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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1978)
The Battalion Vol. 71 No. 149 16 Pages Wednesday, May 3, 1978 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Inside Wednesday • It’s that time of the year — elec tion endorsements, p. 2. • Secretaries at A&M — ability vs. pay, p. 9. • Campbell goes with Oilers, p. 15. C'Wf Gasoline seepage results in three - hour evacuation Battalion photo by Larry Chandler College Station fireman Roger Anderson pumps water into a man hole at the corner of University Drive and Nagle Street. Firemen pumped water into telephone conduits to dilute gasoline that was discovered underground. Jtay resident to press charges By ANDREA VALES Battalion Staff A gasoline leak into telephone conduits beneath two service stations forced evacu ation of several businesses on University Drive for about three hours Tuesday af ternoon. College Station police and firemen cor doned off University Drive from South College Avenue to Stasny Drive while College Station firemen searched for the source of the gas leak. Although the source of the leak was not pinpointed, firemen pumped water into a phone conduit at the University Drive and Nagle Street intersection, where the gasoline was first detected around 10:30 Tuesday morning. Harry Davis, College Station fire mar shall, said the fire department was notified by a General Telephone and Electronics workman who was inspecting the conduits containing telephone cables. When fire men arrived, an equal mixture of liquid gas and water was detected in the man hole, said Davis. Firemen immediately diluted the strong concentration of gas by flushing the con duit with water from two fire hoses. As a result, water was forced into the basement of the GTE building on Nagle. At one time, the water level reached one foot, said a spokesman for the phone company. Although fumes were detected, Davis said there was no immediate safety hazard because the gas was diluted to a 5 percent concentration with the water flushing. Dirt was piled on one side of the man hole to prevent an overflow of gas and water from running east on University. Colonel Tom Parsons, director of traffic and security of the University Police, said gas fumes were detected on Ireland Street on the north side of the Texas A&M Uni versity campus, but after firemen pumped water into the conduit the fumes dissi pated. Extra campus police were brought in to control student pedestrian traffic in the area while College Station authorities evacuated several banks, restaurants and businesses along University. The cause of the gas leak could not be determined on Tuesday, but Davis said the leak was probably caused in one of two ways. Gasoline could have seeped through the tunnel wall and accumulated in a pocket for months or years in the soil. The leak could also have occurred from a crack in a service station gas tank. Davis said the tanks were inspected and no level loss was noticed, but there was still the possibility of gas leaking through a crack above the present gas level in the tank. The help identify the source of the leak, the tanks will be inspected for leakage Wednesday morning after they are filled with gasoline, said Davis. He said the firemen’s major worry was the possibility of the liquid gas pooling below the tank. Firemen also feared that fresh gas would seep into the conduit as fresh water was being flushed through the tunnel. For a short time, the leak threatened evacuation of part of the University cam pus, including Zachry Engineering Center and the cyclotron. College Station and University police helped with the evacuation by blocking off streets and preventing pedestrians from approaching the hazardous area. A spokesman for GTE said employees were evacuated from the Nagle Street building because a large amount of gas and Tear gas explosion serious By MARILYN BROWN Friendly firecrackers, water balloons d obscenities have been exchanged be- ken residents of Utay Hall dnd cadets in e last few weeks, but last night’s tear IssingofUtay left one student in the hos- lital overnight. j A tear gas canister of military issue was eleased on the first floor of Utay Tuesday at about 12:30 a. m., forcing all residents to 'acuate. Several students were treated for eye itation at the University Health Center, d one student was held overnight, wther student fractured his foot when e jumped from the second floor of the prm. Utay residents plan to press charges .0^1 fhen the vandal is caught. “It’s gotten to the point where it’s not tod bull anymore, said David Carson, tay president. The incident is being investigated by University Police but they have no sus pects yet. Ron Sasse, assistant director of student affairs, said when a suspect is found a hear ing will be scheduled and the matter will be referred to Ron Blatchley, associate di rector of student affairs. “We are fortunate no one was hurt badly,’ Sasse said. He said his office was taking the matter very seriously. Carson said Utay was warned by a sophomore cadet that something would happen to the dorm at about 3 a. m. He