Battalion
Thursday, April 13, 1978
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Inside Thursday:
A&M unit gives tornado alerts, p. 3.
Parents’ Weekend highlights, p. 8.
Bryan’s all-American Rudy Woods
signs with A&M, p. 9.
Crop destruction vowed
by defeated farmers
Building those muscles!
ve
rs.
Growing into his warm-up pants may just gi
Tommy Bohannon, 5, son of Mr. and Mr
Tommy Bohannon of Bryan, enough leg power to
impress his daddy by lifting 500 pounds. Tommy
was trying to build his leg muscles on the universal
machine at DeWare Fieldhouse on the Texas
A&M University campus.
Battalion photo by Carolyn Ellis
derailment cleanup under way
United Press International
Striking farmers responded to House de
feat of the emergency farm bill with a
promise to destroy the year’s wheat crop
and told America to start planting back
yard vegetable gardens.
“There is no reason to let us go broke
and let the foreign investors come in and
take our land. It just isn’t fair,” American
Agriculture spokesman Herb Brown said
Wednesday.
“If people want to get food, they had
better start planting vegetable gardens
now. It’s just a hard blow for the farmers.
The country doesn’t think it needs us, so
why should we produce cheap food, he
said.
The measure, approved by the Senate,
would have raised 1978 grain and cotton
supports and included a flexible parity
plan to give individual farmers a chance to
get higher support levels by idling large
portions of land.
The House defeated the bill 268-150.
American Agriculture, which called a
strike Dec. 14 to demand 100 percent par
ity and organized a plow down of the
winter wheat crop March 21, had agreed
to produce half the normal crop this year if
the farm bill was passed.
“It was about what we expected,’
Brown said. “Some of them congressmen
said they was going to vote for it, but they
lied to us. We elected those politicans to
do a job for us, but the paycheck is the
only thing they worry about. ’
The strike movement has called for
farmers to halt planting the spring wheat
crop and to plow under more of the winter
wheat crops. Brown estimated approxi
mately 20 percent of the winter crop was
already turned under.
Openness for accuracy
Participating farmers have only planted
50 percent of their normal spring crop and
will turn that land over to pasture, he said.
Farmers will resume plowing under the
winter wheat crop or turn the land over to
grazing.
Bell trades with media
3 01.,
Workers control propane danger
United Press International
J B 0 '9f MEMPHIS, Ark. — Railroad workers
^ Wednesday righted an overturned, de-
BtiT'MM tan k car an d sealed off a liquid pro-
Bie leak which earlier forced evacuation
fcmbout 400 residents of this Mississippi
0 J River town, including 78 bedfast hospital
Jiatients.
$ ■ The danger is over, a Rock Island spe-
irfal agent said. “Once the propane tanker
\I/2|ivas put on the tracks, the danger was out
way.”
he tank car, containing 30,000 gallons,
was one of three cars to derail early Wed
nesday near a petroleum plant. Officials
were doubly concerned because the de
railment occurred within 300 yards of a
400,000-gallon liquid propane tank and
also hear a ditch which led directly to the
city sewer system.
Larry Cummings, district field inspec
tor of the state Department of Pollution
Control and Ecology, said there had been
concern that the propane might enter the
sewer system and mix with sewer
methane, causing an explosion.
.9
9-
150ij
: 9
5 Cull
15 Oi.
.Cons
.33
Just what is
the typical Aggie?
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in.'
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By KAREN CORNEUSON
Next time you hear a joke about
the “typical Aggie,” consider these
statistics.
The 29,414 students that make up
Texas A&M’s student population
come from all over Texas, the
United States, and the world. All
kinds of races, cultures, and back
grounds are represented, according
to statistics compiled by the regis
trar’s office and the international
student office about the students
registered last fall.
There are 26,453 Texas A&M
students from Texas. That’s 89.9
percent of the Aggie population. A
spokesman for the registrar’s office
said that because Texas A&M is a
state supported school, priority for
admission goes to the Texas stu
dents.
Of 254 counties in Texas, all but
three are represented at Texas
A&M. They are Loving, Col
lingsworth, and Hardeman coun
ties. The Texas county which con
tributes the most students is Harris
County, with 6,049. That’s 22.9
percent of the students from Texas.
Brazos County is the second biggest
contributor, with 2,481 students at
A&M, and Dallas County runs a
close third, with 2,198.
There are Aggies from all 50
states, as well as the District of Co
lumbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is
lands, and the Canal Zone.
Besides Texas, Louisiana has the
largest representation, with 198
students. Other states with many
students at A&M are New York
(162), California (140), and Virginia
(100).
The registrar’s office spokesman
said the percentage of students from
Texas and other states at Texas
A&M is about the same as for any
other state-supported school.
There are 917 foreign students
from 73 countries at A&M. That’s
3.1 percent of the Aggie population.
Corkey Sandel, international stu
dent adviser, said, “A&M is proba
bly about on the national average as
far as percentage of foreign students
to total student enrollment.” He
also said the percentage of foreign
students at A&M has declined in the
past few years because of the rapid
expansion of the University.
