The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, May 13, 1970, Image 1
.. • • • . . mmim r ‘* - '• ^ . ■: . 1 Y.'Y* . «rW* AL ' With Wh j les Che Battalion Cloudy and warm with some ram et *ble 1 Vol. 65 No. 116 itter College Station, Texas Wednesday, May 13 1970 Thursday — Cloudy, afternoon rainshowers. Wind South 15 to 20 nv.p.h. High 87, low 71. Friday — Cloudy, afternoon rainshowers. Wind South 15 to 20 m.p.h. High 87, low 71. Continued humid and uncom fortable. Telephone 845-2226 [l°af >saucj iter ! fee )f tables )AY iG L ongress cool on )-cent jostage By JIM ADAMS Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON — Re-election minded congressmen are avoiding ’resident Nixon’s 8-cent stamp iroposal like the plague. Repub- icans still haven’t found anyone ■fi introduce it in Congress as a bill. GRAY! :er Fee ables ELIGBl HETT! b <feSau« iese Jalad ressinj ead ;e ■ ■ \ iread r e ales mm l ) p does ‘Who’s going to stick his neck iut and put his name on a postal increase?” said one House ) gfjc lepublican who asked not to be pted by name. “It’s hard enough just to vote for one.” Nixon told Congress April 16 the two-cent first class rate in crease plus boosts in other mail classes is needed to head off an jnticipated $2.5 billion postal def- cit next year in the wake of new )ay increases. Many congressmen agree the !ost of the pay increases must paid. But mail rate hikes are rsditionally the most unpopular bills in Congress—especially election years—and so far not me of the 530 senators and House nembers has introduced Nixon’s proposal in bill form. Besides boosting first class mail wo cents, Nixon’s proposal would hcrease second class rates 50 per cent and third class rates 30 per U. S. has begun withdrawal from Cambodia LATEST LOOK—A&M coeds model the latest in fashion during' the Memorial Student Center Host and Fashion Committee’s style show Tuesday night. Fashions were provided by Neiman-Marcus of Dallas. See story, page 3. By CARL P. LEBUSDORF Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird said Tuesday withdrawal of American troops from Cambodia already has begun. And he added that if fu ture operations are required in that country they will be carried out by the South Vietnamese. Laird held out the possibility of some U.S. support for such fu ture strikes against enemy bases in Cambodia—but only if this did Student dissent in the 70s will be the topic for 16th SCONA cent. Administration officials say the rates would bring in an extra billion next year and $1.6 billion the year after, which with 1900 million “public service” subsidies each year would pay most of the $2.5 billion annual deficits. Chairman Arnold Olsen, D- Mont., of the House postal rates subcommittee has been holding hearings on Nixon’s proposal even though there is no bill before his subcommittee to consider. There have been reports the 8- cent stamp proposal is dead in this election year Congress. By CHANCEY LEWIS Battalion Staff Writer “Student Responsibilities in the 70s,” will be the topic of the 16th Student Conference on National Affairs (SCONA XVI), Chair man Dave Mayfield announced Tuesday night. He said the Memorial Student Center Council recently approved the topic. In the past 15 years, Mayfield said, SCONA has been geograph ically oriented; it has always dealt with U. S. foreign policy in a selected area. As a result, he said, SCONA has often been accused of present ing topics of no particular inter est to .A&M students. “We feel that this topic will appeal not only to our student delegates but to the student body of A&M. That, after all, is what it is all about,” Mayfield com mented. He said that the SCONA execu tive committee realized the deli cacy and inherent controversies involved within the subject. The objectives, however to to bring student leaders from throughout the country to meet, wtih A&M student leaders and constructively analyze and discuss the issue. “How can we as students at A&M identify with students else where if we don’t understand their motives and feelings?” May- field asked. “Our whole purpose is not to create dissent, because we re- Lubbock tornado wreaked 200 million in damages !IAL By MIKE COCHRAN Associated Press Writer LUBBOCK, Tex. — Rescue workers and relief agencies pressed a search for more dead and injured in the rubble of tor nado-scarred sections of this West Texas city today as officials sought methods to rebuild an esti mated $200 million in damages. A 20-story office building, racked by the storm, tottered in the incessant winds of the plains country. Another office building stood stark and dead, bereft of siding and windows. Everywhere there was rubble and ruins, like a bombed out city in wartime. There were thousands of homeless—an estimated 4,800 whose up to 750 dwellings were destroyed—hundreds of injured, estimated as high as 500 and at least 20 dead, the death list ex pected to rise as the search in the debris continues. Texas officialdom descended on the city en masse in an effort to ascertain the needs and to help in every way government