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Weather
Mostly cloudy and warm
with 30 percent chance of
showers and thundershow
ers today and tomorrow.
High both days near 90.
Low tonight 72.
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Vol. 68 No. 124
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, June 25, 1975
Solar energy’s
future doubtful
By JERRY NEEDHAM
City Editor
An application by two TAM U pro
fessors for a patent on a process
utilizing the sun’s rays to heat large
building complexes and com
munities was recently approved in
Washington.
Dr. William Harris and Dr.
Richard Davison, two of the nation’s
foremost energy authorities, de
veloped the process with the help of
a grant from the National Science
Foundation.
“Solar energy has received much
publicity lately because it is free,
inexhaustible and has no environ
mental hazards, said Dr. Harris.
The patented process basically
proposes large-scale, long-term un
derground storage of solar heat and
winter cold.
In developing their process
(termed Solaterre) the researchers
had to be constantly aware of several
characteristics of solar energy to
make realistic appraisals of prop
osed applications.
These characteristics are: solar
radiation is diffuse and intermittent,
the collecting costs rise rapidly with
the temperature of the collected
heat and since solar radiation is free,
the cost of the heater operation is
small, which makes the cost of col
lected solar energy almost entirely
capital intensive.
Since solar energy' can be col
lected most easily and inexpen
sively at low temperature, the re
searchers concentrated on low
temperature applications. Approx
imately twenty per cent of the
energy usage in the United States is
for low temperature space-heating.
Water-bearing formations known
as aquifers underlie large portions of
the earth’s surface. These aquifers
supply 20 per cent of the nation’s
water supply and vary greatly in
volume, depth, thickness and salin
ity. It is a well-known fact that the
earth is an excellent insulator.
The proposed system would use a
horizontal heater to produce hot
water which would be pumped into
a zone of the aquifer.
In the winter, the hot water
woidd be pumped from the wells,
and piped through a utility type sys
tem to heat homes and buildings.
The cooled water woidd be re
turned to the same water formation
in another region or directly below
the heated zone.
Also during the winter, the water
from a different part of the forma
tion could be chilled in a spray pond
and stored in the formation until
summer. Then it could be piped
through the same utility system for
air conditioning. The warmed water
woidd be returned to the formation.
For this system to work, a good
aquifer must exist at the place of
use, but aquifers are widespread.
Flow in the aquifer must be very
slow, but this is the ride rather than
the exception.
Using this system, the individual
home is freed from architectural re
strictions of using individual solar
collectors, and, most importantly, is
freed from the necessity of a back-
are stored
on an annual basis, spells of bad
weather have no effect, and the in
dividual house need not have a fur
nace or air conditioner. This means
a more than sufficient savings to pay
for the wells and distribution sys
tem.
In a concluding statement made
in a report by Harris and Davison,
they surmise that “it appears that
where the coincidence of favorable
summer sun, winter cold and good
aquifer exist, this system would be
competitive at present fuel costs ex
cept where low cost natural gas is
still available.”
The researchers are putting the
final touches on a prototype of the
system (minus the aquifers) atop the
Zachry Engineering Center. Data
will be collected during the summer
to determine temperatures and effi
ciency of the system.
Despite their avid interest in
solar energy, the researchers re
main pessimistic about the im
mediate future of the sun as a widely
used power source.
They maintain that many of those
studying solar power application
make false claims for the capabilities
and economics of such systems.
These false claims may be made
from ignorance or from a desire to
gain government funds for research.
up system.
Since the heat and cold
Briscoe gives oath
to fairer financing
Gov. Dolph Briscoe has given his
commitment to establishing a fairer
school finance system in the state,
reports Texas Education Commis
sioner M. L. Brockette.
Brockette appeared Friday on a
program at Texas A&M with Texas
State Teacher Assoc. ( TST ) execu
tive secretary Gallic Smith who
termed the recently passed educa
tion bill as the biggest step yet for
public education, although he did
not agree with all the bill’s contents.
Smith and Brockette addressed
the 50th annual Administrative and
Instructional Leadership Confer
ence at TAMU.
