Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 18, 1980)
The Battalion pearch starts -•or new dean by SCOT K. MEYER Battalion Staff 1VERSE Dr. Cli on A. Phillips, dean offaculties- ssignate, has announced the names of the embers of the advisory search committee hich will recommend a new dean for the /•JpPnii ollege of Liberal Arts. 7; The position became open when Dean I. David Maxwell accepted a post at lemson University. His resignation takes feet on Aug. 1. ^9 9484 Associate Dean Diane W. Strommer has so accepted a new position at the Univer- ty of Rhode Island, effective Aug. 15. Phillips said the nine-member commit- :e is asking faculty members for a list of jalifications which they feel the new dean wuld possess. The committee is also :cepting nominations for the position, hillips said, although some nominees are ready being considered. There are a number of qualified indi- iduals within the college, he said, and the sIDAY immittee will consider these “internal” GHI ominees before even considering people n _ om outside the department. There has been no timetable set up for le selection of a new dean. “We want to wk as quickly as we can, but we also want >do a good job,” Phillips said. “These lings always take longer than you plan.” u caneal committee will eventually select iree nominees for the position of dean, he committee will recommend these indi- iduals to Dr. J. M. Prescott, vice president ij ]( iracademic affairs, and President Miller. ^ 1 "The search committee is advisory only,” Fra Phillips said, “we simply recommend.” “I don’t feel that I’m impelled to follow their recommendation,” Prescott said, “but I’ve been through this six times in the past three years and every time we’ve taken someone that the committee recom mended, and in those cases where they were ranked, I believe in every case we’ve ultimately appointed the top-ranked indi vidual from the committee deliberations.” In the event the committee does not re commend a new dean by Aug. 1, when Dean Maxwell’s resignation takes effect, an interim dean will be appointed. “I regard the Dean of Liberal Arts as an extremely important position; the College of Liberal Arts teaches roughly 25 percent of the credit hours on this campus,” Pre scott said. Maxwell was a skilled leader of the col lege, Prescott said, and losing him is a blow to the University. But, he said, “we re con fident we ll find another great leader.” Phillips, who will chair the committee, informed the College of Liberal Arts faculty Tuesday of his choices for the commission members. They include; Dr. R.J.Q. Adams, associate professor of history; Dr. Robert Blakley, professor of mathematics; Dr. Robert W. Burch, associate professor of philosophy; Dr. Richard H. Costa, pro fessor of English; Dr. Rand B. Evans, pro fessor and head of the psychology depart ment; Dr. Eirik Furubotn, professor of economics; Dr. Robert H. Page, dean of the College of Engineering and and Dr. Ruth Schaffer, professor of sociology. Serving the Texas A&M University community Wednesday, June 18, 1980 College Station, Texas USPS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 Michael Bandy, a representative of Atlantic Richfield Co., demonstrates the “Conservation Drive” equipment which can show drivers how to save gasoline. The ARCO demonstration is one of dozens of energy conserva tion displays in and outside the Rudder Center as part of this week’s Agricultural Extension Service convention at Texas A&M. The driving display will continue through Friday. Staff photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr. 10 killed in S. Africa riots E i. 1 United Press International JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Police “shooting like mad” into crowds killed 10 mixed-race protes ters and wounded 50 others in Cape Town’s mulatto ghettos where fires raged out of control in South Africa’s worst race riots in four years, news papers and witnesses reported. Residents reported the five Cape Town townships were under a virtual state of siege, and said camouflaged police reinforcements poured in throughout the day Wednesday. The protesters erected flaming barricades of tires and oil drums and set fires to buildings and cars in open defiance of a government ban on public gatherings to commemorate the Soweto riots of June 1976, South African reporters said. The rioting, the worst since more than 600 people were killed in the sprawling black ghetto of Soweto outside Johannesburg four years ago, was centered in the Cape Town area, police reported. At least 10 people were killed and as many as 50 were wounded in the five townships near Cape Town, the Afrikaans Die Burger newspaper said. Residents said the published count was much too low. Police confirmed “a number of people have been killed and a num ber