said some Utay residents planned to be up and be ready for the attack, but were “caught by surprise” at 12:30. Carson said a grenade simulator was also set off at 10 p.m. A grenade simulator pro duces the same force as a grenade, but is has no schrapnel. Utay residents did not report the gre nade explosion to police because it did not bother them, Carson said. “That’s pretty normal,” he said. andidates bicker as primary nears United Press International The Democratic campaign for governor Jpened with Dolph Briscoe calling Attor- ley General John Hill a spendthrift and ipparently the race will follow that same )ath to Saturday’s primary. Briscoe, seeking a third term that would stend his tenure as governor to 10 years, bid news conference at the Capitol Tuesday in which he said it was sheer fan tasy for Hill to claim all his campaign Promises can be fulfilled without new taxes such as a state income tax. Hill said Briscoe was a spendthrift of a different sort — citing the governor’s $2.9 Trillion campaign expenditure. Hill said Briscoe is borrowing money at the rate of 5100,000 a week to finance a misleading advertising campaign. Briscoe said Hill has promised spending programs for education that would cost $3 million in the next two years. “For him to claim this amount of new pending can be financed without new taxes is sheer fantasy,” Briscoe said. “His wild promises indicate the desperate situa tion that he finds himself in. Not in his wildest imagination can he fulfill these promises without a state income tax.” Briscoe said Hill’s only alternative to a state income tax to pay for his campaign promises would be to double the state sales tax. “Mr. Hill is a captive of the spending lobby. His reckless attitude toward the people’s tax dollars is more evident than ever,” Briscoe said. Hill responded that Briscoe’s expensive media campaign was to spread false con cepts about him. They know the only way they can pre vent me from winning is to deliberately misrepresent my position on a state in come tax, and that’s exactly what they’re trying to do, Hill said. “They know I’ve pledged to veto any new taxes, but they’re not about to let the truth stand in the way of their frantic effort to hold on to the gov ernor’s chair for 10 years. In San Antonio, Hill called Briscoe “the biggest spendthrift governor we’ve ever had. He presided over the doubling of spending during his five and a half years in office.” The attorney general predicted he would beat Briscoe in the governor’s race because, “the people resent dynasty build ing and a grab for 10 years in office.” Rep. Bob Krueger, D-Texas, said Joe Christie, his opponent in the Democratic Senate primary, did not understand the complexities of important national issues. Krueger also issued a plea for harmony in the Democratic Party, apparently be lieving he has the Democratic nomination clinched and is preparing to begin a cam paign against incumbent Sen. John Tower, R-Texas. He referred to Christie as a good man and a good Democrat, and said, “We must put aside our differences, pledge our com bined support and unite to work towards one goal — the election of the Democratic nominee to the U.S. Senate seat.” Attorney general candidates Mark White and Price Daniel Jr. both cam paigned Tuesday in Austin. Daniel, a former speaker of the House, pledged to protect consumers and promote Texas’ business climate if he is elected and to root out governmental corruption at every level. White pledged to join in a suit to pre vent Montana from levying a 30 percent severance tax against coal shipped to Texas if he is elected attorney general. In the past few weeks several incidents have occurred between Utay residents and cadets, all of which Carson considers nor mal. “It’s been pretty much spring stuff until this week,” he said. Thursday night several windows were broken by marbles shot from a powerful wrist singshot, and one student was hit in the chest with one of the marbles. Satur day morning, butyric acid, which has the smell of rancid butter, was poured in the dorm. In March, butyric acid and pig manure were put in the airconditioning vents in Dorm 1 and Utay, Carson said. The sys tems had to be dismantled to be cleaned. “It was rank for a week,” Carson said. Ken Donnelly, deputy corps comman der, said it is commonplace to throw pig manure, skunks, and other smelly items into the quad area dorms. “We do these things to each other, too,” he said, “but Utay feels like we re picking on them.” He said Utay residents often heckle them during formation and throw water balloons. Several Utay residents have complained that they receive much harsher discipline for their pranks than cadets. Carson said three witnesses saw the person who set off the tear gas, and he knocked down one witness when he was running away. The person had a very short haircut and was wearing a Corps of Cadets sweatshirt, witnesses said. “We re not blaming the Corps, but if it wasn’t a corps member he went to a lot of trouble to look like one,” Carson said. He said Corps Commander Mike Gen try and several band members came to him and assured him