The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, July 19, 1972, Image 1

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    IE BATWi
iCbc Battalion
Damp
and
cloudy
Wildlife Di«|
vji\, tvma.t^ Vol. 67 No. 132
iety and the Am§" ■ — ■■ - - ■■
Veterinary Pelt
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, July 19, 1972
Thursday and Friday — Partly
cloudy to occasionally cloudy. Aft
ernoon thundershowers, southerly
winds 10 to 15 mph. High 92°,
low 74°.
845-2226
'• Dorothea ft
cterinary med
ion,
A&M will study
Texas superport
1
*7\&M V
Jfiearch
LirolectB
Aj^erpm-t Study
TAMU Sea
The socio-economic impact of
Bleep-water terminal in the
(jjlulf of Mexico off the Texas
iloast is being investigated by
fiM’s Industrial Economics Re-
Division under a joint
' reject funded by the Texas Su-
Corporation and
Sea Grant Program.
I' Part of a broad feasibility in-
estigation into establishment of
n offshore port to handle future
r „lsuperships,” the study is direct-
[^*1 by James R. Bradley, IERD
ftead. Working with him are Dan
ragg, assistant research engi
neer, and several graduate stu-
^'ents. Total funding for the
ntudy is $45,000, with $20,000
''.rovided by the Texas Superport
ftl tudy Corporation and $25,000 in
1 ea Grant funds.
r ““ “As Texas depends more and
lore on raw materials brought
mo its coastal zone, one of the
y factors will be the ability to
the vessels transporting
Bradley said. “A new
jchnology is developing in ocean
JBsportation with the use of
apertankers and larger cargo
He said that evidence indicates
these gigantic vessels can reduce
transportation costs of raw ma
terials to one-fourth of what they
are now.
“But no port in the U. S. can
now accommodate these huge
ships, and it is impractical to
deepen existing channels enough
to provide sufficient water for
them,” he continued.
“Industries located in the Gulf
Coast area of Texas cannot re
main in a competitive market po
sition unless we take advantage
of these new developments in
transportation,” Bradley empha
sized. “Not only is it vital to
know how a superport could af
fect the state’s economy, but it
is also important to determine
how not building it could affect
Texas.”
First phase of the socio-eco
nomic investigation will identify
the economic criteria to be used
in evaluating various terminal
designs and site locations, Brad
ley said.
Cost-benefit studies will be un
dertaken in the latter part of the
study to determine the dollars-
. A. Porter named director
if Solid State Electronics
and-cents benefits that an off
shore terminal could bring to the
state and to compare those bene
fits with the costs of construc
tion and operation.
The researchers will use exist
ing data, studies and projections
when possible to determine vol
umes of commodities such as
crude oil, refined petroleum prod
ucts, petrochemicals and natural
gas that will move to or from the
major industrial centers along
the Texas coast for the years
1980 and 1985. Where data exist,
extrapolation will be made to the
year 2000. The degree to which
such volumes will grow in re
sponse to national energy de
mands will be estimated.
Also examined will be proba
ble sources of commodities, aver
age voyage lengths, approximate
vessel operating costs and pro
jected vessel availability.
Additionally, the environmental
impact of construction and oper
ation of an offshore terminal will
be considered. An economic ra
tionale will be established for in
corporating anti-pollution fea
tures into the design of an off
shore terminal.
“After this initial phase of the
socio-economic study is complet
ed,” Bradley noted, “more in-
depth studies will be needed, par
ticularly in the areas of new
technology and the “new town”
concept. The new town idea—
going into a relatively undevel
oped area and creating a com
munity from the ground up—is
being widely discussed as a pos
sible answer to overcrowded ur
ban areas.”
“Planning and building an off
shore port could be the vehicle to
encourage such long-range plan
ning in Texas,” Bradley said.
Studies needed to determine
the feasibility of an offshore ter
minal were identified in a work
plan prepared by IERD in June,
1971. In addition to the top prior
ity socio-economic studies, other
areas to be investigated include
legal implications of an offshore
terminal, engineering, site loca
tion factors and port manage
ment. The legal studies are slat
ed to begin in the near future,
Bradley said.
The Texas Superport Study
Corporation is a non-profit or
ganization formed by business
men in the Texas Gulf Coast to
aid in accomplishment of the five
investigations identified by the
IERD team. Ray R. Brimble is
president of the organization.
TAMU’s Sea Grant Program
is part of the National Sea Grant
Program within the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin
istration, U. S. Department of
Commerce.
LEARNING TO FIGHT FIRES more effectively are some 2,000 municipal firemen here
this week for one of the three Firemen’s Training Schools held annually at A&M. Next
week, the industrial firemen will be here, followed by the Spanish-speaking fire fight
ers. A demonstration will be held tonight at 7:30. (Photo by John Curylo)
Miflr. W. A. Porter has been
Med director of A&M’s Insti-
ite of Solid State Electronics,
oJi-hich is being expanded to in
jure a series of short courses
irfthe electrical engineering and
U dated professions.
