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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 11, 1979)
72 No. 132 Pages he Battalion Wednesday, April 11, 1979 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Double feature The Aggie baseball team won one and lost one against Okla homa City University Tuesday — with the Marks brothers and a cast of thousands. See details on page 13. Twisters devastate towns on Red River: 40 dead United Press International Vicious tornadoes slashed a “path of death” through the Red River Valley bor der between Texas and Oklahoma Tues day, killing at least 40 and possibly 50 and packing hospitals with more than 500 in jured. Authorities making a careful count were able to confirm 40 deaths, but unofficial totals from the scene ran as high as 50. Officials said damage was running to many millions of dollars. In Wichita Falls two tornadoes hit at sundown, demolishing whole neighbor hoods and two modern shopping centers. One hospital administrator said there were “in the area of 10 deaths” and more than 400 injured. The National Guard was called out to defend against looting. In Vernon, a city of 12,000 about 40 miles away, there were 12 confirmed deaths and 70 injured. “It hit some re A&M Radio Club relays tornado news W5AC at Texas A&M University is part of an emergency network of amateur radio operators reporting on the tornado disas ter centered in Wichita Falls. Collin McKinney, operations officer for the MSC Radio Committee, said late Tuesday night that club members were re laying messages for'Texas Electric Co. be tween Dallas and Wichita Falls. The tor nado destroyed a power plant in the North Texas town, knocking out lights. McKinney said two residents of Wichita Falls here were working with a mobile radio unit in the city, trying to pinpoint the tornado path. The club now has infor mation about specific streets and some damage reports. By early this morning more units, in cluding some from Dallas, were set to relay messages between College Station and Wichita Falls and the other areas. “We should be able to relay messages Wednesday,” McKinney said. “It’s a mat ter of how bad the (radio) traffic is into Wichita Falls and the conditions.” Few messages to individuals were sent Tuesday night. “The emergency nets (networks) have priorities,” McKinney explained. “Right now the priority is to try to restore the well-being of people there.” Around midnight about nine club mem bers were in the Radio Room, which is in Room 152 of the MSC. Besides aiding the electric company, they were listening to broadcasts from Vernon and Lawton, two other cities hit by tornadoes. The Aggie emergency network began running about 7:30 p.nm, an hour after the twisters hit. RolofFs girls willing to talk Dnda Reger and Lindsey Scoggins don’t look too worried during their iJrrnoon haircutting session, but the blow dryer they’re using could be limful to them. Battalion photo by Caron Becker airdryer hotlines: curate but busy United Press International WASHINGTON — Consumers wanting ■nation about asbestos-lined hair §5 have jammed telephone lines to rai mpanies and flooded the gov- nent with calls, a federal agency said idav. be Consumer Product Safety Commis- lid several toll-free telephone num- perated by dryer manufacturers are Sisy that many callers cannot get ftey simply don’t have the lines to ac- ■o many calls,” a spokeswoman said, ne CPSC is investigating whether the Blion asbestos-lined hairdryers in use in the United States are possible health hazards. Asbestos is a known cancer- Some companies already are offering re funds or replacements for dryers with as bestos lining. Dryer information numbers, which are accurate but busy, are Conair Corp. — (800) 6315391; General Electric — (800) 241-9992; the Gillette Co. (800) 328-9208; and North American Philips Corp. (Norelco) — (800) 223-1828. The CPSC said its own tollfree hotline has received about 1,200 dryer calls per day. That number is (800) 638-8326. United Press International CORPUS CHRISTI — The Rev. Lester Roloff said Tuesday he and the five girls who allegedly stabbed a classmate at the evangelist’s Rebekah Home would testify if called before a Nueces County grand j u D- “You know I’ll be ready,” Roloff said as he awaited the afternoon arrival of Gov. Bill Clements for a tour of the Roloff facilities. The tour had been planned before Dis trict Attorney Bill Mobley announced the most recent investigation. “The girls will be ready. If they (grand jurors) are interested in boys and girls and love’s work, there’ll be no problem. Love’s work is no ill to its neighbor.” Mobley said it was “shocking” that the stabbing incident last July 1 went unre ported for nine months until the Corpus Christi Caller published a copyrighted story Sunday quoting the five girls as say ing they wanted to kill Misty Hardeman, 16, of Marysville, Kan., so they could leave the home. Roloff, who has jokingly referred to the five girls as “my little murderers,” said since the incident they have “found the victory” and now are “among the sweetest girls on earth.” Hardeman, who escaped the attack without serious injury and was treated by Roloff s staff, was removed from the home by her parents. The five girls told the newspaper they had reformed, found religion and wanted to stay at Roloffs home. “Isn’t it a sight?” Roloff said of the pro posed