Law concerning women
discussed at conference
By CANDICE HILL
Battalion Reporter
The “Legal Rights of Brazos County Women” conference held
Saturday at Bryan High School produced some very positive reac
tions from the women who attended, said Rita Marsh-Birch, the
program coordinator.
About 160 women attended.
The only problem, said Sarah Ryan, Child Services attorney for
Brazos County, was that there were not enough women from the
lower socio-economic class present at the conference. These women,
less educated than middle class women, are the ones the conference
should have reached, Ryan said.
The conference had five topics: family law, women’s credit rights.
Title IX, women’s employment rights, and crime (assault).
Ryan discussed the state regulations concerning family law.
Ryan said that the duty of the husband has always been to support
his wife, but she does not have the reciprocal duty unless he is
incapable of doing so. But Ryan said she believes that the times are
changing.
“I think in these modem times, the courts are beginning to recog
nize that the traditional concepts of the husband’s powers, as well as
duties, are changing,” she said. “The powers between the husband
and wife are being more divided by agreement.
Ryan also discussed community and separate property and what
happens in the case of dissolution of a marriage. Dissolution can occur
by death of a spouse, annulment or divorce.
One of the most popular topics was women’s credit rights, Marsh-
Birch said. The speaker. Ginger Lenihan, an officer of the City Na
tional Bank, spoke on four main topics: What is a financial statement?
Where does one get financial help? How does one establish credit?
and What information is available at the Brazos Valley Credit
Bureau?
The bureau offers information on one’s personal credit standing.
Education and Title IX were discussed by Charol Shakeshaft,
editor to the South Central Women’s Studies Newletter. Title IX
ended sexual discrimination in the schools and colleges in the nation.
Shakeshaft mentioned a few areas where practices have had to be
changed: admissions and recruitment, physical education classes, ex
tracurricular activities and honors and awards.
Girls must be given the same consideration as boys in every area of
school except the bodily contact sports such as football, wrestling and
boxing, she said.
Morris Jennings, Compliance Officer of the Wage and Hour Divi
sion of the U.S. Department of Labor in Bryan, spoke about equal
employment opportunities for women.
Jennings was a replacement for scheduled speaker Rhobia Taylor,
an administrator with the Southwest Regional Office of the U.S.
Dept, of Labor, who was fogged in in Dallas.
He said that according to the Equal Pay Act, employers are re
quired to pay equal wages for equal work. Equal work is that which
requires equal skill, effort and responsibility. Jennings said that these
three terms are the most important ones in that law and that the jobs
should be performed under equal working conditions.
Judith Wooten of the Educational Psychology Department spoke
mainly about sexual crimes. She said that 60-70 percent of the sexual
crimes which occur are at least partially planned.
Wooten said 66 percent of the rapes studied are committed by
strangers to the victims, but 34 percent are committed by a person
who has knowm the woman in some way.
Judge Bradley Smith of the County Court-at-law also spoke about
sexual assault.
According to the Penal Code of Texas, there are two main
categories of sexual assault. The least serious is the simple assault.
This is defined as intentional and offensive bodily contact with
another person. The other, more serious, type occurs when a person
intentionally brings about bodily injury to another person.
The first thing a woman shoidd do after being raped is to notify the
police as soon as possible. Smith said. She should also be taken to the
hospital for a medical examination. Victims should be encouraged to
go to personal counseling services, he said.
Once the victim has completed a police statement and the case has
been filed, she has no more involvement with the case unless it is
brought to court, Smith said. Only about 10 percent of the cases are
brought to trial.
Marsh-Birch feels that the crime topic was liked the best by the
majority of women.
One woman said that the reason she came to the conference was
because it is rare in this area to find things that deal with women’s
problems. Another woman said that she did not know much about
women’s legal rights and it is something she felt she should know
' about.
Old doughboys mark Armistice
United Press International
PARIS — Eleven doughty Michi
gan doughboys Saturday saluted at
the moment World War I ended 60
years ago as France’s President Val
ery Giscard d’Estaing laid a wreath
at the tomb of France’s unknown
soldier.
The leader of the group, Oral
“Moose” LaCombe, shook hands
with Giscard after the ceremony at
the Arch of Triumph.
“Where are you from?” Giscard
asked in English. “From Michigan,”
replied the voluble LaCombe,
speechless for once.
The 11 were part of the last sur
viving World War I veterans drum
and bugle corps. Their trip was paid
for with a fund-raising drive given
by their fellow townspeople of Sault
Sainte Marie, Mich.
The old soldiers, aged 79 to 87,
their wives and friends — about 50
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people in all — attended a memorial
mass at Notre Dame Cathedral with
the French president and other
French and foreign dignitaries.
The veterans shivered in the pale
autumn sunlight as Giscard placed
the wreath at the arch at the stroke
of the 11th hour of the 11th day of
the 11th month — 60 years to the
minute of the end of the “war to end
all wars.” They shivered again as a
military parade wound down the
Champs Elysees.
Asked how the French naval band
compared with their own drum and
bugle corps, Jim Gallon, 79, said,
“They make us look sick. But then
they’re a little younger than we
are.”
“Words can’t describe the way I
feel,” LaCombe said. “The Soo (the
local nickname for Sault Sainte
Marie) is going to seem awfully tame
after this.”
Frank Miller also celebrated his
87th birthday Saturday. “I never
expected to celebrate it here. This is
a wonderful day,” he said.
On Sunday the veterans visted
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