The Battalion Serving the University community College Station, Texas Thursday, April 21,1983 of H nd Tt« e NewVt •ze forim ortheirii the w rly the her at of The Si the fea er “dram howshei ic shock: giving li the ■disease; credited t the Drug ring cracked; 12 Texans arrested United Press International HOUSTON —Drug agents crack ed one of the nation’s “largest and most highly organized†drug traffick ing rings with the arrests of an esti mated 60 people in eight states in an investigation codenamed Operation Bushmaster, authorities said. Marion Hambrick, agent-in- charge of the Houston office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said federal agents Wednesday began arresting 60 suspects on charges of shipping and selling heroine, cocaine, methamphetamines and marijuana in eight states. “It was one of the nation’s largest and most highly organized drug rings,†Hambrick said. The ring, which shipped much of its drug supply from South America and Mexico, operated in Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Kan sas, Colorado, California, and Arizo na for at least five years, officials said. Federal officials named their inves tigation Operation Bushmaster after a poisonous, noctural snake in South America called a bushmaster. “This should have a definite impact on the cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and heroine traffic in these states. We feel the people they were supplying are definitely going to be without a supplier for a while,†he said. In Texas, 12 people were arrested, including an attorney and two other men believed to the ring leaders, au thorities said. Hambrick said agents planned to arrest 60 people throughout the eight states, but complete arrest figures and details on seizures in other states were not available, he said. Hambrick identifed one of the key figures in the group as Dempsey Merida, 55, a transmission shop own er of Houston. Federal agents arrested Merida at his home about 6 a.m. Wednesday and seized various drugs and weapons. “We seized about 45 pounds of methamphetamine — worth about $2.5 million, one pound of cocaine, over 100 rifles, shotguns and pistols, five machine guns and thousands of dollars in cash,†Hambrick said. Merida was charged with conspira cy to violate federal narcotics laws. Two other major figures in the drug gang were identified as William Thomas Follis, 51, a used car sales man of Houston and Charles T. New- lin, 36, a Houston attorney. Authorities identified the other arrested Texas suspects as: Wesley Lee Williams, 38, of Houston; Jay Michael Knapper, 30, of Houston; James Warren Edwards, 35, of Au stin; David Lee Merida, 22, of Hous ton; Hayes Phillip Jackson, 35, of Houston; Anthony Walker Stone- dale, 26, of Houston; Billy Ray Lilly, 39, of Spring; Jeffrey D. Morales, 27, of Galveston, and Dean Claude McCauley, 44, of Austin. Hambrick said all were charged with conspiracy to violate federal drug laws. Other drug charges were pending, he said. During the one-year investigation, law officers seized at least 10 metham phetamine laboratories which the group operated in southeast and cen tral Texas, Hambrick said. He said the crackdown involved 16 law enforcement agencies through out the Southwest. “I think this type of coordinated law enforcement investigation epito mizes what the U.S. Attorney General was striving for when he directed the creation of federal task forces throughout the United States to key in on organized crime groups which are trafficking in drugs which would impact more than one area,†Ham brick said. Emergency Care needs new radio I Hailing the 100th anniversary of Muster, David Womack, a senior marketing major from Houston, plays his bugle in front of I the Academic Building. Muster, the photo by Jeanette. Hennigan ceremony that honors students and former students who h.ave died during the past year, begins at 7 p.m. tonight in G. Rollie White Coliseum. Israel to keep territory United Press International [Israeli Prime Minister Menachem [tin, in a rebuff of President ||[an, said the Jewish state’s anne- Ition of Syria’s Golan Heights is reversible and rejected any restric ts on Jewish settlement in occu- ed territory. Speaking in Jerusalem Wednesday to veterans of his Herut Party, Begin also said Israel hopes for an agree ment on the withdrawal of Tel Aviv’s 30,000 troops from Lebanon despite the “complicated situation†there. The thrust of the prime minister’s speech was a pointed rejoinder to Reagan’s assurances to Syria that U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 implies an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights Israel annexed 18 months ago. “The law, the jurisdiction and the administration of the state of Israel is in force and will remain in force on the Golan Heights,†Begin said to boisterous clapping. Israel seized the Golan Heights in a 1967 war. Child must have nother new liver by Craig Harris Battalion Reporter The Texas A&M Emergency Care Team needs almost $20,000 to im prove its radio communications sys tem, says Vance Riley, chief of ambu lance operations. “This system (we have) just isn’t adequate for the number of emergen cy cases we handle,†Riley said. The ECT now is accepting bids for the new radio equipment, Riley said. Funding for the new radio system probably will come from the Develop ment Office or the Association of For mer Students, he said. But the team won’t have the system for at least several weeks, Riley said. The medical team now has an old er system that consists of one radio in the dispatch room, one radio in one of its two ambulances and two hand held radios. The team’s system is a very high frequency unit and doesn’t always op erate properly, he said. Most hospitals operate on ultra-high frequency. St. Joseph Hospital in Bryan soon will switch to UHF. The system the care team plans to purchase will include both UHF and VHF frequencies. “If a patient is unconscious when we take him in, we cannot take him to the (A.P. Beutel) Health Center, but we take him to St. Joseph,†Riley said. “We need to be able to talk to St. Joseph, but with our radio, we can’t pick them up unless we’re within a mile of them — and that is a danger ous situation.†The radio is used to communicate with the hospital about the patient’s condition, the number of patients in volved and emergency care at the scene, Riley said. The Emergency Care Team, which sends its ambulances to emergency Team system situations on Texas A&M property in Brazos County, averages about three cases a day. Half of the runs are emergency situations, while the rest of the runs are spent transporting pa tients from the health center to another hospital. “The demand for the service has more than doubled since we got our first ambulance in January of 1980,†Riley said. “I originally asked for the new equipment in Feburary of 1982,†Riley said, “but the money got caught in red tape and we still haven’t re ceived it yet.