The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 06, 1978, Image 1
The Battalion Vol. 71 No. 130 Thursday, April 6, 1978 News Dept. 845-2611 10 Pages College Station, Texas Business Dept. 845-2611 Inside Thursday: Yell leaders go too far, p. 2. Nitrogen -f- oil = more oil, p. 6. How women fare in A&M sports, p. 9. Ags defeat Astros 1-0 in 10 innings By DERRICK GRUBBS Houston Astros’ shortstop Roger Metzger took a long swig from a cold can of Coors and answered the ques tion without hesitation. “Texas A&M really impressed me. Anytime a college team can beat a major league club, it’s to their credit. Their pitching wasn’t over powering, but they definitely had an idea of where the strike zone was. ” The reason for the praise was A&M’s ten-inning 1-0 victory over Houston in an exhibition baseball I game before a crowd of 2,691 at Olsen Field. The two teams had played to a scoreless tie after nine innings, but I the Ags pushed across the winning run on three straight singles in the bottom of the tenth. The rally started with one out when catcher Buster Turner singled and advanced to third base on a single by rightfielder Gary Bryant. A&M coach Tom Chandler placed freshman Rodney Hodde as a pinch hitter for second basemand Randy Woodruff. The first-year man from i Burton lined an 0-1 pitch into right-centerfield to score Turner I with the winning run. Until that point, neither team had staged many serious threats. A&M did not advance a runner to second base until the sixth inning. The As tros had only one runner reach sec- I ond and that wasn’t until the eight inning on back-to-back singles by Metzger and second baseman Julio Gonzales. Houston started the same lineup \ that they will open with against the Cincinnati Reds. The starters are Bob Watson, Cesar Cedeno, Enos | Cabell, Art Howe, Terry Puhl, Jose | Cruz and Roger Metzger. Starting catcher Joe Ferguson had | to leave the game in the second 1 when he aggravated a rib injury suf fered earlier in tbe spring. The starting pitcher for the As- I tros, Floyd Bannister, went the first [ seven innings and proved why he I was Houston’s number-one draft ; choice in 1976. The all-American from Arizona State yielded only four ; hits, walked one and struck out se ll ven. Bannister was relieved by rookie Tom Dixon, who had just made the club Tuesday following the final cut (See Aggies, page 10) The Houston Astros completed their pre-season tour Wednesday with an exhibition game against the Aggies. And although outscored, the Astros stole the show. Youngsters passed programs and Battalion photo by Jana Ha/.lett baseballs to Houston’s Joaquin Andujar (above, right) before the game. Above, second baseman Julio Gonazlez tags out Aggie shortstop Robert Bonner, as Astro Roger Metzger runs behind. Republicans taking stand, state party chairman says I By PAUL BARTON State Republican Party Chairman Ray Barnhart said Wednesday night that now “it is almost respectable to be a Republican. ” He spoke at a meeting of the Young Ameri cans for Freedom at the Memorial Student Center. Barnhart said that more people are being attracted to the party because, “We re standing for something and not rely ing on stratagems and platitudes. Later, he added, “We re trying to address issues that affect people.” A former state legislator from Houston, Barnhart was co- chairman of the Texas Citizens for Reagan campaign com mittee in Texas in 1976. He said that in the past the Republican party has been a failure in Texas. One of its problems, he said, was not being able to relate to people. However, he said that was changing now. For example, Barnhart said the Republican Executive Committee now meets quarterly in order to give people a chance to challenge party leadership and share ideas. Barnhart also said that in the future more people will be attracted to the party because it gives them “a chance to express themselves. More Republicans are running for local office than ever before, Barnhart added. In comparing parties, Barnhart said Democrats are more concerned with electing people to office while Republicans “cause-oriented” and said members of the party are not afraid to discuss issues. In contrast, he accused the Demo crats of trying to surpress discussion within their party in order to present a unified front. On the Panama Canal issue, he said it was an act of “dup licity” to talk about justice and then turn the canal over to a dictator. He also said the treaty reflected “part of our global retreat.” For these reasons, he said it would lead to a “di- minishment of the stature of the U.S.