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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 12, 1976)
Weather Partly cloudy with thunderstorms this afternoon and tonight. High today in mid-80s, low tonight in upper 60s, high tomorrow in upper 70s. Precipitation probability 30 per cent today, 50 per cent tonight and tomorrow. Battalion College Station, Texas Wednesday, May 12, 1976 Staff photo by Kevin Venner Late-night study sessions Late night trips to the library are one more sign of (Inals week. The library, which is open 24 hours a day during finals week, has reported larger than normal crowds as students continue last- minute preparations. Italy, Greece shaken Tremors hit 2 areas Associated Press UDINE, Italy — New earth tremors shook quake-ravaged northeastern Italy before and after midnight, frightening sur vivors oflast week’s disaster, injuring sev eral people and bringing down more small buildings. Earlier in the evening, a severe quake centered in the Ionian sea jolted Zakinthos and other Greek islands and parts of south ern Italy. Thousands on Zakinthos spent the night in the open, but no casualties or damage was reported. Nine tremors were recorded in the Fruili region of northeast Italy that was devastated by the killer quake last Thurs day. A woman was injured in Braulinz di Trasaghis when a house fell, and injuries were reported to several other persons. Many one-story and two-story bindings Friday, last day ID photos taken Student ID card photographs will be taken through Friday for students who did not have the photo taken during pre registration. The photos will be taken 8-12 a.m. and 1-5 p.m. each day in the Old Exchange Store. A student whose photo has not been taken will not receive an ID card when he pays his fees this summer. weakened by the big quake and more than 50 aftershocks collapsed in Maiano, Ven- zone, Osoppo, Moggio Udinese and Peonis di Trasaghis. The tremors were also felt in Venice, Trieste and Padua, but no damage or casualties were reported in those cities. In Vicenza, 75 miles southwest of the destruction area, many of the 100 prisoners in the local jail climbed to the roof and demanded to be freed to insure their safety. Despite warning shots from the guards, the convicts refused to return to their cells, and police surrounded the jail. Many of Udine’s 90,000 residents were spending the night at home for the first time in six nights. When they felt a particu larly strong tremor just before midnight, they rushed back to cars, tents and other makeshift shelters. The toll from Thursday’s quake re mained at 914 dead, more than 3,000 in jured and about 80,000 homeless. About 400 persons are not accounted for. As national leaders of the ruling Chris tian Democrats and their Communist rivals bickered over the adequacy of the govern ment’s relief measures with an eye to the national election June 20, rival local politi cal leaders joined hands to create a single body to coordinate relief work. But Loris Fortuna, a Socialist member of Parliament, warned that the parties would soon be fighting over allocation of the relief funds. Ford, Reagan split votes By DAVE GOLDBERG Associated Press Writer Ronald Reagan has scored another key triumph in his quest for the Republican presi dential nomination, but Presi dent Ford has come up with a victory of his own. Frank Church, meanwhile, has scored an upset in his Democratic pri mary debut. Reagan continued his recent string of successes by capturing Tuesday’s Nebraska primary, his second victory outside the Southern and Southwestern states that are supposed to be his strongholds. Ford, how ever, gained a split on the day by winning decisively in West Virginia. Church, running in his first primary, upset Jimmy Gai ter in Nebraska and provided some hope for Democrats who want to stop the former Georgia gov ernor from sweeping to the nomination. Carter won the party-run primary in Connec ticut, but by a narrow margin over Rep. Morris K. Udall. In the day’s other Demo cratic contest. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, a favorite son, won in West Virginia with almost 90 per cent of the vote over Alabama Gov. George C. Wal lace, the only other candidate on the ballot. These were the figures in the key races: V In Nebraska, with 97 per cent of the vote counted, Re agan had 110,846 votes, or 54 per cent, to 92,833 or 46 per cent, for Ford. In the separate race for the state’s 25 nominat ing delegates, Reagan led for 17 and Ford for eight with 41 per cent of the vote in. V In West Virginia, with 80 per cent of the vote counted. Ford had 67,467, or 56 per cent, to 52,201, or 44 per cent, for Reagan. The race for the 28 del egates was separate and they are by law nominally uncom mitted. V In the Nebraska Demo cratic race, with 97 per cent of the vote. Church had 66,693 or 39 per cent of the votes to 64,810 or 38 per cent, for Car ter. Church led for 15 delegates to eight for the former Georgia governor with 63 per cent of tbe count in. Nebraska has 23 Democratic delegates. V In the party-run Connec ticut primary. Carter