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The Battalion
Vol. 70 No. 122
16 Pages
Wednesday, June 1, 1977
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
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Perennial
Iriscoe: Session
nly on condition
dsofacwj
United Press International
STIN — Gov. Dolph Briscoe says he
call legislators into a special session
House and Senate leaders assure
could not hat a compromise school finance plan
apparent j « Passed.
scoe said yesterday Speaker Bill Clay-
nd Lt. Gov. William Hobby already
SWCif.
j the Coll g ree< J to activate the House and Sen-
jh it will h
™ and golj
mgeand
familiar.
C, traileJi
mainli
have tie
ip.
idual till
row, tyinj
67 on the J
) a U
and si
tal.
)onald
e Clem!
ill’s Lee
ducation Committees to begin work
diately on a compromist proposal,
special session became necessary
lay when the legislature did not pass
increasing state aid to public schools
KX) million during the closing hours
> regular session.
i no special session is called school
■LL ng would continue under the present
II )1 finance law. That would result in
u of revenue for almost half the states
I • ’sw districts,
rr] o legislative priority exceeds the ob-
L i3 on to improve public education while
g taxpayers fair and equitable treat-
Briscoe said. “Gov. Hobby and
TV] 1 ker Clayton have agreed to activate
respective education committees to
^ i preparation of a bill. ”
, -ssuming completion of this assign-
,|T and upon concurrence of the leader-
I 111 nfthe House and Senate, I shall call a
Jj'lj al session of the 65th Legislature.”
, . iscoe said the special session probably
d convene in July.
School districts begin a new fiscal year
Sept. 1, and a two-thirds majority of each
House would have to agree to legislation
during the summer to implement it by
September.
Asked if he would demand the two-
thirds majority agreement before conven
ing a session, Briscoe replied, “Yes. I
don’t see that as a major hurdle.”
“I do not want to call a special session
unless we can assure the issues can be re
solved and we can meet the goals.”
Briscoe said the six-week break before
the special session would give lawmakers
an opportunity to return to their homes
and discuss the school plan with their con
stituents. He said he hoped those talks
would help the lawmakers complete their
work quickly if they return.
“It is our intention that we expedite the
legislative process and lessen the expense
associated with the full 30-day session, ” he
said.
Briscoe also said he would ask the ses
sion to consider reducing the state sales
tax on utility bills. A tax reduction mea
sure was killed by legislators on the final
day of the 140-day regular session.
Although Briscoe praised the legisla
ture’s work in the regular session, he said
the tax reduction and school finance bills
were top priority issues which failed to
pass.
arter calls in 200
onsumer advocates
Fioiitifi ASHINGTON — Refreshed from a
iy vacation on an island off Georgia,
Indiara j ent c ar t er h as ca ll e d in some 200
n th and
t Tennei
>st in a pi
fioii
m
Lawmakers blame
failures on greed
United Press International
imer advocates to spur interest in his
asal for a consumer protection
I
meeting today, described as a brief-
br representatives of almost every
pthat has backed the measure before,
m \[ ivas designed to dispel rumors on
* tol Hill that Carter is not really in-
ted in the agency.
rter and members of his Cabinet
scheduled to address the group,
je bill to create an agency passed both
and Senate last year but died under
Id.Ford’s veto threat. The new ver-
Jwas approved by a House committee
JuniorU L weeks ago by a single vote,
t Wednt L his way back from St. Simons Island,
lated M fr spent about five hours in his home
i of Plains, visiting his family and em-
):30 a.® j n g f r i ent J s an( J neighbors,
throif earing gray slacks and a blue knit
urt, Carter strolled down Main Street
ar tliejj s mobbed by tourists and the press.
;ponsoiw d r0 pp e( 3 i n t 0 each store, kissed and
1 Coni* r e d the salesladies and greeted ac
re prop* ntances.
interest*
irter appeared to be proving the point
starts) 0 he remains very much a part of Plains.
A&Ms still a farmer at heart,” he told re-
1 costl'lers. “I miss the farming season.”
familv |itting on the platform of the old depot
his legs dangling. Carter chatted with
irters about his nostalgia for his town,
e spoke of “the community, the at-
es, the closeness and the sharing of a
imon life ...”
