the nation
THE BATTALION
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1979
Pages
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9
Court delays oil lease sale
United Press International
BOSTON - A federal appeals court judge said
Thursday he will consider a request to block the sale
of oil and natural gas exploration leases on the rich
Georges Bank fishing grounds off Nantucket.
Presiding Judge Frank Coffin said he was not
“overwhelmed” by an environmental impact state-,
ment that the fishing grounds could be harmed if oil
companies are allowed to drill on the Georges Bank.
Environmentalists and lawyers for Massachusetts
Attorney General Francis Bellotti appeared Thurs
day in 1st U.S. District Court of Appeals in another
attempt to block the sale of 116 ocean bottom tracts of
the Georges Bank — the world’s most bountiful
fishing grounds about 100 miles off the coast of Mas
sachusetts.
Coffin listened to arguments from environmental
ists and attorneys for the U.S. Interior Department
and took the matter under advisement.
A U.S. District Court judge last month ruled that
the nonprofit Conservation Law Foundation and the
attorney general tailed to show sufficient cause to
halt the sale, which was originally scheduled to be
made Nov. 6 in Providence, R.I.
But the environmentalists won a temporary vic
tory in an llth-hour appeal to the U.S. Supreme
Court. Justice William Brennan failed to rule on the
case causing the sale to be delayed until Dec. 18.
At Thursday’s hearing, government attorneys
asked the three-judge panel to let stand the District
Court ruling to allow the sale to go forward.
Coffin questioned Department of Interior attor
ney Mary Ann Walsh about the federal enviromental
impact statement on which the government has
based a major portion of its argument.
“I don’t think we (the judges) were overwhelmed
with the statement at certain points,” he said.
In brief arguments Conservation Lavy Foundation
attorney Douglas I. Foy said Secretary of Interior
Cecil Andrus has failed to adequately study the
potential impact of drilling and has violated his
duties to protect the “unique” marine environment
on Georges Bank.
Carter to pressure Iran
United Press International
WASHINGTON — President
Carter told 100 congressmen
Wednesday night he is prepared to
start pressuring Iran daily until the
50 American hostages are released,
sources said.
“The president said he is prepared
to start turning the screws on Iran
daily,” a source said after congress
men from both parties got a two-
hour briefing at the White House.
Several at the briefing said the be
hind-the-scenes effort to free the
hostages has given new hope to
members of Congress. They said
third-party nations were being
helpful.
Carter asked the congressmen
attending the session not to quote
him, sources said.
“He indicated he was staying in
touch with all our allies and a num
ber of secret moves were being
made,” said a source.
The congressmen declined to spe
cify what Carter revealed. But, they
said, the president clearly does not
want debate about alleged crimes of
the deposed Shah Mohammed Reza
Pahlavi to interfere with efforts to
free the hostages.
“I find great reason for hope in the
resolve and dignity our president has
shown,” Rep. Millicent Fenwick, R-
N.J., said. “We heard some very in
teresting actions that were new to
me.
“He did, but we re not at liberty to
quote the president,” Rep.
Raymond Lederer, D-Pa., said
when asked if Carter had given him
hope. “All doors are open — other
countries are being helpful.”
Aides said Carter has approved
new diplomatic and economic mea
sures over the next few weeks to put
pressure on Iran, but they, too, gave
no clues as to their nature.
Earlier Wednesday, a group of
American Moslem leaders met with
Carter and gave him their support.
They appealed to him not to use
military force and left the 65-minute
meeting apparently convinced he
will not do so.
Since he has decided to stay close
to the White House until the hos
tages are returned safely. Carter has
kept his official schedule fairly light.
Today he was meeting with his eco
nomic advisers to assess the inflation
picture as the year comes to an end.
He also was meeting with the dire
ctors of the National Farmers Orga
nization.
Reps. Tony Hall, D-Ohio, and
Norman Minetta, D-Calif., said Car
ter does not want the Iranian claims
against the shah to get in the way of
discussions about the release of the
hostages.
“He doesn’t want to argue about
the wrongness or rightness of any
previous leader of Iran,” Minetta
said.
“I felt very close to the president,
probably closer than I ever felt,”
Hall said. “I think he’s handling
things very, very well.”
The Moslems w'ere only slightly
less restrained.
“I would like to express my sup
port for the president in the way he is
handling the situation and that sup
port was given the president by all
the members of this meeting, ” said
Wallace Mohammad of Chicago, son
of the founder of the Black Mus
lims.
'assenger ruckus upsets pilot
Number of women in offices doubles
Smoking dispute causes landing
United Press International
NEW YORK — The number of
women in public office has more
than doubled in the past five yearns.
Women now hold 17,782 offices —
10.9 percent of the total, says an arti
cle in Ms. magazine reporting on
women in the 1970s.
United Press International
BALTIMORE — The pilot of an
astern Airlines Washington-to-
ewYork flight landed in Baltimore,
inly minutes after takeoff, because
If a shouting match between smok-
g passengers and a nonsmoker.
An Eastern Airlines spokesman
id the pilot, Capt. Larry Kinsey,
lecided to land the Boeing 727
Vednesday, with 177 passengers, in
laltimore — just 40 miles from
Vashington — when the arguing
assengers refused to heed his re-
[uest for order.
“The passengers were causing
uch a ruckus that the pilot just had
nough of it and said, in so many
.’ords, that ‘if you folks can’t act like
ICEMEN iature adults, I’m going to land the
irplane in the interest of safety, ”
irline spokesman Marty Barry said.
At the Baltimore airport, the pas-
engers were removed from the
J)lane, then boarded another plane
o New York an hour later.
The nonsmoker, identified as a tax
lawyer from Washington, was ques
tioned by Maryland State Police in
Baltimore but was not arrested.
Kinsey refused to comment on the
incident.
Eastern officials said several busi
nessmen got on the 8 a.m. plane, and
a flight attendant overheard one man
say, “I know my rights.”
The officials said the man then
headed for the smoking section,
although there were seats open in
non-smoking, and said, “I’m not
going to smoke and I don’t want any
one else around me to.”
At that point, passengers began
shouting. The pilot told the passen
gers to act like adults, and then took
off.
But the ruckus continued. Some
passengers offered to switch places
and the nonsmoker was offered a seat
among fellow abstainers, but he re
fused, the officials said.
An Eastern spokesman said the
lawyer has been involved in similar
incidents on other airlines.
IET!
Vage freeze
denounced
RE
3EMESTW
>y Chrysler
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Chrysler
]orp. Thursday joined leaders of the
nited Auto Workers union in de-
iQuncing a Senate bill requiring a
bree-year wage freeze for its work-
rs in order to get a government loan
uarantee.
The third largest automaker firm
fnmnmced, through a spokesman,
at it was opposed to the freeze
egislation co-authoroed by Sens,
lichard Lugar, R-Ind. and Paul
Tsongas, D-Mass.
The Lugar-Tsongas proposal, re-
jorted out by the Senate Banking
lommitted Nov. 29, would tie $1.25
)illion in loan guarantees to UAW
workers at Chrysler accepting the
reeze.
It also would require Chrysler to
turn over 40 percent of its ownership
to the workers in stock awards that
ould partially make up for the loss
in increased income.
On Tuesday, about 250 leaders of
the union at Chrysler unanimously
rejected the proposal.
In its statement Thursday, Chrys
ler called the Senate proposal “un
workable” because it would impair
worker productivity and would
cause a serious loss of highly skilled
design, engineering and technical
workers essential to the company’s
future success.
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DEC. 21, 1979
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