Battalion
Serving the Texas A&M University community
Vol. 74 No. 78
18 Pages in 2 Sections
Monday, January 19, 1981
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
The Weather
Yesterday
Today
High
47
High
45
Low
32
Low
38
Rain
Chance of rain
70 percent
Iran agrees to freeU.S. hostages
United Press International
LGIERS, Algeria— Iran formally agreed today to release the
American hostages in exchange for the return of billions of
lars of frozen Iranian assets. Two Algerian jets landed in
iran to fly the captives to freedom and end their M'A-month
eal.
The hostages were taken to Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport to
it the go ahead for them to board the planes and leave Iran,
wrt officials said.
At 4:58 a.m. EST, President Carter said the words that have
dedhis administration during his entire last year in office: “We
Inow reached an agreement with Iran which will result, I
ieve, in the freedom of our U.S. hostages.’’
Preparations were made for Carter to fly to Wiesbaden, West
any, to greet the returning hostages.
ollowing the release of our hostages, then we will unfreeze
transfer to the Iranians a major part of the assets which were
by me when the Iranians seized our embassy compound
)k our hostages.”
formal agreement between the United States and Iran was
iced by Algerian go-betweens on the 443rd day of the crisis
began when the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was seized by
wielding militants on Nov. 4, 1979.
Behzad Nabavi, Iran’s chief hostage negotiator, said the Amer-
is would be freed as soon as Algeria “officially informs us that
deposits and gold confiscated by the U.S. government have
n deposited in a third country’s central hank on the Algerian
ivemment’s account.’
‘Major part’ of frozen assets to be released
“Oh my Godl Oh my God! I can’t believe it! I’m so filled with
happiness,” Agnes Moorehead Kennedy, 73, said in New York on
learning that her son, a State Department economic and commer
cial officer, could be freed in a matter of hours.
Reached by UPI, the Algerian embassy in Tehran said the
hostages were examined today by six Algerian doctors and found
to be “in good health.”
Iran agreed to free the hostages in return for the release of
billions of dollars in its assets frozen by the United States 10 days
after the embassy was seized.
It was believed that the White House would at some point
transmit a coded message to the Bank of England to transfer some
of the assests into Algeria’s account.
An Algerian spokesman said the hostages would be flown to
Algiers after a refueling stop in Turkey. The captives were then to
be shuttled to Wiesbaden by two U.S. Air Force Nightingale C-9
hospital planes on their way to Algiers.
The agreement ending the crisis that undermined Carter’s
administration and and inflamed Americans was signed in Algiers
and Tehran.
The two Algerian Boeing 727s were loaded with oranges, fruit
juice and sandwiches during a stopover in Ankara, Turkey, before
going to Tehran to pick up the hostages.
Carter, who personally phoned the families of the hostages to
pass on details of the feverish negotiations, opened champagne
with his family and closest aides for a private celebration.
President-elect Ronald Reagan, who discussed the crisis with
the president Sunday, said as far as he knew, the agreement
preserved the nation’s honor.
The Algerian government announced the agreement at a news
conference during which a Foreign Office official read three docu
ments totaling 20 pages that had been initialed and signed by
Tehran and then flown to Algiers for initialing and signing by
Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher.
Under the agreement, the United States pledged to “restore
the financial position of Iran insofar as possible to that which
existed prior to Nov. 14, 1979,” when an estimated $8 billion in
Iranian assets were frozen.
“In this context,” the agreement continued, “the United States
commits itself to ensure the mobility and free transfer of all
Iranian assets within its jurisdiction.”
Carter Friday ordered the transfer of gold bullion and cash
reserves to the Bank of England for immediate transfer to an
escrow account held by Algeria on behalf of Iran.
One U.S. official said military spare parts that were in the
pipeline when Carter froze Iranian assets were involved in the
hostage deal, but he declined to elaborate.
The announcement of the long-sought agreement came with
about 31 hours left in the Carter administration and capped 10
days of frantic negotiations carried on mainly through Algiers.
Christopher signed the agreement, drafted in English, Farsi
and French, while seated at a long table.
Turning to Algerian Foreign Minister Mohammed Benhaiya,
Christopher said he conveyed “the abiding appreciation of the
American people for all Algeria had done to get the hostage deal
concluded.”
It was Christopher’s ninth straight day in Algiers and he said at
the signing that he had gone virtually without sleep in the last 48
hours.
The State Department immediately began notifying the fami
lies of the hostages of the imminent release of their kin, who spent
two Thanksgivings, two Christmases and two New Years’ holi
days in captivity.
Statements from the White House, the Iranians and the Alge
rian mediators Sunday and early today had indicated a final solu
tion was only hours away.
“The final moment is now approaching, and for Iran the hostage
issue is over,” Nabavi said.
The last snag apparently was translating the document into
English, French and Farsi.