“The number of foreign students
hasn’t kept pace with the total
enrollment growth,” he said. “We
have a good mix of students. No one
country has more than 100 students
(at A&M).”
The Republic of China has more
students attending Texas A&M than
any other foreign country — 88, or
about 9.6 percent of the foreign stu
dents. Other countries which con
tribute a large number of students
to A&M are Iran and Venezuela. _
Students from the Latin Ameri
can countries comprise about one
third of the foreign student popula
tion. About six percent are Euro
pean, and six percent are from the
Arab countries.
Sandel said that in the past few
year there have been more students
from the Middle East and Latin
American countries. “We’ve never
had a lot of European students, ” he
said. “They have good universities
to attend over there.”
Loyd Taylor, associate director of
admissions, said there is no limit to
the number of foreign students the
University accepts, but foreign stu
dents must meet the three basic re
quirements of academic qualifica
tion, English proficiency, and finan
cial capablity.
According to information given to
the registrar’s office by students
themselves. 111 of the Aggies, or .38
percent, are black. There are 231,
or .79 percent American Indian stu
dents at A&M. There are 138 orien
tal Aggies (.47 percent), and 244 Ags
(.83 percent) have a Spanish sur
name. That leaves about 97.5 per
cent of the students that belong to
none of the above minorities.
There are 19,281 male students
going to school on the main campus
at Texas A&M, and 9,552 female
students. This means there are
about 2.02 males for every female.
The freshman class has the most
students, with 7,107 or 24.6 percent
of the Ag population, followed by
juniors, sophomores, seniors, and
graduate students.
More students have a major in the
college of engineering than in any
other college — 7,271, or 25.2 per
cent of the A&M students. The col
lege of agriculture follows, with 18.9
percent.
Out of 148 possible majors to
choose from the most popular one is
accounting, with 1,341 students (4.6
percent), followed closely by educa
tional curriculum and instruction.
Mechanical engineering is third.
The college with the least amount
of students is the college of
medicine with 32 students (0.1 per
cent).
But workers slipped steel slings aroung
the huge tanker, and, with the aid of spe
cially equipped bulldozers, righted it. The
same procedure was planned for the other
two railroad cars.
The derailment forced evacuation of
about 400 residents. Seventy-eight pa
tients from the Crittenden County Hospi
tal were taken by ambulances — at one
point lined up at the hospital ramp — to
various facilities in nearby Memphis,
Tenn.
Some of the patients were in wheel
chairs, others on stretchers and roller beds
and at least one under oxygen.
Rock Island Division Officer Gerald
Bozich had said even before the tanker
was righted he did not believe there was a
great danger of explosion, “But you never
know what’s going to happen.”
Bozich said the derailment occurred
while the train was backing into the
switching yard at the Phillips Petroleum
plant at “walking speed. ” He said cause of
the derailment had not been determined.
But he said the tracks in the area were
scheduled for maintenance last Sunday.
Bozich said there was no damage to the
outer shell of the propane tank but a small
leak did occur around the pressure relief
valve. There were 30,000 gallons of pro
pane in the tank and the two other de
railed tankers contained 20,000 gallons
each of diesel fuel oil.
“The fuel oil is leaking but it’s being
dammed up and hopefully will be kept out
of the sewer system,” Bozich said.
The derailemt occurred inside the city
limits, about five miles from downtown.
About 400 persons were asked to leave but
a handful refused to. go even though they
were warned of the danger of possible ex
plosion. Classes at a nearby elementary
school also were cancelled for the day.
“Police came banging on our door be
fore dawn,” said John Pitman, a machinist
who was evacuated. “I took one look at
those tankers and that was enough for me
to leave. ”
The derailment occurred two weeks
after one on March 29 at Lewisville in
Southwest Arkansas, where the entire
town of 1,700 was evacuated when a de
railed tank of vinyl chloride exploded.
There were two other train derailments in
the state Tuesday — one near the Okla
homa border in Northwest Arkansas in
volving a Kansas City Southern train, and
the other at Marion, which is about 10
miles from West Memphis, involving a
Frisco train — but there were no hazard
ous chemicals involved in those.
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Attorney General
Griffin Bell is trying to do some horse trad
ing with the “wary and sometimes hostile”
news media.
Bell told the American Society of News
paper Editors Wednesday he will conduct
the Justice Department as openly as pos
sible, within limits set by law and legal
ethics, but wants the news media to be
responsible for accuracy.
“Since the days of the first president,
press and government have been wary and
sometimes hostile adversaries,” Bell said.
“No one with any pretension to serious
understanding of this complex political
process would wish to change that.”
But, he added, “the media must be held
responsible if it prints false or inaccurate
information.”
“I am today adopting a new policy,” Bell
said. “Henceforth, you will be advised by
me in writing of any substantial inaccuracy
in any story or column about the Justice
Department carried in your newspapers.”
Bell singled out a recent UPI series
about drug connections in the family of
Panama’s Gen. Omar Torrijos.
“UPI recently carried a story that I had
placed certain documents concerning the
Torrijos family in my office safe to keep
them from the Senate,” Bell said. “That
was a blatant lie.
“UPI was so advised and the story was
killed after being run over the night wire.
