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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 1978)
n 1 notice S guns it l>e said. as not | to c ombai fperfo, gaine (Sah c ome i e hell o r? '''‘I UOVi’ The Battalion 72 No. 45 14 Pages Thursday, November 2, 1978 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Taking special interest Politics in Brazos County are be-, coming more lively. Special in terest and minority groups — along with “regular people” — are getting involved in county politics and may make a differ ence. Check it out on page 7. ball game, Injury j ue the Arkansas ticket draw proposed By DILLARD STONE Battalion Reporter The long nights spent camping in line out-of-town football game tickets may Dry Te fs it be the rule for this year’s Texas Eddie cM-Arkansas contest. Under a lottery systent recommended the Athletic Council by the student se- te, the 377 recipients of student tickets en b sophoj U be drawn one week before the game. he y Prepay ^ game 'odome, 5 eek ^ ■ isquestio, '■y said dil >t Baylor, jj aid Prater l t practice Only graduate students, seniors and eir dates are eligible for the lottery, ichwill operate this way: Beginning Tuesday, students may pres- their identification card and ticket at G. Rollie White Coliseum and ceive a numbered token. The registra- m process will end next Thursday at 4 inks Please see related story, page 8. nker for the sei a bone irther tesi lis week, l, Ark. - rsen won bur teami 12 to leal; iconsea ice cross Jui. At 5 p.m., registrants will meet in pnt of the coliseum for the drawing of icr Texasl kens and issuing of tickets, on mileri Non-student date tickets will not be ok and j. ailable. Mike Nj "leant imagine students camping out Is reinaina r a week to get tickets, which is what race as* 3uldhappen under the present system,” a! straight! id Wally Groff, assistant athletic director ■ business affairs. ? race kl Gfoff indicated the information con- Course#t ined in Wednesday’s Battalion was er- of 30:8! neous. A letter to the editor stated that e Athletic Council will veto the senate’s nishedw! commendation. seconds Kevin Patterson, vice president for stu- i totals i nt services, told the senate Wednesday ^ gy p, at he had not received any indication c.M, 1311 Im council members that they viewed 139; HouS c recommendation with disfavor. Han, 256 [ I think it is a good proposal, Grofi bth a tim F H e added that anything that would Mark Mu; I bth a tin ihrs ofTi i in 30:S ■fifth ini reduce students camping out for tickets deserves serious consideration. Groff said the tight ticket situation re sulted from a 40 percent reduction from Texas A&M’s original ticket request. The Athletic Department asked Arkansas for 5,000 tickets and received only 3,000. Of these, Groff said, 1,355 went to the Aggie Club, 840 were reserved for students and the remainder were split among season ticket holders, Arkansas A&M Club mem bers and the Athletic Department. Of the 840 student tickets, 420 are re served for band members and their dates, and 43 have been reserved for the Memo rial Student Center Travel Committee’s trip to the game. Groff said 3,000 tickets is the most Texas A&M has ever received from Arkansas. He added that the Athletic Department had sold 5,000 tickets, so that many people are receiving refunds for the game. He also said that student interest in the biennial trip to Arkansas has never been high enough to increase substantially the number of student tickets. “If the band decided not to go, we prob ably couldn’t sell 840 tickets,” Groff said. Once students get to Little Rock, Groff said, they may find another problem. Texas A&M did not receive blocked seat ing assignments as is common at most other stadiums, he said. “We had been giving Arkansas good seats for the last few years,” Groff said. “But we give them exactly what they gave us the previous year.” Next year. Razor- back fans will be located in the same rela tive positions in Kyle Field as their Aggie counterparts are this year. Groff said that he would like to ex change 7,000 tickets with other conference schools, but they refuse, because they can’t sell that many. “Arkansas knows they can’t sell more than 3,000 (when they come here), so that’s all they give us,” Groff said. “Aggies just sell more tickets.” VY press strike P natj be settled :h« v United Press International NEW YORK — Negotiators announced tentative contract settlement Wednes- yin the 84-day-old strike by pressmen Y jainstThe New York Times and the Daily J sws, the city’s only major morning daily rnational iwspapers. e the C The publishers said they hoped to re- re Minn me publication on Sunday if agreements y nigbl uld be reached with the drivers’ union jtaffhave d striking paper handlers, machinists ys to a 3 id auto mechanics. Labor mediator Theodore Khecl an- foundai! mneed the