n- 7:30.!;| HOOD ATTENTION — WORKING MOTHERS ! ! I D) _ The sky marshal program has failed to provide the fullest protection pos sible from airline hijackers, say those closest to the program, in cluding the marshals themselves. Now, 18 months after the force was set up, both the Federal Avi ation Administration and the air line industry would like to replace most of the flying guards with improved ground screening of pas sengers and greater airport se curity. Reports persist that federal budget officials are considering an $ll-million cut this year in the $37-million program. Amid these reports, the Customs Bureau insists that the sky mar shal force is a powerful deterrent to hijackings, citing 539 arrests and seizure of thousands of weap ons in its first year of operation. Deterrence is an intangible which can neither be proved nor disproved, but there is no prov able case in which a sky marshal stopped a hijacking in progress, and three marshals were them selves hijacked on a flight Oct. 25. “The program has been a farce since its inception,” said an of ficial of a major domestic airline. “Farce, hell,” said former sky marshal Hugh Vandervoort of Baltimore. “The program is a menace to the people who ride the airlines.” The main reason, according to Vandervoort and other sky mar shals interviewed, is that the mar shals do not get enough pistol practice to maintain top marks manship. Proficiency aside, flight crews generally object to ferrying marshals, seeing any gun aboard an airplane as menace enough. An Associated Press study of the sky marshal program, includ ing interviews with marshals, pi lots, stewardesses, airline execu tives and FAA officials, turned up these specific complaints: —A full complement of 2,000 marshals was projected when President Nixon announced the program, but the force has nev er numbered more than 1,200. —Marshals are sometimes “bumped” from flights to make room for paying passengers. —Airlines frequently cancel screening of passengers and bag gage to prevent flight delays. The Aggie Sailing Club is plan ning a full program of sailing ac tivities for its members during the spring semester. The initial meeting of the Club will be on Wednesday, January 26 at 7:30 p.m. in Room 145 of the Physics Building. A description of the upcoming activities will be given, member ship applications will be accepted, and a sailing film shown. Seven additional bi-weekly on-campus meetings featuring adventure slide shows, educational lectures, and films, all pertaining to phases of sailing activities, will be held during the semester. Dr. Gary Halter, faculty advi sor, says that the club will repeat their popular series of on-the- water classes of sailing instruc tion beginning in mid-March. In past classes, instructors from the —Marshals lack confidence in the ability of stewardesses, their first link with a hijacker, to han dle the situation. Many steward esses, on the other hand, fear the marshals because they’re convinc ed the officers wouldn’t hesitate to shoot through them to stop a hijacker. —The government requires the marshals to work a five-day week, notwithstanding the fact that many will work 40 hours in sev eral days on an overseas flight that includes frequent time changes and irregular sleeping periods. Exhausted and bored, some marshals say they have club have taught over 200 local members the basics of small-boat sailing and water safety. Classes are conducted on Bryan Municipal Lake in the afternoons following school hours. Two series of inter-club sail boat races will be held this semes ter. A series of five Thursday afternoon races in small boats will be held on the Municipal Lake. Trophies will be given to each weeks winners and to the overall series winner. Two regattas on Sunday after noons off Welch Park at Lake Somerville will be held in April. These races will include small open sailboats, catamarans, and cruising sailboats. Trophies will also be given to the winners. Par ticipation in all of these inter club races will be limited to Club members. fallen asleep on flights. —Metal detectors used to search for weapons often mal function and are regarded by many marshals as “near useless.” Sky marshals have perhaps the most exacting mission of any federal officer — ultimately the decision whether to fire at a hi jacker aboard a crowded airplane. Regulations state that marshals must qualify with the pistol every three months or lose their jobs, yet all those interviewed said the only shooting they had done since basic training had been on their own time, unsupervised. Benjamin O. Davis, head of The Aggie Sailing Club will host the Intercollegiate Sailing Conference Western Regional Re gatta at the Fort Worth Yacht Club this spring. Members of the Aggies’ Conference Sailing Team will participate in this regatta as well as in other official Con ference meets at various member universities. Membership in the Aggie Sail ing Club is open to all A&M stu- Dr. Earl Stone, Professor of Forest Soils at Cornell Univer sity, will give two lectures on Tuesday, Jan. 25. The first will be held in room 106 of the Plant Science Building at 3:30 p.m. Stone’s presentation the sky marshal program, said he was unaware these regulations were not enforced. The program is administered over-all by the FAA. Training is provided by the Treasurey De partment. Funds come from the Office of Management and Budg et, answerable only to the White House. And participation by the airlines is on a voluntary basis. Davis insists the marshals have the ability and the security tech nology, to stop virtually all hi jackers. “But we are completely de pendent on the performance of the airlines,” he said, “and that performance goes up and down. Sailing Club schedules spring activities Dr. Earl Stone to give lectures dents, faculty, staff, former stu dents and local residents of the Bryan-College Station area who are interested in sailing. Boat ownership is not a requirement. The Club owns a small fleet of sailboats for rental to members. Annette Kersting, 104 Pleasant Street, Bryan, is membership sec retary and will provide additional information on joining the Club to anyone interested. will concern why soils differ in their capacity to sustain tree growth. Stone’s evening lecture will be gin at 7:30 in Library 226. It will deal with the changing interests in understanding and managing the soil-forest system. •<3 ..i- IVow there’s a course that pays $100 a month. ArmyROTC. In our Advanced Course the monthly sub sistence allowance has just been increased. From $50 to $100. One hundred dollars every month for 10 months of the school year. To spend on room and board, dates and ball games. To save for grad school. But Army ROTC means a lot more than more money. It means management and leadership experience that you just can’t get anywhere else. The kind of thing that can land you a better job, and move you along faster once you get it. It means a commission as an officer and everything that goes with it. The prestige, the pay, the chance to travel, the experience. Now ROTC looks even better. For the money you’ll earn today. For the person you’ll be tomorrow. See your Professor of Military Science, or send the coupon for information. Army ROTC. The more you look at it, the better it looks. Army ROTC Office of the Commandant TAMU Colilege Station. Texas 77843 Tell me more about this course that pays $100 a month. County. State College attending ON 17-2-72