The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 49, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 24, 1971 Page: 2 of 4
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PAGE 2—THE NORTH TEXAS DAILY
Door-to-Door
Wednesday. November 24,1971
Solicitors Harass Sturges Leads
Local Students
In recent weeks magazine salesmen and other solicitors have been active
in the university area. Posing as students, they prey on unsuspecting victims
by using a high-pressured sales pitch aimed at begging financial help.
For example, at one apartment unit a girl came by saying that she was a
student nurse going around talking to people. This girl wanted everyone
to believe that she was a student, possibly from TWU, working on a grad-
uate thesis.
After being let in the door she began talking about Denton and North
Texas. “Are you a student at North Texas? Do you know so-and-so? They
go there, too,” she said. Usually these are other students who bought sub-
scriptions to one or more magazines recently.
Finally, she reached into her purse and pulled out a folder. This held her
credentials: an official looking certificate, a letter from her sponsor and a
list of magazines. She gets 20 points for each year’s subscription on the
first page, 10 for the second and 5 for the third. The more points she gets
the closer she is to winning a trip to Hawaii or Europe or a partial scholar-
ship.
This not only goes on in apartment units but in the dormitories and on
campus. A girl came to a freshman dorm room saying she just wanted to
stop by and meet her neighbors. After talking for a few minutes she pulled
out the same type folder with the credentials and lists of magazines.
Magazines are not the only products solicited around the campus. On
Nov. 17, McConnell Hall in connection with a magazine, sponsored a pro-
gram on the third floor of the Student Union Building. Newly married or
engaged girls showed up, supposedly to hear a lecture about what to expect
after marriage. Instead they paid 25 cents to hear a sales pitch for a firm
selling heavy pots and pans that stack up on each other.
This company was also sponsoring china, silver, crystal and the maga-
zine. They said that every bride needed to spend $500 to $600 on all these
things before she could run an effective and efficient household.
In addition, a free trip to Florida was offered as a door prize. Even this
was a sales gimmick for a real estate firm, since the “free” part of the trip
was actually only a hotel room at a resort owned by the firm. The winner
had to find her way to Florida and pay for her meals.
The university should have a written policy prohibiting companies or
salespeople from soliciting on campus or in the dormitories. And they should
enforce the policy. There should also be some sort of pamphlet or portion of
a pamphlet warning students about the approaches these people use. Stu-
dents have enough to spend their money and time on without being pressured
into buying unnecessary, and possibly unusable, products.
—SHARON MOORE
THANKSGIVING PUZZLE
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The North Texas Daily
55th Year
North Texas State University
Denton, Texas
ALL AMERICAN
and
PACEMAKER NEWSPAPER
MIKE WHITEHEAD
Editor .
DICK FISCHER
Business Manager
Editorial statements of the North Texas Daily and readers' letters reflect the
opinion of the individual writer and not necessarily that of the Daily, its
adviser or the North Texas State University Administration.
Bo* 5297 NT St«t»on D«ntor /6203
PACEMAKER 5 TIMES
South*r««l*rn Journaleim Congr*«t
T«l«phon« 387 451 1 •it«nt»on 354
ALL AMERICAN 55 TIMES
Page Editors
KARA LEE SELMAN news
MICHEL HIATT news
ELLEN MOORE editorials
DAVID LEWIS editorials associate
JEAN ANN JUNGMAN amusements
SHARON MOORE amusements assoc
Th« North T««tw Dirty student n»«p»p«p*r of North T«a«*
St at* Uotv«r*ity •* pubt»*h«d daily Tuatday through
Eftrtay during tha long tarm* Saptamhar through May and
xvaakly (avary Thursday) durmg tha lurnma sastton Jurta
through August aacapt during raviaw and ax animation
par rods and srhoot vacations
SUBSCRIPTION RATE flO annually or $5 par long
samastar and S2 par summar
GEORGE FOSTER
RANDY RIGGS
GARY MORTON
DALE GARRETSON
LARRY REESE
BILL WHITE
sports
sports assoc
interpretive reportei
cartoonist
photographer
photographer
LETTERS FROM READERS th« 0>'ly «wlcom« lalltn
from raadars but rasarvas tha right to add orhan nacassary
I attars must be signad Mad to Box 5297 NT Station
Sacond Class postage paid at Danton Taxes
Raprasantad by National Educational Advancing Sarvcas
Exciting Life
As Director
BY KENNETH MOLBERG
Daily Reporter
A life of jet planes, motel rooms,
a suitcase in one hand and a sand-
wich in the other may not sound
like the average life-style of most
people—but it is for Jeff Sturges.
Traveling around the country all
year round, and catching a few winks
of sleep when he can, is a necessary
part of being Tom Jones' music di-
rector.
