Ihe Battauon
Vol_72 NO. 98 Friday, February 16, 1979
10 Pages College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Russian rainbow
The colorful Russian Kafkaz
Dance Ensemble delighted a crowd
of Aggies in Rudder Auditorium
Thursday night.
See page 5.
‘Gig em Aggies!’
Corps Commander Bob Kamensky “gig’s ’em” as
the Corps of Cadets passes in review Thursday af
ternoon for the SCONA 24 delegates. Texas A&M
University President Jarvis Miller and Col. James
Woodall look on. SCONA is the Student Conference
On National Affairs. Battalion photo by Colin Crombie
ormer treasury official
ilasts government agencies
By PEGGY McCULLEN
Battalion Reporter
government regulations are like barna-
on the ship of state, slowing it down
costing the American taxpayers bil-
s of dollars each year, a former assis-
secretary for economic policy of the
i Treasury said Thursday at Texas
M University.
)r. Murray L. Weidenbaum, a former
iness and government economist, said
illations are needlessly increasing the
t of products, which is passed on to
taimers.
pe estimated that the average 1978
Kiel ar includes $666 of added safety
fares which are required by federal
Veidenbaum spoke to an audience of
fat 250 in Rudder Theater during the
pad day of the twenty-fourth Student
nference on National Affairs. Delegates
a 65 colleges and universities repre-
t'ng the United States, Canada and
*ico are attending SCONA 24.
former corporate economist of the
jtemg Co. criticized the regulatory agen-
Ks for their lack of effectiveness.
r e sa >d they examine only one side of
‘company and set regulations without
Dr. Murray L. Weidenbaum, former
assistant secretary of the Treasury
for economic policy.
further research to the economic impact of
such regulations.
U.S. Steel is working under 5,000 regu
lations from 27 agencies, he said.
The taxpayers paid more than $4.8 mil
lion to operate these agencies in 1978.
Additional costs ar e passed on to the con
sumer from these regulatory statutes, he
added.
Weidenbaum stressed reforming such
agencies, not eliminating them.
“Government regulation has become
a major growth industry,” he said. He
listed three ways to reform agencies:
— Requiring a benefit-cost test to be ap
plied before any regulation is passed by
Congress. This test would measure the
economic impact a regulation would have
on industry and people.
— Creating a sunset law which would
examine existing agencies and discard
those outdated.
— Finding alternatives to regulation.
For example, when regulation of airlines
decreased, commercial airline ticket prices
decreased too.
Weidenbaum said that there is a
definite link between a strong business
sector and great personal freedom in a
country.
“Economic freedom is in separable
from political freedom,” he said. “We
should foster one as we preserve the
other. ”
.Voting procedures, officers set
for Hassle-fee, OSA merger
By LEIGH MCLEROY
! Battalion Reporter
Representatives of Hassle-Free and the
PCampus Student Association hashed
P mechanics ranging from voting proce-
i res official titles in a Thursday night
rating to help the two organizations with
^"■planned merger.
Pj^le-Free and OSA both serve as
s between Texas A&M University and
more than 20,000 students who live off
[mpiis. A merger of the groups was
Rested when it became evident that
of their objectives were the same.
ir second meeting, members of
Toups tried to organize the struc
ture of the combined unit, which they
hope will feature the strong points of both
organizations.
Moderator Jamie Hemphill, a graduate
assistant in student affairs, said OSA is
best known as a University voice to those
living off campus, while Hassle-Free is
recognized as a tenant-landlord related
g Hemphill was assigned the job of assist
ing the two organizations in their merger
because as a recent transfer from Texas
Tech University, she has little previous
knowledge of either.
Hemphill said Thursday s meeting was
a lot more relaxed. Last week everyone
was pulling more for their own group.
The representatives agreed on a slate
of executive officers, including a presi
dent, vice-president, secretary and
treasurer to be elected by plurality, and
a set of standing committees with chair
men to be elected by a two-thirds major
ity.
Although members in attendance
agreed when the meeting was over that
they had accomplished a lot, there are still
some major issues that remain unsettled.
One of the issues is what the new or
ganization will be called. Hemphill said
she thought the name would be “a sticky
part” of the negotiations.
The merger should be complete in tour
to five weeks.
State Department plans evacuation
>f 4,000 Americans from Iran Saturday
Ur. United Press International
ent tS INGTON — The State
Thursday announced plans for a
s evacuation of more than 4,000
fr° m J ran beginning Saturday.
