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The Battalion
Vol. 71 No. 144 Wednesday, April 26, 1978 News Dept. 845-2611
14 Pages College Station, Texas Business Dept. 845-2611
Inside Wednesday
The YMCA — once more than an
office building, p. 8.
Industry in space, p. 11.
Earl Campbell to join the Houston
Oilers, p. 12.
Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper, Jr.
University Police Investigator J.D. Gossett holds what appears to
be a marijuana plant that was found growing in a flower bed near
the Academic Building Tuesday.
Israel's Dayan wants
to stop arms sale to Arabs
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Congress awaited
President Carter’s controversial Mideast
warplane package today just as Israeli
Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan began try
ing to persuade U.S. officials to withhold
the jets from the Arabs.
Dayan arrived Tuesday for talks ex
pected to center on the $4.8 billion pack
age as well as attempts to find a com
promise plan for the future of occupied
Arab lands as part of a Middle East peace
agreement.
Special Middle East envoy Alfred
Atherton returned from Cairo late Tues
day to help Secretary of State Cyrus Vance
and other U.S. officials prepare for today’s
session with Dayan. Dayan’s visit coin
cides with Carter’s formal submission of
the arms package to Congress. The admin
istration wants to sell 60 F-15s to Saudi
Arabia, 50 F-5E’s to Egypt and 15 F-15s
and 75 F-16s to Israel.
The president told a news conference
Tuesday he sees the aircraft sales as a
single package. “If the Congress should
accept one portion and reject another,
then my intent is to withdraw the sales
proposal all together,” he said.
“These proposals are in the national
interest and it is important for our country
to meet our commitment. I will make my
consideration to the Congress based on
what I consider to be in the best interest of
our own nation.”
Dayan said as he left Tel Aviv that Israel
would rather do without planes it has on
order from the United States than see
Saudi Arabia and Egypt get sophisticated
U.S. jet fighters.
Carter said the United States “would
not sell the planes to the Saudis if we
thought their desire was to use them
against Israel. But I am completely con
vinced that the Saudis want the airplanes
to protect their own country. ”
Dayan said he and Vance also will dis
cuss the Israeli-occupied areas of Jordan
and Egypt.
“What we have to discuss really — and I
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A combination of
drugs and chemotherapy has eradicated
leukemia symptoms in 80 percent of the
children undergoing the program, the di
rector of St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital said Tuesday.
Dr. Alvin Mauer said 300 children have
undergone the 2y2-year program and 80
percent of them no longer exhibit symp
toms of leukemia and are able to resume
normal lives.
Some of the children, most of whom live
within a 200-to 400-mile radius of Mem
phis, have been off treatment for 10 to 12
think this comes as the top priority — is
whether there is a practical plan about
Judea and Samaria (the West Bank and the
Gaza strip) or about Sinai over which we
can reach an agreement with the other
party.”
In commenting on Middle East peace
prospects. Carter said, “I have reason to
be optimistic ... if there were no hope
Dayan would not be coming to Washing
ton to explore forther avenues for prog
ress.
years with no recurring symptoms of the
lymphocytic leukemia, which strikes
nearly 2,000 a year, Mauer said.
But Mauer refused to call the programs
a “cure.”
Mauer said none of the children freed of
symptoms for six years after treatment was
discontinued have suffered relapses. He
said recurrence of the disease after such a
period of time is “unusual, especially with
lymphocytic leukemia.”
Leukemia causes bleeding problems
and infection complications. Mauer said
the treatment program, developed over 16
years of research, centers on clearing the
blood.
“I am firmly convinced that both Israel
and Egypt want peace. My commitment is
deep and irreversible, and as long as I am
in the White House I will continue to pur
sue without any slackening of my com
mitment the avenue toward peace.”
It is not yet clear whether Dayan will
see Carter, but the State Department an
nounced this week Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin will attend a White
House reception Monday in honor of the
30th anniversary of Israel’s independence.
When the disease is diagnosed, children
are given three drugs that flush the
leukemic cells from the blood and bone
marrow.
OncC the remission process begins,
additinal drugs are combined with radia
tion treatments to clear the leukemic cells
from the nervous system.
In the final phase, two drugs —
6-Mercaptoparine and Methodtrexate —
are administered.
The reivew of the treatment program at
the Memphis hospital and its results will
be presented by Dr. Steve George, head
of the St. Jude’s biostatistics section.
Drug treatment program
erases leukemia symptoms
United Press International
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Marijuana plant
found on campus
By JAN BAILEY
The grass is always greener on the other side, and in this case that
was the other side of the Academic Building. There amid pink, spring
poppies grew one, lone cannabis sativa plant, more commonly known
as marijuana.
