he Battalion
TATE
& LOCAL
Thursday, November 2,1989 1989
Houstonians demand Westmoreland’s resignation
■ HOUSTON (AP) — Hundreds of
Houston residents packed the City
■)uncil chambers to call for Coun-
B,.ian Jim Westmoreland’s resigna
tion after he made a racial slur.
■ “Racism hurts all decent people,”
said JoAnn Gavin, of the All People’s
■mgress. “Houston does not need a
rac ist to represent our city. . . . Rac
ism is not negotiable.”
■ Westmoreland joked to a newspa-
jjPCr reporter Oct. 18 that Houston
■tercontinental Airport be re
named “Nigger International” to ap
pease council members pushing to
rename the airport as a memorial to
the late Congressman Mickey Ice
land, who was killed in an August
plane crash in Ethiopia.
But Westmoreland, a 16-year in
cumbent seeking re-election to his
at-large seat next week, claims he
used the term “Negro Interna
tional.”
“We tell a joke and pur friends
hear it,” Skipper Lee, one of 39 resi
dents to address the hearing, said to
Westmoreland. “You tell a jbke and
the next day, it’s on the streets of
New York City. You don’t just speak
for yourself. You speak for Hous
ton. We look up to you and we can’t
look up to a racist.”
Westmoreland apologized for the
comment last Friday and again
Wednesday morning. He said the
matter has overshadowed other
campaign issues and prompted
threats against him and his family.
“Any anguish this has caused any
one could not match the anguish I’ve
suffered and my family,” he said.
“I’m truly sorry for my comments.”
Westmoreland listened intently to
the speakers, but said they did not
convince him to resign.
“The question of resignation is
one I don’t think we have to make
because we have a vote coming up,”
he said. “With all the publicity this
has generated, there’s no one going
to the polls who won’t know what the
situation has been.”
Armed guards turned away
nearly as many as those allowed in
side the packed chambers, with
crowds spilling into hallways on two
floors. Most of them also criticized
Mayor Kathy Whitmire and black
council members for not speaking
out strongly against the slur.
“Kathy, I never dreamed that you
Sigma Phi Epsilon treats children on Halloween,
fraternity takes local kids to sorority row for candy
By Selina Gonzalez
Jt Of The Battalion Staff
vhe; 'Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity
treated approximately 30 children
from the Lincoln Community Cen-
tei by celebrating Halloween down
M sOrority row Monday night.
J h Approximately 40 fraternity
■embers went trick-or-treating with
children who were more excited
/ about the candy they received than
,or the holiday they were celebrating,
Kd Chris Delvalle, public relations
; ■mmittee member.
■ “They probably wouldn’t have
_gotton as much candy from their
own neighborhoods,” Delvalle said.
When the fraternity members es
corted the children to different
houses on sorority row, they got dif
ferent reactions from the residents,
he said. At the first house, the 30
children were told to run and knock
on the door.
“They just charged up to the door
and started pounding,” Delvalle
said. “ ‘Give me some candy!’ The
kids repeated over and over again.”
When the girls opened to door, the
children didn’t hesitate to run in
side, he said.
“It was so funny because all these
children were running all over the
sorority house . . . up the stairs and
in the living room,” Dalvalle said. “It
was mass hysteria.”
He said that while the girls were
giving the children the Halloween
candy, the kids kept repeating “Give
me more.”
At the second house, the sorority
house residents didn’t have any
candy, Delvalle said.
The children didn’t get any candy
at a third sorority house because the
girls didn’t open the door although
it was obvious they were home, Del
valle said.
“The kids got lost at one of the
houses because they couldn’t find
the exit off the front porch,” he said.
The fraternity members also took
the children to the Briarcrest Coun
try Club area to trick-or-treat, Del
valle said. The students divided the
children into five smaller groups.
“The only mishap of the evening
is that for a while we misplaced a
child everyone called Snoogie,” he
said. “We thought he was in one
group, and he really was in another
one and everything was fine.”
The fraternity rented vans to
transport the children from the Lin
coln Community Center to the
houses, he said. The children’s par
ents signed permission slips before
the children were allowed to partici
pate.
“We were very concerned about
the children’s safety because it was a
big responsibilitity,” Delvalle said.
— someone who has been outspoken
for the people — would have taken
two to three weeks to stand up for
your black brothers and sisters,” said
the Rev. Jose Angel Lopez.
“If he worked for me, I would
have asked for his resignation and I
have demonstrated that,” Whitmire
said. “But in this particular case, he
is not my employee. It’s up to the
voters to decide whether he will con
tinue to work for them.”
Chi Omega raises money
for charity with Songfest
By Selina Gonzalez
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M sororities and fra
ternities will present their own
“Songs of the South” at Chi
Omega Songfest Friday night.
Songfest is a variety show that
will unite the University Greek
system at 8 p.m. in the Bryan
Civic Auditorium.
“Here at Texas A&M where
the spirit of tradition is cherished,
Chi Omega is proud to sponsor
this variety show, which unites
the Aggie and Greek system with
the Bryan/College Station com
munity,” said Kim Hederhorst,
Songfest publicity chairman.
The Greek system donates all
proceeds of Songfest to The Bra
zos Valley Rehabilitation Center,
Hederhorst said.
“This center receives a large
percentage of its annual operat
ing budget from the donations,”
she said.
Fraternity and sorority acts au
ditioned to participate in
Songfest, Hederhorst said. The
program consists of 15 individual
performances.
The program’s theme is “Song
of the South.” Two performances
will be a dance to the song “Wild,
Wild West” and a skit based on
the television show “Hee Haw.”
Chi Omega 1989 pledges will
perform the opening act and the
actives and pledges will perform
the closing act, she said.
Four judges will decide which
performances deserve the Best
All-Around award, the Best Fra
ternity award and the Best Soror
ity award. The judges are Jeff
Wade, assistant coordinator of
music at Texas A&M; Elaine
Hansen, Panhelenic advisor and
rush director for College Station
Panhelenic Association; Debora
Lard, assistant to the executive di
rector of OPAS; and Travis An
gel, fine arts coordinator at A&M
Consolidated High School.
Pre-sale tickets are $4 and can
be purchased at the Chi Omega
house or from a Chi Omega
member. Tickets also are avail
able at the door for $5.
Rakin’ in Fall
Celebrate fall with
Shellenberger’s. It’s a two-
bushel savings salute to men
and women of traditional style.
through November 4
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^Admission to all program
8:00 p.m. Friday
November lO, 1989
G. Rome White Coliseum
A&M students*
$12.50
MSC Box Office Only
Non-student
$14.50
Tickets on Sale
NOW!
MSC Box Office
Ticketron Outlets
w/ fiaillie & the Boys
special guest:
Billy foe Royal
*2 per ID
for more information call the MSC Box Office (409)845-1234 or for phone orders call 1-800-284-5780