OFF CAMPUS AGGIES
APARTMENT
COUNCIL
PRESIDENCY
VACANCIES
Apply for your
Apartment Complex
at
OCC or OCA
Cubicle
state
Battalion/Page 6
January 19,
Rental discrimination proposal fails
to receive voter approval in Austin
United Press International
Austin — The Austin resident
who led the successful campaign
against a proposed city housing
code change that would have
allowed property owners to re
fuse to rent or to sell to homose
xuals said he knew after the first
hour of voting Saturday the
proposal would be defeated.
This was one of many election
issues decided Saturday.
“By 8:30 we saw our (polling)
boxes coming in higher than we
had expected, so it became ob
vious it was going to be close to
2-to-l against,” Robert Souther
land, of Citizens for a United
Austin, said Sunday.
He attributed the Citizens for
Decency loss to its negative cam
paign and its having overesti
mated its popular support.
“I think they ran a much
more negative, shrill campaign
than we did because they found
themselves in the position of
supporting discrimination,”
Southerland said. “You can’t
run a negative campaign in Au
stin, Texas, and win.”
Voters in the capital braved
temperatures in the low 20s
Saturday to reject, 36,239 to
20,997, a proposal stating, “It
shall not be unlawful to discri
minate on the basis of sexual
orientation.”
The leader of Citizens for De
cency, the group that sponsored
the referendum, said he was not
disappointed Austin voters
soundly defeated the amend
ment — which reportedly would
have made the Austin code the
first in the country to provide
such an allowance.
“In no way was it a mandate
for the city council to give public
approval to homosexuals,” said
Dr. Steven Hotze, father of six
and spokesman for Austin
Citizens for Decency. “The vote
was on discrimination.”
passage of the amendment
would have opened the door to
discrimination against other
minority groups and cam
paigned heavily in black and
Mexican-American neighbor
hoods.
“it shall be unlawful
housing on the basis o
orientation” to the
code-.
DIETING?
Deadline:
Friday, January 22
Even though we do not prescribe
diets, we make it possible for many to
enjoy a nutritious meal while they
follow their doctor's orders. You will
be delighted with the wide selection
of low calorie, sugar free and fat free
foods in the Souper Salad Area, Sbisa
Dining Center Basement.
OPEN
Monday through Friday 10:45 AM-T.45 PM
QUALITY FIRST
Opponents of the measure
had argued successfully that
“I’m just real, real proud of
the city of Austin,” Southerland
said. “The people here have
made it clear that this is an open-
minded, fair city. People real
ized the abuses the ordinance
could have caused, and they also
realized it was a human rights
issue and not a gay issue.”
The controversy began in
August when the City Council
attempted to add the statement
Elsewhere in the state,i
in Fort Worth elected I
city councilman Bob ~
mayor. The city saw alig
out, with only 18,(
177,000 registered i
ing ballots.
None of some 20 count]
tions held to legalize tiw
suited in a loss. The \otii3
held under terms of a 1981
clearing the way for legal
ing of the games.
North Texas banks facing
new ‘Bonnie and Clyde’
United Press International
FORT WORTH — A heavily-
armed, middle-aged Bonnie
and Clyde duo has caused fear
in seven banks dotting the
prairies north of Fort Worth,
causing one bank to lose em
ployees as well as money.
At the First National Bank of
Rhome, northwest of Fort
Worth, two bank officers and a
teller have quit after the bank
was robbed twice in four years.
The couple most recently hit the
Rhome bank in June 1981.
“One girl quit,” Bank Presi
dent Jim Boothe said. “She
couldn’t stand the thought of
another robbery. She said she
She
GIVE US A CALL
BEFOIU
WE CAN SAVE YOU TIME, MONEY & TROUBLE
II you damage one of our cables there
can be serious consequences. Neither of
us needs unfavorable public reaction...
expense.. .or, most important, interrup
tion of vital emergency communica
tions.
Won't you do your share to help
eliminate dangerous and costly cable
damage? Before you dig, call 779-4102
(Bryan, College Station, Snook-Tunis) or
779-6158 (Kurten) or nearest General
Telephone repair service number.
