The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, December 07, 1978, Image 1
I howt said, has h ;e. He's talk to | •’ 0ur own |}. | 3wn f ’" “ fi1 Battalion ^aiiia, Vol. 72 No. 67 12 Pages Thursday, December 7, 1978 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Murderer in our midst He may look harmless enough, but this man has “murdered” more than 50 people in his career. By the way, his career involves both teaching English at Texas A&M and writing mystery stories. See page 8. lls comings nse ' their ^ st aff, whicld’ - ent better jj N; f 7 #- 6 join to support European currency United Press International BRUSSELS, Belgium — Hoping to shield themselves from the turmoil caused by the falling dollar, six nations have set up a European Monetary System to support their currencies against fluctuating ex change rates. But the group that announced creation of the monetary system Tuesday failed to per- susade England, Italy and Ireland to join. The members initially include West Germany, France, Belgium, the Nether lands, Luxembourg and Denmark. “The fact that only six of us have agreed today should not hide the importance of the accord, ” said Belgian Premier Paul Vanden Boeynants, after the two-day Common Market summit. “This will create an impor tant monetary zone which will play a role in relations with the dollar. ” West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt — who with French President Valery Giscard D’Estaing was one of the main architects of the new monetary alignment — said the scheme would help “stabilize exchange rates around the world” and would not threaten the dollar. Roy Jenkins, president of the Common Market commission, will travel to Wash ington in two weeks to explain the system, which he also said “is in no way harmful to the dollar.” Giscard said the new system will “create confidence, and with confidence there will be investments — this is a condition for increasing employment.” Under the system, members will keep their currencies locked tightly together and pool part of their reserves to form a $33 billion support fund, more than President Carter earmarked last month to back the dollar. The European Monetary System will re place the present European “snake,” in which the linked currencies float jointly against the dollar. Other European coun tries, such as Norway, will be invited to become associated members of the system even though they do not belong to the Common Market. Britain also said it would try to keep the pound within the 2.25 percent up-or-down margin for fluctuation allowed currencies within the new monetary system, even though it did not immediately intend to join. Italian Premier Giulio Andreotti and Irish Prime Minister Jack Lynch said they will announce next week whether they will join. 1,800 diplomas ready The Unicorn —a unique ship and trip jTwenty-one Texas A&M University students have a (chance to sail on the Unicorn during Spring Break. The sailing vessel was used in the television movie (“Roots. The Memorial Student Center Travel [Committee is sponsoring the seven-day Florida Keys cruise. All interested students are asked to sign up after the Christmas holidays at the MSC Travel Committee booth. For a closer description of the vessel and the trip, please turn to page 3. By CLAY WEBER Battalion Reporter Almost 1,800 Texas A&M University graduate students and graduationg seniors will receive their diplomas in commence ment exercises in G. Rollie White Col iseum. Ceremonies will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday. Commisioning ceremonies for the Corps of Cadet seniors entering the military serv ice will be held Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in G. Rollie White. Speakers for the two ceremonies will in clude University President Jarvis E. Miller and University Chancellor Jack K. Williams. Guest speakers at the events will be Robert R. Herring, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the Houston Natural Gas Corporation and Dr. Herbert H. Reynolds, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Baylor University. Lt. James V. Hartinger, commander of the 12th Air Force at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, will address Corps seniors during the commisioning ceremonies Saturday. Herring will address candidates for graduate degrees from all colleges and can didates for undergraduate degrees from the colleges of Architecture, Geosciences, En gineering, Science and Veterinary Medicine during the Friday evening cere monies. Herring, a 1941 graduate of Texas A&M in economics, served in the Air Force dur ing World War II. He flew 60 combat missions and was awarded the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit and the Air Medal with clusters. He has held high level positions with the Houston Pipe Line Company and the Bailey Gas Transmission, Inc. Reynolds will address candidates for un dergraduate degrees from the colleges of Agriculture, Business Administration, Education and Liberal Arts as well as for Moody College during the Saturday morn ing ceremonies. Reynolds has degrees from Trinity and Baylor Universities. He was Chief of Psy chology and Director of Research of the Aeromedical Laborotory at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico and was also appointed First Commander and Director of the Air Force Human Resources Laborotory in San Antonio. Hartinger has served in the armed forces since 1943 with service in both the Army and the Air Force. He was graduated from West Point in 1949 and received a masters degree in Business Administration from George Washington University in 1963. He served in Germany and Korea, and re ceived the Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Force Commendation Medal and the Air Force Medal with with Oak Leaf Clusters. In 1966 and 1967, he served in Vietnam and was names to his present post this year. estimony restricted on Davis’s wife United Press International BfOUSTON — Defense attorney lhard “Racehorse” Haynes and the pres- fg judge in the T. Cullen Davis trial Igree about whether the defendant’s es- hged wife, Priscilla, should be required |ell jurors about her extramarital affairs. Jistrict Judge Wallace Moore curtailed pestioning on the topic during Mrs. is’testimony Monday and Tuesday be- the jury, then stopped Haynes from lewing the interrogation late Tuesday perjurors had been excused, faynes had began a series of questions bbing her travels with former boyfriend IT, Rufner when prosecutor Tolly Wil- on protested the interrogation was irrele- Jit and unfair, even with jurors absent. 