The Battalion
)l, 72 No. 104
iPages
Monday, February 26, 1979
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Tricks in the night
The Memorial Student Cen
ter sponsored the All Night Fair
Friday, complete with a side
show. These two jugglers are
members of the Loco-Motion
Circus. For more pictures see
page 6.
hina hopes war will end,
nit Viet fighting continues
United Press International
Chinese Vice Premier Teng Hsiao-ping
J today he hopes the Sino-Vietnamese
rwilllast only about a month, but fight-
raged in northern Vietnam and both
Soviet Union and United States
iped up their naval activity.
Intelligence sources in Bangkok said
th China and Vietnam were rushing
re troops and weaponry into the battle
control of provincial capitals in the rug-
lnorthern Vietnam terrain.
Chinese sources in Peking were quoted
Japanese reporters as saying China’s
ops were expected to launch the largest
nsive in the 9-day-old war in the next
Senior boots for women
be discussed Friday
By DOUG GRAHAM
Battalion Staff
racks are beginning to appear in one of
pillars of Texas A&M Corps tradition
boots.
lorps Commander Bob Kamensky told
fit commanders Tuesday to be aware
re is a possibility that female cadets may
wearing senior boots in the next one or
years.
[hough some cadets believe the matter
hewomen, “Waggies,” wearing boots a
ished matter, that is not so, said
mensky.
Nothing is official yet,” he stressed
few days and the conflict will “reach its
climax this week.”
Japanese news reports said Chinese
forces battered Vietnamese border prov
inces in the fiercest shelling in Indochina
since the American involvement in South
east Asia.
The Japanese Communist newspaper
Akahata said Peking’s ground soldiers
massacred “several hundreds of
evacuated civilians in the first reported
atrocity of the war. But some observers
dismissed the report as propaganda.
Akahata reported from Hanoi that China
had begun fierce shelling of Lang Son, a
key rail junction 15 miles south of China,
and that a major battle was shaping up.
In Peking, Teng was quoted by Japan’s
Kyodo News Agency as saying, “China
hopes (the war) will be solved in less than
the 33 days of the China-India conflict” in
1962. The Chinese invaded India across
thir Himalayan mountain borders in Sep
tember 1962 but withdrew from most of
the overrun territory.
Asked about possible Soviet interven
tion in the war, Teng said, “All risks can
not be excluded but (I) think it most un
likely.”
Teng’s remark was the first time a
Chinese leader has put a deadline on the
invasion, which began Feb. 17. It also
Sunday night. “It’s going to hinge on an
advisory committee that will meet this Fri
day; it’s still tentative.”
He said the boots question is just one
part of the Uniform Committee’s concerns,
which include discontinuing poplin shirts
in favor of ordinary shirts, and other
uniform-related matters.
The impetus for this action lies with
Corps Staff s desire to avoid legal problems
with Title IX, an HEW ruling demanding
equal treatment for women in schools re
ceiving federal money.
Kamensky said his talk to outfit com-
Carter wants Begin
to join peace talks
United Press International
WASHINGTON — President Carter, in an unexpected effort to achieve an
elusive peace treaty, has proposed escalating the Camp David talks to the head of
government level with the addition of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
Carter would join the negotiators, which then would consist of Begin, Carter
and Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Khalil.
The third participant in last fall’s Camp David summij — President Anwar
Sadat of Egypt — authorized Khalil to represent him when he gave his prime
minister the simultaneous title of foreign minister to conform to the makeup of the
ministerial-level talks that ended Sunday.
“In the light of developments in the talks at Camp David this past week, we are
discussing with the two governments the possibility of moving these negotiations
to the head of government level later this week,” Carter told reporters Sunday.
The announcement, drafted with the aid of Israel and Egypt, followed a White
House meeting with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, Foreign Minister Moshe
Dayan of Israel, and Khalil, who ended their Camp David talks hours earlier.
It was learned that the just-completed talks at Camp David produced the
flexibility by both sides that Carter had been demanding. Strong differences,
however, still remain.
There was no firm response from Begin, but Israeli sources reported “reason to
believe” he would accept.
manders was made after speaking with
University legal officials concerning admis
sion to specialized units such as the Band,
the Cavalry, and the Ross Volunteers.
“We’ve always a been in danger about
Title IX. We’ve got to get it taken care of
now,” he said.
“We’re trying to remedy these things on
our account. We want to initiate change so
we can be within the law without having to
get into a lawsuit. ”
Yet, to the Corps, boots seem a very
important subject. Corps reaction was
“sorry as hell,” one high-ranking cadet
said, who was reluctant to be quoted.
Another cadet said his reluctance was
because, “The word is out that people
shouldn’t give out quotes — they may sit
week-ends.”
The new boots, however, probably won’t
look the same as present calf-length brown
senior boots, said many cadets. Cheryl Ab
bott, supply sergeant for the Third Battal
ion said, “What we want is something that
is close in looks to the guys’ boots, but not
something so masculine.
