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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 1978)
I>v Daijdi The spoils of war Residents of Dunn Hall were under the impression that they had chal lenged residents of the north area dorms to a water fight. A letter to the editor from Dunn Hall residents prompted several men’s dorms from the north side of campus to group and plan an attack on Dunn Wednes day night. So, Dunn residents, left, prepared to hold down the fort. arming hemselves with buckets of water and water ballons. After a briefing from superiors, the stage was set for the battle. But the troops from the north had a few surprises for their chanllengers. With garbage cans containing dung, center, and a collection of rotten fruit. What followed was a confrontation that left the grounds around Dunn Hall cluttered with debris, some of which was tracked inside the dorm. Resi dents walked away from the battle soaking wet and caked with mud and other material. At right, a few Dunn residents attempt to clean up after the fight. See the editorial on page 2. Battalion photos by Steve Lee : practic wn opei a ?nt The Battalion Students may pay for medicine Vol. 72 No. 20 12 Pages Thursday, September 28, 1978 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Rising costs may force the Beutel Health Center to charge students for medication that is now included in the $15 health service fee. It is still unap proved, but change is in the wind. See page 4. Fire prevention at Texas A&M can be a hot issue. See page 7. Student senate gets its budget after debate and deletions. See page 6. th Mail sehei Tuesdai out Owens nomination stands; 4i y rOP county head resigns l[) two earlier! heir re 'heir Ion come a is of Sato _ By JAMIE AITKEN d Sundi Battalion City Editor 'triplo k heated meeting of the Brazos County led ton tepublican Executive ended unexpec- I'jngNd edly Wednesday with the resignation of miesfe jounty Chairman Dr. Charles Squire and ghe committee’s refusal to reconsider the ^Jnomination of candidate W.R. “Bill" l^*|bwet\s for the office of sheriff. Tile hastily called meeting was sought by Squire, who advised committee mem bers that Owens had misled the nominat ing committee as to his qualifications for iffice during the nominating procedure ^ept. 18. «J'Q The committee nominated Owens at I hat meeting for the Republican candidacy in a 4-1 vote. In a notice to committee members fonday, Squire said Owens’ remarks at le Sept. 18 meeting were either false or Wed on hearsay. He said one committee nember considered changing his vote fter learining of Squire’s charges, and quire called the meeting to reconsider 'wen’s nomination. However, he met stiff opposition at the [Vednesday meeting from two committee nembers who advised him that the meet- was in violation of the Open Meetings aw and that under parliamentary rules ^wens nomination cannot be revoked. The committee members voted to ad- urn the meeting before any action could ie taken to reconsider Owens, despite quire’s protest that the meeting should roceed under the “rules of common ense“. Squire reminded the committee that loday is the last day a candidate can ae pbmitted for inclusion on the Nov. 7 bal- )t. He said it was necessary to act on >wens’ qualifications before the deadline hpires and added that a rule of common lense should dictate that they accomplish he task during the meeting. But committee member Dr. Paul Van Riper told the gathering that notice of the meeting was not posted in the County Clerk’s office and that even under emergency conditions not enough prior notice was given. Van Riper moved that the meeting be adjourned after hearing a second objection by committee member Richard Stadel- mann. The motion carried. Stadelmann said he had contacted the Secretary of State Election Division and was told that Owens could not be reconsi dered for nomination. Stadelmann said a spokesman with the office contended that Owens’ nomination could not be revoked and that he must be certified as the party’s nominee. Squire has not certified Owens’ nomina tion. Stadelmann said he was also told that the party chairman did not have veto power to block a candidate’s nomination. Squire said in his meeting notice to the committee that “the Chairman may use his veto power” to keep Owens off the ballot. After the adjournment. Squire an nounced his resignation as county chair man and said he owuld contact co- chairman Annett McMullen concerning a replacement. The committee member that Squire said wished to change his vote was not present at the meeting. Owens’ son Leo, a member of the . executive committee, said in an interview after the meeting that Owens planned to take legal action to have his name placed on the November ballot. Leo Owens also said his father would sue for damages