The Battalion
Vol. 71 No. 80
8 Pages
Friday, January 20, 1978
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Inside Friday:
What money can (or can’t) buy,
p. 2.
Eat more possum, p. 3.
Yell leaders miss Aggies’ victory,
p. 7
barter plots plan
or tax reductions
coring
Vgsait
United Press International
SHINGTON — President Carter,
|ring the economy sound despite
serious problems, is calling for re
efforts to cut unemployment, infla-
nd the trade deficit,
me approach, he asked Congress for
billion tax cut.
miblicans and Democrats — with
^ few exceptions — quickly embraced
ea of a tax cut and said Carter’s $25
ion figure was close to their own target,
[ip comments indicated Congress
(Id approve it, and quickly,
ter’s first State of the Union address
livered to a joint session of Congress
day night — contained no surprises
ijor new programs. But the president
[epeatedly, though mildly, applauded
Igthe nearly one hour that he spoke.
Jere was some grumbling that the
Hi lacked specifics, even on the key
in thel
ilyl
ell Id!
der
gam
proposal to cut taxes, and the normal
amount of barbs from the out-of-power
GOP.
“I made the same kind of speech in 1964
and I got the hell beat out of me,” said
Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz.
Speaking to members of Congress, the
Supreme Court, the diplomatic corps and
the Cabinet as well as invited guests who
braved a snowstorm to crowd into the
House chamber, Carter said “our main
task at home this year, with energy a cen
tral element, is the nation’s economy.
“We must continue the recovery and
further cut unemployment and inflation,”
he said.
The president said, “We reached all of
our economic goals for 1977,” but he
added, “We must do even better in the
future.
“We still have serious problems in
which all of us must work together,” he
Limits desired
in Park probe
United Press International
SEOUL, South Korea — The U.S. Justice Department has promised South
3rea that it will try to persuade Congress not to subpoena former Washington
from Ibbyist Tongsun Park, according to an agreement released today.
|The U.S.-South Korean ement, signed Jan. 10 but made public today, said
Americans also pledged to limit their questions on Park’s ties with the Korean
1A and other Seoul government organizations.
Park, the key figure in the Capitol Hill influence-buying scandal, was ques-
aned for the seventh day today. He told reporters at the outset of the interroga-
m he was exhausted and asked them, “Please be kind to me.”
The Justice Department signed the agreement with the South Koreans to win
irks cooperation in its investigation of the influence-buying scandal,
i pro® The 15-article accord said relevant transcripts of Park’s interrogation would be
ew usBirwarded to congressional committees to discourage them from seeking direct
lew testimony from the 42-year-old millionaire rice merchant.
The congressional committees will be urged to accept the transcripts in lieu of
rsonal appearances by Mr. Park,' the agreement said.
Tn addition, the congressional committees will be asked by the U.S. Depart-
^entof Justice not to subpoena Mr. Park when he visits the United States for trial
ist th testimony.
mat® The agreement also said that “questioning shall not concern actions or state-
ed ioftents of officials of the Republic of Korea government or of any third country,
a '"except any which may have occurred in the United States or in the presence of
kei fl S. officials.”
The pact — parts of which have been leaked in the past several days — already
[as come under fire in Washington.
Leon Jaworski, counsel to the House ethics committee, argued that the United
fates was “out-negotiated” by South Korea and that committee members
hreatened to serve a subpoena on Park upon his arrival in Washington in any
11 bed
said. “Our trade deficit is too large, infla
tion is still too high and too many Ameri
cans still do not have a job. ”
Of the $25 billion in tax cuts, $17 billion
will go to individuals, Carter said. He
added that 96 percent of American tax
payers will have to pay less to the govern
ment. Another $6 billion will go to busi
ness and $2 billion in excise tax reduc
tions.
He said, “Our tax proposals will in
crease opportunity everywhere in this na
tion, but additional jobs for the disadvan
taged deserve special attention.”
Carter said he would ask for a “substan-.
tial increase” in funds for public jobs for
youth, a doubling of public service em
ployment and a new program designed to
encourage the private sector to hire more
young and disadvantaged people.
Rejecting any type of controls. Carter
said he would seek to curb inflation by ask
ing government, business, labor and other
groups to join in a voluntary program to
hold wage and price increase below the
average increases of the past two years.
In an ad lib, which drew the longest and
loudest applause of the night,'he said he
saw “my fellow farmers standing in the
snow’ on the way to Capitol Hill and
added it was “incumbent on us to monitor
very carefully the farm situation.”
Farmers have been demonstrating in
Washington for two days for higher crop
prices.
He was also loudly applauded — al
though mostly by Democrats — when he
called for ratification of the Panama Canal
treaties to “demonstrate our good faith to
the world, discourage the spread of hostile
idealogies in this hemisphere and directly
contribute to the economic well-being and
security of the United States.
Carter said his budget will be “lean and
tight, but that the deficit would be only
slightly less than this year.
But he added, “With careful planning,
efficient management and proper restraint
on spending, we can move rapidly toward
a balanced budget — and we will.”
Carter also said “the first and prime
concern” of the administration’s foreign
policy will be the security of the country.
“Security is based on our national will
and security is based on the strength of our
armed forces,” Carter added. “We have
the will, and militarily, we are very
strong.”
The second major goal. Carter said, was
promoting harmony in areas of the world
where major differences among nations —
such as the Middle East — threaten inter
national peace and cited as the third goal:
world economic growth and stability.
