The Battalion
Vol. 71 No. 143
10 Pages
Tuesday, April 25, 1978
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Inside Tuesday
“Bugging” the dorms, p. 3.
Humble beginnings — log cabin in
the woods, p. 8.
Houston Aeros — in trouble?, p. 9.
arm credit bill
ear approval
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The House Monday
(■oved toward approval of a major farm
Jredit bill, including an economic
emergency plan under which farmers fac-
flg bankruptcy could get $4 billion in
government-insured and guaranteed loans
b\ the end of 1979.
Individual farmers could get loans up to
00,000 under the program backed by
administration and most major farm
ganizations.
Administration officials have estimated
it loans actually would average about
$100,000 apiece and wmdd go to about
i,000 hard-pressed farmers.
Action on the credit bill came less than
weeks after the House defeated an
lergency measure to aid farmers by rais-
|g crop supports and cutting acreage of
ains and cotton.
"•Rep. Ed Jones, D-Tenn., said the loans
thorized by the credit legislation would
not carry subsidized interest rates and
without doubt, this bill would aid
ousands of family farmers at little cost.
“This bill is essential if we are to avoid
sing an entire generation of family
ms currently facing a squeeze because
low grain prices. Rep. Glenn English,
-Okla., added.
Democratic leaders beat down a propo-
by Rep. Edward Madigan, R-lll., to
bstitute what he called a “more modest”
nergency plan for farmers on the verge
bankruptcy.
Madigan’s substitute would have per-
itted the new loans only to pay operating
WIi sts and principal and interest install-
ents due from farmers to banks and
Way give insight to human evolution
other lenders through the end of 1979.
The House Agriculture Committee’s
version of the bill, which survived when
the Madigan substitute was defeated,
would also permit use of the new loans for
principal and interest payments. But in
addition, the surviving legislation would
also permit use of the loans for total re
financing of farm debts for periods of up to
30 years.
Madigan told the House the credit pro
gram should be limited in its scope be
cause the broader plan approved by the
Agriculture Committee “is an empty
promise. The $4 billion ceiling provided
in the law would cover only a few farmers
and would leave most unsatisfied, he said.
English retorted that Madigan’s propo
sal “would gut the opportunity for farmers
to survive this current economic crisis.”
In addition to the emergency credit sec
tion, aimed primarily at farmers in debt to
banks and other nongovernment lenders,
the major credit bill also includes
provisions expanding credit offered
through the Agriculture Department’s
Farmers Home Administration.
FmHA borrowers who are currently
limited to mortgage loans of $100,000
could get government-insured loans of up
to $200,000 and government-guaranteed
loans up to $300,000 under the bill.
FmHA farm operating loans which are
now limited to $50,000 could go to
$100,000 on an insured basis and $200,000
if made by private lenders on a
government-guaranteed basis.
Congressman gets
prison sentence
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Former Rep.
Richard Hanna, D-Calif., was sentenced
to between six and 30 months in federal
prison Monday for conspiring to help
South Korea buy influence in Congress.
After Hanna, 63, apologized in a broken
voice, U.S. District Judge William Bryant
sentenced him in a plot that brought the
former lawmaker more than $200,000 from
Korean rice dealer Tongsun Park.
Hanna, who chose not to run for re-
election in 1974, pleaded guilty March 17
to one count of conspiracy in a plea
bargaining agreement under which prose
cutors dropped 39 felony counts against
him. He could have received five years in
prison and a $10,000 fine on the conspi
racy count, but Bryant assessed no fine.
Now a resident of Fayetteville, Miss.,
Hanna is the only present or former con
gressman convicted so far in connection
with Korean lobbying efforts in Washing
ton.
He was accused of accepting money
from Park in exchange for using his con
gressional influence to help Park retain his
rice dealership for the South Korean gov
ernment and for other favors.
