The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 21, 1978, Image 1
The Battalion Vol. 71 No. 118 10 Pages* Tuesday, March 21, 1978 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Inside Tuesday Fighting food poisoning, p. 3. Growing pains for the intramural program, p. 7. Aggie track team wins on relays, p. 9. Officers bust 27 county residents on drug charges ‘Falling Star to star College Station rock group “Falling Star” performed before a small studio audience Monday night at the KAMU television station. The taped concert will be broadcast April 15. Members are (left to right) lead guitarist Mark Davenport, drummer Rick Richards, bass player Frances Martin and rhythm guitarist Mike Reeves. Hattiilion photo by David Kcahcy By GARY WELCH Battalion Staff Only two of the 29 Brazos County resi dents named last week in 67 sealed in dictments on felony drug charges had not been arrested as of Monday afternoon. Hay Nutt, a Texas Department of Public- Safety (DPS) narcotics officer, said 21 per sons were arrested Wednesday for posses sion and sale of controlled substances, in cluding cocaine, methamphetamines and marijuana. Two suspects were ap prehended Thursday and four more over the weekend, he said. The 27 suspects who have been ap prehended will be given an opportunity to plead to the charges today in 85th Judicial District Court. Those pleading not guilty may request a jury trial, and attorneys will be appointed for those unable to afford one. The arrests resulted from a DPS inves tigation that began in December, said Dis trict Attorney Roland Searcy. The entire investigation was handled by DPS under cover officers “assisted at times by other agencies,” he said. Ronald Green, a narcotics officer at the DPS Region 6 headquarters in Austin, said the investigation and indictments came as ? our die in pilgrimage crash, ‘laughing’ urvivors say deaths were expected United Press International pTAMONT, Tenn.-One state trooper J “It’s hard to know what to believe,” jM an apparently hard-drinking reli- : group whose members seem to dis- ! on where they were going or where ' Jiad been when their rented truck |ged off a mountain, killing four of other 18 members of -the six-family jip were injured in varying degrees the truck careened off a treacherous | on Burgess Mountain north of Chat- oga Sunday night. The driver of the Ik, Irwin C. Schmidt, 51, of lagordo, N.M., was charged with urder by reason of drunk driving onday night. Witnesses said the less seriously injured nbers of the band laughed and joked each other while the dead and badly ! were hauled up the mountainside in itchers dangling on ropes. Their leader, Peter Thomas, 25, told au thorities he had foreseen the accident in a dream, and death was nothing to be alarmed over. Thomas told police he thought the wreck in the dream involved an airplane crash, but those killed in the dream were those killed in the truck crash. Officials of the Grundy County Sheriff s office said a handwritten journal of the group’s trip which Thomas kept — mainly about chores and supplies — contained an entry about the dream. Another entry, officers said, read “Everyone must know that this is war and that this is not just another joy ride down the road...Remember we are going to be attacked and there is going to be a separa tion.” Thomas, who received minor cuts on his clean-shaven head, told police the group was traveling to Florida to search for prop erty in which to establish a church where they could worship according to their doc trine. Other members said they were going to Florida, but some said they were return ing from Florida and headed for Mobile, Ala. t “Thomas told us a lot of strange things, like ho saw a flying saucer and that he had dreamed the wreck would happen,” state trooper J.E. Northcutt said. “It’s hard to know what to believe.” The truck, modified for passengers, was rented in New Orleans, authorities said, and was to be turned in at Mobile last Thursday. Thomas told authorities the truck was headed toward Pelham, Tenn., after leav ing Beersheba Springs when it rounded a sharp curve, hit the soft dirt of the shoul der and crashed down the cliff into a small creek. He did not explain why the group was going to Pelham. Sgt. J.W. Sons of the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department said he saw the group at a campsite earlier Sunday, and “They was drinking and raising all kinds of hell.” “The whole thing was strange,” said Terry Dey:dy, a Coffee County ambulance driver who helped' transport the wreck victims to area hospitals. “When we got there, the only people that were upset were the spectators. “The people who had managed to get out of the wreck were standing around talking and laughing,” said Terry. “It was unbelievable.” Killed in the crash Sunday night were Mary Schmidt, 50, of Alamogordo, N.M.; Ryan Kollhopp, 1, ofTucson, Ariz.; Jansen Baker, 19, of LaluzJ N.M.; and Rose Mary Baker, 54, of Laluz. a response to increased drug traffic in the Bryan-College Station area. “All arrests were results of buys of either cocaine, methamphetamines or marijuana,” Green said. During the investigation, undercover narcotics agents frequented local business establishments in attempts to buy the il