Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1976)
u as aquanaut in North Sea ]°f poini ^ indij fovelopj, v ecoin iion in Associated Press SUMBURGH, Shetland Islands He speaks with a Texas drawl and °iiBvears cowboy boots with pointed His name is Lee Wayne Johnson, becomes from Corpus Christi, and ’“Promiii )j s occupation is deep sea diving in he treacherous North Sea. “Heck, it’s a pretty healthy way of ife,” said the 39-year-old aquanaut,” as divers are known in States, iffalsSlj >tlan int 9 iU'uv: 15 onbelij hese parts. ‘We eat a very high protein diet sionofll md breathe a lot of pure oxygen. It’s roorelh 10 t a bad life,” said Johnson who Jemaniit leads a team of 21 U.S. and British power] beds, l firmly livers working in the Thistle Oil Field 130 miles northeast of the Shetland Islands, the most northerly anguarj if the 14 commercial fields in the os, andiPBritish sector of the North Sea. The job at the moment is to dive as be conic Jeep as 530 feet in the frigid waters lockoll ofthe United Kingdom’s continental een not. shelf. Thistle lies in the deepest water yet exploited and its 968-foot oil plat oon, now being completed, will be early as tall as the Eiffel Tower. Burmah Oil of Britain, acting on lehalf of U.S. and West German interests, plans to drill up to 60 wells rom the platform to tap what it lopes are billions of barrels of oil ying two to three miles beneath the as iaveadjj icession them only’ 1 acitly treaty uaranta rears tok ining ted St* e rigbtsli ithontiii knowln ras widr delegate to suppl rngemes you car ,’ou knoi ido ill rtoafei- •graph ■ nans lose it namfi ograplr ill alivt t has imberd he map ne to a! ire, y# is, wlat a namt namei in so* igraplif sr, iu’d h ny pft lie wh eptabk - Loci i thref iy inctio 11 cha* will P 1 lontrf Rode* tlebof herd ■ i-odo 1 1 till' ■sonal is. Texan works Compromise leaves B1 fate to new president By HARRISON HUMPHRIES Associated Press WASHINGTON — The congres sional compromise on the B1 bomber leaves the plane’s ultimate fate in the hands of the man occupy ing the White House next Feb. 1. Supporters of the plane yesterday hailed the decision by Senate and House conferees to allow work to proceed on the bomber. Opponents also were happy, and they pointed to the spending limit of $87 million a month until Feb. 1, after the next president is inaugu rated. Rep. Robert L. F. Sikes, D-Fla. a member of the conference commit tee seeking a compromise between Senate and House versions, called the decision “a modified go ahead.” The $87 million monthly limit is one-twelfth of the $1,049 billion re quested by the Pentagon for initial costs of a planned fleet of 244 bom bers estimated to cost $22 billion. Opponents of the plane say the spending limit makes it easier for the project to be stopped if the next pres ident so decides. Both the House and Senate pre viously approved the production funding as part of a $150 billion mili tary appropriation for the 12 months beginning Oct. 1. But the Senate added a restriction prohibiting spending of any of the production money until next Feb. 1 to give the newly inaugurated presi dent a chance to review completed prototype test data and decide whether to proceed. The Ford administration repor tedly was prepared to sign a B1 production contract in November, commiting some $850 million for production of the first three opera tional aircraft. Jimmy Carter, the Democratic presidential nominee, has indicated his doubts about proceeding with B1 production, and the Democratic party platform urges delay in fund ing. In another development in the B1 program, the Air Force reported Tuesday that part of a B1 bomber body section cracked while being subjected to greater than normal stresses in a test pressure chamber. A spokesman for Rockwell Inter national’s B1 division said the crack would not have occurred during normal flight. The part was not in one of the three prototype bombers being test flown, the Air Force said. THE BATTALION Page 7 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1976 Cell disease kills Prairie View frosh Associated Prfcss HOUSTON — Sickle cell crisis has been diagnosed as the cause of death of Mark Brown, 19, a Prairie View A&M University freshman football player who died Aug. 19. Brown, son of Mr. and Mrs. Bur nett Brown of Houston, became ill during football practice and died in Waller County Hospital. A spokesman at the Harris County morgue, where an autopsy was per formed, said Tuesday a combination of circumstances transpired to cause a breakdown in the red blood cells. The North Sea oil boom has at tracted many Americans like [ohnson, a 15-year veteran of oil in dustry diving in the United States and Persian Gulf. The North Sea is more treacher ous and so much rougher and colder ban anywhere else I’ve worked,” aid Johnson. “Anyone who falls overboard into this water would ex pire in five minutes.” Even in mid-August the water temperature is 45 degrees and in winter it drops to 38. It’s quite a challenge for any di ver,” Johnson said. Sixty divers and other oil rig workers died between 1965 and 1975 in the North Sea. Most of these men were inex perienced and probably panicked when something went wrong. Virtually every accident that has been investigated out here can be put down to human error,” said ohnson. Today’s divers are better trained and equipped and must meet the strict qualifications of the British government’s diving regulations in troduced last year, covering a diver’s training, age, number of dives, med ical checkups and equipment. Consequently the number of di ving accidents has dropped signifi cantly, but most divers agree that North Sea diving will never be com- Metely safe. There are too many un- mowns. As oil companies reach into de eper offshore waters for new oil strikes, divers are being called upon to plunge to 1,000 feet or below and simulated dives have reached 1,500 feet. Special capsules and minisub marines are on the drawing boards to enable oil explorers to push out into unchartered waters 2,000 feet deep, handling the jobs now done by di vers. But until such techniques are perfected, the industry must rely on divers for essential drilling and pipelaying tasks. Aggie Players to hold auditions Auditions will be held tonight for the Aggie Players’ production of Man of La Mancha. ” Readings will begin at 7 p.m., in the forum of the Rudder Tower. Aggie Players’ Director Robert W. Wenck said that actors, singers, dancers, musicians and technicians will be needed for the mammoth production of Dale Wasserman’s musical success. He stressed that persons in terested in auditioning need not be members of the student company. Man of La Mancha” perform ances are booked for Oct. 16, 22 and 23 in the Rudder Auditorium. Senatorial tribute to retiring Hart Associated Press WASHINGTON — Senate liber als and conservatives joined in a tribute to retiring Sen. Philip Hart, passing a resolution naming a new office building for him. Hart, suffering from cancer, is completing his third term. The Michigan Democrat has been a leader of Senate liberals, but be fore the resolution was passed on Monday, two of the most conserva tive members of the Senate paid tribute to him. Sen. James Allen, D-Ala., called him a “gentle, lovable and loving man who is “dedicated, determined and strong.” Republican Sen. Roman Hruska of Nebraska said Hart is a fair man, al ways respected by his colleagues for his personality and ability. Religious freedom The first legislative act proclaim ing religious freedom was enacted in 1649 in St. Mary’s City, Maryland s first settlement. YOUR COMPLETE DRUG STORE!!! ved r wf y yf ym DECORATIVE CREATIONS