11 llfl understand you correctly you think I Ou can (also) ask these questions of this [jtness before this jury,” Moore said, i Yes I do, your honor,” Haynes replied. ('Well, you can’t. You’re just trying to pw specific acts of misconduct,” Moore adjourning court until today when posing attorneys may continue their ar- ments. faynes’ strategy was to persuade jurors Iconsider Mrs. Davis’ testimony in terms of her lifestyle and sexual escapades during the six years she lived with Davis, who is on trial for conspiring to have their divorce judge slain. Mrs. Davis was prohibited from testify ing for the prosecution and was sub poenaed as a defense witness because Davis’ attorneys consider her vulnerable and integral to their counter-conspiracy theory. Tuesday she heard the tape of an Aug. 18 conversation in which her husband and FBI informant David McCrory discussed a fee to have her killed. McCroiy: There’s something I need to ask you. How much money is he going to get if he gets Priscilla? I mean you got, man, I’ve got to tell him something. If you want the b dead then, uh, you got to tell me how much it, you, you know. I can’t, uh, I mean he says he can do ‘em all,. you know. Davis: One at a time. McCrory: I know, but tell me some thing. Davis: Uh, I’ll have to think on that one. Mrs. Davis’ eyes darted and rolled as the tape played and sometimes glanced at her husband who returned her stare. After wards she told reporters: “Cullen has first hand knowledge of how hard I am to kill. ” Mrs. Davis, estranged from the mil lionaire since 1974, previously has iden tified him as the attacker who shot and wounded her in their 19,000 square foot • home in August 1976. He has not been tried on that charge. Mrs. Davis’ daughter and boyfriend were killed in that shooting outburst. Mrs. Davis, 37, testified she neither con spired nor forced Davis, 45, to say anything heard by jurors on the secretly recorded tape. Haynes has suggested through question ing that the couple’s bitter, unresolved di vorce suit was the foundation for a conspi racy among Priscilla and her friends to entrap Davis into appearing to participate in a plot to have her killed. Mrs. Davis said she was sympathetic to the persons suggested by Haynes as her coconspirators because of the stigma placed on them and the pressure forced into their lives. One of those persons. Fort Worth karate school owner Pat Burleson, followed her to the witness stand and corroborated state ments made by McCrory and Mrs. Davis about their relationships, both personal and business. McCrory identified Burleson as the man he contacted when he wanted to relate his allegations of a Davis-originated murder- for-hire plot and said Burleson directed him to a meeting with an FBI agent. Somerville park closed for face lift By CHARLES HARPER Battalion Reporter For folks who enjoy visiting Welch Park at Lake Somerville, there’s some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that the park, located on a peninsula near the dam, will be closed until about the middle of May. The good news is that the park will be a nicer place to visit, after reopening. All traffic to the park has been restricted to construction vehicles. Repairs and modifications to road surfaces in the park will make the facility inaccessible to would-be visitors. According to Guy Hopson, reservoir manager at the U.S. Army Corps of Engi neers office at Lake Somerville, the roads have been damaged by unusually high water at peak levels of the lake. “Most of the damage is due to the four to six weeks when the lake was about nine feet above normal last winter,” Hopson said. “Then the people who drove around our barricades on the roads didn’t help the condition of the surface, either.” Although roads have been in poor, and even hazardous conditions, Hopson says that so far, no accidents have taken place due to the poor conditions. “We’ve had a number of accidents out there,” said Hopson. “I don’t think that the road condition has caused any, however. ” According to the administrator, now is a good time for the work being done, since visitation to the park is at its lowest point. Hopson said most of the work should be completed during the current off-season, and the park opened again before summer. “It’s hoped that completion of the project will be much sooner than scheduled,” Hopson said. “We should be finished be fore the contract specifies, although the weather has a lot to do with it. So far, we’ve had no work stoppage due to the weather, even with the rain we’ve had.” Plans for the project include raising a one-half-mile section of the existing road about two feet, constructing new roads to the restrooms in the park, and enlarging the parking area at the boat ramp. Cost of the project is an estimated $350,000. Construction of the project is being done by Young Brothers Construc tion Company, based in Waco. This winter’s move by the park adminis tration has been in the works for about a year, Hopson said. Advice from expert Tips to keep tree trim r Sap A droopy Christmas tree is no fun. The color, smell and beauty of a traditional tree can add to the enjoyment of Yuletide. Everett Janne, landscape horticulturist with the Texas Agicultural Extension Service, offers some tips on selecting a tree and keeping it in the best possible condition: — Choose the tree early. Most Christmas trees are cut four or five weeks before they arrive on the lot. The sooner the tree is in water at home, the better. — Select a full, dense tree that is evenly branched. The branches should be firm and flexible. Shake the branches before buying to see if needles fall. Fresh, healthy Yule trees do not drop their needles. — Select a tree with good green color. This indicates that the choice is fresh, has good needle retention, fragrance, fire resistance and longer holiday beauty. — After selecting the tree, saw off the lower two inches of the trunk. This will help the tree absorb water, which will insure freshness and lasting qualities. — Stand the tree in water in a cool location outside until trimming. Then, place it in a tree stand that holds water and keep it filled during the holiday season. — Place the tree in the coolest location in the house, away from an open fireplace, radiators or heaters. “While it might seem a great waste to cut down thousands of trees every year just to have something to hand ornaments on at Christmas, we really should not criticize this practice,” says Janne. “The majority of trees cut for Christmas are grown specifically for that purpose on commercial Christmas tree farms. They are just as much a crop as fruits and vegetables. In addition, we can be sure that, like fruits and vegetables, these trees are carefully replanted for future harvests.”