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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 1978)
: Pf\ustin, Houston mayors agree: annexation needed ve > which It °e of rock i Ya nkee Si. when he fi ( fhe sixth 6,448 gave ovation. to be half ,vn ’ sa *d. e ' I'hefans t'rving to e Problem he, n. It's the Sot out i ke es virtualiv t of town Si Austin mayor Carole McClellan By MICHELLE SCUDDER Battalion Staff lustin mayor Carole McClellan and listen mayor Jim McConn found them es in agreement on several issues con- iing big cities during a panel discussion layors at Texas A&M University Mon- San Antonio mayor Lila Cockrell was also scheduled to discuss the issues in the presentation “The Future of Big Cities," but was unable to attend because of an unexpected development in her city. The program was presented by MSC Political Forum committee. College Station city coucilman Dr. Gary Halter, a professor of political science at Texas A&M, acted as moderator for the panel. Questions for the panel were taken from student surveys which indicated general areas of interest for discussion. .^ le issue °f preventing urban decay in cities, like the Eastern and Midwest cities have experienced, McClellan said she was in favor of full use of the municipal annexation act of 1963 and an economic program geared to the central city. McConn agreed with the Austin mayor on the use of annexation. “We will use the annexation method to keep us from falling into the valley that the Eastern and Mid west cities have fallen into,” McConn said. The Houston mayor said that Houston will use federal and municipal funds, as well as the private sector to help solve the problem. We have a long way to go to wards revitalizing our inner city,” McConn said. Both mayors agreed there is a need to bring retail trade that has moved to the suburban city, back into the central city. “City government is the catalyst to making it happen,” McClellan said. The mayors also discussed the most ef fective method to finance mass transit loc ally. The city of Houston and its surround ing cities voted with a 58-42 margin to in crease their sales tax by 1 percent to fi nance a metropolitan transit authority. “This is the most equitable way possible to finance it, because you are only taxed for what you spend,” McConn said. “This is a fair tax to me and oviously to the majority of citizens of Harris County also.” The Austin mayor said that mass transit is a viable form of transportation in Austin and that they need to dedicate revenue for that purpose, and “get off of property taxes. ” “We need to earmark funds specifically for mass transit,” McClellan said. On the issue of whether municipal em ployees should have the right to strike McClellan said, “I will say emphatically, no!” The Houston mayor said “I concur 100 percent; I wish I could think of a way to say no more violently in mixed com pany.” “Municipal employees would be jeopardizing the health, safety and public welfare of our citizens if they went on strike,” McConn said. “I wish Lila Cockrill were here to discuss this with us, because she dealt very effectively with a sanitation strike in San Antonio,” McClellan said. The mayors discussed the feasibility of a civilian police review board. McConn said he is opposed to it. “We have a review board in the citizens without actually sanctifying one,” McConn said. McClellan said she concurred with McConn in not favoring a civilian police review board. “Many cities have found this unsuccessful so they have quit using a civilian police review board,” McClellan said. “Th<?y aren’t as good as experts in the field.” On the issue of federal aid to cities McClellan said, “Carter’s urban policy is rewarding cities who are mismanaging money; this is punitive to sunbelt cities who have sound fiscal policies.” The Austin mayor said Austin receives 2 percent of its budget from federal dollars. “We’re sending money to the federal level but we’re not getting back our share,” McClellan said. “We need an effective lobby at the federal level.” The Houston mayor said he couldn’t agree with McClellan more. “The award ing of federal funds has become a game,” McConn said. The Houston mayor said that if he was a student graduating from any university in the United States he would go to Washington to help the south ern cities obtain federal funds, “because if we’re not there, the funds go to Northern and Northeast cities who have the lob byists there.” The Houston mayor said that $80 mil lion will be awarded by the federal gov- emement this year. “The preponderance of it will go to the frostbelt cities,” McConn said. The mayors agreed that if Texas were successful in obtaining the federal funds they would not become “federal aid jun kies.” Dependence