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Will George be
back?
Can George Woodard — once
Texas A&M’s premier football
player — get his knee and body
in shape for the season? Battal
ion sports editor David Boggan
shares an insight on page 10.
Clements’ plan includes
wiretaps for drug traffic
By ESTHER CORTEZ
Battalion Reporter
Gov. Bill Clements said Thursday he
advocates using wire-tapping to stop drug
traffic from Mexico, which he called “the
most pressing problem of law enforce
ment.”
Clements spoke to the 21st Annual
County Judges and Commissioners Con
ference at the College Station Ramada Inn.
Clements said he and other government
officials are currently working on a plan that
would put a stop to this problem. The plan,
he said, includes the use of electronic sur
veillance equipment.
“Putting it bluntly, that’s wire-tapping,”
Clements said.
The governor and Mexican President
Jose Lopez Portillo recently discussed the
drug trafficking problem.
Another situation that should be cor
rected, he said, is that law enforcement
officers are not adequately compensated for
their work. Too many law officers are being
lost to private business because of this, he
said.
Clements also called for stronger laws on
the handling of juvenile lawbreakers, bond
making and speedy trials.
Turning to government, Clements
stressed the importance of communication
between state and local governments. He
said that county, state and municipal gov
ernments often have differences.
“We must be sure that state government
does not ursurp the integrity and respon
sibilities of our local governments,” he
said.
“But,” he added, “we in government
must be Texans first, sticking together
when there is a threat.”
Federal government is the threat, Cle
ments said.
“It is no longer content to play big
brother, it now wants to play big daddy.”
The governor said he feels that govern
ment at all levels must be accountable to
the people. He added that voters deserve
the right to call special referendum elec
tions to either reject or accept tax increases
approved at the local level.
Clements also discussed the possibility
of establishing a single tax appraisal office in
each county, saying that it would be more
practical than the current system. He
added that the office should be headed by
an elected offical, such as the county tax
assessor-collector.
Clements concluded his speech saying
that accountable, responsible government
must be a reality and not just saved for use
in “lofty speeches.”
Religion courses attacked
by dean; clergy defends
A&M University’s Ross Volunteers greeted 21st Annual County Judges and Commissioners
f Texas Gov. Bill Clements at Easterwood Airport Conference.
Thursday. The governor was here tO Speak at the Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
councilmen object to appropriations ‘game’
By JANE LYON
Battalion Reporter
Dr. David Maxwell, dean of Liberal
Arts at Texas A&M University, says he will
not grant credit to students who take Bible
courses being taught by ministers of local
churches.
Other administrators from Texas A&M
colleges were not so definite, noting that
sometimes they will grant credit.
The courses, advertised in The Battalion
last month, are accredited by Abilene
Christian College. They were advertised
as being transferrable to other universi
ties.
The courses are conducted at the Texas
A&M Church of Christ on Tuesdays and
Thursdays.
Maxwell said in a letter to The Battalion
editor, which appeared Jan. 23, that these
off-campus courses cannot receive credit
unless prior permission has been granted
by the student’s academic dean.
He also said the courses were not equiv
alent to University courses in which “the
professor is expected to pay allegiance to
the canons of objectivity, neutrality, and
pursuit of knowledge... rather than the
sectarian views and values of a particular
religious denomination and faith.”
CS applies for $306,000 from HUD
By ROY BRAGG
Battalion Staff
be College Station City Council Thurs-
ipproved the draft of an application
ing a community development block
it worth $306,000 to be sent to the De
ment of Housing and Urban Develop-
nt (HUD).
be vote was 5-2 in favor of the applica-
olwith Councilmen James Dozier and
mer Adams voting against it.
Jy vote is mainly a vote against the
e concept of community develop-
Dozier said, adding that he was also
st the methods used by HUD deter-
g how money is appropriated.
