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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 1976)
14561 MEMORIAL in HOUSTON GALL 493-5550 Top of the News Campus i THE CYCLING TEAM will hold bicycle race at 11 a. m. Sunday at llhe Bryan High School football [stadium. Open to everyone, the [race will be five miles for those [under 15 and 10 miles for those 16 land older. About $400 in prizes will |be awarded at the event, which is sanctioned by the U.S. Cycling ^Federation. PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS in- iterested in attending Texas A&M lUniversity may apply for a resi- [dence hall 15 months in advance of [their expected enrollment at the [University. Priority for the specified [semester is based on the date the [residence hall application and depo- [sit are received in the housing of fice. The application and deposit will be automatically cancelled and refunded if admission toTAMU has [not been granted by March 15 for [fall enrollment or Nov. 1 for spring | enrollment. A REPRESENTATIVE of the [Georgetown University Law Center jin Washington, D. C. will be at [Texas A&M Monday to discuss ad- [missions with interested students. [The session will run from 1 to 4 [p.m. in Rudder Tower 305. TWO TEXAS A&M University [professors will lecture tonight on their underwater archeological re search in the Mediterranean. Dr. George F. Bass and John R. Steffy I both worked on the oldest and deepest wrecks recorded. They also | worked on the famous Byzantine shipwreck at Yassi Ada. The lecture, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Zachry Auditorium, is jointly spon sored by the geography and sociology-anthropology depart ments. CHESTER A. WRIGHT will speak on the black identity syn- [ drome at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Wright, I who acted as Randolph A. Hearst’s chief adviser during the first 90 days of the abduction of his daughter Pat ricia Hearst, will speak on that ab duction and other incidents con ducted by the Symbionese Libera tion Army. Wright’s appearance is sponsored by the Black Awareness Committee. Texas MEDICAL PRICES h ave out paced the overall rate of inflation for more than a decade, the acting dep uty director of the federal council of Wage and Price Stability said yes terday in Houston. He said the ab sence of competition among physi cians is the biggest cause of the high cost. ATTORNEYS in the official mis conduct trial of suspended Duval County Commissioner Ramiro Car rillo made two unsuccessful at tempts for a mistrial. The trial was recessed to Monday after nearly four hours of testimony yesterday. A CITIZEN’S BAND radio operator, who police say began a verbal argument last weekend that ended in the shooting death of another man, has died from gunshot wounds received the same night. Howard C. Collins, 51, whose CB nickname was “Dirty Bird, had been shot in the chest and abdo- National THE TWO PRESIDENTIAL can didates, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, get their last chance tonight to voice their views in their third and final debate. The debate will be televised from Williamsburg, Va., beginning at 9:30 EDT. Associated Press polls following the first two debates gave Ford an edge in the first and Carter an almost identical edge in the second. TWO SMALL AIRPLANES col lided over a playground full of chil dren yesterday in Los Angeles, kil ling the two pilots and scattering debris among the horrified chil dren. However, none of the chil dren were injured. Wreckage was scattered over a square mile. World VIETNAM and the United States are moving toward agreement on opening preliminary talks about normalizing relations after six months of exchanging messages, of ficials said yesterday in Washington. The plan calls for meetings to be held in Paris with the two sides rep resented by embassy officials. The chief objective of the Americans will he a full accounting of the 800 American servicemen still listed as missing in action in Vietnam. weather Partly cloudy and warmer through tomorrow with a slight chance of rain tomorrow afternoon. High today in low 70s. Low tonight in mid-50s. High tomorrow in mid- 70s. Precipitation probability 20 per cent tomorrow. The Battalion Vol. 70 No. 31 10 Pages Friday, October 22, 1976 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 EPA plans investigation uses DDT without permit A&M By JAMIE AITKEN Battalion City Editor ©1976 The Battalion DDT, a pesticidal chemical banned in the United States since December 1972, has been used by the Texas A&M Univer sity Grounds Maintenance Department for the past three years, the Battalion learned this week. The matter has been scheduled for in vestigation by the Environmental Protec tion Agency (EPA). The chemical (Dichloro-diphenyl- trichloroethane) was banned by the En vironmental Protection Agency June 14, 1972, effective Dec. 31, 1972, after 15 years of federal regulation and study. The agency based its decision on findings of health hazards and insufficient need to warrant the use of the chemical. A limited number of special use permits for DDT have been issued by the EPA since the ban. The EPA may exempt fed eral and state agencies from the ban under emergency conditions, with requests con sidered on a case-by-case basis. Emergency conditions are human health dangers and quarantine situations. Texas A&M does not have a special use permit for DDT. Eugene H. Ray, director of grounds maintenance for the University, said he was given clearance to spray the chemical on the campus by the Texas A&M Entomology Department. “We