“I think most women want some kind of
boot, if it wouldn’t look too macho. ”
She said that probably some sort of riding
skirt will be worn instead of the men’s jod-
phurs.
Abbott, W-l commander Sharon Mabry,
female fish, and male cadets shared the
impression that some form of woman’s boot
was inevitable.
But Kamensky was firm in saying that
nothing official has come out about the pos
sibility.
“You can’t put an absolute on anything,”
he said. “If you’re going to have to change
with the times, you’re going to have to
change with the times.
“I believe the option ought to be there
(to wear the boots),” he said. “But person
ally, I’d prefer it if they didn’t wear boots. ”
A6M researchers say it s possible
Pump coal out of the ground?
By LOUIE ARTHUR
Battalion Reporter
Two Texas A&M University re
searchers are looking for an eco
nomical solvent to dissolve lignite,
so that it may be pumped out of the
ground.
Ten billion tons of the low-grade
coal are found at depths of less than
200 feet in Texas and can be re
moved by strip mining. There are
100 billion tons at deeper levels that
must be extracted by some other
method.
If an economical retrieval process
can be found, Texas’ huge lignite
deposits may become tomorrow’s
fuel supply.
Dr. Rayford G. Anthony, a chem
ical engineering professor, and Dr.
Dr. Rayford G. Anthony is studying the structure of lignite to discover a
cheap way to pump the coal out of the ground. Rayford, a chemical
engineering professor, and his partner Dr. C. V. Phillip work in a labora
tory in Zachry Engineering Center. Battalion photo by Hm-lie Collier
C.V. Phillip, a research associate,
are studying the structure of lignite
and its by-products in their labora
tory in the Zachry Engineering
Center.
“We have found some solvents
that work, but these are too expen
sive for practical use,” Anthony
said. “We need to find some way to
re-use the liquid product (the result
of the lignite dissolution) as a
solvent.”
Anthony said an outside solvent is
needed to start the process but that
it would be too costly to use this
solvent for the entire process.
Anthony and Phillip are studying
the structure of lignite, which has
not yet been determined, in order
to find the best possible solvent at
the least cost.
“One billion tons of lignite pro
duces the same amount of fuel as
two billion barrel^ of oil,” Phillip
said. What this means, he said, is
that Texas’ lignite reserves can sup
ply four times as much fuel as the
known U.S. oil reserves.
Anthony said the research, which
began in 1976, will take two or three
more years of lab work before they
are ready to try it out in the field.
Even if they don’t find what they’re
looking for, Anthony said, the time
will not be wasted.
“The components of lignite are
known,” Anthony said, “but all we
have about the structure is theories.
After we have finished our research,
we will be able to postulate our own
theory.”
Anthony and Phillip’s research is
being funded by Dow Chemical
Co., the Aluminum Company of
America and Texas A&M Center for
Energy and Resources.
came one day after U.S. Treasury Secre
tary W. Micbael Blumenthal bluntly told
his Chinese hosts in Peking that China is
the “transgressor” in the conflict.
Teng said he “whole-heartedly wel
comes” a U. N. Security Council resolution
calling for withdrawal of Chinese troops
from Vietnam and Vietnamese troops from
Cambodia.
But Teng added, “We would not make
that a bargaining condition” in China s
own withdrawal timetable. In the United
States last month, Teng said Vietnam had
to be “punished” for its invasion of Cam
bodia.
Fighting continued along a 450-mile
front inside Vietnam with no indication of
major advances or withdrawals by either
side.
Both the Soviet Union and United
States increased their contingents of ships
in the South China and East China seas in
apparent response to the Chinese-
Vietnamese conflict.
Japanese Defense Agency officials said a
missile-carrying destroyer of the Soviet
Far East Fleet passed through the
Tsushima Strait between Japan and South
Korea. They said it would join three other
Soviet ships already in that area.
Farther south, an estimated 11 Soviet
ships were on duty in the South China Sea
within easy crusing distance of Vietnam.
The aircraft carrier U.S.S. Constella
tion, with its 100 warplanes and 5,000
men, today left its home base in Subic
Bay, Philippines, and entered the South
China Sea, where it is expected to ren
dezvous with its normal complement of
destroyers and escort ships.
Ab-M baseball
starts today
After having an exhibition game against
Hosei University of Toyko, Japan and two
double-headers against LSU rained out
last week, it looks like the Texas A&M
University baseball team will finally open
its 1979 season.
The two-time defending Southwest
Conference champion Aggies will host
Northeast Louisiana University in a pair of
double-headers today and Tuesday. The
first game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
in Olsen Field.
Shades of Spring
Though the weather has hardly been spring-like, model Julie Speights
seems ready for the sunny days ahead. She was one of almost two dozen
women modeling spring apparel in a benefit fashion show sponsored
Sunday by Charli’s boutique. Proceeds from the show will be donated to
the American Diabetes Foundations. Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper jr.
