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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1972)
Page 2 THE BATTALION College Station, Texas Wednesday, March 8, 1972 CADET SLOUCH by Jim Earle No passengers inside TWA airliner explodes on ground “I’m all for selecting our instructors when we register for a course, if we can keep the instructors from selecting their students!” By LEE GOULD LAS VEGAS, Nev. (A 1 )—Despite two searches and the presence of armed guards, a bomb exploded inside an unoccupied Trans World Airlines Boeing 707 jetliner here today. It apparently was part of an extortion scheme which has triggered a worldwide bomb threat against TWA jetliners, authorities said. The bomb, planted in or near the cockpit, exploded at 3:55 a.m., about seven hours after the plane arrived nonstop from New York with 10 passengers and a seven- member crew. It ripped a huge hole in the front fuselage, hurl ing debris for 100 feet at Mc- Carran International Airport. Law officers and TWA officials said they felt the bomb was one of those a mysterious extortionist has said he planted on TWA jet liners in order to get $2 million in ransom from the airline. Trained dogs sniffed out a bomb Tuesday in a cockpit of a TWA jetliner en route from New York to Los Angeles after the plane returned to New York. No other bombs have been reported found. No one had any idea how the bomb got aboard the plane here. It had been searched from nose to tail before leaving New York and upon landing in Las Vegas, said Charles Wyre, TWA general manager in Las Vegas. In addition, two deputies guard ed the four-engine 707 and three other TWA jetliners, of which were parked together in a loading area about 300 yards from the main terminal. The other planes were not damaged by the blast. One deputy was inspecting the plane from the outside when the bomb exploded and he said, “It sounded like dynamite.” Wyre said some TWA work men had been in the plane to clean it but discounted any specu lation one of the men or an im poster planted the bomb. “They all knew each other and work together and they wear identification badges,” he said. FBI and sheriff’s department investigators refused to talk about the bomb. But Wyre said, “We don’t know exactly where the bomb was but it appeared to have been in the back of the cockpit or close behind the cock pit.” There are two restrooms be hind the cockpit on the righthand side, the same side of the ex plosion. Wyre said the door to the cockpit apparently was un locked after landing. The deputy who witnessed the blast, Lanis Mills, said: “It sound ed like dynamite. I could see pieces of the plane flying through the air. There was a small fire inside the plane but it burned itself out within a minute or so.” A TWA spokesman said the $7-million plane would be re paired at a cost of “several mil lion dollars.” After the blast the three other TWA jetliners were checked again. A trained dog that can smell out explosives was used. It wasn’t used in the earlier search. Nothing turned up. Air traffic to McCaiTan was not halted by the explosion, but the airport was sealed off for 90 minutes from the public. The TWA 707 was scheduled to leave the Las Vegas airport at 7:45 a.m. bound for Kansas City, St. Louis, Cleveland, New York and then London. TWA made the worldwide bomb search of its jet fleet after re ceiving the mysterious ransom demand. Half a dozen planes made un scheduled landings for searches after the discovery of the pow erful plastic explosive Tuesday and scores of travelers canceled reservations. Delays of two hours or more were reported in flights. An anonymous telephone call er had warned of the bomb and directed officials to an airport locker where they found a note declaring that four TWA planes would be blown up at six-hour intervals unless the ransom was paid. But the succeeding deadlines passed without incident. A TWA spokesman said the money was assembled but there was no further word from the FBI, TWA or local authorities on negotiations with the extortionist or whether any money had been paid. “The guy who did this knows what he’s doing,” commented De tective William F. Schmitt of the police bomb section, who defused the device at Kennedy 12 min utes before it was set to detonate at 1 p.m. The bomb consisted of 6 to 6 pounds of the plastic C4, aj putty-like military exploi “would have blown the i apart,” Schmitt said, The plane had arrived atj nedy shortly after midnightf day on a flight from Lojj geles and remained until i(J off with 45 passengers and a of seven for a nonstop mnj to California. The warning call came toj headquarters at 11:30 a.m.a the time it had been as: a bona fide threat the plantj in the air and 100 miles i Kennedy. Telling the passengersonlyl there was mechanical trouble,! pilot, Capt. William Motz.baiJ sharply and headed back. Bulletin Board Tonight Sophomore Council will meet at 8 on the steps of the Engi neering Center. Aggieland photo will be made. Thursday Aggie Cinema will meet in room 3A of the Memorial Stu-« dent Center at 7:30. San Angelo-West Texas HTC will meet in the Art room of the Memorial Student Center at 7:30. Apathy Almost 3,000 students