Experts’ Watergate tape erasure findings challenged
WASHINGTON OP>—With encour
agement from the White House, two
challenges have emerged to a crucial
finding of the technical experts exam
ining the subpoenaed Watergate tapes.
'One came from a volunteer, and the
)ther from an unnamed expert con
sulted by James D. St. Clair, President
Nixon’s chief Watergate attorney.
' And both were factors prompting
U.S. District Judge John J. Sirica on
’uesday to order all sides in the tapes
I
case to halt further public discussion
of the matter.
At issue is the report of the six-
member panel of experts on the
minute gap in the tape of a June 20,
1972, conversation between the Presi
dent and H. R. Haldeman.
The panel, chosen jointly by the
White House and special prosecutor's
office, and then appointed by Sirica,
told the court it had determined that
the Uher 5000 recorder on which Rose
Mary Woods, the President’s secretary,
had listened to the June 20 tape, had
been stopped and started manually at
least five times during the 18i/j-minute
segment.
The experts said they based their
conclusion on the electronic marks made
by the record and erase heads on the
Uher machine. The marks, small
parallel lines, are left on the tape when
the record key pops up and sends a
momentary pulse of electricity through
the heads just before they are de
activated.
St. Clair questioned the experts about
whether they were certain that deacti
vating the heads simply by pulling the
plug out of the wall wouldn’t leave the
same marks. The experts conceded
they hadn’t done that but they said
they were certain pulling the plug
would not leave marks.
The experts also testified that they
had found a defective part in Miss
Woods’ recorder and replaced it. It
was that action which was the basis
of the most publicized challenge.
The challenge came from Allan D.
Bell Jr., president of Dektor Counter
intelligence and Security Inc., who
appeared first on a Washington tele
vision interview program. He said he
believed the defective part, which is
linked to the power input on the ma
chine, could have caused pulses that
would have left the same marks the
Che Battalion
Vol. 67 No. 352
College Station, Texas
Thursday, February 21, 1974
experts said were caused by pushing
of buttons on the Uher.
Members of the White House staff
suggested to reporters that they watch
the show on which Bell was appearing.
More recently, when Bell’s theory
was discussed favorably in an article
in Science magazine, a publication of
the American Association for the Ad
vancement of Science, White House
Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler told
reporters they ought to read the article.
But Ziegler also told reporters at a
briefing on Tuesday that Bell was not
the expert St. Clair has cited in state
ments challenging the panel’s finding.
The White House has refused to name
the experts.
Bell said in a telephone interview
that his conclusions were drawn from
an examination of the panel’s report
and he conceded that he had no access
to either the tapes or the recorders
turned over to the court-appointed
group.
:on (52),
h Cedric
by Alan
pp Lighter penalty
asked in card case
By LATONYA PERRIN
Staff Writer
TAMU was accused of administering unusual
punishment by Senator Brad Bryant (business)
Wednesday night in a resolution concerning illegal
use of a TAMU I.D. card.
Appearing before Student Senate, Bryant said
a new memo from Dean Charles Powell would
make those who illegally use their student I.D.
subject to conduct probation, which Bryant de
scribed as unusual punishment.
Powell said in a telephone conservation that
the fine had been five dollars but the penalty
stated in the University Rules and Regulations
was suspension from the university.
“The fines just did not seem to be working,”
said Powell. “We are just looking for a solution
to the problem.”
Bryant pointed out in the Senate meeting
that the punishment had already been used on
three students, but another student did not re
ceive such punishment because of a communica
tion problem.
“One girl was let off with a much lighter
punishment because Dean (Toby) Rives didn’t
know that Dean Powell had sent a memo saying
to change the punishment,” said Bryant.
The Senate approved a resolution asking that
(See Lighter penalty, page 4)
Gasoline may be scarce
in area as month ends
r EER-
1939
bitect
sepia,
By KAREN HUSUM-CLARY
and STEPHEN GOBLE
The gasoline shortage may come home
to area residents toward the end of the
month.
A Battalion poll of service stations
in the Bryan-College Station area re
vealed that one-third expect to run out
of gas next week. Twenty per cent more
said they felt there was a good chance
Battalion Exclusive
they wouldn’t have enough fuel to last
until their March allocations.
Other stations in the cities hope to
remain open by cutting back hours and
raising prices, which range from 35.9
to 52.9 cents for one gallon of regular
gasoline.
Most of the operators questioned
agreed that the situation for both con
sumers and stations looks very bad.
Some stations in the area have already
run out of their liquid merchandise.
David Dean’s Exxon station is typical
of the stations struggling to get by on
their gas ration. He was “closed half
the months of December and January—
no gas,” said Dean.
This month he has averaged three and
a half days with gas in his pumps.
“If you’re here on Monday, you’ll get
it; if you’re in here Thursday, you
won’t,” says Dean. His self-service
pumps will remain shut down until he’s
allotted more gas in the far-off future.
Running out of gas is not the only
problem facing independent dealers. They
face losing regular customers if they
have to turn them away.
They also say they are losing money,
although prices have increased about 15
cents since last year.
“We’re taking in more money, but we
aren’t keeping it,” said one dealer. “The
oil companies have got it.
“I’m making less money—making less
per gallon. I tell you, it’s the roughest
it’s ever been.”
None of the dealers surveyed has yet
imposed a 10-gallon limit. Labor is
costly, and the same amount of labor
can sell 20 gallons as easily as 10.
Those area residents who are still
able to find gasoline next week may
find other problems facing them.
