t
The Battalion
Vol. 73 No. 136
24 Pages in 2 Sections
Thursday, April 10, 1980
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
1
0
Another shine for ‘Sully’
Photo by Dave Einsel
Freshman cadets from Squadron 10 were up at 5
a.m. today to perform an ancient Texas A&M ritual,
shining the broze statue known as ‘Sully.’ Located in
front of the Academic Building, “Sully” is the full-
length likeness of Lawrence Sullivan Ross, president
of the University during its formative years.
Iran TV broadcasts
prelude to spy trials
United Press International
In what may be a prelude to spy trials for
the 50 American hostages, Iranian televi
sion broadcast a film showing what it said
were two of the captives describing espion
age activities by the occupied U.S.
Embassy.
The midnight broadcast came hours after
the militants holding the embassy
threatened to kill the hostages, in their
159th day of captivity, if the United States
took the “slightest” military action against
Iran.
In a banner headline story today, the
Islamic Republic newspaper announced a
march Friday in Tehran by members of
Ayatollah Khomeini’s popular “army of 20
million” — a term used for all those
opposed to the release of the hostages.
“The nation will renew its pledge tomor
row to defend the Koran and Iran,” the
newspaper, organ of the ruling clerical
group, said.
By DEBBIE NELSON
Campus Staff
The soft sound of a reverently rendered
“Auld Lang Syne” echoed in an eerily quiet
Duncan Dining Hall Wednesday night, as
Corps of Cadets outfits said goodbye to
Iranian cadets.
All eight Iranian members of the Texas
A&M University Corps of Cadets, as well
as six former cadets completing their de
gree requirements, have been ordered to
leave the United States by midnight
Friday.
The action is a direct result of President
Carter revoking military and diplomatic
visas for Iranians in the United States. It is
one of the sanctions made against Iran
Monday because of setbacks in negotiations
for the release of hostages being held at the
American Embassy in Iran.
Col. Robert Gibson, USMC, professor of
naval science at Texas A&M, said Wednes
day he received word of the visa revocation
slightly before midnight Tuesday from his
immediate superior, the chief of Naval
Education and Training in Pensacola, Fla.
The orders were followed by a letter
from the secretary of defense, Gibson said.
Non-military Iranian students attending
the University are not included in the
order, as they are not in the country on
military visas.
“They (the cadets) are a group of fine
young men, a credit to the University.
They have done a good job academically,”
Gibson said. “I hope someday they are able
to return to Texas A&M and complete their
studies.”
The 14 Iranian students, who are or have
been enrolled in the Naval ROTC program
The two alleged hostages on the film
spoke English, but their names and some of
their statments were made inaudible by a
Persian language narration, the Washing
ton Post and other American newspapers
reported.
During the telecast, one of the hostages,
who had dark hair and was wearing glasses
See related stories, pages 11 and 13
and camouflage pants, displayed what the
television said was electronic monitoring
equipment in a supply depot on the embas
sy compound.
The other man, who had blond hair and
wore a V-neck sweater, showed a photo
graph of an alleged spy plane. He spoke to
two militants in a room with a door marked
“Defense Attache.”
The broadcast made no mention when
the film was made.
Several Iranian officials recently said spy
of the Corps, have until Friday to settle
finances with the fiscal office, obtain trans
cripts, and dispose of personal belongings.
One Iranian former cadet who asked not
to be identified said the situation is unfair.
He said in two weeks he would have com
pleted his undergraduate degree, since
grades for seniors are turned in April 25.
Six of the deported cadets are seniors, he
said. He has talked to his professors and to
the Dean of Engineering about receiving
credit for this semester’s work, but said,
“it’s hopeless, nobody can help.”
Gibson said credit for this semester’s
classes will be determined by instructors
on an individual basis.
Twelve of the students are in the college
of engineering; two are in the college of
business, the senior said.
The ex-cadet said he is partly happy to
leave, because he will get to see his family
in Iran. But he added, “All of our American
friends got depressed that we have to leave.
They say we don’t have anything to do with
politics.”
“I hope relations between the countries
get better,” he said.
Notification of the State Department’s
decision came to him through a letter from
the Secretary of Defense and the U.S.
Navy.
Another Iranian cadet, who also asked
not to be identified, said he received a call
from Washington Tuesday telling him he
must leave the country. He said the Iranian
government has sent the cadets airline tick
ets for the trip back to Iran, which they
should receive today.
Since each of the cadets can only take 65
pounds of luggage with him, all must dis-
trials for the hostages have not been ruled
out.
American officials denied the Iranian
television report and said the equipment
probably was standard radio and telephone
communications equipment.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister
Sadegh Ghotbzadeh said he favored having
relatives of the hostages visit them in the
occupied embassy and he would bring the
question up to the Revolutionary Council.
