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admission after he was withdrawn from the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