I feel at home when I’m here,” he said,
he President ignored the transforma-
| of Plains into a tourist mecca, more
nt on remembering how it was.
|e said to him it had not changed, and
Iraised the townspeople for their “very
Rtablej’ handling of the “thousands
[thousands of tourists.”
| m very proud,” he said.
President also expressed his devo-
) to Plains’ First Baptist Church whose
pregation has split over the issue of ra
il integration and a controversial minis
ter. When he returns to Plains “it will still
be my church.”
Carter acknowledged the church has
gone through “difficult times . . . and
some animosity,” and blamed himself for
part of the disruption because of the pub
licity surrounding the presidency.
But he told reporters “I believe God
will take care of it.”
Carter’s face lighted when he saw his
78-year old mother “Miss Lillian” and his
brother Billy waiting to greet him as he
landed by helicopter at the Plains airport.
The President brought along his daugh
ter Amy, 9, who made a list of the friends
she wanted to see, and then he began a
day of near perpetual motion.
Two students die
in one-car crash
near Bastrop
Services were held in Rockne Catholic
Church near Bastrop Monday for two
Texas A&M University students and a
companion killed in a one-car crash near
there early Sunday.
The dead were identified as Howard
Allen Fiebrich, 19, of Bastrop; Ronald
Joseph Goertz, 19 of Cedar Creek; and
Caryl Ann Seidel, 18, of Red Rock.
Fiebrich and Goertz were both fresh
men at Texas A&M last year. Siedel
attended Southwest Texas State Universi
ty.
Fiebrich, a finance major, was the son of
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Fiebrich Jr. of Bas
trop.
Goertz was the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Thomas L. Goertz of Cedar Creek. The
agricultural engineering major was a Dis
tinguished Student both his semesters at
A&M. His sister, Cheryl Louise Goertz, is
a food technology major at Texas A&M.
Fiebrich and Goertz were the third and
fourth Texas A&M students that have died
since the spring semester adjourned May
13.
Silver Taps, traditional Texas A&M
memorial service, will be conducted at the
start of the fall semester.
How Long?
Students registering yesterday for the first summer session were faced
with long lines. One line wrapped completely around Deware field
house and Wofford Cain swimming pool. Battalion Photo by Jim Crawley
Dutch government delays
answer to gunmen s calls
United Press International
AUSTIN —Texas lawmakers yesterday
blamed a lack of leadership and early pas
sage of the $528 million highway bill for
what they considered a plodding and une
ven tfid 65th Legislature.
Greed was a controlling factor from the
beginning of the session, some lawmakers
said, due mainly to forecasts of a $3 billion
state budget surplus. House and Senate
leaders urged legislators not to push pet
projects. This was so they could retain as
much as possible of the $3 billion. The
session ended with about $1 billion of the
surplus left.
Other legislators complained the ses
sion was gloomy and dull, due to an in
creased workload and poor leadership.
They said this was the reason the school
finance legislation failed.
“The thing that went wrong was we es
tablished priorities at the beginning of the
session — special interest legislation that
incumbered our money from the begin
ning,” Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Houston,
said. “The highways blew our whole ap
propriations process to hell.”
In a personal privilege speech during
the waning hours of the session Monday,
Leland chastized his colleagues for their
priorities — putting “concrete” ahead of
poverty and the elderly.
“I’m not satisfied with the leadership
this session. I’m disillusioned with the
whole system,” Leland said.
Sen. Max Sherman, D-Amarillo, dis
agreed, saying he was pleased with the
“I don’t think you’ve had the big, ex
plosive issues that make it more dramat
ic,” Sherman said. “But it’s kind of been a
plodding kind of session.
Rep. Paul Moreno, D-El Paso, agreed
with Sherman, but blamed most of the
plodding on Speaker Bill Clayton.
“As the session progressed things bog
ged down with the speaker’s bills and to
ward the end the speaker lost control of
his troops and everything would end up
with chaos and no bills,” Moreno said.
Sen. Ron Glower, D-Garland, blamed
his colleagues, rather than legislative
leaders, for any failures the 65th Legisla
ture suffered.
“This session was marked with greed,”
Glower said. “It was all eaten up with
everybody trying to divide up the money.
