Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 31, 1978)
The Battauon Vol. 71 No. 126 8 Pages Friday, March 31, 1978 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Inside Friday: City election endorsements, p. 2. Eurocommunism discussed, p. 3. Injury-ridden Ags go to Waco, p. 6. unitepmINEvjc^;-:-> ItEAOQUartkk; Commons area has fire defenses By LINDA SULLIVAN As it stands, half of the residents of the Commons area dormitory complex at Jexos A&M University have but two de- Ses in case of fire: evacuate or make a one call. |i campus-wide effort by physical plant Hials to change the locks on all equip- mffit rooms has left Krueger and Dunn dolnitories without access to fire extin- jiishers. All four of the five-pound carbon Ride fire extinguishers have been kept inaii handler rooms. But starting a month | plant officials have been changing the lock' — and no one nearby has the keys. ifhe only person around with the keys is ■ coordinator Glenn Ferris. However, Ferris office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. — I lie's not always there. Hire extinguishers were placed by the [Iilversity Health and Safety office to spe- liully combat the hazard of electrical res in the facilities rooms. Some Com- nons resident advisers, however, said lies were under the impression the extin- ;uisliers were available for use throughout pe dorms. Ferris estimated this year’s total fire Riage for the Commons to be less than BO, but admits he will feel “more com fortable with accessory fire prevention equipment available. Thirty-eight ten- pound fire extinguishers have been re quested from the Office of Student Affairs at a total cost of $750. Each resident ad viser is supposed to have an extinguisher in their room soon, Ferris said. He couldn’t estimate the time. The dry chem ical fire extinguishers will handle assorted types of fires, including electrical fires. Resident advisers may or may not re ceive formal procedure instructions in case of a dorm fire. “Normally, at the first of the year our office is asked to hold meetings with resi dent advisers to go through the steps of fire prevention, but some of the dorms have not done this, ’ said Harry Stiteler, safety coordinator for the department of facilities. Standard procedure for a dorm fire dic tates the resident adviser telephone the campus emergency switchboard (5-1111), resident advisers have been told. The switchboard is located in the radio room of the physical plant and manned 24 hours by operators. Calls are monitored by the University police who are usually dispatched to de termine the credibility of the call, Stiteler said. After receiving an emergency call, plderly couple, dog scape burning house An elderly couple watched their house lirn to the ground Thursday night. Mr. |n8 Mrs. Walter Clay, and a pet dog, es- ■ed without injury from their burning Rod frame house three-fourths mile from Wtllborn Road, according to fire reports. ! A neighbor, Ray Waley, alerted the Col- R Station Fire Department at 9:08. Two Sucks $nd eight firemen were dispatched follie blaze. ■on Garrison, College Station Fire De- ■tment inspector, declined to give the Ilse of the fire although he said an inves- Sation would follow. in a bathroom closet. Gary Faulkner, a neighbor, said, “I heard a noise that sounded like shooting a gun. When I walked up I saw flames shooting from the front of the house.’ A propane gas tank, approximately 8 feet from the bouse, was the major cause of concern to the firemen, said Garrison. The tank had to be cooled by a water spray to prevent a possible explosion, he said. Property loss was valued at $30,000, and $4,000 in cash was lost in the fire, said reports. Firemen remained at the scene until 11:30 p.m. while the charred remains of the house smouldered . the operator decides whether to call the fire or police department, he said. After the emergency phone call is placed, evacuation begins. No formal es cape plan exists, but resident advisers have been told to warn as many residents as possible without endangering their own lives. The Commons dorm complex was con structed with a built-in fire detection and alarm system. Panels in each of the four head resident advisers’ offices and one at the front reception desk flash lights pin pointing the fire location. This allows for early detection and prevents an uncon trollable blaze. But the system isn’t fail safe. An over-heated clothes dryer in Krueger Hall burned during the summer of 