The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 04, 1978, Image 1
t* liit last yej iv >ng us the e field,” Swii, w >» or lose fi'i'ig to lose. 11 >d Texas, • s > has been 'n in collegi have accoi evable,” he :« into thegi tatistics in i average yiel _ 'HO; third ini I 7 yards, andl se , 62 yards, ranks first e categories ds; total offei ring, 49.5 m ! Texas sively this ye the loss ho scored r either teas tory. will miss said. ''Earl st football pi r doing even re's a betten Battalion Thought about 'unthinkable'? Wednesday, October 4, 1978 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Preparing for nuclear attack is not a topic of everyday conversa tion, but President Carter wants to revitalize civil defense prog rams. Even so, some families are already prepared. See page 11. • The “most competitive scho larships in the world,” are up for grabs. For details see page 4. •Railroad unions could go on strike — again — about the time of Turkey Day. See page 5. Case against prisons begins (4-0) (4-0) 2-1) 1-0) 1) 2-D 1-1) >(4-0) O) ALS t), SPAG1 $2.29 &HT ight & h Battalion photo by J. Wagner Tynes Iron Curtain??? This sign was hung near the west side entrance of Texas A&M University campus late last Thursday night. Mickey McDer mott, a senior dairy science major, says he made the sign and hung it there because it reminded him of the gates of West Berlin, Germany. McDermott studied at the Institute last summer as a member of the TAMU in Germany program. riminal court tries Trial Act United Press International HOUSTON — A federal judge Tuesday angrily warned the state’s lawyers to limit their questioning of prison inmates who have accused the Texas Department of Corrections of mistreating them. U.S. District Judge William Wayne twice admonished Assistant Attorney General Ed Idar Jr. in cross-examination of inmate Lawrence Pope, 60, during trial of a suit demanding court-ordered im provements in prison conditions. “I’m just simply telling you you’d better hurry up,” Justice said as Idar struggled at length to make a point about prison ad ministration. "I want to see that you are given your due process rights,” the judge told Idar. “But this is taking an unconscionably long time. ” Justice Monday began non-jury trial of eight inmate lawsuits charging unconstitu tional prison conditions including over crowding, abuse, harassment, poor medi cal care, slave labor and denial of access to courts. The case, brought on behalf of the more than 24,000 inmates in Texas’ 15 prisons, was expected to take four months to try. Inmate David Resendez Ruiz, 36, who filed the first of the consolidated suits in June 1972, testified Tuesday he was de nied adequate medical care for self- inflicted mutilation of his foot tendons. “My only way out of solitary was to mutilate my tendons,” Ruiz said. “I muti lated the tendons on my right foot. I was transferred to the hospital. ” He said he was forced to take a resulting cast off too early because he was put to work and that the foot "didn’t heal prop erly.” He said he had cut himself 15 times and had never received psychiatric therapy. Ruiz also said he and other inmates were sprayed with Mace by prison employees while locked in their cells. He said he lost 10 pounds in 14 days in solitary confinement despite a federal court order requiring adequate diet, but the state objected to the testimony on grounds that it related to another lawsuit. Pope Monday testified he was denied meetings with co-plaintiffs, harassed with nude searches before and after using a prison legal library and punished for writ ing letters to lawyers. On cross-examination Tuesday, Idar disputed each allegation. Idar spent 30 minutes trying to explain the "strip- searches” allegation through questions and answers from Pope. Justice interrupted. “Is the point of all this that he could have left the writ room (legal library), gone to the piddling room (craft shop nearby) and armed himself with a knife?” Justice asked impatiently. “That’s exactly the point, your honor,” Idar replied. On cross-examination. Assis tant Attorney General Harry Walsh chal lenged Ruiz’ testimony he had been forced to take the cast off too early. After a lengthy hostile exchange, Walsh asked, “I take it by your answer that no one directed you to take that (cast) off, did they?” Ruiz, who had said he had to take it off to go to work shelling peas and peanuts, answered “no.” Walsh also disputed Ruiz’ charge he had been denied psychiatric treatment after the self-mutiliation, then been punished unjustly because he sought to enforce his civil rights and that he and others were maced unjustly. Under questioning, Ruiz said that in a decade in prison, he knew of only two macing incidents. On cross-examination of Pope, Idar eli cited testimony that he was on some occa sions allowed to consult with co-plaintiff inmates and that strip-searches related to use of the legal library might have been more security-related than harassing, as Pope charged. Idar also offered a four-inch stack of writs, petitions and lawsuits Pope had filed in courts to show he was not de nied access to the courts. United Press International USTIN, Texas — Prosecuting attor- s say the Legislature overstepped its idietion by trying to ensure defendants and speedy verdicts with the Speedy d Act and hope the Court of Criminal >eals will declare the statute uncon- itional. e court began hearing arguments sday on the act, which requires pro- itors try all major felony cases within days or dismiss the charges. least three murder suspects have n Ireed without trials because pro- itors failed to meet the 120-day dead- rosecutors say the law, passed by the Legislature and effective July 1, is an ngement upon the judicial branch of 'eminent. uesday s test case will involve a felony ink-driving charge against Linzy Wade Austin, who wants the charge against ^ dismissed because he was not tried fim 120 days of his Feb. 5 arrest, he Wade case centers on the issue of 6 v«? r j^ e l^O-day limit was retroactive, e Wade case is the first detailed chal- 'ge of the law that the appellate court has agreed to consider. The court earlier refused to take up ap peals on behalf of Mary Lou Anderson of Richmond, the first woman sentenced to death in Texas, and James E. Wright Sr. of Eastland, who faces a murder charge for shooting his wife in a courthouse. The law requires courts to dismiss charges against defendants in cases where the state is not ready for trial within 120 days on a felony offense, 90 days on Class A misdemeanors, 60 days on Class B mis demeanors or 30 days on minor infractions such as speeding. The time limit is waived if the defendant agrees to a delay, or if the defendant is not available to stand trial within the pre scribed time period. Mike McCormick, executive director of the prosecutors association, said Texas would need four times as many courts and attorneys to eliminate court backlogs and handle cases as rapidly as the new law re quires.