is able. The Red Cross sent massive supplies. The Texas Department of Public Safety’s various agen cies such as the Highway Patrol and Texas Rangers were in the city in force, more than 100 in all, the DPS said. The big tornado, its winds ris ing to a crescendo of sound that was almost defeaning, struck the city of 170,000 Monday at 9:47 p. m. and was followed by hur ricane force winds clocked at more than 100 miles per hour. The storm struck with its deva stating winds in the Texas Tech nological University area, but missed the main campus. They virtually leveled two apartment complexes and then made wreck age of the city’s bright, modern downtown district. Hospitals filled quickly with the hundreds of injured. The death list grew and then shrunk when duplications were discovered in the general chaos, but was ex pected to grow as injuries proved fatal and more bodies were found in the wreckage—a mile wide and eight miles long. For a time Monday it appeared that the tornado-ruined Great Plains Life building, the city’s 20-story pride, would toter and fall. Great cracks and gashes were seen in what remained of its facade. A downtown area where it could splatter on other (See Lubbock tornado, page 4) spect the tradition of A&M. There fore, SCONA will be presented with this in mind,” he assured. “SCONA has built up a very well- respected name at other universi ties. We plan to continue this tradition. “We plan to present a broad spectrum of speakers who are ex perts on thier assigned topics, he said, “not someone who is known for creating trouble or delivering fiery rhetoric. In fact, that is the kind of speaker we intend to eliminate.” Mayfield said that one of the major ideas of the program will be to study the effects of student input on national and interna tional issues. The actual agenda for the con ference is yet to be worked out, Mayfield said, but before it is, authorities, especially those who have been associated with SCONA in the past, as speakers or round table co-chairmen, will be con sulted for opinions and ideas. He also said that SCONA in vites opinions and ideas from the student body. To improve the quality of the SCONA XVI conference, May- field said, the conference com mittee is working with Dr. Wil liam Smith, head of the Psychol ogy Department and SCONA ad visor, well known for his organi zation of conferences like SCONA. They are working to examine the SCONA format and by re-evalu- Unirenrity National Bank "On the side of Texas A&M.” —Adv. ation, to make it more interesting and educational, he explained. Some of the possible subtopics under consideration for the con ference are: The role of the stu dent in politics; the new educa tion ; the new capitalism; and the new ethics. Finances for the conference, Mayfield said, are raised by SCONA members. This year’s budget includes $22,000, he said. “This year on the spring fund drive we raised approximately $7,500. We plan another drive for June in an endeavor to collect the balance of the budget,” Mayfield said. The tentative date for the SCONA conference is the middle week in February, he said. Students to lobby WASHINGTON OP)—Hundreds of college students, schooled in legislative lobby techniques, are popping into Capitol Hill offices and hinting at a failing grade at the polls for congressmen flunk ing their antiwar test. Encouraged and sometimes ac companied by sympathetic uni- verstiy and college administrators and faculty, students have from campuses across the nation to talk about America’s role in Southeast not interfere with the program for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam. The secretary told the Senate Armed Services Committee that several thousand U.S. troops al ready have left Cambodia after completing their assigned mis sions. He said more were to come out this week and major opera tions against the one time Com munist sanctuaries will be com pleted by June 15. The scheduled purpose of Laird’s appearance was discus sion of the Safeguard missile de fense system and the U.S.-So viet arms-limitation talks but nearly two-thirds of a three-hour session were devoted to questions and answers about Cambodia. Although he said the June 30 deadline, set by President Nixon for removal of all U. S. troops from Cambodia certainly will be adhered to, Laird opposed the Cooper-Church amendment, which would bar funds for U. S. troops in Cambodia after June 30. He argued this would interfere with the President’s ability to protect U. S. forces in South Vietnam. Sen. Robert J. Dole, R.