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Battalion
Thursday, February 1, 1979
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Boy Wonders battle gravity
Today’s Focus reports on last
Saturday’s Texas Teen-age Power-
lifting Championships, held at Texas
A&M. Success at the sport requires
natural strength, years of work in a
gym and a belt which, one lifter
says, “keeps your guts from spilling
out.” See the Focus section.
Despite what its name might
suggest, the Star of Galipali was not
a sun a long time ago in a galaxy far,
far away. Instead, it was a medal
awarded by the Turkish government
in 1915. Col. James Woodall dis
cusses it and other medals he has
collected. See page 9.
Legett Hall renovation
will enable 194 more
women to live on campus
By TRACEY WILLIAMS
Battalion Reporter
More women will be living on the
Texas A&M University campus this
fall, and the renovation of Legett
Hal! is one reason why.
Legett, located near the
Academic Building, has been a male
dormitory since its construction in
1911. But when classes begin for the
fall semester, it will reopen as a
women s dormitory for 194 resi
dents.
Jerry Smith, assistant for man
agement analysis, said there had
been a choice between converting
the dormitory to a classroom build
ing or refurbishing it for a dorm.
“It was evident in evaluating
those choices that there was a defi
nite need for additional women’s
housing, Smith said.
Although the $1.25 million .con
struction project is expensive.
Smith said, the cost of converting
the building into classrooms would
have been more expensive.
Ron Blatchley, director of student
affairs, said the changes to the ex
terior of Legett will involve “clean
ing up and re-mortaring.’ When
construction is complete, he said,
the exterior will look like Milner
Hall, a classroom and office building
near Legett.
The interior of the hall, on the
other hand, will be subject to many
changes.
Ron Sasse, associate director of
student affairs, said the major
changes will not involve altering the
structure of the building, but rather
installing new equipment in the
dormitory.
This equipment includes an air
conditioning system, new electrical
wiring, washers and dryers on every
floor, new windows and doors, tele
phones and a cable hookup in each
room, Sasse said.
Along with these changes, he
said, each room will be painted and
a second closet will be built.
Due to the sizes of the rooms,
Sasse said, bunk beds will be among
new furniture purchases. Other
items in the rooms will include two
each of desks, bookcases and
dressers.
Other parts of the residence hall
which are being renovatd are the
lounge and the bathrooms.
The lounge will occupy the base
ment and the living quarters will be
on the other three floors, Sasse said.
The renovation of the lounge will
involve purchasing new furniture,
providing televisions and construct
ing three study rooms.
Renovating the community bath
rooms will require more work.
“The bathrooms are going to be
gutted and redone,” Sasse said. The
Small schools ask
for permanent fund
United Press International
AUSTIN — Heads of colleges and uni
versities across the state Wednesday
urged legislators to give them a constitu
tionally dedicated source of money for
campus construction if the state’s 10-eent
property tax is repealed.
Only one person testified in favor of
eliminating the state property tax but most
witnesses at the Senate Education Com
mittee hearing seemed to assume the tax
repeal is a foregone conclusion.
The property tax is under attack in fed
eral court and the committee chairman.
Sen. Oscar Mauzy, D-Dallas, said there is
little doubt the levy will be declared un
constitutional because of inequities in its
collection.
Revenue from the property tax cur
rently is dedicated for construction at state
colleges and universities that do not share
in proceeds from the Permanent Univer
sity Fund — a $1 billion fund that benefits
the University of Texas and Texas A&M
University systems.
F.H. McDowell of Commerce, East
Texas State University president and
chairman of the Council of College Presi
dents, said if constitutional problems with
the property tax can be worked out the
Legislature “might wish to consider reten
tion of the existing tax. ”
Sen. Grant Jones, D-Abilene, said if col
leges and universities want revenue from
the property tax they must support legisla
tion to eliminate inequities in the collec
tion of the levy.
