homeini hands powers to Bani-
United Press International
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini today
landed over his powers as supreme com
mander of Iran’s military to President
llfolhassan Bani-Sadr, Iranian news re
ts said.
he announcement of the change came
nil terse report by the official Pars news
agency and in a Tehran Radio broadcast
mfmitored in London.
fin his message to the president,
Khomeini, 79, said, “At this sensitive stage
when the need for centralization is greater
than at any other time,” Bani-Sadr was
appointed to “represent” him as the sup
reme commander, as defined by Iran’s new
constitution, Tehran Radio said.
“It is hoped that with your efficiency, the
affairs of the country and the armed forces
will continue running according to Islamic
principles,” the message added.
Khomeini’s order, coupled with an ear
lier decision by the ruling Revolutionary
Council to give Bani-Sadr, 47, full execu
tive powers, broadened the president’s
power base considerably.
The Kuwaiti newspaper Al Watan re
ported during the weekend Khomeini
granted Bani-Sadr the power to remove the
militants holding the hostages for 108 days
and hand over the Americans to govern
ment troops, another possible indication
Khomeini intended to give the president
the authority to make decisions that had
been made by the ayatollah since he took
power last February.
Khomeini has been hospitalized in
Tehran with a heart condition since Jan. 24.
In Vienna, U.N. Secretary General Kurt
Waldheim told the Austrian newspaper
Die Presse today the hostages could be
released within two weeks.
The release would be achieved through
the efforts of the committee set up by Wal
dheim to examine Iran’s charges of the
crimes during the shah’s regime, the sec
retary-general said.
He stressed the five men appointed to
the commission had passed muster with
officials in Washington as well as Bani-Sadr
and Foreign Minister Sadegh Ghotbzadeh.
Thus, formal acceptance by Iran was all
that stood in the way of the commission to
begin its probe.
Western news reports said informed
sources said Bani Sadr was expected to give
his written approval today, but the head of
the president’s secretariat, identified only
as Dr. Taghavi, told a Western reporter:
“Iran has not yet officially approved.’
Iran verbally informed U.N. Secretary-
General Kurt Waldheim Monday it accepts
the five international jurists he has chosen
for the panel but Waldheim was awaiting a
formal, written communication from
Tehran before announcing the commis-
Battalion
Vol. 73 No. 104
8 Pages
Tuesday, February 19, 1980
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
Groups encourage
minority politics
Chat with Staats
By LAURA CORTEZ
City Staff
Efforts are being made in Brazos County to
encourage minorities to become more poli
tically active.
The Mexican-American Democrats, a
statewide organization which is part of the
Democratic Party, and the Black Voters
League Council, a local group, are both
playing a major role in the effort.
Daniel Hernandez, chairman of Mex
ican-American Democrats, said the major
goal of the organization is to educate the
Hispanic community about the political
process.
He said the group, which is made up of
about 55 members, stresses voter registra
tion and tries to make people aware of the
candidates and the issues.
“The organization also tries to sensitize
the candidates to the concerns of the Hispa
nic community and the community in gen
eral,” Hernandez said.
He said that although most of the state
wide and local issues concern the entire
community, there are some issues that
affect the Hispanics, especially those in the
low income bracket, to a greater extent.
“It is important that the Hispanics are
unified and act as one cohesive group,” he
said.
The organization will endorse various
Democratic candidates who will run for
state and county offices May 3, but it has
not yet been decided which ones.
The Mexican-American Democrats will
offer an opportunity for members of the
community to meet the candidates and “get
a feel for what they are all about” at a meet
ing Feb. 28, Hernandez said.
All of the Democratic candidates from
this area will be invited, and questions con
cerning the issues will be addressed to
them by a panel made up of members of the
organization.
Hernandez said that the Hispanics were
“late in coming into the political game,” but
Mexican-American Democrats is working
at making up for lost time.
Another group concerned about the
voice of the minorities in the local political
system is the Black Voters League Council,
headed by Olemuel Davis.
Like Mexican-American Democrats, the
organization stresses voter registration,
knowledge of the candidates and participa
tion in political affairs.
“We do not tell the people who to vote
for, but if they are unaware of who is run
ning for office, we provide information ab
out the candidates,” Davis said.
The group sponsors such activities as
block meetings, primarily held in black
neighborhoods, to provide residents with
answers to questions about the political
process, candidates or issues, he said.
Although the organization does not en
dorse candidates, Davis said the group will
express its views about certain candidates if
a person asks.
He said the group, made up of about 100
members, does not limit its services to the
black community, and anyone can become
a member.
“We consider ourselves public servants
and will work in whichever areas of the
community need our help, Davis said.
Dwayne Staats(l.), the Texas A&M Basketball Radio Network’s chief
announcer, interviews Coach Shelby Metcalf after the Aggies beat the
University of Texas last weekend. Tonight’s game against Texas Christian
University will be the last home game of the season for the Aggies.
