The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, December 19, 1979, Image 1
' eac hed tl ( ■'ersity should t ei ir ! as h.V 1,1 f want a, >'• T, >ey ^ ,or >tino4| urder n carter s hiske United Press International ASHINGTON — President Carter, Irently puzzled at conflicting signals J Iran, has said publically that he is |g hope any of the 50 American hos- Iwill be released by Christmas. Those Isgrew even dimmer Tuesday after a I advisor of the Ayatollah Ruhollah leini was murdered in the streets of in. ree gunmen on one. motorcycle killed lammed Mofatteh, head of the main : religious school, in a hail of bullets ntown Tehran before they escaped, [ard was also killed. pfatteh, a leader of the anti-shah move- during Khomeini’s exile, was the close confidant of the Khomeini to be ated recently. lomeini blamed the CIA for the mur- .T! ruling Revolutionary Council said Statement: “One more prominent spir al leader has been made a target by the In. He has been shot down by dirty up of the CIA and SAVAK. [he gunmen opened fire on Moffateh djtwo guards just outside the Islamic Jlege of Tehran. Mofaetteh fled into the King but was pursued by the gunmen d shot in the head, shoulder, hand and jfc. le died about three hours later. ^rter had been somewhat optimistic jwing a televised interview Sunday llran’s acting foreign minister Sadegh wjbzadeh indicating release of some of enptives was possible before Christmas. lit Carter told reporters Monday night alstate dinner honoring British Prime Ister Margaret Thatcher that “the news mlran is not good.” The students de- dopen verbal warfare on Ghotbzadeh, ding as “irresponsible’ his statements some of the hostages might be freed by stmas. They threatened to take over ian embassies abroad from Foreign Istry personnel. The Battalion Vol. 73 No. 76 12 Pages Wednesday, December 19, 1979 College Station, Texas USPS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 dims hopes Carter noted that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini backed up the militant students who contradicted Ghotbzadeh on freeing the captives and said they would be tried. Asked if he thought any of the hostages would be freed by Christmas, Carter said: “I don’t believe so.” “The students said ‘no’ to everything,” Carter said. “Khomeini went along with the students. ” Carter had a final breakfast session Tues day with Democratic leaders before they windup the session at the end of the week and head home for Christmas. The president told reporters that he will not return to his home in Plains, Ga. for Christmas. He said the Iranian situation requires him to remain in the nation’s capital. Meanwhile, in Panama City, Panama, a group of students stoned the U.S. Embas sy, ripped down the American flag and spray-painted the words “Out With The Shah’’ today in a protest against the pre sence of the shah of Iran in Panama. Police said about 150 left-wing students marched on the embassy shortly after steel- helmeted Panamanian national guardsmen had withdrawn from the building, which they guarded through the night. The students threw rocks at the three- story colonial style building, trampled a hedge — there is no fence — around the building and tore down the American flag. They then spray-painted the words “Out With The Shah” on the flagpole and on the cement archway to the embassy com pound. The attackers broke one window on a small guardhouse in front of the embassy. No injuries were reported and the na tional guard armed with automatic rifles, rubber hoses and tear gas quickly returned to the embassy. The students were gone by then. BRRRRRRR! m. - Members of Walton Hall’s ‘F-Troop’ help Woody Woodruff of took place last week at the fountain in front of the Chemistry Cleburne celebrate his impending graduation. The dunking Building. Temperature? Mid-30s. Battalion photo by Alan Hess directories due this week Directories for the 1979-80 school [year will be given out this week, if all goes well. Don Johnson, director of student publications, said the directories were due in Tuesday, but did not arrive. He said when the directories come, they will be handed out immediately. When directories are distributed, Johnson said, students should bring their fee slips indicating they have purchased a directory, or they will not be given one. If a student has lost his fee slip, he can get a copy from the fiscal depart ment in the Coke Building. tiatt taking vacation until Jan. 9 While most Aggies are off snoozing and recovering from the rigors of the [ fall semester, the Battalion will not be published, but will be gearing up for next semester. This will be the last publication for this semester, but there will b^ a Bat talion put out on Jan. 9, and five-day-a- week service will resume Jan. 14. Accidental towing angers store s shoppers By NANCY ANDERSEN Battalion Staff Due to the high cost of food, a trip to the grocery store is already a costly one, but some Skaggs Alpha Beta customers are paying even more than they bargained for. Because of the University Square shop ping center’s proximity to Texas A&M Uni versity, as many as 15 students a day illegal ly use the center’s parking lot while attend ing classes, said Will Moyers, a spokesman for owner John C. Culpepper. Because of this, Culpepper contracted D&H Wrecker Service about three years ago to tow away illegally parked ‘cus tomers.’ According to signs posted throughout the parking lot, only shopping center cus tomers may use the lot and all others will be towed away. To enforce the policy, D&H employs spotters to report anyone leaving the shopping center. However, each day about two to six cus tomers’ cars are removed from the Skaggs parking lot by D&H, according to College Station police. The cost of recovering a towed car is $50. Also, there is an additional charge of $5 for each night a car is kept. Last month, Caroline Hill had her car towed away while shopping at Skaggs. Hill said she called the police and before she even mentioned where the incident had occurred, she was asked, “You’re at Skaggs, aren’t you?” Since then, Hill said, she has boycotted Skaggs. Oliver Bishop, Skaggs’ general manager, said he is under orders not to discuss the situation with the press. D&H could not be reached for comment — the phone number is not listed in the phone book or with information. Moyers said he does not condone any errors D&H might have made — D&H is responsible. Alternative ways of controlling parking lot use are being considered by Culpepper Management Properties and a decision should be made by the first of the year, Moyers said. Some of the alternatives include either hiring another wrecker company or using bear claws. A bear claw is a metal bar with an iron lock which fits around a car’s rear tire and prevents a car from being driven, he said. When the owner returned, a fee would be assessed, Moyer said, adding that the Uni versity Police use this method. State law protects an owner’s right to remove anyone from his property, said Sgt. Paul Huddleston of the College Station Police Department. Huddleston called the situation a legal inequity, and added it happens too often. According to the city wrecker ordinance, anyone with a properly equipped towing vehicle and liability insurance of $100,000 for each injury, death, accident or treat ment per person may become licensced. Licensed wrecker companies must file a schedule of fees charged for each service with the police department, but police have no control over the amounts charged. To clarify the situation, Huddleston sug gested a more detailed ordinance. A good ordinance, he said, would give the police more control over charges and towing. Also, it would require reporting a car as towed to police. Currently, wreckers are not required to do so. The College Station City Council discus sed adopting a similar ordinance at a special meeting last week. The council will not decide on a wrecker ordinance until the first meeting in January. Senate passes tax United Press International WASHINGTON — After six weeks of floor debate, the Senate Tuesday passed a $178 billion windfall oil profits tax bill that both President Carter and Sen. Edward Kennedy want toughened. A conference committee Tuesday began attempts at settling differences between the Senate bill and the $277 billion mea sure the House passed in June. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Russell Long, D-La., is heading the Senate delegation to the conference. House Ways and Means Chairman Al Ullman is heading the House conferees. Long was asked if the conferees would split the $100 billion difference between the two bills. “The whole thing is negoti able, both on the upside and the down side,” Long replied. The Senate bill would take in about 38 percent of the net windfall oil companies will make from rising world oil prices and Carter’s decision to decontrol domestic oil prices. The House bill would take about 61 percent. The administration estimates the total profit at about $1 trillion. The $99 billion gap between the two bills stems largely from exemptions in the Sen ate version for most independent produc tion, and lower Senate rates for newly disc overed, incremental tertiary and heavy oil. “I was glad it passed,” Carter said after the Senate Monday night approved, 74-24, its version of the bill highlighting his ener gy program. While the bill was improved by the full Senate and “does include some important concepts for the conference committee to consider,” said a White House spokesman, it “falls considerably short of the House bill.” Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., voted for the bill but said he would vote against any compromise “that raises less than the 50 percent revenue target set by the presi dent. He urged Carter to veto a weak bill. A spokesman for tfre American Pet roleum Institute, the industry lobby in Washington, said, “The tragedy of the Sen ate bill is that it would give oil companies nowhere near enough to generate the level of domestic investment which must be made to decrease our reliance on OPEC.” Sen. Gaylord Nelson, D-Wis., one of six Democrats voting against the bill, said it provided too low a tax and an “unconscion ably generous” gift to oil firms. But Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., said he hoped “we have not sown the seeds of the destruction of the oil industry.” The Senate gave small investors a tax break by allowing an individual to exclude up to $200 — $400 for married couples filing jointly — in interest and dividends from the federal income tax starting in 1981. That provision is not in the House bill, but is expected to be accepted. But $8.7 billion in tax credits for homeowners who insulate or use other energy-saving methods, plus about $17 bil lion in energy tax breaks for businesses in the Senate bill may be dropped or trimmed in conference. Texas Senators Lloyd Bentsen and John Tower voted against the bill.