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By ANDY WILLIAMS
j)ob Carruthers, a graduate student in
lication at Texas A&M University, is try-
ng to amend a state law which he says
I criminates against him and people like
I 'he law, Texas House Bill 612, prohibits
dents who are working half time or less
their universities from participating in
: Texas Teacher Retirement System
IS). In effect, this means graduate as-
nts, Carruthers says,
efore passage of the bill in May 1977,
Iduate assistants at state universities
|re required to participate in the pro-
Carruthers amendment would allow
Ise people he calls “career educators” to
continue to participate in the system. He
says the bill penalizes those who taught in
Texas public schools and were members of
TTRS before they returned to college for
higher degrees.
Before he enrolled at Texas A&M in
1976, Carruthers was a teacher and coach at
schools in Abilene and Borger. He was
forced to quit TTRS when House Bill 612
passed. He says he will lose pension, insur
ance benefits, sick leave, and holidays be
cause he was forced out of the program.
Carruthers has presented his amend
ment to the Student Senate and the
Graduate Student Council and plans to
submit it to the Texas Student Association
Convention here March 3-5. If it is passed
by these groups the amendment will be
sent to the legislative committee of the
Texas State Teachers Association and the
board of trustees of TTRS. From there
Carruthers hopes to send it to the Texas
Legislature.
The Texas Teacher Retirement System
provides a pension fund and insurance
policies to its 390,000 members. It deducts
6.65 percent from each working member’s
paycheck and receives about 7.5 percent of
its funds from the state.
Bruce Hineman, assistant director of
TTRS, says that House Bill 612 passed
largely because of support from a group of
graduate assistants at the University of
Texas. Hineman says the group objected to
having money deducted from their
paychecks without their consent. Graduate
adat will argue case
)f talks with Americans
By United Press International
WASHINGTON — With no agreement
land on how to resume the stalled peace
ks with Israel, Egyptian President
war Sadat today undertook to argue his
ewith the American people.
Sadat and President Carter returned to
ashington Sunday afternoon after two
i's and three long talks at Camp David, a
Tided presidential retreat in the snow-
Irered Catoctin Mountains of western
\l iryland.
An interview with Sadat on NBC later
I |de it clear the Carter-Sadat summit did
|t succeed in what American offrcials had
ribed as a minimum goal: achieving
fly resumption of the foregin ministers’
broken off by Sadat on Jan. 18 in
salem.
Instead, Sadat said, it was agreed that
istaht Secretary of State Alfred Ather-
Jr. will shuttle between Egypt and Is-
an effort to create some com-
mise language that would permit a re-
ption of the talks.
In the meantime, Sadat said, talks be-
I'een the defense ministers in Cairo will
tinue.
The Egyptain president, meanwhile,
scheduled two days of meetings, appear
ances and interviews in Washington be
fore a final session with Carter Wednes
day.
Sadat’s schedule called for meetings
with American Jewish community leaders
at Blair House Monday morning and a
speech and question-and-answer session
later at the National Press Club.
On Tuesday, he is to meet key congres
sional leaders, do at least two more televi
sion interviews and have a private “back
ground” session with American editors
and columnists.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan
has been invited to Washington soon after
Sadat leaves Wednesday evening.
The Egyptian president said he would
be willing to resume the foreign ministers’
talks, but with a necessary precondition
— agreement with Israel on a basic set
of principles. The weekend talks had been
designed, among other things, to produce
such a declaration.
Sadat repeatedly made two points in
Sunday night’s interview with NBC’s
David Brinkley:
He expressed gratitude to the American
people, particularly American Jews, for
the “sentiments they have shown. ” Speak
ing of the American Jews at one point he
said, “I shall never fail them, or all the
American people.”
He accused Israel, at length, of taking
the “wrong direction” after his visit to
Jerusalem in November. He said the Is
raelis accepted his offer of recognition, di
rect talks, and full diplomatic relations as
part of a comprehensive peace settlement
without making any similar response in
turn.
assistants not continuing in the program
after receiving their degrees had the
money they’d paid into the program re
turned with 2.5 percent interest.
Carruthers says the low interest rate was
the the main objection for the bill’s suppor
ters. The rate has been raised to five per
cent for those withdrawing from the system
before completing the 10 years required for
receipt of pension.
Participation in the program could not be
made optional to graduate assistants,
Hineman says.
“Our plan is described as a group plan,”
he says, adding that it was necessary to
include or exclude all graduate assistants.
“We did not favor this bill at all,” Hine
man says.
Mike Mitchell, president of the graduate
student council, disagrees with Hineman’s
statement that the program could not be
made optional to graduate assistants.