licit drugs. Searcy said some surveillance of suspects’ homes was included in the in vestigation. Green said that all law enforcement agencies in the Bryan-College Station area helped in the undercover operation “in their own way.” Searcy’s office also took the cases before the Brazos County Grand Jury to obtain the indictments. Those arrested, including several Texas A&M University students, were booked at the Bryan Police Department and then taken to the county jail. Most are being held under bonds ranging from $10,000 to $65,000, though one man charged with two counts of delivery of metham phetamines and two counts of possession of methamphetamines is being held under $80,000 bond. Arrest warrants were also served in Brazoria, Burleson, Robertson and Travis counties. Twelve warrants were served in these four counties, and only one of the twelve persons is still at large. Searcy said that staging the arrests dur ing Texas A&M’s spring break was an oversight. The date was set about a month ago, he said, but he and the DPS officials were unaware of spring break until it was too late to change it. Nevertheless, most of the suspects have been apprehended, he added. Arresting officers had only arrest war rants, Searcy said, not search warrants, so the officers could not search anyone’s home. However, some of those arrested were holding narcotics at the time of ar rest, he said. Officers of the Alcoholic Beverage Commission “operated in some of the es tablishments” and assisted in some under cover work, said James Bundren, district supervisor for the TABC. Mostly, though, they assisted in the arrests. Ten of 11 sons are Aggies A&M: a Kubeka tradition onsolidated School Board pproves site for ‘Safety City’ By MICHELLE BURROWES iSafety City, a mini-city designed to ach children traffic safety, moved a step 6wer to reality Monday when the A&M bsolidated School Board approved a site Republicans block barter’s $1.5 billion lucation aid bill United Press International iVASHINGTON — The House voted 1S-156 Monday against President Car- [r’s $1.5 billion aid to education bill, 'hich was brought up under prodecures lat would not have allowed amendents. iThe vote was a sound rejection of a frategy requested by the White House — fid agreed to by the House leadership — ^attempt to push the bill through the [use without a vote on amendments, bbe considered again, the bill must be lared for House floor action by the Rules jmniittee. That committee is expected [allow votes on amendments for tax cred- for college, vocational school and pri- Je school tuition. epublicans successfully blocked de le on the bill on a vote on a parliamen- v motion. Republicans called the procedure a latant political maneuver which stem- xl from “Carter-Califano chicanery.” ey predicted they have the votes to >ck the move and then to bring up the under procedures that would allow lendments. Carter and HEW Secretary Joseph alifano prefer to expand current educa te aid programs rather than allow tax edits for school tuition. House Peaker Thomas “Tip O’Neill id he scheduled the bill under the no- nendments bill after receiving a call from e White House Friday. O’Neill acknowleged that the maneuver as designed to block a vote on the tuition * credit amendment being offered by ep. Bill Frenzel, R-Minn., but promised >at the House would have a chance to te later on tuition tax credits. for the construction. The board had previously been unable to agree with the Safety City Committee on a site. On Feb. 23 the board suggested a site on Jersey Street next to the Special Services Building. However, on March 6, the board said that a site on Timber Lane would be more appropriate because it was more secluded and the district will be less likely to need it. Sue Neeley, chairman of the Safety City Committee, told the board last night the committee would agree to the Timber Lane site because the Jersey Street site has too much traffic noise. Safety City will be an enclosed mini city, complete with streets, traffic lights, and aluminum buildings. Children will learn traffic safety by using “Big Wheels’ for cars as well as traveling by bicycles and on foot. The College Station City Council do nated $15,000 for the project on Feb.22, but most of the funding will come from citizens and local businesses. The build ings will be provided by businesses, and will be decorated like the business that donates them. “We are still in need of concrete, fenc ing, building, Big Wheels, and landscap ing materials,’ Keeley said. Several citi zen groups have pledged labor when con struction begins. The next step is for the board to approve the exact plans for the project and Keeley said she hopes construction may being by August or September. The board announced that the school district had received HEW approval and funding to continue Head Start, an enrichment program for exceptional stu dents. The funding will finance a year’s extra-curriucla activities for 60 children on a part-time basis, and for 275 students on a full-time basis. Local man charged with wife’s murder By ANDREA VALLS A College Station man, Michael Loren Reynolds, was charged Monday with the murder of his wife, a Texas A&M University student. Reynolds, 24, of 309 Ash St. was