s
The Battalion
Vol. 71 No. 122
8 Pages
Monday, March 27, 1978
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
ines ‘ready’;
5perating today
United Press International
triking construction workers shut
Ivn at least seven large underground
ties, employing about 3,000 miners, in
jio early today but United Mine Work
's Union members returned to work at
on jMer mines throughout the Buckeye
) slaljf'
n dr®’ 16 construc tion workers, also mein-
Vs of the UMW, are still without a con-
,1^let. They closed six North American
itsoo l®! C°. mines in the Powhatan Point area
ez • ® a Y&O Coal Co. mine in Belmont
da. Kiinty, turning back miners attempting
1-9
Proposal covers
ot-check writers
i ith savings
United Press International
lcG«
jrniott:
■her if
"fvASHINGTON UPI— The agencies
ich regulate the nation’s banks are con-
bring proposals that could make
inced-check worries a thing of the past
many consumers.
the proposals are made final, banks
ild be allowed to transfer money au-
atically from savings accounts to check-
jig accounts to cover overdrafts—
"Bvided the customer has given the bank
cd m r0 val to do so.
>ase,s
fj e ld anks would not be required to offer the
on, but, if they did, the cost to coo
lers who overdraw their checking ac-
w j|] nts could be considerably less than the
htfield ent bad check’’ charge banks levy.
he Federal Reserve System, to which
eadini 39 0 f the nation’s 14,709 banks belong,
home issued a proposal under which automa-
irossii transfers would be allowed. The cus-
layal ier would lose any interest actually
aroro [i ec j during the previous 30 days by the
d ^ ings account funds that get transferred
oust* > checking.
teain hat means if $50 were transferred the
xasis tomer might lose only a few cents
ntwii -rest, compared to several dollars if a
SCov check’ fee were levied. The bank
ild still be allowed to charge its “bad
ck fees or other handling charges, but
"" mpetition among banks may make that
kely.
he Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.,
ch controls the rest of the banks, is
jsidering similar rules but it is less sure
to tackle the penalty provisions.
It is considering one option, under
ch there would be no forfeiture of
:rest at all so long as the check is cov-
|d, and another that would simply levy a
fee for such transfers,
ublic comment periods for both the
eral Reserve and FDIC proposals
ed last week, and the agencies are now
iewing the statements received from
industry, public and others,
n a related move. Rep. Fernand St.
rmain, D-R. I., said he would introduce
islation after Congress’ Easter recess
t would allow banks to pay interest on
- f money in a checking account.
8 t: Federal rules have outlawed that since
j ! Great Depression.
to return to work on the midnight shift.
However, mines operated by Consoli
dation Coal Co., Peabody Coal Co., and
the Southern Ohio Coal Co.,were re
ported open at midnight and hopes are the
construction workers will have a contract
today. A hungry union rank and file
ratified a new miners pact by a 57 percent
margin Friday. But few of them had good
words for the agreement as they headed
back to work — and desperately needed
paychecks.
“The majority says we have to go back to
work and the majority rules,” said
Pennsylvania local officer Frank Dwyer. “I
am willing to uphold the contract, al
though I’m not all that enthused about it.
“We bit it off and now we got to chew it.
We were sold out.” John Guzek, presi
dent of the construction workers, UMW
District 6, which has 16,000 members in
Ohio and the Northern Panhandle of West
Virginia, is the chief negotiator for the
UMW construction contract, which covers
about 10,000 UMW members who build
coal tipples and other facilities.
“We hope to get this contract wound up
today,” Guzek told UPI from Washington
in a telephone interview. “There are no
hangups. We just have to put a lot of stuff
together. We have a real good chance of
getting the contract today. We are real
close.”
Guzek said if an agreement is reached,
it could be passed on by the UMW Execu
tive Board by late Tuesday and returned to
the coal fields for ratification vote next
weekend.
Dynamite blasts during the weekend
shattered union and management opera
tions alike, and UMW retirees, unhappy
with pension provisions in the new mining
agreement, threatened their own picket
ing action. Early today, none had ap
peared.