Announcement of Dr. Porter’s
jjlpointment was made by Dr. W.
i*"*-* - . Bones Jr., head of TAMU’s
TiTlectrical Engineering Depart-
Ayieit. The institute was establish-
oo/d as part of the department three
Ws ago.
Dr. Porter succeeds Dr. C. R.
en, who has accepted a posi-
''Aon as chairman of the Univer-
fjl'ty of Oklahoma Electrical En-
^ -jneering Department.
T'* The new director of the Insti-
|tte of Solid State Electronics
gg-pt',.lined the TAMU faculty in 1968.
ilii/e learned his Ph.D. at A&M in
after having received B.S.
Mp M.S. degrees at North Texas
l.i|jtate University.
{jjll While the institute will contin-
ue to emphasize research and
graduate study, Dr. Porter said
its programs will be expanded to
include a series of short courses
and conferences. Such meetings,
he noted, will help disseminate
results of the institute’s research
activities and enhance relation
ships between the institute and
allied professional societies, in
dustry and outside agencies.
Dr. Porter said the institute’s
major research interest involves
materials and device fabrication
technology, particularly in the
area of material defects produced
in the fabrication process of in
tegrated circuits.
The institute, one of approxi
mately six of its type in the na
tion, has an annual research budg
et of approximately $100,000. It
conducts several projects spon
sored by NASA, along with oth
ers funded by Army and Navy
research programs.
Sen. Bill Moore says
Higher education feeling tight budget
Higher education in Texas has
run afoul of a belt-tightening pe
riod brought on by a variety of
factors, State Senator William T.
(Bill) Moore said Friday at
A&M.
The cinching is the result of
growth of higher education which
tends to dilute the tax dollar
available to colleges and univer
sities, campus activities and the
taxpayer, Moore said.
The veteran lawmaker indi
cated the situation is even more
pressing to institutions because
of the bounty education enjoyed
during the post-Sputnik period.
“Education was high-priority
business on the heels of Sput
nik,” Moore emphasized. “For a
while it was given almost any
thing it wanted.”
“The fellow that pays the bill
is no longer in sympathy with
you,” the senior senator told par
ticipants of an academic admin
istrators seminar, which conclud
ed a week at TAMU and went to
Baylor Sunday for its final week.
“You are going to have to
show the legislature effective re
sults, even though yours is a
non-production line operation
in which it is more difficult to
portray results,” warned the
speaker introduced by A&M
New electron microscope installed here
r A&M’s Electron
Unter has installed
Microscopy
..... a scanning
l.ljjlectron microscope to make the
one of the most versatile
asearch facilities in the nation.
Dr. E. Laurence Thurston, cen-
| differ coordinator, reported the
^ylOO.OOO addition includes a
..pEOL JSM-U3 scanning electron
^[licroscope equipped with a trans-
ijmitted electron detector and non-
■ispersive X-ray spectrometer.
This scanning electron micro
scope is the only one equipped in
this fashion located in the South
and Southwest, and one of the
few university-owned in the na
tion.
TAMU’s new equipment joins
three transmission electron mi
croscopes, complete light micro
scopy facilities and various re
search and photographic labora
tories in the center. It is the
best equipped microscopy center
in Texas, Dr. Thurston pointed
out.
Electron microscopes extend the
resolution and magnification
range of the light microscope, en
abling scientists to view sub-cel
lular components, molecules and
atoms, he explained. The TAMU
center serves as the nucleus for
ultrastructure research.
Dr. Thurston said the scanning
electron microscope fills the gap
between the light microscope and
elec-
l Dr. E. Laurence Thurston adjusts the scanning electron microscope recently added
at the A&M Electron Microscopy Center. The equipment has a magnification range from
100X to 500,000X.
the powerful transmission
tron microscope.
The scanning electron micro
scope is primarily used to meas
ure surface topography of speci
mens. A few of the possible re
search areas are taxonomy of
insects, rock samples, metal sur
faces, pollen studies and identi
fication of fossil plants in oil.
Magnification with the new
equipment is from 100X to 500,-
000X, with very high resolution,
Dr. Thurston noted. Samples are
viewed on a television screen and
the instrument has a number of
photographic attachments.
The non-dispersive X-ray spec
trometer allows analysis of a
sample for its elemental compo
sition and enables the investiga
tor to determine where a chemical
element is in the sample.
A mini-computer will be put
on-line in the near future to
print out research information
within minutes.
Dr. Thurston said the scan
ning electron microscope is very
versatile and will accomodate “al
most any type of research in any
discipline.”
Cooperating in this purchase
were the Colleges of Geoscience,
Science and Agriculture, the Tex
as Agricultural Experiment Sta
tion and the Texas Engineering
Experiment Station.
Dr. Thurston will offer a grad
uate level course, Biology 628,
during the spring semester for
students and faculty-staff seek
ing a working knowledge of the
scanning electron microscope.