- He said the Legislature has no business setting time limits for trial of persons ac cused of crimes. Carter gets bill to expand power Coast Guard has over tankers >ud ?th United Press International WASHINGTON — The House Tuesday passed and sent to President Carter a bill strengthening the Coast Guard’s authority to regulate tanker safety and closing U.S. ports to tankers with a history of oil spills or other violations. The legislation is designed to prevent massive oil spills such as the rash of disas ters that have fouled beaches around the world over the last few years. The final version of the bill passed the Senate by voice vote Saturday, and the House by unanimous consent agreed to a series of technical Senate amendments Tuesday, sending the legislation to the White House. One of the strongest provisions gives the Coast Guard authority to ban foreign vessels from U.S. ports for a variety of reasons. No on-vessel inspection is re quired. A vessel may be banned from U.S. ports or territorial waters if it has a serious his- frt/cm woman has an answer for those Vho ‘just cant get up in the morning’ By SUSAN WEBB Battalion Reporter Sometimes groggy-headed students have a hard time responding to an alarm clock. But Jane Kraft, of Bryan, has a re medy for this. She operates a telephone wake-up service and greets her student customers with a cheerful, “Good, morn ing, it’s time to wake u'p. ” Kraft began the wake-up service earlier this fall, but has received little response. “I got a lot of calls in the beginning, but most people thought it was a free service,” Kraft said. “One man that called seemed to be under the impression I was going to come to his house and knock on his door to wake him up, ” she said. Kraft charges her subscribers to the ser vice a fee of $5 per month for calls Monday through Friday. Kraft explained that her wake-up ser vice does have an advantage over the alarm clock system. “Most people who have a snooze button on their alarm clock, just keep pushing it. Or if they turn the alarm off, it’s off,” Kraft said. “If you have to get up to answer the phone, I think that tends to wake you up, especially if it is in another room. Kyle Crews, one subscriber, says the wake-up service is quite helpful. Crews, a senior majoring in journalism at Texas A&M University, said, “When you figure the investment you have in classes, the service is very economical.” Crews also said the wake-up service is very reliable. “She (Kraft) hasn’t missed a day yet and calls almost to the minute, ” he said. tory of pollution accidents; does not com ply with U.S. or international safety, equipment or construction regulations; does not meet proper crew and manning standards; discharges oil illegally, or fails to comply with various other require ments. The bill also gives the secretary of transportation authority to regulate port safety, to regulate transfer of oil between tankers at sea, and to establish sea routes into ports. The legislation sets new crew, manning and inspection requirements, and pro vides that any foreign tanker operating in U.S. waters must meet or exceed these standards. In general, the legislation follows new international standards, but it is stronger in some respects. For example, it covers existing vessels between 20,000 and 40,000 deadweight tons, requiring that segregated ballast or crude oil washing systems be installed by 1986 or when the vessel is 15 years old, whichever is later. To sit Crowd ‘asks’ focus The Battalion is starting a new weekly features-entertainment tab loid. Take a leap into the old past of the Renaissance in Thursday’s Focus. or not to sit student to get off grass Lindsey Scoggin, a junior, was the center of attention as he sat on the grass of the Memorial Student Center reading a book Tuesday morning. He said later he was waiting for his next class. Several students told him he shouldn’t be sitting on the grass, which they said should be treated like the MSC. The MSC is dedicated to former students who have died in wars. A crowd gathered around the lawn as students yelled taunts and threats at Scog gin to get him to move. He didn’t and the crowd reacted with shouts of “Send him to t.u.,” and “Are you a communist? ” He did not move and a woman walked out onto the grass, picked up his books and shoes, and threatened to take them with her if he didn’t get off the grass. Scoggin left the grass to get his things and some students threatened him with violence. A crowd of about fifty persons gathered around as two women stepped V forward and questioned the man’s reasons for sitting on the grass. When he said he was just waiting for class, the women said he was infringing on the rights of all students at Texas A&M if he violated their rights by sitting on the grass. “It wasn’t my objective to harass any one,” Scoggin said later. “I had no inten tion of causing a problem and I wasn’t See related opinions, photograph, page 2. bothering anyone. I wasn’t hurting the grass and it wasn’t memorialized. “When I first sat down I didn’t even think about it causing a problem. But when people started harassing me I took my stand. All I wanted to do was enjoy myself. The status of the grass around the MSC came up last year when the Student Gov ernment passed a resolution to make the grass a memorial around the MSC and Rudder Tower. The MSC Council denied the resolution in a meeting Oct. 27, 1977. The MSC Council also adopted a policy that says, “As the M SC grounds are a part of a living campus and at times are used as a teaching aid, the use of the Memorial Student Center grounds will not be dis couraged. The use of the Memorial Stu dent Center grounds will be left to the discretion of the individual. ” In spite of the MSC policy, some still think the grass should be treated as a memorial and encourage others to do so. Some people watching Tuesday morn ing agreed with Scoggin’s action. “My grandfather was an ex-Aggie that was killed in World War I,” one student said. “If he were here today he would want me to sit on the grass and enjoy it. He would probably sit out there and enjoy it with me. He always enjoyed sitting out side no matter where he was.”