in curred and take action against Squire for slander. Squire said Monday that Owens led committee members to believe he is pre sently a certified investigator, and that Owens unfairly charged sheriffs deputies with drinking on the job. Owens responded that no license was needed at the time he practiced private investigation prior to 1954 and that his remarks concerning the deputies were in answer to loaded questions. Squire said the issue of Owens’ name appearing on the ballot is now up to offi cials with the party’s state office in Austin, who are expected to decide on the ques tion today. Grain endangered Striking clerks keep trains still win!' ip I ich ze\^ N« ■es" DeV' Israeli parliament to vote on accords United Press International JERUSALEM — Police carrying clubs guarded Israel’s parliament today during the most momentous decision in the Jewish state’s 30 year history, a vote to accept the Camp David accords that could lead to Israel’s first treaty with an Arab nation. The Knesset gathered to decide in one package vote whether to withdraw from the Sinai and Jewish settlements there in exchange for a peace treaty with Egypt and whether to accept the framework for peace on the West Bank of the Jordan River. A yes vote hacking Israeli Prime Minis ter Menachem Begin and the U.S- sponsored accords appeared certain with polls showing that 90 of the 120 Knesset members would back the government. The start of the debate on the accords was delayed 30 minutes because of a last-minute cabinet meeting called by Prime Minister Menachem Begin on whether Israel would have to make further territorial concessions, possibly in the oc cupied West Bank of Jordan and the Gaza Strip. Police and border police reinforce ments, armed with clubs and carrying shields, were sent to the Knesset in antici pation of demonstrations by ultra nationalists who are against giving up set tlements. Roadblocks sealed off access to the modem Knesset building. “To remove settlements is an unpre cedented demand between two civilized countries in modern times,” Moshe Arens, chairman of the powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said in kicking off the debate. Begin emerged from the cabinet meet ing smiling and appeared optimistic at the outcome of the debate. “The Knesset will decide,” Begin said. “The Knesset is king. ” He said the session could run beyond midnieht into Thursday. “What’s the mat ter?” he joked. “Don’t you have the pati ence to wait? “At Camp David we sat until four in the morning in that deluxe concentration camp.” United Press International Striking rail clerks — ignoring back- to-work orders — held the country’s trains at a standstill again today, imperiling the nation’s grain harvest, raising the spectre of widespread industrial layoffs and open ing the prospect of government interven tion. At dawn today in the East, the situation remained virtually the same as Tuesday’s first day of the expanded 2-month-old strike by the Brotherhood of Railway, Air line and Steamship Clerks against the Nor folk & Western Railway Co. The issues in that dispute involve job protection. Labor Secretary Ray Marshall called a news conference for mid-morning for what he called a “major announcement” on the administration’s efforts to restore service. Marshall met throughout Tuesday with labor and railroad officials including clerks’ president Fred Kroll, officials of the Na tional Railway Labor Conference, and the United Transportation Union. , Industry sources said they expected Marshall to unveil a new plan to get BRAG and the N&W back to the bargaining ta ble. Formal talks broke off last Thursday. Much of the Northeast — including the Boston-New YorkWashington corridor — was spared because those lines are owned by Amtrak or Conrail, the government op erated passenger and freight carriers. Elsewhere, Amtrak said the situation remains virtually unchanged from Tues day. Where trains were moving — and they were moving almost normally on the West coast — supervisory personnel were run ning them. The Norfolk & Western runs trains as far west as Kansas City, Mo. “The vast majority of freight is being held up,” a spokesman for the American Association of Railroads said early today. “Within two weeks, if the strike continues on this scale, ” he said, “economic losses to the nation would represent 5.8 percent of the Gross National Product” — a multi billion dollar impact. The AAR said a two-week strike of this size would double unemployment — boosting it as high as 12 to 14 percent. About 350,000 railroad workers are di rectly affected by the walkout, but the rip ple effect would prompt tens of thousands of layoffs. The automobile industry pointed out that production could halt by week’s end if shipments do not resume. General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. officials