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Battalion
Wednesday, May 31, 1978
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Inside Wednesday
• Cartoon strip series by Doug
Graham begins today - p. 2.
• South Vietnamese refugee now
representing A&M - p. 4.
• Baseball season finally ends - p. 8.
NATO members agree
on massive defense plan
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Denise Denton, who will be a fifth grader this fall at South Knoll
Elementary School in College Station, takes a flying leap off the
10-meter platform Tuesday at the Wofford Cain Pool on the A&M
campus. Denise is a frequent visitor to the pool, and judging by
her jump from the tall platform, she apparently has no fear of
heights. Battalion photo by Pat O'Malley
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The 15-nation NATO
summit today agreed in principle on plans
for a massive long-range defense program
that has been a part of its theory for 29
years, but has never before been put on
paper.
But the consensus of NATO members
on the plan does not mean agreement on
all of its proposals, and a real test will
come when the countries deal with the re
quirement of a 3 percent increase in de
fense spending to meet its goals.
If realized, the program would weld
NATO’s military forces into one integrated
unit in case of an East-West conflict. The
growing Soviet conventional and nuclear
strength persuaded the alliance to put
such a plan into specific proposals for ac
tion at this summit meeting.
The massive defense study — a series of
117 proposals dealing with everything
from chemical warfare to the problems of
converting civilian trucks into military
convoys in case of a military confrontation
— is the chief item of business of the con
ference.
The first day’s sessions Tuesday, mostly
behind closed doors, dealt with political
matters, including a series of warnings
about Soviet and Cuban intentions in Af
rica, although Africa was not on the formal
agenda.
Secretary of State Cyrus Vance said
after the first day’s meetings President
Carter received support from his Western
allies on his urging that “we cannot be in
different to these events (in Africa).”
Vance said some of the leaders of the
western European nations — which in
cluded all the former colonial powers of
Africa — urged caution, and “several
pointed out that the problems are complex
and the roots are deeper than East-West
differences.’’
The Western Europeans urged the
United States to proceed with caution and
analyze the roots of the African problems,
including tribal differences.
Earlier Tuesday, the State Department
announced the United States would con
sider participation in an international
peace-keeping force in Zaire. But at his
iller says he won’t release
udget recommendations
jyf By FLAVIA KRONE
Battalion Campus Editor
i Texas A&M University President Jarvis
ptllffiller last Wednesday said University
* * / *'*' 1 budget working papers are the responsi-
iternatm blity of the Board of Regents and not a
oger Sla matter for the 12 million people of the
not agrcr'Sfaie.
social/®Q.Vl/Her told a meeting of the Central
[ing tob®xas Chapter of the Society of Profes-
the nwflnal Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi that his
Bministration would not release its 1978-
erbacl oIm budget recommendations to the public
lias Co prior to approval of the University budget
jn dollar by the Board of Regents on June 9.
)jngfromWMiller said the University considers its
magingt proposed budget “an intra-office docu-
na nt. Releasing the University budget
jPAtoldiracommendations would undermine the
i Minne?legislative authority which empowers the
3 underm-board of Regents to administer the
greeingi'budget, Miller said.
compel|§said the University is not reg-
; rs, seefc u >red to account for proposed expendi-
ned, said to' es of public hinds, hut for those expen-
ren ts tbis‘Jtures which ore finally approved by the
IBourd of Regents.
nd whert! “Once the budget is approved it is pub-
Staubach, fto information and we are accountable for
cceptaia what we have done,” Miller said.
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Asked if the University’s radio station
KAMU-FM is funded in the proposed
budget. Miller said, “The final chapter is
not written and will not be written until
June 9.”
Miller said he foresees problems in
maintaining the radio station because it is
funded from departmental funds which are
“the scarcest funds we have,’ in what he
explained was an extremely tight budget
year for all departments of the University.
Miller also discussed freedom of the
press and said he was concerned that some
news reporting presents superficial views
based on incorrect assumptions.
“I recognize the tremendous asset of a
relatively free press,” Miller said. “But, it
also brings an awesome responsibility.”
Miller cited two CBS “60 Minutes’
documentaries as examples of “slanted and
biased reporting. One of the programs
dealt with research funding at a Montana
university and the other dealt with the oil
industry.
Miller expressed concern that biased
reporting of university research in general
may adversely affect research binding at
Texas A&M in the future.
Speaking about campus newspaper cen
sorship, Miller drew an analogy between a
newspaper publisher and a university’s
administration.
