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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 11, 1972)
be Battalion Cloudy and cooler Vol. 67 No. 76 College Station, Texas Friday, February 11, 1972 Today —? Cloudy skies, rain showers and thundershowers. Winds between west and east at 5-10 mph. High 59°. Saturday —- Cloudy skies in morning becoming partly cloudy in afternoon. Easterly winds 10- 12 mph. High 66°, low 48°. 845-2226 "IALTI rat •iamond Gus Mutscher trial still going through ABILENE, Tex. ttf*) — A dis- rict judge denied two key de fense motions Thursday and the itate announced it would prose- !Ute Texas House Speaker Gus 'utscher and two associates ifeb. 28 on charges of conspiracy o accept a bribe. Judge Neil Daniel struck down wo motions to quash the crim- nal indictments against Mut- cher, his chief aide, Rush Mc- linty and State Rep. Tommy ’action is Phannon of Fort Worth. Travis County District Atty. lob Smith disclosed then that le would move first against all ihree defendants on the conspir-* icy charge. Mutscher, 39, is also under itate indictment alleging he ac- 846-5S1I £N bile ac MCE ipment" Ave. 12 cepted a bribe. Shannon and McGinty were named only in the conspiracy indictment, although the defense argued that the charge is worded in such a way as to allege ac ceptance of a bribe also. The case, arising from the Texas stock fraud scandals, was transferred from Austin on a change of venue. The tall, dark-haired, soft- spoken judge cleared the court room 30 minutes after the hear ing began for debate on a mo tion to quasy supbenas of four newsmen. The judge granted the motion after the four reporters testi fied separately behind closed doors. The defense thus failed in its attempt to learn the sources of information for two news stories that appeared last September be fore the grand jury indictments were returned. In what was interpreted as a related action, Judge Daniel over ruled the first two defense mo tions to dismiss the indictments. The defense later attacked the indictment itself as unconsti tutional, contending also that it is “overly broad, overly vague . . . and should be dismissed.” “I overrule the motion,” the judge said softly. Mutscher, flanked by McGinty and Shannon, sat silently and un- smilingly behind his attorneys, oc casionally adjusting his horned- rimmed glasses while the legal confrontation unfolded. IQUES ssoriee ‘inished irea :tions im rrace tion ice Vietnam’s Thieu refuses additional peace concessions SAIGON UP) _ President Nguyen Van Thieu declared Thursday night that South Viet- lam will make no further peace oncessions despite Secretary of itate William P. Rogers’ asser- ions of flexibility in the allied osition. Wxon ntice won’t Reds ir Work ■9455 m peace plan WASHINGTON <A>) — Presi- ent Nixon said Thursday he las gone as far as he intends to 0 to entice the Communists to negotiated settlement of the ietnam war until Hanoi begins negotiate seriously. In an impromptu news confer- at the White House, Nixon aid the Communists had not yet jesponded formally to his Jan. 1 eight-point peace proposal and [there will be no further conces- on our part” until or unless Thieu confirmed a rift between Saigon and President Nixon’s administration over the latest allied peace plan. He sharply criticized Rogers, saying that if the secretary meant what he said, “It is a serious violation of Viet namese sovereignty.” “I will talk with Mr. Nixon about it,” Thieu said in a tele vision interview with five Viet namese newsmen. In Washington, the State De partment declined comment but Gerald L. Warren, deputy White House press secretary said: “There’s no disagreement be tween this government and the government of South Vietnam.” While saying nothing about a future Nixon-Thieu meeting, Warren emphasized the United States would not indulge in “con nivance with Hanoi at the ex pense of the people of South Vietnam.” Under the allied eight-point peace plan, new election would follow a cease-fire and Thieu would resign a month before the vote, in which all political fac tions including the Viet Cong could participate. Rogers told a Washington news conference Feb. 3 that the United States was flexible on the composition of a caretaker government, on the length of time that Thieu would resign be fore the election and on other unresolved questions. “Everybody knows that the proposal is a joint peace plan of the United States and South Vietnam,” Thieu declared. “When we said I will resign one month prior to the new election, ’we mean it.” Thieu said that “we cannot go farther because if we make another step, I am sure we will fall into a bad hole and South Vietnam will fall into the hands of the Communists.” Thieu termed unacceptable two points of the revised Viet Cong peace plan — that he resign now and that the United States set a troop withdrawal deadline in order that discussion could be-< gin on a political settlement. “The e n e m y’s aim is not peace,” he said. “It is a domi nation of South Vietnam. So they have rejected our proposals, and they keep presenting their un acceptable two points. We will never accept their two points. It means a surrender.” Senator Byrd TV is politician’s most influential tool The four reporters, who testi fied behind