The point was that I was not asked if the
story was true. Most reporters and all of
our regulars have learned to ask before
carrying the sensational. ”
Grant Dillman, UPI vice president and
Washington manager, said: “Contrary to
Judge Bell’s information, our reporters
tried several times without success to ob
tain the Justice Department’s version of
how the Torrijos files were handled in an
ticipation of a secret Senate session on the
matter.
“The White House finally intervened
after the UPI series moved on a hold-for-
release basis and the result was four-hour
session with press secretary Jody Powell
— a session he later said might not have
been necessary if the administration had
been more forthcoming.
“As a result of that meeting, we led the
first piece in our series to incorporate new
information, the second story required no
changes and we moved a substitute for the
third story to include the administration’s
views. The information brought out by the
Senate fully supported our findings on the
drug traffic.
Balanced budget top
priority ? Grover says
Apartments must be
livable, court says
AUSTIN, Texas,— Landlords give an
implied warranty that apartments are in
livable condition when they lease them to
tenants, the Texas Supreme court ruled
Wednesday.
The court decision in a case involving a
Dallas man’s suit against his landlord re
verses lower court decisions and estab
lishes the implied warranty rule in Texas
for the first time.
Wilford Kamarath filed the suit against
C.C. Bennett, contending Bennett had
breached their contract by failing to repair
an apartment building he owned and
maintain it in livable condition during the
time it was rented by Kamarath.
Kamarath said he did not detect the de
fects in the apartment before he moved
into it March 1, 1975. Dallas building in
spectors checked the building 10 times be
tween June 24, 1975 and November 1975,
and said it had numerous defects that vio
lated city building codes.
They listed leaky pipes, faulty electrical
wiring and structural defects causing
bricks in the building to fall among the
defects.
Kamarath stopped paying rent on the
apartment in July 1975, but did not move
out until September of that year.
A Dallas trial court ruled in favor of the
landlord, saying Bennett did not bread
his contract with Kamarath and did noi
violate any duty owed to the tenant. A
Civil Appeals court agreed with that rul
ing, saying in the absense of fraud or de
ceit there was no implied warranty on the
part of the landlord that premises leased
for residential purposes would be suitable
for their intended purpose.
The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision,
reversed that decision and sent the case
back to the trial court for a new hearing.
The court decision said there is an implied
warranty of habitability by the landlord
that the apartment will be fit for living.
In a separate case, the Supreme court
upheld a state law permitting collection of
sales taxes of lease of motion picture films
to movie theatres.
ABC Interstate Theatres, Inc., and
Martin Theatres of Texas, Inc., joined by
eight film distributors and more than 100
other theatres, had challenged the con
stitutionality of the law.
A trial court had ruled Interstate could
recover $463,748 and Martin Theatres
could recover $53,637 on contested taxes
because the law was unconstitutional. But
the Supreme Court Wednesday upheld
the vailidity of the law and ruled the state
had the right to collect the taxes.
By Ava King
The No. 1 priority of the nation is to
balance the budget, says Hank Grover,
independent Republican candidate for the
United States Senate.
Grover voiced this view Wednesday
night before a small group in Rudder Tow
er. The event was sponsored by Young
Americans for Freedom.
A member of the audience asked why a
man who served three terms in the Texas
House of Representatives as a conserva
tive Democrat and two terms in the Texas
Senate as a Republican could run on an
independent ticket.
“Number one, I didn’t think I could
beat (John Tower) in the general Republi
can primary, replied Grover, “and
number two, to run in the primary and to
run in the general election would cost
twice as much.”
Most of the candidate’s talk centered
around the man he considers his main op
ponent, Sen. John Tower. He said Tower
has been “very lucky in the past” because
he has had “very poor opponnents,” citing
“Barefoot” Sanders and George
McGovern as examples.
Grover also expressed dissatisfaction
with Tower’s stand in the Republican
party.
“He has in my opinion, lined himself up
with the northeastern wing of the party:
the Rockefeller, Ford, Kissinger wing,” he
said.
Throughout his speech, Grover referred
to the Republicans in the South and West
as the “growing wing” of the Republican
party, and to the North and East as the
“dying wing.”
Grover said that as an independent can
didate, he has a chance because this is a
Hank Grover
non-presidential year. Off-years produce a
low voter turnout, Grover said, and this
gives less well-known candidates an op
portunity to make their positions known.
Grover’s position on current issues in
clude opposition to the legalization of
marijuana, opposition to abortion and fed
erally funded abortion clinics, and opposi
tion to gun control and firearm registra
tion.
He also declares “strong opposition” to
the Panama Canal Treaty, calling it a
“giveaway” proposition.
Grover told his audience that “Social
Security will have collapsed before the
next generation.” He favors voluntary
agencies.
Grover’s record shows him winning
seven elections and losing only two. He
predicted that in spite of stiff competion
from incumbent John Tower, the election
will be a close race.
Gotcha
exclaims Hugh Stewart (right), who is helping Ira
Duval (left) collect bugs for his Entomology 313
class. The project is to collect and mount 200 bugs.
Ira Duval has 75 mounted with 125 to go.