The Coral Gables Times

They Like It

Twenty-five businessmen and property owners along Aragon Ave. between Le Jeune Road and Salzedo Street like their street two-way. Real estate broker Jim Lewy appeared before the City Commission Tuesday to plead the case for the status quo, which was to be temporary while Le Jeune is under construction. Commissioners too the request under consideration.

New Fineless Lot Gets City Hall 'Wait & See'

They like it - they like it - the new shoppers' parking lot set up in lot No. 1 in back of the 300 block of Miracle Mile. An automatic parking ticket machine was put into use last week which replaced parking meters. Commissioners said they liked it, but a few merchants and a few customers were not as enthusiastic. Commissioners agreed that time would be needed to educate the public to the system. Revenue for the first week of operation is up,-but theh actual number of cars using the automatically-controlled lot is down, City Manager L. W. Robinson Jr. reports. Nine merchants are participating in the operation by handing out free parking stamps to customers for which merchants pay.

Calling Writers

Would be playwrights are invited to register for a class conducted by Julia Swart at the Coral Gables Youth Center. Mrs. Swart teaches other writing classes as well. Details may be obtained at HI 3-5885. This class has just begun but registrations are still being taken.

Elks Seeking Blood Tonight

The Elks need your blood tonight (Thursday). The precious stuff will be donated to needy persons throughout the area. Donations may be made in the name of your own civic organization. In exchange for your gift, the Elks will treat you to a filet mignon dinner and a drink of your choice. The place: Elks Club, near the intersection of Douglas Road and Giralda Avenue. Time: 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

THEO ON BOARD

Ernest Theo of 636 Camilo Ave. has been elected to the board of governors of the newly-organized South Florida Chapter No. 402 of Ahepa. The group's headquarters will be in Coral Gables. Ahepa stands for American Hellenic Education Progressive Association.

Life Around the Gables

THE KIND of living that makes ours a city of pleasant living is shown here. Mr. and Mrs. Geffrey S. Caufman are newcomers from Akron, Ohio. He's a law student at the University. The fishing is in the canal behind their home at 4835 University Dr. (Staff photo by Raymond Lang)

Fraternities In School Stir Fuss

(Continued from page 1) awful lot of time thinking about it. The classroom becomes a contact ground for the club members." Since 1947, the fraternities have been illegal in Florida by legislative act, unless they are sponsored by some civic group such as the Elks. At least two of the Gables clubs do have such sponsorship. NONE BOTHERED As a practical matter, those without it have not been bothered, however. For the past year, Metro Public Safety officers have been investigating the clubs. They charge that their investigation into Coral Gables, Southwest and Palmetto High Schools has revealed liquor and sex parties, beatings, obscene movies, pornography, narcotics and homosexuality. Now the Dade County School Board, through Chairman Jane Roberts, herself a Gableite, is moving to act. A meeting with principals was held yesterday afternoon (Wednesday). The Ching Tangs, who have been identified more specifically than any other with unlawful activity, although no formal charges have been made, wrote letters this week outlining their history, good deeds and projects. Recipients were reporters on Miami's two daily papers and Mrs. Roberts. JUDGE THERE At the Chink's Monday night meeting, the invited guest was Juvenile Judge Ben Sheppard. He administered an oath to each member to abstain from alcoholic beverages for the remainder of their high school career. While only about 200 students are actually involved in the seven fraternities, the outcome will affect many of the school's other 2,800 students. School activities, particularly elective offices, are often divided along "member" and "independent" lines. The fraternities are generally regarded to exercise an influence out of proportion to their number. Membership in the groups often provides social standing for the members. Many of the clubs' members are among the more active students such as athletic players and student government participants. The clubs involved are the Stags with a membership of 25; Ching Tang, 39; Saxons, 29; Phi Delta Pi, 24; Counts, 17; Decallion and Sigma Kappa Theta, membership total unknown.

We Get to Know Them And They Do Likewise

The Coral Gables Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce last Thursday took six international students on a tour that covered everything from the Youth Center to the jail. Rotary Club and the City hope to show the University of Miami students a "true picture" of the United States, said Owen Freed, representing both groups. Monday night, the Wheel Club of Coral Gables High voted to participate in next year's program, Freed said. Freed said, ironically, the City of Miami jail and particularly its inter-denominational chapel, impressed the students. Something else which impressed the students, said Freed, was the hot, well-balanced lunch, for only 40 cents, at Miami High, where the group ate at noon. That night, the students were dinner guests at the home of the director of the University's Guidance Center, Dr. Jess Spirer, 631 Catalonia Ave., and Chamber of Commerce president, Hamilton Hayes, 6300 SW 96th St. Freed said future plans call for every international student to get practical experience in his intended profession by spending a working day with a Gableite in that line of work.

POSING AT the Youth Center for two Vietnamese photographers, who are also international students, is Kay Wilson, a guest last week when the Coral Gables Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce took six students on a tour. At back is, left, Manuel Aguayo, Peru, and Rotarian Fred Wilson. (Staff photo by Raymond Lang)

Rath Calls for Frat Action

(Continued from Page 1) Board has been dilly dallying around with this for years. If they will give us the legal backing we need, I'll do all I can to try to correct the situation. I gave the School Board a list of fraternity members long ago, and nothing was ever followed up on it. Or at least, if anything was done, I sure didn't hear about it." The law prescribes expulsion or suspension from school, and the Dade County Board, feeling this was too drastic a measure, included a primary step of punishment. They say, at least in the Administrator's Handbook, that any member of a fraternity should be dropped from all school-sponsored activities, including athletic teams, and deprived of all honors and scholarships. If, after this, he still maintains his illegal membership, he may be suspended or expelled from school. According to Mr. Rath, "We have tried this system for years, and it simply isn't effective. The methods of control are not sufficient. "If these kids won't abide by the rules we set up for them, take them out of school for a semester, let them get behind their class. When they come back, I'll bet you find them much changed - for the better. They'll work harder and have a healthier respect for the law. "If we really crack down and get hard about it, as other states have done, we could get somewhere. But we can't lick it with the current practices. "Time and time again, we've had this cycle. There will be a little stir in the papers, the club's will do some house cleaning and quiet down for a little while. But every time, they gradually slide again. They start taking in boys who like to make trouble, and then we start all over again. "We tried to sponsor these clubs within the school for four years,' 51 to '55, but it just couldn't be done. They refused to cooperate. Without sponsors, they are illegal." What, then, about the Stags, and Ching Tangs, and other fraternities who are sponsored by Elks, and Optimists and similar civic organizations. "It seems to me to be a mighty peculiar kind of sponsorship when the sponsors never check on the boys. I have never seen or even heard of one of the men from any of these sponsoring organizations. They never come around to find out what their club is doing, how the boys are behaving, what grades they are making . "I can't believe that any adult civic group would take all this criticism about the boys' activities and not come around to see us and question it. I call it irresponsible sponsorship. "I don't believe the service clubs belong in school either. Their very existence is part of the seed of jealousy and envy. Other groups try to emula them but can't be sponsored. Everybody wants the same privileges. "In college, the students' hours are controlled, and the college says whether or not they can drive cars on campus. The students' activities are supervised. But here we have high school students, much younger and more susceptible to trouble, running wild. They drive around all night if they want to. There's no question about their driving on campus. We spend thousands just trying to keep them in parking space. Something's wrong when we supervise the old and let the young run loose. "The problem with these fraternities centers around the fact that most of these kids have too much leisure time an too much money to spend - in short, too much freedom."