that if they find out anything about the incident they will tell him. He said Gentry and other cadets told him they think it was done by one indi vidual who is not liked by his outfit and is trying to get attention. Gentry was not available for comment. Donnelly said after the incident oc curred, several Utay residents went to the quad and yelled at cadets in their dorms. “No one knew what they were doing or what they were talking about,” he said. Carson said, “We’ve tried to keep it down to just throwing water balloons and obscenities at each other. It’s always been good clean fun — O.K. to bother each other.” He said he has three or four reli able sources who tell him when something is going to happen to the dorm. Carson said he knows of an artillery simulator the Corps has but he doesn’t know who has it. “Corps members tell me if we keep our noses clean it might not get set off,” he said. Last year an artillery simulator was set off in Utay. It rocked the building and knocked several residents out of their beds. Carson said there are materials for pranks in Utay, but he could not say who has them or what and where they are. “We re adopting a wait-and-see at titude,” Carson said. “Going over there and doing something to them doesn’t ac complish anything.” He said so far Utay residents are trusting him to retaliate through proper channels. Japanese leader arrives for talks United Press International WASHINGTON — Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda Tuesday began a two-day U.S.-Japanese summit dominated by economic issues. Fukuda, who arrived in Washington Monday evening, had a meeting and work ing lunch scheduled with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance Tuesday, and with President Carter Wednesday. The prime minister was expected to ask U.S. officials for strong action to stabilize the American dollar, while American offi cials were pressing Fukuda for ways to lower Japan’s massive and still-growing trade surplus with the United States. The Japanese leader, who hopes Presi dent Carter can visit him in Tokyo next year, will meet Carter Wednesday morn ing shortly before his departure for New York. Fukuda also planned meetings with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House International Relations Com mittee. Asian security, the Middle East and Af- water was forced into the basement. Several telephone trunk cables located in the cable vault beneath the building were damaged by the water. Because of the water damage to the cables, some wats lines, teletype services, and the 822, 823 and 846 phone extensions were out of order for a while on Tuesday. Eventually, a pumping crew arrived to help drain the water from the basement of the building. Approximately 900 cables were covered with water. Davis said the fire department will watch the Northgate area “very closely” for the next month to guard against gas pockets that may still exist underground. HEW probers question students By CHRIS PICCIONE Two investigators from the Department of Health Education and Welfare are on the Texas A&M University campus this week to interviews students as part of a desegregation probe. The purpose of the interviews con ducted Tuesday and Wednesday is to find out what Texas A&M is like from the stu dents’ perspective, said Troy Coleman, an investigator from the Office of Civil Rights in Dallas. The interviews are the first part of an HEW investigation to determine if “ves tiges of segregation” are found in institu tions of higher education. Texas A&M is one of 18 institutions being investigated in the state. Ray Daniels, Memorial Student Center Council and Directorate president, said the interviewers were “interested in the types of programs the University has which might benefit minority students in college.” Some examples were the general re cruiting of students or the financial aid program, Daniels said. The investigators wanted to know how minority students perceived the University. “The interviewers seemed very friendly and open,” Daniels said. Mike Gentry, commander of the Corps of Cadets, said the interviewers wanted to know about high school recruiting pro grams for the Corps. “It seemed like they were digging too deep to find things we were doing wrong, ” Gentry said, adding that he does not think Texas A&M is segregated. Students interviewed were leaders in the Corps of Cadets, student government and other organizations. Members of minority groups on campus were also questioned. Coleman and Mimi Lee, another Civil Rights investigator, are asking student about admissions, recruiting, athletics, counseling, tutoring and financial assis tance at Texas A&M. “The information we receive will help us to determine a true picture of the situa tion at A&M,” Coleman said. In an academic council meeting last Wednesday, Texas A&M president Jarvis Miller said he felt that HEW had already formed its impressions concerning segre gation at Texas A&M. “Our assumption is that their report is already written and that they are looking for information to justify their conclu sions,” Miller said. Investigator Coleman was surprised when he heard what Miller had said last week. “I don’t know why the administration has these impressions,” Coleman said. He added that the HEW findings had to be substantial and evidence of the findings must be able to stand up in a court of law. “The investigation is part of a legal pro cess, part of a legal set-up, ” Coleman said. “It requires more than feelings.” The investigators will return to Texas A&M May 22 to interview administration and faculty members. Spy trial’s key witness testifies rica also were on Fukuda’s agenda, but none of these diplomatic issues over shadow the importance of trade and finan cial matters as far as U.S.