Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Thursday
March 30, 1978
Oust the wards
College Station voters will again have the chance to deal with the ward issue
this Saturday when they go to the polls. Voted in two years ago under much
controversy, the ward system is back on the ballot to see what the people think
of it. Indications are that it will be done away with Saturday, and we could not
be happier.
The biggest argument against the ward system is that the city is just not big
enough to reap its benefits. In larger cities it ensures adequate representation
on the council for various political, ethnic, and racial groups who otherwise
might have problems getting their views presented. College Station as yet is
not so divided, and a ward system in this town serves only to prohibit very
qualified (and certainly representative) candidates from seeking public sup
port.
An unnecessary ward system compounds its own shortcomings by inviting
few people to the polls. When only half the city each year is beckoned to fill
council seats, the enthusiasm over the races is less than stirring. The ward
system designed to zero in on specific area interests instead nurtures voter
apathy in the wards involved in elections and rests totally forgotten in the
minds of residents of off-year wards. Apparently, splitting voter activity has
only weakened voter involvement.
Perhaps as the city develops the time will come when wards will be needed
to ensure equal representation. But that time has yet to come. j
Place
race
By JIM CRAWLEY
When the College Station City Council
divided the city into wards in 1976 the big
question was in which ward or wards they
would place the on-campus students.
Nearly half of the dormitory residents, all
in the Commons and Corps dorms, were
placed in the Place 2 ward, up for election
this Saturday.
Students form the majority of the ward
residents but all of the political activity in
the election is just across Jersey street.
That is where the non-student voters live
in the ward. Both candidates for the posi
tion are non-students. One is a local busi
nessman, the other a Texas A&M profes
sor.
Each is a contrast to the other in many
ways.
Homer Adams, the 55-year-old owner of
Adams Storage Co., is a former council
man of three terms. He lost two years ago
to Councilman Lane Stephenson.
David Pugh, 35, is an urban planning
professor at Texas A&M and a former
planning consultant for College Station.
Both candidates live within earshot of each
other and the campus.
It seems ironic that Homer Adams is
key
s on zoning
running for a council position in which the
majority of his constituents would be stu
dents. Adams is well-known in political
circles as being opposed to any actual role
for students in city government. While on
the council Adams has expressed his dis
dain for students trying to become directly
involved in city government. He believes
that students are only temporary resi
dents.
Politics
During the original ward system elec
tion, he was the only councilman running
to favor the system. The reasoning behind
his endorsement was that it would limit
the students to only one representative on
the council. Adams was afraid that the stu
dents would suddenly arise and electorally
sieze the city council.
Of course the ward system narrowly
passed and so the council was saved from
the students of Texas A&M.
This race differs from the other con
tested council race as both candidates are
qualified through past experience with city
government. Pugh has written many of the
zoning ordinances currently in force.
Their biggest difference is concerning
the zoning of land in College Station.
Adams views zoning as a businessman.
Pugh uses zoning as a major tool in shap
ing a city’s environment.
Adams takes a “free enterprise” ap
proach to zoning. If people want to build
on the land, let them. Pugh’s approach is
in opposition. Regulate the use of the land
for maximum benefit. This difference has
been the main issue in the past few council
races. The candidates usually take one side
or the other.
The zoning of apartment complexes and
the strip zoning along Texas Avenue have
long been enigmas to the citizens of Col
lege Station. Many of the residents, espe
cially those born in the North, have
encouraged zoning as a method of control
ling the growth and environment of Col
lege Station. Other residents, looking to
ward Houston and Bryan (both surviving
without zoning), want zoning to be discon
tinued or kept to a minimum.
The urban planners, such as Pugh, want
the city to plan out its growth and concen
trate the business section to a more dis
tinct area than the sprawl of stores known
as Texas Avenue.
Expansionists, such as Adams, want the
city to grow unimpeded by restrictions
on commercial property.
The east side of College Station is cur
rently undeveloped because of zoning re
strictions on building in the flood plain
that occupies most of the area. Pugh, along
with many residents and councilmen,
wants this area to stay undeveloped be
cause of the threat of flooding. Adams,
with a following of businessmen and de
velopers, is in favor of opening the area.
This disagreement over zoning is con
tinued concerning the issue of the strip
zoning of Texas Avenue for commercial es
tablishments. Pugh wants to stop the
“neon-light syndrome” currently develop
ing on Texas Avenue. He believes that
strategically placed shopping centers
would further the growth of College Sta
tion better than the current strip. Adams
says that people want the neon lights and
businesses lining the curb of Texas.