General Telephone
was going to stay home,
wanted to enjoy life.”
The Rhome bank lost at least
$200,000 in the two robberies,
prompting bank officials to take
additional security precautions
for their employees. Boothe in
stalled bars across all the win
dows, drapes to inhibit the cus
tomers’ view, one-way glass and
an electronic buzzing system
that allows employees to screen
anyone who enters.
“These are professional bank
robbers,” said George Clow, su
pervisor for the Fort Worth FBI
office.“They are well prepared
and carefully rehearsed.
They’ve thought everything out.
Their firepower is awesome.”
The other banks robbed since
1970 are similar to the Rhome
bank, Clow said. Justin, Milford,
Chico, Tom Bean, Collinsville
and Prosper are all small, iso-
Shawn Bn
lated towns near major!
ways within 100 miles of the!
las-Fort Worth area. Nob
served by a police force,
are patrolled mostly by one)
units of the Departmentdfl Washington
lie Safety. A&M Polio
The pair hide their faceii m
ski masks and wear cowboy! pv -« •
and Clow said their procei L-J/A MV'
nilar 1
in each robbery is similar.
The man, estimated tok
his mid-40s, is armed wi
high-powered, semi-autoi
rifle. The woman, about#,
t ies a 12-gauge shotgunJ
sometimes have revolvers!
ed in their belts.
Two weeks before each
bery, they go to a useA-ca!
and steal a car with the key
the ignition. They steal litf
plates for the car and us
abandon it less than 10
from the bank.
M pi
8:1 1
High court ducks
1979 Texas law
United Press International
WASHINGTON —The Sup
reme Court today refused to
tackle a controversy over a
Texas law that attempts to ban a
wide range of sexually oriented
films, books, magazines and de
vices as being patently offensive.
The justices let stand a deci
sion that found that federal
judges must allow state courts a
first look at a new obscenity law
before U.S. courts can consider
its validity.
The high court rejected an
appeal by owners of several
adult theaters in Houston who
claimed the Texas law is vague
and violates First Amendment
free speech rights.
Late in 1979 the Texas legisl
ature rewrote the state criminal
code provisions defining and
regulating obscene materials
and performances. Shortly be
fore the statute was to go into
effect, owners of §ome adult
theaters filed suit to prevent its
enforcement.
Two federal district judges
dismissed the suits and the 5th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
New Orleans upheld most of
those decisions, although it ack
nowledged the Texas statute
“presents a troublesome ques
tion of constitutional law.”
The appellate panel
eluded it would be inappi
ate to rule on the merits of
case before a state court has 1
opportunity for narrowing
clarifying the law.
Among other things, ®!
states that material may'
dared obscene if it depicts
ism, masochism, lewd exhil
of the male or female genii
a state of sexual stimulation!
arousal, covered male genii
a discernibly turgid smteorai
vice designed and marl
useful primarily for stimul
of the human genital org
The statute, drawn
Supreme Court guidelines,
out a three-part test for
mining an obscene item:
—Whether “taken as aw
it appeals to the prm
(shameful and morbid)
terest.” £
—Whether it “depicts or)
scribes specified sexual coi
in a patently offensive way
—Whether “taken as aw!
it lacks serious literary, ai
political or scientific value.
District Attorney
Holmes told the court that
has launched 500 prosecut*
as a result of the new law in
ris County, which indi
Houston.
United Pres
MIAMI — M
ustice Depart
ibbon panel
leaders to ins
at police use
[to break up a y
angered at the
of a stowaway.
Police Chie
promised tha!
would investi;
but said, withe
dence, there
rumors that i
lence might ha
in part by C
from Cuba.
Thousand
demonstrated
test the depo
stowaway Ai
Hernandez, !
back to Havai
officials just i
arrived in F
him the first
be deported
took power.
Police mad
result of ski
afternoon am
injuries were
officers.
Although
that more
would occur
l
For your
photographs
The Battalion
The Battalion is taking applications for pho
tographers for the spring semester. If you have
some spare time, camera equipment and knowl
edge of darkroom procedures, apply in person
in Room 216 Reed McDonald. Ask for Angel
Copeland.