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The Battalion
Vol. 71 No. 4 Tuesday, September 6, 1977 News Dept. 845-2611
12 Pages College Station, Texas Business Dept. 845-2611
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Laundry service head
defends new system
Now where did that water come from?
IStiidents and Texas A&M employes survey the
[high waters at the Forestry Building yesterday,
[after a broken air conditioning unit caused a
Isudden “flood.” Classes were suspended for the
afternoon while workers cleared out the water.
In some parts of the building, water stood three
inches deep.
Battalion photo by Ben Jackson
By KARIN KNAPP
Battalion Staff
Student dissatisfaction with the laundry
service prompted a meeting yesterday af
ternoon of the laundry committee. Fabric
Care Service contractor Ron Vandiver and
members of the Texas A&M University
business affairs department.
T ve had crank calls and my employes
have been cursed out by students on the
laundry plan and I don’t appreciate it,”
Vandiver said. “I feel like I’m in a roasting
seat and I know I’m behind.”
Fabric Care Service of Bryan won the
laundry service contract last April and
negotiated terms of the contract with the
A&M business affairs department. The
University laundry service sought bids be
cause it could net afford to operate at the
yearly losses of almost $50,000 it had suf
fered, committee member Lt. Col.
Donald J. Johnson said.
A typical laundry load was established,
based on loads received by the University
laundry and a laundry committee survey
last spring. According to the Fabric Care
Service contract, students are allowed
three shirts, three pairs of pants, two
sheets, one pillowcase and 20 miscellane
ous items per load. Students complain that
the $53.50 cost per semester is too much
to pay for the number of items.
“I was on the laundry plan until I saw
what happened to it,” senior Paid Wood
said. “We pay 80c for a pair of pants and
three pairs a week just doesn’t cut it.”
Vandiver said he cannot accept more
shirts and pants in place of miscellaneous
items because they cost more to clean.
Prices for non-student customers are as
much as 15 per cent higher for finished
shirts and pants, he added.
Eddie J. Davis, director of management
services, said students will just have to ad
just to the new system.
“A finished item costs quite a bit more
in terms of labor than four or five pairs of
socks,” Davis said. “It’ll just take some
getting used to.”
Vandiver said he does not know where
to set the limits on exceptions to the plan
because he cannot afford to lose money.
Fabric Care Service bought almost
$65,000 worth of equipment and doubled
its staff to 52 employees to accomodate the
nearly 2,000 students on the plan, Van
diver said.
Students also complain about long wait
ing lines at the three pick-up sub-stations
at the Dorm Services Building, the Old
Hospital and the Commons. Vandiver said
these problems should be solved in sev
eral weeks.
“Students just have to understand that
we re going to be fouled up for another
couple of weeks, and I apologize,” Van
diver said.
Meanwhile, the 6,400 on-campus stu
dents not on the laundry plan are doing
their laundry elsewhere. Some
Commons-area dormitory residents have
noticed longer-than-usual lines to use
washing machines and dryers. They have
also noticed non-Commons residents
using facilities reserved only for commons
area residents.
1 “It is an inconvenience for us in the
dorm to wait while girls do their boy
friends’ laundry,” said Mosher resident
Julie Jumper.
Student Government president
wants money-saving programs
Robert Harvey
By ROBIN LINN
Battalion Staff
Changing Student Government’s execu
tive branch to provide more student serv
ices more efficiently is the goal of this
years student body president, Robert
Harvey.
“Where students are most concerned is
their pOcketbook, so we want to provide
programs in needed areas to save them
money,” Harvey said.
Harvey, a mechanical engineering
senior and former Corps commander, will
have his first fall meeting with the Student
Senate tomorrow night.
One program Harvey plans to work on
during the year is a food co-op. He noted
that the University of Texas and Texas
Tech have sucessful operating student
food co-ops and plans are being made to
study both operations.
Harvey noted that new issues had not
surfaced yet this year, but old issues
(Academic Council appeals and 2 a. m.
drinking law) were bound to to be con
tinued this year.
One of Harvey’s new ideas is the crea
tion of three new executive positions to
improve the executive branch of Student
Government: University Committees
Coordinator and Comptroller.
The Committee Coordinator position
was created to keep Harvey and the stu
dents informed of decisions and policy
made by university committees that affect
students directly.
Mandatory class attendance is one
example of a university committee deci
sion students were not informed about
when they returned to classes last year, he
said.
To allow “everyone to get into the act,
the limit of 30 executive aides to Student
Government has been removed.
“Essentially, it’s wide open, we can use
the help of anyone who walks in our door,”
Harvey said.
Another change in the executive branch
was the creation of a Comptroller. It was
created to handle Student Government’s
$45,000 yearly budget.
Harvey noted that in the past, there was
no specific requirement for the old posi
tion, Vice President of Finance.
