73
The Battalion
Tuesday, December 13, 1977
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
Inside Today:
Equality: who gets the short end, p.
2.
Retirement: Supreme Court rules
for early exit, p. 3.
Athletics: a look behind the $3 mil
lion jocks, p. 8.
Fall freshmen to find new
parking policy in effect
By KIM TYSON
Battalion Campus Editor
Next fall’s crop of freshmen, except
women dormitory students, will be parking
their cars across Wellborn Road, said
Glenn Ferris, chairman of the University
Traffic Panel, Monday.
The new policy will require off-campus
freshmen and on-campus freshmen men to
park in lots 56, 61 and 63 during the day.
The policy was approved Dec. 1 by Dr.
John Koldus, vice president for student
services.
Ferris said that parking assignments will
be shifted for other students, but lots have
not yet been determined.
“We felt that freshmen should have less
priority on parking,” Ferris said. “But we
didn’t want to ban them from having cars.
“We felt the best solution would be to
have them park in the less desirable
spaces. ”
Ferris said that since the policy is only for
“business” hours, 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.,
off-campus women who must park in the
lots will not need extra security.
The policy is designed to help off-campus
upperclassmen park closer during the day,
he said.
“Essentially after normal working hours,
off-campus or dorm students can then park
in all but a few lots on campus, ” Ferris said.
Ferris said if the on-campus shuttle bus
is successful in the spring, the bus service
will help these students get to class easier.
The bus route goes by these lots.
Another change next fall will be volun
tary bicycle registration, Ferris said.
He said that the $1.50 fee will be drop
ped to encourage more bike registration.
The University currently requires all bikes
to be registered.
Ferris said earlier the fee was required to
pay for permit cost and processing. How
ever, he said the total amount collected was
nominal, and bike registration will now be
provided as a service to help prevent bike
theft.
Another proposed change is the addition
of some 500 spaces to Lot 50, near the
Zachry Engineering Center. Ferris said
that assignments have not been approved
yet, but the lot will probably be for day
students.
The proposal is awaiting the Board of
Regents’ approval.
Strike scheduled for tomorrow
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attalion photo by Mary Elliot
Posing ’possum
Playing ’possum isn’t going to help senior Eva Sharp escape finals,
although it is a new excuse. Eva and her pet opossum Virgil posed
during an afternoon stroll across campus Monday.
Over a half million in livestock
United Press International
American Agriculture leaders have
asked to plead their case before a joint
session of Congress today on the eve of
the scheduled first nationwide farmers’
strike.
“We wish to convey that the United
States is facing a crisis unprecedented in
American history,” American Agriculture
spokesmen said in a telegram sent to the
nation’s capital Monday.
“If you allow this nation to face famine,
mass unemployment and economic chaos,
unparalleled in American history, the Con
gress has failed the American people and
must face the responsibility.”
Keith Thomas, a founder of the maverick
strike movement, said farm leaders want to
meet with President Carter before the
strike is to begin Wednesday, but there has
been no action from the White House.
Thomas said strike leaders hoped last
weekend’s demonstrations by thousands of
formers at state capitals across the country
would sway the president to meet with ag
ricultural leaders.
Leslie Bitner, an American Agriculture
leader in Washington, D. C., said the strike
will begin at midnight tonight with 50 trac
tors symbolizing the nation’s states being
driven around the White House.
The farmers, burdened with low prices
for their products, want 100 percent parity,
which would give them at least a break
even price for crops.
Farmers from at least 35 states met in
Denver Monday to discuss the strike. It
was the first meeting of its kind by mem
bers of American Agriculture, a grassroots
movement that began 91 days ago in
Springfield, Colo.
“The consensus is they are not going to
buy, not going to sell, not going to buy any
agricultural equipment and no production
supplies,” said Bob Keenan, an American
Agriculture spokesman.
Many of the farmers have mortgages or
outstanding loans, but Keenan said they
will solve the problem by getting loans
from the federal government.
The collateral, he said, will be the farm
products that farmers will refuse to sell.
“The way this new farm bill is set up, it
gives the family farmer an out,” said
Keenan. “He can get government loans on
his grain, and he can give that money to the
banker or his financing company and take
some of the pressure off. ”
Farmers in the West have already
planted their winter grain and are now in
their slowest season. Keenan and other
American Agriculture leaders say the
wheat can be harvested, stored and used
for collateral to get more government
loans.
Hawaiians have longer life
expectancies, statistics show
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Hawaiians live
longer than Americans living in any other
state; and residents of the nation’s capital
have the shortest life expectancy — two
years lower than in any other state — the
National Center for Health Statistics said
today.
The figures, based on the decade ending
in 1971, also found the life expectancy of a
black man in America fell to 60 years for the
same decade — well below the average life
expectancy for all races. Black women av
eraged 68.3 years for the same period.