“Unless you people are willing to sup
port changes in property tax administra
tion you’re going to have a worthless
provision in the Constitution,” Jones said.
McDowell said a majority of colleges
that do not benefit from PUF favor putting
all UT and Texas A&M components under
PUF and establishing a separate fund to
finance construction at all other campuses.
Other sources indicated there is still
some dissension among the colleges, how
ever, and predicted the presidents council
will make a new recommendation soon.
E.D. Walker, UT system chancellor,
said UT supports a proposal by Sen. A. R.
Schwartz, D-Galyeston, to establish a
separate State Higher Education Assis
tance Fund to provide building funds for
other colleges.
The Senate Education Committee sent
five bills dealing with repeal of the prop
erty tax and possible creation of an alterna
tive fund for college construction to sub
committee for further study.
Mauzy said he will chair the subcommit
tee and named Jones and Sen. Lindon
Williams, D-Houston, to serve on the
panel.
Lyle Hamner of Austin, an advocate of
senior citizens, testified in favor of repeal
ing the state property tax — a levy that is
expected to raise $48.7 million in 1981.
“With property values doubling in three
years in most instances it is fast becoming
a very burdensome tax,” Hamner said.
Government proposes
43% cut of Amtrak
Battalion photo by Lynn Blanco
Legett Hall, now under construction, is being renovated to house 194
women beginning next fall. Worker Lonnie Lenz is plastering to prepare
the dormitory. Additions to the residence hall will include new closets,
dressers, desks, doors and windows, and washers and dryers.
new bathrooms will have special ac
comodations for the handicapped,
he said.
The cost for living in Legett Hall
has not yet been determined, Sasse
said, but the matter “should be de
cided within the next couple of
months.”
United Press International
NEW YORK — In a new move to cut
the growing Amtrak deficit, Transporta
tion Secretary Brock Adams Wednesday
recommended discontinuance of 19
passenger trains that cover 15,700 miles of
track or 43 percent of the system.
Congress has 90 legislative days,
roughly until May 15, to approve, amend
or veto the plan.
If lawmakers agree, Amtrak essentially
would be cut back to heavily traveled cor
ridors in the Northeast, out of Chicago and
in Southern California, connected by a
handful of long-distance trains.
A number of major trains would be
junked later this year under the Adams
plan, including the popular New York-
Montreal Montrealer and service between
New York and Kansas City, Chicago and
Texas, and Chicago and Florida.
The cuts include the Washington-New
Orleans Crescent, which Amtrak takes
over from the Southern Railway System
Thursday.
Adams said the Montrealer and the
Crescent almost were included in the sys
tem, but in the final analysis “fell off the
edge” because they did not have enough
ridership and were not performing a
necessary social service as was the
Chicago-Seattle Empire Builder that was
included because other forms of travel
were not readily available.
Adams said if state legislatures want to
help fund passenger trains under a 50-50
federal matching program, he would be
willing to ask the White House and Con
gress for more than the $552 million he
recommends for fiscal 1980, but the fed
eral government can no longer subsidize
big money-losing trains.
Adams said the federal subsidy for Am
trak would rise to $6 billion over the next
five years, but his proposed cutdown sys
tem would trim that subsidy by $1.4 bil
lion.
Congressional reaction to the plan was
uncertain, especially in the climate of
frugality and budget cutting in Congress
now. Adams said he had indications from
key congressmen that they would be will
ing to lose their trains if other con
gressmen were not granted “political
trains.”
Roughly half of all congressional dis
tricts would be affected by the report and
five more states would be left without any
passenger service — Nebraska, Okla
homa, Arkansas, Alabama and Vermont.
Five states previously had no service —
Alaska, Hawaii, South Dakota, New
Hampshire and Maine.