†Because the care team is a volun teer organization and is run much like a volunteer fire department, Riley said, University officials have been re luctant to allocate the $20,000. Four of the team members, includ ing Riley, live in the health center and are paid a salary, but the other team members are volunteers. United Press International [MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Brandon ll’s new liver has been hopelessly [maged by a blood clot and doctors ( it must be replaced again within a days or the world’s second [ungest liver transplant patient will ["It’s possible we have no more than [day or two, perhaps we have a [ek,†said Dr. Peter Whitington, andon’s pediatrician. [The 13-month-old Walnut, Miss., lid was listed in critical but stable ndition at LeBonheur Children’s plical Center, where he was receiv- 5follow-up care from a liver trans it one week ago today. “We finished tests on Brandon, the artery going to the liver is fitted,†Dr. James Williams, chief transplant surgeon for the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences, said Wednesday. The 1 -millimeter clot in the hepatic artery was revealed by an arterio gram, a test conducted to determine the flow of blood through the trans planted liver. Brandon’s mother, Billie Hall, who last week gained national attention by testifying before a House subcommit tee in Washington hours before Bran don was rushed into surgery, was shaken by the latest news. Doctors said the second transplant should be simpler and less time- consuming than the first. Brandon needs a liver from a child weighing between 10 and 25 pounds with O-positive blood type. ongressman says PA ignoring fears jin .S. United Press International [WASHINGTON — A Texas con- hssman said Wednesday the En- jronmental Protection Agency’s budget proposal cutting hazar ds and toxic waste programs shows administration is ignoring jtizens’ fears. In testimony before a House com- [ittee, Rep. Bill Patman, D-Texas, lid the EPA’s 1984 budget request Remonstrates that the administra- pi is simply not listening to what feople in this country are saying ab- ( fit hazardous waste.†He noted concerned residents of [ay City, Texas, were organizing ght patrols of the back roads of fatagorda County to prevent illegal idnight dumping by chemical waste aulers. “These people aren’t far-out en vironmental extremists,†he said. “They are ordinary working people concerned that unsafe hazardous waste disposal practices are shorten ing the lives of their children and in creasing their risks of cancer.†He urged the House to increase the EPA’s budget requests for hazardous and toxic waste programs to at least current funding, adjusted for infla tion. “Anything less than this amount will result in a giant step backwards in our national effort to control hazar dous chemical wastes,†he said. He said that although the EPA has requested more money for Super fund response actions, it .would not substitute “for careful attention to the hazardous waste and toxic substances programs.†TV camera a ‘two-by-four’ Zindler ‘tells it like it is’ by Lezlee Hinson Battalion Reporter “You have to hit a jackass on the head with a two-by-four to get its attention,†says Houston news com mentator Marvin Zindler. And, he adds, a television camera can serve quite well in the place of a two-by- four. Zindler, a well-known consumer advocate in Houston, spoke at the Sterling C. Evans Library on Wednesday in recognition of Na tional Library Week. His daily commentary on KTRK- TV, Channel 13, often is controver sial. One of his most famous investi gations resulted in the closing of the infamous Chicken Ranch in La Grange — a place, Zindler said, some older Aggies should know a lot about. The movie and Broadway play, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,†were based on Zindler’s report. Zindler’s two-by-four — the tele vision camera — was instrumental in the Chicken Ranch investigation, but in most cases, he said, the camera isn’t necessary. Businesses are notified, by letter, when a com plaint is lodged against them and about 75 percent of the complaints are resolved without further action, Zindler said. If the complaint is unanswered, a personal phone call — suggesting the possibility of a personal visit from Zindler and his camera crew — will usually prompt the company to consider the matter more carefully, he said. Some companies, however, re quire still more persuasion, Zindler said, and a personal visit often is required. He said he is amazed how often company representatives claim they had planned to take care of the matter on the very day that Zindler shows up — usually un announced. Academic Council to meet The Academic Council will meet at 1:30 p.m. Friday in 601 Rudder. Items scheduled for discussion include: — addition and withdrawal of courses. — changes in curricula. — changes in degree programs in the Department of Engineering Technology. — redesignation of the Institute of Statistics as the Department of Statistics. — changes in the admission poli cy of the Graduate College. — changes in the University Rules and Regulations. — approval of candidates for graduate, undergraduate, veterin ary medicine and medicine degrees. President Frank E. Vandiver will preside over the meeting. staff photo by Eric Evan Lee Marvin Zindler, a Houston news commentator, speaks at Sterling C. Evans Library Wednesday. The purpose of television, Zind ler said, is to keep the public in formed. And reporters must tell it like it is, even if it isn’t nice, he said. Zindler said that his segment of Eyewitness News often is responsi ble for losses in advertising re venues. Businesses sometimes stop advertising on Channel 13 when they become the target of one of Zindler’s investigations, he said. But that is just one of the consequences that must be accepted. Advertisers often think that they can control the media through their advertising purchases, Zindler said, but thatjust isn’t true. Zindler warns that the television camera — like the two-by-four — must be used with extreme caution. Both are powerful, effective tools but can be dangerous if not handled with care. inside Around Town 4 Classified 6 Local 3 Opinions . 2 Sports 9 State 5 National 7 Police Beat 4 What’s up 12 forecast Cloudy to partly cloudy today with a 30 percent chance of thunder showers and a high of 75. A 40 percent chance of thundershowers tonight with a low near 57. Partly cloudy Friday with a 30 percent chance of morning showers and a high near 79.