Q&A

Q I hear the Dallas Police have stiffened their requirements for local law enforcement officers and beefed up their training program. What does it take to get on the force?

A With some pride, Ed Spencer of the DPI) public information office ticked off the current requirements. If you want to be a cop, you must: have 45 hours of college credit, pass a civil service test, undergo 17 weeks of police academy training and 6 months of field training. Your moral character must surface intact after an intensive search into your background, and you will need to demonstrate that you are “stable” and that you “like people” on a battery of psychological tests. Add to that a mandatory polygraph examination and a tough test of physical agility, and you’ve got the idea.



Q How much do the highest paid call girls in Dallas earn?

A “It’s going to vary from girl to girl, depending on what she looks like,” says Ray Hawkins, a lieutenant in the vice control division of the Dallas police. “But it can go as high as $65,000 to $70,000 a year.” That works out to about $200-250 per night or $100 per hour for the ladies of the upper echelon. The record – as far as the DPD knows – is held by a girl who earned $20,000 in three months.



Q How much have tequila sales risen in the Dallas area?

A They’ve nearly tripled in the past five years, according to Martin Gol-man of Max Golman Wholesale Liquor Co. Dallas now accounts for about four percent of national tequila sales, making it second behind Southern California. “Tequila is the third most popular liquor in local clubs,” says Golman. “It’s running behind vodka and scotch but ahead of gin, rum and bourbon.” But hold onto your hats. A new Mexican contender may be on its way – Presidente brandy, which in Mexico currently outsells all brands of tequila combined. Presidente’s California sales are “on fire,” according to Golman. and if the brandy follows the path of many Mexican imports, Texas is next.



Q What’s going on at Mulberry Square Productions? I hear G-rated movies aren’t doing well at the box office anymore.

A Plenty is going on at Mulberry Square, says Bill Lyday, Jr., head of publicity, in spite of the fact that G-rated films haven’t had a very good year. The last two films produced by Mulberry had steadily declining box office attendance as compared with their initial efforts, but Mulberry will have a busy 1978. They have signed to produce two prime-time Benji specials for ABC next year. The first one, entitled “The Phenomenon of Benji,” has been completed and will air in the spring. A second one will be produced for release next Christmas. In addition to TV work, the film company will begin production on two feature films in ’78. The Double McGuffin, to be filmed in Atlanta, Savannah and Charleston, will be a suspense comedy – billed as “family entertainment.” By year’s end, the company will have begun production on another feature, Catspaw, also a non-Benji film, with a setting in the Bavarian Alps.

Joe Camp, President of Mulberry Square Production, Inc., says family audiences now seem to prefer movies rated PG (the Star Wars producers believe the same statistics – they requested their original G rating be changed). “It’s a fact of life and something that producers of family pictures are going to have to come to grips with,” says Camp. He’s considering double shooting some of the scenes of Double McGuffin in order to get that rating and lure adults back to his family pictures.

Q Dallas has so many odd street names, like Half Crown Drive and Electronic Way. Who thinks them up?

A Well, Dallas doesn’t exactly have a Department of Street Names, but it does have JoAnne Yadack. JoAnne processes most proposals concerning the naming and changing of street names. She told us that in the newer parts of town, most street names are cooked up by subdivision developers. “They tend to stay with names that have ’esthetic appeal,’ – you know, like ’Rippling Brook.’ They consider it an amenity.” Hence, one suspects, Silverymoon Drive and Lazy River Circle in Oak Cliff and American Way and Profit in the Industrial District. In older parts of town, there’s often no way to say where the names came from – although there are lots of residents calling JoAnne trying to get them changed. “We make the change sometimes, especially if the name of one could be confused with another. But we don’t encourage it.” Many callers, it turns out, are like the lady with the huge new house on Bill Brown. She complained that her street name sounded too much like a Fox & Jacobs development.



Q Which foreign countries maintain trade offices or consuls in Dallas?

A According to Mr. Javier Esteve of the Consular Corps, there are well over 30: The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Quebec, Sweden, Switzerland, and Taiwan. The offices, which may contain one man and a secretary or a staff of ten or more, do everything from trade promotion to protecting the interests of nationals. Trade is the major purpose for many, however – Guyana, for example, hopes to stimulate investment in its bauxite and timber projects, while Guatemala seeks buyers for its coffee, textiles and fresh flowers.