But he was was countered by the mili
tants who said, “there is no need for other
people to visit.”
Ghotbzadeh warned any nation support
ing the United States “must face action
similar to that Iran has taken against Amer
ica,” Tehran Radio said.
Anti-U. S feeling is being further intensi
fied in Iran by official pronouncements the
troubles with neighboring Iraq are
Washington’s doing.
go home
decision
pose of most personal belongings.
One cadet reportedly sold a 1979 Buick
Cutlass for $1,800.
Dr. Wayne Gosnell, director of interna
tional student services, said the ordering of
the Iranian Texas A&M cadets to leave the
country has caused “a great deal of anxiety”
among the 79 Iranian students on campus.
Gosnell said he has asked the district
Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) office in San Antonio about the status
of non-military Iranian students. “They
(the INS) don’t really know,” Gosnell said.
“They’re waiting to find out from Washing
ton, so we re sort of in limbo. ”
However, Gosnell said the INS informal
ly has said it doesn’t anticipate any revoca
tion of visas for the other Iranian students.
Gosnell said most of the Iranians he has
talked to are “very sincere, dedicated stu
dents,” caught in the middle of the political
situation.
Mostafa Mostafavi, president of the Soci
ety of Iranian Students, said, “This (depor
tation of the cadets) is not really a logical
way of solving the problem. It’s making
things more complicated.”
He said President Carter chose this plan
of action because it is an election year and
he wants to please the voters.
Although there has been some question
of Iranian diplomats seeking political asy
lum in this country, Gibson said he does
not believe any of the cadets will remain in
the country.
A UPI story from the White House Tues
day said the 60,000 Iranian students in the
United States would not immediately be
affected by the visa restrictions.
Iranian cadets to
following Carter
3
S
Credit puts farms in stranglehold
> United Press International
^WASHINGTON — Leaders of major
jm|organizations have told Federal Re-
fve Chairman Paul Volcker that high in-
fUeSt rates and tight credit are strangling
^agricultural economy.
(5 Agriculture Secretary Bob Bergland and
2 jward Hjort, the department’s chief eco-
S mist, also attended the closed meeting.
^Following the meeting Wednesday,
rterlyn Carlson of Lodgepole, Neb., presi-
nt of the National Cattlemen’s Associa-
mJ said, “Agriculture is just at the lowest
tb lever and that message came across
and clear to the Federal Reserve.”
j^E&ttle producers lack credit at reason-
ile:rates to rebuild herds and feed cattle,
. arisen said.
He said if the current money crunch con
tinues, consumers will pay more for beef
and other food.
Volcker reportedly assured leaders of the
10 farm groups credit restraints are not
being imposed on small businesses and
agriculture.
Hjort said, “The key point that was made
from the Fed’s side is that it’s their policy to
not have any special restraints for agricul
ture or small business.”
Farm leaders urged the Federal Reserve
to use a special mechanism that would fun
nel seasonal loans into rural banks this
spring.
Ed Osborne of Tulelake, Calif., repre
senting the American Agriculture Move
ment, said current anti-inflationary policies
are “like pouring gas on a fire, they’re mak
ing it worse. ”
He said if higher prices were paid for raw
materials, including food, the agricultural
sector could operate on earned income in
stead of borrowed money.
In a summary of a new agricultural out
look report, Agriculture Department eco
nomists said farmers are hurt more by high
interest rates and tight credit this year than
in previous recent tight money periods.
Economists said agricultural financial
markets are more closely intertwined with
other financial markets than during past
tight credit periods and farmers must bor
row more money to plant crops than they
once did.
Farm prices are depressed, in part, be
cause middlemen paying high interest
rates are buying only minimum amounts of
grain and livestock because they cannot
afford to build up inventories.
“Higher interest rates have also been
accompanied by a rapid appreciation of the
dollar during the first quarter of 1980,
which may in turn be contributing to the
price weakness of some commodities most
dependent on export markets,” economists
said.
To make matters worse, economists said,
if the level of farm income anticipated dur
ing the second quarter is adjusted to an
annual rate, farm income would fall 31 per
cent in 1980 compared to last year.
nidentified hijacker in custody
United Press International
MIAMI — An impatient, taciturn hijack-
in grimy clothes was in Cuban hands
day after a 10-hour hijacking odyssey dur-
^Miich he held a .45-caliber automatic to
lejiead of a stewardess.
The hijacker, a muscular black man
ing dirty jeans, a flowered shirt and a
irate jacket, jumped over a fence at Los
ngeles Airport Wednesday, entered the
)or of the Boeing 727 being readied for
larding for a flight to Chicago and put the
jin to the head of one of the stewardesses,
|» FBI spokesman said.