charged before Justice of the Peace B.H. Dewey, Jr. after a six-day investigation. The woman’s body was discovered Wednesday, March 15, about 10 miles east of Bryan near FM 1179. District Attorney Roland Searcy said the charges were filed as a result of an investigation conducted by the Brazos County Sheriffs Office and Texas Ranger Bob Connell. Dr. J.C. Lee, pathologist at Bryan and St. Joseph Hospitals, said yesterday that Mrs. Reynolds had died from massive hemorrhaging from head lacerations inflicted by a sharp edged instrument such as a hatchet or axe. The College Station Police Department received a missing person complaint from Reynolds on Wednesday morning, March 15 for Pamela Sue Reynolds. Police said Reynolds told them that his wife had gone to Fed Mart on University Drive Tuesday evening. When she did not return, the report said, Reynolds drove to the store where he found his wife’s truck parked. He told police he thought she had gone somewhere with a friend, but that he became concerned when she did not return home by morning. Michael Reynolds is a senior at Texas A&M University and Mrs. Reynolds was a senior physical education major at the University. O.R. Kubecka promised his sons — all 11 of them — two things when they graduated from high school: a new vehicle and a college education. Both promises have brought the Kubec- kas quite a bit of statewide attention. Having 10 sons attend Texas A&M Uni versity and owning a fleet of Fords might have something to do with it. Currently the Matagorda County family has five boys at Texas A&M. All are major ing in agricultural economics. During the past 18 years, five of the six older brothers attended Texas A&M. Those here now are Gerald, 24; twins Gene and Dean, 22; Erwin, 20; and James, 19. They knew long ago that they were headed for Texas A&M. Their older brother, Dickie, was the first to come when he attended in 1960. “Dickie came first on a football schol arship,” said Dean. “That was when we first got interested in going to A&M. We have all sort of followed Dickie since then.” As for transportation, the Kubeckas have gained notoriety by standing in front of the family’s 25 trucks in a Ford Motor Co. television commercial. The boys’ mother is about as avid a fan of Texas A&M as anyone. She was twice elected president of the Matagorda County A&M Mothers’ Club, an organiza tion for students’ parents, and attends most campus activities. “Mother is a big part of our going to A&M,” Dean said. “She became involved when Dickie first went to A&M and she just stayed with it. Both Mom and Dad come to all the Corps activities and foot ball games, anything they can get up here for. “All through high school. Daddy said if we stayed and worked on the homeplace he would send us to college and get us something to drive,” he added. “Mother and Dad said we could go anywhere we wanted to go, but we re a conservative family and I for one like what A&M stood for. It represented more our way of life. ” None of the boys are away from home very long. All hands are usually needed to keep the 10,000 acres of family farms under production in Matagorda and Jackson counties. “We all go home on the weekends and in the summer to help out,” said Gerald. “That s how we are able to go to A&M. We work. “In the future we plan to return to the farm,” he continued. “It’s a good way of life. I don’t mean we 11 all head back im mediately after graduation, but sometime later. It’s a good place to raise a family. Gerald, Gene and Dean are seniors scheduled to graduate in May. Gene, Dean and James are also members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. Five the 11 Kubeka sons pose in front of — you guessed it — one of the family’s Fords. All are currently agricultural economics stu dents at Texas A&M University. Seated are Erwin, and Gerald, and standing (left to right) are Corps members Gene, Dean and James. Eleven sons working on a farm are bound to draw attention. Recently the Kubeckas entered the world of commercial television when they did a Ford spot representing a backup to the generation series of commercials cur rently seen throughout Texas. “The company told us they wanted common, everyday people,” said Dean. “They had been trying to get us to do it for years, but in the past it was more trouble than it was worth.” “We farm a 60-mile radius, so it took a frill day just get all 25 of the relatively new Ford trucks to one place, washed and ready to go,” added Erwin. “It’s an honest commercial, anyway. They were all our trucks.” The whole family is featured in the commercial, including the six older brothers who work on or near the home farm. Dickie, 35, farms; Don, 34, and Dan. 33, operate a crop dusting service; Doug, 32, farms; Billy, 29, is a veterinarian; and Ronnie, 26, farms with his dad. As for the money, each of the brothers received a flat sum for doing the commer cial. If it is shown nationally, then some additional money will be coming. “The cash is more or less spending money, because when we divided it 13 ways there wasn’t all that much left, ” James said. “What’s left over will probably be going into savings. “The commercial has given us a lot of publicity, but it really hasn’t affected us that much,” he said.