The Battalion
/Ol. 73 No. 143
iuranceilO Pages
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Monday, April 21, 1980
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
Today is Aggie Muster
On April 21 of each year, the anniversary of the
Battle of San Jacinto, Aggies gather together where
ver they are to commemorate fellow Aggies who
have died during the year. Today’s on-campus Mus
ter, which begins at 5:30 p.m., will be one of400 held
throughout the world. The program will be held in
G. Rollie White Coliseum.
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mith prepares for term as SG president
New studen t body presiden t begins work for 1980-81 school year
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By CAROL HANCOCK
Campus Staff
Bexas A&M University’s newly elected
student body president Brad Smith has
already begun working with student gov
ernment and structuring it to his liking.
Smith does not have to present his legis-
n suggestions to the legislative com-
iPtees until the beginning of the fall
fiester, but he has some definite ideas on
t areas need attention. He has also res-
tured the executive branch of the body,
ing three positions to the one already
ctly under him.
_ushing passed legislation is one area
dial Smith believes needs improvement.
HThe majority of my job is taking what
die senate has passed to the administration
:yn|l push it through the right channels,” he
yaid None of student government’s legisla
tion is going to be very successful if it is not
followed up to the end, he said. “I’m going
to make sure we don’t stop pushing and
following our legislation until all alterna
tives have been tried.”
Many issues Smith intends to include in
his proposal are currently being dealt with
in the senate. If the Q-drop policies are not
standardized among colleges, student gov
ernment will continue to work for it next
year. Now, the college deans are not taking
the idea favorably, he said.
Other areas he plans to work on are keep
ing the Distinguished Student qualifica
tions at a GPR of 3.25 or above, adding
meal plan options, providing coffee in the
MSC basement, offering a tutoring system
and finding alternatives for cooking in the
dorms.
Increasing communications between the
various student organizations is also an area
Smith plans to improve.
.S. hopes allies
ill follow Japan
United Press International
ASHINGTON — President Carter,
encouraged by Japan’s refusal to pay higher
Iranian oil prices, is closely watching the
ijfopean allies to see what punitive steps
^ they will take to support the United States
| fl in its fight with Iran.
■ 0 |r arter skipped a Camp David weekend
remained at the White House to keep
watch on foreign and domestic affairs.
he European Common Market minis
ters were meeting in Luxembourg today to
decide whether to invoke diplomatic and
economic measures in a “concerted effort
with America to isolate Iran and pressure
ir the release of the American hostages.
JAsked Sunday if he were worried about
European sanctions, Iranian Foreign
Minister Sadegh Ghotbzadeh said, “We do
not want to break completely with the
Europeans.” But he added, “We are deter
mined to resist pressure no matter how,
gen and where it comes from.
■Carter has warned the major allies that
i ly mid-May the patience of the American
people will be worn thin and he may have
to decide on “some sort of military action” if
mere is no break in the Iranian crisis.
■The Luxembourg meeting is being held
following personal appeals from Carter
Urging European leaders to increase press
ure on Iran. Carter has said he has been
disappointed” with the substance and
rapidity of their reaction so far, and Euro
pean leaders are getting word that Amer
icans are beginning to question whether
the alliance is a one-way street.
J
J
aptive s parents
allowed to visit
United Press International
TEHRAN, Iran — The parents of one
of the 50 American hostages have en
tered the beleaguered U S. embassy to
visit their captive son, after receiving
written permission from President
Abolhassan Bani-Sadr.
Barbara and Kenneth Timm of Oak
Creek, Wis. are the first relatives of the
hostages, now in their 170th day of cap
tivity, to be allowed a visit.
They entered the embassy this morn
ing, ushered through a side entrance,
away from reporters.
The Timms’ lawyer, Carl Mcafee,
told UPI in a telephone interview that
the Timms went to the embassy Sunday
night and “pleaded with the students to
let them see their son.”
The captors told them they would
allow them if the Timms could produce
an official authorization from either
Bani-Sadr or Foreign Minister Sadegh
Ghotbzadeh.
“We have produced both,” Mcafee
said.
Mcafee said the experience had been
“draining physically and mentally” on
Mrs. Timm, who did not know what to
expect when she entered the embassy.
Iran’s state radio meanwhile reported
the militants had been “asked to per
mit” the Timms to see their hostage son.
The radio said the request had been
made following a meeting of the Revolu-
tionary Council in a joint letter from
Bani-Sadr and Ghotbzadeh to the Mos
lem militants.
Ghotbzadeh said Sunday there would
be no new initiatives to free the 50
Americans held at the embassy. He
blamed what he called the current cli
mate of hostility between Washington
and Tehran and he accused President
Carter of playing politics with the issue.
“At first he adopted the step by step
approach,” Ghotbzadeh said, “but this
is an election year and the issue is being
used politically.”
He said he was not afraid of sanctions,
which could be more symbolic than
effective. “If they are effective then we
will use effective measures against
them,” he said.
Outside the Foreign Ministry where
he met reporters was a huge banner
proclaiming, “We will fight the U.S.
until death.”