checked with the Entomology people a couple to three years ago and, frankly, I don’t remember who I talked to, but they said as long as it was in stock prior to the ruling, it could be used until the existing stock was depleted, ’ Ray said. “I assumed that the Entomology people were well up on it since they re directly involved with it,” Ray said. “I just assumed they would be the source of information. I would think they are right on top of all the rules and regulations that have to be adhered to, particularly with all the flak that’s coming about with the pesticides. Dr. John G. Thomas, project leader in the entomology department, yesterday ac knowledged Ray’s inquiry after the ban was instituted. He said either he or another person in entomology at the time called the EPA at its Dallas, Texas, office to deter mine if the University could continue using the DDT on hand. “The decision from the EPA was that it could be used according to the present label instructions,” Thomas said. He said the EPA favored using the chemical rather than storing or destroying it. Tom Morgan, EPA regional coordinator of enforcement in Washington, D.C., said this morning that the advice given Thomas by the EPA was highly irregular, and that he doubted such information would he gi ven. “The order was specific in that nothing could he used after Dec. 31, 1972, Morgan said. “Anyone who uses it would be in violation of the cancellation order, and there is a provision which makes it a violation of the law to violate the cancella tion order. “I wouldn’t think one of our regional of fices would tell anybody to violate a cancel lation order. Morgan said penalties for violation of the ban depend on the case. He said the fine for violation by dealers, distributors, commer cial applicators, retailers and wholesalers is up to $5,000 if a civil penalty and up to $25,000 if a criminal penalty. Private users, he said, face a fine up to $1,000 after an initial warning if the offense results in a civil penalty, and a fine up to $1,000 and 30 days in jail if a criminal penalty. Morgan said an investigation has been scheduled to determine if the University has violated the ban. The grounds maintenance department currently has approximately 830 lbs. of Ortho PEST-B-GON on hand at its' warehouse facilities on College Avenue north of campus. The pesticide is contained in one-pound boxes labeled “50% DDT Wettahle, the form used in mixing the chemical with water for spraying. Several grounds maintenance personnel told the Battalion they were concerned for their health while working with the DDT solution on spraying crews. One employe reported being told by a grounds mainte nance foreman to remove the labels from the PEST-B-GON containers before taking the pesticide on campus. The foreman re fused to comment when contacted by the Battalion, but referred all questions to Ray. Ray said he issued no such orders but that the idea was discussed. “There was some discussion as to maybe we ought to,” Ray said. “I said I don’t see any reason because I don t think we were The Texas A&M University Grounds Mainte nance Dept, has approximately 830 pounds of DDT, a pesticide banned by the Environmental Protection Agency more than three years ago. doing anything wrong. He said the discus sion focused upon public concern over the use of the chemical. Ray said the pesticide has been used two or three times in as many years, and pre dicted the supply could last “quite a while.” He said the department has used 10 to 15 pounds during this period. Ray said DDT was used only where other pesticides were unable to control grounds damage. “We have some DDT that has been on hand for five or six years that we do, on (See A&M Page 9) Crystal City not a ‘little Cuba’ Council demands Briscoe’s apology Associated Press CRYSTAL CITY, Tex. — The city council of this Raza Unida-controlled South Texas city has demanded that Gov. Dolph Briscoe apologize for branding it a “little Cuba.” The Crystal City Council passed a reso lution yesterday accusing Briscoe of trying to “isolate” the city and cause it “irrepara ble economic damage with his “little Cuba statement. Briscoe made the statement recently when he said he would try to block $1.5 million federal grant to a Crystal City eco nomic development corporation because it would he used to promote socialism. County Judge Jose Angel Gutierrez, founder of the Raza Unida party that con trols the county, said the federal funds were for the formation of an agricultural cooperative. The state obtained a tempo rary restraining order halting the flow of money. Mayor Francisco Benavides, a political enemy of Gutierrez, said council members passed the resolution saying Briscoe “knows that the statement is false . . . and that there is no possibility of a little Cuba existing in Texas. The resolution added that “public offi cials of this city and county were elected by the same process by which he, Briscoe, and other public officials were elected.” And the statement said officials of Crys tal City “are as much a part of the United States as officials of any other city or county.” “Everything has stopped. We are hav ing trouble getting private industry to talk to us, we can’t get any state or federal aid, and we are being isolated,” Benavides said yesterday. Benavides also said that the Crystal City hospital, a private institution, had closed down last week. Dr. Donald S mi th, coowner of the hos pital, said the 30-bed hospital closed down because it was losing money and added that the “political turmoil in the count) was one indirect reason for