.awyer to claim insanity
as murder trial defense
United Press International
ILMER — An attorney for a
an accused of killing his wife
id three children filed mo
ms Tuesday seeking prosecu-
m evidence and notifying the
>urt he will claim the man was
sane when the slayings oc-
irred.
Gandabhai Patel, 37, is
targed with four counts of
first-degree murder in the slay
ings of his wife and children.
Their bodies were discovered
Oct. 25 at a motel owned by the
couple.
Patel shot himself in the
stomach later that day as a state
trooper approached his car at a
roadside park near Marshall.
He since has recovered from
the wound and remains jailed in
Gilmer.
Upshur Gounty prosecutors
have “considerable written
memorandums” that will aid in
evaluating Patel’s state of mind
at the time, attorney Vernard
Solomon of Marshall claimed in
the motions. He also notified
the court of his intent to raise
an insanity defense.
A hearing on the motions was
set for Friday.
Solomon met with District
I JUST DOfir KMOHJ WHA T TO
DO AOW tU.,PAT.
WHTDokl'T YOU KISS
/W?/UF£(/P?
NO! THAT MVUSEAmtrm
m wKoo&.
BlAbJ Wri OFF,
THEAJ.
ARFYOUCRAXT?!?
Love. HIM.
VJFLL...JOIU THE
FHEMCH FDREmJ L£&m
a? thetaccept m 1
THE!DHtPm
mies,Burm
-nE/mm
*£ l
LA BARE
Ladies Only
7-8pm-4for1 drinks
8-1 Opm-Showtime
FREE CHAMPAGNE AT
10:00
men get in at 10:00
for more info:
693-2818
Attorney Lowell Holt Tuesday,
and later said prosecutors
would ask the court to have Pa
tel examined by psychiatrists at
Rusk State Hospital. Holt would
not comment on any such plans.
Solomon also said he would
have Patel examined by a psy
chiatrist of his own choosing.
Patel confessed to the shoot
ings in a rambling letter discov
ered in his car.
“This is a spiritual act. Sacri
fice of one human family,” the
letter read in part.
The bodies of his family, all
clad in nightclothes, were found
in their apartment at the Up
shur House Hotel in the small
East Texas town about 100
miles from Dallas.
The victims were Bhikhimen
Patel, 35, her son, Jayesh, 2,
and her daughters, Shila, (3, and
Jayaben, 9. Mrs. Patel and the
boy were shot once in the chest,
and each girl was shot several
times in the chest.
Local clubs, bars noticing
drop in student attendance
By SARAH OATES
Stun Writer
MSC
is NOW
REGiSTRA TiON
FEB. 7,8 9am-6pm
ROOM 224 MSC
Pick up brochure for class information in the MSC and at
various major locations on campus.
pecially
but weel
Nightclub attendance in
College Station has dropped
markedly in recent weeks, and
managers are attributing the
drop to a variety of reasons in
cluding drink price wars and
the flu epidemic.
The Texas Hall of Fame, a
country-and-western dance
club that provides live musical
entertainment, has felt the drop
in attendance. Owner Paul
Emola said the drop has dimin
ished the club’s “overall take,”
and he says it’s because of com
petitive drink specials at other
area clubs.
“The clubs that hurt us
most are those that don’t have
live entertainment,” he said.
“Fifty to 60 percent of our door
proceeds (the price charged to
enter the club) go to pay the
band. We just can’t afford to
give away drinks.
Patrons pay a $2 to $5
cover charge to enter the club.
The charge varies depending
on the night of the week and
the entertainment provided for
that night.
Emola said another possi
ble reason for the low atten
dance could be recent media
coverage of Mothers Against
Drunk Driving (MADD).
MADD is an organization that
was formed two years ago to
make people more aware of the
hazards of drunken driving. He
said he thinks an increased
awareness of the dangers in
volved in driving while intoxi
cated has made people wary of
going to clubs.
Emola said attendance
during the week is “good,” es-
on Thursday nights,
weekend attendance has de
creased. “On Tuesday night we
get a good local crowd,” he said.
“Wednesday night used to
be a big tradition because A&M
students could get in free,”
Emola said. He said that now
not as many students come out
to the club on Wednesday
nights. He estimated the overall
attendance has diminished by
20 percent.
“The low attendance af
fects the bar, which affects your
overall take,” he explained.
Other area club managers
said they think decreased atten
dance could be attributed to the
flu epidemic.
