iii '79,
if my heart,
s need to go
[they solved! 6:30
ng rid of
then they slt (
they hav
it up.
r (lid gel last;,
;eks of the sen
:1 time to
i)w what mahi
e frequent I#
irbett durinj
ft the impress
that they have
and if they dr
ling block,
e that teamii
ley’ve got the!
b. I could he
d, but who
because Bnf
a impulsivi
have to wood
nt) know
other times!
the way
d I’ve go
“If you don’t get here early,” Kyle ex
plains, “then you won’t get a good spot.”
An hour later, a van drives up and stops
in front of the boy.
Louis Walston gets out of the van and
hands Kyle a large, covered bucket.
Walston is a distinguished looking man in
his late 30s.
“Generally,” he says, closing the door of
the van, “everybody knows what we have
to do, and what it takes to stay even.”
Walston’s son Andy, also 14, is standing
farther east on University near the
Ramada Inn parking lot. As each car drives
by, he leans perilously out on the road
waving a flower and hollering “MUM!”
Hie cars drive by, obviously unimpressed.
No, he’s not a displaced flower child.
He’s not selling his mother, either. He
sells football mums.
That’s right, football mums. Mums are
big white chrysanthemums draped with
maroon and white ribbon and little metal
lic or plastic footballs. They are usually
adorned with pipe cleaners bent to spell
‘.‘ATM.”
On-campus sales of mums are regu
lated, but off-campus sales are another
story. Out there, it s a free-for-all.
Andy has been doing this for two years.
He says he doesn’t like it, either.
Why do it then?
log
lig Rider ami
ones as don!
me againsl
Jist Univ
bruised sh«
in elbow
Guy Sellen
n while
fensive end
earn worked
•sday inprej
nier quarted
irotectionbi
ikerssaid.
s thrown
nes a probki
ie Musts®
hiding Effl
[i the balls!
s co-leadii
jth Housta
— Texas
)ach F.A
■ Horned
called no
n for Satun
against Bay
ised with
■’re getting!
rs hack and
ole picture
ite hack
ie best I’ve:
ey’ll he res
Saturday
upset T»!
ir record Ii
? Wl
rrnatimial
<e Newlin
ssingthed
ve game!
106-101 o;
[nicks M
5 points
its —indi
quarter,
igh score!
nts and 0
fore foulim
d 21 and
Rf eight sti
i chedule 11
dffice
r;R T0t>
-rE SCHD 1
, ANAGEf!
■mpos
^ 8530<i
Aggie mums
big business in College Station
By ROY BRAGG
Battalion Reporter
Fourteen-year-old Kyle Collins is sitting
on an aluminum folding chair on the
shoulder of University Drive near the traf
fic light at College Avenue. It’s Saturday,
“I make 50 cents for every flower I sell,”
says Andy, explaining his motivation.
Louis Walston runs Nan’s Blossom Shop
in Bryan. Theresa Walston, Andy’s sister,
is selling mums over on Jersey Street. In
this case, it’s all in the family.
Kyle also works for Walston. The young
businessman says the best spot is the
U-tote-M near the Ramada Inn.
“I was sick for the first game this year
and I lost the spot to Jeff.”
Jeff Shillings, 14, is the “owner” of the
coveted location. He arrived a little before
Collins at 6 a.m. He is in his second year of
selling mums.
Jeff, Andy and Kyle all make 50 cents on
each mum they sell, and they are usually
at work for seven hours. Is it worth it?
Kyle’s biggest day was last year’s Texas
game. He sold 66 mums. Thats $33 for 7
hours work, or almost $4.75 an hour.
The most Andy has sold is 82 mums.
That’s nearly $6 an hour.
And all of these “record sales’’ have oc
curred in front of the U-tote-M.
But Louis Walston says location is not
that much of a factor in sales.
The going rate for mums along this
stretch of University Drive is $3. There
are a few vendors selling for $3.50, but
they are few in number. No mums sold
before 7:30 a.m.
On the other side of campus, however,
there is quite a discrepancy in prices.
Members of the Agricultural Com
municators of Tomorrow are selling mums
at the intersection of Bizzell and Jersey as
a money-making project for the club. The
club also has a location at Throckmorton
and Jersey. The price there before the
Baylor game was $3. However, before the
Tech game the mums were $4. Mark Sing
leton was manning that location.