Dr. Ed McWilliams, associate professor of horticultural sciences,
identified the plant after observing a leaf sample under a microscope
and comparing it with dried samples in the horticulture departrment.
“I feel confident that it is marijuana,” McWilliams said Tuesday.
He added that the plant is sometimes hard to identify because of its
varied leaf pattern. Some types have five leaves in a cluster, while
others have seven or nine:
McWilliams said the plant near the Academic Building was proba
bly a few weeks from flowering. He said it could have grown there
from seed or been transplanted from a seedling.
J.D. Cosset, special investigator for the University Police, said the
plant was probably three or four weeks old.
Gossett said he believes the seeds got there one of two ways:
dropped by “vandals who wanted to make us look bad” or carried in
bird droppings.
However, don’t waste your time looking for the plant on your next
nature walk across campus. Gossett uprooted the plant and said he’ll
keep it in his office until it dries. He plans to run chemical tests on it.
y
£x-Aggie quarterback
running for
United Press International
I AUSTIN — For the first time in 36
ears, the name of the late Treasurer Jesse
)mes is missing from the Texas Demo-
ratic primary ballot.
Another treasurer with a famous name
- appointee Warren G. Harding — is
Iseking election to a full term as James’
accessor and is being challenged by
)rmer Texas A&M football player Harry
edbetter and former Bexar County au-
itor Charles R. Sanderson.
Harding, former Dallas County trea-
arer, was appointed state treasurer by
lov. Dolph Briscoe after James’ death last
ear and has been the frontrunner
boughout the campaign because of the
leumbency status and his support by the
tate’s bankers, who traditionally have
layed major role in election of the trea-
urer.
Ledbetter, who as an Aggie quarterback
tore than a decade ago was involved in
ne of the state’s most talked about foot-
iall plays, had campaigned hard and
laims to have the momentum in the final
feeks of the campaign.
As the Aggie quarterback in 1965, Led-
letter threw a “bounce pass” to Dude
IcClain, who scored on the play and pro-
lelled A&M to a 17-0 lead, even though
he Longhorns eventually won.
This year, Ledbetter has driven a pick-
ip loaded with $500,000 in fake dollar bills
iround the state to demonstrate to tax-
layers how much money he contends
Texas is losing because of Harding’s
lolicies for investing state revenue.
He also has criticized Harding’s connec-
ion with what he terms the “downtown
Dallas gang” — an apparent reference to
najor banking interests — and accused
he incumbent of using strong-arm tactics
o persuade bankers to contribute to his
campaign.
treasurer
Harding conceded his campaign is
adequately financed, but says no unusual
tactics were used to generate the contribu
tions.
He ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer
in 1956, losing to James, and said he had
considered a 1978 race even before James’
death.
Unlike Ledbetter and Sanderson, Hard
ing carefully avoids any personal criticism
of his opponents, repeatedly telling re
porters, “I don’t run against anybody, I
just run for the office.”
Questioned about his predictions of the
campaign outcome, Harding responds, “I
would hope I will win without a runoff and
I feel reasonably certain I will, but to stand
out on the porch and yell that would cer
tainly be naive.”
Ledbetter disagrees, saying, “About the
only thing he’s got going for him is his
famous name, or should I say infamous?
“Whichever, its clear Texas voters have
ahd their fill of famous names and incom
petent leadership. The people will not be
deceived this year.”
Ledbetter ahs borrowed $100,000 from
geologist Joe Moore to finance his cam
paign, and says if he loses hel’ll have to
work for Moore to repay the loans.
“Talk about incentive to win, I’ve got
it,” Ledbetter said. “I’m not going to lost
the race, but the agreement is that if I do.
I’ve got to go to North Dakota and work in
his oil field to pay him back.”
Sanderson, one of the first candidates to
announce for office this year, did little
public campaigning in the early stages but
has said he will attempt a blitz in the final
week before the May 6 vote.
There is no Republican candidate for
treasurer, so the winner of the Democratic
primary nomination is assured of election
in November.
Confidential records burned
By LIZ NEWLIN
Battalion Campus Editor
Texas A&M University officials burned
two boxes of student records containing
grade slips Monday night to correct a mis
take made two years ago.
It’s normal for the Department of Stu
dent Affairs to burn confidential records
when they are no longer needed, said Dr.
Charles Powell, director of the depart
ment. These records, dating from 1972-73,
were discovered in a closet Monday eve
ning in the student lounge between
Crocker and Moore halls on the north side
of campus.