“In the newspaper industry the pub
lisher has a great deal to say about the
editorial line,” Miller said. “The univer
sity (administration) might be considered
the publisher of a campus newspaper. ”
Miller said the Texas A&M University
newspaper, The Battalion, has a greater
responsibility than many student papers
because it is seen by the public as an offi
cial publication of the University, whereas
many student newspapers clearly are not.
Miller cited The Battalion’s recent
endorsement of Attorney General John
Hill for governor as an example of publica
tion which could have been politically em
barrassing to the University.
“Luckily for us the Batt picked the right
candidate to endorse,” Miller said.
Miller emphasized that his statements
represented personal feelings and not an
official position and stressed that he had no
plans to censor the school newspaper.
Miller said he was not suggesting that
The Battalion should become a publicity
vehicle for the University, but said that
the University’s point of view should also
be heard.
news conference six hours later, Vance
laid almost total emphasis on the economic
recovery of Zaire and the military force
was treated as incidental to the economic
plans.
Poerner
wants funds
for tracks
By GARY WELCH
Battalion City Editor
Railroad Commissioner John Poerner
said Tuesday he wants to meet with U. S.
Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams
about the possibility of obtaining federal
funds to move railroad tracks outside some
Texas cities, including College Station-
Bryan.
Meanwhile, employees of the Texas
Transportation Institute are trying to for
mulate a plan that would bring federal
money to this area to pay for relocating the
tracks that run along Wellborn Road.
The plan involves moving main rail traf
fic to new tracks west of Easterwood Air
port, while still allowing rail service to
businesses and industries in Bryan and
College Station.
Poerner said he wants to select four or
five Texas mayors, all from cities that have
similar railroad problems, to go to Wash
ington with him to strengthen his effort for
the federal funds.
“Many cities have this problem, but
College Station’s is about the worst I ve
seen,” Poerner said. One reason is that
many Texas A&M students must cross the
tracks to get to campus, he said, and trains
often impede the traffic flow.
He said the danger is not only from the
pedestrian and automobile traffic crossing
the tracks, but also from the hazardous
materials that often pass through College
Station.
“I think College Station would be a good
pilot project,” Poerner safd.
The University had hoped to get federal
funding through the National Highway
Bill, which has been in Congress for about
three years, but in 1976 Congress decided
not to add any new cities to the funding
project.
TTI is also considering trying to get the
track relocation funds as part of a research
project aimed at reducing problems with
car and pedestrian cross traffic.
“It simply must be done,” Poerner said.
“We must go overhead, underground or
around.. Those are the alternatives as I see
them.”
He said the United States — along with
France, Belgium, Britain and the Federal
Republic of Germany — will meet in
Brussels June 13-14 to discuss the eco
nomic future of Zaire.
The summit conference, suggested 14
months ago by President Carter as a
means of dramatizing American support
for the alliance, is due to end late today
with a communique.
Broken remnants of railroad car wheels are scattered along the
railroad tracks north of the Texas A&M campus where cars from a
Southern Pacific freight train derailed last week. Here Southern
Pacific work to remove one of the last derailed cars from the scene
of that derailment. Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
Marijuana in chocolate cake
causes nine persons to become ill
E’nited Press International
DENVER —- Nine persons became ill
from eating a chocolate cake laden with
marijuana at a state office party, officials
said yesterday.
Ed Clark, the Denver area manager of
the state’s Division of Employment, said
one of the victims became so violently ill
she was taken to a hospital emergency
room.
The state Health Department, after de
termining that marijuana in the cake had
caused the illnesses, asked the Colorado
Bureau of Investigation to look into the
incident.
The Health Department said 22 em
ployees of the state Division of Employ
ment held the office party April 28 as a
“going away luncheon” for two workers.
Three cakes brought from homes of the
employees were eaten during the party.
All nine of those who became ill had eaten
a chocolate macaroon Bundt cake, the
health agency said.
Technicians discovered traces of
marijuana in the remaining cake and in
urine specimens of the victims.
“The doctor at the state Health De
partment who tested it (the cake) said it
had a high quantity of Colombian Gold,
which is supposed to be the best
marijuana,” Clark said.
The two women who became sickest,
Frances Imfeld and Penny Carlson,
missed several days of work, Clark said.
The other seven did not miss any work,
but were unable to function normally be
cause of mental confusion and lack of coor
dination, he said.
Mrs. Imfeld was taken to a hospital
emergency room by her husband because
she became so ill.
The Health Department, in a report on
the incident, said the nine may have be
came so ill because they had never before
been exposed to marijuana, because they
had ingested the marijuana and because
they ingested a large amount of the active
ingredient in marijuana, THC.
Clark said employees had now been told
to hold future office parties in restaurants.