“That’s ridiculous. It’s not all or none,”
Mitchell said when told of the statement.
He remarked that only a portion of Texas
A&M’s groundskeepers, janitors, maids
and other employees participated in the
system.
“If it can’t be optional, then Carruthers’
amendment is simply a moot point.”
Mitchell says the amendment required the
separation of graduate assistants into
categories, which violates TTRS’s all-or-
none maxim.
Mitchell says he would choose to make
participation optional for graduate assis
tants but prefers keeping the involvement
requirement rather that barring member
ship.
“My last choice would have been this
fiasco,” Mitchell says.
But how long will it last?
Sunshine hasn’t been a familiar sight this winter, and many Bryan-
College Station residents had given up on it altogether when the
skies finally cleared last weekend. The flag in front of the Academic
Building at Texas A&M captures that rare bit of light.
Battalion photo by Susan Webb
Officials concerned
Big Bend country has become corridor for drug trafficking
United Press International
MIDLAND, Tx. — A 350-mile strip of
land stretching across the Big Bend country
of Texas is causing concern for federal drug
officials, according to a U.S. attorney.
Jamie C. Boyd of San Antonio during the
weekend said the area, which stretches
from Van Horn to Sanderson, has become
known as the Permian Basin corridor for
drug trafficking. He said the corridor has
the potential for corrupting local and
county government.
The trafficking corridor, which has de
veloped in recent years, includes Big Bend
National park and the Presidio border
entry port. It is one of the least protected
Contest draws 150 students
Students match wits with computers
By BETH DZIKOWSKI
There was a calm yet tense mood in the
mote Computing Center Saturday as
participants began a battle of com-
iters in the ninth annual Southwest Re-
mal Programming Contest.
Seventeen schools were represented in
actual competition. Each school had
o teams which consisted of no more than
ir persons. The teams then elected to
mpete in the first or second division.
The strategy of this computer battle was
solve three problems in less than three
hours. The great minds from such schools
as Rice, University of Houston, Texas
A&M, and Abilene Christian University
clashed to find the key program that would
solve the assigned problems in division I.
These problems had a higher degree of dif
ficulty than those assigned to division II
—— teams from schools such as Baylor,
Louisiana Tech and Prairie View A&M
filling the ranks.
The confrontation began at 1:15 p.m.
and relief from the tedious skirmish would
not come for three hours.
Two hours into the raging battle found
the team “Nicholl’s Worth” from Nicholls
State University ahead of the pack in the
second division. The A&M teams, “Great
Gats, and “Primus,” held their ground in
division I.
Mass hysteria filled the room while last
calculations were made. A a ten-minute
warning was announced and moans of “I’m
going crazy ” could be heard from the rows
of paper-filled tables that line the RCC.
Data cards were punched out faster,
minds moved more quickly as the teams
struggled to get their last programs runs
into the computer.
Then it was all over. The last computa
tion was made, the last data card was
punched and the last runs were in the
judges’ hands.
Four gold and silver trophies patiently
glistened as final results were tabulated for
division.
In division II, LaTourneau College
placed first. Second place was awarded to
University of Tulsa. East Texas and Baylor
took third and fourth place.
Division I did not do as well. Abilene
Christian University was the only school to
claim an award. Three gold trophies sat
unattended as teams from Texas A&M,
Rice, Stephen F. Auston, Houston and
Trinity left with feelings of disgust and dis
appointment.
Many team members were highly frus
trated and voiced opinions on unfair ques
tioning’ and not enough time.’ But one
member from the Rice team summed it up
by saying, “This stinks!”
thoroughfares along the bolder for over
land and airborne drug smugglers, Boyd
said.
“The thing that troubles me most of all
isn’t the health problems caused by the
drug flow, but rather the tremendous
amount of money available for corruption of
public office which is generated through
the narcotics business,” he said.
“One sheriff tells me he was approached
and offered a six-figure number if he would
lay off a particular road. He said he had
heard of other officials who had had similar
offers made to them.
“If there’s that kind spread around, it’s
going to tell me we ought to make a hard
attempt toward enforcement of the narco
tics laws,” Boyd said.
Boyd said he and members of President
Carter’s border agency reorganization
ream have reviewed the corridor’s poten
tial for traffickers and what can be done to
stop the drug flow.
Big Bend National Park, a rugged and
desolate region that attracts thousands of
tourists each year, has developed a reputa
tion as “the place to pick up your load,”
Boyd said. This has instigated recent talks
Boyd and state and federal officials over
how to make the park safer for tourists.