Ghetto hotel’
eadied for team
United Press International
(WIESBADEN, West Germany— Milit-
f officials were clearing out a “ghetto
next to the Wiesbaden U.S. Air
hospital today for the arrival of a
: Department hostage treatment team
tiled by former Secretary of State Cyrus
| The team was assembled in Washington
lay night awaiting final word on an
ementthat would free the 52 American
lages held in Iran for the 443rd day.
An advance party of medical experts
at Lindsey Air Station in Wies-
i during the weekend. A select group
iychiatrists, psychologists, dentists and
[tysicians was placed on standby in
lington.
| The arrival of the medical officers and
e moves by the State Department team
e a clear signal that at least some of the
postages would be flown to West Ger-
my.
Military sources said scores of service-
land their families were being evicted
i the 550-bed Amelia Earhart hotel to
i room for the specialty teams.
1 Families of the 14 hostages already re
leased by Iran stayed at the hotel. But
military sources said hostage relatives this
time were being “strongly discouraged”
from traveling to Wiesbaden.
Reporters were barred from the top
floors of the pink and white high-rise hotel,
which is less than 200 yards from the Wies
baden Air Force hospital.
The Amelia Earhart normally houses
transient military personnel who pay as lit
tle as $4 per night and are reimbursed.
“What is normally a ghetto hotel is sud
denly going to be transformed into posh
living quarters for some of the top people in
government,” said one ex-serviceman.
The U.S. Army, which took over opera
tion of the hotel from the Air Force seven
years ago, kept a disco operating in the
hotel despite a number of rape cases re
ported in the area of the dance hall.
At least one room of the hotel has been
boarded with plywood because of a fire that
blackened several walls. Another was
closed for health reasons.
The location of the hotel, however, is
ideal for the visiting officials. They can walk
to the nearby hospital in minutes.
StalT photo by Greg Gammon
Finished!
With work complete, Houston Street is now open from Sbisa Dining Hall aligned it with College Main. A new four-way traffic signal has been
to University Drive. The street was closed for several months while crews erected at the intersection of University and Houston.
SC Council to hear
^organization plan Others to make up for Schwartz, Moore
By JANE G. BRUST
Battalion Staff
| A proposal which would restructure the
ISC Council’s executive committee will
[epresented at the Council’s first meeting
: semester tonight.
| Ifpassed by the two-thirds majority vote
ired for a constitutional change, the
osal would create two new vice presi-
mt positions and several new director
sitions. Job descriptions for existing
*r positions would also change.
Because it calls for a constitutional
ge, the proposal would then be subject
provalby Dr. John Koldus, vice presi-
int for student services, and Dr. Charles
mson, acting president of Texas A&M
iversity.
I One new vice president position would
i some responsibility from the present
) description of the vice president of
ams. That position, vice president for
lent development, would plan leader-
flip workshops along with one director of
ionnel.
| Another new position would be that of
! president for development which
would work with three directors. Directors
for development public relations, develop
ment finance and development fundraising
would work specifically in the area of en
richment for MSC Council programs.
Another change in the structure would
be making the current director of public
relations position into a vice presidential
position with director of promotions and
director of publicity and advertising posi
tions.
Vice President for Programs Sara Morse
said a committee of more than a dozen
people including council officers and facul
ty members have worked on the proposal
since September. She said council mem
bers have toyed with the idea of reorganiz
ing the executive structure for as long as
two years.
If the proposal is approved through the
appropriate channels, the new executive
structure would take effect with those tak
ing office next fall.
Council members will meet in the con
ference room of the Student Programs
Office (216T MSC) at 7:30 p.m.
Wells: Threat stronger to PUF
hy DILLARD STONE
Battalion Staff
The chairman of the Texas A&M System’s Board of
Regents sees a stronger threat to the Permanent Universi
ty Fund in this session of the Texas Legislature.
“I think the threat (to the PUF) is stronger,” Clyde H.
Wells of Granbiiry said. “People have become acquainted
with what the permanent fund really is in the last few
years — not necessarily members of the Legislature
alone, but their constituents have.”
The PUF is the constitutionally mandated and pro
tected endowment of 2.1 million acres of West Texas land,
administered for the benefit of the Texas A&M and Uni
versity of Texas systems. The discovery of oil and gas on
the land has caused the PUF’s value to skyrocket in the
last 30 years.
Money from the PUF cannot be spent, but it is in
vested, and the return on the investment is known as the
Available University Fund.
The UT system receives two-thirds ofthe AUF, and the
Texas A&M system receives the other one-third.
The PUF has come under attack in the last decade from
legislators who wish to give other state-supported schools
a slice of the PUF pie.
The controversy was heightened when the 1979 Legisl
ature virtually abolished the ad valorem tax, which pro
vided construction funds for those other state schools.
They have been left with no guaranteed source of funds
for construction, although this Legislature will be consid
ering several alternatives.
The threat Wells sees to the PUF gained a little more
force in 1980. Sens. Bill Moore (D-Brvan) and A.R.