finished with 35,415 votes or 33 per cent to 32,959, or 31 per cent, for Udall. Sen. Henry M. Jackson, of Washington, who was backed by Gov. Ella Crasso and many party leaders, was third with 18,632. V Connecticut’s 51 nomi- ating delegates will be chosen later under a complex system of apportionment. Tuesday’s results project out to 17 for Carter, 15 for Udall, 5 for Jack- son and the rest uncommitted, but that could easily change. V In West Virginia, with 79 per cent of tbe vote counted. In West Virginia, with 79 pei cent of the vote counted, Byn Byrd had 246,601 or 89 per cent to 31,968 or 11 per cent for Wal lace. Reagan, who won ke> primaries in Texas and Indium with the help of Democratic crossovers, noted that sue! switching is not allowed in Ne hraska. “This confirms my support n not a Wallace vote,’’ he said- “Nebraska is a legitimate test hr the Republican party.” Reagan’s campaign manager. John Sears, said the Ndlntrski triumph had given the chal lenger’s campaign a boost'. (See Ford, Page 6.) Tunnel may get federal funds By LEE ROY LESCHPER JR. Battalion Staff Writer Local officials will apply early next month for federal funds to build a pedestrian-bicycle tunnel under Univer sity Drive, a highway department engineer said yesterday. D. D. Williamson, local planning en gineer with the Texas Highway Depart ment, said the proposed tunnel under Uni versity Drive (Northgate) is part of the joint city-university bike path plan that Bryan and College Station will submit to highway officials in Washington. Williamson said the tunnel would be be tween parking Lot 50, south of University, and the married student apartments north of the street. He did not pinpoint an exact location. The bike path program that Bryan and College Station will submit is now being consolidated from separate plans de veloped by the two cities and the A&M Traffic Panel. The plan then faces approval by a steering committee of both cities’ mayors, the district judge and representa tives of the university and highway de partment before it is sent to Washington. The money for the project is part of $8 million allotted for special bikeway demon stration projects across the nation. Williamson said. He didn’t know how much a tunnel under University Drive would cost. The project would be financed by 80 per cent federal funds, with the remainder coming from local sources. Both cities and A&M are spending a lot of money on bike paths already, Williamson said. He explained that heavy bicycle and pedestrian traffic along South College Ave. and across University Drive is the main reason for considering the tunnel. “We hope to offer students the alterna tive of using Cavitt St. instead of South Col lege Ave.,” Williamson said. “South Col lege Ave. is not the best place in the world to ride a bicycle, with cars driving 45-5( miles per hour. “We can’t prohibit bikes on South Col lege,” he said. “We’d like to.” Not all reac tion to the tunnel has been favorable. “We’ve had a lot of apathy because o problems with lighting the tunnel at night and there’s always the problem of coed: using it after dark,” Williamson explained. He said the tunnel and bike paths arouni and through Hensel Park would be the firsi phase in a three or four phase project. “There’s lots of little elements we car add in,” he said. “We re going to try t< make it a balanced project. Tien we have to sell it on a national basis.” Gas company says prices to level Associated Press AU STIN — Natural gas prices are leveling off as they approach those of heating oil, the board chairman of a Houston-based gas distribution company testified Tues day. That, said Jackson Hinds, board chairman of Entex, Inc., is the only solution he can imagine for the rising cost of natural gas and gas-generated electricity. Hinds testified at a joint hearing of the House commit tees on ways and means, state affairs and natural re sources, which are trying to determine whether there would be any point in a special legislative session this summer on utility costs. Gov. Dolph Briscoe has said he would call a special session only if the leadership of the two houses can agree on legislation that could reduce costs by at least 10 per cent and could pass. “Do you have any solutions?” Rep. Joe Hanna, D-Breckenridge, asked Hinds. “What I think is, gas is worth as much as oil on a BTU heat (natural) producing basis. I have seen gas prices level off as they reach the price of oil for the same amount of BTUs,” Hinds said. He added that a product, such as natural gas, is worth what it brings on the open market and “the least interference with that mechanism, the better.” Hinds said the high price of natural gas and electricity in the areas served by Lo-Vaca Gathering Co. result from the fact that every bit of gas provided by Lo-Vaca is “new gas” since the company has no reserves acquired in the past when natural gas was cheap. “Ultimately, the Houston consumer is going to find he is paying the same kind of price as the Central Texas consumers?” asked Rep. Milton Fox, R-Houston. “Ultimately, yes,” Hinds said. Witnesses