would be avoided be cause both cities use the federal funds for capital improvement programs only, rather than building new prorams on it. The panel also discussed Proposition 13 and what affect it would have on their cities. Proposition 13 is a referendum that recently passed in California that will re duce real estate taxes to an amount esti mated up to 67 percent. “I’m for a reduction in taxes, but for a cut of 67 percent something would have to give,” McConn said. “I think Proposition 13 would have a diasterous affect on Hous ton.” The Austin mayor said she thinks the essential message behind Propostion 13 is that people are saying, “we don’t want that many services.” McClellan said it’s a ques tion of valid use of city dollars. “We’ve cut back on requests from cul tural and social agencies this year,” Houston mayor Jim McConn McClellan said. McConn said the first people to suffer if Proposition 13 was implemented in Hous ton, would be the people who have just begun to do well — the minorities, the people most dependent on government. Fortunately, McConn said, those minorities are "intelligent enough” to realize that they would be the most likely to suffer consequences of such legislation. HE Animal house Lions and tigers at Exotic Wildlife Unlimited may be sold; or they may not be. Anyway, the park is in trouble. For the roar ing details see page 7. Batxajjon Vol. 72 No. 33 10 Pages Tuesday, October 17, 1978 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Deot. 845-2611 Texas Catholics Pope John Paul like II Free speech case refused by high court United Press International WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court Monday refused to interfere with rulings that officials of Skokie, Ill., breached the Constitution in trying to out law Nazi demonstrations in the village — home of many Jewish survivors of World War II. Lower courts have struck down three ordinances adopted by the village board last year to prevent a threatened rally, say ing they violated the Nazis’ rights to free speech. The high court, over Justice William Brennan’s dissent, Monday simply refused to hear the village board’s appeal and let those decisions stand. The court agreed, however, to get in volved in the bitter dispute in Washington State over strong steps taken by a federal judge to regulate salmon fishing in Puget Sound so that Indians may get about half the annual harvest. The justices will review this term con flicting rulings by U.S. District Judge George Boldt and by state courts. Boldt interpreted mid-1800 treaties as meaning tribal Indians are entitled to 50 percent of the salmon returning to traditional Indian fishing waters. The state courts firmly dis agree. The federal-state clash has created an emotional, and sometimes violent, situa tion in the $40 million-a-year fishing in dustry. In other actions today, the court; —Dismissed, for lack of jurisdiction, appeals from a special U.S. district court panel’s rejection of provisions in Illinois’ 1975 abortion law which was designed to discourage women from having abortions and doctors from performing them. —Refused to help a United Methodist church evade being sued for damages in connection with the financial collapse of a corporation that ran church-sponsored nursing homes on the West Coast. —Rejected an appeal by a Mas sachusetts political committee which, after paying to air its views on a ballot question, complained that radio stations seeking to comply with the Federal Communications Commission’s “fairness doctrine” gave free time to an opposing group. —Refused to involve itself in a damage suit on behalf of a deaf mute mother in Milo, Maine, who was sterilized after hav ing a second child out of wedlock. She now can go ahead with the suit. United Press International Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was elected the first non-Italian Roman Catholic pope in 455 years Monday and chose the name John Paul II in honor of his predecessor who died 18 days ago. He is the first pope ever from a Com munist country and — at the age of 58 — one of the youngest pontiffs in modem times. The news of Polish Cardinal Karol Woj- tyla’s selection as pope has been received favorably by Roman Catholic leaders across Texas and called strategic and logi cal because of the prelate’s anti communist stance. Bishop Thomas Tschoepe of Dallas Monday said the new pope would “under stand from first hand experience what it means to live in a communist country and perhaps deal with them (communists) bet ter. "He’s really stood up to the com munists,” Tschoepe said of the Polish car dinal. The Rev. James Gurzynski, whose White Deer parish includes a predomi nantly Polish congregation, was un abashedly excited. "We could hardly get