Battalion photo by Barbara Richerson
To bee, or not to bee
Dr. J. W. Smith, Entomology professor, shows his beekeeping
class a frame from a beehive. The bees build a honeycomb on
the frame and store food in certain cells and raise young in
others. This course is being offered to students who want to learn
beekeeping.
>0
kstl
Kidnappers release Empain
without collecting ransom
United Press International
PARIS — The, kidnappers of Baron
Edouard-Jean Empain, one of Europe’s
wealthiest men, released the industrialist
Sunday night without harming him and
without collecting their $8 million ransom.
Empain was forced to wear chains and a
hood and had part of his little finger chop
ped off by his abductors before his libera
tion Easter Sunday, police said.
The kidnappers freed Empain in subur
ban Ivry on the southeast edge of Paris
after holding him two months and three
days. He took a 20-minute subway ride to
the square in front of the Opera House in
central Paris where he telephoned his
wife.
The abductors released Empain after
one captured gang member, Alain Caillol,
36, was convinced by police Sunday the
kidnappers would never receive the ran
som and Caillol would be charged with
murder if the baron were executed.
In the presence of police, Caillol tele
phoned the kidnappers, dialing several
agonizing times before getting an answer.
He then said, according to police, “Let the
baron go. It’s useless. You’ll never get the
ransom.
Commissioner Pierre Ottavioli, head of
the police criminal division, smiled
broadly after he questioned the freed 40-
year-old tycoon in his luxurious apartment
Sunday night.
Caillol was captured in a police shootout
Friday when some of the gang showed up
at a rendezvous on the highway from Paris
to Orly Airport to pick up the ransom. A
second kidnapper was killed.
Ottavioli quoted Empain as saying he
was “treated badly” in his “prison” which
moved to several locations during the two
months.
He wore chains and a hood. The lower
third of his left little finger was chopped off
by the abductors and sent to his wife three
days after the Jan. 23 kidnapping as proof
they held him.
The liberaton of the handsome baron,
blond and square-jawed, was as colorful as
his life.
The kidnappers gave Empain a little
money when they freed him on a sides-
treet in Ivry. The multimillionaire took
the subway to the brilliantly lit Place
d’Opera square and with the remaining
money telephoned his wife from a public
booth in the Opera Drugstore on the
square.
The black-haired, Italian-born baroness
sped with police to the Opera square
where she and the baron were reunited.
Inside Monday:
In defense of the oil corporations, p.
2.
Fires on campus over weekend, p. 4.
Aggies sweep three-game series, p.
8.
Wary mayors
await signing of
new urban policy
United Press International
WASHINGTON — With some 50 wary
mayors on hand. President Carter today"
was ready to unveil his program for
America’s cities and call for a new partner
ship between federal, state and local gov
ernments to solve urban ills.
The long-awaited comprehensive urban
policy was to be outlined at a late after
noon signing ceremony in the White
House. The total cost was not yet known
and various reports pegged it anywhere
from $2 billion to nearly twice that
amount.
More than 50 mayors gathered in Wash
ington to be on hand for the long-awaited
plan. The president of the U.S. Confer
ence of Mayors, Lee Alexander of Syra
cuse, N.Y., said his colleagues feared the
new policy might “result in cities being
caught in a squeeze between the states
and neighborhood groups.”
Alexander said the yearlong policy de
velopment process “has seemed awk
ward,” but mayors “are certain that the
urban proposal . . . will be a significant
step in the right direction.”
The Urban and Regional Policy Group,
headed by Housing and Urban Develop
ment Secretary Patricia Roberts Harris,
recommended a 10-point program. It
stressed improving existing urban pro
grams but it also called for greater state
involvement in defining urban policy, and
direct funding of neighborhood groups in
urban revitalization efforts.
“The bottom line of the Carter approach
is to make better use of what we already
have on the books,” one summary of the
policy said.
Among the major innovations of the
Carter program is a kind of “urban impact
statement” under which all federal pro
grams and activities will be evaluated to
determine they are in line with the urban
policy before they are approved.