Its a game,” said Councilman Gary
ter, referring to the procedure used by
D to allocate funds.
ast year, HUD cut off $300,000 from
lege Station because it said that the city
id provide any low-incime housing
tance in previous years.
h
HUD, Adams said, was “blackmailing”
the city by not providing funds unless the
city meet strict minimum requirements for
types of housing assistance.
More than $160,000 of the grant will be
used mainly for paving streets, street light
ing and a water system in four predomi
nantly black neighborhoods, said Jim Cal
laway, community development planner
for the city.
These neighborhoods have already been
approved to receive the funds, Callaway
said, because of substandard housing and
street conditions that existed in the areas
for years.
In addition, Callaway added, another
$100,000 of the grant will be used for a
Housing Assistance Program that will
eventually include rent subsidies and hous
ing improvements. Only low iricome
families in these and four adjacent
neighborhoods would be eligible for the
program, according to the application.
The money allocated for the housing im
provements is for owner-occupied housing
only, Callaway explained.
The improvements mentioned in the ap
plication include upgrading the houses in
the eight neighborhoods to meet city build
ing codes.
Callaway explained that the upgrading is
necessary because the houses were outside
of the city limits and not subject to city
requirements when they were built.
The remaining $46,000 is alloted for
planning, administration and contingency
for the plan, Callaway said.
The application also outlined future goals
such as construction of low-cost housing
and rent subsidies for low-income resi
dents. The city must achieve these in order
to satisfy HUD requirements for any future
grants.
The goals, Calloway said, include areas
of subsidized housing for the elderly and
handicapped residents as well as dwellings
for small and large families in the low in
come bracket.
The application also mentioned a three-
year goal of 120 new housing units for eligi
ble residents. The new housing units are
being pushed by HUD, Callaway said.
The city, Callaway said, wants to provide
housing assistance utilizing existing hous
ing and keeping the construction at a
minimum.
The new housing units and the funds for
rent subsidies are mentioned in the appli
cation in order to receive HUD approval
for the grant, Callaway said. The funding
for these projects, which are themselves
subject to HUD approval, will come from a
combination of private and public funding.
In an interview last week. Maxwell said,
“As a group, these people who teach these
off-campus Bible courses do not possess
qualifications such that we consider them
for appointment as professors at Texas
A&M University.”
He said he has checked the work in
volved in the courses taught and the cre
dentials of the men teaching the courses.
Maxwell named several comparable
courses offered at Texas A&M in the de
partments of English, philosophy and
humanities.
Dr. Richard Stadelmann, assistant pro
fessor of philosophy and humanities, said
he was not in a position to judge whether a
minister might be qualified to teach Bible
courses or not.
“Those of us who teach on campus are
more subject to administrative review and
advice,” he said.
He added that religion courses are of a
more emotional nature than other courses
and therefore harder to maintain objectiv
ity in.
The religion courses at Texas A&M had
been reviewed by the Brazos County
Ministerial Association that most ministers
belong to or attend, he said.
Dan Warden, minister of the A&M
Church of Christ and instructor of the Old
Testament survey courses offered through
ACU, received both his bachelor’s and
master’s degrees in the New Testament
from ACU. Bob Davidson, instructor of
the New Testament survey courses, re
ceived his bachelor’s degree in the New
Testament at ACU and his master’s in
education at Texas A&M.
“Abilene Christian University could not
afford to let their extension courses be
taught by unqualified instructors,” War
den said, “because it’s a member in good
standing of the Southern Association of
Colleges and Universities and other
equivalent educational organizations. We
do not profess to be a denominational or
sectarian group,” Warden said.
“Were not reading in our own ideas.
We re teaching straight from the Bible.”
Warden said the extension courses had
been offered for at least the last six years, if
not more, before he came to Texas A&M.
Warden explained that to receive credit
for the Bible courses, a student must take
tests and finals in the courses, and com
plete a research paper for the Old Testa
ment survey courses.
“We leave it up to the student to go to
the dean (for prior approval),” he said.
