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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;
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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.