On the state level, the recom
mendations include a call for incentives to
states “to help implement comprehensive
urban policies” through revenue-sharing
funds channeled directly to the states, plus
“flexible additional funds” to states “when
and if needed.”
At the private sector level, the recom
mendations include a call for “stiong in
centives in the form of government-
sponsored industrial expansion and im
provement loans at lower rates for busi
nesses to remain, expand or relocate in
economically troubled areas.
Increased federal purchasing targeted to
such firms also is being proposed.
Stressing “the federal government alone
does not have the resources” to implement
its plan, the URPG said the federal gov
ernment “must work to forge a close
partnership” with all those involved.
A&M Consolidated
insurance premiums
to be raised this year
Vehicle insurance premiums will be al
most four times higher this year for the
A&M Consolidated School District, be
cause of high vehicle losses last year.
The premium for last year’s insurance
was $3,984, but the claims paid by the in
surance company totaled $10,325. During
the previous two years, the claims had
been less than the premiums.
Theft and vandalism decreased last
year, compared to the previous two years,
but the claims resulting from property
damage went up from $1,285 to $8,861.
Also, there were two claims totaling
$1,325 resulting from collisions last year.
In the previous two years, no claims
were paid for collisions.
The school district has had problems
finding an insurance company willing to
write a policy for them because of the high
losses. The only bid the district received
was for $15,465, almost four times higher
than last year’s $3,984 premium. The
additional money will come from the
budget, which was increased Feb. 20 to
cover the difference.
M.L. Cashion, of Anco Insurance, told
the board March 6 that other school dis
tricts in the state are having having similar
problems. He said that in the past, buses
were used mainly for rural routes, and
smaller buses were used. In recent years,
there has been a change in bus use, and
losses have increased, resulting in rate in
creases.
Graphic notes, threats found
in women’s dormitory Friday
BY DANA GARDINA
Graphic sexual notes and threats of
murder and rape were found written on
the memo boards of first floor Fowler resi
dents, a women’s dorm on the North side
of campus. A College Station police detec
tive said that the threats were written Fri
day between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.
There also were reports of someone
jiggling door knobs and peeking in the
women’s windows.
Gwen Fuller, head resident advisor for
Keathley, said that a psychiatrist from the
Psychological Counseling Center assumed
from the information gathered that the
person is an exhibitionist and is probably
not harmful.
R.A.s from Keathley, Fowler, Hughes
and Davis Gary are taking shifts patrolling
inside the quad at night while the campus
police patrol the outside of the quad. They
plan to continue patrolling at least through
the week.
Fuller said that she hopes to get police
to patrol the area permanently.
The detective working on the case said
he had no suspects as of Sunday.
OU
n-:
Id
Illegal aliens: a ‘sought after’ people
By ROLANDO SANTOS
Approximately 5,000 Mexican illegal aliens reside in
Brazos County, say local law enforcement officials.
And although many illegal aliens say Bryan-College Sta
tion is safe and that pay for skilled labor is good, their
primary reason for coming is that local construction, in
dustrial and agricultural employers send for them.
Maria, a Bryan resident, smuggles illegal aliens from
Mexico to Bryan. According to Maria, who prefers to re
main anonymous, the illegal alien comes to Brazos County
in one of two ways. He either travels on foot, making his
way across the state through the rural areas and woods, or
he is transported by smugglers.
In perfect Spanish, Maria said, “The smuggler gets the
word from ‘la calle — on the street — that a particular
industry or agricultural operation needs some laborers.
The word never comes directly from the employers,” she
said, “but rather through other illegal aliens working
there. The foreman or someone in charge will mention
that it looks as if they will be needing more help.”
“The foreman says this knowing that the illegal alien will
go back and tell the smuggler, or write home and tell his
family and friends to come to Bryan. Sometimes white
men from the farms come and ask me if I know of anyone
needing work, but they never ask me to bring them some
wetbacks,” she said. “They want wetbacks, but won’t say
so directly.”