agreement about 8:20 a.m. in but La»- eoffices of the Federal on and Concilia- the yea' bn Service. dsion IfJ'T am pleased to say it’s over, Kheel thattheMd reporters. “This day belongs to the ;ould flliblishers and pressmen. I will let them leak for themselves. ” of the 11 William Kennedy, president of the ie Miaif'lessmen’s union, said, “We re certainly dry and: a d it’s over. We arrived at a just and films i juitable settlement. There are no win es for* irs in a strike this long.’ r they* [Walter Mattson, executive vice presi- > until 1 lent and general manager of the Times, lid, “the publishers are also delighted, i looks 1 /e feel the conclusion was reached with use and sod feeling. We are embarking on a new he firsL ra as far as our labor relations is con- lid Lai>‘ :rned. There were no winners. ;t toelis The tentative settlement was reached 12 xecutf eeks to the day after the walkout began, on sol* The strike was the third longest news- mprovt aper walkout in New York City history nd idled 10,000 employees. It was esti- oinga hated to cost the papers $1 million a day ly Itld 1 p lost advertising and circulation revenue i away 1 yg' •very6| 'hat’s s» lyway as he# y/S Witl' United Press International ; earl)’! 1 SAN ANTONIO — Indian medicine the si” ian Rocky Stallings says Texans had bet- out their long johns because the ellow jackets are building their nests flat- eron the top and thicker on the sides this Long winter foreseen -ecentf sr my iff thall cm an)' an sii* 1 ' always ■repart -k ft® 11 , »'er ’ear. Besides that, Stallings says dogs, cats nd squirrels have put on thicker-than- (ortaiii 1 sual fur, an ominous sign in Indian lore minatf’ hat a severe winter is at hand, posit? “Common birds have got more down efW han usual,” he adds. “And a lot of acorns ometl” lut out two crops this year. And for the .esitiv* 1 irsttime since I can remember the prickly ustn# lear flowered a second time.” sathtf , Couple that with mesquite trees bloom- gin psf ng while they still have mature beans and -v'eret jopher terrapins burrowing 18 inches -ndroU* leeper than normal and it all means were in for a freakish cycle,” said Stal- ings, who explains Indian tradition at the nstitute of Texan Cultures. “Up north, the higher the hornets build iff the ground, the deeper the snow will he observed. “We ll have cold ^oii wather especially in this area and a little -^Ve pfsouth.” do ' rf , Lerabl) Stallings said his collective observations of nature’s activities this fall should mean periods of cold, dry air will last longer through the winter, “and when we get moisture it’ll be a heck of a lot more than we want and too sudden. Three to four records will be broken this year. ” Stallings, 56, who began studying to be come a medicine man at age 9, said his observations of weather conditions over the years proves out Indian weather pre dictions. “This is the kind of stuff that started al manacs,” he said. Stallings said observing animals and plants also could help him make short- range predictions on weather changes. “When birds or chickens start preening their feathers, it’s going to rain. If it rains and the chickens don’t take cover, you’re in for three or four days of rain. If the chickens take cover, it’ll be over with shortly.” He added persons should not discount the signs if an arthiritic person’s joints start acting up. “I’ve seen some of them that were dow nright accurate,” he said. and an estimated $200,000 a day to main tain equipment and pay staffers not on strike. Nine daily papers have closed since the 114-day strike by printers 15 years ago, a strike estimated to have cost the city’s economy $258 million. Under the tentative agreement, Ken nedy said, the union preserved the con cept of unit manning, assigning a fixed number of pressmen to a press. The pub lishers initially demanded room manning, in which the foreman would decide how many pressmen worked on a press. He said the union had agreed to a re duction in manning, which was a gain for the publishers and the publishers in turn had promised to guarantee the jobs of all 1,508 pressmen, which was a gain for the union. The union agreed to ultimately reduce manning levels by one journeyman from 12 to 11 on a typical press. The publishers won the right to offer pressmen monetaiy incentives to retire early. The terms of the agreement with the Times and the News will also apply to the New York Post, which signed a “me-too” contract with the pressmen Oct. 3 and re sumed publishing. Kennedy said that as soon as Douglas LaChance, president of the drivers’ union reached a tentative agreement with the two papers, he would schedule a ratifica tion meeting. The tentative agreement fell into place with resolution of pension items, as well as various safety provisions. Carter acts on dollar drop United Press International WASHINGTON — President