closed doors, were Robert Heard of The Associated Press Austin bureau, Glen Cas tleberry and George Kuempel of the Austin American-Statesman, and Don Fisher of the Dallas Times Herald. The four had written stories last September linking Mutscher, McGinty and Shannon with the indictments before the indict ments were handed down by the grand jury. Judge Daniel told newsmen that the reporters did not dis-> close the sources of their exclu sive information. He said that their answers were immaterial to the motions presented by the de fense. Mutscher’s battery of lawyers won one battle without firing a shot when the judge ordered the jury selection will be on an in dividual basis, which is unusual except in capital cases. It was at this point that chief defense attorney Frank Maloney told the judge that the pre-trial hearing could be excused. Presumably Maloney intended to use the articles they published and broadcast about the case to support a motion for individual jury selection. Smith voiced no objections al though he had previously said that he saw “no reason to make an exception in this case.” The hearing ended in mid-aft ernoon. OPA coeds sell candy on campus for mental health Proceeds from the sale of candy by members of Omega Phi Alpha, national service sorority, will support an OPA national mental health project. Delta Chapter President Stewart Stuart said OPA members will sell the candy primarily on cam pus. About 30 TAMU coeds will be involved. Projects vice president Sandra Huebner said the selection in cludes chocolate mints and a carmel-almond confection at $1 per box and a chocolate nut bar at 50 cents each. The Ross Volunteers are practicing for their performance in the Mardi Gras parade. See accompanying story. (Photo by Robert Williams) RVs to escort King Rex The Ross Volunteer Company of A&M makes its annual appear ance in the Mardi Gras Parade in New Orleans Tuesday, acting as the escort for King Rex. While in New Orleans, the Ross Volunteers will stay on an air craft carrier docked in the harbor. Various organizations of former students in the area host the cadets at social functions in their honor during the four-day stay. Organized in 1887, the unit consists of junior and senior mem bers of the Corps of Cadets, se lected on the basis of leadership, character and activities. The Ross Volunteers, named after Lawrence Sullivan Ross, an early president of A&M, exists to provide military training to members of the upper classes in the Corps, so that their dress, bearing and conduct will serve as examples to the rest of the Corps. The company has represented A&M at many functions, includ ing San Antonio’s Fiesta, the Governor’s inauguration and vari ous campus events. Members also serve as escorts for important visitors to the university. The Ross Volunteers consists of 122 members, 90 of whom are juniors. Seniors act as non-com missioned and commissioned of ficers. The company is divided into three platoons. The company was originally formed under the name Scott Volunteers, in honor of Colonel T. M. Scott. The intention was to name the unit after each presi dent of the school, but this idea was abandoned in favor of the present name. Each spring a vote of the jun iors in the company determines the members of the Ross Volun teer Firing Squad. This elite group is composed of 21 cadets, seven from each of the platoons. The Firing Squad appears at the annual Aggie Muster, in addition to serving as the salute unit for Silver Taps ceremonies through out the school year. Commander of the Ross Volun teers for 1971-72 is Mike Wey- nand of Hondo. Robert Lozano of Guadalajara, Mexico, is the execu tive officer. First sergeant is Jim my Ferguson of Garland. Platoon leaders are J an Bertholf of Annandale, Va., Frank Hertzog of Huntsville, Ala., and Tom Stanley of Mount Pleasant. Stanley is this year’s Corps commander. Woman ‘to tell the truth’ about Irving and Hughes Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia speaks with a member of Political Forum after his delayed speech Thursday. See accompanying story. (Photo by Mike Rice) “The medium of television is the most influential tool availa ble to a politician,” Senator Rob ert Byrd told Thursday after noon’s Political Forum crowd in the Memorial Student Center Ballroom. Speaking on “Political Parties and the New Politics,” the West Virginia Democrat called the “new politics” a media catch phrase and put it in the same category as the “Credibility Gap.” He further described it as a “disenchantment with the po litical process in the U.S. which the new politicians characterize as having a cynical attitude to ward the people and disinterest in critical problems facing the nation.” Byrd also said these new poli ticians proclaim the media have revolutionized the political proc ess so the “traditional concept of parties no longer applies to the American scene.” Byrd cited the University of Michigan Survey Research Cen ter as a believer that the inde pendent voter feels no strong loy alty to either major party be cause he is poorly informed, and uninterested in politics. He op posed this viewpoint saying these “swing” voters could be appealed to via “slick television spots and highly charged campaigns” whose origins are the “copy rooms and