turned out to vote in the referendum Tuesday. Judging from reactions to it, the turnout was just this side of great. This isn’t quite the case. This university has reached a sad state of affairs when 3,000 voting out of a potential 14,000 is considered good. Everybody on this campus has a potential say in what is going on. The method is by voting. Sure, the Student Senate is regarded as a rubber stamp outfit by many students, and they may even be right. But if it is, the problem lies more with the students than with the senate itself. Students have to show support for their organizations by voting. By voting wisely they can exert quite a large amount of influence on such bodies as the Student Senate. They can control just who is going to be on it, assure him that he or she is being watched and control the kind of constitution he will work under, crams > ' «>rai>&.>But do thfe^i.>Seeinvto*»a#fe?i.w*0 2 10W ohds/S. r^.r Hardly. f r vl .7:..... Get out and vote. You’ve blown it this time, but general elections are coming up and there you can make yourself felt. Get up off your apathy. -acira tsiob roaiiil • ei; «0' CASA CHAPULTEPEC OPEN 11 A. M. TO 2 P. M. — 5 P. M. TO 9:30 P.H. : 1315 COLLEGE AVENUE — PHONE 822-9812 1 SPECIALS GOOD WED., THURS. & FRI. Taco Dinner 99c 2 Tacos Fried Rice Fried Beans Guacamole Tostaditas Hot Sauce Tamale Dinner 99c 2 Tamales Spanish Rice Fried Beans Chile Conquezo Tostaditas Hot Sauce Enchilada Dinner \M 3 Enchiladas Fried Rice Fried Beans Guacamole Tostaditas Hot Sauce HE BIB i Buellt< month-olc le lamb Combination Dinner Enchilada Tamale Spanish Rice Fried Beans Taco Guacamole Tostaditas Hot Sauce 50 FREE STAMPS — - . y/taym# mi WITH PURCHASE OF 3 LB. OR MORE LEAN GROUND CHUCK i& Oud £a#/\ SPECIALS GOOD: MARCH 9-10-11 1972 THURS—FRI— SAT ALL QUANTITY RIGHTS RSVDt Judgment shown The Student Senate showed rare good judgment Tuesday night when they tabled action on censuring the vice-president for business and approved the resolution calling for required search warrants to enter students’ rooms. The senate realized that they had not the information necessary to decide just who was to blame, if anybody was, in the increase in the Memorial Student Center Complex fee. Several questions were either going unanswered or only partially answered during the debate. By waiting to get more information and thinking a while longer, the senate showed more intelligence than usual. Something as powerful and personal as a censure should not be approved of lightly. That becomes all the more so when there are still questions unanswered and only hearsay evidence on other points. Also to be commended is the senate’s judgment in calling for required search warrants to enter rooms and search personal belongings of students. Though the policy is already in effect campus-wide, by getting it into University Rules and Regulations, the student is protected from variances in personal opinions of those enforcing the rules. Protection of student rights should be the prime consideration on our rapidly expanding campus. The Student Senate should become a leader in seeing to it that they remain intact. HY-T0P VEGETABLE SHORTENIHt ~ BANQUET POT WISHBONE ITALIAN DRESSING BAMA RED PLUM OR PIES 5 CHICKEN TURKEY BEEF MACARONI CHEESE AARGH! I noticed from reading mTS the 8ATr THAT THEY'RE OOOG-ING- THE M»SS T A MG 1 V contg sr today. J f 3-8 S\l| VCS /\ j ^ u ow HAS Quite a Selection of BE/soUiful. girls T eld The Rob tion has : totaling $6 lusic chem involving s wilts. Jack Bin president, : vere part awarded tc pators at Hons in T< Gen. A. tiecutive 1 university’: with the said 27 T share in tl Luedeckt award is c received fr tioa. Simi now total "galle: Furniture, ho Many Try-: St. Pau 1)62 Ford F; like job. 845 Army Dress II, $30. F e o p 1 e’s Edition New 120. Two w tense, $40. Cbe Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the student writers only. The Battalion is a non-tax- supported, non-profit, self-supporting educational enter prise edited and operated by students as a university and community newspaper. LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor must be typed, double-spaced, and no more than 300 words in length. They must be signed, although the writer’s name will be withheld by arrangement with the editor. Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim Lindsey, chairman ; H. F. Filers, College of Liberal Arts; ey, chairman ; H. F. Ellers, College of Liberal Arts; White, College of Engineering ; Dr. Asa B. Childers, Jr., e of Veterinary Medicine; Dr. W. E. Tedrick, College d Layne Kruse, student. F. S. Collei of Agriculture ; an Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. year; sales tax. The Battalion, Room 217, Services Texas 77843. The Associated Press is er reproduction of all news dispatchs credited to it or not otherwise credited in the origin published herein, matter herein ar papei Rights of republication of all other are also reserved. Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas. EDITOR HAYDEN WHITSETT Managing' Editor Doug Dilley News Editor Sue Davis Sports Editor John Curylo Assistant Sports Editor Bill Henry Joe Fa 220 E. 2 Giving ] 261