Brockette said he is now appoint
ing members of the five-member
panel called for by the legislation to
hear views from school adminis
trators on the proposed reforms in
financing.
Briscoe, related the commis
sioner, has called the bill a point of
departure that is significant for local
districts.
Brockette said regional meetings
will be held next week around the
state for a section-by-section review
of HB 11.26 including instructions
on how districts need to supply in
formation that will be the basis of
the value alterations in financing.
Smith said the outlook for the fu
ture of public education in Texas
was directly related to how much
the professionals can or will learn
from others and the amount of vis
ion they have.
“If you don’t know where you’re
going most any road will do,” he
said. He also asserted that public
education cannot be all things to all
people.
Brockette agreed with the TSTA
official that the bill offered new chal
lenges and opportunities to the pro
fession.
New flexibility, which calls on
local districts to make more deci
sions, is also evident as a feature of
the legislation.
The conference, with more than
400 officials attending, concen
trated on human values in educa
tion. It was jointly sponsored by the
Texas Association of School Ad
ministrators, Texas Association for
Supervision and Curriculum De
velopment and TAMU Department
of Educational Administration.
This horizontal, flat-plate solar water heater, located on the roof of Zachry Engineering Center, will soon be absorbing solar radiation
in controlled tests by TAMU researchers. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of the week.
President Williams announces
Appropriations set record
State appropriations totaling a re
cord 227,534,509 dollars for the
TAMU System have been approved
■for the next two years, announced
university President Jack K. Wil
liams.
The funding, which became final
when Gov. Dolph Briscoe signed
the Legislature’s appropriations bill
over the weekend, represents an in
crease of 51 per cent over the level
provided for the current biennium.
“We are bolstered by the confi
dence which the Legislature and
Gov. Briscoe have in our programs,
as evident by the funding granted
us, Williams said. All parts of the
system received increases.
TAMU will receive 54,948,164
dollars for fiscal year 1976, which
begins Sept. 1 of this year, and
57,514,951 dollars for 1977. The two
totals represent a 53.7-per cent in
crease over the appropriation for
the current two-year period.
State funding for fiscal year 1975,
under which the institution is pres
ently operating, totals 37,162,545
dollars. Each figure is only for main
campus operations of the univer
sity.
Other appropriations for the sys
tem are (1976 and 77 figures listed
first with current allocations shown
in parentheses):
System Administration and Gen
eral' Offices — $712,783
$778,357 ($617,289); Agricultural
Experiment Station — $13,460,161
$14,759,493 ($10,022,306);
Agricultural Extension Service
—$13,998,854 $15,238,384
($10,108,449); Engineering Exper
iment Station — $3,076,406
$2,975,243 ($2,627,916), and En
gineering Extension Service
—$1,000,570 $1,041,495
($898,098).
Also, Texas Forest Service
—$3,388,252 $3,724,977
($2,737,795); Texas Maritime
Academy and Moody College of
Marine Sciences and Maritime Re
sources — $1, , 838,994
$1,703,115 ($1,038,842); Prairie
View A&M University —
$14,985,381 $9,337,620
($6,241,433); Rodent and Predatory
Animal Control Service —
$1,106,821 $1,167,952
($887,490), Tarleton State Univer
sity — $4,831,179
$4,222,380 ($3,217,321); Texas Vet
erinary Medical Diagnostic
Laboratory — $873,377
$849,600 ($359,807).
The bill also includes special
awards of 1,944,222 dollars for
TAMU’s new medical education
program, 1,905,376 dollars for
energy-related research and
200, (X)0 dollars for a study of the
state’s railroad system. The energy
studies will be coordinated by the
university’s new Center for Energy
and Mineral Resources. The rail
study will be conducted by the
Texas Transportation Institute.
Appropriations for the various
parts of the system reflect net gen
eral revenue, rather than grand to
tals, which include estimates for
other educational and general
funds. Also state appropriations
comprise varying percentages of the
overall operating budgets, with
several parts of the system receiving
By KARLA MOURITSEN
Campus Editor
The stage is set, the cast knows
their cues, and all is in readiness for
Thursday night’s opening of
TAMU’s first dinner theater pro
duction, “What the Butler Saw.