“I didn’t know anything about that,” he
said with a grin. He had already sold six
mums before 8 a.m.
That’s the free enterprise system at
work. Before the Baylor game, Bonnie
Helwig and Julie Smiley, both of ACT,
made $35 by 11 a.m. at the Bizzell loca
tion.
ACT gets the mums from the Senter
Piece in College Station. Ken Senter,
owner of the shop, says he usually has nine
locations for every home game, mainly on
Jersey. According to Helwig and Smiley,
ACT makes between $50 and $70 a week.
That works out to at least 100 mums a
week being sold by ACT. Senter says he
sells a total of 400 a week.
Although Senter and Walston discount
the existence of price wars, Andy and Kyle
both know it’s a “dog-eat-dog” out there in
the mum business.
“Some customers try to knock the price
down by bargaining,” says Andy, “They
think they can do it because I’m a kid. ”
Kyle says some people try to steal mums
from him.
Considering the 400 mums that Senter
sells, along with a like amount from
Walston and a few extra from other
florists, the total comes to nearly $2,500
daily before every Texas A&M home
game. And that’s big business.
Check that mate
The hand moves quicker than
the eye — or it almost has to in
this game. Speed chess allows
about 5-10 seconds per move,
but all other rules still apply,
page 7.
The
Battalion
Vol. 72 No. 41
12 Pages
Friday, October 27, 1978
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Al Woods, a retired postal service worker, has been
selling Aggie mums for the past 22 years. He says
the demand for mums is dropping off — everyone
used to buy mums, but now mostly former students
Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
buy them. Woods started selling mums when his
wife owned a flower shop. He now sells them for a
local florist. Woods worked at the Texas A&M Post
Office for 26 years.
Cause of resignation
remains unresolved
Bryan police want to adopt
uniform working standards
Bryan police desiring consistent
standards for the hiring, firing and promo
tion of personnel, are looking for them in
the Firemen’s and Policemen’s Civil Serv
ice Act.
Detective Gary Wentrecek, president
of the Bryan Police Officers Benefit As
sociation, is circulating a petition to adopt
The act, passed in 1975 by the Texas
legislature, provides guidelines for the
administration of fire and police. The deci
sion to adopt the act is left up to each city.
The act was passed to encourage more
efificient police and fire departments which
would be free from political influence.
“I think one of things the police associa
tion would be looking at are the monetary
benefits,” said Charles Bluntzer, Bryan
city attorney. “The civil service act itself
does have some benefits in it such as vaca
tion and sick leave which the regular city
employees don’t have. ”
Support for the move within the police
force apparently is widespread. Members
vith 24 f attending the police association meeting
last week comprise an estimated 80 per
cent of the total force, Wentrecek said. He
added he’s confident the rest of the de
partment will concur.
“The ones we’ve talked to are going
along with this,” he said. “I feel the rest of
the department will, too. We’ve been talk
ing about it for some time.”
Wentrecek said the association’s action
is not a result of incapable personnel and
ineffiency on the force. But he did not dis
count the possibility of political influence
being exerted in the department, com
menting, “let me say that I’m not going to
cite any example at this time.”
He would not comment about unfair
ness in the handling of hiring, discipline
and promotion.
“We want to insure there will be fair
ness and consistency in the future,” Wen
trecek said.
“In the past, as well as in the present,
there’s been no way to secure jobs. With
this there’s a way to put job security in
writing. ”
He explained that for a policeman to be
fired or suspended, he would have to
violate one of the regulations described in
the act.
“We can’t be terminated or suspended
at the whim of the police administration or
the governing body of the city,” he said.
‘They can’t come up with something out of
the clear blue.”
A committee of police officers is study
ing the act, along with Bluntzer and Bryan
acting City Manager Hubert Nelson.
None of them could say exactly what
changes would be affected in the police
and fire departments since the study has
just begun. However, Bluntzer and Wen
trecek say some of the rules are basically
the same ones the department is operating
under now.
The act, if passed, would not take effect
until October 1979 and would set down
standards for departmental policy concern
ing personnel. Under the act, police and
firemen would not have the right to strike.
The men would work on a merit system
for promotions. A Civil Service Commis
sion appointed by the city council would
be responsible for administering exam
inations and maintaining eligibility lists,
Wentrecek said. This will eliminate a lot of
misunderstanding about who is up for a
promotion, he added.
