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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1980)
Page 6 THE BATTALION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1980 Counterfeit bills seized state United Press International DALLAS — Counterfeit $100 bills totaling $105,000 seized by the Internal Revenue Service from an alleged bookmaking operation were printed from the same plates as bills confiscated in two other states, it was reported Sunday. The bills have been seized during arrests in Forth Worth, Shreveport, La., and Idabel and Guymon, Okla. But the largest quantity was disco vered in Dallas in late December during a search of an office suite be lieved by authorities to be used in a bookmaking operation. na Operation Brilab Federal officials in Oklahoma and Louisiana said Secret Service agents in those two states, along with agents in Dallas, have been attempting to trace the source of the $100 bogus bills, the Dallas Morning News re ported. The search was performed based on information from the Internal Re venue Service and ultimately yielded anticipated gambling re cords and the $105,000 worth of counterfeit $100 bills as well as fake Canadian and Mexican money. Grand jury panel adjourns until mid-March II SOCIETY OF MANUFACTURING ENGINEERS HOUSTON TOOL T UES -’ FEB - 19 12:00 - 9:00 »v-rv/L_ WED., FEB. 20 12:00-9:00 THURS., FEB. 21 12:00-6:00 SHOW 1980 SIGN UP LISTS AVAILABLE IN FERMIER & 1ST FLOOR ZACHARY FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING ALONG WITH TAMU STUDENT CHAP TER OR WORKING IN THE TAMU BOOTH. MEETING WED. FEB. 13 @ 5:00 P.M. IN FERMIER CONFER ENCE ROOM. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT BOB MAYES 696-3723, KELLY MOWRY 845-7774. United Press International HOUSTON — The two men who are the main focus of a federal grand jury inquiry into the so-called Brilab scandal in Texas have apparently succeeded in postponing their testi mony — at least until the grand jury reconvenes in mid-March. Operation Brilab is the code name of a government undercover scheme of kickbacks and bribe offers to labor and government officials who were in a position to help assign multi million dollar health insurance con tracts. The grand jury, which ad journed Friday, has been investigat ing allegations of bribery in the in surance industry. The panel is specifically inquiring into a meeting concerning the state employee insurance program in which Houston labor leader L.G. Moore allegedly gave Texas House Speaker Bill Clayton $5,000 in $100 bills. Russell T. Kelley, executive assis tant to Clayton, testified before the grand jury Friday. Kelley reportedly was present at the November meet ing with Clayton and Moore. Moore and his attorney, Mike Ramsey, walked out of the federal courthouse Friday after Ramsey filed a motion with the district clerk in the court’s criminal division. The motion was sealed immediately. Ramsey had staged a week-long series of legal maneuvers to keep Moore from testifying before the grand jury before it adjourned its February session. But Ramsey lost a series of mo tions and, when it appeared late Fri day that Moore would have to testify, Ramsey hurriedly filed the motion. He and Moore then left the court house. Asked if he had been successful at keeping Moore off the stand, Ram sey said: “I got out of there, didn’t I? “I imagine that everybody will get another round of subpoenas," said Ramsey, indicating Moore would probably be called to testify when the grand jury began its mid-M: session. Although Clayton was the grand jury to testify, hefaileij appear before the panel because; attorneys, who said they had nets time to prepare his case, obtaii four postponements. Clayton has said he never tended to keep the money buti ; not have an opportunity to retm to Moore, an official of the Inlet; tional Brotherhood of Operating^ * n the Heuvc gineers. HE' the onl New Y end of A so er, ha' — the the lik For APA loses friends over DC-10 suit b reduci Oli' Other rlanch United Press International IRVING — For years Airline Pas sengers Association Inc. was a sleepy little company that offered a few financial benefits to its well-heeled members. The nation’s worst air plane crash changed that. APA was the little guy that de cided to fight the Federal Aviation Administration’s handling of the American Airlines DC-10 crash in which 273 people died last May. Be fore entering the DC-10 flap, the 55,000-member organization was known to few people outside its ranks or the airline industry. Founded in New York in 1960 as the Airways Club Inc., the firm offered its members — usually high ly paid businessmen who made fre quent flights — travel accident in surance and discounts at hotels, res taurants and car rental agencies. The firm still offers travel insur ance, up to $1 million from Lloyd’s of London, and discounts, involving 30 percent at Hertz, Avis, National and Budget car rentals and about 10 per cent at over 2,000 hotels and motels. But the consumer-oriented activities begun in 1968 at the direction of a new owner have become more than ffNAI B’RtTH HILLEL FOUNDATION Rabbi Jacob Izakson How Jewish Tradition gave birth to Christian Holy Days." Feb. 208 P.M. BOOZE —HOOCH —JUICE —SUDS —BREW FIREWATER — GROG — CORDIAL— BUBBLY By whatever name, if alcohol is a problem for you, a friend, or a family member come and SHARE in the solution! Hillel Jewish Student Center 800 Jersey 696-7313 Open to the Public Student Alcoholics Anonymous and Alanon STARTING 19 FEB. 1980 Every Tuesday and Friday 12 noon > n-uurt i WAa t .1 JilrV'tUdY .iALUiViQtti .£ vii MSC ROOM 145 For further information phone 779-0933 DIETING? Barcelona Your place in the sun, Spacious Apartments with New Carpeting Security guard, well lighted parking areas, close to cam pus and shopping areas, on the shuttle bus route. 