production studios of Madison Avenue and other ad vertising complexes.” In the 1940’s about 80 per cent of the electorate could be count ed on to vote a straight ticket whereas today only half of the voters will go down the line for their party, shows that uncom mitted Americans are “apt to be better educated and much more politically aware than the voter who pulls a single lever.” Byrd believes that important changes are taking place in the voting habits of the American people, and both old and new pol iticians must heed these changes or suffer the consequences. He went on to say that the proponents of the new politics are really asking for what they consider the “closed-shop charac ter of the party machinery” and cited that too much flexibility would create a mess of splinter parties which would become weaker as power became dis persed. “The power,” Byrd said, “in representative, democratic gov ernment comes from people work ing together, not at cross-pur- poses or for selfish interest. Divisiveness would cause such political fragmentation that co hesive government would be im possible. “In addition, it is through the parties that minorities are able to share the power from which they could very well be excluded if the party system were ever to disappear.” Byrd is convinced that the party structures will continue to absorb pressure for change, make necessary future adjustments and continue to be the operative forc es in the political activities of our nation. NEW YORK <A>) _ Nina van Pallandt flew in from London “to tell the truth about Clifford Irving, even if it means him go ing to jail.” On arrival at Kennedy Airport, she told reporters, “I do not want to answer any questions.” The blonde Danish cabaret singer is scheduled to testify Monday before a federal grand jury probing possible mail fraud in the mystery surrounding Irv ing’s purported autobiography of billionaire Howard Hughes. Irving claims he collected the material in 100 hours of meet ings with Hughes and that one of them was in Mexico just a year ago. Miss van Pallandt, who has said she loves living, disputes that claim, saying she was with Irving on the Mexican trip and that he could not have met Hughes during the less than two hours they were apart. The fraud question was also being investigated in Zurich, Switzerland, where Robert G. Morvillo, chief of the criminal division in the U. S. attorney’s office, and Asst. U. S. Ttty. John J. Tigue Jr. arrived earlier in the day. They were trying to clarify just what happened to $650,000 intended for Hughes, but deposited in banks there by a woman Irving has acknowl edged as his wife, Edith. The money was paid by the McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. to Irving for relay to Hughes as advance payment for rights to the book. A voice purporting to be that of Hughes said in a tele phone interview with a group of reporters that he had never re ceived it. Irving later admitted that his wife Edith, using the name “Helga R. Hughes,” endorsed the three checks making up the amount “H. R. Hughes” and de posited them in a Zurich bank under that name. She later is said to have withdrawn the money and put $442,000 of it in another bank calling herself Hannah Rosenkrantz, the name of her previous husband’s pres ent wife. The U. S. prosecutors said they went to Zurich in connection with statements made by Mrs. Irving to the grand jury. This appeared to conflict with other reports that she had pleaded the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-i incrimination. Although the federal grand jury is in recess while the two men from the U. S. Attorney’s office are in Switzerland, the Manhattan district attorney’s of fice announced a New York County grand jury would begin its own investigation Friday. It will look into possible grand larceny, forgery and perjury. Asst. Dist. Atty. Leonard New man of the fraud division will lead the investigation. Graduate Council will ask for a student on the board The Graduate Student Council agreed in Thursday’s meeting to formally ask the A&M Board of Directors to consider having a student on the board as a non voting member. The council voted to send copies of the proposal to the gov ernor, lieutenant governor and legislature. Ron Tomas, GSC president, feels, however, that there is little to be gained from having a stu dent on the board. “Most of the action taken that affects stu dents is done on an administra tive level,” he said. The council previously consid ered asking that the GSC presi dent, the Student Senate Presi dent and possibly a faculty rep resentative sit on the Board of '^Directors. After much debate and a speech by Ed Cooper, as-» Isistant to President Williams, the Jan. 27 GSC meeting of the council decided to ask that only the Student Senate Presi dent be a part of the board. A committee has been formed from the GSC to study the pos sibilities of having language re quirements optional. Also under study by the coun cil will be the parking lots planned for construction in front of the Systems building. Coun cil members feel that these lots will detract from the beauty of the campus. The two newly elected mem bers of the GSC are Marvin Dan iels and Jim Walsh. University National Bank “On the side of Texas A&M.” —Adv.