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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 1979)
he Battalion Vol. 72 No. 124 12 Pages Friday, March 30, 1979 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Flying Queen Cherri Rapp, formerly of North Texas State University, is the new women’s basketball coach. In her college days she was a Flying Queen at Wayland Baptist College. See page 10. New A&M policy bars Iranian entry By KEITH TAYLOR Battalion StafT An “official, but unwritten,” Texas A&M University policy that denies admis sion to students from Iran has been con firmed by Admissions and Records Dean Edwin H. Cooper. The policy has been adopted because of the recent turmoil in that country, Cooper said in an interview Thursday. A memorandum from the Office of Ad missions and Records and signed by Cooper says, “At present, we cannot, in most cases, be certain as to the validity of credentials which we receive from that country; thus we must proceed with un usual caution.” Earlier this semester a University offi cial said about 70 Iranians are on campus. Normally, to be admitted to Texas A&M, according to the memorandum, a foreign student must have an above- average record in secondary school in their home country, a minimum of a B average at any college attended in the United States, and a minimum score of 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language. The student must also show authentic evi dence of good health and be able to dem onstrate the ability to finance his educa tion in the United States. However, the confusion in Iran has caused the admissions office to doubt the validity of records from that country. Cooper said. The policy was revealed March 7 after an Iranian student was denied re admission after he was withdrawn from the University. The student was taking a course in physics plus courses from the English Language Institute, which do not carry college credit. The student dropped the physics course, causing him to be dropped from University rolls. Dr. Gilbert Schroeter, associate profes sor of biology and the student’s adviser, said an admissions employee told him the student’s application for the summer term would not be accepted because of the pol icy barring Iranian students. The em ployee did not want to be identified. Schroeter, after learning of the policy, took the case to the Brazos Civil Liberties Union. Merrill Whitburn, president of the BCLU, said the organization has agreed to investigate the policy, but that the investi gation has not progressed far enough to comment on it. Cooper said the Office of Admissions will resume normal admissions of Iranian students when “we feel the credentials from that country are reliable.” Cooper also said that if the records of an Iranian can be verified through a reliable source in that country, the student would be admitted. “We’re not trying to be prejudiced against a particular group of people. I can not be responsible for admitting students without proper records,” he said. Cooper said he consulted with his staff and with Dr. J.M. Prescott, vice president for academic affairs, before putting the policy into effect. MSC budget request sees $45,000 cut tural economics major was perched high atop the bars enjoying a recent day’s sunshine. Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr. By TRACEY WILLIAMS Battalion Reporter The Memorial Student Center Council will have $573,347 to spend on its pro grams during the next school year. This is almost $45,000 less than was requested, but Ray Daniels, president of the MSC Counicl, said Thursday he is not con cerned. past stand’ against invasion expected Amin flees from Tanzanian forces United Press International Jar ES SALAAM, Tanzania — Idi l Amin left his capital of Kampala ahead of a pst-advancing Tanzanian invasion force headed into northern Uganda, with a convoy of loyal troops, the country’s new ttovernment-in-exile said Thursday. Ho a statement, the Uganda National ^Beration Front said guerrillas and sup- Bgdng Tanzanian troops would occupy ^■capital soon and had the neighboring of Entebbe “at their mercy. ” ■fhe statement said Amin had “left for ■ north, apparently headed toward his Bgrietown of Arua in the extreme north- Bst of the country where many diplomats ■dieted he would make a “last stand” ■jnst the invasion force. Jne statement said Amin was accom- bied by soldiers still loyal to him. (Diplomatic reports said for the last few Amin has been sending truckloads ■ military supplies, weapons and gj>odies — such as whisky — to Arua for M last stand. J fascist Idi Amin has now decided to ■ve southern Uganda and go to northern ■^da, the front statement said. “He is moving towards the north with convoys of his mercenaries.” The statement added, “The liberation forces have overrun Mityana, Mpigi and are holding Entebbe at their mercy. “Kampala would, and will, fall into our hands at our will. We are giving enough time for innocent citizens and foreigners to leave Kampala. ” Forward elements of the 4,000-strong Tanzanian invasion force rushed to within “spitting distance” of the capital and thousands of civilians joined a growing exodus from the city. Diplomatic sources said the entire western and southern sections of Kampala were deserted with some people running in panic through the streets away from the approaching invasion force. Diplomatic sources said Libya, since de livering an ultimatum to Tanzania to halt the invasion of Uganda, had stepped up shipments of military hardware to Amin’s army and had also sent in fresh troops. Libya already had some 1,000 soldiers in Uganda but since Monday had sent in a further 500, the sources said. They added the Libyans were also mov ing in artillery, light weapons and even light armored cars. They were apparently using both Entebbe International Airport and Gulu Airport in the north of the country. The renewed Libyan airbridge was a last effort to save Amin’s eight-year dictator ship in which an estimated 300,000 per sons were murdered by supporters of his regime or simply disappeared, according to an independent judicial report. “The Tanzanians are within spitting dis tance now of Kampala, ” one highly placed diplomatic source said. “They are close. They are very close.” He added, “Idi Amin’s position is very, very shaky. It looks as if nothing can save him.” In