Carter Wednesday took emergency action to halt the steep slide of the American dollar abroad, prompting an immediate gain in the value of U.S. currency on European money markets. The dollar’s sharp decline “is clearly not warranted by the fundamental economic situation,” Carter told White House re porters. “That decline threatens economic progress at home and abroad and the suc cess of our anti-inflation program. ” Treasury Secretary Michael Blumenthal said the dollar’s drop “has gotten out of hand. It must end and will end.” Within minutes of the decision to boost interest rates, increase U.S. gold sales and enter into a $30 billion “swap” agreement with major foreign banks, the dollar regis tered a large, 4 percent improvement in hectic trading on the Frankfurt, West Germany exchange. The value of the dollar has fallen 18 per cent over the past year in relation with the currencies of the world’s other major in dustrialized nations and 7 percent during the past month alone. Last week, Blumenthal warned dollar speculators that “sellers of dollars will encounter stiff resistence” from the United States. The new dollar rescue package is in tended to put those “sellers” on notice that the United States is now prepared to back up its currency with strong and forceful action. The main problem with the dollar in volves a situation in which foreigners hold about $500 billion and have been selling the dollars rather than buying, investing or saving them. This, in turn, has prompted a general lack of confidence in the dollar overseas because of foreign skepticism about the administration’s willingness to act force fully to reverse the trend The Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board took a series of coordinated actions the government hopes would restore faith in the dollar. They included: —A boost of the hoard's discount rate — the interest it charges member banks for loans — from 8.5 percent to 9.5 percent, the highest in history. By increasing inter est rates, it is hoped foreigners will be encouraged to invest funds in the United States while Americans seek their loans overseas. —An increase in the amount of gold au ctioned from U.S. reserves to at least 1.5 million ounces a month. The United States was scheduled to sell 750,000 ounces this month and had sold 300,000 ounces a month for the past six months. —Establi shment of a supplementary re serve requirement — in addition to per cent member bank reserve requirements — equal to 2 percent of time deposits in denominations of $100,000 or more. This action would further alter regulations on domestic banks to encourage them to bro- row dollars from their foreign branches. “The dollar’s deterioriation already has led to a rise in import competitive prices which further fuels inflation and per petuates a vicious cycle,” Blumenthal said. “The image of the American economy and its leadership is adversely affected by this.” SMU tickets still available Tickets for Saturday’s football game be tween Texas A&M University and South ern Methodist University in Dallas will remain on sale through 5 p.m. today. Kevin Patterson, student government vice president for student services, said the Athletic Department requested the one-day extension because of low ticket demand and because there may be some students who had not had a chance to buy tickets. Kickoff in the Cotton Bowl is set for 3:10 p.m. The game will be regionally broad cast over the ABC television network. Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr. Meeting for pigeons only Even with winter just around the corner pigeons still flock and fly around the Bryan-College Station area. These birds were bunched together on a high voltage wire near the corner of Washington and South Main Streets in Bryan. Crash near Snook injures 3 persons Once, twice— sold by U.S. Customs Three persons — including a graduate student at Texas A&M University — were involved in a one-car accident on FM 60 near Snook early Thursday. The driver of the pickup truck, 21- year-old Donald Lee Morgan of Tanglewood Apartments in College Sta tion was listed in serious condition Wed nesday night at St. Joseph’s Hospital. One of the passengers, 22-year-old Pat ricia Bednarc of 1201 Westover in College Station was listed in stable condition. The other passenger, 26-year-old Texas A&M student Kathy Ingles of 4108 Aspen in Bryan, was treated and released from the University health clinic. According to police reports, the truck was traveling west on FM 60 when it over turned. United Press International HOUSTON — Archie Kramer looked at his new — uh, nearly new — 1975 Cadil lac formerly owned by a wealthy Iranian and laughed. He had just paid $2,000 for it at a U.S. Customs Service auction. “I don’t even know if it’ll start,” he grin ned Wednesday. He had surprised himself by purchasing the car. Kramer’s was