“You have to be in love with what
you’re doing in order to keep up
with the heavy schedule you face in
the music world,” Sturges said. “1
am able to face it because music is
what I base my life around -I really
love music.”
STURGES IS a 1969 graduate
of North Texas, who became the
musical director for the Tom Jones’
United States’ concert tour this past
summer.
He returned to North Texas to be
guest conductor of the 1 O’Clock
Lab Band at the annual Fall Con-
cert Tuesday in the Main Auditor-
ium.
Shortly after his graduation, Stur-
ges went to Las Vegas to find a job
with a band.
“I spent some lime there playing
in hotel orchestras,” he said. “It
was like playing music by the pound.
There was no way you could get into
it at all.”
BECOMING DISCOURAGED
with the thought of a life filled with
nothing more than playing in bars
and similar places, Sturges formed
his own band, “Universe.”
The group was an overnight suc-
cess, and the album, “Jeff Sturges
and Universe,” recently released by
MAM Records, is only the first of
what composer Sturges hopes will
be a long line of recordings.
“There’s a lot of self-satisfaction
in having my own band and going on
the road with it,” he said. “The band
will always be here, and as far as I’m
concerned, I have no other future
plans—the band is everything right
now.”
But these are only some of the
more glamorous aspects of a life
filled with rigid schedules and long
rehearsals. At times Sturges ques-
tions whether the effort is really
worth it.
“I remember days when I had to
set up chairs and clear off tables
in order to set up for rehearsal," ne
said. “Then I would ask myself if
it’s really all worth it, but it’s paid
off.”
ONE-NIGHT-STANDS are the
most strenuous performances to
play, he said.
“You fly into one town today and
tomorrow it’s another,” he recalled.
“Sleep is something scarce.”
But Leroy Herpin, lead guitarist
for Sturges’ group, disagrees.
“I like the one-nighters, Herpin
said. “They keep me busy, and that’s
one thing I love—business. I used to
rehearse with a band, for several
hours and following rehearsal, I’d
go to a six-hour job that I had on
the side. It’s good for me to be on
the go.”
Sturges’ wife Sherry likes the
traveling and excitement accompany-
ing her husband’s fame.
“I'm proud of Jeff, and 1 dig the
road, but I seldom go along on the
one-night-stands,” she said “It’s
rather rough when you have a baby.
THE STURGESES have a 14
month-old daughter who is “staying
with mother” while her parents are
in Denton.
Of all the cities he has visited,
Sturges seems to find Lake Tahoe,
Nev., and Vancouver in Canada the
most pleasant and unique places to
be.
“These cities have something fresh
about them,” the musician added.
“The people are not in a rush and
there always seems to be a lot of
young people around.
Jeff Sturges, 1969 graduate
of North Texas, is now Tom
Jones' music director. He
returned to North Texas as
guest conductor for the fall
Lab Bands concert Tuesday.
— Photo by Larry Provart.
“I definitely do not like down-
town New York, nor do I care for
various parts of Los Angeles,” he
said.
in February, Sturges and his group
will begin their second tour with the
Tom Jones' show in the Bahamas
and then go to South America, end-
ing in September after a series of
shows in the United States and Cana-
da.
ON STAGE, the slim, sandy-
haired conductor looks like a human
metronome, keeping the beat with
every part of his body, and losing
himself entirely in the sound of the
music.
“I’m just completely exhausted
after conducting a concert,” he said.
“I seem to get lost in the sound that
the band produces.”
Following the concert, the trio
Herpin, Sturges and his wife will
fly back to Las Vegas to ready them-
selves for a two-day appearance at
Disneyland Friday and Saturday.
The group has a full schedule up
until the time of the Jones’ concert,
and Sturges is taking his time and
enjoying his return to North Texas.
He and Sherry have been visiting with
friends whom they haven't seen in a
long time.
The North Texas trip was a wel-
come relief from some of the pres-
sures that were building up in Las
Vegas, he said
“SOME OF OUR rehearsals
are grinding, and with having to
get ready for the Jones' tour in three
months, a trip back to North Texas
is like a vacation.”
Sturges arrived at Love field in
Dallas Sunday and then drove to
Denton for a 3 p.m. rehearsal with
the l O’Clock I ub Band. He con-
ducted a dress rehearsal with the
group in the Main Auditorium Mon-
day.
“The Lab Band is sounding great.”
he said. “We have worked hard on
all of the songs we plan to perform
at the concert, and I’m really look-
ing forward to it. It should be great.”
Welfare Programs Fight Poverty
EDITOR’S NO TE: The following is the first of a two-part series on slate
and county welfare programs.
By KERRY GUNNELS
Daily Reporter
The majority of persons on welfare in Denton County are not able-bodied
men who refuse to work or unmarried mothers with hoardes of children.