ground action, after a night of confu sion in Kampala with huge explosions rip ping through the deserted city, some dip lomatic sources reported firing on the out skirts again during the day with “some tank fire.” There also was heavy firing during part of the day at Entebbe, sight of Amin’s col onial statehouse and the former British colonial administrative capital. Exile sources said the Tanzanians had also attacked and possibly cut the main highway linking Entebbe and Kampala, but this was unconfirmed. By late after noon, the streets of Kampala were virtually deserted. The Tanzanians were reported to be ad vancing against virtually no resistance from Amin’s army. Tanzanian officials only several days ago said they might stall the military advance on Kampala for days or even weeks for “political considerations” but possibly were stepping up their schedule because of Libya’s threat this week to intervene to save Amin. Wives and children of U.N. employees in Kampala were to begin evacuating Kampala Thursday to escape the pincer at tack by the invaders. “I think the primary rationale behind the funding was that some of our programs can continue with less money, whereas something like the on-campus shuttle bus program needs more funds to operate,” Daniels said. The money received by the MSC Coun cil is allocated by the student government, and it comes from student service fees paid at the beginning of each semester. This fee is charged at the rate of $1.67 per semester credit hour, and at the pres ent time it cannot exceed $20 per semes ter. Besides funding the committees of the MSC Council, the fee also helps to pay for intramurals, student publications and the on-campus shuttle bus. Daniels said there are four major sec tions in the MSC Council. These sections are the Great Issues Committee, Political Forum, Town Hall and the Opera and Per forming Arts Society (OPAS), and a section that covers all the other MSC committees and the administration of the MSC Coun cil. “The Political Forum and Great Issues committees will receive an increase that should allow them to continue at the same level as last year with the same quality and quantity of speakers,” Daniels said. According to a student government list ing of allocations, the Great Issues Com mittee will receive $19,834, which is a 9 percent increase over this year. Political Forum will receive $15,763, which is an increase of 10.5 percent. The Town Hall and OPAS section, on the other hand, will receive almost a 33 percent cut in funding. The MSC Council requested $75,000 for the two programs but was only allotted $54,500. “We’re not concerned that we didn’t get what we requested,” Daniels said. “We usually give about five free general admis sion concerts a year, and we’ve had a long range plan of charging $1 per concert. I guess we’ll just start doing that now.” Of the $54,500 allotted, Town Hall will receive $44,500 and OPAS will receive $10,000. These amounts represent a 33 percent cut in funding for Town Hall and no change in funding for OPAS. “The money that Town Hall won’t get will probably go to the on-campus shuttle bus program. I think that Town Hall is probably one of the few areas where the cut can be made without affecting the quality of the program,” Daniels said. The fourth section of the MSC Council covers the other MSC committes and the administration of the MSC Council. This section will receive $483,250, which is an increase in funding of 20.2 percent. Committees in this section include the Arts Committee, Basement Committee, Black Awareness Committee, Hospitality Committee and the Travel Committee. esearchers to get last drops rf blood as flu study winds up By JULIE SMILEY |L Battalion Reporter ^ searchers from Baylor College of ' •erne will be on campus next Tuesday ro ^ Thursday to collect the final ■ R °‘ blood samples from volunteers in SRI U j Sian flu vaccine field trial, ft l?k k 0 collected in the Beutel an.] 1 . Renter from 9 a.m. to 4:30 D L ln ,, ? Commons from 9 K?, ^tW days. Darh * tr * a ^ began in November and cipants have continued helping re- p.m. a.m. to 9:30 searchers by returning health report cards each week during the flu season for a total of 10 weeks. Dr. John Quarles, assistant professor of medicine at Texas A&M University, said the final blood samples will give re searchers the information they need to de termine the effectiveness of the vaccines in preventing Russian flu. The study started with 2,112 volunteers from Texas A&M who were given drops of either of two types of vaccine or a dummy vaccine. Participants receive $10 for every blood sample they give and $3 for return ing each health report card. Quarles said when participants come to give blood next week they will be told .whether they were given a vaccine or dummy in November. Quarles said the researchers believe more cases of flu were reported by stu dents who didn’t participate in the study than by those who did, but the final blood samples are needed before conclusive re sults can be determined. Judge predicts Davis trial end FOP’t ,^ n,ted Pr ess International Jianar .."^.BTH — An active rather Piisnill 6 lr6 T ■j U( Jg e w as chosen to hear the (to jk a , an ^ T. Cullen Davis divorce trial ^'RoluH P roc eedings could be Sve 1,,^ more quickly, says Administra- iThl n 5 • harles Murray tc av is attorneys agreed Wednesday ■ear th Jlstrict Judge Clyde Ashworth e remainder of the complicated, five-year divorce trial, which Murray saysj could conclude Thursday. .. , Murray, who had originally said he probably would have to find a retired iudee to hear the case, exphuned Wed- nesday he recommended Ashworth be cause under state law an active judge is allowed to use the transcript from the first portion of the trial as the official court rec ord and to continue from that point. The trial had only about two more days to go when retired Judge John M. Barron declared a mistrial, saying media reports of meetings in his hotel room with Davis had impugned his credibility. The trial is expected to resume Tuesday and Murray said it could end by Thursday. He said Ashworth would render a decision after several days of studying the record. Time out for time in Homer Sanchez, junior range science major, and Matt Singley, freshman environmental design major, take time outside the “demanding” academia to shoot a few hoops. life of