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IThe Battalion
Vol. 72 No. 89
12 Pages
Monday, February 5, 1979
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Plentiful potholes
The streets of College Station
may get some relief from
potholes if the weather and gov
ernment funds hold out. See the
story on page 6.
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)pinions
Beutel
differ on safety
’s Darvon use
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By KEITH TAYLOR
Battalion Reporter
ie Beutel Health Center prescribes up
capsules a week of the pain-killer
i, despite a petition before the Se-
We Small Business Committee asking for
Temoval from the market as dangerous.
Claude B. Goswick, health center
btor, said the health center gives an
age of 10 prescriptions a day to stu-
The average prescription contains
12 65-milligram capsules of Darvon,
rically known as propoxyphene.
Sidney Wolfe, head of the Health
arch Group in Washington, which has
Ipetition before the Senate committee,
id only one capsule over the recom-
ded dosage of one every four hours
ibe lethal.
blfe said the drug kills 3,000 to 4,000
pie a year.
here is no justification for using the
especially when aspirin, Tylenol,
other less dangerous drugs are availa-
| It is not practicing good medicine to
it out anywhere, especially at a uni-
||ity health center,” Wolfe said in a
hone interview last week.
. A.M. Reagan, a Dallas physician,
;d with Wolfe.
have never used it. I have never
ed any evidence that it is any better
aspirin. There is a coated aspirin, cal-
iEeotrin, which will not dissolve in the
lach, that is probably more effective
nd safer than Darvon, Reagan said.
Goswick disagreed with Wolfe and
Reagan.
T’ve seen students that have gotten bet
ter relief from Darvon than they would
have from aspirin for the same severity of
pain. That is not to say Darvon is not a
potentially dangerous drug. So is aspirin if
you take a large dose of it, Goswick said.
“I have taken it personally, and I know
it relieves pain better than aspirin does,”
Goswick said.
“It’s a good drug. I hate to see it
maligned. But I know that it has some un
desirable side-effects and some potentially
harmful effects, such as addicting qual
ities.
“I don’t think there is any question (ab
out the benefits of Darvon) in my mind at
all,” Goswick said.
Doctors appearing before the Senate
committee have said Tylenol and Datril
are not only cheaper and safer, but also do
a better job.
Reagan said Darvon would be very
dangerous to people with ulcers or a his
tory of ulcers. He also said people allergic
to aspirin or caffeine would also be allergic
to Darvon.
Goswick said it would be impossible to
check every student for possible ulcers or
allergic reactions. He said all the health
center can do is ask about allergic reac
tions or ulcers.
Wolfe said Darvon can be lethal when
mixed with alcohol, but Goswick said it
would be impossible to warn every stu
dent of this danger. Goswick said the
pharmacists at the health center try to
warn of the danger of drinking while on
medication, including Darvon.
Goswick said the health center does not
prescribe as much Darvon as it once did
because it is now a controlled drug. He
said now the pharmacists have to keep
count of how much Darvon they have and
prescribe.
He said he did not believe there was any
abuse of the drug.
“I may be naive enough not to realize
what is going on, but I just do not see any
abuse of the drug,” Goswibk said.
The health center director said drugs
that are far more dangerous than Darvon
are on the market.
“One of them is codeine,” he said. The
health center has substituted codeine for
Darvon since controls were placed on
Darvon. He said the addictive qualities of
codeine make it dangerous.
Wolfe said Darvon is the most danger
ous prescription drug being used.
“The drug (Darvon) kills more people
per year than morphine and heroin com
bined,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe said heroin is not a prescription
drug, but the example showed the danger
of using Darvon.
“What do you do when a good reliable
drug is taken away from you, and you still
have to handle that pain?” Goswick asked.
“I really think the whole thing is blown
utterly and completely out of proportion. ”
Darvon, generically known as Propoxyphene Compound 65, is dispensed
by the Beutel Health Center. When issued like aspirin for colds, these
drugs are potentially dangerous, a report before the U.S. Congress says.
Battalion photo by Kayce Classe
ivies.
M.;
P.M.m I
main attraction
Teng quiet on political issues during stay in Houston
By KAREN ROGERS
Battalion Staff
Chinese Vice Premier Teng Hsiao-ping,
Ipse visits to Washington and Atlanta
ire characterized by continual refer-
Bstothe Soviet Union, was noticeably
Jet on political issues during his two-day
iy in Houston, which ended Saturday.