him off the ceil ing*” a church spokeswoman said. “ Even a flat tire on his car didn’t bother him.” Gurzynski, a Pole and occasional traveler to Poland, said he was delighted at the selection. “I didn’t dream that they’d really choose a man from Poland,” he said. Upon reflection, however, Gurzynski said the choice seemed logical. Church leaders had feared the rise of communism in Italy for some time and the election of an ardently anti-communist pope might be strategic, he said. The Rev. Peter Otto of Lubbock, who is Polish on his mother’s side, said election of a non-Italian pope was not entirely surpris ing and could be beneficial to the church. Otto, who as a student at a Polish semi nary near Detroit heard then-Cardinal Wojtyla speak, said a cardinal from a church “under persecution,” would be an especially devout and temperate pope. The Rev. Joseph A. Fiorenza, chancel lor of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston said it was sigificant the new pope chose the name of his predecessor, John Paul I, who died after a 34-day reign. “It indicates he intends to carry through on the reforms of the Second Vatican Council,” Fiorenza said. Archbishop Francis J. Furey of San An tonio and Austin Monsignor Lonnie Reyes said the selection of a non-Italian pope un derscored the universality of the church. The 111 cardinals were locked up in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel for two days and it took eight ballots to elect the first Polish prelate as the church’s 264th pontiff. John Paul II made his first appearance as pope on the central balcony of St. Pe ter’s Basilica at 2:22 p.m. EDT and was greeted by cheers, applause and women waving handkerchiefs. He clasped his hands in a prayerful ges ture, then opened his arms to the crowd and smiled broadly. His first words as pope in only slightly accented Italian were: “Praise Jesus Christ. Dear brothers and sisters, we are all still saddened after the death of the most loved Pope John Paul I. Now the reverend cardinals have named a new bishop of Rome.” His words were greeted with applause from the crowd. Wojtyla was archbishop of Krakow and has been noted for opposition to the Communist government in his native country. Wojtyla’s election, totally unexpected by Vatican experts and priests, stunned a crowd of nearly 300,000 people who rushed into St. Peter’s Square fully expect ing another Italian pontiff. The last non-Italian elected pope was Hadrian VI, who died in 1523. Wojtyla’s choice of the name John Paul II was an indication he Intends to putsue the policies of his smiling predecessor whose reign was cut so short by sudden death 18 days before. Inmates appeal to ACLU because of news blackout United Press International HUNTSVILLE — Striking inmates at the Ellis Unit have skirted a Texas De partment of Corrections news blackout by mailing the American Civil Liberties Union a list of their demands. TDC officials Monday again refused to discuss the inmates’ work stoppage and Director W.J. Estelle Jr. said no informa tion would be released until the strike ends. However, in Houston Monday, ACLU spokesman Gerald Birnberg released a let ter signed “Ellis Unit Inmates” and said his organization was studying the legal as pects of the news blackout. “We have a couple of lawyers reviewing the law and the facts and finding out what the news policy was before and since the blackout,” Birnberg said. “As soon as we’ve done that, we’ll present it to the board of directors of the ACLU and then proceed accordingly. That’s the state we’re in.” The prisoners’ letter listed seven de mands: amnesty for strikers, an end to use of ethnic slurs and prisoner beatings, bet ter food, use of washcloths in showers, permission to wear longer hair and more mail distribution times. A Dallas woman who tried to visit her son at the prison Saturday was told she could not see him because he had been hospitalized. Mrs. D.D. Martin said prison officials refused to let her visit Edward Gene Mar tin, 33, on Saturday and told her “some guards were injured, too” in an incident last Tuesday at the Coffield Unit near Palestine. “We asked (a guard) what for, and he said it could be for anything from getting eye glasses to getting his teeth fixed,” she said. “I want to know. My son could be dy- ing,”Mrs. Martin said. Mrs. Martin said when the guard re fused to say why her son was hospitalized, she met with assistant warden Alan Mitch ell and was told a fight began between guards and prisoners when the inmates decided not to return to their cells. Mitchell refused to tell her if the guards injured her son. The strike, which begins its 13th day today, initially was staged to demonstrate support for an inmate lawsuit on trial in a Houston federal court.. The