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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1986)
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Instead, we’ll accept a copy of your college degree and this ad in lieu of a credit check and security deposit.* Just call the Lifestyle Center today at (214) 373-9300 for a complete listing of the 20,000 apartments with hundreds of floorplans available in Dallas/ Ft. Worth, including the fabulous Village. Let us help you open the door to the Lincoln Lifestyle! *Offer expires July 1,1986. We've got the best apartment homes in Dallas! LPC Lincoln Property Company 214/373-9300 tii Page 14/The BattalionThursday, May 1, 1986 PUC halts Gulf States rate hike AUSTIN (AP) — The Public Util ity Commission on Wednesday halted higher summer electricity rates proposed by Gulf States Utili ties for customers in 24 Southeast Texas counties. The PUC also gave GSU a week to negotiate what Gov. Mark White called a “fair summer rate base" or the PUC would roll back Texas rates to the approximate rates paid by GSU’s customers in Louisiana. As a result of Wednesday’s PUC order, if negotiations are not suc cessful, residential customers in Texas will pay along the lines of Louisiana customers, who pay S73.42 per 1,000 kilowatt hours. Residential customers in Texas would have paid $96.74 for the same amount of electricity, effective Thursday, except for the PUC order blocking the rate hike. White said the higher rate for Texans would be “entirely too much to pay for essential utility service in an area already suffering from the economic downturn in tne oil and gas industry.” Slouch By Jim Earle “Are you saying that you did poorly on your test because you didn't study or because your horoscope promised you success?" Foreign trade deficit widens despite dropping oil prices 82 WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States’ foreign trade deficit widened to $14.5 billion last month as cheaper oil prices were overwhelmed by a record-high level of imports of manufactured goods, the govern ment reported Wednesday. The trade deficitjumped 16.3 percent over the Feb ruary imbalance of $12.5 billion. The deficit with Japan was up 27.5 percent to an all-time high. The cost of petroleum imports dropped by Ify cent last month despite the fact that the volume of s| ported oil rose bv 1 1 percent. The difference waiig plained by the fact that each barrel of oil cost: average only $19.45, 28 percent below the pricer beginning of the year. For the first three months of this year, the trade defi cit totals $43.5 billion, 39 percent higher than the pace set last year. Despite this surge, the Reagan administration is maintaining that the deficit for all of 1986 will fall be low last year’s record $148.5 billion imbalance. This forecast is based on a belief that the impact of a de clining dollar and lower oil prices will narrow the deficit in the second half of the year. The March report showed that America is already re ceiving substantial benefits from lower oil prices. Even with the fall in the oil bill, total imports la 10.6 percent last month to $33.4 billion. That biji vance was attributed to a sharp increase in import!s foreign manufactured goods, which hit an all-timek of $25,3 billion. U.S. exports were up as well, rising by 6.(i peraflj S18.91 billion, their highest level in a year. T he rise in exports did not help American farnic however. Exports of agricultural goods fellbyl.Djt cent to $2.04 billion last month. The rise in imports came about in part becauseo) 8.3 percent increase in imports of Japanese cars I: ports of all foreign cars were up 9.2 percent. MHMR asked to review transfer policy stacy AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas De partment of Mental Health and Mental Retardation was asked Wednesday to take a second look at its speeded-up policy of moving pa tients from state institutions to com- munitv facilities. the MHMR board, meeting Friday in Lubbock, can re-evaluate the situ ation. Rep. Bob Richardson, R-Austin, and Gary Hughes, executive direc tor of the Texas Public Employees Association, mid a news conference the transfers should be stopped until “I am not arguing the merits of in stitutional vs. community care,” Richardson said. “Nor am I asking to permanently halt community place ments. We just need to slow down until we can get a handle on the im pact of the current policy and be sure that proper preparations are made." Hughes agreed saying, calls upon the MHMR board to ail f urther community placemen tUL'/' patients and clients until thereii — evidence of the quality ofthetti munity care and until the prof] planning and budgeting has done to avoid a financial disastf those f acilities losing certaincfo: He predicted as many as state employees may be laid offij cause of the transfers. By Containment he S ^ernob 86 sun tant Jtxas At f a Colie Accorc (continued from page 1) Energy Secretary John Herring ton said of the Hanford plant, “No. 1, its function is defense, not com mercial power generation as the So viet