Everything was consumed with greed.
Sen. Carlos Truan, D-Corpus Christi,
who served four sessions in the House,
said his freshman year in the Senate was
the worst yet.
“There has been no leadership, no
morale, no esprit d’corps, ” Traun said.
Although the legislature approved only
a couple of energy proposals and rejected
his energy package. Rep. John Wilson,
D-LaGrange, said he was not disap
pointed by the session.
“This is a democratic form of govern
ment. The way it functions here is it reacts
and not acts,” Wilson said. “There wasn’t
much action by the public to require reac
tion.”
Rep. Bill Presnal, D-Bryan, chairman of
the House Appropriations Committee,
said lawmakers realistically approved
fewer bills, but made certain they were
substantial.
“I think the leadership has been out
standing,” Presnal said. “You can play
burnout with all these issues to the very
end, but there is not a serious reason why
the funding of highways should be in that
category. ”
Rhodesians capture
Mozambican town
United Press International
ASSEN, The Netherlands — The gov
ernment has delayed answering a call for
mediation from Soth Moluccan gunmen
holding 60 hostages at a train and school,
saying it wants a fuller explanation of the
request.
At the same time, four young men cal
ling themselves members of a group called
“Free Moluccan Youth,” said at a news
conference yesterday they feared “a
violent end” if the government concerned
itself only with releasing the hostages “in
stead of looking into the demands of our
boys.”
The terrorists want the Dutch govern
ment to press for independence for their
island homeland from Indonesia. They
also have demanded the release of 21
jailed South Moluccans and a flight to an
unnamed destination.
The gunmen — holding 56 persons
aboard a hijacked train and four teachers
at the school where they kidnapped more
than 100 children last week — requested
mediators yesterday.
The Dutch cabinet, which has been in
constant emergency session since the
crisis began 10 days ago, offered no im
mediate response.
A government spokesman explained,
“The delay is due to our wish for elabora
tion about exactly what the terrorists mean
by mediation and who might qualify as a
mediator. ”
While seeking an end to the crisis, the
government has maintained security
around the train, halted in open country
behind a barrier of steel and barbed wire.
A few miles to the north, marines prac
ticed boarding a similar train from ar
mored flat-top wagons, officials said. The
government has said an attack is possible if
the gunmen kill or injure any of their hos
tages.
The request for mediation was the sec
ond backdown on demands by the gun
men in as many days.
The estimated 5 gunmen began their
twin sieges vowing to start killing hostages
if the government attempted to send in
mediators. They also had demanded to
take the hostages on a flight out of the
country but abandoned that demand.
While authorities discussed whether to
send in a mediator, negotiations with the
gunmen revolved around other details, in
cluding the government’s insistence that
the Moluccans release 25-year-old Nelle
Ellenbrook, who is pregnant and in need
of medical attention.
A spokesman said the gunmen refused,
saying the woman was in good health.
The spokesman said the gunmen’s de
mands for a plane to take them and 21
jailed comrades out of the country were
not discussed yesterday. But he added this
did not mean the gunmen had abandoned
the demands.
United Press International
SALISBURY, Rhodesia -— A defiant
Rhodesia says its troops have captured a
Mozambican town and will remain deep
inside Mozambique until they “eliminate”
black nationalist guerrillas headquartered
there.
Lt. Gen. Peter Walls, the Rhodesian
military commander, said yesterday his
troops have destroyed four guerrilla bases
and penetrated as far as 47 miles inside
Mozambique where they captured the
town of Mapai.
The invasion, which began before dawn
Sunday, has disrupted “the chain of com
mand and logistical support of the Zim
babwe African National Liberation Army,
the guerrilla group led by Robert Mugabe,
he said.
“The troops will be withdrawn as soon
as they complete their task of eliminating
ZANLA terrorists in the area in question
and destroying and removing arms and
ammunition, equipment dumps and
caches,” Walls said.
He said Rhodesian troops have killed 32
guerrillas but lost none of their own men.
“Would I have liked to kill hundreds?
Yeah. Sure,” Walls said.
The invasion drew strong protests from
U.N. Secretary General Kurt Waldheim,
who in New York demanded the im
mediate and unconditional withdrawal of
the Rhodesian troops.