A student telephoned The Battalion
Monday afternoon and said the records
could be obtained easily from the study
lounge, which is open 24 hours a day. The
Battalion found the boxes of records were
not being supervised by officials and that
the locked plastic folding door covering
the closet could be lifted back to reveal the
records. No sign was posted to mark the
closet an unauthorized area.
Students’ grades are protected by the
Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act of 1974. The act states that an institu
tion shall formulate and adopt a policy “not
disclosing personally identifiable informa
tion from the educational records of a stu
dent without prior consent.” The Univer
sity requires written permission from a
student before his transcripts can be re
leased.
Chris Kling, students’ legal adviser, said
the law “implies reasonable security pro
cedures to see that the information does
not get out.”
After finding the records, The Battalion
called several University officials, and
Powell was informed of the records’ loca
tion. In an interview Tuesday afternoon,
Powell said he and Assistant Area Coor
dinator Rick Crow, whose name was on
the boxes, went to the lounge, retrieved
the records and destroyed them Monday
night.
“I burned them,’ Powell said. “We
don’t know how they (the files) got in
there.” He said the closet was a storage
area for a now-defunct student radio sta
tion.
Powell speculated that the records were
“shuffled in there during an office move
about two years ago.
“That’s not where the records were
stored,” Powell said. Confidential reoerds
would not be stored in the closet because
students involved in the radio station had
access to the area, he said.
The records belonged to Rick Crow, a
former counselor for some of the north
side dorms.
“I just overlooked a box of grades I
should have destroyed four or five years
ago,” Crow said in an interview Tuesday
morning. He said he burned “hundreds”
of records when he moved his office from
the Crocker-Moore lounge and had in
tended to bum these files.
“They’re old files that I had on students
in previous years,” Crow said. “I should
have destroyed them.”
Powell said that in his opinion Crow was
“negligent.”
“Closed personnel files” dating from 1972-73 were discovered by
The Battalion in a closet in the student lounge between Crocker
and Moore halls Monday evening. After University officials were
Leaving the records in the closet was a the thre , e are ? coordinators’ offices contain
“mistake,” Powell said. But it was not a minor disciplinary complaints and direc-
eritical mistake, he said, because the rec- tor y information. Directory information
ords were not “critical,” mainly because of includes such items as birthdate, address,
their age awards or membership in student orgam-
The student who told The Battalion zations.
about the records had told assistant area Powell began changing the contents of
coordinator Tom Murray the records were the counselors’ records when he became
in the closet two weeks ago. head of the department in 1972, he said.
“I couldn’t find them at the time,” Mur- Now, Powell said, all critical records are
ray said in an interview Tuesday morning. kept in his office. Each year the discipli-
“I couldn’t get into one of the offices. After nary files are cleared of “minor” informa-
that I just forgot about it. tion by his staff. Files are destroyed when
“I didn’t think to look behind the cur- a student graduates, Powell said, unless
tain. I probably should have checked a lit- the information would pertain to an inves
tor farther than I did. tigation of a former student for military se-
Murray said the student only told him curity clearance,
about the records “in passing” and didn’t „ , , . .
come to him about them specifically. s P ent ^ a great deal of our tiiri c
Area coordinators no longer keep studying manuals to find out what s legal
academic or serious disciplinary records in an “. legal to keep in records, Powell
their offices. Disciplinary records of a seri- said. He said his depaitment has pres-
ous nature and a book of grades are kept in ent ^ d seminars for other universities on
the main office of the department. student disciplinary records.
When Crow was a counselor for the Ide emphasized that students have the
north side dorms, grade slips were dis- right to review their records in h,s office or
tributed in bulk to the counselors’ offices, their ^demic records.
Crow said. The counselors would look Original grade slips are stored in the
over the grades for students in the dorms records section of the Admission and Rec-
assigned to the counselor. ords Department in Heaton Hall. Dave
If a student appeared to be having Worley, assistant registrar and head of the
academic problems, Crow said, he would records section, said any student may see
“call them in and see if there was anything his permanent academic record if he has
I could do for them. the proper identification. Student records
Counselors, renamed area coordinators in the fireproofed room date back to the
or assistant area coordinators, have not early 1900s, Worley said. Microfilm copies
routinely reviewed grades for at least of the records are stored in bank vaults, he
three years. Crow said. Now records in added.
Battalion photos by Liz Newlin and Lee Roy Leschper, Jr.
informed of the confidential records’ location, they retrieved them
from the closet and burned them. Officials say the records should
have already been destroyed.