one of dozens of purchases — for business or fun -— at the auction of seized, abandoned or unclaimed mer chandise, personal possessions and equipment intended for import but blocked or left at customs. The privilege of bidding cost $20, which bought registration and a numbered card. To bid, one listened to the auctioneer bark off proposed amounts and then raised his card. Customs Service spokesman Charles Conroy said the car once belonged to a wealthy Iranian who shipped it to America for trade, “but he got in a hurry, married a girl in Arizona, went back to Iran and left it.” Many of the items had colorful histories, including the 15 papier-mache mounted fish. Salvage dealer Bob Collier paid $80 for one and said he hoped to peddle it for $200. Conroy said the fish were the result of a Mexican racket victimizing American deep sea fishermen. The crooks would take a fisherman’s prize catch, tell him they would mount it and send it to him. In stead the fisherman got a papier-mache imitation. “When they find out what they are, they don’t want to pay the (customs) charges and pick them up,” said Charles Mayer, a Customs employee who has helped run the auctions for nine years. There were clocks, clothes, furniture, oil field equipment, motorcycles, a stand-up globe, films, earthenware, radios, recorders, toys, jewelry, perfume, swimming pool vaccuums, a backgammon set, aircraft parts and a Volvo windshield. Earl Butz says controls burden farmers By STEVE LEE Battalion Campus Editor Former Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz attacked the Carter administration for “over-regulation” of the agriculture business in a Political Forum speech Wednesday. Butz called for maintaining the family farm, which he referred to as “the best illustration of incentive at work.” He said that government controls have placed an unnecessary burden on agriculture, thus restricting the free enterprise system. “The United States is the only country in the world that asks it farmers to curtail production in a hungry world,” Butz said. “As we receive from the world’s markets and shrink internally, while we encourage expansion abroad, for short-term political expediency, it is hard for me as an economist to see any basis to rationalize in this.” Butz criticized the current administra tion for what he called its “cheap food phi losophy.” As an example, he cited the government’s vast grain surplus, or re serve, that is not channeled back into the market. “Those reserves are there for the sheer purpose that never again do Texas farmers get $5 for wheat, or $3 for corn, or $10 for soybeans,” he said. Butz also denounced the government for attempting to level out the “booms and pluses” of agriculture, say ing that only the booms have been leveled out. While his attacks on Carter were seri ous, Butz kept the audience that filled Rudder Theater amused with sharp and satirical attacks on politicians, consumer advocates and other opponents. He told of an incident in which he was being interviewed by a young journalist on a talk show. He said the interviewer asked “When are food prices going to go down?” Butz said he replied, “The cost of food will go down as soon as the cost of advertis ing food on this station goes down. And prices will go down as soon as they reduce your salary, and they can start right now. ” Butz defended current food prices by saying that less than 17 percent of take home pay is spent on food items. “That leaves 83 percent to spend on ev erything else that makes life so wonder ful,” he said. “That’s the reason we enjoy this widespread affluence in America that is unequalled.” Butz labeled the participants in the re cent agricultural strike, who fought for minimum price laws as “noise-makers.” He said that the movement served a pur pose at first, in that it was to help farmers who were losing money. However, adjust ing prices would interfere with the market price of goods, Butz said. Instead, he said, a policy of selling, not committing crops to reserves, should be adopted. He also maintained that attempting to adjust prices in the agricultural system on a yearly basis would cause problems since the business is a “biological entity,” or sea sonal in nature. Butz praised land-grant universities, such as Texas A&M, for building upon Battalion photo by Lee Larkin Earl Butz said Wednesday he trusted farmers more than government. what the farmer has developed. But he emphasized that this instruction all started from the farmer’s incentive to “make a lit tle money.” He said this incentive must not be regulated by the government. “The private sector has done it, Butz said. “But the government is getting more and more, while the private sector is get ting less and less. Our government is now absorbing 38 percent of the Gross National Product. Society suffers because of this kind of regulation.”