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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1979)
IThe Battaoon and wen g fact . 1 '>e tit e phi ayed and by till hve to|j l y witi :r y not he Vol. 72 No. 96 14 Pages Wednesday, February 14, 1979 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Take the money and run? A Dallas bank put $75,000 in a man’s account — by accident — and now they won’t take it back. See page 9 for details. SCONA 24 begins today, with 180 student delegates from the United States, Canada and Mexico. The first speech is this afternoon at 3:30 in Rudder Auditorium. Former New York Sen. James Buckley will speak. See page 5. Energy is in the news in a big way once again. President Carter may try to talk Mexico out of some of its oil. See page 8 statli who besj of plarti a game, ntal St* ’unelf 4 right alf ud with 1 you Hey ice. fl® e play ming tlii J them nship rnient ■xas Loi r e shoi ms mi{li| ind ofii ng at U.S. Emb assy stormed by Iranian guerrillas more. Valentine vases ilarihelen Kamp, right. Floriculture Club adviser, nd member Valerie Starr, a junior from Austin, re preparing bud vases at the Commons Front )esk to be delivered today. The Floriculture Club was selling the flowers to help finance a field trip to Mexico, where members will study the florist in dustry there. Battalion photo by Liz Newlin iolon wants 55 mph repeal United Press International 1STIN — A state representative, say- : is tired of being blackmailed by the pd States government, announced pay he will push for repeal of the 55 [speed limit in Texas. sick and tired of this blackmail by fderal government, said Rep. Fred D-Athens, about the threat of los- tderal highway funds if the speed ||is raised. Head is sponsoring a bill to Ithe limit to 70 mph. lad said he sees the speed limit law as les’ rights issue and that the time is Ifor a confrontation between the state Ihe federal government which has tened to withhold highway aid from late not abiding by the 55 mph speed K lon t think we will lose a nickel, ysA AsowV tYie 'ieOseraX 'iwn&s,. “Y>\\V we do need to go ahead and have the con frontation and get it over with.” Head said data on the effectiveness of the 55 mph limit in reducing the number of highway fatalities and conserving fuel was inconclusive. He quoted from a study by Charles J. Keese, professor at the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M Please see related story, page 11. University, that says traffic death rates are rising again, after an initial drop when the speed limit was imposed in 1974. Keese also said there is evidence that other less restrictive measures, like proper tire pres sure, would save as much fuel as the 55 mph limit. Head disputed published polls that say most Americans favor the current speed \\m\t. We sa\d people \mg,Vvt say they like the lower limit, but they do not act that way on the highways. “I don’t believe this is true among people who drive automobiles,” Head said. He added that the poll was either taken among non-drivers or those answer ing “fudged a little.” Head said highway patrolmen want to see the limit raised so they can spend more time on more important problems and cease constant surveillence of motorists. He read portions of a letter from a Lubbock area Department of Pub lic Safety commander, C.W. Bell, who said he believed it was impossible to attain 100 percent compliance with the 55 mph regulation. Bell said it would take 1,400 more patrolmen, or twice the current staff, to attain reasonable compliance with the law. Head said this would cost the state an additional $42 million. United Press International TEHRAN, Iran — Left-wing guerrillas today captured the U.S. Embassy in a gun- fight with Marines, wounded two of them, and took Ambassador William Sullivan and at least 70 other Americans hostage for several hours before releasing them, the State Department said in Washington. Officials in the department’s Iran work ing group said they still had no direct communications with the embassy itself, but they had two confirmed reports from ‘‘other sources ’ in Iran that said the Americans had been released, apparently unharmed. The embassy was being guarded by only 19 green-uniformed Marines when hun dreds of heavily armed guerrillas stormed the building. The officials confirmed that two Marine* guards were wounded in the attack, one of them suffering a slight head wound, when left-wing guerrillas stormed and seized the embassy compound. The names of the wounded Americans were not immediately known. The officials said that the embassy itself is still apparently in the hands of the guer rillas. The 70 Americans inside the compound, including Sullivan, surrendered in order to prevent further bloodshed, spokesmen said. Sources said embassy officials appar ently had time to destroy sensitive and se cret documents before the compound was overrun. After the embassy fell in a two-hour gunbattle, the Americans were led into the courtyard with hoods over their heads, said UPI Photographer Tom Karges, who slipped inside the embassy with the marauding guerrillas. The heavily armed gunmen quickly overran the compound and Sullivan’s