Coverage of the game will be carried live over the radio network, and will
also be televised, beginning at 8 p.m. The game is especially important
since the SMU Mustangs defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks 62-58 Mon
day night to move the Texas Aggies into sole possession of first place in the
Southwest Conference. For details, see page 8.
Staff photo by Brian Blalock
rill team
Freshman cadets stand out at Mardi Gras
Refugees may
move to Guyana
By SUSAN HOPKINS
Campus Reporter
The Texas A&M University Fish Drill
ream did not appear to be the life of the
larty.
^Amidst the painted faces, colorful cos
tumes, exotic music and drunk people at
Mardi Gras in New Orleans last weekend,
FDT members stood out in their fresh
green uniforms, cleanly-shaven heads,
shiny boots and white gloves.
, The 40-member drill team wasn’t there
for the fun and excitement most college
students seek when they go to Mardi Gras.
But they did add color to the eighth annual
Tulane University Invitational Drill Meet,
where they won first place overall.
■The categories for the competition,
Bainst six other college and university drill
teams, were platoon inspection-basic,
squad basic and platoon exhibition.
JMike Holmes, FDT commander, said
the team won first place with 703 out of
1,000 points in the inspection basic categ
ory, in which four drill instructors in
spected members on uniform and personal
neatness. They also asked them questions
about themselves and the weapons they
carried.
“The category is to rate us on how neat
and together we look as a group but the
men who inspect us are mainly there to
intimidate us, and see how we react, ” he
said.
He said another part of the inspection-
basic category involved marching to com
mands and doing basic moves with
weapons.
The drill team won second place in the
squad basic competition, in which nine
members drill with their Springfield rifles
to the commands of team member Joe
Cronin.
Holmes said platoon exhibition was the
category where the drill team had a chance
to show their “fancy drill.”
Holmes said the 1,344 of 1,575 possible
points the team earned in the third categ
ory was unusually good considering the size
of the squad. He said they were the largest
group at the competition.
Scot Sturgeon, a member of the team,
won third place in individual competition
for his ability to throw and spin his weapon,
Holmes said.
After the competition, on Friday,
Homes said, the drill team members went
to Jackson Square for yell practice, then
were free to tour Bourbon Street.
“It was the wildest thing I’ve ever seen, ”
Holmes said. “One guy had on Christmas
tree lights, and another guy had his shoes
painted silver.”
Holmes said the drill team saw more of
the same activity when they marched in a
nine-mile parade Saturday night.
He said they also did a drill exhibition
aboard the H.M.S. Hermes, of the Royal
Navy.
Holmes said the drill team and its advis
ers stayed on the ship while in New
Orleans, and had a chance to see how the
enlisted men live — in beds 2V2 feet wide,
and stacked three high.
But Holmes said the sleeping conditions
were not important because “whenever
you walk off the field champions, holding
five trophies, it’s all worth it.”
The FDT started in 1947 when hazing of
freshmen on campus was so bad that the
freshmen were moved to barracks at Bryan
Air Force Base to escape the constant har-
rassment from upperclassmen. Holmes
said the freshmen started the drill team
because they had nothing else to do when
together.
The FDT won the national champion
ship for five consecutive years in the early
1970s, causing the national meet to be dis
continued. Texas A&M FDTs have won
five of the last seven state titles.
Although about 100 freshmen started out
on the team in the fall, the team is now
composed of 40 members.
Pollution threatens water supply
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Pollution and mis-
e of water resources threaten the quality
d quantity of the U.S. water supply, a
vemment report said today.
■ The 10th annual report from the Presi-
gent’s Council on Environmental Quality
ted examples of water problems ranging
m dwindling supplies in the West to
icid rain” in the Northeast. Also noted
re toxic chemical contamination of the
great Lakes and the impact of pollution on
astal fisheries and the Chesapeake Bay.
1 The council reported an overall improve
ment in urban air quality, but warned of
rious soil erosion problems and loss of
agricultural land to urban sprawl.
“The nation’s water and the resources
associated with it are in trouble, ” said coun
cil Chairman Gus Speth.
“We cannot expect an endless supply of
cheap, clean water at the twist of a faucet, ”
Speth said. He called for prompt action on
administration projects aimed at water con
servation and resource development, as
well as ways to protect ground and surface
water from hazardous wastes.
While industry has made progress in re
ducing conventional waste dumped into
lakes and streams, other sources of pollu
tion — urban sewer overflows, overworked
sewage treatment plants, toxic industrial
wastes — are proving more difficult to con
trol, the report said.
The council estimated the United States
spent $26.9 billion in 1978 as a result of
federal pollution control and environmen
tal quality programs. Combined public and
private spending required by federal rules
amounted to an average of $120 per person.