The Comptroller will work with Dr.
Pointer of the Accounting Department to
set up an accounting system that will run
Student Government “like a business,”
Harvey said.
“This could be a big thing for Student
Government, we need it, and it will be
useful,” Harvey said.
“When I speak of student services, I
mean things students are getting from the
community that we could get for them at a
much cheaper rate,” Harvey said.
Harvey explained one student money-
saver that will be expanded from last year
is the Student Purchase Program. The
program provided students with discounts
at Bryan-College Station businesses.
“We need to think of ourselves as an
association or group, and as a group, try to
help the members,” Harvey said.
When asked why he was opposed to
using student service fees for the creation
of a day care center Harvey said a distinc
tion should be made between a service
and a subsidy.
“Students Services should be available
to all students even though not all stu
dents use them. A day care center would
not be useful to all students, Harvey said.
Harvey says he believes that the presi
dent should remain distant from the legis
lative branch of Student Government.
“The Student Government president
should be remote from legislation until it
is passed, he said.
Silver Taps to honor
eight students tonight
Silver Taps ceremonies are
planned tonight for eight Texas
A&M University students who died
after adjournment of spring classes.
The ceremony will be conducted
in front of the Academic Building at
10:30 p.m. It is requested that all
lights be off on campus from 10:20
until 10:50 p.m.
Ceremonies will be in memory of
Douglas Martin Burns, freshman
from San Antonio; Howard Allen
Fiebrich, freshman from Bastrop;
Ronald Joseph Goertz, freshman
from Cedar Creek; Michael Grima,
graduate student from Woodside,
N.Y.; Howard Allen Johnston,
sophomore from Houston; and Carl
Wayne Lott, senior from Tyler all
killed in traffic mishaps.
Richard Frank Miller, freshman
from Conroe who died after a brief
illness and Dr. Darrell Shefstad,
vetrinary clinical associate and grad
uate student from Wichita, Kan.,
who died of natural causes, will
also be honored.
CB rest stop aids
Labor Day drivers
By MARVIN ISSAACKS
Battalion Staff
“You north and south bounders out on
Highway 6 tonight stop and have a cup of
coffee before you hit the road.”
The call, heard yesterday by motorists
monitoring channel 19 on their CB radios,
was coming from the Bryan-College Sta
tion Jaycees’ Annual Labor Day Rest Stop.
More than 500 cars had stopped by Sun
day night at the rest stop located six miles
north of Bryan on Hwy. 6.
The rest stop, organized and manned by
members of the Bryan-College Station
Jaycees and REACT Chapters, was started
10 years ago as a public service by the
Jaycees.
REACT is a volunteer organization of
CB radio listeners who assist one another
rasoline storage unit still irks
ryan neighborhood residents
BY FRANK K. VASOVSKI
■ neighbors still complain of gasoline
[s, noise from nighttime traffic and ex
litter. But Broach Oil Co., Inc., a
jne storage facility at 3720 S. College
Bryan still operates out of the area it
ccupied for about 15 years,
lien Bryan voters turned down a zon-
faw proposal, 18 years ago, the oil
pnv built the facility at its present
lion. It is now surrounded by a dense-
[ipulated residential area.
I)ur installation includes two under-
Ind tanks with a total capacity of
|00 gallons, ” said Kelly Broach, owner
[efacility. Broach, a wholesale jobber
Imoco Oil Products, services 41 retail
ets. Petro Chemical Transportation,
, is his carrier.
tfost of our operations take place dur-
the ormal business hours,” Broach
There are instances, however, when
[sfer of the gasoline must be accom-
ped late in the evening or during the
jit. This tends to make such operations
fc difficult to control.
|tfy installation is just as safe as any
V plant of this type. Do you think that
Paid have my office next to the tanks if
Id any doubts about my own safety?”
Jroach pointed out the compound is
pally locked during the night and all
Mies and valves are secured with indi-
|ual padlocks.
In spite of these precautions, there
fe at least three instances of gasoline
[lage at the facility, the most serious
Having taken place on March 19 of this
flobert Blinka, a shift captain with
Ian Fire Department (BFD), recalls the
lident. “Somebody unloading the truck
J're left an overflow valve open,” he
id. ‘More than 300 gallons were spilled. ”
Lt. Marvin Jeske, Fire Station 2, BFD,
recalls that three trips were made to the
spillage area between the intital notifica
tion and the final mop-up at 7 a. m. the
following day. Sand and aqueous film foam
were used to control the spill. Jeske said a
considerable stretch of North Ave., and
some private property were affected by
the spill.
“Our backyard was drenched with
gasoline so that we had to replace our
lawn, said Larry Whitlock, 203 W. North
Ave. Whitlock’s property is located ap
proximately 120 yards from the spill
source. “We were reimbursed for this loss
but we still await the settlement of our
claim for the damage to a large tree in our
yard,” he added.