“ Senate extends campus elections By Liz Newlin Battalion Staff The student senate voted to keep the campus election polls open until Friday, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. because many of the polls opened late or were closed on Wed nesday. In their Wednesday night meeting, the senate also recommended increasing stu dent service fees by $1 to help pay for a year-long test of the on-campus shuttle bus system. Mike Humphrey, student body presi dent, requested the voting extension near the end of the more than four-hour-long meeting, the last for the current senate season. The senate also approved his re quest that Sbisa Dining Hall polls be open until 7 p.m. Thursday. All others were to be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today. A lack of poll workers caused the delays, Humphrey said. He refused to “brand anyone as incompetent,” but he noted that election commissions in the past have been successful in recruiting enough workers. Humphrey was also instrumental in guiding the bill to increase student service fees through the senate. He told senators the on-campus shuttle system would cost $60-65,000 next year, adding that Univer sity officials favored a plan where the stu dent service fees would provide two-thirds of the funds and Memorial Student Center Book Store profits would provide the other third. The students’ share will be about $40,000. About $60,000 should be gener ated from the $1 increase, Humphrey said, and the “extra money will be used to pay increasing costs of the off-campus shuttle bus system. A report from E.C. Oates, chairman of the shuttle bus operations committee, showed that an average of about 1,300 rid ers use the six-bus on-campus system each day. Average cost per passenger carried is 46 cents. The senate agreed with Oates that next year’s test should use four buses instead of six. In other business, senators voted to switch companies in their refrigerator re ntal program. Refrigerators from the new contractor will be new and larger, Humphrey said. Student government refrigerator profits will rise from $6-7,000 to about $10,000 per year, he said. Cost to the students probably also will rise, he said, from $52 a year to not more than $60 a year. Senators also made changes in the stu dent body constitution that students will approve or disapprove in a referendum on April 19. The most controversial change was the creation of an “executive vice pres ident” from the executive director’s post. Under the proposed constitution, the stu dent body president will appoint the vice president. The appointment is subject to two-thirds majority approval by the se nate. Succession to the presidency also was changed. The newly-created executive vice president would assume the post au tomatically. If he resigned, the senate would select a new president from the student body. Gone would be the provi sion that only vice presidents are eligible for the top post. Senators narrowly defeated a bill to raise the number of freshmen senators from five to seven. A later attempt to re consider the bill also was disapproved. The senate amended its budget to in crease funds for Parents’ Day, which is fi nanced solely by student government. This is a change from past years, when the University helped pay for the awards ceremony and printing. Senators also approved a resolution to investigate a low cost, long-distance tele phone service for students. Resolutions supporting efforts to relo cate the railroad tracks west of the main campus and to evaluate the use of bicycle storage facilities also received approval from the out-going senate. South Texas officials named in federal suit United Press International BROWNSVILLE — Attorneys for 210 farmers have filed a federal suit against law enforcement and city officials of McAllen and Hidalgo. The farmers were routed with tear gas and nightsticks last month when they blockaded an interna tional bridge. The suit was mailed to the defendent Wednesday on behalf of the American Agriculture Movement, the Texas Farmers Union and as a class action on behalf of the farmers who demonstrated from as far away as Georgia. The 2J0 farmers are asking for damages, totaling $14.7 million — $70,000 each. Filed by the Texas Civil Liberties Union, the suit also charges the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety with violating the farmers civil rights. As part of the nationwide farmers strike, the farmers traveled to Hidalgo in March to demonostrate against the import of Mexican agriculture products. U.S. farmers maintained that Mexican fruits and vegetables were treated with inexpensive chemicals outlawed in the United States. They also contended that the import of this less expensively cultivated produce tended to depress U.S. prices. The air hoses were slashed on a truck loaded with Mexican onions on the international bridge at Hidalgo. Police responded by firing tear gas into the crowd of farmers. At least five men and one woman were