He pointed to recent roadblocks of major
arteries cutting out of the park as a reason
for the concern. One weekend in
November resulted in arrests and seizures
of nine persons for misdemeanor narcotics
possession; two persons for stolen vehicles
linked to trafficking; 104 pounds of
marijuana; and $10,000 believed payment
for drugs.
“When I see lists of the type of people
apprehended there and the type of nefari
ous things going on and the type of people
dealing in trafficking, I would say tourists
are not entirely safe. It’s an unwholesome
situation at best,” he said.
In a 1976 drug seizure, a Sul Ross Uni
versity student working undercover for
government customs agents was killed in a
gun battle. Agents seized more than 3,000
pounds of marijuana brought into the park
across the Rio Grande.
Presidio has developed into a crossroad
for overland drug traffic bound as far north
as Chicago, Boyd said.
Suspected kidnappers
give taped confession
United Press International
NEW YORK — Three suspected kidnap
pers of fashion designer Calvin Klein’s 11-
year-old daughter have given authorities
tape-recorded confessions of their ill-fated
scheme, a prosecutor said Sunday.
A judge in Manhattan Criminal Court
arraigned a F rench-speaking native of Mar
tinique, her teen-age half brother and
Vietnam gives in to U.S.;
recalls U.N. ambassador
Two students from Louisiana Tech University
ponder over a computer program. They were
among 29 teams that competed in the Ninth
annual Southwest Regional Computer Program
ming Contest, held Saturday in the Remote
Computer Center in the Sterling C. Evans
Library.
Battalion photo by Beth D/ikowski
By United Press International
HONG KONG — Vietnam has given in
to an unprecedented U.S. explusion order
and recalled its chief representative to the
United Nations. But, it denied that Am
bassador Dinh Ba Thi was a spy.
The official Vietnam News Agency said
Sunday that Thi, the first U.N. ambas
sador ever expelled by Washington, was
being ordered home “because the U.S.
government was hindering the activities of
the Vietnamese U.N. chief.”
Vietnam earlier said it would not com
ply with the expulsion order.
Thi allegedly was involved with U.S. In
formation Agency officer Ronald Hum
phrey, accused of leaking state secrets on
Southeast Asia, and David Truong Hung
Dzu, a Vietnamese who has been living in
the United States for more than a decade.
Both have been charged with espionage.
In Washington, State Department
spokesman Charles Shapiro said the
United States had not received official
word from Hanoi on Thi.
“If this is true and if he has been with
drawn, we welcome it. We have assumed
all along he will leave promptly as we have
requested,” Shapiro said.
Asked when Thi was expected to leave,
he said, “The note that we sent said he was
to leave promptly. That means enough
time to get his affairs in order and pack his
bags.”
The Vietnamese U.N. mission in New
York refused to comment on Thi’s plans.
Last Friday, the Vietnamese govern
ment labeled the American expulsion
order “totally unacceptable” and said Thi
would remain at the United Nations.
Thi was chief Paris spokesman for the
Viet Cong in the months preceding the
peace agreement signed Jan. 27, 1973. He
was named Hanoi’s first ambassador to the
United Nations after Vietnam was admit
ted to the world body last year.
another man on first degree kidnapping
charges Sunday.
During the arraignment, Assistant Dis
trict Attorney Thomas Demakis said all
three had “made foil, tape-recorded con
fessions.” He said a “very strong ease”
would be presented to the grand jury
within three days.
Marci Klein was lured from a bus on the
way to school Friday and held captive nine
hours in a Manhattan apartment until her
father paid a $100,000 ransom.
Acting State Supreme Court Justice Leo
Milone ordered Paule Christine Ransay
Lewis, 23, held on $50,000 bail. Police
claim the woman, who goes by the name of
Christine Ransay, lured Marci from the
bus.
Miss Ransay’s 19-year-old half brother,
Dominique Ransay, and Cecil Wiggins, 24,
both of New York City, were ordered held
on $100,000 bond apiece. The judge set an
additional bail of $5,000 on Wiggins for a
1970 weapons charge.
State prosecutors had opposed bail for
the three, but Legal Aid Attorney Harvey
Fishbein argued that there was “no indica
tion of injury” to Klein’s daughter.
While Miss Ransay originally told police
she had been forced to participate in the
kidnapping by three men, she apparently
changed her story later.
The arrests of the three supeets Saturday
culminated an investigation involving hun
dreds of police officers and hundreds of FBI
agents. At one point, however, confused
agents mistakenly nabbed a 36-year-old
New York man and his pregnant wife at a
midtown parking garage.
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