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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 12, 1978)
PThe Battalion rg^ol. 71 No. 173 Wednesday, July 12, 1978 News Dept. 845-2611 rJ§ Pages College Station, Texas Business Dept. 845-2611 Inside Wednesday • George Washington vs. George Carlin - p. 2. • FDA can’t outlaw laetrile - p. 5. • Garvey leads NL to All-Star vic tory - p. 7. L___ Camp United Press International CARLOS DE LA RAPITA, Spain — A flaming truck ' liquid gas swerved off a beachside highway Tuesday wed into a campsite crowded with foreign tourists, ig- chain of explosions and fires that left at least 150 dead ) injured, officials said. force of the explosions at the Costa Blanca campsite bodies into the Mediterranean Sea. Reports from the aid 80 to 90 vehicles were destroyed, along with 12 s and a discotheque as flames spread and engulfed the blast kills 150 in Spain Reports from the scene said as many as 180 persons may have been killed. The Interior Ministry in Madrid said the Civil Guard had counted 150 bodies and estimated 20 to 25 more would be recovered. About 200 injured were taken to three area hospitals, many with critical burns over 50 to 80 percent of their bodies. Medi cal officials said they would be evacuated to the burn center in Barcelona. The victims included a number of French and German tourists, as well as some from Holland and England. The blasts ripped through the Los Alfaques campsite on the eastern Mediterrean coast, between the cities of Barcelona and Valencia, about 3:30 p.m. Officials at the scene said a truck carrying propylene, an oil derivative, apparently burst into flames as it passed the campsite on national highway 340, about four miles from the town of San Carlos de la Rapita. The driver lost control and the rig swerved off the road into the campsite where the gas exploded, setting off chain-reaction blasts of the campers’ liquid gas supplies. Many of the survivors were in a state of shock, witnesses said. Medical officials said they were having trouble finding trans lators to help identify the dead and injured. “It hasn’t been easy since there are people who have refused to translate because of the shocking mutilations of the injured, ” a police official said. Authorities said many of the campers were burned critically because they had been wearing only bathing suits at the time of the blasts. The local radio station suspended regular programming to appeal for blood donors. All available rescue vehicles rushed to the area and all access roads were cleared of normal traffic. Battalion photos by Pat O'Malley Signs of quiz time in Aggieland Students all over campus are hitting the books, pre- tural education major, cools his heels in the Fish major Tony Thomas studies in the Memorial Student paring for final exams. John Bell, a senior agricul- Pond before taking a quiz, while senior psychology Center. cl )onations bolster radio station funds t h f y SCOTT PENDLETON heX Battalion StalT rnl! .lU-FM has received donations to- ^(54,285.25 during a two-month cam- to enlist public support for the fi- t( . S |ily troubled radio station, Station jp^r Don Simons said Tuesday. ctiniTexas A&M University radio station . collect an additional $25,214.75 by , 1, 1979 if it is to continue broadcast- thec nottt'ersity officials earlier had said the 13.75 would cease operation on Aug. 31 year because its $80,000 appropria- i dufts cut from the University budget as piwiriofity expense. "'^/ever. University President Jarvis .announced June 9 that the Univer- . ould pay one half of the public I asting station’s operating expenses if the remainder could be collected from public contributions and donations. The station began accepting donations at the end of May. The largest donation received so far is $500, with many gifts of $100, Simons said. The money has been coming in steadily, he added. “We think the community will re spond, Simons said. “We re very optimis tic.” KAMU-FM now broadcasts a one- minute spot announcement to advertise its request for contributions. These an nouncements are aired at regular intervals in the station’s program. “We do a low-key promotion, Simons said. In addition to money, many people have come by the station to volunteer their services. fewest cattle pest ipe > " }amed Jimmy ^ United Press International >u mention the name Jimmy Carter Ljjl a Texas cattleman, you’re likely to ''"/ords usually reserved for a rattles- r a wolf that has just killed a calf, stockmen see both in the same light lather force robbing them of their bs to make a profit. ^ cattlemen were hard hit by Presi- >arter’s announcement last month e would increase the permissible Jjt of cattle imported into the United were just starting to see daylight in Id of the tunnel when the president j^with increasing imports,” said South cattleman Tobin Armstrong. “It i had any effect on retail beef prices, jsupply, for that matter, but it was gating to the live cattle market.” Je futures market was hurt the said David Stephenson with the aachie Livestock Commission. Q^e day after Carter started talking Ifli imports, prices for live cattle drop- '^Jght down to the limit,” he said. “I’m p sed with Carter. We thought he understand a little bit. siNd Antonio livestock dealer A.J. Senltey is bitter about Carter’s interven- yo«( ‘ 4 (If the publicity and conversation hurt than anything,” he said. “You can ■J^any product in the supermarket and V4 l ne up. But anytime meat goes up, _ l3 jiaise hell and make a big to-do over -31* _ jt( [je price