The report said urban air quality im
proved overall from 1974 to 1977, the last
year for which complete data is available,
primarily because of automobile emission
controls.
During the four years, the number of
“unhealthful days” in the 25 largest metro
politan areas — measured by the “pollutant
standard index” — declined by 15 percent
and the number of “very unhealthful days”
was down by 32 percent.
But the study said air quality in the two
largest cities, New York and Los Angeles,
was “unhealthful” two out of every three
days in 1977.
Nine cities — Cleveland; Denver; Louis
ville; Riverside and Anaheim, Calif.; Chi
cago; Philadelphia; St. Louis, and
Washington, D.C. — averaged more than
100 “unhealthful days” a year from 1975 to
1977, the report said.
On land resources, the report noted the
loss of 3 million acres of agricultural land a
year to urban sprawl and other develop
ment.
Soil erosion, estimated at more than 4
billion tons a year nationwide, is reducing
productivity of farmland in Iowa, Illinois,
Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Indi
ana, the report said. Agricultural runoff
from eroded land is a major contributor to
water pollution, it added.
United Press International
WASHINGTON — A group of U.S. re
lief agencies is working on a plan to resettle
Indochinese refugees at the site of the 1978
Jonestown massacre in the Guyana jungle.
A State Department official said Monday
night the U.S. government was not in
volved but confirmed private agencies had
the proposal under consideration.
Andrea Braithwaite, third secretary of
the Guyanese Embassy, said there was
“some discussion” of the plan between her
government and relief agencies “but I do
not know they will be put into Jonestown or
that the deal will go through.”
Spokesmen for two of the relief agencies
behind the proposal said no final decision
had been made.
“The plan is,” said a spokesman for the
World Relief Corp. of Wheaton, Ill., “we
would actually have to go down there and
build a community. All the Guyana govern
ment would give is citizenship and a 25-
year lease.”
He said the agencies would spend from
$6 million to $10 million.
“Right now, one of the most critical
needs for the solution to the refugee prob
lem is a permanent settlement,” said
Franklin Graham, president of World
Medical Missions and Samaritan’s Purse of
Boone, N.G. “I checked into Guyana as a
permanent site and it looks good.”
Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham,
said Jonestown had been made available for
the project, which he said would start out
on a “pilot” basis.
The Jonestown settlement could now
accommodate 1,500 refugees but would re
quire a lot of work to house a “developing
community,” he said.
The Chicago Tribune, which first re
ported the project, said plans called for
eventually resettling 100,000 Indochinese.
Graham said under present plans organiz
ers wanted to see how the pilot project
fared before deciding on taking more re
fugees.
Graham said representatives of the
Hmong, a Laotian ethnic group, would in
spect the site “probably sometime within
the next 30 days” and then a final decision
would be made.
More than 900 American followers of
Peoples’ Temple cult leader Jim Jones died
in the mass suicide-murder Nov. 18, 1978,
in the Jonestown settlement.
The World Relief spokesman said he had
been told the Guyanese government asked
the Thai government for permission to take
the refugees almost two months ago but has
received no answer.
He said the proposal originated with staff
members of his agency.
“It occurred to some of the young people
on our staff, ” he said, “that Jonestown was a
black experience in the history of mankind
and we would like to turn that around and
turn it into a real positive experience.
Pancake race
begins today
United Press International
OLNEY, England — Women of
Olney warmed their skillets today for
the 31st running of the Great Trans*-
Atlantic Pancake Race, determined to
retain their trophy against a strong chal
lenge from their Liberal, Kan. foes.
The all-woman contest, which has be
come an international event attracting
hundreds of spectators in both towns, is
run first in Olney and later in the day in
Liberal. The two towns have competed
for 30 years.
Going into today’s race, Liberal had
an 18-12 edge on Olney.
The Great Trans-Atlantic Pancake
Race began as the Olney Pancake race
on Shrove Tuesday, 535 years ago.
“Tradition declares the race was first
run in the year 1445 A.D., pancakes at
the time being a popular dish and re
ceiving royal favor, ” reads a booklet en
titled “The Worthies and Wonders of
Olney Parish Church.”
Shrove Tuesday, the last day before
Lent, traditionally was given over to
“many pranks ... forming part of a last
fling celebrations before the long Len
ten fast.
“How the race originated nobody
knows. Perhaps a harassed housewife,
hearing the shriving bell, dashed off to
the church still clutching her frying
pan,” the booklet said.
War interrupted the festivities until
they were revived in 1949 by Rev.
Ronald Collins, vicar of Olney.
In 1950, Liberal’s Junior Chamber of
Commerce, in search of a special project
for the year, issued a challenge to Olney
and the Great TransAtlantic Pancake
Race was bom.
The towns compete for a traveling
trophy, an engraved skillet that spends
the year with the winner.
y