By MARK PATTERSON
Battalion Staff
Rumors, accusations and denials abound
in the wake of Emory Bellard’s resignation
as football coach and athletic director at
Texas A&M University.
In a story written by Dave Campbell
and printed in Wednesday’s Waco
Tribune-Herald, Campbell named Texas
A&M Athletic Academic Counselor Max
Bumgardner as the source close to Bellard
who told the former coach of the inten
tions of Texas A&M President Jarvis Mil
ler and the Board of Regents to ask Bellard
to relinquish his coaching duties at the end
of the season.
When contacted, Bumgardner would
offer no comment on the situation.
“I’m hot going to add anything to this
story,” Bumgardner said. “Just let Coach
Bellard’s story die.
“Whoever named me (as the source to
Bellard) is purely speculating on who it is.
I’m not going to make any comment to
your question. I’m not going to get into it.
“You’d better re-check with whoever
wrote that story and get the truth. I’m not
the reliable source.”
Asked if he would answer any more
questions on the subject Bumgardner an
swered, “No son, newspapers are for
fans.” Click.
WHEN ASKED ABOUT the credibility
of the story, Campbell stood by his source
and his story.
“My source is a good contact,”
Campbell said. “He’s always been accu
rate in the past and I have no reason to
think he isn’t now. I wouldn’t have used
him if I didn’t have confidence in him.”
Campbell declined to identify his source.
Emory Bellard was unavailable for
comment on the issue. When a writer
from the Baylor University newspaper.
The Lariat, contacted Bellard’s wife Mary
Kay about asking the former coach some
questions, Mrs. Bellard responded, “As
long as you’re not from The Battalion he’ll
talk to you.” Bellard never returned the
call.
The Texas A&M alumni have been re-
Picture of
coach to he
in program
While the resignation of Emory Bel
lard requires many obvious changes,
other less obvious changes are also
necessary.
Both the program which is sold at
each home game and the football high
lights show must be changed.
The ‘Today’s Game” page for Satur
day will include information about the
coaching change, said Billye Tate,
printing services representative for the
University Printing Center.
But Tate said the full page color pho
tograph and story about Bellard will
remain in this week’s program. She
said that it was too late and too ex-
pensve to change it for this week.
It would cost about $3,000 to make
the change, she said.
Marvin Tate will still be listed as as
sociated athletic director and Tom Wil
son as offensive coordinator.
Additional changes may be made for
the TCU program, but that decision
will be up to Sports Information Direc
tor Spec Gammon, she said.
Melvin Chastain, director of educa
tional broadcast services for KAMU,
said the'specific changes in the high
lights show will be worked out with
Interim Athletic Director Marvin Tate
and Coach Tom Wilson in a meeting
this morning.
-
Battalion photo by Steve Lee
ceiving much of the blame for Bellard’s
resignation. One prominent member from
the Dallas area, Thomas Frymire of Fry-
mire Engineering, denies any knowledge
or participation in an attempt to oust Bel
lard.
“SOME (FORMER STUDENTS) were
against him, but no more than at the end
of last season,” Frymire said. “He’s been
able to beat the Memphis State’s but he
can’t win the big ones.
“Emory is a personal friend of mine. But
I think he’s made some administrative and
organizational mistakes that have shown
up on the field. ”
Frymire went on to say that he knew of
no organized effort by any group to re
move Bellard from his position but later
made the comment, “It’s the Houston
group acting on its own.”
The Houston alumni have been much in
the news surrounding Bellard’s resigna
tion. In a story appearing in Wednesday’s
Houston Post it was reported that “an inf
luential group of Texas A&M alumni flew
to Pittsburgh last weekend, four days be
fore Aggie Coach Emory Bellard resigned,
to discuss the job opening with Pitt Panth
ers’ defensive coordinator Jimmy
Johnson.”
JOHNSON, CONTACTED Wednes
day afternoon, denied ever meeting with
any Texas A&M alumni. But Johnson does
confirm the fact that he’s spoken with
former Aggies from Houston this week.
“No one flew to Pittsburgh and talked to
me,” Johnson said. “A couple of con
cerned, interested alumni (he wouldn’t
name them) called me, but it was after
Emory resigned. It was nothing more than
casual conversation with friends, nothing
official. No officials of the University con
tacted me.
“Some friends called and asked if I
would be interested in being head coach at
A&M. I’m from Port Arthur and I still
have friends from around there who know
I would be interested in that job. But no
offer was made now because the job is not
open.