Park has admitted he gave thousands of
dollars to other lawmakers, but denies he
provided the money to gain political influ
ence on behalf of the South Korean gov
ernment.
“I apologize,” said Hanna in a broken
voice as he stood in front of the judge.
“I apologize as a lawyer, as a person who
held public office. I know what your job
has to be. I hope in some way to atone for
what I have done. Whatever years I have
left I can. . .” He left the statement in
complete.
After Hanna’s statement, Bryant im
mediately passed sentence. He did not
reprimand Hanna.
Bryant said Hanna must report to prison
within 30 days after the Justice Depart
ment decides which institution he is to be
confined to. He said Hanna can remain
free without bond until that time.
Commissioners consider
cemetery articles
Battalion photo by Pat O’Malley
Doin’ it to it
Randy Finch, a sophomore finance major from San Antonio, dis
plays his acrobatic talents during Saturday’s skateboard competi
tion sponsored by the A&M Surf Club. Lee McGinnis, who is not a
student at A&M, drove in from Dallas to compete in the competi
tion and won.
Borneo Orangutans topic of study
By GAIL SMILA
They are solitary, arboreal, and the last
Asia’s great apes; they are orangutans.
In a speech given Monday at Rudder
luditorium, primatologist Birute
idikas-Brindamour shared her experi-
ce in the jungles of Borneo studying the
ngutan.
During the past six years, Brindamour
d her photographer-husband Rod lived
Kalimantan Province in Central In-
nesian Borneo to study and document
e nature of the wild orangutan social
ructure and habitat.
Brindamour said the orangutan project
as started by the late Dr. L.S.B. Leakey
part of his long-range plan to encourage
-depth studies of several species of great
>es in their natural habitats.
Leakey launched the project with Jane
oodall s study of the chimpanzee in 1960,
dan Fossey’s study of the mountain
arilla in 1967 and Brindamour’s study of
le orangutan in 1971.
Brindamour said the purpose of the
idy was to understand the orangutans’
aptation to the environment and social
tuation, which she believed would give
some insight to human evolution.
She said because the first primates were
hunters and gatherers, scientists have
turned to modern hunters and gatherers to
understand the conditions which enabled
evolution of homo sapiens. She said the
only difference between man and ape is
that man uses tools to make other tools.
Brindamour said she and her husband
spent six years and over 10,000 hours of
studying wild orangutans in humid,
swampy Borneo. She witnessed their eat
ing, nesting, and mating habits and be
lieves the orangutans are intelligent crea
tures but fears extinction of the animals in
50 years.
Orangutans are declining in population
because of land clearance by farmers,
lumbermen, and poachers.
In 1974, Indonesia issued a coin with an
orangutan printed on the face. The coin is
valued at 5,000 rupiahs, ($12), and has
started a 24-nation effort to raise money
for conservation, in cooperation with the
World Wildlife Fund and the Interna
tional Union for conservation of Nature
and Natural Resources.
Besides studying wild orangutans,
Brindamour and her husband, in coopera
tion with the Indonesian government,
seek out young captive orangutans, re
habilitate them to forest life, and return
them to the wild.
“I learned as much, if not more, by
being a surrogate mother to captive oran
gutans than I did by studying them in the
wild,” Brindamour said.
The rehabilitative program was de
signed for orangutans captured by fores
ters. Brindamour said she has received
more than 50 captive orangutans and
added that they are livelier, friendlier and
smarter than the wild orangutans.
She said the captives are taken to their
natural surroundings, taught to build
nests, and hunt food and eventually learn
to live by themselves in the forest.
Brindamour said she believes that cap
tive orangutans were not orangutans at all.
Captivity does not allow for natural selec
tion of mates.
Brindamour, Jane Goodall and Dian
Fossey, will appear in a National Geo
graphic television special entitled “Watch
ing the Wild Apes.” It will be aired tonight
by the Public Broadcasting System.