>lvlt ’ nvo ^ ve civilian airliners and pos-
st -S- military planes and helicopters.
^ e Department spokesman Hodding
J^IIsaid the Iranian government has
me United States that it is pre
sto cooperate with the evacuation,
Cart 388 * 54 ' 118 * n arran 8 ernen t s -
7 S er two chartered Pan American
11 hf n ca P a ble of carrying 400 people,
uown to Tehran Saturday.
He also said CH53 Jolly Green Giant
helicopters and six silver and white C130
U.S. officials estimate there are be
tween 7,000 and 8,000 Americans left
in Iran. Carter said the plan is to
evacuate all but the most essential
Americans, leaving only 2,500 to
3,000 in the country.
Air Force transport planes will be flown to
Incilkirk air base in Turkey where they
will be on hand in case they are needed.
“This is the situation as of right now and
the situation will be clearly developing
over the next few days,” said Carter.
U.S. officials estimate there are be
tween 7,000 and 8,000 Americans left in
Iran. Carter said the plan is to evacuate all
but the most essential Americans, leaving
only 2,500 to 3,000 in the country.
The Americans will be assembled in the
compound of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran
and those who are outside of the Tehran
area will have to make their way to the
capital by their own transportation.
Pentagon sources said earlier Thursday
it was not known how many flights a day
the Iranian government may allow.
Scolding causes
a friendlier Carter
United Press International
MEXICO CITY — President Carter,
publicly rebuked by his host, tried to get
U.S.-Mexican relations back on a friendly
basis Thursday as he sat down with Presi
dent Jose Lopez Portillo to discuss the
controversial topics of illegal migrant Mex
ican workers and natural gas purchases.
Carter met with Lopez Portillo for the
scheduled three-hour session at Los Pinos,
Mexico’s presidential palace. On Wednes
day, they held a more formal world review
at the historic National Palace shortly after
Carter’s arrival.
American officials said they hoped a
scolding delivered by Lopez Portillo to
Carter at a luncheon Wednesday at the
Foreign Ministry was not indicative of how
the entire, three-day visit would go.
Lopez Portillo lectured Carter about
neighborly relations and — without men
tioning it specifically —-U.S. rejection two
years ago of an agreed-upon deal for the
purchase of Mexican natural gas.
There was no official reaction to Lopez
Portillo’s remarks, but the newspaper Ex
celsior said Carter, during a wreath-laying
ceremony, told its reporter the speech was
“impressive for its profundity and its con
tent obliges one to reflect.”
After the talks. Carter will fly by
helicopter to the village of Itxlilco El
Grande where he will mingle with farm
ers, lunch on some local specialities and
stroll around the “zocalo” or village
square.
In an obvious reference to the Carter
administration’s cancellation of a deal to
sell Mexican gas to the United States two
years ago, Lopez Portillo said in a toast:
“Among permanent, not casual
neighbors, surprise moves and sudden de
ceit or abuse are poisonous fruits that
sooner or later will have an adverse effect. ”
He also admonished Carter for the sud
den interest Americans have displayed in
Mexico’s newly discovered vast oil and gas
reserves.
“Mexico has thus suddenly found itself
the center of American attention — atten
tion that is a surprising mixture of interest,
disdain and fear, much like the recurring
vague fears you yourselves inspire in cer
tain areas of our national subconscious, ”he
said.
“A certain amount of that is, I suppose,
permissible in the nature of things for
home consumption, given the history of
the relationship, ” said an American offical,
“but one would hope that they don’t get
carried away with this. We do have some
serious matters to negotiate over the next
few years and it (the rancor) doesn’t serve
anyone’s cause.”
The offical also said that “having high-
ranking Mexican officials call high-ranking
American officials liars certainly doesn’t
help things. Whether it detracts remains
to be seen.
Mexican Foreign Minister Santiago
Roel called Energy Secretary James
Schlesinger “a liar” in the aftermath of
Schlesinger’s rejection of the gas agree
ment on the ground the price of $2.60 per
thousand cubic feet was too high.
Carter and Lopez Portillo concentrated
on global issues during their first round of
talks. Thursday, Carter hoped “to get the
air cleared from recriminations and to lay
the groundwork for getting hack together
and talking about” future sales of oil and
gas to the United States.
