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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1979)
he Battalion Monday, March 26, 1979 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Carter signs today A peace treaty between Egypt and Israel has been a long time coming, but today it is scheduled to be signed in cere monies on the White House front lawn. For more details see page 8. dge withdraws om Davis trial From staff and wire reports District Judge John M. Barron of Bryan ISaturday withdrew as judge in the multimillion-dollar divorce trial between Cullen and Priscilla Davis after the Fort Wurth Star-Telegram discovered he had [ 29^ met privately with Davis to discuss the et Ucase. (jf u, He said Sunday there was no chance he U f v ;woiild get back into the case. Binun called the paper and announced ggies compete r blood his withdrawal Saturday after it learned he and Davis had met twice in Barron’s hotel room to talk about the case. “After full consideration I now withdraw from the Davis case after declaring a mist rial,” Barron told the Star-Telegram. He said he invited Davis to his room twice “about two or three weeks ago” to suggest the Fort Worth millionaire try to reach a settlement in the divorce. He said they talked for about half an hour on each occasion. “There was no impropriety that I can think of, ’ Barron said when asked by the paper about the meetings. “I suppose you all are going to make a big deal out of this. Well, I’m just going to 1 quit. I’m tired of having my kicked By JAMES HAMILTON ^ Battalion Reporter Ttexas A&M University and the Univer- )n jsitypfTexas are fighting it out once again, ;j |and this time both sides are really out for blood. ?he Aggies were challenged by UT this the Hi mms Wil in An ^■ester to compete in a contest to see whiph university can collect the most through group donations. The Aggie Blood Drive will begin its spring effort this week by signing up stu dent groups and organizations that will give blood next week. Jiast semester the Aggie Blood Drive cMected 1,072 pints of blood. This semes- )klal) ter’s drive will be shooting for 1,500 to ell as 2,i ’ said John Groce, student blood drive chairman. “The [onesfpeople this semester are more familiar with the contest, and the contest is bigger ipj and better.” lly. one'. 1 hpla« 'heAg pints. * 0 pints, an increase of up to 86 per cent |I think we can do it,’ around down here.” Two hours later he called back to announce his withdrawal. “The local news media and others have impugned my integrity,” Barron said. All I have tried to do is help. I doubt that any one involved really could have foreseen the disaster and the results which have oc curred, including the district attorney’s of fice.” Jerry Loftin, an attorney for Mrs. Davis who has engaged in several sharp ex changes with Barron during the five-week trial, said Sunday he had heard only media reports of Barron’s intentions. Should Barron follow through with his mistrial, Ldftin’s co-counsel Ronald Ault- man estimated the divorce, in which se veral million dollars is at stake, would be delayed until August. He returned to Bryan Thursday, angered that the district attorney had sub poenaed his civil trial records to be used in criminal actions pending against Davis. Council debates over CSA Face to face Dave St. Gormaine, left, growls at Craig Russell as the two close quarters during Their bout Saturday at Sigma Phi Epsilon “Fight Night.” St. Gormaine, from Tomball, represented Puryear Hall in the fight, in which he defeated Russell. Russell, from San Antonio, was fighting as an independent. Sports writer Mark Patterson talks about the fights on page 9. Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr. jroce said that having a chance to beat UT would be an incentive that might get more people to give blood, pbere are also other incentives: three 3g> of beer, or the equivalent in any iher beverage, will be awarded to the lias A&M team that provides the highest percentage of blood per member; two kegs one keg will be awarded to the sec ond and third-place teams, respectively; |certificates will also be awarded. Bo qualify for the blood drive contest, stiident teams must donate at least 20 ini JAnybody can make up a team,” Groce said, “but we re really looking for big tefms.” He added that students do not essarily have to belong to a group or [anization in order to give blood in its alf, but that students cannot give blood more than one team. Btudents who wish to donate blood dtati* should sign up at one of the booths on the is ^ first floor of the Memorial Student Center tb' bitween Tuesday and Thursday of this lek. Ifhe actual collecting will take place on the second floor of the MSG between Tiesday and Thursday of next week. Tfonight at the 3-C Bar-B-Q in Bryan, Iques will be presented to last semes ters top three blood donor teams: Squad ron 12, Squadron 14 and the Texas Aggie ‘Warriors’ producer refuse pull-out despite charges of inciting violence By ROY BRAGG Battalion Staff [Band. ■The Aggie Blood Drive, which has the [mottos “Put a little Aggie in everyone” and Give blood — it’s made to circulate, ” is run by committees from Student Govern ment, Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity and Omega Phi Alpha service sorority. ■The blood will be collected