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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 17, 1998)
The Battalion flMPUS Taking a stand k STEPHANIE CORLEY/The Battalion Geraldo Olivo, a senior journalism major, talks about racial and educational injustices he said he feels are prevalent at Texas A&M University. Olivo and the rest of the student body and staff were given a chance to voice opinions Tuesday at Open Mic held by MSC Great Issues and the Political Forum. The Greys Wednesday • June 17, By Gablv r T'IA -rtu-lNG Vou{ 1 Fouhd TH'S tSTfcAN&E Of ME.TAI- . XI r. -TV0 PERFORMEP THtIR EyPERlA>&MT^ OW ME AND iiis 15 UMAT j.TriEY'RE t^WslG tD TRACK A\E1 So UHV DO you leave scrap MetAl |M THEtA AMVvjA'/S? ,qq lelani ij olepi P/Ziat wr wMn you. Mi oke posi'</attd,M * r ' l H es jour ftorty J■ a p. checks? /■a8J 5 wil )rt' he Tex>l leg i ns fhursdc Land exploration leads Texas man to life of hidden treasun HEMPSTEAD (AP) — Every place needs an explor er, and Waller County has found one in Clarence Miller. He has been prowling fields and fence lines around here since 1986, finding forgotten spots where history once unfolded and combing treasure from the trash left behind over the years. He has discovered everything from Stone Age flint points to Civil War bayonets, and in the process turned himself from a novice arrowhead hound into a formi dable amateur archaeologist and historian. "Oh, the archaeologists wouldn't call me that," Miller said as he scouts a by-now-familiar private pas ture just outside Hempstead on a recent afternoon. Head down and straw-hat brim shading his face from the midday sun, he explains that, as experts go, he can't be considered an official member of the club. The problem? "Credentials," he said. "The archaeologists and the paleontologists — they'd look for credentials that I haven't got." Miller's own credentials lie far afield from archae ology or paleontology or anthropology or even histo ry. Now 62 and retired since 1994, he is an electrical en gineer by training and worked most of his life as an in strumentation/ control engineer. He lives in Houston but in most weeks he spends at least a few hours in Waller County, talking with landowners, walking their fields or doing record searches on their property. Miller came by his avocation accidentally. It began in 1986 with a flower. "A lady I knew found a flower in her pasture and wanted me to tell her what it was, In the process of do ing that, I found an old home site and then another, and that got me started." Through his dozen years of field research. Miller has found more than 20 home sites in Waller County that date anywhere from the start of Stephen F. Austin's colony to the end of the Civil War. Few buildings or even remnants remain. Roofs, walls, fireplaces, fences — they're all pretty much gone now. He's lucky to find scattered bricks from fallen chimneys. But to Miller's eyes, what looks like bare ground seldom is. "This is where the old Donoho plantation house stood from the 1820s to 1849," he said. "The perimeter of the house ran from there to there and there to there." He outlines the footprint of a rambling wooden house that he, at least, can see clearly in his mind. "Here's the cistern," he announces. Indeed, here almost underfoot, disguised by weeds, is the brick-and-mortar rim of an old ground-level cis tern. Chipped and worn, the circular rim surrounds a void filled with dirt. He walks across what once was the farmyard of the early Texas plantation. Here was the shed, he said, and over there the smokehouse and three slave cabins that backed up to a shallow draw. Miller figures the draw and the cistern are ripe for excavation. There's no telling what they hide. To demonstrate, he kneels down, pokes around in a mound of loose earth piled up by a gopherard^ in seconds turns up a quarter-size piece of HT white porcelain. "This is from (the Donohos') dishes," he said this kind of stuff is just a bit underground. Thego bring it up to the surface." Everything that Miller finds he .offer*!®! owners of the property where it was discovoeo. Presumably that will include "Santa AnnasgoBveragl a cache of gold coins reputedly buried alongtM® all ican army's route to San Jacinto. The legendaryiBntinuj sure has teased local prospectors for generations |un ay| "I have doubts Santa Anna came this farnorwi said, "and anyway, you hear stories al buried treasure." But skeptical doesn't mean disinterested. "Lately, I've heard about some farmer whom the gold is on his property," Mi Her said. "They® dug up his front yard five or six times looking hasn't found any gold, but I sure want to talk to Open fJ ESPN p| wp.m. are the NBC I the time urday ar *3.95 m pager airtime Discount Paj>ini» System Free Activation i 'Accessories 'Calling Cards i Aerial phones sold here ! Fleas!!!! In Your Home? Research sites are needed for a 14 Day In-Home flea control study. We provide Free indoor flea control in exchange for your cooperation. Please call Granovsky Assoc, at 822-3069 The Battalion James Francis, Editor in Chief Mandy Cater, Managing Editor J.P. Beato, Graphics Editor Quatro Oakley, Visual Arts Director Ryan Rogers, Photo Editor Chris Martin, Aggielife Editor Brandon Bollom, Photo Editor Amber Benson, City Editor Laura Stuart, Radio Producer Jeff Webb, Sports Editor Anita Tong, Web Editor April Towery, Opinion Editor Kasie Byers, Night News Editor News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Division of Student Publi cations, a unit of the Department of Journalism. News offices are in 013 Reed McDonald Building. Newsroom phone: 845- 3313; Fax: 845-2647; E-mail: batt@unix.tamu.edu; Website: http://battalion.tamu.edu Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, lo cal, and national display advertising, call 845-2696. For classified advertising, call 845-0569. Advertising offices are in 015 Reed McDonald, and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fax: 845-2678. Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Bat talion. First copy free, additional copies 251:. Mail subscriptions are $60 per school year, $30 for the fall or spring se mester and $17.50 for the summer. To charge by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express, call 845-2611. The Battalion (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77840. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Bat talion, 015 Reed McDonald Building,Texas A&M University, College Station,TX 77843-1111. "ZC’ccte- *7tt€o- Gaming Night at Hullabaloo Come join us for an evening of FREE bowling, FREE pool, and FREE refreshments at Hullabaloo in the Memorial Student Center!! June 18 from 6 PM - 9 PM. v T~ Sponsored by MSC ^Tr Food Services TAVS, Inc., MSC NOVA, and University Center Complex Persons with disabilities please call us at (409) 845-1515 so that we may assist you at the event. SPECIALIZED CARE FOR ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS. James V. Bonds, M.D. continues to welcome new patients as well as families who have looked to him for health care during the past seven years. Dr. Bonds is an internist, specially trained in adult medicine and is experienced in diagnostics and treatment. He received his bachelor’s degree from Baylor University in Waco and his medical degree from the Texas A&M University Health Science Center College of Medicine. He completed residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Bonds is also an assistant professor at Texas A&M’s College of Medicine. He recently opened an office in College Station for private practice. F or appointments, call 764-7983. JAMES V. BONDS, M.D. 1602 Rock Prairie Road Suite 320 (409) 764-7983 'ick u Study