who advocated that the state limit what pro ducers can charge for gas quickly ran into hostile ques tioning from some members of the panel. Jim Boyle of the Texas Consumer Association was the first to propose state regulation of natural gas prices. “Who is making the big profits?” asked Rep. Tom Schiefter, D-Fort Worth. “The gas producers are making the lion’s share,” Boyle replied. Schiefter said federal price regulation had reduced the availability of gas. “It’s a commodity that is not there any more,” he said. Doyle Hines, manager of the Guadalupe Valley Elec tric Cooperatives, Inc., also proposed temporary state price regulation through Sept. 1, 1980. Hines suggested the average intrastate natural gas price of December 1975 plus 50 per cent as a standard. This would yield an average price of about 94 cents, compared with the current price of nearly $2 per 1,000 cubic feet of gas sold on the intrastate market. Rep. Joe Wyatt, D-Bloomington, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, suggested that price regulation would violate a Texas constitutional prohibi tion against state interference with contracts. Hines got a big hand from the audience when he re plied, “What alxnit our contract that was interfered with by the railroad commission?” The commission decided more than two years ago to let Lo-Vaca charge more than its contract rates for natural gas, passing its gas purchase costs on to consumers. Harry Whitworth, general counsel for the Texas Chem ical Council, said price regulation would “sharply curtail” gas supplies, discourage conservation of gas and delay the conversion to less expensive fuel sources such as coal. A&M students with children Day-care center being organized A day care center is now being organized for the benefit of Texas A&M University students with children. Details are being discussed with the Col lege of Education to provide course credit for students participating in the program. Educational programs will be under the direction of specialists in Early Childhood Education and each group of 10-12 chil dren will be taught by a fiill time teacher. A hot lunch program will be adminis tered with the aid of the Department of Food Technology. Other participants in the day care program are Environmental Design students and the Personal Counsel ing Service. Reports indicate that the center may be housed off-campus initially, but will re main within walking distance of the Uni versity. The facilities are expected to be expanded as additional funds become available. The center expects to be accept ing children by the fall semester. All interested students are asked to fill out aTAMU Day Care Center survey form. These can be obtained in the Memorial Student Center 216 at the Day Care Cen ter desk or Student Government office. Forms should be returned to MSC 216, ATTN: Day Care Center, TAMU 77843. The forms are only information gathering devices and there is no obligation attached. Additional information is available from Nelda Bravo at 845-3051 (1-5 p.m.), David Scarfe at 693-9374 or 845-6131, or Janice Nute at 693-2918. Index "N Editorial. Page 2. University Health Center to get new physician. Page 4. A&M employe insurance rates to rise. Page 5. Retail cuts available at A&M Meat Laboratory. Page 7. Coach Bel lard talks football at A&M Club banquet. Page 8. A&M’s 1975-76 athletic success re viewed by Sports Editor Paul Arnett. Page 9. Bartenders held responsible customers. Page 10. IRS tax credit worth $1.5 billion Associated Press WASHINGTON — First the bad news: the IRS is looking for a couple of million Americans. Now the good news: the IRS wants to give them some money. The Internal Revenue Service says more than two million Americans might be eligi ble for a cash windfall from the govern ment, but haven’t applied for the money under a special tax credit available to tax payers who earned less than $8,000 in 1975. The IRS had expected up to three mil lion people to qualify for payments of up to $400 but the service said its figures show that only about one-tenth of that number, or 300,000 individuals, have filed a tax form to receive the money. A total of $1.5 billion was set aside to pay to those claiming the credit. Personal counseling numbers clarified The University Personal Counseling Service is open from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Emergency cases only are accepted from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. Calls for emergency counsel ing are handled by the University Health Center (845-1511), the University Police (845-2345) or dorm resident advisors. Be tween 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, the service can be reached at 845- 4427. Staff photo by Roger V. Mesiersmith Airplane made with instructions from a kit Dr. Charles Powell tries out the cockpit of the single-engine air plane he is building. When completed, the plane will be capable of attaining speeds of up to 180 miles per hour and will he able to seat two persons. The plane is made of wood and foam which can be sculptured. See story on Page 4.