The government closed all universi
ties Sunday after rioting between Mos
lem and leftist students, which left one
dead, hundreds injured and widespread
damage.
Angry student crowd's continued to
collect outside the university but
guardsmen prevented new battles.
The rioting began after the govern
ment Friday ordered all political groups
to get out of the universities and Islamic
groups called for “corrupt American in
fluences” to be ousted from the cam
puses.
Beginning next fall, Smith said he plans
to set up an advisory council consisting of
some of the top student leaders. The coun
cil will meet regularly to discuss related
issues. He said, through the council, the
student body will be able to air their views
and work better as a whole. The advisory
council has been defunct for two years.
In setting up the executive branch of
student government, Smith will have a
communications director, a Board of Re
gents liaison, an executive assistant and an
executive vice president directly under
him.
The public relations division under the
communications director, Cheryl Swanzy,
is divided into three subordinate areas: the
survival kit coordinator, the public rela
tions chairman and the special projects
chairman. The survival kit is currently
being handled in the student services com
mittee of the senate but will be moved to
the executive branch after the fall kit comes
out.
Smith said by expanding the public rela
tions area, students will become aware of
what student government does, what it can
do, and how they can get involved.
“We re not patting ourselves on the
back,” he said. “We want the students to
know who they can get in touch with if they
have questions or want to gripe a com
plaint. If students know what can be accom
plished through student government, the
organization will be more effective in serv
ing its purpose.”
The public relations division was pre
viously one division under the executive
vice president.
Smith said the newly created office of
executive assistant is intended to take some
of the workload off of the legislative com
mittees. Under the assistant, 15 staff aides
will be what Smith calls a manpower tool
for researching current senate issues. Call
ing other schools to find out what and how
issues are being dealt with will be one of
their duties. He has not named anyone for
the position yet.
The Board of Regents liaison is a new
idea Smith hopes will be effective. The only
communication student government has
had with the Board in the past has been at
the Board’s regular meetings, which hasn’t
been very effective, he said. With a liaison,
a student government member will be able
to give the Board members student input
without trying to tell them what to do.
“I don’t intend the liaison to talk strictly
issue-related. Letting the Board members
know where the student’s opinions are
coming from is what I m after, ” Smith said.
He does not have a definite person in that
position but said Debbie Walker is a possi
bility.
The executive vice president^ who was
previously the only division directly under
the president, will be over the election
commissioner, the freshman programs
coordinator, the comptroller, the Universi
ty committees coordinator and the con
tinuing programs coordinator. Smith has
named Greg Dew for that office.
Under that branch, the structure re
mains the same with the exception of the
comptroller. The comptroller position has
been branched out with an assistant com
ptroller and a campus chest coordinator
and refrigerator manager under that. Smith
has named Jerry Fox as the comptroller and
Chris May as assistant comptroller.
The positions remaining open will be de
cided when Smith discusses them with
Dew, Swanzy and the respective possibili
ties.
Japan, Iran’s biggest oil customer,
announced Sunday it will refuse to pay the
higher price Iranians have demanded for
their oil. It could lead to a cutoff of supplies
for Japan.
The United States is exploring ways to
make up the shortfall that Japan may suffer.
“We appreciate the support of Japan for
what they have done and are trying to do,”
said deputy White House press secretary
Rex Granum. “We will be consulting to see
what steps can be taken.”
Carter spent a relaxed Sunday in the
family quarters as thousands of visitors
toured the gardens. As he emerged into the
bright sunlight from the First Baptist
Church after morning worship services, re
porters fired questions about Iran at him.
In response he smiled and said only,
“Have a nice day.”
Carter also was keeping tabs on Tues
day’s Pennsylvania primary that pollsters
say will be close between him and Sen.
Edward Kennedy.
Several interviews Carter gave to Penn
sylvania newspaper correspondents and
broadcasters over the weekend indicated a
growing bitterness between the two
Democratic contenders.
Asked to comment on Kennedy’s charge
he is “trying to out-Republican the Repub
lican Party,” and the Massachusetts sena
tor’s claim Ronald Reagan could beat Car
ter in November, Carter said:
“The Democrats disagree with what
Kennedy has said — looking at the delegate
total makes that obvious.”
.
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Photo by Patrick Cox
The past and the future
Photo by Pat O’Malley
Texas A&M senior Curtis Dickey (left) hams it up for the camera before
running the anchor leg of the 400-meter relay at the Baylor Invitation in
Waco this weekend. The Aggies won that race easily, and Dickey later
won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.4. Dickey, one of the nation’s
leading pro football prospects, is Texas A&M’s all-time leading rusher.
The Aggies held their first Maroon and White game without Dickey in
four years, with several tailbacks competing for his old job. The top
contender is Johnny Hector (right). The maroon team won the scrim
mage, 27-0, with Hector gaining 78 yards on seven carries. For more
sports, see page 9.
