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No Focus section
this week
The “Focus” entertainment-
features tabloid that regularly ap
pears in The Battalion weekly will
resume publication starting next
Thursday, Jan. 25.
Vol. 72 No. 76
16 Pages
Wednesday, January 17, 1979
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Delayed utility bills
come during break
enetved violence hits
ifter Shah leaves
United Press International
K(RAN, Iran — Troops and police
led fire today on revelers celebrating
departure of Shah Mohammed Reza
avi in two key towns, hours after
rsfcnd demonstrators hugged and kis-
jach other.
rst reports said 17 people were killed
at least 50 wounded by gunfire,
■esses said troops started shooting
imonstrators in the southern oil city of
■round 9 a.m. “They’re still blasting
/la Western resident of Ahvaz told
over telephone.
[ere were no immediate details of how
shooting started.
.ffi?e west Iranian town of Arak, troops
SAVAK secret police agents opened
•wgSD Mildemonstrators who spilled into the
jts lor a second day of celebrations,
the Iranian earthquake that struck
three northeastern villages within minutes
of the shah’s departure Tuesday, the death
toll grew.
Iranian newspapers said the quake has
killed more than 1,000 persons and in
jured at least 1,000 others.
Witnesses said today’s shooting in Arak
followed anti-shah demonstrations Tues
day in which mobs pulled down a statue of
the shah and were met with secret police
men, who opened fire at the demon
strators.
The sudden outburst of military-led vio
lence followed strong rumors that revelers
who marched into the streets celebrating
what they said was the end of the shah’s
38-year rule could face a violent reaction
from the military and police.
There were strong rumors, however,
that Premier Shahpour Bakhtiar’s 11-day
civilian government could feel threatened
Battalion photo by Lynn Blanco
‘Now you re gonna get if
istructor Sean Riley (left) and Charles Gerland, senior in Health and
bysical education, demonstrated techniques used in the art of self-
;fense Tuesday night in Room 266 of G. Rollie White Coliseum. Classes
'Karate will be offered Monday — Friday at 6-6:30 p.m. for beginners,
id Wednesday 5-7 p.m. for advanced. The fee is $35 per person.
o hitch in ceremonies
Sun shines for Clements
K
United Press International
USTIN — At 11:32 a.m. Tuesday, the
struggled through the overcast skies,
within a few minutes the bright rays
eated again behind the curtain of
ids, casting the inauguration of Bill
ments into washed out colors of gray,
ut as Clements completed his inau-
al speech, the sun finally broke out
in, much to the delight of state’s first
mblican governor in 105 years.
Bank you very much,” Clements con-
3ed his address, “now we have sun-
ve.
wo elderly ladies arrived one and
half hours before the noon ceremony
1 promptly hauled a Capitol grounds
ich as close to the draped platform a
vlould.
I;Ve waited too long for this, so I’m
ina make sure I have a good seat, ’ one
hem said as she positioned the bench
ler a huge red, white and blue banner
claiming “Welcome.”
rt the spectator drawing the most at-
tion was Chrissie Baton or Kilgore. The
•wnhaired fifth grader stood on the
Capitol steps before the ceremonies draw
ing attention from photographers. She was
wearing a red T-shirt emblazon with
“Clements Number One.” Her red
headed, freckled friend, Camille Elder,
stood by holding Chrissie’s coat.
The crowd was anxious when the can
non replicas of the Twin Sisters of the Bat
tle of San Jacinto exploded their first of 18
blasts. Most in a crowd directly behind the
special guests’ section were frightened at
first and turned around to inspect the can
nons.
That gave a woman in leather boots and
a full-length fur coat the opportunity she
was waiting for. She ducked and made her
way to front of the line.
“If I can get just one or two good glimp
ses, that’s all I care about,” she beamed.
After the ceremony the crowd retreated
to the west end of the capitol for barbecue.
Tables and stairways were filled with
diners, prompting one man to be amused.
"If you want to see something funny,
you ought to see all those dressed up
women out there clubbing each other to
get a plate of greasy barbecue.”
by the new burst of violence.
The capital’s military authorities, in a
communique, said the military was being
provoked by some elements within the
demonstrators, who raced through the city
Tuesday night.
Tehran began street celebrations soon
after the state radio announced Tuesday
afternoon the shah and his empress had
left for Egypt to start an indefinite vaca
tion.