Teng, in earlier press conferences, has
Bsed the Soviet Union of increasing the
(inger of world war. He said that
lemony (China’s code word for the
i AVENUE N<'t aggression) is the main source of
rhl turmoil and suggested that Third
*ld countries such as the United States
d] tjian “should unite and earnestly deal
■ this challenge and danger of war.”
^ Teng arrived at Ellington Air Force
■ Friday morning for the third leg of
ffour-city tour. He told the 400 spee-
prs. including Gov. Bill Clements and
^Duston Mayor Jim McConn, that oil
^ rought him to Houston.
Kouston is the center of the petroleum
\ idustry," Teng said through an intrepe-
|^y\ ^ r. We are very happy to have this op-
a\\ "unity to come and learn about your
need experience in the petroleum in-
and other fields and to meet with
snalities in the South and to make
friends.”
louston has already been chosen as a
|ure site of a Chinese consulate because
lits eminence in energy, space technol
and its port.
consulate will not open until after
ia and the United States have set up
embassies in Washington and Pek-
Clements braved criticism by some his
constituents by welcoming Teng to Texas.
“You are most welcome in Texas. We in
Texas, as I’m sure in most of the U.S.,
have a great curiosity about China and
we re delighted you’re here.”
He gave Teng a basket of historical
Texas toys “for the children of China” say
ing, “The children of Texas extend their
hospitality to the children of China. ”
McConn, who towered over the 4-foot-
11 Teng, welcomed him to Houston, “the
Golden Buckle of the Sunbelt, and added
that he hoped he would “be treated as
hospitably as possible.”
Although he did not present Teng with
the key to the city, he did give him a pair
of spurs and a belt buckle.
In an earlier interview, McConn refer
red to Houston’s relationship with its
sister-city, Taipei. “We know Taiwan is
our friend. If China wants to prove that
kind of friendship later, great,” he said.
En route to NASA, the vice premier’s
first stop, his motorcade dodged about 200
demonstrators waiting outside Ellingtons’s
main gate.
At Johnson Space Center, Teng saw
exhibits including a model of the space
shuttle, moon rocks and Sky lab. He also
met Sen. John Glenn, whom he greeted as
“the immortal John Glenn.”
He saw no exhibits that indicated that
Americans and Russians had ever flown in
space together.
The only smile from the vice premier
came when he joined astronaut Fred W.
Haise Jr. in the cockpit of the space shuttle
simulator. There, Teng took a “ride”
through space and then safely landed the
shuttle.
Teng was unusually quiet during the
three-hour tour, asking only a few ques
tions: “Could you look out and see Shan
ghai?” he asked astronaut Alan Bean, who
was aboard Skylab during its 60-day orbit.
“When I was outside (of Skylab), I was
over your great country of China,” Bean
said.
Following the tour, Teng attended a
luncheon at NASA’s recreation center. He
was presented with a photograph of China
taken from space.
His next stop was the Hyatt-Regency
Hotel, where he and his 90-person en
tourage stayed on the top four floors.
About 400 demonstrators waited outside
the main entrance. The demonstration was
peaceful, although about 600 Houston
police officers in full riot gear ringed the
hotel. Later estimates indicated there
were more than 1,000 policemen around
the hotel. Houston city officials estimated
the security cost for Teng’s stay at $35,000.
Teng’s motorcade was taken to a side
entrance to avoid the demonstators.
His first brush with protesters came
when he left for a rodeo in Simonton. A La
Porte Ku Klux Klan member, Louis Bean,
lunged at Teng as he was leaving the hotel
Friday evening. He was quickly subdued
by police and later charged with disorderly
conduct and resisting arrest.
In Simonton, Teng got a taste of some
thing other than veal: barbecue, beans and
beer. The vice premier was fed veal at
three previous state dinners.
After dinner, Teng was escorted by
World Trade Ambassador Robert Strauss
and Mayor McConn into the rodeo arena
to the accompaniment of country music,
rebel yells and a standing ovation.
Sporting big grins, Teng and his wife,
Cho Lin, accepted and donned Western
hats. They then turned and waved to the
crowd, which responded with another
standing ovation.
A local ranch presented him with a 14-
month-old Brahman bull “as a token of the
country’s interest in agro-economic busi-
After taking a couple of spins around the
arena in a stagecoach, “some 1840s Ameri
can transportation,” Teng returned to his
seat to enjoy the rodeo.
The rodeo was sponsored by the city of
Houston, Houston Chamber of Com
merce, the Port of Houston, Houston
World Trade Association and the Institute
of International Education.
