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.