Illegal chain letters discovered
by University mail service
This prayer has been sent to you for
good luck. You must make 20 copies iden
tical to this one and send it to your friends,
parents and associates. You will receive
good luck ... provided you in turn send it
back out.
—excerpt from a chain letter
By JAMES HAMILTON
Battalion Reporter
Texas A&M University is once again the
scene of an outbreak of chain letters, many
of which are being sent illegally through
the Campus Mail Service.
Chain letters, which are letters sent to a
number of recipients requesting each to
write similar letters to an equal number of
recipients, appear on campus periodically.
Although there is no law against mailing
most chain letters through the U.S. Postal
Service, they are strictly prohibited by the
Campus Mail Service.
“THIS HAPPENS almost yearly,” said
John Stanislaw, manager of the Campus
Mail Service, “and I want people to realize
that there are some problems they could
get into by mailing these things.”
According to the Texas A&M University
“Policy and Procedure Manual,” only
University-related mail can be sent
Chain letters, which are letters sent to
a number of recipients requesting
each to write similar letters to an
equal number of recipients, appear on
campus periodically. Although there
is no law against mailing most chain
letters through the U.S. Postal Serv
ice, they are strictly prohibited by the
Campus Mail Service.
through the campus mail system.
“And by no stretch of the imagination
can these letters be called University
business,” Stanislaw said.
The Campus Mail Service recently dis
covered about 20 copies of the same chain
letter passing through its mail rooms. Be
cause the envelopes containing them were
incorrectly addressed and lacked a return
address, they were opened and the letters
were found.
STANISLAW ESTIMATED that hun
dreds of copies of that same chain letter
are presently in circulation in this area. He
added that the number could easily in
crease unless the letters are ignored.
“When one person is asked to contact 20
other people and that 20 are asked to con
tact 20 more, mathematics tells you that
that could be a heck of a mess,” he said.
The most recent type of chain letter dis-
The Campus Mail Service recently
discovered about 20 copies of the same
chain letter passing through its mail
rooms. Because the envelopes contain
ing them were incorrectly addressed
and lacked a return address, they
were opened and the letters were
found.
covered by the Campus Mail Service
states that the letter was written by “a
missionary from South America.”
It begins with a prayer and ends with a'
mild threat.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and He will acknowledge and He will light
the way,” the letter says. “Luck has now
been brought to you. You will receive it in
the mail.
“SEND COPIES of this letter to people
you think need good luck. Do not keep
this letter. It must leave your hands within
96 hours after you receive it.”
This chain letter doesn’t ask for money
and even tells the reader to “not send
money, for the fate has no price on it.”
However, the letter lists several persons
who supposedly have received good luck,
some of it in the form of large sums of
money, for continuing the chain.
“An RAF officer received $70,000, the
letter continues. “Constantine Dias re
ceived the chain in 1953. A few days later
he won a lottery of $2 million in his coun
try.” (The country was not given.)
The letter also warns against breaking
the chain.
“JOE ELLIOTT received $4 million
and lost it because he broke the chain,” it
says, “while in the Phillippines, Gen.
Welch lost his life six days after he re
ceived this letter. He failed to circulate
the prayer. However, before his death he
received $775,000.
“Dalin Nairchild received the chain
and, not believing it, threw it away. Nine
days later, he died. For no reason what
soever should this chain be broken.”
Some chain letters are more threatening
than others.
“We had one last year that said, Tf you
do not continue this chain, you will die,”
Stanislaw said.
Chain letters can legally be mailed
through the U.S. Postal Service, provided
they follow certain guidelines.
FOR EXAMPLE, chain letters that re
quest items of value and promise some
thing substantial in return to tbe remitter
are termed “unmailable” under postal lot
tery and fraud laws, according to the U.S.
Postal Manual. Chain letters that ask for
recipes, picture post cards and other low-
cost items are acceptable.
Chain letters that contain a threat of bad
luck or even death can also be mailed,
This chain letter doesn't ask for
money and even tells the reader to
"not send money, for the fate has no
price on it." However, the letter lists
several persons who supposedly have
received good luck, some of it in the
form of large sums of money, for con
tinuing the chain.
provided they are covered by an envelope
and are not on postal cards.
Stanislaw said that it is usually impossi
ble to find out who mails chain letters
through the Campus Mail Service but that
campus and department mail handlers are
being told to keep an eye out for
suspicious-looking letters.
The people who have received chain let
ters on campus recently have various opin
ions of the letters. While some people ig
nore the letters or think they are silly,
other people are angered by them.
Bernice Hronek, an accounting assistant
for the Fiscal Department, received a
chain letter through the Campus Mail
Service last week.
“I really resented it,” she said. “It said
that if I didn’t comply, all kinds of hard
luck would happen to me. It’s bad enough
to get chain letters, but it’s really bad
when they threaten your life and health.”