hurt,” but would given no more details until after an investigation. “I have no numbers to tell you,” said J.F. Rossouw, Cape Town’s police commmissioner. As news of the shootings spread, youths took to the streets Tuesday night setting fires, overturning cars and looting shops. But police said firemen were told to keep out of the areas for their own safety. A resident said police simply opened fire on a crowd of youths. “Six police vans pulled up and police just poured out shooting like mad, ” said Veronica Woodington. “No one was throwing stones, but there was a huge crowd standing around.” She said one of her neighbors, Avril De Bruyn, 25, was cut down in the police fusillade. “Avril just fell. I thought she fainted then I saw all the blood and the hole. “She was shot through the heart. She died holding my hand.” Police said the remainder of the country was tense but quiet Tuesday night with only sporadic incidents of stone-throwing in Soweto, Durban and Port Elizabeth. But police said all foreign corres pondents and most local reporters still would be banned from entering the townships for fear they might provoke more uprisings. The Soweto unrest four years ago, the worst racial violence in South Africa’s history, started after the gov ernment insisted Afrikaans be used as the main teaching language in schools. The nation’s non-whites — Coloreds, Blacks and Indians accord ing to the nation’s laws — protested, saying Afrikaans was the “language of the oppressor.” Genetics director lauds decision by USCHI MICHEL-HOWELL Battalion Staff > The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that man-made organisms may be patented will help the science of genetic research, said Dr. James Smith, director of genetics at Texas A&M. “The decision will stimulate research, because patented products will pay for further research,” Smith said. The court ruled Monday that patent pro tection could be granted to Ananda Chakra- barty of General Electric Co. for his de velopment of a man-made, oil-consuming bacterium. The organism is expected to be useful in cleaning up offshore oil spills. Following the court’s decision, organ isms such as bacteria or viruses, could be patented for their use, not for their produc tion, Eddie G. Lefher, Texas A&M’s patent administrator, said. In addition seeds and plants can presently be protected by certifi cation, Lefner said. Patent protection of organisms will main ly affect the medical community and its research on DNA, Lefher commented. Research might be stimulated in the pri vate industry if firms can prevent infringe ments on the use of their newly discovered organisms, said Dr. Dudley D. Smith, assistant director of crop products. Although the University has no organism or plant patents at the moment, it might receive some in the future, said Lefher, who investigates the feasibility and availa bility of patents for Texas A&M. A common usage of patent rights is the grant of exclusives to companies that will develop an invention further, Lefner said. “Often an invention comes from the uni versity, but is not ready for marketing yet, ” Lefher added. Private industries can invest more money to further the use of the pro duct, Lefher added. “By allowing patenting of new organisms the knowledge of their existence will be made available to the public and to scien tists,” Lefner said. “Otherwise, new dis coveries might be held secret, because there is no protection of the benefits. ” The court said in its opinion that man made organisms were to be treated no dif ferently than man-made chemical com pounds, and the respondent was thus enti tled to a patent. y Heroin — ‘so I could do a story’ Rather’s 'tried everything’ United Press International NEW YORK — Newscaster Dan Rather, the designated suc cessor to Walter Cronkite as CBS news anchorman, says that as a reporter he has “tried everything,” including heroin, “so I could do a story about it.” But Rather, in an interview with the Ladies Home Journal published Monday, said he has never used any illegal drug so cially. “I obey the law,” he told the magazine. “I don’t want to be coy with you. I have not smoked pot in this country. “As a reporter — and I don’t want to say that’s the only context — I’ve tried everything. As an example in 1955 or ’56 I had someone at the Houston police station shoot me with heroin so I could do a story about it. The experience was a special kind of hell.” Rather will replace Cronkite when Cronkite retires at the end of the year. He said he expects “to suffer by comparison” to Cronkite and is not yet sure what his style will be in the new job. Student’s hanging death ‘accidentaV The death of a Texas A&M University student found hanged in his apartment Monday was accidental, Justice of the Peace Mike Calliham ruled Tuesday. Kevin Duane