South Texas College of Law, Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 4, No. 1, July, 1975 Page: 1 of 8
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South
1220 Polk
Houston. Texas 77002
ANNOTATIONS
Vol IV. No. 1
Petition Raises Doubts About Worth of Code
SBA Faces Problems
With New Honor Code
July 1975
A petition brought before the
Student Bar Association raised
questions about the honor code
and brought action in the form
of a committee to study the
need for constitutional revision
to allow for the review of
discretionary functions of all
student officials.
After a heated discussion
between Chief Prosecutor
Richard Bax, students and SBA
members and Frank Barkley,
Sam George, SBA president,
ruled that the SBA did not have
power to consider the petition
offered by Barkley.
The petition was not clearly
worded, but appeared to ask for
a review of the discretionary
duties of the prosecutor and a
review of any charges dismissed.
Barkley asked if he could
withdraw his petition and file
impeachment charges against
Bax, and was told he could do
so. But he declined.
Tom Ross said he had heard
from a few students who had
signed the petition that they
were under the impression the
petition was not intended as an
attack on Bax, and would not
have signed for that reason.
Randy Stout accused Barkley
Texas Bar Results Good
The results of South Texas College of Law in the February 1975
Bar Exam are as follows: 96.5% passed and of those that passed,
53% made a grade of 80 or above.
Hie student from South Texas College of Law with the highest
grade was Walter Ellis, who made a grade of 90. 1
of bringing the petition as a
"witchhunt" and with the intent
of bringing out specific instances
of charges borught under the
code.
Barkley admitted making a
late-night telephone call to Bax.
Bax said Barkley threatened him
with impeachment charges
unless he brought charges in a
certain case. Barkley accused
Bax of slandering him.
Bax defended his
descretionary power as
prosecutor and said the best
answer would be an amendment
to the code better defining the
duties of the prosecutor.
The specific problem with the
code involved the question of
what is "reasonable cause"
which the prosecutor is to
determine before filing charges
before the Honor Court. Sam
George said section of the code,
is "the vaguest piece of wordage
I ever saw in my life."
The Committee which will
consider the possibility of
control over officials'
discretionary power includes
Sam George, Kathy Ross, James
Lombardino and Kenneth
Raney.
Professors Post Marks Late
Grading Deadline Wins the Race
The new grading deadline staged a ragged first performance.
Although it appeared most professors tried to meet the deadline,
there were some prominent failures.
Dr. Bernard A. Reiter was one day late with his Equity grades and
his Torts grades have not yet been turned in.
Dr. Eugene Jones, in Procedure I, is still out as is Dr. Charles A.
Weigel II, in both Family Law and Legal Medicine. Dr. Robert J.
Hogan was one day late with his Personal Property grades.
Contracts instructor, Dr. James H. Brannon, although a full-time
teacher is not delinquent with his marks because he received a
three-week extension of his deadline.
Sam George, president of the Student Bar Association, feels the
deadlines should be strictly enforced against instructors.
"Instructors know in advance what the deadlines are and have
ample time to get an extension if they think its necessary," George
said. "Based on that, there is no reason for their turning them in late
without prior approval of the Dean or faculty."
"Another problem is that it is difficult to distinguish as to why an
instructor is late. Instructors like Dr. Weigel are involved in a
multitude of school activities, while others like Dr. Reiter are
practicing law and teaching."
There is no punishment for an instructor missing a deadline, but
George did offer some suggestions. For the first violation any type
of sanction should be dismissed. But for the second infraction, he
suggested that instructor's paychecks be withheld, or a possible
lowering of their tenure or status on the faculty.
STCL's faculty voted unanimously in December to adopt a
deadline which requires full-time professors to submit examination
grades within six weeks and part-time instructors within eight weeks.
The time period for the deadline begins on the Monday next
following the giving of the last exam.
Deadline for full-time instructors was Monday, June 23, and at
press time, several instructors had already either been late in turning
in their grades or their marks were still out.
Eugene Jones, asst. dean for Fiscal affairs, and often Texas
Legislator, was honored in the July Texas Monthly magazine. In an
article entitled "The Ten Best and the Ten Worst," the magazine said
Jones "continued to rate near the top ..." Jones was by far the best
member of a mediocre Harris County delegation and is one of a
handful of members with a thorough knowledge of the House rules."
Jones also made honorable mention in the magazine his first term.
Appropriation Bill Rider
Links STCL, Texas A & M
Someone in the legislature added more grist to the South Texas
Rumor Mill when he placed a rider on the appropriations bill that
was reported out of the "midnight conference committee" which
closed up the business of the latest legislature.
The rider, along with others, added in the committee, was thrown
out before the final vote of House and Senate, but it was noticed by
the press.
The measure would have allowed Texas A&M University to
contract with South Texas College of Law to issue diplomas in the
mane of A&M.
The Houston Chronicle reported that one
senator said the measure was
a backdoor way for A&M to
get a law school. Babe Schwartz
of Galveston was reported
as saying the rider was to give
the students at South Texas the
benefit of a diploma from A&M.
The reporter did not report the
shape of Schwartz's mouth as he
made his statement.
As yet, the true motive for the
abortive move is not known.
I
Eugene Jones, Houston
legislator, said the rider was
place on the bill by the Senator
from Bryan, at the direction of
Texas A&M, who wants a law
school so bad they can taste it.
Jones said A&M'S law students
would have spent two years in
College Station, and come here
for their final year.
Jones emphasized that the
legislature promptly removed
the rider from the bill by
overwhemling vote.
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McGuffey, Paul. South Texas College of Law, Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 4, No. 1, July, 1975, newspaper, July 1975; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144351/m1/1/: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.