The presentation of the American and
Chinese flags was marred by an accident.
Kitty Van Dries, the daughter of the are
na’s owner, took a spill when her horse fell
during a tight turn. Van Dries, who was
carrying the American flag, received only
a bruised hip and returned later to com
pete in the barrel racing event.
Teng’s interest never faltered during
the events which included bull-riding,
calf-roping and bronc riding. A horse cal
led “Sputnik” brought a laugh from Teng
when it was introduced into the
bareback-bronc riding event.
The vice premier’s Saturday activities
began with a breakfast in the hotel with
southwest editors and publishers and
Texas Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby.
After a steak-and-egg breakfast, Teng,
whose only rule was that he not be quoted
directly, fielded questions.
In response to a question that asked
where China was going to get the millions
of dollars needed for modernization, Teng
corrected the amount to scores of billions
of dollars. He said there is a willingness on
both the part of the People’s Republic of
China and the United States to make use
of technology and funds for moderniza
tion.
Teng hopes China will begin exporting
oil shortly and said the PRC is negotiating
with the U.S. government and private
petroleum companies and that the prog
ress with these negotiations could not be
considered slow.
Sources have estimated that during the
next 12 months, China would sign con-
. tracts with western companies totalling
$60 billion.
He indicated that he was not sure if oil
development would be rapid enough to
make China a major exporter like the Arab
countries, but that China has rich oil re
sources and its export of oil will increase
each year.
After the breakfast, Teng spent 90 mi
nutes at Hughes Tool Co., a manufacturer
of oil-drilling equipment. Hughes already
sells “tens of millions of dollars worth of
equipment” to China each year.
Teng inspected 25 drilling bits that were
being assembled for shipment to Peking.
The last one was presented as a gift.
He also saw a demonstration of rock bit
drilling and toured the company’s inertia
weld building and laboratory.
After a brief return to the hotel, Teng
departed for Ellington and his waiting
plane. From there, he flew to Seattle, the
last stop on the tour where Sunday he
toured Boeing Co. — already a major
supplier of airplanes to China.
Khomeini
‘Vatican’
gets OK
United Press International
TEHRAN, Iran — Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini today was expected to name the
members of a provisional Iranian govern
ment unless negotiations with Prime
Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar produce
agreement on the nation’s future.
“If he wants to create a provisional gov
ernment in the holy city of Qom, I will
permit it,” Bakhtiar said in newspaper
interviews published Sunday, “It will be
charming. We will have our little Vatican.
But Bakhtiar Sunday flatly rejected
Khomeini’s announcement that the “alter
nate Islamic government” would soon be
in power and said his regime would an
swer “a bullet with a bullet” if Khomeini
launched his threatened civil war.
Khomeini, who returned to Iran from
exile last week with the stated purpose of
overthrowing Bakhtiar and setting up a
Moslem republic, scheduled a news con
ference today at which he was expected to
announce his provisional government.
Intermediaries between the Bakhtiar
and Khomeini camps met earlier today,
but Khomeini’s scheduling of the news
conference at his temporary headquarters
was taken as a sign that he would proceed
with naming his government if the talks
did not produce reconciliation.
Still making gestures for conciliation,
Bakhtiar told Radio Iran he was willing to
meet Khomeini and to incorporate any fur
ther reforms Khomeini demanded into his
legislative program.
“But seriously, I am not ready to let him
create a real government and he knows it.”
Informal contacts between inter
mediaries of Khomeini and Bakhtiar con
tinued in effort to break the current stale
mate.
Political sources said Bakhtiar remained
open to compromise but that the ayatollah
was unyielding.
The military high command — key to
the power struggle — earlier underscored
its continued support for Bakhtiar and re
jection of Khomeini’s moves to seize con
trol of the country.
The Supreme Army Command, in a
terse statement issued Sunday, denied
claims by the ayatollah that he had held
top-level talks with army generals to pave
the way for Bakhtiar’s ouster and the be
ginning of the Islamic republic.
If the army withdraws its support from
Bakhtiar, the sources said, Khomeini
would be assured of gaining total power in
Iran and the country probably could avoid
the civil war that now appears to be loom
ing.
Head yell leader quits —
gives no reason for move
[Teng Hsiao-ping, the Chinese vice premier who toured four U.S. cities
(last week, exits from the Hyatt-Regency Hotel in Houston on his way to
(the Round Up Rodeo in Simonton. Battalion photo by Scott Pendleton
Battalion staff report
Jeff Hancock resigned Friday as head
yell leader for Texas A&M University.