Hanlon, 24, of Sangus, Mass., was pronounced dead about 5:45 p.m. Monday by Calliham and the cause listed as “accidental hanging. ” The time of death of the chemistry graduate student was set at about 1 a.m. Saturday morning, Calliham said. College Station police reports said the apartment complex man ager called at 5:08 p.m. Monday to report a possible suicide in the 500 block of Cherry Street, College Station. Hanlon’s nude body was found by the apartment manager s husband. He was hung outside of a closet door by a rope fashioned like a hangman’s noose around his neck. After police arrived, College Station detectives and Calliham were notified, police said. A neighbor told police that he had become concerned because he had not seen Hanlon or his roommate for several days and notified the apartment manager, police reports said. The apartment manager’s husband and another man entered the unit Monday afternoon and found the body. Calliham said Hanlon’s roommate had not been located as of Monday afternoon. Police said they were seeking the roommate for questioning. r The Weather Yesterday High 94 Low 72 Humidity 50% Rain 0. Oinches Today High 95 Low 74 Humidity . . . 50-55%> Chance of rain. none s -i Mafia chief, four others indicted in Brilab probe United Press International NEW ORLEANS — At the height of the FBI’s ftilab investigation into organized crime and influ ence peddling in government, reputed Mafia boss arlos Marcello reportedly boasted, “We got two, •'vo good big shots, man. ” His words were prophetic, but in reverse. Marcello, whose mob connections have confused and frustrated federal agents for decades, and Charles E. Roemer II, who served as power broker r the administration of former Gov. Edwin Ed wards, were indicted Tuesday on 12 counts of rack eteering, conspiracy and fraud. A special federal grand jury also indicted Washing ton consultant I. Irving Davidson and New Orleans ittorney Vince Marinello. The 25-page indictment accused the four of con spiring to “defraud the citizens of Jefferson Parish, the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana of their right to the honest and faithful service of their elected and appointed officials,” namely trying to influence the awarding of state insurance contracts. The defendants were scheduled for a hearing next Tuesday before a federal magistrate in New Orleans. Marcello has long been regarded as the king of organized crime in Louisiana, yet at the age of 70 he has been convicted only three times in 40 years of battling the law. Vincent Wheeler, Marcello’s attorney, said Tues day he informed his client about the indictment as soon as the grand jury handed it down. “We have no reaction at this moment,” Wheeler said. Roemer was unavailable for comment. All four defendants were charged with one count of racketeering, one of conspiracy, six of wire fraud and one of mail fraud. Marcello and Davidson also face charges of interstate travel in aid of racketeering and, along with Romer, two more wire fraud counts. The maximum penalty for racketeering is 20 years in prison and $25,000 in fines. Each count of wire fraud and mail fraud carries a five-year prison term and $1,000 maximum fine. The interstate travel charge could bring a sentence as heavy as five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. In setting up the Brilab “sting,” the FBI put two undercover agents in business with a fake insurance company in Beverly Hills, Calif. FBI informant Joseph Hauser acted as a go-between in various bribes and payoff attempts, the indictment said. The document quoted from telephone calls — including the conversation that contained Marcello’s “big shot” boast—from meetings, even from conver sations in a New Orleans hotel men’s room. The grand jury said Roemer received $25,000 in cash in exchange for a promise to aid the other defen dants in insurance deals. It said Marcello, Davidson and Roemer were to receive kickbacks on the insur ance contracts. Marcello told Davidson, Hauser and the FBI agents that Roemer would be paid $50,000 each month for a total of $600,000 a year from commissions on one insurance contract, the grand jury said. Mar cello and the others would split the rest. Named in the indictment but not charged was former Lt. Gov. James E. Fitzmorris, who ran for governor last fall. The grand jury said Marinello took $10,000 in cash to buy Fitzmorris’ influence in obtaining insurance contracts. During the administration of Edwards, Roemer was the state’s second most powerful official. Part of his duties as commissioner of administration in volved awarding contracts for the state’s multimil- lion-dollar group insurance policies. During the grand jury’s hearings, Roemer repe atedly denied any wrongdoing, but he did not accept an invitation from the jury to testify.