“I won’t say who they were but they
were from Houston.”
THE POST ALSO stated that it was
rumored the Texas A&M group also talked
with Pitt head coach Jackie Sherrill. Sher
rill denies ever being contacted by the
Texas A&M group.
“I haven’t talked to anyone from A&M
about anything,’’ Sherrill said. “I haven’t
talked to Johnnie (Johnson) about A&M,
or about anything with A&M. And I know
of nothing about Coach Johnson’s connec
tion or talking with anyone from A&M."
Kenny Hand, the author of the Post
' story, when contacted about the denials of
Johnson, maintained his stand on the arti
cle about the Aggies’ visit to Johnson.
“I asked Johnson six times if the group
visited him and he never denied it,’ Hand
said from the Texas Stadium press box
Thursday evening. Hand also refused to
disclose the names of the people he’s
talked to about the Texas A&M group’s
trip to Pittsburgh.
When contacted about the Pittsburgh
visit, Steve Pringle, assistant to Texas
A&M President Jarvis Miller, denied &ny
knowledge of the group or the trip.
“I DON’T KNOW who made the trip to
Pittsburgh,” Pringle said. “But this phan
tom group from Houston did not have any
authority to talk to anyone about the pos-
sibility of being hired.
“The alumni of this school do not make
athletic decisions. They do not hire
coaches nor do they fire them.”
The President’s office has been one of
the major objects of criticism revolving
around the Bellard resignation. Many Ag
gies are blaming the resignation of Bellard
on President Miller and his staff.
Newly appointed Athletic Director
Marvin Tate said the discrepency in Bel
lard’s story and Miller’s story is based on a
communications breakdown. Tate ex
plained that Bellard went into Miller’s of
fice thinking that Miller and the Board of
Regents were going to ask him to relin
quish his coaching duties at the end of the
season.
Tate said he believed that Miller had no
intention of asking for Bellard’s resigna
tion. Tate continued to say that after Bel
lard tendered his resignation Miller
suggested that he remain at Texas A&M as
athletic director.
IN HIS RELEASE to the press Wed
nesday Bellard said, “at that point I knew
that the information I received (earlier in
the day) was factual; at that point I knew
that I no longer belonged at Texas A&M.’
Apparently, it was the connection be
tween the information Bellard received
earlier and the suggestion by Miller that
made Bellard resign his duties as head
coach and athletic director. Whether that
information was fact or fiction remains to
be seen. It’s only one of many stories left
unanswered.
Constitution passes;
fish officers elected
Texas A&M University has a new stu
dent govenment constitution after Thurs
day’s fell election.
The constitution is almost identical to
one passed last spring. That document was
invalidated when the Judicial Board this
semester threw out its election.
The new constitution makes only two
major changes in student government: it
provides for a two-thirds vote of confi
dence by the senate before the executive
vice president takes over a vacated presi
dency, and it specifies cumulative and
semester grade requirements for student
government officers.
Elections were also held to determine
freshmen senators and class officers, as
well as Off Campus Student Association
representatives.
Runoff elections for freshman class pres
ident and vice president will be held next
Thursday. David Porter and Jonny Wein-
baum will run for class president, while
the vice presidency is between Rick Seger
and Sally Takacs.
Freshman secretary-treasurer is David
Moyer, and social secretary is Susan
Bryan.
The seven freshman senators are Cheryl
Swanzy, Mike Behrle, Jim Barolack, Di
onne Jung, Karen Shipp, George Mauze
and Jim Bob Coates.
Zone 1 OSA representatives are David
Collings, Sandra Bailey, Charles W'ait,
John Lee and Mary Louise Trifovesti.
OSA representatives from Zone 2 are Deb
bie May, Sandy Farringer, Ken Martin,
Jill Stucker, Brad Banner, Susan Bryan,
Ron Moore, Don Seaver and Barry Wil
kinson.
Zone 3 will be represented by Rene
Sandel, Karl Dickinson, Mark Andrus,
Joel Bracewell and Joe Aravjo. Zone 4 had
no winners or contenters.
Election commissioner Bill Jentsch said
1,284 votes were cast in the election. Ap
proximately 5,000 freshmen and 23,000 off
campus residents were eligible for their
respective elections. The entire student
body was eligible to vote on the constitu
tional referendum.