-Kan., meanwhile, introduced a proposed substitute for the Cooper-Church amendment that would bar U. S. ground combat forces from Laos, Cambodia or Thailand “without the prior consent of the Congress, except to the extent that the in troduction of such troops is re quired, as determined by the President and reported promptly to the Congress, to protect the lives of American troops remain ing within South Vietnam.” Republican Leader Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania announced he would seek to amend the Cooper- Church amendment by inserting language to permit continuation of the Cambodian operation “as may be required to protect the armed forces of the United States.” Scot said this amendment has the administration’s support but added, “The administration would prefer no amendment at all.” The military sales authoriza tion bill which contains the Cooper-Church amendment is due for Senate debate later in the week. The secretary also said that, although the results of the Cam bodian camgain “have exceed ed our expectations this far,” it will take two or three months to detexmiine its final success ox- failure. “The over-all strategic success of the program will be judged by where we are in August and whex-e we are in September,” he said. Laird made these other assex-- tions: —“We were not involved in any way in the change in the govenxment of Cambodia” that saw neutx-alist Prince Norodom Sihanouk’s government over thrown. —The Cambodian invasion was “debated and discussed at great length” in the National Security Council and “was presented by me and is supported by me axxd everyone on the National Securi ty Council.” —While the central North Viet namese command post (COSVN) has not been captured and might not be because of its mobility, “We expect to destroy most of the complex” it has used. invade Capitol Hill on Southeast Asia any Kyle Field turf given for playground surface V J x and -nent Part of A&M’s Kyle Field turf has been donated for a playground surface for children of low-income families. The turf and track are being removed ttiis week to prepare the field for AstroTurf, inartificial surface. A&M Athletic Director Gene Stallings made arrangements for 400 square yards of the well kept grass to be cut for use at the drushey Day Care Center west of College Station. The center’s governing board co- chairman, Norman Erb, said Brazos Valley Nursery cut the sod for a nominal fee and Volunteers trucked the grass to the center Monday evening. Helping with the project were Bryan- College Station citizens, Brushey residents and volunteers from local businesses, including the use of a truck from the Bryan City Mission. The local International Harvester dealer volunteered a work force to prepare the ground for the sod, Erb said. Erb also said the turf will be used in the playground area at the center, with plans in progress to provide playground equipment in the near future. Open house at the center is scheduled May 24, he added. Completion of Kyle Field’s AstroTurf surface is expected by early September. Asia with friends and foes in the Senate and House. “We may be able to make some converts,” Charles I. Schottland, acting px-esident of Brandeis Uni versity, told more than 500 young men and women from Eastern schools who jammed into a House hearing room Monday. He said they represented 35 states. Rep. Edward I. Koch, D.-N.Y., told the students to ask congress man “what they are doing in terms of closing out this war now —and tell them if they continue to support the war you are going to oppose them in their districts” when they seek re-election. That drew a burst of applause. Switching from street demon- trations to lobbying in the halls of Congress, the students sought out home-state senators and rep- x-esentatives for face-to-face dis cussions—some of them private, most of them public. Many students had done their homework. They were prepared with voting records and home- district strengths and weaknesses of their congressmen; they had background information on key resolutions. Most students concentrated on congressmen publicly uncommit ted on such proposals as halting funds for U. S. operations in Viet nam, Laos and Cambodia except for the withdrawal of American forces. They received an information kit that contained helpful hints on how to get around on Capitol Hill—including instructions on eating and tourist facilities. Yale President Kingman Brew ster, among the administrators at tending the meetings with con gressmen, said he was pleased by the reception. But, he added, “the test will be action—not the cosmetics of hospitality.” ON YOUR MARK—It’s not a foot race, despite the appear ance of Miss Colorado, Linda Hicklin. She’s really getting into position for a picture with Miss Florida, Cheryl John son; Miss New Mexico, Theresa Phillips; and Miss Okla homa, Evelyn Walkup. The women were taking a break in rehearsals for the Miss USA Beauty Pagent at Miami Beach, Fla,, this week. (AP Wirephoto) Seniors will have 2 dances, a dinner Senior Weekend activities Friday and Saturday include a buffet dinner and two dances, according to Jim St. John, social secretary. The Friday buffet at 7:30 p.m. in the Ramada Inn will be followed by a semi-formal dance featuring the Ghost Coach, he said. On Saturday Buddy Brock and his orchestra will play for the Ring Dance, he said. The formal affair will be from 8 to 12 p.m. and pictures will be made. St. John said that tickets are available in the Student Finance Center at $5 for each night or $9 for both. Thursday is the last day to purchase tickets for the buffet.