Warden added that many students took
the courses for their own personal benefit
and no one had yet complained to him of
trouble in receiving credit at Texas A&M
for the courses.
The Rev. W.C. Hall, campus minister
for the United Methodist Church, said
that campus ministers teach Bible courses
for credit at all the colleges and universi
ties in Texas — except Texas A&M and the
University of Houston.
He said if the courses were offered
through Texas A&M by local campus
ministers, the University could be more
responsible for content of the courses and
credentials of the teachers.
Hall teaches two extension courses
here, one in Old Testament studies and
another in New Testament studies,
through Lon Morris Junior College. These
(Please turn to page 6.)
Money refused,
so bandit leaves
United Press International
HOUSTON — A savings and loan as
sociation branch manager sent a teen-age
gunman away empty handed by simply re
fusing to give him any money, police said
Thursday.
Officers said a teen-ager carrying a gun
walked into a branch of Colonial Savings
Association Tuesday while the branch
manager was alone and demanded money.
“All your money and you won’t get
hurt,” the woman quoted the intended
bandit as saying.
A savings and loan spokesman, who
withheld the woman’s name, said she
“thought it was a joke at first,” but when
she discovered the youth was serious she
refused to give him any money.
The befuddled youth turned around and
walked out. Police were questioning a 17-
year-old boy who was arrested at his par
ents’ home.
S council rejects contract
proposing housing association
liege Station city council members
several objections to a proposed hous-
[association that would issue tax-free
Is to finance developers building low-
housing.
Je council decided to alter the original
[ of the contract so that the city would
be held liable in case of default by
|ers of the housing units.
he housing association is proposed in a
iract offered to the council by a consor-
i headed by Robert Kassel, a New
h resident who wants to build 100
King units in College Station,
he contract calls for the housing associ-
i to sponsor the bonds for the housing,
ddition, Kassel and his group would
the projects and retain all profits from
roject, said Jim Callaway, community
jelopment planner for the city.
e apartments would be offered at the
et price, Callaway explained. Any
lent paying more than 25 percent of
acome in rent would be eligible for a
■ subsidy that would be financed by a
® from the department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD).
The units, although financed through a
different system other than HUD grants,
would aid the city in securing future HUD
grants.
HUD cut College Station’s 1978 com
munity development grant of $300,000
because it claimed the city had failed to
provide low-income housing assistance for
residents.
College Station lost its 1978 community
development grant request of $300,000
from HUD because it failed to provide
low-income housing assistance in past
years.
One of the reasons for the council’s
postponement was a reported change in
HUD regulation of financing such
projects.
City Attorney Neely Lewis told the
council that the changes, although un
known at this time, might affect the status
of the housing association if the contract
establishing it were accepted as offered.
The new regulations could change the
status of the city as a third party in the
contract, Lewis said.
Another question among council mem
bers was whether the contract allowed the
housing association to negotiate with other
developers.
“I don’t want to be tied to Mr. Kassel
like he was my wife I couldn’t divorce,”
Councilman Jim Dozier said.
Lewis said he thought this was allowed
in the contract, but Mayor Lorence
Bravenec and others requested that a
clarifying clause be added to the contract.
Bravenec also asked that an “escape
clause be added stating that the city could
dissolve the housing association if HUD
placed the city or the association in an un
desired financial position.
The council also wanted to insert a
clause in the contract to allow the city to
OK any transfer of ownership of projects
financed by the housing association.
Councilman Gary Halter added a clause
that would dissolve the association in five
years if no projects are undertaken.
Another clause was suggested by Coun
cilman Anne Hazen to restrict projects
funded by the association to permanent
residents of College Station.
Score!
A member of the Texas A&M Lacrosse Team (right)
scores against his teammates during the team’s prac- ,
tice Thursday afternoon. The team opens its South
west Conference season Saturday against the Lone
Star Lacrosse Club in Austin.
Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr.