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Battalion
Vol. 73 No. 49
24 Pages in 2 Sections'
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onfire work
S police, fire chiefs
ke safety measures
By RICHARD OLIVER
Battalion Staff
ile most people are watching the
Bonfire light up the sky on Nov. 30,
i will be watching to make sure it
t light up anything else,
liege Station Fire Chief Douglas
ta said he isn’t taking any extra pre-
ns for the fire, but the threat of an
ional blaze is always there,
depends so much on weather condi-
he said. “Numerous fires have
pd because of it (the Bonfire). If the
er is dry and the wind is out of the
, then we have to watch out for the
ences away from the campus. If the
is out of the south, we have to watch
lor the campus.
Bonfire is being built on the Duncan
|field on the south side of campus,
idua said leaves and wood shingles on
|e tops are the main cause of the off-
us Blazes.
he worst fire I can recall is a roof fire
near Aberdeen Street, he said. “We
to publicize as much as we can through
news media before the fire — if we see
Ivind will be out of the north — and
the people of the dangers.”
e campus is not immune to the Bon-
dangers, either, Landua noted.
Hrhaps the most memorable campus
ftaused by sparks from the bonfire was
|uncan Dining Hall,
uncan has sort of a foam-type roof,’
[Landua. “Any little spark will put a
through it. It usually costs the Univer-
bit to resurface it.
A defense has been found, however,
he University usually puts people on
(oof and runs a water hose on it to keep
t,” he said. “There is usually a chore
ing people on top of the roofs on cam-
henever the wind is right.’
Another problem confronting the Col
lege Station police and fire departments is
the crowd size and related traffic.
“The basic problem is handling the traf
fic,” said College Station Police Lieutenant
Mason Newton, in charge of traffic control
for the Bonfire. “We work with the fire
department, and it takes just about every
body we’ve got in the uniform division,
plus calling out a few reserves. The fire
department also has to call out quite a few
extra men, too.”
Newton said the increased population of
Texas A&M University will cause more
problems.
“The streets are not any bigger, ” he said.
“There are more people, and more cars.
It’s a big burden on the city.”
Landua agrees.
“We have everybody on-duty and off-
duty working on this thing,” he said. “The
traffic just jams. If anything happens, it
would be difficult to get help in.”
The departments, Newton added, usual
ly block off city streets to the south of the
Bonfire.
“We limit this area just to the residents
of the area and emergency vehicles,” he
said. “This makes a lot of people mad be
cause they can’t park over at their friend’s
house and go to the Bonfire from there.”
The fire department will have emergen
cy trucks on stand-by in specified areas,
depending on the wind direction, Landua
said.
“The vehicles won’t be right at the Bon
fire, but they’ll be close by,” he said. “If the
wind is out of the north, we ll park over
there; if it’s to the south, we ll keep an eye
on the campus.”
There are no city ordinances concerning
the Bonfire, Landua said. The city does not
try to enforce city codes on campus.
Both men agreed it costs the city quite a
bit to watch the fire, but said figures were
not available.
Thursday, November 8, 1979
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
creates safety, fire hazards
Bonfire workers strain to brace the center pole which will support Texas
A&M University’s Bonfire, which will be held before the Dec. 1 football
game against the University of Texas.
Health center treats
70 injuries from work
By LAURA CORTEZ
Battalion Reporter
Bonfire at Texas A&M University not
only means groups of students working
together diligently — it means scores of
injuries as well.
Since the first cutting weekend (Oct. 20-
21), the staff at Beutel Health Center has
been treating Bonfire participants for ever-
thing from ax injuries to poison ivy.
Dr. C.B. Goswick, director of student
health services, said that as of this week, 70
accident reports have been filed at the
health center.
He said that although 42 of these cases
have been poison ivy, which is traditionally
the No. 1 Bonfire ailment, there have been
several serious cases as well.
One student dropped an ax on his foot,
which resulted in a gash so deep that it cut
into the bone, Goswick said.
He added that another ax-related mishap
resulted in the partial amputation of a
finger.
Heat exhaustion, muscle strain, insect
bites, eye injuries, cuts and bruises are also
among the Bonfire injuries.
Frances Gough, coordinator of nursing
services, said that the number of cases
handled at the health center so far this year
is about the same as it was during the past
few years. She added that this is good con
sidering the steady increase in enrollment.
She said the number of patients depends
greatly upon the poison ivy situation and
the weather, and that there are generally
more accidents when there has been a lot of
rain.
Gough said she noticed a decline in the
number of injuries around 1973.
“More and better first aid stations at the
cutting sites, good weather, improvements
in cutting classes, and the fact that the
students have been cutting for less hours at
a time than in previous years have cut down
on the number of patients we handle here,”
she said.
Gough said that although there have al
ways been first aid stations at the cutting
sites, this is the second year that emergen
cy medical technicians have been on the
scene to help out.
Scott Hutchins, one of the redpots (su
pervisors) of Bonfire, said that most of the
people participating in the cutting and
stacking have been safety conscious, but
said that he and the other redpots are con
stantly patrolling the cutting areas to make
sure that axes are being handled properly
and that people are taking proper precau
tions to avoid possible hazards.
He also said that Bonfire is being hand
led differently this year than in the past as
far as the number of hours people spend at
the cutting sites.
“Instead of going out there at 6 a.m. and
coming back at 5 p.m. like before, we send
out two different shifts,” he said. “One
group goes out at 6 a.m. and stays until 3
p.m., and the other group goes out at 10
a.m. and comes back at 5 p.m.”
Hutchins said that the reason this change
was made was to give Corps members more
time to study on mandatory cutting
weekends, but added that this also de
creases the number of accidents because
people don’t get as tired or as careless when
they are out there for shorter periods of
time.
But no matter what safety precautions
are taken, Goswick said that there will al
ways be many injuries.
He said that it is impossible to prevent
certain accidents from happening, and
added that “things such as muscle strain
and fatigue are inevitable.”
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Editor angry about new
By RHONDA WATTERS alma mater was supporting a rival maga-
Battalion Staff zine, what he calls his maroon blood began
yhen Mike Jones, publisher of an Aggie boil.
tsmagazine named Gig Em, heard his “I’m not afraid to tell my story,” Jones
Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschpcr Jr.
Mike Jones, owner of A&M Printing and publisher of an Aggie sports
magazine named Gig ’Em, will soon have to deal with competition from a
rival called Spirit. The new magazine will be especially threatening
because of a contract signed by President Jarvis Miller with Le Due
Enterprises of Kansas City, publisher of Spirit.
said. “I feel I haven’t been given a fair
shake.”
Gig ’Em is a local publication devoted
strictly to covering athletics at Texas A&M
University. Started in April of 1978, it pub
lishes four issues a year and a minimum of
20 newsletters, putting out one a week dur
ing football season. Owned by three peo
ple, two of them former students of Texas
A&M, it is financed by ads, subscriptions
and personal investment. It has a subscri
ber list of about 700.
Since its beginning. Gig ’Em has been
the only magazine that exclusively covered
Texas A&M athletics. But come Decem
ber, it will have a rival called Spirit, which
Jones said could run Gig ’Em out of busi
ness.
Spirit will be especially threatening be
cause of a contract signed by President Jar
vis Miller with Le Due Enterprises of Kan
sas City, the publisher of Spirit. The Uni
versity administration, Association of For
mer Students and the Aggie Club have all
given the magazine their full support.
Le Due Enterprises publishes athletic
magazines for major colleges across the
country, including Purdue, Penn State,
Florida and Nebraska.
Le Due has promised the Athletic De
partment a percentage of each subscription
fee once the number of subscriptions pas
ses 3,000. It has also said it will give the
Athletic Department free copies of the
magazine to pass out to professional scouts.
Jones said it is not the fact that a rival
magazine is giving him some competition
that has him upset. He said he was upset
because the University did not put the
magazine contract up for bidding.
“A decision was made to accept the Le
Due publication without any consideration
to any other publication,” Jones said. “We
heard about it through other people too
late.”
Gig ’Em could not have competed with
Le Due on a money offer, Jones said, be
cause his business is much smaller, but it
was not fair for the University to exclude
competing publications.
Jones said his lawyer is looking into
whether the University can give a contract
out without open bidding.
James Bond, lawyer for Texas A&M, said
the University did not do anything illegal.
“There’s not a competitive bidding sta
tute that requires bidding on anything ex
cept construction contracts,” Bond said.
Jones said he wasn’t sure that was true.
“My lawyer is going to check in that area
to see if that’s the case,” he said.
Bond also said that the contract did not
have to be approved by the Board of Re
gents because it had delegated that author
ity to President Miller.
Jones said that all the official support
given “Spirit” will definitely give it an
advantage over Gig ’Em at the start of the
next subscription year.
magazine
“The most (administration) support Gig
’Em ever had was a phone call from Emory
Bellard,” approving its beginning, Jones
said.
Jones said that at the start of Gig Em’s
publication, the Association of Former Stu
dents helped the magazine out some, but
all the Aggie Club would do was sell them
an ad in its publication, the Aggie Sports
Club News.
But he said he was not upset with the two
organizations’ support of Spirit because
“who can blame them when the head of the
Athletic Department and the president of
the University are on its side?”
Marvin Tate, athletic director, and Wil
liam Lewie Jr., president of the Aggie
Club, both have written letters in support
of Spirit. The Aggie Club has also offered
its members a $5 discount on the first sub
scription year.
Tate, who said he was the one who asked
Le Due to bring a magazine to Texas A&M,
said he supported it because he felt it was
best for the athletic department.
“Tom Le Due came to us with a proposal
of a very professional approach to present
ing our overall athletic program,” Tate
said. “They’ll put us out a magazine 20
times a year marketing our product-
athletics at Texas A&M.”
Tate said the Athletic Department does
not “get one tax dollar.” All its financial
support comes from donations and money
it generates itself.
“We’re trying to do the best job we can to
keep our program in the black,” he said.
“When an opportunity presents itself for
the athletic department to make some
money, I feel as athletic director, I should
take it.”
Tate said he did not bring in Spirit to
hurt Gig ’Em magazine.
“I didn’t get where I am by kicking peo
ple in fhe teeth, or by being unfair,” Tate
said.
“But the simple fact that he (Jones) went
to Texas A&M does not mean we have to go
to him.
“My whole approach was to do some
thing to benefit the athletic department,”
he said. “In doing so, if someone got hurt.
I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intent.”
Tate said that the Athletic Department
did not have any control of what went into
Gig ’Em, but that with Spirit it would.
"That doesn’t mean we re going to man
ipulate it,” he said. “But we will control it
and make sure it’s in Texas A&M’s best
image.”
Tate said that the editor of Spirit, Jim
Butler, would report directly to Tate and
the Athletic Department.
Butler used to be assistant sports infor
mation director for Texas A&M, until he
resigned Oct. 1.
He said that getting the job as editor of
Spirit “had nothing to do with me res
igning.”
Student senate passes
increase in service fee
By ELLEN EIDELBACH
Battalion Reporter
A bill to increase student service fees by $5 in order to make up for an eliminated
medical service fee was passed by student senators at Wednesday’s meeting.
The senate also discussed a bill which allow only one Silver Taps ceremony a
month.
The medical service fee was created this fall to cover increased health center costs
because state law limits health center fees to $15.
However, state legislation in the spring raised the ceiling on student service fees
from $30 to $90 and made the medical service fee illegal.
The effect of the bill is to increase student service fees from $23 to $28 to make up
for the loss of the medical care fee.
The senate heard the first reading of a resolution to hold Silver Taps at 10:30 p. m.
on the first Tuesday of each month from September through April.
The resolution was proposed because the increase in student enrollment, makes
it more likely that Silver Taps will be held weekly, which might lead to a decrease in
attendance and significance of the ceremony.
Silver Taps has been held four times this school year in only eight weeks.
Other bills which passed included a request for reserved seats in Rice Stadium at
future Texas A&M-Rice football games and the endorsement of a project called “A
Thanksgiving Meal” which would collect items for the needy in Bryan-College
Station.
Ayatollah refuses
to meet emissary
United Press International
TEHRAN, Iran — President Carter to
day dispatched former Attorney General
Ramsey Clark to Iran to negotiate the free
dom of dozens of Americans held captive in
the U.S. Embassy but Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini said he will not meet with Clark.
Khomeini declared he fully supports the
Moslem students holding the American
hostages, a spokesman for the Islamic lead
er said.
Khomeini also forbade Iranian govern
ment and revolutionary leaders from meet
ing with Clark.
He said talks on the fate of the hostages
could only be held if the United States
handed over the shah, now hospitalized in
New York, and stopped its spying activities
in Iran.
Clark was scheduled to arrive in Tehran
tonight to meet with the “highest author
ities,” according to a House aide.
In Tehran, Moslem militants siezed two
more Americans from a hotel and delayed
the departure of at least three others from
the country, Western sources said today.
The militants are holding 60 to 65 hostages
in the U.S. Embassy including 28 U.S.
military personnel.
But a spokesman for the ayatollah said in
a telephone interview: “The imam will not
meet with this man that Carter is said to
have dispatched.
“Imam Khomeini fully supports the
stand taken by the students,” the spokes
man said. “He made this quite clear in
today’s broadcast.”
He said Khomeini’s criticism of the stu
dents threat to kill hostages in the event of
U.S. rescue efforts did not mean Khomeini
opposed the students’ stand.
“The point is there was no need for them
(students) to make such a statement.
“The question of U.S. intervention does
not arise, because it is impossible. There
fore any statement tied to such a possibility
is meaningless,” the spokesman said.
State Department officials also said
American companies in Iran have advised
their officials and other employees — about
300 to 400 private Americans in Iran — to
leave that country.
“But there is no real urgency about this,”
one official said.
Carter, who has previously ruled out any
military action to free the hostages, appa
rently decided to send Clark following
emergency meetings with foreign policy
advisers Tuesday.
Carter also was working through Mos
lem countries which have good relations
with the religious leaders in Iran to try to
ensure the safety of the Americans held in
the embassy.
Rep. William Moorhead, D-Pa., who
attended a White House breakfast meeting
with other Democratic leaders, said “the
president is very concerned” about the
safety of the Americans in Iran.
“I think he’s doing his best,” said Moor
head of Carter. He’s sending a delegation
over there.”
Rep. George Hansen, R-Idaho, said
Wednesday he has prepared a resolution
calling for President Carter’s impeachment
if strong steps are not taken immediately to
protect lives and property in Iran.