In London, British Foreign Secretary
David Owen said the invasion could spark
a “serious military conflict and threaten
Anglo-American plans for a peaceful tran
sition to black rule in Rhodesia. The State
Department in Washington said it de
plored the invasion.
Mugabe, in Mozambique, charged the
Rhodesian invasion was made with British
and American complicity and called it “the
last kicks of a dying horse. ”
Walls said the four guerrilla bases de
stroyed so far included “ a major adminis
trative center” three miles inside
Mozambique, a main supply and logistics
headquarters outside Mapai and two wel
coming centers for recruits at Jorge do
Limpopo and Madulo Pan.
Wall said no Mozambican civilians have
been killed “as far as I know” and that
there “probably” were no civilians in
Mapai when the town fell to the Rhode
sians.
Despite the Rhodesians’ presence,
gunners in Mozambique Monday night
lobbed rockets and mortars on the south
eastern Rhodesian border post at Vila
Salazar, causing no casualties but drawing
return fire, a communique said.
m
niega 1
price.
entucky officials searching
r cause of restaurant fire
United Press International
lOUTHGATE, KY. — Authorities say
p are scores of rumors about what
[ted the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire
Saturday night, and they aren’t dis-
Inting any possibilities.
Jut they said yesterday it’s going to be
week before they have a good idea of
' the nation’s deadliest fire in 33 years
hed.
Both Gov. Julian Carroll and state Fire
Vshal Warren Southworth have agreed
£port on the fire which killed 158 per-
|s will be ready by the end of next
ek. They said it would pinpoint the
Ise and lay blame — if there is any.
fouthworth said “about 100 rumors”
fe been compiled by his office and offi-
[s aren’t eliminating “any single factor”
[heir investigation.
Imong the rumors are reports of a defec-
basement electrical generator and a
llecloth loaded with cigarette butts,
the death toll was revised downward
160 yesterday by Campbell County
oner Dr. Fred Stine. Stine discovered
two numbers had been assigned to
bodies that didn’t exist.
Stine said 19 victims remained uniden
tified. FBI agents armed with fingerprint
ing ink and dental charts were still at
work.
Sixty-three persons remained hos
pitalized yesterday, in from fair to critical
condition.
Southworth refused to theorize what
touched off the fire, saying it would only
add to the “confusion.” He said he wants
to hear all the eywitness reports.
The eyewitnesses, however, have done
some public speculation.
Walter Bailey, an 18-year-old busboy
who became a hero by giving the first
warning of the fire onstage in the night
club’s Cabaret Room, said the blaze may
have started in tablecloths containing the
contents of dumped ashtrays.
He said it was a common practice to
clear tables by hauling away tablecloths of
dirty dishes and ashtray dumpings.
Bailey’s account was discounted, how
ever, by Oran Hall of Elyria, Ohio, who
rented the Zebra Room Saturday evening
for his son’s wedding reception.
“I’m not saying it couldn’t have been
started by cigarettes,” he said. “But I
think it’s improbable. ”
Hall said his family and guests went into
the room about 5:15 p.m. after the mar
riage of his son Larry in the club’s garden
chapel.
“We started to sweat and thought the air
conditioning was off,” he said. “It was so
hot we asked a waitress to check to see if
there was something wrong with the air
conditioning but she never came back.”
Hall said there was no fire in the room
when his group left about 8:30 p.m. He
said he doubted cigarettes burning on a
tablecloth could have touched off the kind
of blaze first reported at about 9 p.m.
“There were only three or four of us in
the Zebra Room who smoked and there
couldn’t have been more than four or five
butts in an ashtray,” he said.
Stine has said officials are suspicious of
an oil-fueled electrical generator located
beneath the Zebra Room. He said the
generator could have shot flames down a
hallway, causing the rapid-spreading
blaze.
Boogie Fever
Two Texas A&M University students “get down”
with the music at the Grove Dance last night.
GypSee Eyes was the band for the dance which
marked the opening of the outdoor theater for the
summer. “Hang ’Em High, with Clint Eastwood
will be the Grove’s first film, scheduled for to
night at 8:45 p.m.
Battalion Photo by Titeve Goble