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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
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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