Current life expectancy in the United
States for all races is 69 years for a man and
Earthworms: fun for student rancher
Domta^ 81 ,
Arcing
By PEGGY EMERSON
“I have over a million head of livestock
nd a half acre of land and I’m not over-
tocked,’’ says Charles Whitton, a senior
nimal science major at Texas A&M Uni-
ersity.
Whitton, a worm rancher, raises earth
worms for fun and money.
“I saw an ad in the Bryan Eagle last year
bout worm ranching,’ he says. “I had
ever thought about raising worms before,
ut I did research on worms for six weeks
nd decided to get into the business.
‘My banker really looked at me funny
dien I told him I needed some money to
uy worms, but I had done research and
lad everything written down to show him I
ould make money;’’ he says.
Mike Turner, a friend and worm-
anching partner, kept the worms in his
ard until he graduated from Texas A&M in
day 1977, with a degree in agriculture en-
jneering. Turner later moved to South
ixas.
Whitton and his wife decided to buy a
louse in Bryan with a half acre lot so he
vould have a place to keep his worms.
“One nice thing about the worms is that
ou don’t hear from your neighbors about
ets making noise, Whitton says.
“The worms are a good way to meet
people. We met all of our neighbors be
cause they came over to ask us what we
have in our yard,” says Whitton’s wife
Charlotte, a senior accounting major.
“The worms are disease-free arid are
easy to take care of,” Whitton says. “Dur
ing the summer I killed about 25 grass
snakes in the worms beds. When I found
the snakes they were full and contended.
The only other real problem is mites, but
I can control that.”
Whitton keeps his worms in eight-foot
wooden beds. He says he started with
about 500,000 worms and 10 beds, but has
split the beds and now has 20. This month
he will split them again for 40 beds.
“Their reproductive rate makes a rabbit
look slow,” Whitton says. “They are bisex
ual so of course any two will do. You can
wait 60 days and split the box or you can
harvest them every 30 days.
Whitton sells his worms wholesale for $2
to $3.50 per pound and can harvest 10-20
pounds from each bed per month.
He covers the top of the beds with thick
straw mats to protect the worms from the
sun. And when it rains, he covers them
with plastic sheets to keep them from
crawling out.
“I’m conditioned to wake up when it
76.7 for a woman.
Hawaii not only had an average life ex
pectancy for both sexes of 73.6 years, but it
also was the state with the smallest differ
ence between, the life expectancy of men
and women. Hawaiian women still could,
expect to live 5.77 years longer than a man
during the decade studied, statistics
showed.
The center could not explain why
Hawaiians live longer.
In the District of Columbia, the average
life expectancy for both sexes was 65.7
years. The closest competitor for the lowest
life expectancy was South Carolina, with a
life expectancy of 67.96 years for both
sexes.
Comparing the decade ending in 1961
with the decade ending in 1971, the center
found a shift in longevity among states.
The states with the longest life expec
tancy for the decade ending in 1961 were
Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and
North Dakota in that order. For the decade
ending in 1971, the top five were Hawaii,
Minnesota, Utah, North Dakota and Ne
braska.
California, the nation’s most populous
state, ranked 17th among the 50 states for
life expectancy. Men and women lived 71.7
years, not as long as residents of Washing
ton state but longer than Vermonters, who
ranked 18th.
Improvements in ranking on average life
expectancy were made by Arizona and New
Jersey, while Kentucky and West Virginia
slipped in relative rankings in the compari
son between decades.
All 50 states recorded some increase in
life expectancy.
The center tried to explain statistically
the virtues of Hawaii for longer life, but had
to rule out such factors as ethnic composi
tion of the island state,
“It is clear that Hawaii’s males have a
commanding advantage over males in other
states in the age-adjusted death rates for all
causes and for diseases of the circulatory
system,” the report concluded.
But it said further examination of the
information “has failed to reveal any spe
cific causes that play a major role in differ
entiating the males of Hawaii from those of
other states.”
Dormitory fire kills
seven, 16 injured
starts raining at night. Also, I watch be
tween classes to see if it’s going to rain. I’ve
gone home in the middle of the day to cover
them with plastic,” he says.
“Worms take a lot of time but I was raised
on a farm and missed working with animals,
and with worms I can run my own busi-
He says few people realize how impor
tant worms are to the soil or that worms are
a good source of protein for humans.
“I ate a cookie made with worms and
they weren’t bad at all. They had sort of an
oatmeal flavor with the consistency of
bacon bits. They are okay if you don’t think
about what you are eating,” he says.
United Press International
PROVIDENCE, R. I. — Seven
Providence College students were killed
early today — two by jumping out windows
— in a fire that swept the top floor of a
women’s dormitory. At least 16 persons
were injured, authorities said.
One student was dead on arrival at Roger
Williams Hospital. The other six bodies
were taken to a makeshift morgue in the
campus chapel and later transferred to the
state morgue.