injured. Officers said the farmers had not complied with demands to end a blockade of traffic across the bridge to Reynosa, Mexico. But, the suit rejects that contention, saying the farmers followed every police order and were moving to clear the area when police began using the tear gas and nightsticks. Most of the 210 farmers arrested spent 53 hours in the Hidalgo County Jail on misdemeanor charges of obstructing a roadway, demanding that the charges be dropped. In the face of a counter-demonstration when 500 more angry farmers began a demonstration outside the jail, Hidalgo County officials relented. They reduced the charges to a Class C misdemeanor of attempting to block a passageway. The farmers were released on cash bonds of $28.50 each. The farmers announced they accepted the reduced charges only because the demonstration outside had become “volatile. " As part of the release agreement, the farmers returned to the same bridge on March 4 and blockaded it for 30 minutes while police stayed at a distance. Along with monetary damages, the suit asks the U.S. District Court to expunge records of their bond payments and order destruction of fingerprints and photo graphs that they contend were illegally obtained while they were in custody. The suit demands $60,000 for each farmer arrested for deprivation of rights to free speech, peaceful assembly and freedom from infliction of cruel and unusual punishment; $10,000 each for pain and humiliation caused by the arrests, and $50,000 each in exemplary damages. Candidate at local restaurant Clements confident of victory Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr. Republican candidate for governor Bill Clements (right) talks politics with a Texas A&M student over a glass of beer. Clements supporters sponsored a “Free beer and pizza” rally for Texas A&M students at a local pizza parlor Wednesday. Clements’ wife Rita listens attentatively. By ANDREA VALLS Pizza and politics. Bill Clements, Republican gubernato rial candidate, used this combination to rally support from Texas A&M University students at a local restaurant Wednesday in College Station. Clements also spoke at a press conference at Ramada Inn in Col lege Station. Clements said at the press conference he received his “first concrete evidence” that he will be the next Republican Gov ernor of Texas from a recent statewide survey. This survey, conducted by Lance Tarrance and Associates, a political survey company in Houston, indicates a 48 per cent support of Clements, 22 percent for his Republican primary opponent and 32 percent undecided. Addressing his Democratic competi tion, Clements said he thinks there will be a run-off in the May 6 primary between Governor Briscoe and Hill. “It all depends on how the momentum of the race goes in the next 30 days,” he said. Turning to the problems of Texas farm ers, Clements said that 100 percent parity is not the solution. “This is only more gov ernmental interference. I want the gov ernment to open the free market of the world for farmers. Let the farmer produce; that’s what he does best,” said Clements. Clements told students at the restaurant that he is “not afraid of getting in front of the issue for Texas farmers,” and that he is extremely sympathetic to the farmer and his economic plight. If he were elected, Clements, an oil and gas drilling contractor, said he would sup port and fight for the immediate deregula tion of natural gas and would support fur ther oil and gas reserve exploration. “I want to turn loose the government fetters of regulation. Let American industry solve this problem,” he said. “Conservatism won’t do it, talks won’t do it . . . only de regulation will change this issue,” he said. Students questioned Clements about his position on the controversial neutron bomb issue. “Well, Mr. Carter’s made another mistake,” he replied. “This is a nuclear weapon system we need for NATO relationships and trade negotiations,” he said. Clements said he is “totally opposed to amnesty for illegal aliens.” “Granting amnesty can only overload our schools, our municipal districts, and our tax structure,” he said. “If we grant amnesty, we also grant instant citizenship and instant Democrats to Texas,” said Clements. Clements said his candidacy in the gubernatorial race should benefit other Republican candidates throughout the state. He said he is well-known in national Republican politics, although he proclaims not to be a politician. Texas A&M students cheered for Cle ments and even saluted him with a yell conducted by three uniformed Texas A&M yell leaders... “Beat the hell Outa Dolph Briscoe. Clements said he is very confident of student support because he represents the student’s dream , .a young person with no thing, working his way to the top, he said.