A stand-off also is apparent on the ques
tion of the migration of hundreds of
thousands of Mexicans annually to the
United States.
“We have some basic differences of view
on some issues that are important,” the
official said. “None of these issues are
going to be settled here or at anytime in
the near future.”
Carter’s welcome to Mexico City was
low-key, polite and lacking in the warmth
that marked previous visits of American
presidents in the past.
Only once did the Mexican leader toss a
bouquet to Carter, saying “we see in you a
leader who has sought to revive the moral
foundations of the political institutions of
the United States. With great personal in
tegrity, you have sought to replace
provisional arrangments with lasting
agreements.”
Florida snow
courtesy of NY
Boy Scouts
United Press International
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo has a gift
for Florida — 20 tons of snow.
The Boy Scouts, with an assist from the
Rich Products Corp., a Buffalo-based fro
zen food firm, will load the snow aboard a
refrigerated tractor-trailer truck bound for
Clearwater, Fla.
The snow is scheduled to arrive in
Florida Saturday, in time for a quick Sun
shine State snow sculpture show. Part of
the fun will be a contest in which residents
guess how long the snow will last in
Clearwater’s 75-degree weather.
In return, Buffalo will receive a
truckload of Florida oranges to be distrib
uted to hospitals, nursing homes and or
phanages.
Automation to replace personal
touch of library door checkers
By KURT ABRAHAM
Battalion Reporter
Some familiar faces will be miss
ing when the new addition to Texas
A&M University’s Sterling C.
Evans Library opens in May.
The men who check students’
books as they leave the library stand
to lose their jobs when the library
expands at the end of the spring
semester.
“We will switch over to an auto
mated system of checking books
when the new section opens,” ex
plained Dr. Irene Hoadley, director
of libraries for Texas A&M. “The
system will read little electronic
strips that are placed in the books. If
a student fails to have the strip de
sensitized at the checkout counter
before leaving the library, the sys
tem will ring a bell and lock the
doors.”
The changeover will affect five
men who have been working part-
time by the doors. Most of them are
retired from other jobs and some,
like Al Witcher and Phil Blackburn,
have worked at the library for the
last ten years.
“Even though it will send us
home, I think the new system is a
worthwhile investment,” said
Witcher. “Although it lacks the per
sonal touch we give the students
now, the automation will enable the
library to be much more thorough in
checking books than we can be.”
Blackburn said he thinks both he
and the students will miss the per
sonal contact the present arrange
ment allows.
“Over the years. I’ve had the
chance to make friends with stu
dents not only from this country but
from all over the world,” he said.
“Although many of them have
graduated and gone on to other
things, they still correspond with
me, especially those from South and
Central America.”
Witcher, like Blackburn, is
philosophical about leaving the li
brary job.
“I’ve enjoyed it a lot, being with
the young folks and talking to them.
But there comes a time when a per
son has to quit and I think it’s my
time to quit,” he said.
For Witcher, quitting means the
end of an 11 year stint. He started
working at the doors of the present
library when it opened in 1968.
“I was hired in June of that year
and started checking books the fol
lowing month when the section
opened,” Witcher said. “Through
the years I’ve seen a lot of changes
at A&M, but one thing that has al
ways stayed the same is the great
attitude the students have.”
Blackburn, who has been with the
library since 1970, has a similar as
sessment of the students. “I can’t
help but notice how neat and or
derly they are here. They’re serious
about their studies and they show a
pride in their school that you don’t
always see nowadays.”
Neither man has any definite
plans for the immediate future once
they leave the library.
“I’m probably going to go home
and work in the yard or go fishing,”
Witcher said. “Now that I’ve got the
time, I’d still like to travel around
the country visit the places I never
got a chance to go to. I guess you
could call me ‘re-retired’ for now. ”
Blackburn, who recently recov
ered from a heart attack suffered last
September, said he too plans to
catch up on his yard work.
“Come May, I’m going to retire
all over again. I think at my age. I’ll
probably be glad to stay home. After
that heart attack, I am more than
happy to be able to be here.”
Fred Norcross has checked students’ books at the doors of Sterling C.
Evans Library for 11 years. When the new section opens in May, he’ll be
out of a job. Norcross moved from Mumford to Bryan in 1949, and
before checking in with the library, was a candy-man, selling “all the
best kinds. Battalion photo by Lyle Lovett