-Japanese rela tions are concerned. Fukuda and his American hosts were scheduled to discuss what the United States can do to shore up the crumbling dollar, and how Japan can lower its trade surplus with America that continues to set new records. The Tokyo government also wants Con gress to pass Carter’s stalled energy bill as soon as possible to reverse the drain of American dollars to the Middle East to pay for U.S. oil imports. Japan has promised to cut its overall trade surplus from the current level of about $14 billion to $6 billion this year, but Fukuda said in Tokyo last Friday, “I do not think even God can bring about such a reduction precisely as predicted.” Also on the agenda was discussion of the economic summit scheduled for Bonn in July. ‘ (See related story, p. 3) United Press International ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A woman coun terspy was called on Tuesday to give a trial jury more details about stolen U.S. secret documents she delivered to Hanoi agents in Paris while working at the same time for the CIA. Known as an operative code-named “Keyseat,’’ she was identified as Dung Krall, daughter of a former Viet Cong am bassador to the Soviet Union, although she is known to be married to a U.S. naval intelligence officer, who never has been publicly identified. As the government’s key witness in the trial of a former U.S. Information Agency official and a Vietnamese expatriot on es pionage charges, Ms. Krall cited names, dates and places of contacts in Washington and in Paris with a seemingly effortless memory. Ronald Louis Humphrey, the former USIA officer, and Vietnamese expatriate David Truong, in opening arguments Monday sought to convince the jury of six men and six women their client sought only to bring the United States and Vietnam closer together on behalf of loved ones in the war-tprn country. The two men on trial were accused in a seven-count indictment of conspiring to funnel top-secret documents, obtained by Humphrey, to Hanoi officials via a courier with whom Truong had contact. But Truong’s courier — Ms. Krall, the first witness — also was a CIA agent. She testified her contacts in Paris warned her that her work for Vietnam was dangerous and told her to be “very careful not to get caught by the French or Americans. She spoke in English with a soft Vietnamese accent, volunteering little, but readily answering questions. She gave names, dates and places without hesita tion. Truong’s lawyer, Michael E. Tigar, told the jury Ms. Krall’s role was to “entrap others into compromising situations” so as to interfere with “normalization” of rela tions between the United States and Vietnam. “She left a trail of falsehood and duplic ity across three continents, Tigar said. Humphrey’s lawyer, Warren L. Miller, said Humphrey sought Truong’s help in getting a Vietnamese woman he loved and her four children out of that country where she was in political danger from the Hanoi regime. In return, Miller said, Humphrey provided Truong with what he “never be lieved was anything more than harmless documents,” although Miller conceded Humphrey realized he might be violating USIA regulations. Miller asked the jury to decide whether Humphrey, 42, “is a spy or a man who loved too much and trusted too much.” Humphrey’s adopted family — the woman with whom he lived, three small girls and a boy — sat quietly in front-row spectators’ seats. Kidnap victim released unhurt United Press International MCKENZIE, Tenn. — The FBI an nounced Tuesday that kidnap victim Jodie Elizabeth Gaines, 18, daughter of a weal thy furniture manufacturer, had been re leased unharmed. “I don’t have any details other than the fact that they have got her and she is all right, a little bit distraught but all right,” said Dick Blay of the Memphis FBI office. Miss Gaines, an attractive, red-haired senior at an exclusive Memphis prep school, was kidnapped Friday night after dining with her parents at a local country club. Her mother received a call Saturday morning demanding $250,000 ransom. There were reports that two men and a woman had been arrested in connection with the kidnapping. WMC-TV reported that FBI took the three into custody in the Paris, Tenn., area, but neither the FBI nor the Henry County Sheriffs office would comment on the report. The station said that a woman was ar rested at the Lone Oak trailer court at Paris. It said a child was with the wo man,and a policewoman remained at the trailer with the child.