Troops, who opened fire on anti-shah
demonstrators 11 days ago were picked
up, hugged and kissed by mobs and car
ried on shoulders with Ayatollah Sayed
Sadegh Rouhani, a prominent religious
leader of Qom who was released this
week, and several thousand followers
today began a “triumphal march” to the
religious university town south of Tehran.
Iranian state radio announced another
240 political prisoners tried by military
tribunals would be freed today.
There was no immediate reaction from
oil industry workers, who shut off Iran’s
$22 billion a year oil exports Dec. 27 and
have refused to produce even enough to
meet domestic consumption.
Premier Shahpour Bakhtiar, appointed
by the shah Jan. 6, won a vote of confi
dence in Iran’s Parliament Tuesday that
cleared the way for the shah to leave.
But his opponents, including the Na
tional Front which expelled him before he
became premier, have announced they
will continue efforts to bring him down.
By ROY BRAGG
Battalion Staff
The College Station utility company
mailed residents as many as three months
worth of utility bills in a month’s time in an
attempt to get their billing system back on
schedule.
Many residents, including Texas A&M
University students, received bills for Oc
tober, November and December in the
last month.
One student returning from vacation
found three utility bills in her mailbox.
The original billing schedule was de
layed for two months because of a com
puter breakdown during the summer, said
Sherry Albrecht, an administrative assis
tant to College Station City Manager
North Bardell.
Another cause for the delay was the
large number of new utility hook-ups —
over 24,000 — occurring just before last
fall semester. Albrecht said that the
additional clerical work involved in trans
ferring information from the meter book to
the computer furthered the delay.
One student said the only bill she re
ceived during the fall was for the August-
September billing period.
The city wants to catch up at this time,
Albrecht said, because the October
through December bills are the lowest of
the year. They would be easier for cus
tomers to pay than bills during warmer
months when air conditioning boosts the
use of electricity.
The city also wanted to catch up before
summer so that the bills would be paid
before the students leave.
The city hired temporary personnel to
help catch up with the billing, Albrecht
said.
“The majority of the permanent citizens
and the students want the bills on time
every month,” Albrecht said. “The only
thing to do was to send three bills now or
later.”
The October bill was subject to the late
penalty, Albrecht said.
But some students, out of town during
the Christmas break, were unable to avoid
the late charge. The payment fell due be
fore they returned to school.
There is no late charge on the
November and December bills if they are
paid by Jan. 28. Albrecht said that cus
tomers not paying their bills by soon after
the late date might have their utility serv
ice cut off.
No letter explaining the temporary
change in billing was sent to customers
because it would have cost too much. But
Albrecht said that the move was well pub
licized in the local media and was featured
for several days on local television news.
Albrecht expects the billing system to
be back on schedule by the middle of Feb
ruary. She added that utility bills will al
ways be a month behind due to usual bil
ling procedures.
Albrecht said that once the system is on
schedule, a meter will be read and the bill
showing the reading will arrive a month
later.
The due date on the bills is usually 10
days after the bill is received, she said.
Once the billing system is straightened
out, Albrecht said, it will stay that way.
Deliberation begins on Davis case
United Press International
HOUSTON — Opposing lawyers in the
marathon murder-for-hire trial of Fort
Worth millionaire T. Cullen Davis bec
koned jurors persuasively toward their
viewpoints with exhaustive, emotional ar
guments that left both sides nervous but
confident.
The jury received the case Tuesday
night, elected an unemployed medical
secretary as foreman and was instructed to
begin deliberations in earnest today.
Joe H. Eidson, 60, identified in tes
timony as the first target of a plot to kill 15
persons, sat 10 feet from the jury box lis
tening as prosecutors repeatedly re
minded jurors it was their duty to convict
Davis if they believed he conspired or so
licited the death of his divorce judge.
“I’ve been apprehensive a long time,”
Eidson said at the completion of final ar
guments Tuesday night. “Unless he’s
(Davis) broke or dead, I’ll be apprehen
sive. It doesn’t matter if he’s (found) guilty
or innocent.”
Nominations
committee
OKs regents
United Press International
AUSTIN — Happenings in the Texas
Legislature Tuesday:
— The Senate Nominations Committee
unanimously recommended confirmation
of outgoing Gov. Dolph Briscoe’s three
appointees to the Texas A&M University
Board of Regents.
