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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1979)
Tradition bites dust — abandoned cap saved By STANTON RAY Battalion Reporter Some days you simply can’t start a good tradition at Texas A&M University, no matter how hard you try — even if you do something not just twice, but four times. But some members of Company D-2, the Dog Company, sure gave it an Old Army try some years back. It seems that in 1973, Will Anderson and nine of his cronies from D-2 decided to start a tradition called the “Flying Bit ers.” They commenced by signing the lining of a fish-year biter (the Corps’ name for one of its kinds of caps), sealing it in a brown jar, and sending the bravest member of that group up the 165-foot light pole at the south end of the east side of Kyle Field. He secured it with black elec trical tape and came down. Not satisfied with doing it once, the men retrieved the cap each year until they graduated. Each time, the hat was re moved and replaced with a new one, and the old biter moved to the top of the next light pole to the north. The group planned to retrieve the jar at its five-year reunion, but the renovation of Kyle Field forced a change in plans. When Anderson, a journalism graduate, heard what was happening at the stadium, he sent a letter to the Department of Communications explaining about the jar and the hat. He asked that, if recovered, it be turned over to the department’s former secretary, Pat Cote, who now works in the educational information services depart ment. In the meantime, the stadium lights were taken down and put on the ground behind the soccer fields across Wellborn Road. One afternoon a workman discov ered a curious brown object taped to a stadium lamp. He took his find to his boss, asking, “What the hell is this thing I found?” John Holloway, his boss, said it was the “damndest thing” he ever saw. Knowing that it had something to do with the Corps, he handed it over to Sam Martin, chief of inspection in the facilities-construction division at Texas A&M, who handed it over to The Battal ion, who handed it over to Pat Cote. Company D-2 now on campus was notified of the recovery, but it has little knowledge or interest in the matter. Attempts were made to contact Will Anderson and his chums, but they were all in Germany, or in parts unknown, or on ships headed for Pago Pago or somesuch places. Anyway, when Will “Spaceman” Ander son, Kit Haydon, Bart Jennings, Howard “Rotgut” Lund, Phil “Fig” Newton, Roger Poole, J.T. Thornton, Kerry “Big K” Wright, Super Mev and Toad return to Texas A&M in 1981 to retrieve their jar they’ll still have some climbing to do. But the single flight of stairs to Cote’s office does have a handrail. Battalion News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Emergency! College Station erupted in disaster Sunday — but people were trained, not maimed. See page 6. Effect of Bryan Civil Service vote debated race, included 25- and 50-mile races for cash. The 25-mile race took about 45 laps, and the 50- mile race about 75. Steve Tilford from an Ames, Iowa, bicycle club won. Local businesses sponsored prizes totaling about $1,000. Battalion photo by Clay Cockrill air receives highest honor \t annual MSC awards banquet Ronald Woessner, a senior forestry [major, and Paul Haensly, a senior double in math and physics, ^Rnents of the Thomas H. Roundtree Award, the highest award given to mem bers of the Memorial Student Center Council and Directorate who have shown outstanding leadership abilities. Bfle awards were given at the organiza tion s 28th annual awards banquet Satur day evening at the MSC. About 400 people attended, including students, par ents and school officials, who heard a keynote address by Dave Maddox, a former student and a 1969 Roundtree Award recipient. Woessner has served the organization as vice president of administration and Haensly as vice president of finance. dmpus voting to decide 134 positions, one issue Polls will be open from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. today and Tuesday for Texas A&M Jniversity’s Student Government elections. Voting will be held in the Memorial Student Center, the Commons dor- uitories, the Corps Guard Room, Kleberg Center, Sbisa dining hall, and at the [three bus stops (east of the MSC, south of the Oceanography and Meteorology luilding, and by the Reed McDonald Building). Students must show their activity cards and ID cards to vote. The races include those for student body president, five executive vice presi dents, three senior and two junior yell leader spots, class officers, and others. There are 134 positions open, though not all of the races have candidates. The ballot will also include a referendum concerning graduation with honors. Voters will say whether they prefer the current standards, which require grade point ratios of 3.9 for summa cum laude honors, 3.7 for magna cum laude, and 3.5 >r cum laude, or lower ones of 3.75, 3.5 and 3.25 respectively. Voting this year will be done with pencils in booklets similar to achivement test [forms. Officials hope this will make the process quicker than last year, when [students used voting machines. A sample election ballot appears on page 8 of today’s Battalion. Twelve students were awarded Distin guished Service Awards for work beyond what their positions called for. They in clude: Teresa Beshara, director of projects; Gina Casas, Aggie Cinema chairman; Ray Daniels, MSC Council and Directorate president; Corey Gaskill, chairman of travel; Brooks Herring, chairman of Town Hall; Steve Hageman, director of funds; Steve Horn, chairman of Great Issues; Patrice Jones, OPAS chairman; Lynn Knaupp, vice president of programs; Ann Marie Landis, director of public relations; Jane McGregor, chairman of Political Forum; and Daryl Taraba, chairman of the Student Conference on National Affairs (SCONA). Distinguished Service awards were also given to non-students who made contribu tions to the organization. Dr. Larry McCullough, an adviser for the Arts Committee and Great Issues, and Robert Wimbish, a representative of former stu dents, were given the awards. The J. Wayne Stark Award for special projects was given to Rhonda Reger for work as chairman of the summer dinner theater. Awards for outstanding work for a first year member went to Dorothy DuBois, Brian Gross and Roger Messersmith; sec ond year, Dan Ayre, Wayne Helton and Sara Morse; and third year Rebecca Taul- man and Cindy Williams. Additional awards were also given to outstanding committee members, including outstand ing service and meritorious service for each committee. By DOUG GRAHAM Battalion Staff The new Civil Service Act status the Bryan Police and Firemen won during Saturday’s