L. A. still to host 1984 Olympics
United Press International
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The Inter
national Olympic Committee will support
holding the 1984 Summer Games in Los
Angeles whatever the outcome of the U. S.-
inspired boycott of the Moscow Olympics,
IOC President Lord Killanin says.
Killanin Sunday downplayed speculation
that the U.S. withdrawal from the Moscow
Olympics on President Carter’s orders
would lead the IOC to suspend the U.S.
Olympic Committee for bowing to political
pressure. Such a suspension would auto
matically invalidate the contract for the
1984 Games.
Several members of the Moscow Orga
nizing Committee have said in recent
weeks that Los Angeles risked losing the
Games because of the U.S. boycott drive.
But Killanin, who met privately in Gene
va Sunday with Peter V. Ueberroth, man
aging director of the Los Angeles Organiz
ing Committee, said the IOC “had every
confidence” in the committee and there
was no question of removing the games
from the West Coast city.
Killanin’s strong support for the U.S.
committee was the only positive news to
emerge from the gathering of Olympic
leaders at IOC headquarters over the
weekend.
As the leaders gathered again today,
there was deep pessimism that they could
stave off the ever-widening boycott of the
Moscow Games. The fate of the boycott will
become clearer after three meetings today.
In the first, the IOC’s nine-man Execu
tive Board presided over by Killanin meets
with the presidents of the Western Euro
pean national Olympic committees, who
now hold the key to the success or failure of
a boycott.
In the second meeting, the 26 interna
tional sports federations that make up the
Olympic Games will discuss their attitude
toward the Moscow Games. The federa
tions have steadfastly backed the IOC’s
stand to go ahead with the Games until
now.
The third is a private meeting between
Ignati Novikov, president of the Moscow
Organizing Committee, and Willi Daume,
president of the West German National
Olympic Committee, in which the Rus
sians were expected to do everything they
could to make sure the West Germans go to
Moscow.
The consensus of many Olympic leaders
was that a major political move by the
Soviet Union oyer Afghanistan could stop a
widespread Western boycott of the Games.
“The Moscow Olympics are caught up in
East-West politics,” said an IOC Executive
Board source. “There is nothing we can do
really to solve the problem here in the next
three days.”
The IOC was expected to discuss the
possibilities of banning national flags and
anthems at the Moscow Olympics in a bid
to persuade Western governments that it
was removing politics from the Games.
But several IOC members said that even
if such a ban on flags and anthems was
approved, it would be too late to avoid the
widespread boycott whose momentum
appeared to be gathering daily.
Mild recession predicted for U.S.
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary
G. William Miller forecasts a modest reces
sion for the United States and an improving
rate of inflation for 1980 that will decline
from 18 percent to 12% percent toward
year’s end.
“By the end of the year, inflation should
be at a considerably lower rate, ” Miller said
in an interview with U.S. News and World
Report. “The official forecast is that the
consumer price index will rise 12% percent
from the fourth quarter of 1979 to the
fourth quarter of 1980.”
“While 12% percent inflation is terrible,
it’s better than 18 percent,” the projected
annual rate for the first two months of 1980,
Miller said. And, he said, the reduced rate
would mean considerable improvement to
ward the end of the year when he also
expected interest rates to go down.
“I was wrong,” Miller admitted, when
asked about his statement last year that the
United States was hallway through a reces
sion. “So were many other people.”
Miller said he was fooled by a downturn
in the second quarter of 1979 and he was
being cautious about his predictions now.
“The reason we probably will have a re
cession this time is that we now have had a
sustained period of softness in various sec
tors of the economy,” he said, namely in
automobiles, retail sales and housing.
“I expect a modest recession, Miller
said, in the neighborhood of a one-half per
cent decline, adjusting for inflation, in the
Gross National Product from the fourth
quarter of 1979 to the fourth quarter of
1980.
Miller ruled out any sudden steps to
meet the recession.
“A recession on the order of magnitude
that we are projecting can be self-healing
and would not require special action. Peo
ple and business would go through an ad
justment and then return to normal. ”
Miller said helping to cushion the slow
down was that businesses have been very
cautious with inventories, and the absence
of real estate speculation and overbuilding.
“Finally, the high prices for oil and ener
gy, painful as they are, have created a mar
ket situation that will encourage invest
ment in the energy sector, ” Miller said. “So
we’ll see a stimulative effect there.
“Right now, for instance, all the oil
drilling rigs in the country are at work.
They’re not likely to stop working, would
be a tax cut even though this ar and that oil
prices should rise more moderately in the
future.
He said the curbs on credit were tempor
ary measures. “As soon as the problem of
rapid expansion in consumer borrowing is
taken care of, I hope they can be phased
out.”
A report released by the International
Monetary Fund Sunday showed a worl
dwide surge in consumer prices in 1979,
with the developing countries of Latin
America leading the way with an unenvi
able 46.9 percent rise in prices.
Consumer prices on a global basis rose
12.1 percent in 1979, compared to 9.6 per
cent in 1978. The United States figures
were 7.5 percent in 1978 and 11.3 percent
last year.