was up, and people were ^ fe it and everything until all the con- iH versation started, and then the housewife started backing off,” he said. “The x^ublic- ity hurt us a lot worse than the extra im ported tonnage.” Cattlemen were unanimous in their opinion that the increased imported beef will have little significance on retail beef prices. “The overall effect of President Carter’s import suspension will be to add 2.2 per cent to the total supply available for the rest of the year,” said Dr. Don Farris, member of a Texas A&M University re search team on the 1980 beef outlook. The researchers said most of the im ported beef is low-quality range beef, used for meat products and ground beef. “It was surprising to many who have watched the beef industry suffer a four- year worldwide depression to hear that some groups have recommended lifting the beef import quota to control inflation, ” Farris said. Armstrong says the import suspension is a political ploy that’s fooling consumers. “The statement the president made about solving the beef supply problem by opening the flood gates for import of foreign beef was purely self-serving,” he said. “There’s no way it’s going to solve the problem at this time, and it’s a hoax on the public to say something like that.” Cattlemen say they’re still facing low prices for their product, while everything they must buy has gone up. “When we put Carter in, we thought there was a chance that things would get better,” said Stephenson. “They haven’t, and very few of us would vote for him again.” “People donate time for programs and to make promotional announcements,” Simons said. The station may begin a more active fund-raising campaign with the permission of the administration. At the Board of Re gents request, the station turned in a list of possible promotional activities to the administration. This list is still under con sideration, Simons said. KAMU-FM must maintain a minimum operating budget of $80,000 to remain a member of the National Public Radio. The station can count 47.5 percent of em ployees’ salaries, which now amounts to $25,650, towards this budget. Added to this figure is $25,000 provided by the University for a total present budget of $50,560. The $29,500 that the station must raise on its own would bring the total to $80,150, enough to remain part of the NPR network. “We re confident that we can raise the money from the community, Simons said. Instructors held responsible Recruit deaths explored United Press International FORT JACKSON, S.C. — Two Army drill instructors have been charged with causing the deaths of two recruits at the Fort Jackson basic training base last month, and the Army says a full investiga tion is now under way. The Army announced Monday that Sgt. Willie L. Alexander and Sgt. 1st Class Lawrence Chapman Jr. were charged with dereliction of duty, involuntary man slaughter and maltreatment of the teen age recruits, who died of cardiac arrest due to heat stroke on their first day of basic training June 29. Col. James G. Garner, head of the Judge Advocate’s office at Fort Jackson, said the two are charged with “giving ex cessively strenuous and prolonged exer cise to trainees contrary to the policy of Fort Jackson. It is the policy at Fort Jackson not to give physical training dur ing periods of extreme heat. ” The two recruits, Pvt. Wayne Krassow, 18, of Cygnet, Ohio, and Pvt. Lester Watts, 18, of York, S.C., both collapsed the evening of June 29. Temperatures that day had risen to the upper 90s. Both were assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion, of the First Training Brigade, and Garner said both drill instructors were charged in both deaths. As a result of the preliminary investiga tion, Garner said a full court-martial has been recommended. That decision will be made after a formal investigation, which Garner likened to a civilian grand jury proceeding, currently under way. Officials refused to discuss the precise physical training experienced by the re cruits the day they collapsed. The Charlotte Observer quoted four re cruits in its Monday editions as saying the platoon members were forced to run sev eral hundred yards in front of their bar racks with 75-pound to 100-pound duffel bags at about 3:30 p.m. on the day of the deaths. American mood shifting trust to selves, from government United Press International WASHINGTON — A new reading of national attitudes suggests that Americans for the first time think of the Soviet Union as their equal in terms of international power and impor tance. It also suggests the American people have the greatest amount of trust and confidence in themselves, their military and their young, and the least amount in the federal govern ment, the CIA, and labor unions, which traditionally rank low est among 18 national institutions. That snapshot of the national mood comes from Potomac Associates, a public policy research group that every other year engages the Gallup organization to measure America’s hopes, fears and attitudes. The newly published report, “State of the Nation III,” by William Watts and Lloyd A. Free, is based on polling con ducted in May 1976. But Watts said he believes the trends uncovered then are even stronger now. He said the country’s most dramatic change since 1974 is an increased sense of nationalism. This is reflected in a heightened fear of war, a willingness to spend more on defense and a fear the United States is mishandling foreign policy. Americans ranked 18 institutions in terms of trustworthiness this way: the American