So the people of the second ward are
again faced with the ongoing issue of zon
ing.
Urban policy plagued by smog
By DAVID S. BRODER
WASHINGTON There was some
thing terribly sad about the Good Friday
briefing on President Carter’s urban pol
icy — something which tells you a great
deal, not only about the inability of this
president to achieve his goals, but about
the inherent frustrations of a governmen
tal process so big and complex as to over
whelm almost anyone.
When Patricia Roberts Harris, the sec
retary of Housing and Urban Develop
ment, and Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s top
staff assistant for domestic policy, came
into the briefing room in the Old Execu
tive Office Building, the rumors were al
ready flying through town that Carter had
all but axed the program earlier in the day.
The rumors were not confirmed until
later that evening. But as you listened to
Harris and Eizenstat wend their conscien
tious way through the intricacies of the
proposals, you could see why Carter had
thrown up his hands in horror ten hours
earlier — before relenting and allowing
them to persuade him it was the best
package they could devise right now.
More than a year ago, the president had
asked Harris to assemble an inter
departmental task force and examine what
the federal government was doing to or for
the cities and what it ought to be doing.
What he had in mind was to sort through
the more than $30 billion a year of federal
aid already pouring into the cities through
scores of separate, ill-coordinated federal
spigots; find what was working and what
wasn’t; and rechannel that assistance in
ways that made sense.
What he got was something quite differ
ent- Harris,’ interdepartmental committee,
tabbed with an acronym that vVras ugly
even by Washington standards, URPG (for
Urban and Regional Policy Group),
proved mainly to be a device for protect
ing every program of every agency repre
sented.
Commentary
Carter rejected their first-draft proposal
last fall as an impossible “wish list,” and
ordered them again to reexamine critically
what the government was already doing.
Maybe that would have been done if he
had really pushed them.
But he was busy lobbying for his
Panama treaties and energy bills, struggl
ing with the coal strike, worrying about
Menachem Begin and a hundred other ur
gent matters. And in his kind of Cabinet
government, with a weak White House
staff, even as able an aide as Eizenstat has
little authority to crack the whip in the
president’s behalf.
So what came back was “ten recom
mendations supported by 38 strategies,”
or maybe ten strategies supported by 38
recommendations, plus 160 suggestions
for improving old programs left scattered
in five agencies — in short, a smorgas
bord.
None of the 160 recommendations call
for eliminating any single existing federal
program — despite the almost universal
acknowledgement that some of them are
real losers. Instead, the rCcommendations
guarantee more bureaucracy, regvdations
and frustrations for local officials.
For example, the Title II business de
velopment loans of the Economic De
velopment Administration contributed
only $55 million of aid this year. The
evaluation says the basic legislation “im
poses inconsistent requirements on EDA
and on borrowers, making the program
difficult to use. ” It also says the “program
administration has been too conservative,
and long delays and difficulties are im
posed on potential borrowers.”
Does that mean it should be scrapped or
merged with other programs to provide a
meaningful fund of economic development
capital? No way. Instead, the recom
mendations call for “tougher” guidelines,
tightened selection criteria, and those
other bureaucratic favorities, “close lin
kages and focused coordination” with
other “infrastructure programs.”
And so it goes. That result might have
been avoided if the urban aid study had
been linked to a basic reorganization and
consolidation of the government’s scat
tered economic development programs, as
some recommended. But Carter is already
committed to one major reorganization
fight — on civil service — and no one
thought he had enough time, energy or
political capital to take on another one.
Instead of resolving the jurisdictional
and bureaucratic struggles, this new pro
posal compromises and compounds them.
The new development bank for urban in
dustry was fought over by Treasury,
Commerce and JHUD. Solution: Make it
an interagency bank, with all three de
partments represented equally on the
board. The guaranteed effect: A slowdown
of its ability to make loan and grant com
mitments.
Instead of naming a White House staffl
coordinator for urban programs, as the
mayors wanted, there will be an inter
departmental committee of assistant se
cretaries. At briefing time, no one knew
who wovdd run it. Rumors were that
Midge Costanza and Jack Watson, two
Carter aides struggling for larger influ
ence, were maneuvering for the job.
By five o’clock, an hour after the brief
ing had begun, Eizenstat had reached the
point where he was reading off the list of
little programs awarded each agency as a
payoff for its participation in the whole gh
astly process: social service and health
money for HEW; urban parks for Interior;
Transportation Department money for
“intermodal connections”; solid waste
grants for EPA; “mini-grants” for AC
TION; arts money for Joan Mondale’s
friends; and neighborhood grants for
Rosalynn Carter’s favorities in the bureau
cracy.