per sonal quarters after seizing the embassy, as thousands of Iranians looked on. The officials said that the Americans were taken into “protective custody” but then released by the guerrillas. They were repeatedly kicked and hit by the guerrillas, Karges said. Sullivan was the last to emerge from the acuity, students agree: plus, inus grades have little effect By MARK HANCOCK Battalion reporter proposal to allow the use of pluses and ses in grade reporting is awaiting 0 approval at the University of Texas, idea has passed the University Coun- d awaits approval by the university’s Went, chancellor, and Board of Re- xas A&M University students and Ity have mixed emotions about the a but generally feel it would have little icton the grading system. uis Van Pelt, director of the place- office at Texas A&M, says business industry weigh a student’s value not on his grade average, but also ugh comparison with students from Bame institution. Py first reaction is that while corpora ls aie concerned with GPR (grade point i they can judge students only in rela te other students at the university, le inflation and differences in grading stems cause businesses to do more homework on each institution,” Van Pelt said. He said the grading differences account for the reason why low GPRs from one institution may be valued more by a busi ness than high GPRs from an institution where grade inflation is obviously present. Laura Tuma of The Daily Texan, UT’s student newspaper, said the UT students’ reaction concerning the proposal was one of uninterest. “The school seems to be trying to find a solution without a problem,” Tuma said. She said the proposal has been an interest ing issue and controversial, but students haven’t been that dissatisfied with the present system. “It started off being discussed in an academic committee and then just kept getting more and more attention,” she said. Dr. Haskell M. Monroe, Texas A&M s associate vice president for academic af fairs, said he knew of no such proposals at Texas A&M. “Pluses and minuses could make grades tougher to compute,’’ Monroe said. “There isn’t any relationship between what UT does and what we do. We do things our way and they do things their way. ” Many UT faculty members complained about the problem of more “boderlines” caused by more grades. Many Texas A&M professors agree that an expanded system might burden them with unnecessary computations. Dr. Robert Shutes, head of the educa tion curriculum and instruction depart ment at Texas A&M, said he would favor the addition of pluses and minuses to in crease grade precision. But added that “the computation of the exact points to be received by the students might be too much a problem” when compared to the negligible effect a change might have. C.D. Holland, department head of chemical engineering, said that while stu dents might prefer having the pluses and minuses on their course grades, “The easiest and most equitable way I know is to simply turn in a numerical grade, and that’s it.” 'ifoe messages take all forms alentine ads fill London papers United Press International ONDON — Cryptic, clever, clandes- and crazy sweethearts by the hun- is sent their love in Valentines today ’ugh London’s classified ads. lopsy — Roget’s Thesaurus 889Vb. we 461Vb tonight?” A.B. — Beat me with your rhythm k, Praline grinder — double quick, 'oodley and Stinker got one. So did rskirk, Little Popsicle Toes, Big Fat bbit, Piggy Poggy Pooh, Joppa’s >pa, Boogies, Crud and Crackerdog. lot to mention Maggot and Bedrats. ind as Daddy said to Foxy: “At 2.50 nds ($5) a line, I must love you. ? or love or want of it, hundreds of :ethearts filled pages of today ’s morning ^papers with Valentine’s Day verse in ite type — a Fleet Street tradition that |es everyone the day’s best laugh and worst eye-strain. The Daily Mail had so many it al phabetized them and warned: “No queries can be entertained regarding the content or the origin of these messages. ” Some were technical: “D. M.S. — data management software has taken on a whole new meaning since I met you.” There were poets: —“It is my admiration for your knees that makes me want to join my soul with thine. ” —“Something wonderful has started since my hair was centrally parted. ” —“Roses are Red. Violets are Blue. It’s about time I got something from you.” Promises: —“Smokie, it may take longer with only three cylinders but I’ll get there in the end — Bess.” bullet-scarred building and the jubliant guerrillas brandished knifes and guns in the face of the dapper silver-haired dip lomat. The guerrillas appeared to strike the ambassador several times but he was not seriously hurt. During the attack, which began about 10 a.m. (1:30 a.m. EST), the two Marines were wounded and two of the attackers were killed. Sullivan then ordered the embassy’s surrender to the guerrillas to prevent fur ther bloodshed. Many carried Molotov cocktails and said they wanted to burn down the embassy to “purge” Iran of Americans and U.S. influ ence. An American military adviser, who identified himself only as Colonel Schaef fer, told Karges: “There was heavy firing. We returned the fire and then called on the Khomeini forces