T he great majority ol persons receiving welfare checks are old people and
families with dependent children, R. E. Thompson Jr., case worker for the
Texas Department of Welfare, said recently.
Although the welfare situation may differ in states with more liberal or
conservative welfare policies, Texas has always spent more of its welfare
money on the aged, Thompson said. On the local scene, the story is the
same.
No statistics are available for a breakdown of the amount of money spent
on each of the four categories of welfare recipents, but Thompson is sure
that aid to the old probably still out-ranks aid to families with dependent
children, aid to the blind and aid to the permanently and totally disabled.
But aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) has been increasing
steadily in recent years.
Thompson came to work in Denton in 1967. There were 37 AFDC fami-
lies in Denton County at that time. Now there are 270 AFDC families, with
from 650 to 700 children.
Technical changes in the eligibility requirements are the main reason for
the leap in numbers, not any great influx of poor families into Denton
County, Thompson said.
Two important changes in the requirements that have made more fami-
lies eligible for welfare are the man-in-the-home requirement and the resi-
dency requirement.
Now a mother can be living with someone other than her husband and
still be eligible for AFDC payments if the man is not making enough money
to place the family out of the eligibility bracket.
There is no residency requirement in Texas for welfare payments. Eli-
gible families can begin receiving payments as soon as they move into the
state, Thompson said. He feels that by easing the requirements, more people
who should have been receiving payments all along are now getting needed
help.
The welfare program in Denton County is made up of three branches.
The Texas Department of Welfare handles the lion’s share of the welfare
load, but emergency aid is available at the Denton County Welfare Office,
headed by Mrs. Halley Schmitz, executive director. The Commodoties
Food Program, sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture
and operated in the local area by Mrs. Dorothy Welborn, makes foodstuffs
available to proverty-striken households.
The state welfare program is divided into two major departments: finan-
cial services and social services.
Under financial services are the four categories of welfare recipents: aid
to families of dependent children (AFDC); aid to the permenately and total-
ly disabled (APTD); aid to the blind (AB) and old age assistance (OAA).
As previously noted, old-age assistance makes up the major part of wel-
fare payments. Approximately 1,000 old people receive state welfare checks
in Denton County.
Families with dependent children; those families in which the father is
missing from the home; where a step-father may be in the home or where
the child is deprived of at least one parent, is a close second in the number
people involved and money spent, with between 600 and 700 children.
Aid to the blind involves less than 30 persons and aid to the permanently
and totally disabled has about 50 recipients.
To be eligible for OAA payments, a person must he over 65 and have
resources of iess than $1,800 if there is one person, and less than $3,000
if there is a couple.
If an old person has a homestead of less than 200 acres, the value of the
land is deducted from the minimum resources total. Only the income
received from the land is counted in the sum.
The formula for AFDC payments is more complicated. A mother is
allowed $65 a month for her own personal needs. These include food, cloth-
ing, etc. She is allowed $25 in personal needs for each of her children up to
five. Fifty dollars is allotted for rent and $ 13 for utilities.
From this total, 25 per cent is deducted. This is an arbitrary figure,
Thompson said. It is the maximum amount the mother may receive in wel-
fare payments.
If the mother is working, her salary is deducted from the total arrived at
after the 25 per cent reduction.
The amount of her salary deducted from her welfare payment is arrived
at by another formula.
Child care and car expenses (within reason) are deducted from her salary,
and then that total is divided by one-third. This amount is subtracted from
the welfare total, and the remainder is how much the mother can receive
in welfare payments for her dependent child or children
The complicated procedure is computed so that by careful management,
a liveable income can be derived.
The state provides 50 per cent of the money spent on OAA payments
while the federal government matches 50 per cent of the fundv
AFDC payments are a 25-75 per cent split by the state and the federal
government.
AB and APTD payments affect the overall welfare picture to a much
lesser degree. But the eligibility requirements are no less severe.
To qualify for APTD payments a person must be “truly disabled, not
just a fellow with a broken leg. It often has to be severe enough that a person
has to have help in daily living,” Thompson said.
The other department in the state welfare program is the social services
unit. Three social workers are involved in this area of service. It is divided
into two branches: child welfare services and social services to AFDC fami-
lies.
Duties of the two workers in the child welfare services, one of which is
Thompson, include investigating the abuse and neglect of children; testifying
and making recommendations in disputed child custody cases; licensing
day care centers for children and developing a foster home program
Thompson and his co-worker work with the district attorney’s office in
some cases of child abuse. In extreme cases when abuse cont inues, Thomp-
son and the welfare department can become involved in legal action.
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Whitehead, Mike. The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 49, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 24, 1971, newspaper, November 24, 1971; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth760038/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.