When it was finally over, a HUD official
who had struggled to make it what Carter
wanted stood outside on the curb, shiver
ing in the cold wind, waiting for a lift to a
speaking date. “You know,” she said, “you
ride around everywhere in these govern
ment cars, and you never find out what the
weather is like outside.” The same, sadly,
might be said of government itself.
(c)1978, The Washington Post
Letters to the editor
Patience needed for special events
Editor:
I would like to say two things in re
sponse to Mr. Welch’s letter about detour
ing around a JROTC Drill Team on Satur
day.
First, the Association of Former Fish
Drill Team Members accepts full respon
sibility for not briefing the teams about
practice areas and for not providing a sepa
rate, isolated practice field off campus. We
regret having inconvenienced anyone.
Second, the 38 drill teams were here for
Slouch
by Jim Earle
their state championship. The Texas A&M
Competition means a great deal to them
and they spend many hours and hundreds
of dollars to prepare for the meet. Regard
less of whether they become Aggies, what
they see and hear affects their opinion of
us. The Aggie Spirit should let each of us
go a little out of our way on matters that
are important to others.
— Robert A. Cook, ’78
President and Meet Coordinator,
Association of Former Fish
Drill Team Members
TM religion
SAtl* MAH. io-ta
‘I WANT AN ELECTION TO DECIDE IF WE HAVE ELECTIONS!’
Editor:
It was very apparent in George Sofka’s
letter (Tues. March 21) that, though being
president of the local meditation society,
he seems to be completely unaware of the
total goal of TM as expressed by the
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Though proclaim
ing itself in the guise of the “scientific” and
purporting physiological benefits, TM
still, no matter how cleverly disguised,
implies a means whereby an individual can
attain to a form of “God-realization.” To
deny that this is the ultimate goal of TM is
to disagree with such standard TM litera
ture as “The Meditations of the
Mahareshi,” “The Science of Being and
the Art of Living,” and also the Mahareshi,
himself. In fact, in “The Meditations of the
Maharishi,” he states that, ‘‘Tran
scendental Meditation is a path to God.”
(P. 59).
He also reveals the essentially religious
nature of the practice, in that he speaks of
“God-consciousness” as well as a level of
“Brahman-consciousness.” It should be
mentioned that “Brahman” is the name
given to the Supreme God of “Hinduism.”
Yet, while both the premises and practice
of TM are derived from the Sankya and
Yogic traditions of Hinduism, this fact
must be masked to make TM a salable
item in Western civilization.
Mahareshi also comments, “Not in the
name of God-realization can we call a man
to meditate in the world of today, but in
the name of enjoying the world better,
sleeping well at night, being wide awake
during the day” (Meditations. . . p. 168).
This proves even more that what most
people see TM as being is nothing but a
facade to lead an individual ultimately into
the depths of Eastern thought and prac
tice — namely Hinduism.
One needs only to read the English ver
sion of the initiation ritual, the heart being
the “puja,” to see clearly the religious as
pect to TM. This version of the “puja” (as
printed on p. 5 of the “Holy Tradition” —
the TM handbook) is available free to stu
dents here at A&M by writing P.O. Box
682, College Station 77840. (The English
translation is never revealed to the ordi
nary initiate; only to those who are in
training to become teachers.)
I think it’s time that TM be exposed for
what it really is and for those already in
volved to see clearly where they are
headed.
— Johnny Stimson, ’80
Top of the News Dn
Campus
Psi Chi sponsors noon lecture
“The Obstacles Which Confront Successful Women,” will be
presented by Diane Strommer, assistant professor of English and
associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts, at noon today in room
401 of the Rudder building. Psi Chi, the psychology national honor
society, is sponsoring the lecture.
Candidates should sign up
The following candidates should fill out a questionnaire and signup
to have their picture taken no later than 5 p.m. Wednesday, March
29: student government executive positions, yell leaders, OCSA pres
ident and RHA president. Questionnaires should be completed and
turned in at the Battalion no later than 5 p.m. Friday.