A comedy about the trials and
tribulations of a dense young lady
applying for a job from a couple of
psychiatrists, “What the Butler
Saw will be presented in the MSC
Ballroom, following a buffet of
shrimp creole and sweet n sour
pork.
The Aggie Players, under the di
rection of Robert Wenck, have been
rehearsing daily for several weeks in
preparation for Thursday’s opening.
The two woman, four man cast is
headed by Craig McIntosh, who
plays Dr. Prentice.
Prentice tries to examine Geral
dine, played by Dana Herell, who
only came to the sanitarium to apply
for a secretarial position. It is at that
moment that Mrs. Prentice, played
by Cheri Lindquist, enters the
doctor’s office. The comedy follows
close on her heels.
federal funds as well as support from
private sources. Operating budgets
for 1976 will be finalized later in the
summer.
“What the Butler Saw was writ
ten by Joe Orton. It opened off-
Broadway in May of 1970 to rave
reviews. Since that time, the play
has become a dinner theater favo
rite.
Orton never knew of the play’s
success. He was murdered by his
roommate two years before it was
ever produced.
Now a joint effort of the MSC
summer directorate, the Aggie
players, and the Food Services De
partment, the idea of having a
TAMU dinner theater was con
ceived by Bill Davis, the former
MSC President. Davis wanted to
provide more diversity of summer
programming and to upgrade the
quality of entertainment presented
for the local community.
Tickets for “What the Butler
Saw are available in the Rudder
Center Box Office at $5 per ticket
for students and their dates and $7
per ticket for the general public.
Tickets for the Thursday night per
formance will be on sale until 4 p. m.
Wednesday.
Dinner theater
begins Thursday
“What the Butler Saw” will be
the feature attraction of the
debut of the dinner theater
sponsored by the MSC, Food
Services and the Aggie Players.
Tickets are currently on sale at
the Rudder Tower box office.
y
Millican money held up
until further study done
Cong. Olin E. Teague received a
copy of the Committee on
Appropriation’s report for public
works for water and power de
velopment late yesterday after
noon .
The report calls for $450,000 for
further planning for Millican Lake
during fiscal year 1976. The report
also calls for $110,000 for the transi
tion quarter next year, when the
beginning date of the fiscal year is
changed.
The report also says “the commit
tee in recommending full amount of
money requested by the administ
ration for the Millican Reservoir
feels very strongly that prior to any
additional appropriation for con
struction purposes, the Corps of
Engineers should attempt to de
termine the extent of lignite de
posits in the area which would be
inundated by such construction, as
well as the Corps’ estimate of the
effects on land values. ”
The House of Representatives
considered the appropriations bill
late last night while in session until
after midnight. The House ap
proved the entire Public Works bill
but at press time it was not known
whether any amendments were at
tached.
CS budget nears
council approval
The College Station city budget for fiscal year 1975-76 is rapidly
proceeding toward adoption by the city council.
A meeting was held last Wednesday afternoon to enable area resi
dents to make requests for specific items to be included on the budget.
At a Monday night work session, the Council added the following
items to the proposed budget: $1500 to the Retired Senior Volunteer
Program, $2700 to the Brazos County Bicentennial Celebration Com
mittee, and $6070 to the Brazos Valley Arts Council.
An $8500 appropriation to the Brazos Valley Mental Health-Mental
Retardation Center is pending until submission of a budget by the
Center.
The completed budget is on the agenda for adoption at the council’s
Thursday night meeting, the last scheduled meeting before the city’s
new fiscal year begins on July 1. A public hearing on the budget will be
held prior to formal adoption. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.
The proposed expenditures for 1975-76 exceed this year’s estimated
expenditures by more than $665,000.
An ordinance raising the tax rate in College Station will be considered
at the Thursday night meeting also. College Station has one of the lowest
tax structures in the state for cities of comparable size.