The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 02, 1978, Image 1

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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.”