grand jury investigation. “It’s like coming along and seeing a child fall over the seawall. You take your shoes off to save the little child, and then they throw you in jail because there’s a ‘no swimming’ sign. We batted 100 percent with these little girls. They wouldn’t have come to the victory if they hadn’t stayed here. Roloff first referred to the five girls as “my little murderers” at a state capitol rally supporting separation of church and state that was addressed by Clements last month. Roloff told the crowd each girl was spanked for their misdeeds. apavik, Morrison ie in runoff Monday By DILLARD STONE ■ Battalion Staff ■nnie Kapavik and J. Wayne Morrison [a runoff election to determine the *80 Texas A&M University student | president. Ii- runoff on Monday also will include ■al other contenders for student of- | the most important being the vice Went for student services, where John ce and Brad Smith will face each Jr. orrison garnered 1,616 votes, or 44.17 ent, compared with Kapavik’s 1,343 s, 36.71 percent total. Third candidate le Masterson received 699 votes, or JO percent. lie spring elections, conducted by stu- !| government, are held each year to le the various student leaders for the png year. Also included on this year’s 1( , a referendum on the subject of luation with honors, dents voted overwhelmingly to re- the grade point ratio required to taate with honors. e old system, replaced this year, d for the. following criteria for honors dates: cum laude, 3.25-3.499; magna laude, 3.5-3.749; summa cum laude, 4.0. Students voted to return to this m in the referendum, e new system, applicable to the Class and succeeding classes, calls for levels to be cum laude, 3.5-3.699; a cum laude, 3.7-3.899; summa cum *, 3.9-4.0. the other vice presidential races: John Calhoun defeated Leroy Startz e contest for academic affairs, Jeb Hensarling won the external af fairs seat from Andrew Cook, —George Black in the finance race, and Paul Bettencourt in the rules and regu- latioons contest, were uncontested. Slighly under 4,000 students cast votes in the Monday and Tuesday elections. The 3,931 votes cast represents about 14 per cent of the Texas A&M student body. Barbara Thompson was elected Resi dence Hall Association president, with Bill Way as vice president and Joanne Xavier as secretary. The off-campus student asociation, as yet unnamed, will be headed by president Debbie May, vice president Scott Terry, secretary Paula Sorrells, and treasurer John Lee. Senior yell leaders chosen were Brian Hill, Jeff Smiley and Pete Greaves. Junior yell leaders are Mark Outlaw and Ed Franza. Class officers also were chosen in the elections: —Class of 1980: Mark Murphy, presi dent; Cathy Cox, vice president; Brian Miller, secretary-treasurer; Susan Clerihew, social secretary; Valerie Rivera, historian. — Class of 1981: Jess Mason, president; Kathy Rivera and Bill Dawley in a runoff for vice president; Patti Heaton, secretary-treasurer; Nancy Kelly, social secretary. —Class of 1982: Mike McCarley and Rick Kumpf in a runoff for president; Rick Seger and Tracy Hammer in a runoff for vice president; David Moyer, secretary- treasurer; Sherry Trask and Susan Pav- losky in a runoff for social secretary. The 1979-80 student senate will be com posed of: —Off-campus senators Sue Vito, Lawr ence Peircy, Rusty Davis, Dorothy DuBois, Amy Bayer, Pete Ravella, Chuck Mullins, Jane McGregor, Ronald Elsberry, Ted Season, Mark Ellison, Cliff Cauthen, Teresa Beshara, Brian Gross, Perie Pitts, Jessie Cowan, John Joyce, Janet Golub, Thomas Stodgel, Tim Sager, and Steven Branecky. Several other off-campus seats in the various wards are open in Monday’s runoff. —Corps of Cadets senators John St. Mary, Brian Shephard, and Marvin Swink. —Civilian living area senators Susan Hopkins, Jim Barolak, Jan Poison, Molly Peterson, Tony Albracht, Lance Wright, and Marc Schneider. —Academic college senators Robert Werner, Laura Larson, Rip Van Winkle, Cleve Clark, Rebecca Taulman, Ron Metz and Kevin Hamilton from agriculture; Patty McSweeney and Art Pregler from architecture; Cheryl Swanzy, Tracy Cox, Jeff Mason, and Steve Hageman from business; Lee Maverick and Mary Alice Williams from education; John Peyton, Jeff Honeck, Steven Tinker, Steven Hague, Dudley Viles, Dan Ayre, Steve Horn and Kirk Kelley from engineering; Robert Hughes from geosciences; Carlos Dejesus, Mark Shomaker, Ann Landis and Helen Schitthauer from liberal arts; Lisa Carman, Julie Spinn and Jim Bob Coates from science; Tom Gowan from veterinary medicine; and Paul Matherne from medicine. I Zachry extols will to work By SCOTT D. HARING Battalion Reporter Drive and determination are the keys to success, H.B. Zachry told a group of busi ness students Tuesday night. Zachry spoke at the Business Student Council’s spring seminar, along with' Dr. William B. Muse, who will become dean of the College of Business Administration on July 1. Zachry said the difference between suc cess and failure in life is “the will to work, the will to pay the price.” In his short talk he also quoted Alexander the Great and recited poetry from memory. Zachry, 78, is chairman of the board of H.B. Zachry construction Co., which he founded two years after graduating from Texas A&M in 1922. Zachry keeps a strict regimen of diet and exercise, running an eight-minute mile every morning. “I may grow old sometime,” he