Remaining in operation would be all
current heavily traveled corridors, all
trains subsidized partly by states and
routes between New York and Florida,
New York and Chicago (two routes),
Chicago and Seattle, Chicago and New Or
leans Chicago and Los Angeles and San
Francisco (splitting at Ogden, Utah), New
Orleans and Los Angeles, and Los Angeles
and Seattle.
Man can’t find creditor,
wants to pay 50-year debt
United Press International
INDIANAPOLIS — Paul Miller wants
to pay for a suit he purchased on credit in
the 1920s. But nobody knows where to
send the money.
Miller bought the suit from the Union
Store, which is believed to have gone out
of business around 1930. He has written
the Belter Business Bureau from his home
at San Angelo asking how to pay.
Janet Atkinson, Indianapolis BBB pres
ident, wrote back that the BBB had no
information about the store and she didn’t
know how he could pay off the debt.
Miller said one week after he bought the
suit, he was laid off his job and he returned
to his hometown without making pay
ment. He said he still remembered the
debt and felt obligated to make good on it.
“I’ve been ashamed of it all my life and I
didn’t know what to do about it,” Miller
said in a telephone interview. “I just got
the urge to find out something to pay a just
debt and I don’t want any publicity about
it.”
The BBB said the debt was probably
written off many years ago and doubted
Miller had any legal obligation to pay it.
ommittee formed to review, advise
n problems women find in the Corps
By DIANE BLAKE
Battalion Staff
Dontinued treatment of women Corps
Inbers “unbecoming of a cadet’ by men
|he Corps has led to the formation of a
iimittee to study the problem,
fhe group, designed to study problems
kting to women in the Corps, was ap-
Inted this month by Corps Commander
II) Kamensky. Kamensky said that the
B man, three-woman group will deal
problems caused by both men and
Bmen and make recommendations for so-
utions.
A report is due in late spring, before
I'ents Day, said Col. James R. Woodall,
jnmandant of the Corps of Cadets.
t. Gen. Ormond R. Simpson, assistant
president for student services, said in
Ibvember in a report to Texas A&M Pres
ent Jarvis E. Miller, “There are some
|igs we should have done about prob-
we thought would dissolve by time
turnover of personnel ... we must find
fs to accelerate the process.”
iimpson’s report suggested forming the
mittee.
fifty-four of the 2,100 cadets are wo-
|n. They have complained about a vari-
of inequities ranging from bombings of
ir spirit signs to discrimination in lead-
pip opportunities.
■ Some men have acted unbecoming of a
pet toward a woman,’’ said Bob
nensky, corps commander. “It’s mostly
bn verbal abuse, and the slighting of
lilflvdeges. For instance, some seniors
have refused to meet or acknowledge the
existence of the Waggies.”
Col. James R. Woodall, commandant of
the Corps of Cadets, said that refusing to
whip out to the Waggies was “a gross viola
tion of an Aggie tradition.”
Kamensky said some of the mistreat
ment of the women was due to oversights
on the part of the male leadership. For
example, until this year, the sign-up
sheets for Corps committees were posted
in men s dorms.
Kamensky said that it did not even
occur to the male leaders that women
could not sign up there until it was
brought to their attention. “Now all sign
up sheets are posted in the guard room,”
he said.
Some of the women feel the problem is
more serious than insults or oversights.
Aside from the bombs, the women said
pig manure has been dumped in their
dormitory, and that they’ve been insulted
and spat upon.
Kamensky said bomb-throwers and
those who are disrespectful are punished
— when they are caught.
The women admit they aren’t the only
Corps members who are the objects of
pranks.
“Basically, everything that happens to
us, happens to the men,” said Cheryl Ab
bot, junior economics and pre-law major.
“But it happens to us all the time.
Kamensky said some women have
caused problems for themselves by not
(continued on page 9).
I
I
I
Battalion photos by Jeanne Graham
A familiar sight on, near or around the Quad is drilling corps members.
John iT ankovich, above right, teaches Linda South drill steps. Left, the
Women’s Drill Team drills in front of the Quad.