‘He said he wanted to go to Havana,”
lid Arthur Nehrbass, special agent in
large of the FBI office in Miami, where
ie Iplane left for Cuba late Wednesday.
The hijacker was “relatively calm” dur
ing the flight to Cuba and said little to the
seven crew members, Nehrbass said. But
he turned the gun on the stewardess “every
time he felt threatened,” and grew impa
tient while the plane was being refueled at
Dallas-Fort Worth airport.
“He threatened to shoot a stewardess in
the leg if the plane didn’t take off,” he said.
“We do not at this point know who this
man is,” Nehbrass said. “We do not know
why he wanted to go to Havana. He was
very adamant.”
The plane landed at Jose Marti Airport in
Havana at 5:18 p.m. and the man surren
dered peacefully to Cuban authorities. Af
ter a delay while storm-damaged runway
lights were fixed, the plane flew to Miami.
An airline spokesman said it would leave
early today, either for Dallas or Chicago.
Nehbrass said the FBI has some leads to
the man’s identity and will charge him with
hijacking as soon as he is identified. But
based on previous hijackings, he said, the
Cuban government is unlikely to return
him to the United States unless he requests
it.
American Airlines Vice President Dave
Frailey refused to identify the seven-
member crew or let them talk to reporters
at Miami International because of “security
reasons.” The FBI said the decision not to
release the crew’s names was strictly the
airline’s.
“We don’t know who the hijacker was.
We don’t know if he has friends who still
might be around somewhere,” Frailey
said.
The crew was unharmed. Nerhbass said
the stewardess held under the hijacker’s
.45 automatic for much of the trip “is in
good shape. She’s a very calm, self-
possessed young lady.”
The hijacker was a “very muscular black
American in his 30s,” Nehrbass said.
“One of the peculiarities was he was in a
very dirty condition. His clothes were co
vered with grease and grime.” Nehrbass
said the man was wearing jeans, a flowered
shirt and what appeared to be a loose-fitting
karate jacket. He carried a large envelope
that appeared to contain “some posses-
Bowler, 99, plans
one last roll at 100
United Press International
SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. — Edwin
“Pop” Barker learned to bowl about the
same time Teddy Roosevelt made his
charge up San Juan Hill.
And he’s still at it.
“I just want one more year out of it. I
want to be bowling on my 100th birth
day,” said the spry 99-year-old kegler,
who rolled his first ball down a lane in
1898.
Last year he had to reduce his bowl
ing schedule from seven leagues, five
nights a week, to one league every
Wednesday night.
In the doorway of Broadway Lanes,
where the silver-haired Barker bowls in
a league named for him 34 years ago, sits
a tiny shrine to him. A portrait of a
younger, thinner, cigar-toting Barker is
framed with a “Ripley’s Believe It or
Not” listing on one side and a newspap
er article on the other.
Barker earned mention in Ripley’s for
competing in six leagues a week when
he was 88.
“I was working at a clubhouse,” recal
led the retired fruit vendor. “They were
having a game with another team and
one man didn’t show up. They asked me
to fill in.
“The next week, the fellow was sick
again so I played again. The following
week the guy died, so I stayed on the
team.”
Barker, who had several perfect
games during the ’30s, said his lighter
bowling schedule has ruined his av
erage.
“My average? Well, I don’t like to say
it these days,” he said. “It’s 109 now.
“I was carrying a pretty good average
when I was bowling more but you can’t
expect to keep a good average when you
only do it once a week. ”
Barker’s son Edwin, 64, said his
father still manages to outbowl some of
the other local people.
“You have to consider even if he had
an average of 10, that would be 10 more
than anyone else that’s 99 years old,”
Edwin Jr. said. “When Pop beats a guy
here he goes up to him and says ‘How’s
it feel to have a 99-year-old man beat
you? ”
Barker, a great-great-grandfather,
credits bowling for his longevity.
“Bowling, that keeps you in shape,”
he said proudly. “When you bowl, ev
ery muscle in your body is used.”
He drinks milk when he bowls.
“Every once in awhile someone gives
me a bottle of wine and I sneak a drink
— but I’m not supposed to,” he said.
“You know, I’ve got a bottle of whiskey I
put the stopper in in 1950 and I’ve only
taken it out twice — when I had a heck
of a cold. ”
His bowling hand was smashed and
one of his fingers broken six years ago by
a bowling ball returning automatically
from the end of the lane. Barker blames
the still-swollen finger for occasional
gutter balls.
But, he refuses to stop bowling.
“If he stopped bowling, ” his son said,
“he’d die.”