Page 4 THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1975
Scientists find new way
to study aquatic plants
A group of TAM U researchers is
studying aquatic plants at Lake
Livingston.
Arthur R. Benton, Jr., a research
coordinator at the TAMU Remote
Sensing Center, is the head of two
projects that are investigating new
research techniques in aquatic plant
detection.
“Expanding populations, greater
urbanization and heavier use of
chemical fertilizers have brought
about much higher pollution levels
in lakes and streams in the U. S.,”
Benton said.
“One effect has been the rapid
spread of aquatic plants in this
nutrient-rich water,” he said. “To
avoid more damage to the aquatic
environment the federal and state
governments are now financing
programs aimed at controlling the
more noxious plant species.
“But effective control requires
that one must be able to identify the
species, determine their location,
and see how effective the method of
chemical, biological or mechanical
control is turning out to be, ” Benton
said. “Remote sensing from aircraft
has the potential for doing this
quickly, reliably and economically,
even where the plants are wide
spread and very hard to get to.
“This research is based on the
fact, demonstrated at the Remote
Sensing Center and elsewhere, that
different types of vegetation show
up in a wide variety of colors on
color infrared photography,” he
Area police
to train at
TAMU academy
Law-enforcement officers in the
local seven-county area have their
own training academy at TAMU.
Like programs of major city
academies, it provides a full range of
courses to help the officer in his pro
fession.
The training is provided by the
Police Training Division of the
Texas Engineering Extension Ser
vice.
From basic certification of peace
officers through courses in accident
and homicide investigation, finger
printing, crowd and mob control,
probable cause and police photo
graphy, the programs meet certifi
cation requirements under state
law.
A basic certification course is to
start Sept. 2. The 240-hour course
continues through Oct. 10, accord
ing to Chief Ira Z. Scott.
The course covers all areas re
quired for a full-time peace officer to
meet minimum requirements for
required training. Requirements
are set by the Texas Commission on
Law Enforcement Officer Stan
dards and Education.
The course will be taught by
Charles Kenner and Bill Cooksey of
the police training staff .
In the first segment, criminal jus
tice and basic law will be covered.
Instruction on laws of arrest, rules of
evidence and search and seizure
will be discussed.
Police procedures will include
general patrol practice, communi
cations, disaster operations, liquor-
law violations and civil disorder con
trol.
Traf fic-con trol, cri m inal-
investigation and juvenile proce
dures also will be covered. Profi
ciency instruction will cover
firearms training, defensive tactics,
first aid, traffic direction, crime
scene techniques, courtroom de
meanor and testimony. Community
relations, with discussion on officers
and their roles in society, also will
be discussed.
Law-enforcement personnel
wishing information should contact
Chief Scott by writing the Police
Training Division, Texas Engineer
ing Extension Service, Texas A&M
University, College Station, 77843.
Sen. Moore
to address
PV graduates
PRAIRIE VIEW — State Sen.
Bill Moore will deliver the com
mencement address Aug. 17 at
PVAMU summer graduation exer
cises.
Moore will speak to 300 graduate
students and 160 undergraduates
expecting to receive degrees from
PVAMU.
The exercises will be held at 11
a.m. in the PVAMU Health & Phys
ical Education Building.
Moore, from the 5th Senatorial
District, is a native of Brazos
County and received a degree in
economics from TAMU in 1940.
He taught at TAMU for IV2 years
before he entered the military’
His career in politics began as a
member of the Texas House. In
1949 he became the youngest Texas
state senator. Through his career,
Moore has served with five lieuten
ant governors.
Presently, he is chairman of the
Senate Committee on State Affairs,
Legislative Budget Board and
Committee on Economic De
velopment.
said.
“Most vegetation appears in dull
shades of green in normal color
photography or to the naked eye,”
Benton said, “but on color infrared
film it ranges from pale pink to
bright red to magenta and deep
purple. This usually makes it possi
ble to readily identify an aquatic
plant by its color infrared image.
“Since the image color also
changes with the plants’ stage of
growth, we document these
changes by taking pictures through
a full growing season, he said. “Our
research program involves monthly
aerial photography of Lake
Livingston, a 90,000 acre lake
whose increasing populations of
water hyacinth, duckweed, coon-
tail, pondweedand hydrilla covered
about 2000 acres in 1974. ”
The group is coordinating their
work with the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department and the Trin
ity River Authority. They are inves
tigating the growth patterns of
plants and the effects of using her
bicides.
One result of the program will be
a season’s pictorial record of how the
plants grow and react to chemical
stress. Another result will be the
development of an economical
monitoring technique.
The Remote Sensing Center
team is also doing a feasibility study
to find out if this method of aerial
monitoring can be used with coastal
marsh grasses. They hope to dis
cover how changes in the quantity
and quality of inflowing river water
can alter the coastal environment.
“The productivity of the coastal
estuarine areas is vital to the ocean’s
food chain,” Benton said. Airborne
remote sensing can track the cover
age and vigor of estuarine grasses
and thus detect changes which arise
from unusual environmental
stress.”
The feasibility study centers on
San Antonio Bay and Lavaca Bay.
Ever eat a pine tree?
This Southern Pine Beetle, about the size of a grain of rice,
is the single most destructive insect in the southern pine forest,
which includes Texas. In 1973 alone, landowners suffered a
timber loss of more than $103 million from this one insect.
Enough trees were killed to have built 48,000 new homes. This
electron microscope picture was taken at the TAMU Electron
Microscopy Center by Dr. Tom Payne.
THE GREATEST
SANDWICH
The greatest sandwiches in the Southwest are served from
11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each day Monday through Friday on
floor 11M, Conference Tower. The greatness of these sand
wiches is no accident. There are several types of meats and
you can select your choice and mix or match any three pieces
for your sandwich on the bread of your choice.
Two of the several types of bread are sour dough and baked
fresh daily in our Duncan bakery. Further, these breads are
prepared without shortening for the diet conscious guest. For
the greatest taste tempting delight just make your sandwich
exactly like you want it and pop it into one of the handy
micro-wave ovens. This wonderful sandwich and a bowl of
soup for only $1.50 plus tax will place you on cloud 11M.
We agree this is a bit of a long story, but it is difficult to stop
talking about our tasty sandwiches.
‘QUALITY FIRST”