News stories from Saturday September 2, 1978

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

About 250 demonstrators marched through East Los Angeles in a peaceful protest against the Bakke decision and cutbacks in minority programs forced by passage of Proposition 13. Shouting slogans and carrying placards, the demonstrators marched from the intersection of Atlantic Blvd. and 6th St. 1½ miles to Salazar Park, where they gathered to hear speeches denouncing discrimination, government cutbacks and police brutality. The rally also marked the eighth anniversary of the death of newsman Ruben Salazar, who was killed by sheriff's deputies while covering an Aug. 29, 1970, disturbance in East Los Angeles. [Los Angeles Times] Consumers pay $30 million a year in excess interest, Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) contended, because banks and other lenders are not required to make refunds when they charge a higher rate of interest than the Truth in the Lending Act allows. Proxmire said five federal bank regulatory agencies had proposed guide-lines for refunds in October, 1977, but they were never put into effect. "It's inexcusable that after all this time there are no regulations in place and none in sight," he said. [Los Angeles Times] After 150 demonstrators marched through Lexington, Miss., as leaders of a 3-month-old boycott against white businesses vowed to intensify efforts to organize blacks in the area. Several black officials who had called for an end to the boycott were denounced by the Rev. Donald Jenkins of Tupelo, Miss., as "house niggers." The boycott was aimed at protesting alleged police brutality and unfair hiring practices by Lexington merchants. [Los Angeles Times] Predominantly black Alabama State University has agreed to pay more than $200,000 in damages to settle a race discrimination suit filed by white employees and job seekers. U.S. District Judge Frank Johnson signed an order providing for payments totaling $208,900 to 12 former employees, six present employees and 27 persons who had applied for jobs at the Montgomery school. Johnson ruled in May that, since it was desegregated in 1967, the university had "engaged in a pattern and practice of discrimination against whites" in personnel policies. [Los Angeles Times] An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale rocked Taiwan, but no damage or casualties were reported, the Central Bureau reported in Taipei. The epicenter was at sea 15 miles northeast of Yilan, in eastern Taiwan. The Richter scale is a measure of ground motion as recorded on seismographs. Every increase of one number means a tenfold increase in magnitude. A quake measuring 6 can cause severe damage if centered in a populated area. [Los Angeles Times] Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in the Bay Area report that windows coated with a film of gold, silver or other metals can keep out as much as 90% of the summer's sun, heat and glare or can trap heat inside during the winter. But researcher Steven Selkowitz noted that windows with reflective surfaces are expensive. Nearly transparent gold-plated glass was originally developed for ice-free ski goggles and aircraft windshields. [Los Angeles Times] More than 30 news organizations have filed a motion with the New Jersey Supreme Court backing the New York Times and one of its reporters held in contempt for refusing to hand over notes on the "Dr. X" murder trial. A Hackensack attorney filed the brief on behalf of the Associated Press, United Press International, the three major television networks, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and 26 other news organizations and associations. The reporter, Myron Farber, spent 26 days in jail before he was released pending a hearing before the state Supreme Court next Tuesday. [Los Angeles Times] Mexico's oil reserves would surpass Saudi Arabia's as the world's largest if estimates given by President Jose Lopez Portillo prove correct. In his annual State of the Union address Friday, Lopez Portillo said Mexico has a potential oil reserve of 200 billion barrels and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. Saudi Arabia is believed to have oil reserves of 170 billion barrels. [Los Angeles Times] A Quebec judge found a member of the Canadian House of Commons guilty of arson and conspiracy in connection with the burning of his own building. Gilbert Rondeau, a member of Parliament for 13 of the last 16 years, is the first member of an indictable offense since Fred Rose, a Communist, was convicted in 1946 of conspiring to give unauthorized information to the Soviet Union. [Los Angeles Times] Former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt said the spy scandal currently rocking his Social Democratic Party is a smear campaign to discredit the party, both with the West German voters and with the country's Western allies. In a speech to party officials in Bonn, Brandt hinted that opponents of detente, including some in the United States, may be orchestrating the scandal, which erupted after newspapers reported that a Romanian defector had told the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency that there were Communist spies within the highest ranks of West Germany's ruling party. [Los Angeles Times] Leprosy patients who have defied attempts to move them from a run-down treatment facility in Hawaii have had their utilities and medical services cut off by the state health department on orders from Gov. George Ariyoshi. The action was taken seven months after the state had announced plans to relocate the 13 patients to the more modern Leahi Hospital in central Oahu, and it has become a major issue in this October's gubernatorial primary. Ariyoshi's strongest opponent in the Democratic race, Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi, promises to let the leprosy patients remain in the older Hale Mahalu treatment center in suburban Oahu if he is elected. [Los Angeles Times] Health officials in 11 states were asked to stop administering a combined diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus vaccine after 24 recipients experienced unusual lumps on their arms, swelling, pain and fever. The vaccine had been administered to school children in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina., Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. It was not known how many children had been immunized with the suspect batch of serum. A spokesman for the national Center for Disease Control said the reactions had not been life-threatening. [Los Angeles Times] Teachers may flunk more students this year, and the cost of remedial education could be an additional drain on parents' pocketbooks, the National Education Association said. The N.E.A. based its prediction of more F's on a random survey of its 1.8 million members. "Teachers are very sensitive to the charge that they have been too easy," Richard Maxwell, president of the Massachusetts Education Association, said. [Los Angeles Times] Panama's strong man, Gen. Omar Torrijos, has said he does not want to be named president or continue as chief of government but will remain as commander of the national guard when his term expires in October. One of the items on the National Assembly's agenda when it convenes for a new six-year term Oct. 11 will be the election of a president. The figurehead post is now occupied by Demetrio Lakas. Torrijos has recommended Education Minister Aristides Royo, one of the negotiators of the new Panama Canal treaties, for the job. [Los Angeles Times] A Soviet airlift of military and civilian supplies is bolstering Vietnam in its increasingly bitter disputes with its Communist neighbors, China and Cambodia, U.S. officials said. One official, who declined to be identified, said that the Russians had resupplied Hanoi with an airlift of 15 to 20 flights that began in early August and ended several days ago. Besides supplies, officials said that the flights carried Soviet military advisers and technicians to replace Chinese technicians who left Vietnam last summer. [Los Angeles Times] The Communist Party newspaper of East Germany demanded the extradition of an East German waiter who hijacked a Polish airliner to West Berlin last Wednesday. The paper charged that the hijacking could have been staged by Western intelligence agencies. Ten of the 52 East Germans aboard originally asked to stay in the West, but one has since returned home. The hijacker, a woman friend and her 12-year-old daughter are being held by U.S. military authorities. [Los Angeles Times] Entertainer Redd Foxx propositioned a 15-year-old busgirl at a Las Vegas hotel and called her obscene names when she rejected his advances, the girl's father charged in a lawsuit. Charles Brands filed the suit, seeking $20,000 in damages on behalf of his daughter, Cheryl, who works at the Silverbird hotel and casino. [Los Angeles Times] Staff Sgt. Bill Douglas says he's gay and wants to get out of the Army, but he says the Army is delaying his discharge. Army officials say Douglas, a six-year veteran, has refused to provide notarized statements from his sexual partners, as required in Army regulations. Douglas, 25, says that providing the information would violate his civil rights and incriminate others. So, to protest the delays, Douglas showed up at his mess hall at Ft. Carson, Colo., in a black evening gown, high heels and a wig. [Los Angeles Times]