reactor is. That’s a big differ ence, both in its functions and the Hanford reactor to include the adequacy of its saf eguards. According to Energy Department documents, the Hanford plant has several problems, including the po tential for a meltdown during an earthquake because of inadequate support for pipes carrying cooling water to its core. operation. Nonetheless, James Vaughan, act ing assistant energy secretary for nu clear programs, told a congressional hearing Tuesday that the Chernobyl accident “could have some bearing” on the future of the Hanford reac- In its proposed budget for fiscal 1987, the department is seeking $800,000 to replace the pipe han gars, saying the current models could fail in an earthquake “inceas- ing the potential for a core melt down.” Three senators, in addition, called Wednesday for a thorough congres sional review of the plant. Rep. Ron Wyclen, D-Ore., said the House Energy investigations sub committee plans to expand an ong oing inquiry into the operation of Of ficials also want $12.1 million to replace hundreds of process tubes running through the core that have become brittle and bowed with age through radiation bombardment. The 35-cubic-foot graphite bed used for controlling the chain reaction is warping and will have to be re:' y 4 CC in the mid-1990s. Ph p ca] Michael Lawrence, directoroitf a( j u i, department’s Hanford operaiiL|jy[ S e C said Wednesday that the warpedtCI tment and aged tubes “in no way aifedL. a ra( safety of the N-reactor.” Bk» v ■They Lawrence said that because | e J n ed ; tv capons reactors operate at n jrad,” H lower pressures and tempen' xiiles nor than civilian power plants, a$ji%Qre co ment technology utilizing filt^Bstria.” remove radioactive materials 6 5 () f ar escaping gases would be as eflfl[i uss i a ” as a containment approach. Union ft Largely because the vveapo^ivithdraw actors — each roughly thesizeoi 1 T hree Mile Island reactor that fYou fered a core melt in 1979 —laci cared,” 1 |vayla Ukra Disaster containments, environment charged Wednesday they could meet government safety stand* tudy in imposed on civilian nuclear |» moi e intc plants. micMal Jed in t B Sovie he Amei Hiflear a j’We r (at thes dcMal /e the Bher in (continued from page I) But, again, the Soviet statement offered little on the cause and effects of the accident. The most detailed such information came from intelli gence and other U.S. sources in Washington, apparently obtained via U.S. surveillance satellites. Harold Denton, a safety expert at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Com mission, told reporters it was unclear what touched off the reactor fire last Friday, but by Saturday it had evolved into a meltdown — the bur ning up of the uranium fuel core, an extremely dangerous event — and by Sunday a chemical explosion oc curred that ripped the reactor build ing apart. He estimated the fire would burn for weeks, and U.S. intelligence sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a second Chernobyl reactor had become involved, appar ently in a meltdown. The fire “is still not controlled,” said one. Although Soviet ambassadors in several European capitals said the Chernobyl situation had been “stabi lized,” the Soviet envoy to Switzer land, Ivan Ippolitov, was quoted by Swiss officials as telling them it was still “out of control.” British diplomats pressed Soviet authorities for help in evacuating about 100 British travelers and stu dents from Kiev and Minsk, 200 miles northwest of the nuclear plant and apparently in the path of radio active winds. downstream from the Chert plant, might be contaminated T he professor, in an NBC phone interview, said her Soviet guide told her that “something 300 casualties” had occurred the plant. But in Kiev, she said erything is very normal.” French, Finnish, West German and other foreign officials also is sued travel advisories to their citi zens. One diplomat, who would not be identified, complained that none of the embassies had received sub stantial information from the Sovi- The most frightening — but verifiable — report came Dutch government official 1 Kofman, an amateur radio moil who said he listened in on ’he A seemed to be a broadcast by aJ rt) * )a ^ v glish-speaking Russian in the i: M'j^ es h 1 Problems The Soviet government Tuesday said four towns near the nuclear site had been evacuated, including Pri- pyat, a new town of 25,()()() people built up around the plant. Prof. Karen Black of Maine’s Bates College, leader of a student tour group in Kiev, said she was told Kiev was using alternative water sup plies, since the Dnepr reservoir, just ter area. ^ >n call, s “We heard heavy explosion:pysident you can’t imagine what’s happj Koldm here (with) all the death andfijflthe pr quoted the unidentified broad 1 ability of as saying. tin who dtjer the i This man spoke emotionalBdealth “many hundreds of dead t.iti to 4 wounded” and of thousands irtm. to i south with children and cattle,'tenier st; man said. “Please tell the wonio Laitim help us," he quoted him as sayj rYou c to sta Iget on