elections will not be all good, said Bryan’s city manager, Ernest Clark. He said the act can mean higher taxes and loss of local control over the two de partments. The reason it will escalate costs is be cause of Sec. 26 of the law which states employees will receive 15 days of paid sick leave a year, and will get paid for all their accumulated sick leave if they quit. “Were saying rather than being an in centive to stay, it (The Civil Service Act) is an incentive to leave: we are paying people to leave. In 1978 13 firemen left their department and 11 officers left the police department. Under the act, their leaving would have cost us $13,500. ” Yet, he said the Bryan City Council will abide by the 57-vote margin of victory. The won 1,495 to 1,438. Police Det. Wentrcek, however, said City elections fill board seats Ann Jones and Herman Brown were elected to the A&M Consolidated School Board in Saturday’s election. Jones ran against Mary Fellenz for Pos - ion 1; Brown against James McNamara and Oran Jones for Position 2. All three College Station City Council positions were filled by unopposed candi dates. Incumbents Gary Halter and Larry Ringer filled Places 1 and 3. Tony Jones, a College Station builder, won Place 5. In Bryan, the Civil Service Act for police and firemen passed by 57 votes With 50.97 percent of 2,933 votes cast. Incumbent Wayne Gibson defeated Sparkey Hardee for Position 5 on the Bryan City Council. Unopposed incum bents Joe Hanover and Peyton Waller will fill Postions 1 and 2 on the council. Richard Smith, the incumbent mayor of Bryan, was re-elected without opposition. James Stegall, the Position 6 incumbent on the Bryan School Board, defeated Ronald Holmes. Unopposed Travis Bryan was re-elected to school board Position 7. the net effect of the vote will be to increase the number of career police officers in Bryan. The reason, he said, is that police offi cers in Bryan will have a greater sense of job security. Before the election he said, “Right now the only notice they have to give us is a three weeks’ notice, by law. With the Act, we ll have a grievance process for hiring and firing.” The grievance process is important be cause of a clause in the civil service act which says no policeman or fireman can be fired except for reasons relating to derelic tion of duty, criminal behavior, behavior unbecoming a police officer, or poor job performance. Indefinite suspension without pay, the equivalent of being fired, said Wentrcek, is no longer possible under the new law. Wentrcek added that officers were afraid to speak out on issues because of possible retribution. Clark said he did not know why the police felt they were afraid to speak out, but stated that the both the city and its fire and police departments may lose some freedom under the act. Under the act, which can be adopted by any city in Texas with a population of 20,000 or more, certain senority systems are set up. To be eligible for promotion, employees must be of certain rank and pass an examination. Clark 'said that re cently a driver in the fire department had been promoted to a training officer, but that under the civil service act, the de partment could only promote from one of the three available fire captains. “I don’t want to make Civil Service seem that bad, but I see pitfalls and re strictions. We’ll make it work. The offi cers, I think, are going to be surprised at what will have to take place.” Wentrcek said that the senority sys tems, vacation (15 paid days each year), and the appeal process in discipline, will contribute to more career police officers in Bryan. 3 )! i.~ V., id, ind ustin to keep share of nuclear plant United Press International USTIN — Despite a barrage of ad verse news from the Three Mile Island Hclear power plant accident, Austin vot- e* decided to stay in a similar project in South Texas, and a spokesman for the victorious campaign Sunday said it was fpfcbably a bellwether for most American cities. ■About 55,415 voters, or 34 percent of H)se registered, turned out in the state capital Saturday to approve Proposition 1 ola complicated ballot, which would au thorize issuance of an additional $216 mil lion in bonds to keep the city’s 16 percent ■re in the South Texas Project, under construction 160 miles south at Bay City. Elhe vote was 28,430, or 53 percent, for. and 25,037, 47 percent, against. “If the anti-nukes could not win in Aus tin, with its past voting record, there are very few cities I think they could win in,” said John Rogers Jr., who managed the winning campaign in the college town. “This community has 40,000 students and a very sophisticated voting electorate which keeps up with the issues very well. ” Speaking for the losing side, Richard Duncan, chairman of the Austin Citizens for Economical Energy, said the vote was not a clear referendum on the issues of nuclear energy because of a misleading se ries of four propositions on the ballot. One of the propositions offered a coal power plant as a more expensive alternative, if the nuclear proposition failed. “Frankly,” said Duncan, “we feel it was a political move to make the nuclear plant look cheaper by comparison. It was just another confusing election. We have been asking the city council for a straight vote on nuclear energy, and have never gotten it.” Austin owns a 16 percent share in the STP nuclear plant which is under con struction in Bay City. Houston, San An tonio and Corpus Christi also own shares in the plant, which is similar in design to the Three Mile Island plant. The first unit in the nuclear project is scheduled to begin production in 1982. The city paid $160 million for its original share. Cost overruns and additional ex penses, however, had forced citizens to decide if they wanted to spend an additional $216 million to issue revenue bonds to maintain their proportionate share in the nuclear plant. Four propositions were offered on the ballot — the first called for the issuing of $216 million more in bonds to stay in the project; the second called for selling out. Proposition 3 and Proposition 4 were of fered as contingency plans should Proposi tion 1 fail. They would have authorized selling of $593.9 million in bonds for con struction of a new lignite coal generating plant in Fayette County. The vote on Proposition 2, to sell all of Austin’s share, was 25,500, or 49.1 percent for, and 26,437, or 50.9 percent, against. Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Secret ingredient? The big alligator gar Larry Zweifel is showing off didn’t go into Zweifel’s “River Bottom Chili,” although at least one armadillo sweetened his chili pot. Zweifel and cooking partners Mike and Shawn Riley were compet ing in the Bryan-College Station Jaycees Chili Olympics Saturday.