Sigma Chi
The Scrubs
Basketball is now
into the playoffs.
Shown here is a
member of Young
Life going up in a
crowd to make a
shot. Young Life
and their oppon
ents Baseline
Bums, are both
Co-Rec teams in
class B competi
tion.
J
Sport
Shorts
FOR THE RINGERS
CALLING ALL
BRIDGE PLAYERS!
Today is semifinals day for horse
shoe doubles at 5:00 in the horse
shoe pits. Finals will be March
23, Wednesday, at 5:00. Last
year’s All-university Champs were
Ronny Stevens and Jim Calle.
Check by the Intramural Office
today for the bridge tournament
schedules. Play will begin this
week and will be Swiss team play
in a round robin tournament.
THE END IS NEAR
Don’t forget — this may be your
chance for an IM t-shirt.
WET REMINDER
Guess what today is handball
players? The handball semifinals at
DeWare Fieldhouse handball
courts at 6:00. The finals will be
held Wednesday, March 22. Last
year’s All-University Champs were
Jeff Brown son and Don Johnson.
Water Polo and Innertube
Water Polo are starting play to
morrow, March 21. Play will be on
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sun
days at 6:00. Both the indoor and
outdoor pools will be used. Check
your schedules and come out
swimming.
FOR THE DOUBLE
SWINGERS
Netting for
three
What’s more exciting than
court full of volleyball players?
court with only six volleyb:
players, of course. Three-man v
leyball entries open today,
20, and close March 28. Playw
begin April 3.
In three-man volleyball a rej
lar size volleyball court is cove:
by three team members. Then
are no front or back row player(t
signations and all members rt
spike or block. Play will be in m
Rollie White. Games are playetH
15 points.
Teams will be men’s, women*
and co-rec. A co-rec team mi
have at least one female membtf
Play options are class A powerbi
which goes by strict USVBAnili
and class B jungleball whit
excludes o\ erhand serves, 0: '
one member of the Aggie Vd
leyball team may play on a tea®
So, come spike and block \w
your two most favorite bumpi®
partners. It’s a wild and era!*
game.
Acknowledgments
This ad is sponsored by
McDonald’s on University Drive
and Manor East Mall and under
the direction of the IM Office with
stories by Michelle Wolstein and
photos by Corey Gaskill.
That time is here for all you ten
nis doubles swingers. Check your
schedules because March 23 is the
day playoffs begin. There were 362
tennis doubles entries this year
with many returning faces paired
with new partners. For the record,
last year’s all-university champs
were Mike Green and Steve Pon
der men’s champs; Kim Bellamy
and Chironne Tebo women’s
champs; Eddie Janek and Susan
Ingram co-rec champs. Good luck
and don’t forget your match time.
“I SPY’S” PARTICIPANT OF THE WEEK
Dan Jordan warms up with his handball partner, Phil Tibbs, in
preparation for their doubles game. They represent Crocker
Dorm in class B. Dan should come by the IM Office to pick up his
“Be Our Guest” card to be redeemed for free food at your local
McDonald’s Restaurants.
Our apologies
(IM Free
Play)
DON’T FORGET! (Can You Canoe?)
NOTICE TO ALL TRACKSTERS
Entries Open
Golf Doubles — March 20-March 28
3-Man Volleyball
March 20 - March 28
Meetings
Sports Club: Wednesday, March 22, room 231, G. Rollie White, at
6:30 p.m.
Unit Team Manager’s Meeting Monday, March 20, 5:15 p.m.;
room to be announced.
Hear ye, hear ye — all track persons take heed and notice. All field
events will begin at 5:00 p.m. on the day scheduled.
Field events for men’s and women’s dorms and men’s and women’s
independent entrants will be Monday, April 3. Corps and fish will
participate in field events on April 4. The Co-Rec relay events will
accept entries until March 31.
Tie a string around your finger so that you don’t forget the canoe
race this Saturday, March 25. The five-mile race will be held on the
Brazos River, ending at the Highway 60 bridge. Aluminum and
fiberglass canoes may be used. The tournament will begin at 8:30
a.m. Men’s and women’s races will be at 10:00 a.m.; the co-rec race
will be at 2:00 p.m. See you there!
Sorry for inconveniencing an)
one who came for IM free pl j !
over the spring break.
Free play will begin operate
this weekend. Friday from 6^
p.m.-12:00 midnight badminl®
and volleyball can be play? 1
Saturdays times have be®
changed from that stated in o'
previous issues. Table tennis fl
be played Saturdays from 6:fl
p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Free play is s»!
ject to cancellation if G. Roll
White must close. To make sm
free play will be held, watch fa
signs in DeWare or G.
White or call the IM Office-
845-7826. Come recreate, brins
date — it’s great!