people themselves; military leadership; young people; the American system; the mass media; state government; the FBI; the federal judiciary; local government; politicians; Congress; the federal executive; business and in dustry; government officials generally; federal foreign policy; federal domestic policy; the CIA, and labor unions. The poll showed Americans gave higher priority to defense spending than in 1974, when Vietnam was a more current and bitter memory. A majority felt the United States should remain the most powerful nation even if that meant going to the brink of war. The pulse-taking suggested the people feel more positively about their personal situations than about the country’s. In 1974, six out of 10 did not expect their own prospects to improve over the next five years. In 1976, 57 percent — nearly six out of 10 — did anticipate improvement. But the portion who felt the country had gained ground in its relations with other nations fell from seven Americans in 10 in 1974 to fewer than half in 1976. A cross-section of 1,071 adults was polled. On one question they ranked the power and importance of the United States’ and the Soviet Union on a scale of 1 to 10. In 1974, those polled put this country at 8.8 and the Soviet Union at 7.8, though they saw the gap diminishing in the fu ture. In the new poll, Americans concluded the Soviet Union had become the virtual equal of the United States and was likely to remain so, or even to pull ahead. Those who wanted defense spending increased or main tained rose from 57 percent to 71 percent in the two polls. Sales, estate tax limits seem certain United Press International AUSTIN — Lt. Gov. William P. Hobby predicts the Senate will give overwhelm ing approval to two tax relief proposals that could save Texans $483.5 million in the next three years in reduced sales and in heritance taxes. The proposals, which were considered by the 1977 Legislature and are the most popular parts of Gov. Dolph Briscoe’s $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion tax relief plan, were unanimously approved Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee after minimal public testimony and virtually no debate. The Senate convenes at 10 a. m. today and will consider the measures. Although it would be necessary to sus pend Senate rules to consider the bills to day, Hobby anticipated no problem in that. “I assume there will be a two-thirds vote to suspend the rules and get them up,” he said. "A 12-zip vote in committee is pretty strong. Taxpayers would save $437.3 million in the next three years from enactment of the bill sponsored by Sen. Frank Lombardino, D-San Antonio. The bill would repeal the 4 percent state sales tax on utility bills and authorize cities to repeal their 1 percent levy. The Senate Finance Committee voted to make that tax relief measure effective Oct. 1. The bill by Sen. Kent Hance, D-Lubbock, raising the inheritance tax exemption from $25,000 to $200,000 would save Texans $46.2 million during the next three years. Briscoe’s proposals to increase the homestead tax exemption and amend the Texas Constitution to limit the taxing power of state and local governments and give citizens the right of initiative and re ferendum on tax matters are expected to face a considerably tougher fight in the Legislature. The House twice has refused to suspend its rules to permit hearings to begin im mediately on the proposed constitutional changes, and unless backers of the amendments can win the necessary two- thirds vote, the hearings cannot begin be fore Monday. Jim Oliver, assistant director of the Legislative Budget Board, warned law makers Tuesday if all Briscoe’s tax relief proposals were approved and put into ef fect at the earliest possible date they could reduce state tax revenue by more than $1.6 billion. This means the state could go $238 million in the red by 1981 if it main tains current programs and allows a 7 per cent increase in spending to cover infla tion. He shows city where to put their stumps United Press International LANG DON, Kan. — Norman remon decided the best way to express his dis pleasure with the city’s policy on tree re moval was to decorate officials’ homes and businesses with tree stumps. So Fenton dragged stumps in front of two of the couneilmen’s homes and then blocked the entrances to Mayor Brenton Sherow’s service station with logs. “I thought they (city officials) needed some modern art in their yards, too, so I hooked a long chain up to the trailer hitch on my car and started pulling them, ” Fen ton said. “Some of them (stumps) were al most too heavy for my car; I broke the long chain once pulling them.” Fenton’s dispute with the city stems from the removal of a dead Chinese elm tree on city property in ,front of his home. Fenton said he feared the tree would fall and damage his house, so he contracted to have the tree removed. But before the contracters arrived, the city directed another company to cut the tree. “They (city contractors) cut the tree and took the good wood, then they left the brush and the stump here for the city to take care of, but they (city) never did. It sat out here for six weeks or so and I finally got tired of it,” Fenton said. Sherow isn’t sure if Fenton’s complaint will be resolved. But he warned that city officials will not tolerate any additional stump decorations from Fenton. “If he (Fenton) comes pulling those logs around again, some of the councilmen are going to get teed off and then, well, I guess you’d better not print what would happen. ”