•• •; ■ •' • ■ *>- - i
Wednesday, March 7, 1984AThe Battalion/Page 9
ardi Gras: World’s largest party is cold and wild
' ^ United Press International
'imrm NEW ORLEANS — Cloaked
room and shivering celebrants
formed a river of bodies
"iBretching from stately St.
[Kharles Avenue to the raucous
ck E rent 'h Quarter Tuesday for
ie last big blowout before
nt.
Tens of thousands of people
om across the United Stales
ivarm to New Orleans each
■ear for Mardi Gras, the world’s
largest free parly.
I “This is the craziesi thing I’ve
ever been to,” said Mary Parker,
37, of Miami. “I mean, the
whole city shuts down so people
can dress up and beg for junk.
The Catholics in this town sure
take their Lent seriously.”
Drizzle and bone-chilling
temperatures in the 40s
prompted many celebrants to
forfeit Mardi Gras costumes for
the warmth of coats and winter
clothes. But others were not
hampered by the cold, turning
out to dance in skimpy g-strings
and flowing garments.
Others jumped around to
keep warm, screaming “Throw
me something, mister” to mask
ers who pelted bystanders with
aluminum doubloons and plas
tic trinkets from a stream of col
orful and elaborate floats.
The crowds seemed relatively
calm, but a policeman standing
along the parade route warned,
“It’s still early yet.” He said the
crowd was considerably smaller
than the estimated 1.1 million
people who packed the down
town area on Fat Tuesday last
year.
“I came here to be crazy with
out anyone knowing,” said 21-
year-old Gretta Soniat, a stu
dent living in Dallas. She said
she spent two weeks putting to
gether her costume, which
mimicked a pregnant Princess
Diana.
“My parents think I’m study
ing for a psych test,” Soniat
said. “I’m looking at it as a field
trip in psychology. I’ve never
:n i
A California man and his
wife used a box on a stick with a
sign that read “Throw some
thing for California” to entice
maskers to toss them treasures.
seen such a self-indulgent city.’
“We came all the way from
California ... to freeze,” said
W.W. Wanamater of Van Nuys,
“but we’re having a good time.”
He said the plea painted on
his box had netted him one of
the treasured Zulu coconuts.
The coconuts, hand painted by
members of the Krewe of Zulu,
are among the most sought-af
ter Mardi Gras prizes.
Revelers crowd around the
Zulu floats begging for the co
conuts and sometimes scuffle
wuh each other when a masker
drops one on the crowd.
Most of the crowd stayed
along the parade routes but
other celebrants drifted into the
French Quarter, where small
mnrchinp' Groups with ja//
bands* tossed doubloons and
beads to bystanders.
Visitors hung over railed bal
conies in the French Quarter
answering cries from below by
tossing beads and plastic trin
kets. Other revelers gathered
around artists’ booths in Jack-
son Square to have their faces
painted in gay colors and bi
zarre designs.
Texas crime rate decreases for fi rst time
9llin 22 years; increased awareness cited
United Press International
the sow
s, said Sil
nolds.
rials refii
list loo M
'lllf spoil
catling
Oil Co.,
AUSTIN — A decline in
|exas’ crime rate — the first in
S2 years — is being attributed to
an increased awareness of the
insequences of crime and the
owing number of citizens’
ime-nghting groups.
Col. Jim Adams, director of
|ie Texas Department of Public
fety, said Tuesday the overall
ime rale for major and minor
imes in 1983 dropped by (3.2
percent with 5,907 crimes per
100,000 people.
In addition, 7(3(3 Texas law
enforcement agencies reported
928,827 major crimes during
1983, a drop of 3.5 percent
compared to the previous year.
The DPS chief said the public’s
perception of crime may have
been a contributing factor in
the decrease
“We had almost come to ac
cept a yearly increase in volume
as being inevitable,” Adams
said. “A simple answer for these
decreases is hard to come by,
but I believe there’s been
greater awareness of the conse
quences of criminal acts, less tol
erance of the criminal on the
part of the law abiding citizen
and increased participation in
neighborhood watch groups,
crimestoppers programs and
other anti-crime efforts.”