the decision. He said he planned to continue his pri\ ate practice in Crystal City, but added that the political situation has caused some people to leave the city. “Carrizo Springs is now the growing city in the area, he said. Raza Unida was founded in Crystal City five years ago and now controls most gov ernment agencies in the county. Mistrial declared in murder case; prosecutor blamed for publicity Associated Press PHOENIX, Ariz. — Arizona’s attorney general has taken control of the Don Hol ies murder case on orders of the governor after publicity about the reporter’s slaying prompted a mistrial. Defendant John Harvey Adamson, a 32-year-old greyhound dog breeder, re turned to his jail cell to await a new trial date. The state’s special prosecutor on the case, Asst. Atty. Gen. William Schafer, accused the chief county prosecutor, Donald W. Harris, of scuttling the trial with his public statements. The defense team also berated the Maricopa County Atty. for giving press interviews predicting indictments of other persons in Holies killing. Superior Court Judge Frederic Heine- Hua confirmed in post, Mao’s widow purged Associated Press TOKYO — China’s official news agency today gave the first official confirmation of the appointment of Premier Hua Kuo-feng to succeed Mao Tse-tung as chairman of the Chinese Communist party and of the purge of Mao s widow and three other leaders of the party’s radical wing. Reporting on the huge demonstration in Peking yesterday against Chiang Ching, Mao’s widow, and her three radical allies on the party Politburo, the Hsinhua agency said: “The party central committee headed by Chairman Hua Kuo-feng adopted reso lute and decisive measures to crush the counter-revolutionary conspiratorial clique and liquidated a bane inside the party.” The use of the word “liquidated” in the Hsinhua report was not considered an in dication that the four had been executed. No political executions are known to have taken place in China in recent years, not even during the stormiest days of the radi cals’ Great Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. Japanese correspondents in Peking re ported that the demonstrations continued for the second day today, with military personnel, workers and students marching and beating drums and gongs. Although wall posters in Peking first re ported the promotion of the 57-year-old premier on Oct. 9, Hsinhua’s report today was the first by an official organ to refer to him as party chairman. Previous official reports all spoke of the “party central committee headed by Comrade Hua Kuo- feng.” Reports have circulated widely in Pek ing that they were arrested on Oct. 7, and that more than 25 other leading radicals were also rounded up. ’76 Aggielands to be delivered Copies of the 1976 Centennial Ag- gieland will arrive on campus Monday and he ready for distribu tion by Tuesday afternoon. The books will be distributed from the Old Exchange Store during the first few days after delivery. To pick up a book, persons who ordered a copy should bring an A& M I.D. to the Exchange Store from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. the remainder of the week. Persons who want a copy of the Aggieland to he mailed and who did not pre-pay the mailing fee should go to 216 Reed McDonald and not the Exchange Store. man, who ordered a new trial to begin be fore Dec. 2, was the only principal who did not blame Harris for the troubles that aborted the four-day-old trial yesterday. “I do not believe that Maricopa County Atty. Donald Harris has acted in bad faith, the judge said at an emergency hearing. “However, I do agree there has been sufficient prejudicial publicity in re cent weeks to warrant a mistrial.” Shortly after the mistrial was declared, Gov. Raul Castro ordered Atty. Gen. Bruce Babbit and Schafer to “take exclu sive control and prosecute any and all other matters or persons relating to or aris ing out of the murder of Don Bolles. Attorneys said that in three days of jury selection it had been almost impossible to find jurors who did not know every detail of the Bolles case. The 47-year-old Arizona Republic re porter was injured June 2 when dynamite exploded under his car as he left a hotel. He had been summoned there by an unknown tipster who promised to help in Bolles’ probe of local land fraud and cor ruption. Adamson was arrested two hours after Bolles died of those injuries on June 13. The dispute which brought a mistrial centered on Harris’ statements that con spirators in the murder might be indicated soon. Schafer criticized Harris and joined in the defense motion for mistrial. “Because of recent public statements about the Adamson ease by Mr. Donald Harris . . . the state feels that the possibil ity of reversal on appeal is too great to proceed to trial at this time,” Schafer said in a written response filed with the judge. The defense team accused Harris of lying in statements to reporters and on the CBS-TV show “60 minutes” about pros pects for further arrests in the case. “The chief prosecuting attorney in Maricopa County, Donald W. Harris, has engaged in a course of willfull and inten tional dissemination of prejudicial infor mation and statements to the news media to deprive John Harvey Adamson of a fair trial, the defense said in its motion for mistrial. , •'A ♦ ' Penalty shot The Texas A&M Waterpolo team defeated SMU’s swimmers last night with a score of 20-16. Bob Leland scored a point for the Aggies with this shot, which was a free throw, that resulted from a SMU foul. (See storx page 8) Battalion plioto l>\ Kevin Veniu-r 111