He gave no specific reasons for the res
ignation in an interview Friday afternoon.
“As of today, I resigned as head yell
leader,” he said. “My reasons are that, in
my own best interest and the best interest
of Texas A&M, I feel that I should resign
as head yell leader.
“That’s all I want to say about it.”
Hancock did say he plans to stay at
Texas A&M and graduate in August 1979
in management.
He had no comment about whether he
will stay in the Corps of Cadets.
Dr. John Koldus, vice president for stu
dent services, said that as far as he knew
no head yell leader has ever resigned be
fore. Koldus accepted Hancock’s resigna
tion at 10:15 Friday morning, he said.
Joe Wright, another senior yell leader,
was appointed acting head yell leader for
Saturday’s basketball game against the
University of Houston.
Col. Thomas R. Parsons, chairman of
the Yell Leader Committee, said the
committee will meet this afternoon to re
commend who should serve as head yell
leader until April, when five new yell
leaders will be elected.
The recommendation will go to Koldus.
Each year the committee recommends
which senior yell leader should be head
yell leader after short interviews, Parsons
said, and the vice president generally ap
proves the choice.
Koldus and Parsons said they doubt
another yell leader will be selected be
cause only a few activities remain until
new yell leaders are chosen. The two can
didates for head yell leader are Wright and
Ben Shanklin, the other senior yell lead
ers.
Hancock’s resignation will not cause any
coverage problems for the yell leaders.
Parsons said, “because there really isn’t
that much left.” The only remaining
events they usually attend are two home
basketball games and baseball games.
Committee considering
$30 million structure
for sports, special events
By ERIN BECKERS
Battalion Reporter
Texas A&M University’s five-year master plan committee is considering building a
$30 million “special events center” to replace G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The proposed location of the center is near the Beef Cattle Center across the
railroad tracks from campus, says Dr. Charles McCandless, chairman of the com
mittee.
“It is strictly in the concept stage,” he said. Tentative plans call for construction
to begin in 1984, with completion scheduled for 1986.
THE $30 MILLION FIGURE was arrived at by approximating the general idea
of square footage and by comparing with the $33 million Super Drum at the
University of Texas, McCandless said. This amount is a working number and is not
fixed, he said.
Each year the Texas A&M Board of Regents decides on the University needs
concerning building and renovation and sets them in yearly priorities. Approxi
mately $15-16 million is designated from the University Available fund for each
fiscal year, says Howard Vestal, vice president for business affairs.
RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL needs are most important, McCandless
said. “If we had all the money in the world, we’d move it (the center’s priority)
up,” he said.
Funding sources have not yet been decided on.
About $2 million of the University Available Fund has been designated for the
planning of the center in 1984. “We will start the Program of Requests,” McCand
less said, “which includes a narrative description of what we want to include,”
such as seating and capacity.
THE PRELIMINARY AND FINAL designs by the architect will take about
one year. McCandless said he expects the structure to have circular seating, but
this will be decided on the Program of Requests.
The major concern with the present coliseum is not the crowded basketbal
games, McCandless said. “There’s more of a problem with commencement exer
cises. ”
Graduating ceremonies have been divided into three programs to accommodate
the large number of graduates, family and guests, says Donald Carter, secretary of
the convocations committee.
WITH A LARGER FACILITY, two programs may be conducted. Carter said.
“I don’t think we’ll ever have one. There would be over 15,000 attending, and the
program would be quite lengthy.”
According to McCandless, there have also been problems getting performers
for Town Hall and this is one reason why a “special events center” is being
planned, instead of strictly a basketball coliseum. Also, the center “will give us a
great deal of flexibility we don’t have now,” including a facility for large meetings,
he said.
“Town Hall is getting into very large concerts now,” said Brooks Herring,
student chairman of Town Hall, “and the demand for concerts is bigger. The
center would help us.”
A LARGER FACILITY would also help negotiating power with performers, he
said. “With a larger coliseum, there are larger acts.” Herring said Town Hall has
been “pretty lucky,” although the coliseum may be a disadvantage when compar
ing with other large facilities.
The successful Aggie basketball team has caused several games to be sold out
this year, but assistant basketball coach Bob Gobin says the team likes it that way.
“We like G. Rollie as far as the crowd is concerned,” he said. “We like the
coliseum full and noisy. It’s a great home court advantage.”