In the violent crime category,
robbery posted the greatest de
crease— 11.4 percent. Murders
were down by 9.1 percent,
rapes were down 7 percent, and
aggravated assaults were down
(3.y percent.
In the property crimes cat
egory, burglaries fell 8.2 per
cent and car thefts were down
jor crime category showing an
increase in 1983, rose only 0.4
percent.
Other statistics reported by
DPS included:
— Drunken driving arrests in
1983 totaled 149,621, an in-
U-CIIL tlllvl V-cl 1 llICTlla Wdv, VlAiWIl 1^700 lOltllvjCl 1T:^7,0
5.2 percent. Theft, the only ma- crease of 33 percent.
: of ihe
, said l«
3an l,u
a 5.1
let-in, he
ner ad\
would
undberi
n oil pries
nt
ispatcher's argument aired;
ncident stirs 300 complaints
United Press International
DALLAS — An ambulance
spaicher who argued for seve
ral minutes with a man whose
\ /i0 | e P ,not h er was dying ! ias been
1 Qd 0 fassigned to other duties.
A Dallas television station
lat broadcast tapes Monday of
ie January incident reported
me 300 calls from people
fcmplaining of similar treat-
lent.
said llieii I Fire department section chief
a year fike Jones said Tuesday the
stigationk ispatcher, 17-year veteran
kgriculnm lurse Billie Myrick, was placed
's office, pi paid administrative leave
shah Tin ne month after the incident,
up tliei (ul was returned to duty after
vere nan* ira days’leave,
nenls ren Jones said Myrick was reas-
id jury. Igned to other duties Tuesday
us indmii because of stress and media
s and pn leisure.
e Mercad . Dallas television station
tr tourist) [DFW aired fire department
n San Art ^pes of the incident during its
lews program.
Attorney It was not determined if Myr-
headed tl k was involved in any of the
1 food st her instances, but KDFW said
for less has filed a request under the
welfare J ate open records law to obtain
he iransai pes of other such conversa-
parkingl o»s.
i-ti il)iiiioti| Larry Boff, whose 60-year-
id stepmother died Jan. 5,
led a 5300,000 damage claim
;ainst the city in the incident,
fftcialssaid a full investigation
ould be completed this week.
Boff said he called the fire
partment shortly before 1 1
m. on Jan. 5, after his step-
other, Lillian Boff, began
ving trouble breathing.
On the tape, Myrick was told
rs. Boff was ill. Myrick asked
speak to the woman,
sing as The tape continued:
= n redeej| Boff “No, you can’t. She
ie from diw e ins like she’s incoherent.”
\ i Myrick: “Why is she incoher-
2 defeif'f”
Boff: “How the hell do I
Boff: “Well, this is a life-
threatening emergency.”
Myrick: “Hold on, sir. I’ll let
you speak with an officer.”
On the tape, supervisor Don
Greene came on the line and
again asked to speak to the
woman. Boffs response con
tained the word “hell,” and
Greene threatened to hang up
on Boff.
Myrick came back on the line
and insisted on talking to Mrs.
Boff. When Boff told Myrick
that Mrs. Boff was unable to
talk, Myrick told Boff to give
the woman the telephone.
Boff hung up, saying he
would call a hospital. A few
minutes later, Boffs roommate
Dennis Fleming called back,
and again Myrick insisted on-
talking to Mrs. Boff.
“She cannot talk,” Fleming
said. “She is just out of it. In fact
he (Boff) is going in there now.
He thinks she’s dead.”
At 11:01 p.m., about eight
minutes after the first call, the
fire department sent an ambu
lance to the Boff home.
Mrs. Boff was pronounced
dead at 11:30 p.m. of heart dis
ease.
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Wednesday, March 7, 7:30 p.m. Rudder Auditorium
Tickets are $1.50 with TAMU ID.
Advance tickets available at MSC Box Oflice
Mon.-Fri. 8:30-4:30
Tickets also available 45 minutes before showtime.
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