Wednesday, June 2, 1976 THE MICHIGAN DAILY ?tage Five WednedayJune , 196 TH MICHGAN AILY 'a, Fiv Seven Eastern oil firms charged wihprice fixing WASHINGTON (M - Seven independent oil companies were indicted yesterday on federal charges of illegally fixing the price of gasoline they sell in Middle Atlantic states. The indictment, returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, also named as defendants the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America and its executive director, Robert Cavin, and officials of three of the oil companies. THE INDICTMENT charged that the trade association, the companies and the individuals conspired from 1967 to November 1974 to fix the price of gasoline sold at independent stations under a variety of names. The effect was to raise gas prices to "artificial and noncom- petitive levels" in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Dela- ware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, the indict- ment said. The companies indicted are Amerada-Hess Corp. of New York, Ashland Oil Inc. of Ashland, Ky.; Continental Oil Co. of Stamford, Conn. and its subsidiary, Kayo Oil Co. of Chattanooga, Tenn.; Crown Central Petroleum Corp. of Baltimore; the Meadville Corp. of, Ardmore, Pa., and the Petroleum Marketing Corp. of McLean, Pa. THE INDIVIDUALS indicted are Norman Goldberg, senior vice president of Amerada-Hess; Charles Luellen, group vice president of Ashland Oil; and W. H. Burnap, executive vice presi- dent of Petroleum Marketing. The indictment said stations owned or controlled by the seven companies sold about 17 billion gallons of gasoline at $4 billion during the seven years of the alleged conspiracy. In the Middle Atlantic area, Hess sells gasoline under the Iess brand, Ashland under the names of Red Head, Payless, Bi-Lo, Hi-Fy and Rotary; Continental and Kayo under the Kayo brand, Crown under the Crown brand, Meadville under the names Merit, Save Way and Martin; and Petroleum Marketing under the Scot brand. THE DEFENDANTS conspired to use the trade association "as a clearing house for gasoline pricing information in order to co- ordinate price increases and to eliminate discounts and settle pric- ing disputes," the indictment said. The companies and individuals contacted each other by tele- phone and talked during trade association meetings to discuss price strategy and "to police the agreement" among themselves, the grand jury charged. EACH COMPANY and the association faces a maximum fine of $5,000 if convicted. Each individual could be fined $50,000 and sentenced to one year in prison. I! -. . ~ .Whom, Rat swarms invade Sudan KHARTOUM, Sudan (M-Mil- lions of rats are swarming through the fertile delta between the Blue Nile and White Nile rivers in Central Sudan, Africa's largest country, officials report. There is no precise estimate of how many rats have invaded the area, but from the number killed "there are certainly many millions," said Abdel Aziz of the Ministry of Agriculture. AUTHORITIES say the rats pose no immediate threat to hu- mans or to the country's overall food supply. "The rats now are finding enegh to eat," said Aziz. "It is only when they are hungry or sick that they can bring disease to humans. We shall think about that when the time comes." However, the rats are eating crops intended to make Sudan self-sufficient in wheat and edi- ble oils, officials said. THE GOVERNMENT is fight- ing back with powerful poison and has killed two million rats in the Blue Nile province alone. A two-week campaign in the fertile Zezira delta between the Blue and White Niles has cost $1.5 million so far. Aziz says the campaign is moming to other farming areas where cotton, Sudan's chief cash crop, is grown. "We hope to finish off all the rats in this campaign," he said. Sudan has a population of about 18 million people spread over a total area of 967,500 square miles-nearly four times the size of Texas, which has more than 11 million people. AZIZ SAID the rats reached invasion proportions because the government two years ago re- duced the cotton crop in an ef- fort to plant more wheat and nuts to feed its people and cut off imports. "When they found something to eat,,the rats multiplied tre- mendously, he said. Aziz refused to give figures on the damage so far. Farmers in the G'zira area said the rats ate oil the ground nuts planted, four-fifths of the wheat and three-fourths of the cotton. They had no figures on the total amount of crops planted. 'Authorities are using a mix- ture of zinc phosphate and waf- erin, an anticoagulant, to kill the rats. In January, a rat plague was reported in the three-nation bor- der area of Senegal, Mali and Mauritania on the other side at North Africa. The rats infested 180,000 acres along the Senegal River. More than $1 million worth of crops was reported destroyed. m i'UfE2-9 1. All Applications Taken from JUNE 2 Through June 9, 1976 Will Receive Equal Consideration With Applications Taken APRIL 4-11 for FALL BOOK RUSH. A Lottery System will be used for these applications to determine hiring order. 11,The Cellar Will take applications at later times than indicated in (1); how- ever, subsequent applications will be placed in hiring order by Date of Application, and they will recieve priority after those taken in (1). l. Former Rush Employees in good standing Need Not Reapply for FALL RUSH and will receive top priority over all other applicants. IV. All applicants hired for FALL RUSH will be notified by phone or mail later in the summer. Rush employees hired to work in August should expect to work through and beyond registration. HOWEVER, all rush jobs are, un- fortunately, only temporary. Starting pay is $2.50 an hour V. Permanent positions which may open up after Rush will be filled by em- ployees who worked FALL RUSH. Post-Rush hiring is done departmentally, on the basis of the employee's Rush performance and their availability for the unified hours. VI. After SEPTEMBER 30, 1976, all unused applications will be thrown away. Therefore, applicants must reapply for each future rush that they wish to work. ABSOLUTELY NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE UPDATED OR KEPT ON FILE FOR FUTURE RUSHES. UNFORTUNATELY, WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO JOBS AVAILABLE CURRENTLY OR FOR THE SUMMER. SORRY, THESE ARE RUSH JOB OPEN INGS ONLY. Further Information and/or Applications may be obtained at the Info Desk in the Rear of the Cellar, in the Basement of the Michigan Union. L. [1IL /r K)AR GNTER FOR THE PERFOPMNGARTS Tickets ao on sole TODAY SUNDAY, JUNE 13 2 Concerts 2:00 p.m. & 8:00 pm, Reserved seats $8.00 entire day er $5.00 for each show. John Prine will be featured in both shows. TICKETS AVAILABLE at follwing outlets: UAC/Mich. Union Box Office noon-3:30 p m. Mon.-Sat. Herb David Guitar Studio on State at. Briarwood Hudsons BY MAIL: Send stamped self-addressed envelope and certified check or money order to: Mich. Union Box Office, 530 State St. AuA 4ti09. This festival of music is a benefit by the above performers for the AR and aill proceeds Will go to The ARK. Drawing will be held tor Guild Guitar -and Great Lakes Banjo courtesy of Herb, David's Guitar Studio and Great Lakes Banjo Company. SUMMER HOURS Mon.-Fri. 9:30-5:30, Sot. 12-S. Closed Sun. ", 41