University National Bank
“On the side of Texas A&M.”
—Adv.
President Jack K. Williams, who
joined in the discussion after
Moore’s talk.
Another problem Moore dis
cussed with the college and uni-
v e r s i t y administrators from
throughout Texas is the ear
marked nature of most of the
funds in the recently passed $4.1
billion state budget.
“A lot of the money in this
budget was spent before we ap
propriated it,” he said, pointing
to the highway fund, $80 million
in welfare and medicaid and the
available school fund for secon
dary education.
“Medicaid is very popular with
taxpayers. It relieves the con
science of the wage-earner,” Sen
ator Moore reasoned. “This is a
cost that is going to escalate.”
Campus unrest has contributed
to the economic pinch, he indi
cated.
“The taxpayer is fuming about
paying for buildings for students
to burn down,” he said. Students
who cause problems are being
egged on and abetted by a few
faculty members, under the guise
of academic freedom, the legisla
tor stated.
“But the public is not concerned
about academic freedom,” Moore
contended. “The taxpayer doesn’t
have any academic freedom.”
Growth in higher education re
sulting in new institutions has
“diluted the educational dollar
further. Much of this dividing of
available funds is to satisfy
chambers of commerce, which
want two-year colleges to become
four-year institutions,” Moore
went on.
He said the only source of new
funds is a personal income tax,
and predicted the sales tax will
not go beyond five per cent. In
flation caused by unions as well
as the federal government is also
causing discontent, Moore evalu
ated.
He said the legislature is not
without fault in the education
funding situation.
“We have some members who
vote for all appropriations and
then vote against tax bills,” the
senator indicated. “Then the
conservatives have to shouler the
load. As a conservative, I’m get
ting tired of it.”
“I went into the legislature as
a liberal and still am,” he report
ed. “What I supported 25 years
ago as a liberal, I still support.
But they have run off and left
me.”
Ticket refunds announced
for Wofford Cain Pool
All A&M students will be ad
mitted to the Wofford Cain Swim
ming Pool free of charge under
a new policy effective immediate
ly, Dr. Carl Landiss announced
today.
Dr. Landiss, head of TAMU’s
Health and Physical Education
Department, said the elimination
of the fee is part of a program
initiated by President Jack K.
Williams to improve recreational
opportunities for all students.
Students who purchased season
or second-term summer session
pool tickets will receive refunds
for the second term, Dr. Landiss
noted. He said students should
apply for their refunds at Room
214 in G. Rollie White Coliseum,
bringing with them their identi
fication cards and pool tickets.
Firemen’s School has record attendance
A&M has attracted a record
2,019 student firemen, instruc
tors and sales representatives to
the opening here Monday of the
42nd annual Texas Firemen’s
Training School.
Chief Instructor Henry D.
Smith said first-day totals in
clude 1,283 volunteer and paid
municipal fire-fighters attending
15 different courses ranging from
basic fire operations to scientific
arson investigation and depart
ment management.
The enrollment includes repre
sentatives from 10 states and
Libya, North Africa.
Smith pointed out the enroll
ment figures do not include late
Monday registration.
Temperatures in the mid-80s
were a contrast from last year’s
first day, when the municipal
firemen faced near 100 degree
weather.
The five-day program ends Fri
day afternoon with examinations.
Next week approximately 1,025
industrial firemen are expected,
followed by a third week for
Spanish-speaking firemen from
Mexico, Central and South Amer
ica.
Various TAMU classrooms and
laboratories are utilized in the
training, in addition to the$750,-
000 Brayton Firemen Training
Field south of Easterwood Air
port.
This evening instructors for
the school present their annual
demonstration at Brayton Fire
men Training Field south of
Easterwood Airport. It includes
something for young and old —
plenty of fire engines and a
number of fire-fighting demon
strations.
Smith promises a good show
starting at 7:30 p.m. He empha
sized the demonstrations are
open to the public and expects
approximately 3,000 persons will
attend.
Visitors are urged to come ear
ly, as parking is limited to along
the road south of the airport.
A display of rescue equipment
and fire truck pumpers will be on
display at the entrance to the
26-acre fire training field. Some
equipment companies will dem
onstrate their products.
TAMU's experimental pumper,
which uses six-inch hoses, will be
shown during the field exercises.
Among the new products to be
shown are “wet” and “dry”
chemicals. One is “Monnax,” a
dry chemical from Great Britain
which Chief Smith said is far
ahead of anything on the market
today.
The traditional crowd pleaser
is the jet aircraft fire. The dem
onstration includes use of foam
to fight a simulated crash and
rescue operation.
Other demonstrations on the
program include tise of breath
ing compressors, rescue opera
tions, fighting a house fire, hand
extinguisher capabilities and lim
itations, liquified petroleum gas
fires and a petroleum loading
dock fire.
The program will take approx
imately 90 minutes, Chief Smith
said.