According to an article in the
Wednesday edition of The Wall Street
Journal, as stations pump their tanks
dry, they may fill cars with water and
dirt rather than gasoline.
The article cites the case of Ann
Bearden of Brooklyn, N.Y., who got up
at 6 a.m. to wait to buy gas. After a
15-minute wait, she got some fuel.
“Then I drove half a block and—
sputter, sputter, sputter—the car just
stopped,” Bearden recalled. Her tank
had been filled with a mixture of dirt,
gasoline and water.
After towing and mechanic’s charges,
she paid $183—plus the cost of the
“gasoline.”
The article claims most station tanks
collect condensed water and other gar
bage on their bottom, and cites cases of
people whose cars have broken down
mere blocks from their last fill-up. The
water and dirt make a layer in the tank
bottom as they are heavier than gasoline.
The article warns that auto gasoline
tanks which remain mostly empty can
also condense water inside. A fill-up
of a near-empty tank containing water
and dirt may stir up the bottom mixture
and cause auto failure even if the gas
pumped in is pure.
The future of the gas situation re
mains in the hands of government policy
and the law of supply and demand. On
the local level, perplexed dealers are
keeping their eyes and ears open won
dering what next month—or the month
after that—is going to be like.
Poor school districts get no aid
THE GENTLE ART of enhancing mother nature is demonstrated by Debbie of “Mademoi
selle” magazine as she applys eyebrow make-up to Susan Warren in Wednesday’s “Groom-
in.” The noon-time event in the Rudder Center Lobby drew an audience of 250 or 300.
Members of the New York magazine’s staff will be on campus the remainder of this week
and next week, getting a perspective on life at TAMU. (Photo by David Spencer)
AUSTIN (A>) _ Legislator-dele-
gates voted Wednesday against
giving future lawmakers the pow
er to distribute the $362 million
Available School Fund to school
districts that need help the most.
The constitutional convention’s
Education Committee had includ
ed such authority in its version of
the education article, but dele
gates turned it down, 106-55.
Instead, they restored the cur
rent provision of the Texas Con
stitution that divides the fund
among school districts each year
on a per pupil basis after paying
for textbooks and instructional
materials.
Rep. Dan Kubiak, D-Rockdale,
Education Committee chairman,
endorsed the return to the present
system. He said denying Avail
able School Fund money to school
districts that are so rich they do
not receive any other state aid
would add little money to less
fortunate districts. It would
amount to $2.30 per child more,
he said, while forcing a 9 per cent
local tax increase in the rich dis
tricts.
The available fund consists of
income from investing money re
ceived from oil leases and other
uses of state lands dedicated for
support of the public schools. It
also receives a fourth of the reve
nue from motor fuel taxes.
An Education Committee ma
jority had hoped to make the
fund available to strengthen
schools in districts with impover
ished tax bases.
Rep. Doyce Lee, D-Naples,
failed 147-20, to eliminate a re
quirement that the legislature
provide a “first class” system of
higher education.
He said the words were put in
the constitution “in an attempt to
demagogue and are not neces
sary.”
“If you delete the words, ‘first
class,’ to me there is the connota
tion that the legislature would
provide something of the second
class or the third class or the
fourth class,” said Rep. Doyle
Willis, D-Fort Worth.
Thursday, the delegates will
take up one of the more contro
versial issues — the Permanent
University Fund. Some favor
making the $31 million annual in
come from the fund available to
all state colleges and universities,
not just the University of Texas
and Texas A&M systems. Others
want to allow the use of bonds
guaranteed by the fund’s income
for minority programs at the two
schools. But a majority appar-
University National Bank
“On the side of Texaa A&M.”
Adr.
ently will vote to keep the funds
as it is.
Delegates postponed action on
a section prohibiting discrimina
tion in the expenditure of educa
tion money.
Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-
Houston, asked for the delay so
she could work out new language
after Atty. Gen. John Hill ruled
that the section approved by the
coihmittee actually would rule out
minority aid programs.
A 102-61 vote defeated an at
tempt by Sen. Oscar Mauzy, D-
Dallas, to remove a section pre
serving county permanent school
funds, made up of land, or money
from sale of land, given to the
counties by the state.
Mauzy said some county gov-
(See School districts, page 4)
Today
Marijuana tip-offs
Gasoline fighting
Baseball opens
Weather
Mostly cloudy and cool
Thursday with continued
cloudiness through
out the day. High Thurs
day 56°. Expected low to
night 37°. Fair and mild
Friday. High tomorrow
61°.
The inquiring Battman
Should students be able to show any kind of movies on campus?
Interviews by T. C. Gallucci
Survey taken at south entrance of Library
Photos by Alan Killingsworth
JUDY PIANTA
I never really thought about it.
It doesn’t make any difference
one way or the other.
j i one w
i I
TYRONE WRIGHT
Yes. Sure enough. This place
is kind of behind. I’ve been to
New York and all over and this
place doesn’t have anything like
that.
BILLY OTTEN
Yes, because a university is a
series of diversified tastes and
should show many facets.
;K,
CONNIE HIMELHOCH
Definitely, the “Trash” thing
was ridiculous. People have a
very strong free will. If they
don’t want to see the movies, that
is their choice.
DOUG MAYES
Yes, it’s not harming anybody
else. Beer and drugs could, but
nothing is wrong with movies.
H. W. HARRY
Yes. I believe in freedom of
speech of the Constitution. Stu
dents are adults, or at least they
should be when they get here.
Freedom is what is ihiportant.
LEATHA MORGAN
Gee, probably by the time a
person is old enough to go to col
lege, he should be allowed to
choose what he wants to see.