for help as we had been told to do.” Representatives of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini rushed to the embassy and in terceded with the guerrillas on behalf of the Americans. “When the Khomeini forces finally came, the embassy forces finally put down their weapons and came out with their hands on their heads.” Embassy officials said the attack appar ently was launched by rabid left-wingers who want all Americans and American in fluence ousted from Iran. The firing stop ped after the two-hour battle and negotia tions on the fate of the Americans were under way between the attackers and Khomeini’s emissaries. Boston doubtful; ticket refunds set The Boston concert that was canceled Sunday will probably not be rescheduled, Brooks Herring, chairman of Town Hall, said Tuesday. “If we can book it we will,” Herring said. “But at this time our chances of rescheduling the concert are not too good. Boston had to cancel its Sunday appearance in G. Rollie White Coliseum be cause of the illness of guitarist Tom Scholz. If the show can’t be rescheduled, ticket refunds will begin 9 a.m. Monday in the Memorial Student Center Box Office in the Rudder Tower. Town Hall sent Boston’s personal management a telegram Tuesday listing pos sible make-up dates. James Reynolds, associate director of the MSC, said that about 10 dates were listed in the telegram. G. Rollie White is used for many activities, Reynolds said, and “We re just about out of dates. Reynolds said that in his talks with Premiere Inc., they told him that Boston had no dates open between now and summer. Reynolds said, though, that he thought Boston felt “an obligation to do anything they can to reschedule the date.” Reynolds said that Town Hall is even willing to book for next tall. It an agree ment is reached after the ticket refund date of Feb. 19, tickets for the new concert would be reprinted and sold all over again. Concerning the money Town Hall already spent on preparing for the concert, Reynolds said that he didn’t know if Town Hall would repover the money or not. Town Hall spent several thousand dollars for an additional electrical generator and a larger stage to accommodate the concert. Arkansas House approved marijuana; ‘upset’ sponsor recoils bill from senate United Press International LITTLE ROCK — The legalization of marijuana was approved by the Arkansas House last month, but none of the law makers apparently realized it until Monday. The revelation amused some of the 84 state legislators but angered others, in cluding the sponsor who said he’s through sponsoring bills for the state Health De partment. A bill designed to consolidate the de partment’s drug enforcement activities zipped through the House on an unanim ous vote several weeks ago, and was in the Senate when the gaffe was discovered. At the end of the eight-page bill was a clause repealing numerous conflicting laws included in a 1973 law defining marijuana as an illegal controlled substance. If the bill had continued through legislative channels and been signed by the gover nor, officials say the listing of marijuana as a controlled substance apparently would have been removed from law. The error infuriated the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Lloyd George, D-Danville, who promptly recalled the bill from the Senate and killed it Monday. The error also em barrassed Health Department officials who drafted the bill and asked George to sponsor it. “Legalizing marijuana was not the in tent of the bill,” said Sue Frank, a Health Department pharmacist. “I told him (George) that if we struck the final two lines of the bill, it would be okay. But he got real upset and hung up the phone. I don’t blame him.” The error was discovered by a freshman senator whose pharmacist father helped write the 1973 law as a state representa tive. After George learned of it, he took to the House floor to issue an apology to his colleagues — and vow never to sponsor another Health Department bill. —“Len — some day your Prince will come. ” And even proposals: —“Angela — the football season is al most over and although we will not be in clover, shall we get wed, so I can get you to share our homestead?” Dozens settled for a simple “Happy Valentine’s Day Margaret, Love Paul.” T.N.T. was sure to know that the one with the message “Hope your efferven- thenth never thubthidth.” was meant for him (or her). But the one from Brown Eyes that said “We will always have our memories” must have gladdened many a heart. At least one sender warded off potential humiliation: “Hi toots. (I hope this isn’t read out on the radio as an example of a silly valen tine.) Billy.” Fire damages Biological Sciences Building A fire in the Biological Sciences Building early Tuesday morning caused damages to a laboratory estimated at $30,000. The fire was reported to the University Police at 12:31 a.m. Jay Dippel, an ad ministrative assistant in the biology department. said most of the damage was caused by smoke. The damage estimate was for equipment only and did not include clean-up costs or laboratory repairs, he said. The cause of the fire has not been deter mined. Battalion photo by Keith Taylor