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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 23, 1981)
m e ° me DM I I MUiOlVI THURSDAY, JULY 23, 19B1 , 1981 BEGINNING JUDO CLASSES Monday thru Friday 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Room 260 G. Rollie white Coliseum Women are encouraged to attend Fee is $5 for the Summer For information call 693-9476 or 846-1501 arly report, se to water IOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO .vfCAMPUS THEATRE Warped ALLEN > V/HAT'S THAT IN THE CLOSET THAT VOU'RE^ WATERING? F~ this is ny MOLD COLONY. WHAT? ) YEAH, IT STARTEdTso NOW I TUST WATER IT OUT .AS A PAIR 0F| AND C0N\B IT AND IT DOES /AY OLD SNEAKERS I GREAT, DON'T YOU, YOU BUT N\0LD TOOK^n | BIG GREY THINS YOU OVER ... By Scott McCullar ALL SORTS OF PLANTS THRIVE WHEN Y°D TALK TO THEM... r All Tickets 1 50 Tonight STARTING TOMORROW • The comedy that pumps the fan into summer. which ensiie| 210 University :hat same ’ll do what I i childish aii(l|>, >yu to take j ) please as iTiii; ossible. i rent note.itr has had ar::| the Battalior l^ open at the a old seemtkl, ist requested^ ng any finals*, eel that tliej his situatioril any "newtil.; aonse you re® lis leter, “It* • u‘ newspapeT satisfied witit rmeone wliorr > b ” : Jin I Rkkl Don Damon Crei Norman | David I Ternl* 846-6512 LAST NIGHT Blake Edward’s S.O.B. PIERRE CXVO PE TER S OVtS VW.uA STERUfJG HAYDEN A.>c R 4 t>wc»d t» LES ROSE A PtMPl m«TmcT«D~ Tt ~ MOUMIS UCtHfilOlK AN iNTtRNATavi. Thurs., Fri., Sat. at Midnight!! Maragchino Cherry ) ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Had looked forward to 'land of freedom' Haitians imprisoned United Press International NEW ORLEANS — Surviving on rice, beans, water and the “protection of God” for nearly a month in the Atlantic Ocean, 25 Haitian refugees rescued by a passing vessel looked forward to a new life in the “land of freedom.” Instead of freedom, however, the refugees Wednesday found themselves imprisoned in a downtown hotel awaiting word on their status from the State Department. The refugees sailed for 27 treacherous days in an 18-foot boat registered under the Liberian government before they were rescued Thursday. The last of their food and water had run out three days earlier and their boat was taking on water. When they spotted the massive Amoco Voyager on the horizon it represented their last chance for survival and freedom. “Their hearts were open,” said interpreter Paddy Poux as three young refugees curiously stared at television cameras at a Tuesday news conference. “They were full of joy. They had found political freedom.” But now, U.S. immigration officials and the State Department refuse to release the refugees until checking with the Liberian government. Meanwhile, immigration officials ordered Amoco executives to hold the refugees under guard. Amoco spokesman Jim O’Leary com plained the company should not be penalized for rescuing the Haitians. “We, as a private company, should not be in the position of providing security for illegal im migrants,” he said. “We re just waiting to see what happens. Our captain picked them up be cause it looked to him like the boat might flounder and they might be in danger. Besides being their interpreter, Poux is re sponsible for resettling the Haitians and he also finds the government’s actions ironic. “It’s very strange to me how a company like Amoco can be penalized by the State Department for being a good Samaritan,” he said. “I’m trying to understand the rationale.” Poux said most of the refugees did not under stand the controversy surrounding their arrival here and were mainly concerned with staying in “the land of freedom.” “They made a choice — for better or worse, they were going to try this dangerous voyage,” he said. “They put their money together, got a boat and left under the protection of God. “Now they’re here they want to stay. If they went back to Haiti, they would be in a lot of trouble.” Three of the 25 refugees, dressed in baggy but clean clothes, fielded questions from reporters Tuesday as a guard from a private security firm looked on. Through an interpreter, they told of their voyage during which they stopped at Cuba and later at a small island for water and supplies be fore being pulled by the Gulf stream toward the U.S. coast. One smiling refugee, 23-year-old Louisa Edmond, explained the feeling when they finally spotted the ship that rescued them from treacher ously high seas. “The food and water just went out,” she said through Poux. “We would not be here this afternoon if it hadn’t beenTor that boat. ” Grain elevator gripes ignored United Press International GALVESTON — Repeated complaints about dust problems prior to a 1977 grain elevator ex plosion that killed 18 people drew small reaction and few results, a federal grain inspector has testi fied. James Phelps, a field office su pervisor for the Federal Grain In spection Service, testified Tues day in the federal trial of two com pany officials that the Farmers Grain Export Co. tended to down play his complaints. A December 1977 grain blast at the site killed 18 people, injured 35 others and caused $3 million in damages. On trial are Robert Jones and Frank Caulder, who were in dicted on 24 counts of willful viola tions of occupational safety stan dards. “We noticed the elevator being dustier on more days (than with the previous owners),” Phelps said. “At that time, the reaction we got from the elevator manage ment was that they were installing a new dust system. They were more or less trying to pacify us.” Phelps said he came to Galves ton in March 1977 while the eleva tor was still owned by Cook Indus tries. “The elevator at times had some dust problems, but they (Cook) would immediately clean up or solve the problem causing the dust. When we noticed the prob lem, they were already working on it,” he said. The elevator was sold to Far mers in June 1977 and gradually changed management. The transi tion ended in late September with Jones as manager and Caulder as superintendent. “On a day-to-day basis the dust was greater in October than it was when Cook operated it,” Phelps said. “The worst place was the scale floor (about midway up the 200-foot head house). The sus pended dust was so thick you could not see across the floor. At points on the floor it was as deep as your mid-calf.” In October, Phelps said he com plained but Caulder told him he had to be more patient. Phelps said he got basically the same reac tion from Jones. Phelps said he told Jones and Caulder on Nov. 1 that a safety inspector from Washington was coming and he asked them to clean up some of the dust. But Phelps said, “Jones said he thought we were complaining too much, harrassing them. He said he would look into the com plaints.” A letter from Jones to em ployees dated Nov. 2 ordered all Farmers employees to cooperate with the federal inspectors. Government prosecutor Dan Small asked Phelps if grain dust was a contributing factor in the explosion and Phelps replied that it was. Phelps said he had been con cerned prior to Dec. 27 about dust levels in the facility. On cross examination by Theo Pinson, attorney for Jones, Phelps said he knew of plans to work on the plant’s dust system and ack nowledged that Jones took some action to satisfy his complaints. State given control of island area United Press International AUSTIN — A meeting with De partment of Interior officials has convinced Gov. Bill Clements that there is no basic disagree ment between state and federal authorities over the proposed transfer of 19,000 acres of federal land on Matagorda Island to the state’s control. Ray Arnett, assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks for the Interior Department, and J.R. Spradley, a solicitor with the In terior Department, visited the is land as guests of Dallas business man T. L. Wynne, who owns more than 11,000 acres there. “I find that our discussion Mon day resulted in general agree ment,” Clements said. “I am con vinced that no damage whatever will come to wildlife on Matagorda Island when our Texas Parks and Wildlife Department assumes management of the lands now held by the federal government. ” Clements said he would not allow “a Coney Island atmos phere” on the island and that no vehicles would be allowed on the land. The governor also emphasized that an area where endangered whooping cranes nest already is controlled by the state and would not be endangered by the transfer. Appearing LIVE Friday & Saturday Night i.yij; i.ovirn? Cover #l 80 1 Ml