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Summer school registration
scheduled for next Tuesday
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The first summer session registra
tion marathon will be held on Tues
day from 7 a. m. to 12 noon.
Avoid slogging through miles of
lines by picking up registration
packets at the Deware Field House
according to the following schedule:
S through Z - 7 a.m. to 8:15 a m.
A through D - 8:15 a.m. to 9:30 aim.
E through K - 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
L through R - 10:45 a.m. to noon
After obtaining a registration
packet, proceed to the main floor of
G. Rollie White Coliseum. There,
department heads will approve class
schedules and hand out class cards.
Deans from the various colleges also
will be on hand to approve
schedules.
During the next heat of the race
all students should report to the
MSC 212 and 224. The housing
manager, fee assessor and registrar
will all be on hand to process regis
tration packets and collect assign
ment cards and class cards.
But the race is not quite over. On
Wednesday, June 7, all summer
session students must pay their fees
at the cashier’s desk in G. Rollie
White Coliseum beginning at 8 a. m.
Students who do not complete
their registration and return their
assignment cards to the registrar in
Rooms 212 and 224 of the MSC by 2
p.m. on registration day must pay
an additional $4 late registration fee.
Late registration will be held in G.
Rollie White Coliseum on Wednes
day, June 7, beginning at 8 a.m.
June 9, is the last day for enrolling
in any course in the university for
the first summer term.
Classes begin Wednesday, June
7.
Fire safety experts waiting for site to cool
before investigating cause of Texas City blast
United Press International
TEXAS CITY — Federal safety inspec
tors, hoping to find the cause of an oil re
finery blast that killed four persons, are
waiting for the maze of twisted metal pipes
and steel support beams to cool enough to
enter the area.
Seven explosions that sent orange
fireballs curling 500 feet into the air ripped
through the Texas City Refining Inc.,
plant Tuesday morning. Firemen, fearful
of a re-enactment of the 1947 Texas City
disaster in which 576 died, battled the fire
for hours before officially extinguishing it
at midafternoon.
“Firemen are still putting foam on some
of the (nearby) tanks but it’s too hot to go
into the area,” a plant spokesman said late
Tuesday. “We have a number of trucks
standing by and we ll be watching it the
rest of the night.
“We hope to get in there sometime (to
day), but it will probably take several days
to figure out what happened.”
Officials said the first explosion at the
10-block-long plant occurred about 2 a.m.
Tuesday at or near a gas plant and process
unit. That explosion triggered six more
blasts before firemen could bring the blaze
under control. Officials said some crude oil
storage tanks went up in the explosions.
The cause of the explosion was not im
mediately known, but a process engineer
from an Amoco refinery said a new process
unit was being completed and brought on
line at the plant.
“Bringing any new unit on the line is a
hazard,” said Don Gray. “Any explosion
Commission authorizes hus route
between AirM, Sam Houston
United Press International
AUSTIN — The Railroad Commission
Tuesday authorized a new bus route be
tween the campuses of Texas A&M Uni
versity in College Station and Sam Hous
ton State University in Huntsville.
The three-man commission granted
Transportation Enterprises Inc. of Austin
authority to carry passengers between the
two campuses.
The Austin bus company indicated they
hope to serve students who live on one
campus and take classes at the other.
Service will not be limited to students.
however. The Railroad Commission’s
order allows TEI buses to stop at any in
termediate point along State Highway 21
between College Station and Bryan and
along State Highways 6 and 30 between
Bryan and Huntsville to load or unload
passengers.
The commission also authorized TEI
buses to stop at any city along the In
terstate Highway 45 route between Hous
ton and Huntsville except Conroe, Willis
and New Waverly. Currently TEI buses*
are running nonstop between Huntsville
and Houston.
sets up a chain reaction. Any kind of igni
tion could set it off.
Three victims trapped in the inferno
were identified as Carl K. Cope, 34, of
Alvin, and Joseph Bertrand, 59, of La
Marque, Texas, both operators for the
company, and Aaron Browning, a contract
guard from Houston.
A fourth victim, Daniel R. Dore, 35, of
Texas City, died of burns at a local hospi
tal. At least 17 other persons were hos
pitalized from the explosions.
The plant, owned by two farmers
cooperatives, refines gasoline and fuel oil
primarily. It has a crude oil processing
capacity of 74,500 barrels a day.
The refining city on Galveston Bay is
ringed by major refinery operations of
Monsanto, Union Carbide, Gulf, Amoco
and other companies.
Within minutes of the first explosion the
fire spread to two nearby 55,000-gallon
storage tanks, sending an “orange fireball
soaring 500 feet into the dark morning sky.
The concussion was felt in Nassau Bay,
about 20 miles from the citv.