“Everybody’s sick with the
flu, but otherwise our atten
dance is usually good,” said
Steve Graham, manager of the
Electric Cowboy.
John DuSpain, manager of
Park Avenue, 815 Harvey
Road, said he thinks the drop in
attendance is because of the re
cent “severe weather." He also
said students are generally
poorer during the spring se
mester.
“People have less money
right now than they had during
the fall semester,” he said.
“Most students spent most of
their money over Christmas.”
Debbie Schallock, manager
of Scandals, 1401 FM Rd. 2818,
said, “School is harder this year.
Students have to study a lot
harder. They complain that’s all
they have time for.” She said
the drop in attendance could
“to some degree ” be attributed
to the more stringent DWI laws.
The new laws became ef
fective Jan. 1 and state that a
first-time DWI offender faces a
possible fine of $100 to $2,000
and a 90-day driver’s license
suspension. The laws also state
that refusal to take an intoxi-
lyzer blood or breath test is ad
missible as evidence in court
and first-time offenders can be
jailed for 72 hours. Schallock
said area clubs may not be
doing as well financially now be
cause competition has forced
them to lower drink prices.
“There’s the same number
of people (attending the clubs),
but because prices are down the
cash flow isn’t the same,” she
said.
Clay Dozier, assistant man
ager of Graham Central Sta
tion, 1600 South College, said
the attendance drop could be
because “there are more clubs
in town, more things for stu
dents to get wrapped up in.” He
said attendance at Graham Cen
tral Station has been “poor dur
ing the week, but okay on the
weekends.
“We’ve noiced low atten
dance and have gone out to the
clubs to see where the students
are going and we can’t find
them,” he said.
DuSpain said another rea
son for low attendance could be
that many people attend clubs
that are keeping up with the lat
est musical trends. He said this
is also a reason why so many
clubs change their names and
images from year to year. For
example, Park Avenue, a Top
40 music club, was a new wave
music club called Lipstick two
years ago.
“Punk and progressive
rock was tops,” he said. “It kind
of faded out. Now it’s Top 40.
We’re more conservative now.
Everybody’s kinda settled
back."
DuSpain said the dub
longer plays new wave mia
because the managemeii
doesn't want to attract “tk
type of individual."
“There’re a few individ.-
als that would disrupt thecont
unity of the whole program,’!*
said. “The majority rules a
the majority wantsTop40ri[
now. Fads change. The te
deal here is that we’re in theet
tertainmenl business andiht
don't provide entertainment
we’re not in business.”
He said that about 75p
cent of the club’s patronsatteml
because they like us atmospheu
and about 25 percent come
the drink specials. Hesaidtliai
many clubs “Try to undercut
each other” with compeiiiiu
drink prices.
f
Police bea
STUDY IN LONDON THIS SUMMER
Spend five weeks in London this summer and earn up to
nine hours transferable credit with the University of
Houston London Program. Applications are now being
accepted for both the Summer Graduate Semester and
the Summer Undergraduate Semester. For more infor
mation call Gilliam Landreneau at (713) 749-3483 or
write to the London Program, Room 115A Roy Cullen,
University of Houston-Park Campus, Houston, Tx
77004.
The following incidentswt
reported to the Universitv
lice through Tuesday,
THEFT:
• Six dollars in cash was &
len f rom a desk in 407 Media
Sciences.
• A black, J.C. Penney'sltt
speed bicycle was stolen k
the Davis-Gary Hallbikerad
• A Sears“Die-Hard” batw
was stolen from a 1980
Parking Annex 56.
BURGLARY/CRIMINAl
MISCHIEF.
• The Archives section fl
the library was broken into lit
26 ceiling tiles were remow
and stacked in another aread
the Archives. A note was W
slating, “Missing anythingi'Ti
items were missing.
• A Kodak 35 mm
jector was stolen fromSliPlaJ
Sciences.
THE
TEXAS
A&M
ENGINEER
MAGAZINE
Selection of articles for the
Spring issue and staff members
for the ’84 -85 year will be dis
cussed.
If you are young, aggressive,
and like seeing your name in pript,
then please, attend our first...
Tu
a
Me
kill
pol
.pay
len
Mo
the
Lyr
cha
in I
tior
int
In
sen
Mo
con
to s
sem
/
H
f<
Cot
apo
Sen
bee
nan
was
zati
Llo
I
Hig
an
ORGANIZATIONAL
MEETING
WED. Feb 8 8:00
ZACHRY, ROOM 342
PM
Affiliated with S.E.C. (Student Engineering Council)