A smuggler charges the illegal alien for his or her trans
portation from Mexico to the United States. Maria said the
going rate for transportation to Bryan is $250. The cost is
$500 to Dallas, and nearly $800 if the illegal alien wants to
get to Chicago. She said the smuggler makes the trips as
often as neccessary, transporting an average of five illegal
aliens at a time.
“They are in groups of five usually, but sometimes only
one or two are brought back,” she said. “They are trans
ported in cars, campers, or rented U-hauls, from Laredo
through San Antonio, up to Bastrop and on to Bryan.”
The illegal alien can pay for his transportation in ad
vance but that doesn’t happen very often. After he finds a
job, a portion of each pay check is sent to the smuggler.
The smuggler does not assure the illegal alien employ
ment, but the trip to the border is not made unless work
ers are needed.
“I don’t risk getting caught or losing money unless there
are jobs for the men,” Maria said. “We are lucky here,
there is always a need for workers — in construction or on
the farms.”
What if the illegal alien does not pay the smuggler after
arriving in the United States?
“There is always the Border Patrol,” Maria said.
Bryan’s Mexican-American community borders on
downtown, and its streets are rough and potholed.
Signs reflect the predominately Mexican-American
population — Se Vende, tamales y barbacoa cada Sabado,
and Viva la Raza. Spanish music blasts forth from bars with
names like El Conquistador or Los Momentos.
In the back yard of one of the residences is a two-room
shack. Its windows are boarded up and its screen door
hangs from one of the hinges. Much of the screen mesh is
missing.
Inside, a small heater provides warmth, and furniture
consists of two cots and two bunk beds. For Emilio, 25,
and five other illegal aliens, this shack is home.
Emilio has been in Bryan just over a year working as a
concrete finisher for $2.75 an hour. He says he came here
because friends told him Bryan was safe and the jobs were
well paying. Emilio came here the hard way, on foot, from
Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, in the interior of Mexico.
“I left my home because I needed money to feed my
family,” he says. “In Mexico I could not find a job.”
“My friends told me this was a good place to make
money — good money.’ Emilio sends most of his
paycheck home to Mexico, keeping just enough to live on
and to buy some beer for weekends.
Emilio says he is not afraid of being caught by the Bor
der Patrol.
“I was caught once already, the first time I tried to get
here,” he said. “I was getting on a bus in Cotulla, when
two Border Patrol officers picked me up. All they did was
send me home.” Four days later Emilio was back in the
United States and on his way to Bryan.
According to Emilio, it was not hard finding a job or a
place to stay in Bryan.
“I just walked around until I saw someone I thought
could help me and he did, he said. “After I got a job, my
new friend helped me find a place to live too.”
The illegal aliens usually live in groups, crammed into
small shacks. They refuse to comment on the ownership of
the shacks, saying “Sonamigos — they are our friends.”
Another illegal alien, whom we ll call Juan, tells about
the same story. He says he also was picked up on his first
attempt to enter the United States. Juan was picked up in
El Paso, three hours after being released in Mexico he was
back in the United States.
Juan, who works with the local trailer industry, said “I
came here because my family was hungry. I need the
money to feed them. Now they are fed. I miss them, but
they are fed.”
Juan considers Bryan to be a safe place to work. “I think
they actually want us to work here, they don’t give us any
trouble,” he said. “The long walk, thirst, and hunger I
suffered to get here was worth it.”
All the illegal aliens interviewed shared the same basic
reason for coming to the United States: their families
needed the money to survive. They chose Brazos County
because it has a variety of construction, agricultural, and
industrial jobs. In addition, the county is far enough re
moved from regular Border Parol checks to be termed
“safe” by illegal aliens.
Acceding to Maria, the illegal alien is not taking jobs
away from the unemployed American, and most unem
ployed Americans would rather live off welfare programs
“If the goverment would become more strict on the
regulation of food stamps and other welfare programs,
then the illegal alien could not find jobs,” she said.
In addition, Maria said, “The illegal alien is hired by the
empoyer because he (te employer) knows the weback will
wor hard.”
(See Bryan, p. 4)