700 Dominik, College Station 693-0261 :ven though we do not prescribe diets, we make\ \it possible for many to enjoy a nutritious meal\ nvhile they follow their doctor's orders. You will\ \be delighted with the wide selection of low\ \calorie, sugar free and fat free foods in the\ \Souper Salad Area, Sbisa Dining Center Base-\ \ment. Texas Ave. BARCELONA Whataburger A&M Golf Course OPEN Monday through Friday 10:45 AM-1:45 PM QUALITY FIRST Class of 4 81 Ball Saturday Feb. S3 MSC Ballroom 9:oo p.m. Music toy Dialogg Tickets Available at Rudder Box Office S7.SO / couple simply a sideline venture. After James E. Dunne II bought the firm, APA began investigating air crashes, testifying in Congress on safe airplane design and hijackings, lobbying for non-smoking seating and opposing a proposed airport head tax. It finally opened a Washington, D.C. office to lobby in Congress. The issues reflected Dunne’s per sonal concerns and developed into a separate, and not particularly profit able, business within the business, said company spokesman Dean Meadors during a recent interview.' Dunne is a Hubert Humphrey lookalike whose employees say has to be reminded he is running an opera tion that is supposed to make a profit. “Jimmy is a fervent believer in air line safety,” Meadors said. “He could have spent this company into bankruptcy over the DC-10 thing and he didn’t care.” Dunne, who had to drastically cur tail his business activities after suf fering a severe heart attack and undergoing coronary bypass surgery in 1978, came out of his forced retire ment to direct personally APA’s DC- 10 crusade. Meadors said Dunne was particu larly concerned by the Chicago crash because DC-10s figured in the three most deadly air disasters in the world. The day after the huge jetlin er went down Dunne sent a telegram to FAA officials calling for a scientific investigatiem‘ of the controversial McDonnell-Douglas aircraft. Dunne got “absolutely no re sponse” from the FAA, Meadors said. “He originally did not want the planes grounded since he felt it would be a disservice to the flying public,” Meadors said. “But Jim was personally outraged over it. If the FAA had been more responsive, the whole thing probably wouldn’t have happened the way it did.” What happened was that the APA filed a federal suit to have the con troversial planes grounded. The FAA ultimately did ground the planes — for 37 days. But APA officials don’t think the grounding accomplished much, if anything. “They just visually investigated the planes,” said Meadors. “What we wanted was for them to fix the damn airplanes. “We’ve learned a lesson from all this,” Meadors said. “We’ve learned we can spend $420,000 on attorneys’ fees and I can still look out my win dow and see DC-10s flying.” APA also learned that getting into the limelight — while providing na tional recognition — did not neces sarily guarantee bigger profits: - ’ Since the DC-10 suit, several air lines — mainly those with numerous DC-lOs in their fleets — have re fused to run APA advertisements in their in-flight magazines. Those ads produce the company’s biggest source of revenue. And the $420,000 expended on the DC-10 suit will shift the com pany, which does an annual volume of $4 million, into the red for 1979. APA president Jim Philion still is perplexed by the firm’s sudden loss of airline company friends. “We aren’t anti-airline or anti aviation,” he said. “Airlines are our business. “We don’t want to kill the DC-10. It’s a gorgeous, comfortable, roomy, smooth aircraft. But the FAA has said there is a known design deficien cy. The National Transportation Safety Board has said there are vul nerabilities. At what point do we say it’s a criminal offense to keep them flying?” Where the jobs are & how to get them Want a fun summer job? We list 50,000 of them in the 1980 Summer Employment Directory of the United States — camps, dude ranches, commercial resorts, summer theaters, amusement parks and more! Paperback. 208 pages, $6.95. Get a copy today from your campus bookstore, or write to: Dept.CA Writer's Digest Books, 9933 Alliance Road. Cincinnati, OH 45242 (include $1.25 for shipping and handling). However, he has announceds association is dropping its suit. E said the FAA finally had demom SI trated its willingness to ordlphri changes in the jumbo jet. ■ s oari The DC-10 aside, APAofficialssi F)pv there are three other areas of maj a tei concern to the airline passengera- drea out which they are worried: thesta: 1 of the national radar system, unspei U P a billions of dollars in a national a safety trust fund and deteriorate ln g' air service. Tconc M eadors said APA officials befo: ^ e £ the nation’s basic radar systeii a PPi which keeps track of airplanes toprev ^ vent collisions, works well —askji | us t it is working. f| aou: “But the backup system is Korer. doit War vintage,” said Meadors, noti:; We 1 that the secondary radar system als: has been known to fail while tki 1 primary system was not operating p e P When that happens, airtrafiPiceon 1 ;' vas trollers are forced to try and kee; v track of the planes without meeb T nical aid, a virtual impossibility: Meadors said. )' en “There are about 10 near-missest “ Ur day reported to the FAA, ’ Philioi said. “It’s just frightening as 1 The APA also plans to bringatteii tion to the burgeoning trust fund- now totaling over $4 billion resulted from a 1970 law enacted! improve air transportation safety. The Airways Development Ail Program fund consists of taxes asses j sed against airline passengers, aiit freight shippers and general aviatiost owners and operators. Eight percent of the price of each airplane ticke| goes into the fund. * i Now you know United Press International Muhammad Ali’s trusty punclifi have earned him the knockout s»i of $56 million as of August, 1978- the largest known fortune made ini sports career. Tliree favorite grounds all close to A&M. Professional management by Brentwood Properties