By ANDREA VALLS
Battalion Staff
Items ranging from patrol cars to the
Boonville Cemetery were discussed
Monday by the Brazos County Commis
sioners’ Court.
The Boonville Cemetery Association
submitted its Articles of Incorporation to
the commissioners for approval. According
to these articles, the non-profit associa
tion’s purpose is to operate and manage
the Boonville Cemetery located on F.M.
158. The county commissioners supervise
the association’s operation of the ceme
tery.
The articles provided for a nine-
member board of trustees to be elected at
annual meetings, each member serving a
one-year term of office.
The steering committee is presently
selecting the names of nominees for the
board of directors. The names will be
submitted to the commissioners at a future
date.
Payment of fire /calls amounting to
$2,757.18 made during March were ap
proved, including $1,080 for Bryan and
$1,677.18 for College Station.
Commissioners approved bids for the
purchase of two new patrol cars for the
Brazos County Sheriffs Department for
$9,400.
In other business, the commissioners
discussed the need for Brazos County
bridges to be marked for weight load
limits. Walter Wilcox, Precinct 2 commis
sioner, said several bridges in his precinct
have been marked but several more need
the weight limitations checked, since they
are 40 to 50 years old. No action was
taken, and the matter will be discussed at
a future date.
To aid the county auditors, the commis
sioners approved an application by the
Child Welfare Department for a Master
Charge card to use when purchasing clo
thing for children. County Judge William
Vance said the auditors would benefit by
reviewing only one large bill instead of
several bills from local stores.
After approving the payment of claims
for Brazos County, Bill Cooley, Commis
sioner of Precinct 1, said $4,000 of the
claims was spent on the Coleman murder
trial.
In other action, the commissioners ap
proved payment of the county’s share of
the Brazos Valley Development Council’s
1978-1979 budget.
The commissioners also approved a bid
for office supplies for Brazos County.
Israeli minister flies to U.
warns of no
S.
new proposals
United Press International
Egypt says Israel must be willing to
make more concessions before peace talks
resume, but Israeli Foreign Minister
Moshe Dayan cautioned U.S. officials not
to expect new Israeli proposals when he
arrives in Washington later today.
Dayan, who was flying to Washington in
an effort to iron out American-Israeli dif
ferences in advance of Prime Minister
Menachem Begin s visit next Monday, was
reportedly carrying Israeli suggestions for
the wording of a declaration of principles
to guide resumed peace talks with Egypt.
But in Cairo, where U.S. envoy Alfred
Atherton wound up a four-day visit,
Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel said
there could be no new peace talks until
Israel agreed to soften its negotiating posi
tion on such sticky issues as Palestinian
self-determination and territorial conces
sions.
Atherton was flying back to Washington
ahead of Dayan after apparently failing to
secure any further concessions from Egypt
despite “very serious and very detailed”
discussions with President Anwar Sadat.
Atherton would not call his mission un
successful, but admitted Sadat had offered
him no new proposals to break the
negotiating stalemate.
The U.S. negotiator said his visit had
“certainly helped my government have a
deeper and clearer understanding of the
position of the Egyptian government, as
we look for ways, new moves in the peace
process.”
But pressed by reporters to disclose
something of what went on in his separate
talks with Sadat and Kamel, Atherton said,
“We always have exchanges of ideas on
these visits, and very useful ones. But in
terms of papers or proposals, no.”
After a final two-hour session with
Atherton on Monday, Kamel told re
porters Egypt was sticking by its demands
that Israel give up its settlements in the
Sinai and agree to discuss the creation of a
Palestinian entity on the occupied West
Bank.
Dayan went to pains over the weekend
to stress that, like Atherton, he too was
carrying no new proposals to his Washing
ton talks.
But the newspaper Ha’aretz reported
Dayan would be carrying Israeli sugges
tions on the wording of a declaration of
principles sought by Egypt as a guide for
the negotiations.
Court rules against
Dallas school district
Here we go again
Battalion photo by Liz Bailey
i“ !