lawsuit claims prison living conditions are so bad they constitute cruel and unusual punishment, prohibited by the Constitution. Estelle imposed the news blackout last week and Taylor said all striking inmates would be punished. At one point, striking inmates at the 15-unit prison system numbered more than 900 convicts — about 4 percent of the total prison population. It was not known how many prisoners remained on strike. Judge says strikes stop, or the trial may United Press International HOUSTON — Inmates demonstrating in support of a civil rights trial demanding improved conditions for convicts appar ently have upset the federal judge hearing the case. U.S. District Judge William Wayne Jus tice of Tyler Monday stopped short of say ing he would delay the lengthy hearing unless the work stoppage at Texas prisons ended. But he made it clear he disap proved of the disruption and violence pre vailing in units of the Texas Department of Corrections. “The orderly process (of this hearing) could be impeded if the violence and dis ruption continue,” Justice said from the bench. Justice’s remarks were apparently prompted by a comment made by state attorney Ed Idar Jr., who said TDC offi cials were concerned about the safety of guards and inmates at two units. “We share your hope that inmates realize that we are trying to resolve (their issues in court),” Idar said. TDC Director W.J. Estelle Jr. last week Congress finally OKs energy program Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper "You do it like this! 9 e ph Donaldson is showing a model how to pose for his art class. They e working on drawing gestures. Donaldson, who has taught art here at l X ? s A&M University for 23 years, will soon be retiring. His story will sn ^ a ^ Ure d in Thursday’s Focus section, the weeks features and art "Pplement to the Battalion. Reviews of books and a listing of coming ncerts and special events around the state also will be included. United Press International WASHINGTON — President Carter must be credited with a victory for enact ment by the 95th Congress of an energy program whose fate was in doubt for 18 months. But the end result was so patched, com promised, rewritten and amended that few are sure just what he got. Not long after the five-part energy pro gram ran into its first wave of congres sional resistance last year. Carter’s de scription of it as the “moral equivalent of war” had been converted in the capital’s back rooms to the “moral equivalent of the Vietnam War.” Final passage came after a final 14-hour Senate filibuster Saturday and after the House, by a one-vote margin, adopted a rule Friday night allowing the five-point package to go through as a unit, prevent ing abandonment of the controversial natural gas pricing measure. Components of the program include energy taxes, conservation, utility rate re form, industrial conversion from gas to coal and deregulation of natural gas prices. It wasn’t an easy road to passage — Ashley called it “tortuous” — as Congress discarded the president’s $45 billion tax on crude oil, the $20 billion tax on industrial use of oil and gas and $50 billion in taxes on gasoline to discourage use. Eventually, the estimated savings of 4.5 million barrels of oil a day by 1985 were scaled down to between 2 million and 2.5 million barrels. Please see related story, page 8. ordered a news blackout on information about the work strike situation prevailing at several units. The hearing before Justice moved into its third week Monday. In opening testimony, Julian Greigo, 34, of Amarillo, serving an 80-year sen tence for murder, said he had not been given proper medical care since a poison ous spider bit him on the left foot in his Retrieve Unit cell in 1967. The lawsuit began as a note of complaint scrawled by an inmate several years ago and has been consolidated from eight separate lawsuits into one class action on behalf of the 25,000 inmates of the TDC. The state has yet to present its side of the case. Car hits student on Wellborn A Texas A&M University student is listed in satisfactory condition today at St. Joseph’s Hospital after he was struck by a car Monday afternoon. Police reports said George Givens Mil ler, 20, of 2410 Towe Park Rd, Snyder, Texas, was struck while crossing Wellborn Road, near the pedestrian overpass 5 p.m. Monday. Police said the vehicle that struck him, a 1954 Chevrolet, was driven by James Ed ward Steen of 309 Holleman Dr. in Col lege Station. Miller collided with the left front end of the car and was thrown clear, the reports said. He was injured and taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bryan. Police have cited Miller with failure to yield right of way to a vehicle where a pedestrian bridge was provided.