Schwartz (D-Galveston), both Texas A&M graduates and
both ardent backers of the PUF, were defeated in their
bids for re-election. Moore was the Dean of the Texas
Senate, and Schwartz was also a senior senator.
Wells expects the loss of those two to increase the
hazard to the PUF, but he expects other legislators to take
up the battle.
“We’re talking about two members of the Legislature
that had been in the Legislature for a long time,” Wells
r aid. “Naturally, they were respected by their colleagues,
and they should have been.”
But, Wells pointed out, the UT and Texas A&M sys
tems have other backers in the Legislature.
“I think that we have others there that are now just as
interested in our University system, and I look to those
people of course as being public servants that are going to
give all that they have to preserve the PUF.”
Wells didn’t say, as many others have, that the many
other Texas schools couldn’t receive enough money to
justify a breakup of the PUF. He did say he thought other
ways could be found to finance those schools’ construction
plans.
Texas A&M’s future strength rests on the fate of the
PUF, Wells said. Without the fund, Texas A&M and UT
“would be watered down. Eventually (they) would not be
as strong as (they are) today.
“We need to do the things that need to be done to keep
it (the PUF) in place, for us to have two universities of the
top order that we now have in Texas. That’s what the
Constitution intended for us to have at the very begin
ning.”
IEOG checks due Jan. 21
Some students receiving Basic Educa-
1 Opportunity Grants (BEOGs), may
Jv e to wait till Jan. 21 for their checks to
five,
However, Dr. William McFarland,
ictor of financial aid, said BEOG checks
t ready for students who turned in their
dent Eligibility Report (SER) by Dec.
1980.
Hie SER is a form completed by the
Nent to determine whether he qualifies
^ a BEOG.
McFarland said some students didn’t
ive checks because the SER was
, in after Dec. 17. He also said stu
nts may not have received checks if they
still undergoing validation.
To be valid, he said, students must fill
out the SER, be enrolled at least six semes
ter hours, maintain a 2.0 GPR and have an
affidavit. The affidavit is necessary to prove
that information in the SER is correct, he
said.
McFarland said an undetermined num
ber of applicants was fed into the computer
on Jan. 14, and providing there is no com
puter breakdown, those checks will be
ready on Jan. 21.
Students wanting to apply for a BEOG
for the 1980-81 academic year can still do
so, he said, if their application is in the
financial aid office by March 15.
McFarland said about 3,000 students
will receive grants during this academic
year.
Board plan validation
available through Friday
Those who have paid for a board plan
but have not yet validated their meal
tickets may still eat in their assigned
dining halls by showing a current stu
dent identification card and a spring fee
slip until Friday.
Student requests for board plan
changes will also not be authorized after
that date.
The University Department of Food
Services will be validating I.D. cards
until 7 p m. today at the Commons din
ing entrance and in Sbisa’s fast food sec
tion.
Cards inay also be validated Tuesday
and Wednesday from 6:30 a.m.-7 p.m.
at both entrances of Sbisa and Thursday
and Friday from 6:30 a.m.-7 p.m. in
Duncan and from 2:20 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
in Sbisa’s Underground Railroad.
Dining hall assignments correspond
to dormitories. Corps dorm residents
(except civilian females) will eat in Dun
can on weekdays and the Commons on
weekends.
Non-Corps residents of Briggs and
Spence should eat in the Commons.
However, those wishing to eat in Dun
can at noon will be so validated and will
be blocked from Commons noon dining
for the semester.
Off-campus students may eat in
either Sbisa or the Commons.
Jan. 18 was the last day dropping the
board plan was authorized, but refund
applications for missed meals will be
accepted until Feb. 3.
Ice, snow clog traffic,
hit Florida citrus crop
United Press International
An icy snowstorm that clogged traffic in
Texas and New Mexico was cheered by
southwestern skiers, and Florida farmers
armed with wind machines today fought to
save their already-damaged crops from the
second onslaught of freezing temperatures
in a week.
Travel advisories were in effect for parts
of Texas and neighboring sections of New
Mexico hit by a half-foot snow and sleet
Sunday.
Moderating temperatures settled over
the Northeast, however, easing the critical
heating fuel shortage in Massachusetts.
In Texas, a winter storm dropped up to
six inches of snow in west Texas and
brought sleet as far south as the Hill Coun
try. A Lubbock county police official said
only a few minor accidents had been re
ported despite the conditions.
The snow, however, was a boon to ski
areas.
“We received about 7 inches of new
snow at the lower area, ” said Chris Collier,
assistant manager at New Mexico’s Eagle
Creek ski area. “It really helped out a lot.”
Florida citrus and vegetable growers,
who stand to lose $60 million to $80 million
as a result of last week’s devastating freeze,
were faced today with the prospect of even
greater losses.
Freezing temperatures invaded the
state’s citrus belt and farmers kept wind
machines blowing and watering devices on
to ward off further damage.