said they already had cut back operations and laid off workers at some facilities where parts shipments had not arrived. And right now, the AAR spokesman said, 70 percent of the grain movement in the country has “stopped.” Virtually all movement of industrial products — 70 percent of coal production — ground to a halt. Chicago appeared to be the hardest hit city with tens of thousands of commuters forced to find other means of transporta tion. Mayor Michael Bilandic placed poljce on emergency standby to help move traffic. One commuter line, the Mil waukee Road, had resumed normal opera tions into Chicago, however. As for court action, federal judges across the country granted railroad requests for new temporary restraining orders to get the clerks back to work. But the carriers “have reported difficulties in serving those notices on union chairmen in their areas,” the AAR disclosed. On Tuesday, several hours after the ex panded strike was under way, Chief Jus tice Warren Burger gave the clerks further leeway, lifting an earlier injunction that had prevented picketing against other rail roads that helped N&W financially during their strike, which has been going on since July 10. ‘Heads up! 7 James Morris, a junior sociology major and “Doc” were playing frisbee in front of the Academic Building Wednesday. “Doc” is a female lab rador, german shepherd mix. Morris said he wets the dog’s tongue every five throws or so from a wine bag because “it’s the only way dogs have to COol off. ” Battalion photo by Ed Cunnius Food key to world power expert says By DIANE BLAKE Battalion Reporter America’s high food production has given it a strong potential for promoting peaceful world relations, a former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture said here Wed nesday. Dr. Clifford M. Hardin, who was sec retary 1969-71, spoke at a Department of Agricultural Economics seminar. “We are in a position of strong leader ship in world peace, not to use food as a gun like the OPEC nations did with oil, hut to use it peacefully, subtly, and intelli gently, he said. “Food in the past four or five years has been in the spotlight like never before. Hardin said the problems of creating and maintaining prosperity for farmers and maximizing agricultural exports have been responsible for this increased focus on food. “What happens to the weather in Texas or in the Midwest is noted with concern by people all over the world.” “The concern in this field is a top-level, front-burner issue,” he said. Although the reduction in numbers of farmers has decreased their political mus cle to some extent, Hardin said that high efficiency and high productivity have made this country the breadbasket of the world. He predicted that individual agricul tural production will continue to increase if restrictive agencies such as the En vironmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administ ration do not interfere. Hardin said that worldwide commercial food demand has been rising at the rate of 5 percent a year for the last 20 years, but will increase to 6 or 7 percent. This increase is due in part to popula tion growth, he said, but the major force will be increasing affluence. “As income rises there is an immediate demand for more and better food. People begin to climb the food ladder,” he said. People at the bottom of the food ladder eat mainly starches such as corn and rice. Then, as they can afford it, they demand vegetable oils, then proteins and finally luxury items such as fresh fruits and leafy vegetables out of season. “This pattern of food preference spans all ethnic, regional, and economic backgrounds,” Hardin said. He gave the example of Japan beginning to import more and more vegetable oils after World War II. Then the Japanese began demand ing more proteins and have since con tinued to climb the food ladder. Hardin sees the same rising demand in Russia, Mexico and the Middle East coun tries. Hardin also predicted that “by the year 2000 the People’s Republic of China could be our largest customer. “With 750 million people, in the years ahead China must use whatever foreign exchange it’s got to buy food. “Malnutrition is rampant, he said. “The gap between the haves and have-nots is still large and rising in some areas.” But American farmers in the 1980s will be able to produce enough to meet the rising commercial demand. “By the end of the 1980s, however, we will he straining production capabilities,” he said. Whether farmers can increase yields depends on research, land usage, the cost of energy and the general availability of water, Hardin said. He said that the United States must teach developing countries better techniques of storing and distributing food to reduce spoilage. Hardin serves as vice chairman of the board for the Ralston-Purina Corp.