Bryan’s fire marshal, Raymond Janac,
also recalls at least two other previous
spills at the same facility.
Janac is responsible for periodic inspec
tions of the plant to insure compliance
with fire safety laws. He reports his find
ings to Hubert Nelson, director of plan
ning, traffic and inspections, for Bryan.
N elson confirmed the absence of a zon
ing code in Bryan. “While the facility is
legaly justified to operate in the area,”
Nelson said, “it’s operations must not af
fect the safety of other inhabitants.”
Nelson recalled that the construction of
a concrete tank to accommodate a possible
future spill was discussed after the March
19 incident. But he was unable to com
ment on the present status of that tank
because the final decision on this subject
rested with BFD.
The residences of Howard G. Paulsen,
3815 Ranger Drive, and Redge Crowder,
at 3813 of the same street, are located
along the west fence of the storage area.
The Paulsens moved into their home long
before the storage plant was built.
“We were at first somewhat uneasy
about the plant being our neighbor, but
now our existence is so much affected by
its presence that we cannot even use our
backyard for recreation because of the
gasoline fumes in the area,” a spokesper
son for the Paulsen family declared.
In spite of Paulsens’ repeated com
plaints about an “excessive noise during
the night operations of the plant” and
“vehicular traffic in the area during the
night,” such activities still continue.
“Had we known before the hardships
we have to deal with now, we would never
have moved into this area,” said a spokes
man for the Crowder family. Gasoline
fumes seep into their home “even when
doors and windows facing the storage facil
ity are closed, the spokesman said.
Both families complained also about “a
large amount of litter and rubbish in the
storage area.” They said the litter is not
only conducive to rodents and other pests
but also affects the value of their property
in the eyes of the real estate agents and
prospective buyers.”
Because our porperty is located well
below the level of the plant, our backyard
becomes a catch-it-all for all impurities
and precipitation flowing fr om it and con
verting our yard into a swamp,” said the
Crowder spokesman.
Broach dismisses his neighbors com
plaints as unwarranted. While he is aware
there is a bulk gasoline plant on Finfeather
Road in Bryan, he is reluctant to cease his
operation on Texas Avenue because of
business considerations.
“It would take approximately $55,000 to
relocate this plant and I just don’t have
that kind of money,” Broach said.
“I have taken all the necessary steps to
insure the safety of my operations,” he
continued, “and I intend to comply with
any additional safety requirements re
quested by an appropriate authority.
It's convenient, but . . .
The owner of this bicycle kept his vehicle safe yesterday by chaining
it (illegally) to a campus light post. Battalion photo by Dick Wells
in emergency situations. “This is a project
to serve the community by allowing
people to stop, rest and refresh them
selves and allow them to prepare for the
road ahead,” said Jay dee Craig Lauder
dale.
Coffee, punch, ice water and doughnuts
were provided free. A crew of windshield
,washers was on hand to wash the
windshields of those who stopped.
Emergencies and communications were
taken care of by the Bryan-College Station
REACT team. This was the first year
REACT worked with the Jaycees on the
project. REACT members monitored CB
radios 24 hours a day, responding to calls
from motorists with flat tires, empty fuel
tanks, and broken motors.
“We chased cows off the highway one
morning at two o’clock,” said Roy Wig
gins, a member of the REACT team.
The Jaycees amd REACT members
worked the rest stop in four hour shifts.
Some work for several shifts. “We try to
be of some assistance to the people. We
don’t mind giving up our weekends,” said
Jack Kees, A REACT team member.
Jaycee member Pat Shelbourne said
there is really no way to measure how
much good the Jaycees were doing in pre
venting accidents on the highways. How
ever, the Jaycees feel preventing even one
accident is worth the effort. “If we didn’t
think we were helping, we wouldn’t be
here,” said Shelbourne.
Five mistaken
as gangsters,
killed in attack
United Press International
SAN FRANCISCO — The five persons
slain in the Golden Dragon restaurant
massacre were the innocent victims of an
attack by three Chinatown youth gang
members bent on avenging the July 4
"firecracker shootings,” homicide inspec
tors have disclosed.
The ski-masked killers, who invaded the
popular restaurant early Sunday, had in
tended to assassinate “Wah Ching” gang
members who were there at the time.
Homicide Lt. Daniel Murphy told repor
ters yesterday.
Murphy said the killers belonged to
“Joe’s Boys,” also known as the “Joe Fong”
gang. He said they used a shotgun, au
tomatic weapon and pistol. They escaped
in a car, possibly driven by a fourth gang
member.
The attack was the result of several inci
dents of violence on Independence Day
when the two groups fought to gain con
trol of the illegal sale of fireworks. One
youth died and three others were
wounded in street violence in Chinatown
that day.