State
Yarbrough sentenced to 5 years
Nation
Train derailed, leaks chemicals
Mass strike threatens New York
World
Perez warns Carter about oil
Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez warned President Car
ter in the capital city of Caracas Wednesday that oil will be used as a
weapon to force industrialized nations to help forge a new world
economic order. Carter had just aired his own plan for a new interna
tional economic order in a speech to the Venezuelan congress by
proposing a five-point plan to improve global economic conditions
and to raise living standards in answer to Third World demands. The
points were increased capital flow to developing nations; a more open
system of world trade; world price stabilization, especially for raw
products; cooperation on energy conservation and development; and
increased transfer of technology to the developing nations.
PLO endorses no cease-fire
The Palestine Liberation Organization said in Beirut it will do all it
can to assure the success of the U.N. peace-keeping mission in south
ern Lebanon, but it stopped short of endorsing a cease-fire with
Israel. An estimated 1,000 U.N. troops stepped up reconnaissance
patrols in the region Wednesday and Israel threatened to take mat
ters into its own hands unless Palestinian guerrillas halt their rocket
attacks on northern Jewish towns.
Weather
Partly cloudy and warm today, tonight and tomorrow with
considerable late night and early morning cloudiness. High
today upper 70s, low tonight mid-50s. High tomorrow upper
70s. Winds from the south at 10 mph. Continued cloudy with a
chance of showers late Saturday and early Sunday.
Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Donald B. Yarbrough
will receive a five-year prison sentence today. Yarbrough was con
victed of lying to a Travis County grand jury about his dealings with
William Rothkopf, a former business associate. Though Yarbrough
denied meeting with Rothkopf on May 16, 1977, the grand jury pro
duced pictures, eyewitness testimony and tape recordings of conver
sations between the two men concerning the forging of an automobile
title. The Travis County jury rejected Yarbrough’s tearful pleas for
probation. The maximum sentence he could have received on the
aggravated perjury charge was 10 years. Yarbrough was also indicted
for forgery but has not been tried on that charge. Upon learning of
the conviction, Yarbrough’s lawyers said they would probably appeal
the convictions. Defense attorney Waggoner Carr said there were
several errors in the trial that might result in a reversal of the convic
tion. Facing civil suits and investigation on criminal charges, Yar
brough resigned from the Supreme Court July 15, 1977, only after
learning the Legislature was considering a proposal to remove him
from office.
Near collision capsizes small boat
A near collision with an oil tanker early Wednesday morning
caused a small boat to capsize about 20 miles from Port Arthur in the
Gulf of Mexico. A boat and helicopter searched the waters for the two
persons believed missing. Cmdr. Merrill Looks of the Coast Guard
station at Sabine Pass said, “From the information I have it was a near
collision between the Zapata Ranger inbound and the Party Boat
outbound from Brazosport. As a result of the near collision the Party
Boat capsized. ” Coast Guard personnel were waiting to interview the
Zapata Ranger crew when it docked in Nederland.
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The
A train derailment behind a petroleum plant caused an explosion
and fire Wednesday, sending toxic fumes billowing into the air and
forcing the evacuation of 1,7(X) residents of Lewisville, Ark. No one
was killed but three crewmen on the Cotton Belt train suffered minor
injuries. Four diesel engines and five tankers on the 116-car train
were derailed. A spokesman for the state Pollution Control and Ecol
ogy Department said the derailment caused leakage of flammable
chemicals used in making plastics and synthetic rubber compounds.
There also was an unconfirmed report that the train was carrying
some munitions.
New York City is threatened with a string of strikes in the next few
days that would impair its transportation, shopping, health care and
even its reading habits. The walkouts — should they occur — could
tie up transit in the city and some of its suburbs, hit New York’s three
major daily newspapers and shut down the world’s biggest depart
ment store and a number of nursing homes. Unions representing
New York City bus and subway workers and Long Island Rail Road
employees have scheduled strikes at 12:01 a m. Saturday if they do
not have new contracts by then. The city’s three major newspapers —
the Daily News, the Times and the Post — face the threat of a
walkout at 12:01 a.m. Friday. Thousands of employees at Macys
department store are threatening to strike in their five stores Satur
day morning. A union representing 15,000 nurses, orderlies and
kitchen workers at 60 nursing homes in the metropolitan area has set
a strike deadline for 6 a.m. Tuesday if no contract agreement is
reached.
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The Rattalion
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Editor jamk ^
Managing Editor Man- Alice Wixxft^
Sports Editor Paul ^ I
News Editors Mane Homeyer, Oinil Mo 1
Assistant Managing Editor . ... Glemw
City Editor Kan’ii R"?'’
Campus Editor KimT)*
Reporters Liz Newlin. l>nitl ft#
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Cartoonist Doug CrrM
r.
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