School officials said two of the students
died when they leaped from their top-story
window to the ground.
At least 15 students and one fireman
were admitted to local hospitals after the
four alarm blaze.
The fire broke out about 3 a.m. in one
section of the fourth floor of Aquinas Hall.
The cause was under investigation. School
officials refused comment on reports that
the building, which housed 150-200 stu
dents, had no sprinkler system.
Students aided firemen by hauling
hoses, moving parked cars and helping
raise ladders to those who stood at upper
windows screaming for help.
“Seven to 10 girls were at the windows
screaming “Get us down.’ There were not
enough engines to get them down. Kids
from the dorms helped put up ladders to
get them out and brought blankets for the
girls who were burned,” said sophomore
John Colusardo of Garrison, N.Y.
Fire officials did not indicate the cause of
the fire, which began about 3 a.m. and was
brought under control in about an hour.
rogress reported in miners’ strike
United Press International
Coal industry and union negotiators re
torted progress on major issues in strike
A togotiations, while roving caravans of
f Jnited Mine Workers members forced the
liutdown of several non-union operations
n Appalachia.
Vandalism was reported Monday in
'ennsylvania, arrests were made in In
liana and non-union coal was dumped in
entucky, where UMW pickets closed
on-union mines in at least six counties.
“We’ve just got pickets running out of
Ur ears. They’re trying to shut down ev-
hing,” state police at Pikeville, Ky.,
id.
In Utah, the scene of most of the labor
trife, a coal-hauling railroad and three
ion-union mines sought relief from the
tourts, charging that pickets prevented
roduction and movement of coal during
he week-long UMW strike.
In Lawrence County, Pa., on the Ohio
border, a group of about 25 men with crow
bars damaged four heavy machines at a
non-union strip mine owned by Ralph
Zeon, Inc. The company estimated $12,000
damage was caused to two bulldozers, a
dragline and a frontloader.
Hundreds of pickets from West Virginia
showed up at non-union operations in
western Penrisylvania, most of them at
mines in Clarion County. One non-union
source estimated there were about 600
West Virginia pickets in Clarion County
alone. A non-union mine in Mercer
County, Pa., closed “voluntarily.”
Seven people were arrested in Spencer
County, Ind., where helmeted state police
with riot sticks maintained order when
about 500' strikers converged at a non
union loading dock on the Ohio River. The
seven were ordered to pay $229 each in
fines and costs on disorderly conduct
charges.
Kentucky state police estimated about
200 autos carrying hundreds of striking
miners entered eastern Kentucky from
Ohio and picketed non-union operations.
Two shots were fired at mining equip
ment at the Canada Coal Co. in Kimper,
Ky., but no one was injured.
Pickets forced the drivers of two trucks to
dump 60 tons of non-union coal on a high
way near Catlettsburg, Ky. “They told
them to dump it, and they dumped it,” a
state trooper said.
The strike by approximately 188,000
miners in 22 states began Dec. 6 when the
UMW’s three-year contract with the
Bituminous Coal Operators Association
expired.
Negotiations for both sides met for two
hours Monday in Washington and recessed
for an indefinite period to allow both sides
to reassess their positions.
“We’re making progress and moving,”
UMW president Arnold Miller said.
Strict fuel standards
proposed for 1980 cars
United Press Internationa]
WASHINGTON — So many
people are using pickup trucks, vans
and jeeps as everyday passenger ve
hicles that strict new fuel economy
standards are needed in the 1980
model year, the Transportation De
partment says.
While the proposed changes
would add as much as $160 to the
showroom price of each vehicle, con
sumers would find the higher cost
more than offset by a reduction of
$760 in fuel bills over a vehicle’s
12-year lifetime, transportation
analysts said.
Joan Claybrook, head of the de
partment’s National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, proposed the
improved standards Monday. The
changes would save an estimated 12
billion gallons of fuel, worth a total of
$2.7 billion, she said.
The new proposal, covering three
times as many vehicles as the current
1979 standards, would require fuel
economy improvements by 1981 —
ranging from 12 percent in vehicles
with two-wheel drive to 20 percent
in those with four-wheel drive.
Analysts said the biggest economy
improvement — 25 percent of the
total — would result from switching
to diesel engines. Other savings
could be achieved through better
transmissions, advanced engine de
signs, new lubricants and stream
lined bodies, officials said.
Ms. Claybrook scheduled a public
hearing in Washington Jan 16 on the
proposed standards and said written
comments can be submitted to her
office through Jan. 26.
The existing standard applies to all
1979 vans and utility vehicles with a
loaded gross weight of up to 6,000
pounds. It requires vehicles with
two-wheel drive to average 17.2
miles per gallon and those with
four-wheel drive to average 15.8
mpg.
The new proposal would apply to
vehicles with gross weights up to
8,500 pounds, tripling the number of
vehicles covered, Ms. Claybrook
said.