by the Wad- ley Institute of Molecular Medicine, Dal las which has worked with the Aggie Blood Drive for more than 20 years. “The Warriors,” the Paramount Pictures film claimed to have caused three deaths, will neither be pulled out of national distribution nor edited, say the movie’s producer and marketing director. “I, as a producer, would be opposed to any pull-out or editing,” Frank Marshall said in a telephone interview last week from Hollywood. “Where do you start censoring art?” asked John Gould, director of marketing administration for Paramount. Civic leaders and police in several cities have attributed an increase in gang violence with the movie. An employee of Bryan’s Manor East III Theater, where the movie is showing now, said there’s been no problem with the film. The movie’s plot concerns the journey of the Warriors, a teen-age street gang, to their home on Coney Island from the Bronx. Along the way, the group battles various other gangs and police, attempting to get home. Three deaths have been blamed on the movie since its release less than two months ago. In Oinard, Calif., on Feb. 9, a teenager was stabbed to death in a theater lobby where the movie was being shown. The same day, another teenager was shot in the head at a Palm Springs, Calif., drive-in theater showing the movie. A week later in Boston, a gang reportedly stabbed a teenager to death on a subway after seeing the movie. In addition to these isolated incidents, gang violence in general has stepped up. In Newport, R. I., black and white gangs have begun fighting over territory in the city’s housing projects, its director, Daniel Marvelle, said last week. He says “The Warriors” caused the violence. Gould disagrees. “We don’t think it is causing anyone to do anything. If people are deranged, they’ll get their ideas from anything.” Following the attacks in California, Paramount removed all newspaper and television advertising for the movie that emphasized violence. The new ones, appearing a week later, were excerpts from a review by Pauline Kael in the New Yorker highlighting the intellectual attraction of the film. “We didn’t feel the previous campaign was representitive of the film,” Gould explained from New York. “The marketing group that drew up the original advertis ing campaign worked with director Walter Hill and Marshall, but were unaware of the artistic intentions of the film.” In a recent issue of Rolling Stone, Hill discussed his intentions in making the movie: / “I was trying to do the motion picture as a comic book. The characters were comic-book characters, the relationships were comic-book relationships, the stag ing was comic-book staging. People say the characters are two-dimensional; I thought the characters were one-dimensional.” Marshall agrees with Hill about the intent of the movie. “We wanted to make an exciting, adventure-chase movie,” he said. “We didn’t take the gangs seriuosly at all. We didn’t plan it to incite violence. ” Marshall and Hill both said the movie was a “spoof’ of teenage films. “The film is not a sociological feature at all,” Marshall said. “It is wholly a fantasy. ” Marshall added there was no way to predict the reactions to the film, but placed much of the blame for the reported violence on theater owners and managers. “All three of the incidents involved teenagers who shouldn’t have been there in the first place,” he said, referring to the film’s “R” rating. An “R” rating means the film is restricted to audiences 17 years and older unless accompanied by a parent of guardian. “We can’t blame these occurrences (the deaths) on the movie,” Marshall said. “We should wonder about 16-year-old kids who have guns.” Paramount, however, has ofifered to finance any additional security measures requested by theaters showing the film. It is up to the theater owners to enforce the rules, he said. Both Gbqand Marshall said the film has suffered no loss in bookings following the incidents. “The Warriors” has grossed $18 million so far, Gould said. Earliest example of modern ship By JUDIE PORTER Battalion Reporter The Civil Service Act seems to be a case of old-fashioned tug-of-war. The Bryan City Council is pulling one end, the Committee for Public Safety is pulling the other and the voters of Bryan are the rope. The council met Friday morning in an emergency session to discuss pros and cons of the act. The 45 minute session ended with the council voting unanim ously adopting a resolution to oppose the act. Gary Wentrcek, president of the Policemen’s Association, and John Boyd, chairman of the Committee for Public Safety, held a press conference at noon Friday in response to the council’s deci sion. The two men rebutted the reasons the council cited for opposing adoption of the Police and Firemen’s Civil Service Act. Adoption of the Act is up to the voters of Bryan. They will be able to voice their opinion in the April 7 city election. The Civil Service Act’s purpose is to “secure to the cities efficient police and fire departments, composed of capable personnel, free from political influence and with permanent tenure of employ ment.” The council believes is has already adopted personnel policies that ensure these goals. “The political influence is null where we have a council-city manager structure,” Mayor Richard Smith said. The Committee