The appointees interviewed by the
committee were Clyde Wells, a Granbury
rancher and businessmen; Norman Moser
of DeKalb, a bank president; and Royce
Wisenbaker of Tyler, an independent oil
driller.
The Senate is scheduled to vote Thurs
day on confirmation of the three.
— Secretary of the Interior Cecil An
drus has informed Texas officials a portion
of the northern end of Matagorda Island
will be made available to the state for rec
reational and wildlife management use.
Briscoe said the federal action will make
some of the most beautiful beaches in the
world open to Texas for recreational pur
poses.
— In one of his last ofticial acts, outgo
ing Gov. Dolph Briscoe appointed two
members of his staff and other persons to
places on the Texas Film Commission.
Aides Andrew Kever and David Weeks
were among the appointees, which also in
cluded Dean Cobb of Austin, Rep. Gibson
Lewis, D-Fort Worth, Shannon Ratliff of
Austin, D. Frank Cook of Houston,
Michael L. Cooper of Palestine, Linda
Gale White of Austin, Charles Purnell of
Dallas, Frank Calhoun of Houston, Mrs.
Earl Rudder of Bryan and Bob Slagle of
Sherman.
Prosecutors told jurors they favored the
solicitation charge among four initially
listed in an indictment returned after
Davis’ Aug. 20 arrest in Fort Worth, his
hometown and base for a family controlled
industrial empire with annual sales in ex
cess of $1 billion.
If convicted, Davis could receive sen
tences ranging from five years probation to
life imprisonment.
During the eight hours of arguments
Tuesday that pushed the 13-week trial to
ward completion, jurors heard attorneys
berate the testimony and personalities of
Davis and his chief accuser and former
employee, David McCrory.
McCrory’s allegations to the FBI that
Davis threatened him and his family with
death unless McCrory could arrange the
slaying of Davis’ enemies resulted in a
three-day federal investigation and Davis’
arrest.
But defense lawyer Richard
“Racehorse” Haynes argued Davis was
pursued by McCrory for months —
perhaps at the urging of Priscilla Davis,
the defendant’s estranged wife — to com
plete a scheme of entrapment tied to
Davis’ divorce case.
Haynes said McCrory was an oppor
tunist who lured Davis toward a frame-up
by suggesting he would share information
that could be damaging to Mrs. Davis in
the divorce case.
“McCrory was the key to unlocking her
activities in the divorce, Haynes said.
“McCrory had information that he was the
only link to.”
Haynes contended Davis discussed con
tract killers, payoffs and a hit list because
he was “emotionally debilitated” by the
trauma of his divorce, pressures resulting
from his wealth, death threats, extortion
attempts and “by the fact that the people
on the other side were noxious and repug
nant.”
Prosecutors ridiculed Haynes’ expla
nations, blamed the defense lawyer for the
length of the trial and said Davis’ arrest
was an “outgrowth of arrogance and power
enjoyed by virtue of his wealth. ”
Lead prosecutor Tolly Wilson said tes
timony should have been completed in
three weeks and said the length was or
chestrated by Haynes in the hope jurors
would become sick or angry with one
another, causing a mistrial.
Prosecutor Jack Strickland said audio
and videotapes of meetings and conversa
tions between Davis and McCrory allowed
jurors to become eyewitnesses to the
events leading to the trial.
He said the tapes stripped away the arti
ficiality and superficiality of defense argu
ments and allowed jurors to see the “mea
sure of the man,” judge his conduct and
conclude for themselves whether, as Davis
contended, “kill doesn’t really mean kill”
and “dead doesn t really mean dead.”
“Don’t you know it must have galled the
Texas industrialist millionaire to have to
get up there and tell that foolish story,”
Strickland said, “to have to tell a story so
patently ridiculous to get out of this
thing.”
Construction: a way of life at AirM
Battalion photo by Steve Lee
Construction on the Kyle Field stadium is progress
ing as scheduled despite poor weather conditions,
said project director Bill Hall. Bad weather has
presented some problems’ said Hall, of the H.B.
Zachry Construction Company. “But we’ve kept up
a six-day work week anyway.” Demolition on the
east side of the stadium is 95 percent complete, and
workers are pouring foundation piers. On the west
side, demolition is 85 percent complete. Hill said in
the next stage they will be “starting up with the
superstructure” by pouring columns. Construction
is slated for completion by Oct. 13.