Pre-registration for fall semester began Monday and so did the
long waiting lines. Pre-registration will continue through Friday
afternoon. Class schedules are available at Heaton Hall (the old
Exchange Store) and at Rudder Tower information center.
United Press International
DALLAS — Mayor Bob Folsom says he
disagrees with a federal appeals court rul
ing that the city’s school district must re
vise its desegregation plan and favors an
appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in
New Orleans, in a 13-page statement
made public Monday, said the Dallas In
dependent School District must eliminate
or justify the existence of predominantly
one-race schools in its 2-year-old desegre
gation plan.
The ruling came on an appeal filed by
the NAACP.
“I regret the 5th Circuit Court’s deci-
'sion to overturn the plan,” Folsom said. “I
strongly disagree with the ruling and I
would hate to see Dallas have to go
through the whole desegregation question
again.
“I think the school district might have a
better chance with the Supreme Court
than the 5th Circuit Court,” he said. “At
least that has been the trend so far.”
The appeals court ordered U.S. District
Judge William Taylor to devise a new plan
but set no deadline.
The current student assignment plan
divides the school district into six subdis
tricts. Four of those subdistricts substan
tially reflect the racial makeup of the
school system as a whole, the court said.
“But the other two subdistricts each
contain a predominant ethnic group.
“Seagovill, geographically isolated from
the rest of DISD, has an approximately 82
percent Anglo enrollment,” the court said.
“East Oak Cliff, bounded by the Trinity
River bottom on one side and by Interstate
35 on the other, is approximately 98 per
cent black.”
The 5th Circuit said only one of the
DISD’s six subdistricts was completely
free of one-race schools.
The appeals court panel ordered the
DISD to provide transportation for stu
dents who choose to transfer from a school
in which their race is the majority to one in
which their race is a minority.
“The school board, not the students or
their parents, must assume the burden of
transporting the students,” the court said.
“On remand, the district court is directed
to include the majority to minority transfer
option in the transportation provision of
the plan finally adopted.”
The 5th Circuit agreed, however, with a
ruling by the lower court regarding
schools in the Highland Park section of
Dallas. The three-judge appeals panel
found no evidence of discrimination in
Highland Park even though all 4,600 stu
dents in the area’s six schools are white.
Son of Sam suspect ruled
competent to stand trial
United Press International
NEW YORK — Son of Sam suspect David Berkowitz Monday was
ruled competent to stand trial for the murder of Stacy Moskowitz, the
last of six victims shot to death in a year-long series of slayings.
The ruling was made by state Supreme Court Justice Joseph Corso,
who set May 8 for the start of the 24-year-old former postal worker’s
trial.
Miss Moskowitz was the last victim of the so-called “.44-caliber
killer,” who killed six persons and wounded seven others in his night
time attacks in quiet neighborhoods throughout the city.
Berkowitz has been confined in a psychiatric ward of Kings County
Hospital since his arrest in August. He said previously he intends to
plead guilty to the charges, but it was not immediately clear if Corso
would accept the plea.
In his announcement, Corso said, “This court, having considered
all of the testimony and exhibits, has reached the conclusion that the
people has established that the defendant, David Berkowitz, does not
lack the capacity to understand the proceedings against him or par
ticipate in his defense.
Corso said he had spoken with District Attorney Eugene Gold and
had agreed to begin the trial May 8, a date which he said was “reason
able, in spite of the fact I would have preferred to start almost im
mediately.”
The justice based his decision on four days of psychiatric testimony
made during a series of closed hearings in a makeshift courtroom at
Kings County Hospital where Berkowitz has been lodged since his
arrest.
At that time, Berkowitz allegedly told police “Sam” was his 64-
year-old neighbor Sam Carr, who lived 6,000 years and served as his
homicidal commander by sending messages through his dog.
V After disposition of the charges in the Moskowitz killing, Berkowitz
must face other indictments.