for Public Safety favors the permanent tenure of employees de fined in the Civil Service Act. It would give policemen and firemen a chance to advance according to seniority every two years. Employees would receive test points during his two years, which would provide more leeway for advancement, Wentrcek said. The city council feels this type of pro motion system would not give the truly deserving individual a chance to advance. “He would have to wait his turn for ad vancement” under the act. Councilman Henry Seale said. The Civil Service Act would also switch local control of the police and fire depart ments’ personnel policies to state control. Policies at present are set according to recommendations from the city staff and approved by the city council. City Manager Ernest Clerk said, “Once it is adopted, we are at the mercy of the state legislators. ... It really takes the con trol out of our hands.” But the Committee for Public Safety’s says control of the departments would still remain under the chiefs who answer to the city manager and the council. The committee used the example of running stop signs to illustrate the point. Enforcement of that law it would still re main under the control of local officials, not officials in Austin. The act would also call for a three- member commission set up by a chief executive to hear grievances and to ensure that policies and regulations concerning the hiring, firing and suspension of police and firemen were being followed. Currently, an eight-member board ap pointed by the city manager handles any grievances within the departments. If a commission was set up, it (Please turn to page 4.) A&M prof studies shipwreck By SALLY DREYFUS Battalion Reporter A ship that sank off the southern coast of Turkey in 1025 A. D. is being excavated by Dr. George F. Bass, a Texas A&M Uni versity Anthropology professor and presi dent of the Institute of Nautical Archaeol ogy- grid for mapping out the ship. In the background is an underwater telephone booth that allows the di vers tO talk tO each Other. Courtesy photo The shipwreck was one of 17 found at Serce Liman, Turkey, in the fall of 1973 and is thought to be the earliest known example of a modern ship. More modern hulls were built “frame first” while Greek and Roman ships were built “shell first.” Bass said he learned of the wreck through a tip from a retired Turkish sponge diver. Excavation began in 1977 after permis sion was given by the Turkish govern ment. “Were the only group allowed to do underwater archaeology in Turkey today,” Bass said. “It’s illegal in Turkey to even dive.” Twenty Turks and 20 Americans are currently working on the 52 1 A-foot ship, which is 110 feet under water. More than 200 different shapes of bro ken glass have been found. “We found 4% tons of glass that was to be recycled,’’ Bass said. “We did find about 50 intact vessels. It makes the largest hoard of ancient Islamic glass found. ” Ceramic tableware, fire-blackened cooking pots and two wooden combs were found in the bow. Hundreds of lead weights for fishing nets, ' weighing implements, silver and gold jewelry, iron swords with wooden sheaths and many gold, silver and bronze coins were also found. Bass said the bronze and silver coins are Byzantine, but three gold coins and a number of small pieces cut from other gold coins are Islamic. “I think it was an Arab trading vessel that sailed from around 1025 A. D. and sank off the southern coast of Turkey,” Bass said. Sheila Matthews, a Texas A&M student helping excavate the ship in Turkey, said, “We’re getting examples of where the cooking area was, where the people came from and what type of people came here. Now we ll relate them all together.” Bass said, “When you find something for the first time it’s very exciting, but it’s also extremely hard work. People think it’s a vacation, but it’s not.” Matthews said they now have to pre serve and study the wood of the ship. They also must clean, catalogue and store the artifacts. “I’m beginning to see more and more how important the tedious work is,” Matthews said. Funding for the excavation is from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Texas A&M, the National Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation, the Corning Glass Foundation and F. Alex Nason. The Turkish government gets to keep the artifacts. “Legally they belong to the Turks,’’Bass said. “We don’t care about the artifacts. We re out there for knowledge.” The ship will be totally excavated by the end of this summer. Auto crash kills two students; Silver Taps set for Tuesday Silver Taps ceremonies are tentatively scheduled Tuesday for two Texas A&M University students who were killed in an automobile crash early Friday morning. Wendy Kathryn Waterman, 19, a freshman biomedical science major from Richardson, and John Robert McCord, 23, a senior biochemistry major from San An tonio, died shortly before 2 a.m. Friday at St. Joseph Hospital in Bryan, about an by hour after their cars collided head-on the East Bypass. Investigators said the car driven Waterman was going south in a north bound lane when it collided with the car driven by McCord, about a mile north of the Booneville Road crossing. There were no other injuries. These students are the ninth and tenth student fatalities of the academic year.