Last night the 57th car on the Missouri-Pacific feather Dr. and Villa Maria. This picture was
Railroad line derailed at the intersection of Fin- taken at 9:30 p.m.
Powdered aluminum spills
Train
By GARY WELCH
Battalion Staff
Five Missouri Pacific freight cars
derailed in Bryan Thursday, spilling
powdered aluminum along the
track. Two of the cars left the track
completely and turned on their
sides, spilling powder from the top
of each.
The 116-car train was traveling
north about 5:30 p.m. when the
57th car left the track at the inter
section of Villa Maria and Finfeather
derails in
roads. Witnesses said the train was
moving about five or six mph when
it seemed to slip off the track.
A Missouri Pacific inspector said
there was no danger of the
aluminum dust igniting or otherwise
being harmful. Inspectors were at
the site last night examining the
wreckage for clues about the cause.
They measured the track gauge for
imperfections, but found none im
mediately.
All cars still on the track were
Bryan
pulled away.
Southern Pacific Railroad owns
the track and is responsible for
clearing away the five derailed cars.
Crews were expected to begin re
railing the five cars this morning
with heavy cranes.
Original plans had called for a re
railing attempt last night, but it was
abandoned. Heavy equipment has
been summoned from Giddings, a
Missouri Pacific spokesman said.
The engineer of the train was
L. J. Adcock of Ft. Worth.
Briscoe adds investigator
in probe of Migrant Office
United Press International
AUSTIN — The same day Gov. Dolph
Briscoe was explaining some of his deci
sions regarding his Office of Migrant Af
fairs, he announced he was hiring
additional investigators to look into wrong
doing in the office.
A
Snow is fun. . .
and not so fun
At the top, Roy T. Guerra of Bryan
puts sand on the icy sidewalks in front
of the Chemistry Building to prevent
students from slipping. Guerra works
for the Texas A&M University Sys
tem. At the bottom, Ellen Turner, a
sophomore English major from Dal
las, had to clear off the ice and snow
from her car windows before she
could get to class Thursday.
Battalion photos by Susan Webb
Briscoe Thursday responded to criticism
of his handling of the migrant affairs office
by saying his actions were intended to help
the poor in rural areas.
Briscoe acknowledged that he ordered
the migrant affairs office to receive nearly
20 percent of all federal Manpower pro
gram money allotted to rural areas ofTexas.
An employee of the Texas Department of
Community Affairs, said “there is no way”
the migrant population makes up one-fifth
of the rural poor in Texas. That department
administered almost all of the federal Man
power funds allocated to state government
until 1976.
Also Thursday, in an unusual move,
Briscoe announced he had hired former
District Attorney Robert O. Smith and
ex-FBI agent Fred Lee to assist in the in
vestigation of the migrant affairs office and
the Texas Department of Community Af
fairs.
District Attorney Ronald Earle said he
asked Briscoe for help in the inquiry.
Briscoe noted neither Smith nor Lee had
had any previous connection with the gov
ernor’s office.
Briscoe called for the investigation after
the head of the Governor’s Office of Mi
grant Affairs and a top deputy were in
dicted by a Brownsville Grand Jury earlier
this month on forgery charges. Five others
have been charged with theft in connection
with grants obtained through GOMA and
TDCA.
Smith was the prosecutor who won con
victions of former House Speaker Gus F.
Mutscher and two others for bribery con
spiracy in the Sharpstown stock fraud scan
dal in 1972 and numerous other legislators
and public officials on charges ranging from
nepotism to official misconduct.
A spokesman said the special inves
tigators will be paid on a contract through
the governor s office.
“The investigation is now underway. We
expect it to take some time, but with the
high quality of this help from the governor’s
office and the attorney general’s office, it
will be thorough,” said District Attorney
Ronald Earle.
Lee, until Jan. 1, headed the FBI’s Aus
tin office as senior resident agent. He re
tired after 27 years with the federal agency.
Briscoe is in charge of allocating the fed
eral funds to 119 of Texas’ 254 counties,
called the “balance of state” region.
“It was my responsibility under terms of
the Comprehensive Employment Training
Act to decide how the funds would be man
aged, ’ Briscoe said. “I made the decision
and I stand by it.”
Prairie View official
dies in car
A memorial service has been scheduled
today at Prairie View in honor of Dr.
George R. Ragland, 61-year-old vice presi
dent for academic affairs at Prairie View
A&M University, who was killed Wednes
day afternoon in a two-car collision near
Cypress.
The memorial will be conducted at 10:30
a.m. in Hobart Taylor Hall. Classes will be
suspended for the services.
Services for Ragland are pending with
Jones Funeral Home in Navasota, said offi
cials.
Department of Public Safety inves
tigators said Ragland, enroute to Houston,
apparently lost control of his car on rain-
slick U.S. 290 and careened into the path of
a westbound pickup driven by George
Chapman of Washington.
Chapman remained in a Houston hospi
tal Thursday with critical injuries.
Both drivers were alone in their vehi
cles.
Ragland came to PVAM in 1955 as a pro
fessor of sociology after teaching at Texas
College and Alabama A&M. He was sub
sequently made head of sociology at PVAM
and held the posts of registrar and acting
dean of the university before becoming the
school’s first vice president for academic
affairs in 1975.
wreck
A native of Oklahoma City, he received
his B.S. degree in 1938 from Langston
(Okla.) University and his M. A. the follow
ing year from the University of Iowa, where
he earned his Ph.D. in 1953.