said, “but not today.” Zachry told a few jokes and personal anecdotes, but always came back to his topic. The H.B. Zachry Construction Co. does about $350 million worth of work each year, and he credits Texas A&M for his success. “I like the way A&M builds men, and now, women.” Muse, the new dean, talked about the world’s changing business environment. He noted the rapid increase in technology and said that a business student must be aware of developments in all fields that may pertain to his work. But while technology is changing rapidly. Muse said, some things will al ways remain the same. He suggested that business students develop self-confidence, poise under pressure, loyalty, pride and integrity. staurants and houses,” said Vernon Police Chief Wayne Hendrix. “It just left a path of death.” The tornado flattened one end of the city and threw debris several thousand feet. Billy Robertson, administrator of Wil barger General Hospital in Vernon, said there was no more room to treat the in jured and few places to send them because the closest major hospitals were in Wichita Falls, already packed with their own in jured. In nearby Harrold, a city of 3,000, one person was killed. In Lawton, Okla., three deaths were confirmed and there were reports of four more dead. One of two tornadoes that hit there knocked over a truck carrying sul phuric acid, spilling the liquid over the streets. The twisters destroyed about two dozen houses, mobile homes and small busi nesses in the southeast part of town and heavily damaged a four-block area near the heart of downtown. “They are digging people out over there,” said Susan Black, who was in her grandmother’s storm celler when the tor nado passed over. At Wichita Falls, Bethania Hospital spokeswoman Joyce Warren said 139 per sons had been admitted at that hospital alone — many with “very serious in juries.” “I know we’ve had at least one death, because it was right in this room,” she said. “It was a child, about 4. I’m sure there are others. I’ve heard several people mention some other deaths. Things are just sheer bedlam.” The hospital was operating with emergency power and Warren said pa tients were in the corridors, the lobby and even the plush board room. Warren said “whole neighborhoods’’ were blown away by the tornado. “It just seemed to hop all over town. Cars are in terrible condition — many, many, many cars. Our biggest shopping center is totally wiped out. “There are lots of cases of whole neighborhoods being blown away. One lady was at a Pizza Hut and a car was picked up (from the parking lot) and landed on a nearby home. One other per son (a hospital employee) lost his home. Then he took his family to a relative’s house and it was also wiped out.” At Wichita Falls General Hospital a spokeswoman said she believed more than 100 patients had been admitted and a number of deaths occurred. “The patients are coming in awfully fast and we just plain stopped some of our standard record procedures so we don’t have numbers,” said administrative assis tant Grace Shirk. “It’s my understanding that they were taking the next group of patients to Sheppard Air Force Base” at Wichita Falls. The tornado also demolished a power plant, knocking out lights in the city. The twister destroyed a 17-block area of the city, according to the Department of Pub lic Safety. An observer of the southside destruc tion said it looked like that area of the town had been demolished. Michael Perryman, 19, said he was at the Sikes Shopping Center in Wichita Falls when a funnel moved out of the clouds. He said he ran to a church and found shelter by a wall. “We saw the tornado coming,” he said. “My dad told me to get up next to the church. I put my hands over my head and a whole bunch of bricks fell on me. I never knew what hit me. “When I looked around only the wall of the church I was standing by was left, the rest was gone.” There was a report National Guardsmen had been either activated or placed on alert. “A lot of the buildings are tore up on this end of town,” a radio reporter said. “One of our disc jockeys was inside a club in town and he came running back to the station with blood all over him. He said the club had been flattened.” Israel retaliates for attacks, raids Lebanon guerrilla targets United Press International TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli warplanes Tuesday raided Arab guerrilla targets In Lebanon in retaliation for a series of bomb attacks that killed and wounded scores of Israelis in the past four days, the military command said. A communique said the Israeli jets zoomed into action at 5:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. EST) and all returned to base safely. The Israeli planes struck shortly after a bomb apparently set by Palestinian guer rillas exploded Tuesday in an open-air Tel Aviv market crowded with pre-Passover holiday shoppers. Police said it killed one man and wounded scores of people, in cluding two children. In Lebanon, Palestinian sources and witnesses to the raids said the Israeli planes bombed Palestinian targets in south and central Lebanon. They said the planes struck south of the southern port of Tyre and at Damour, about 13 miles south of Beirut. There were no reports of casualties im mediately available. H.B. “Pat” Zachry speaks before a group of business students Tuesday night. Battalion photo by Larry Parker