1977, causing an estimated $500 in fire damage. Smoke was seen billowing out of the dorm, but the panels did not sbow the fire’s source. The light panels have been most accur- age in determining trash bin fires, the most frequent type of dorm fire. Ferris said the problem is most prevalent in Dunn Hall, where six trash fires have oc curred this year. “I don’t want to call it arson,” he said, “but many times I believe the fires were set intentionally. Last week, there were two trash chute fires, one in Dunn Hall, and one in Hughes Hall (a north area dorm). If resi dent advisers are sure the fire is confined to a trash bin, they are able to put it out themselves via a water hose located in each trash chute room. Stiteler said improvements to the fire protection equipment at the Univerity are now being planned. A 1977 summer fire of undetermined cause in the basement of the Memorial Studnet Center prompted University offi cials to appropriate $400,000 to improve the campus fire precaution system. Cur rently, there are more than 5,500 fire ex tinguishers across the campus which are inspected and tagged monthly by the Fire Protection Division of the physical plant, y “The money will go for detection sys tems similar to the Commons equipment, ’’ Stiteler said, “to shorten the time it takes for evacuation.” Is it worth it? This father-son team seems to ponder the need for license plate stickers as they take part in the annual courthouse waiting game. April 1 is the last day to replace the stickers, but most tax assessor- collectors won’t be open Saturday. So County residents are waiting in line up hours to buy the stickers. Battalion photo by Lee Roy Lesehper Jr. Brazos to four e Duke hospitalized; heart surgery rumored 1 BOSTON United Press International A spokesman for Massa chusetts General Hospital today would neither confirm nor deny reports that actor John Wayne will undergo heart [surgery for replacement of an aorta valve. ■A Boston television station, WNAC-TV, Says the actor will undergo the operation Saturday morning. ■The station says Dr. Mortimer Buckley, ineart specialist at MGH, will do the op- er.it ion. R“I cannot tell you anything except that he is in the hospital and it is not cancer nr related,” hospital spokesman Martin Ban der said today. “If I were to conform that it was heart surgery then it would no longer be a rumor,” Bander said. Dr. Buckley, who resides in Boston, could not be immediately reached for comment today. Wayne lost a lung to cancer in 1964, and recently had a bout with pneumonia. Wayne; who will turn 71 next May, was admitted late Wednesday. Bander said the actor, who has appeared in more than 200 films in 50 years, has requested total pri vacy. Trial continues Girlfriend testifies that Coleman had Baugh’s credit cards By TERESA HUDDLESTON W T alter Joe Coleman’s girlfriend told the court Thursday that Coleman gave her several credit cards that belonged to Lawrence Baugh. Coleman, 19, is on trial in the 85th Dis trict Court for the Jan. 12, 1977 shooting death of Baugh. His girlfriend told the court that Coleman had come to her house the night of Jan . 13th and told her he was afraid for Baugh because he thought a man named Richard might have killed him. Coleman, for the first time, avoided any eye contact with the witness. Instead he kept his head down with his face hidden behind his hand. His girlfriend testified that she had given the credit cards to her mother a couple of days later and that her mother had given them to Detective Bobby Yeager. Thomas Whitlock told the court that Coleman had purchased gas with Baugh’s credit card on Jan. 12 at a station where Whitlock was employed. He said he had known Coleman before but had never Denise Nankivell waits for her mother to put one more cherry on her plate at Wednesday’s Battalion photo by Mary Alice Woodhams March of Dimes luncheon at the Ramada Inn. Denise is the 1978 National Poster Child. Poster child likes publicity, travel, cherries By MARY ALICE WOODHAMS Battalion Staff Five-year-old Denise Nan kivell likes...Shaun Cassidy and Mickey Mouse and marischino cherries on her fruit salad. She also likes traveling with her mother on behalf of the March of Dimes, and all the at tention that goes with being 1978 National Poster Child. Denise’s trip to College Sta tion Wednesday was just one of 26 stops in Texas this week. She says she sometimes gets tired, but to see her running around the dining room of the Ramada Inn, you’d never know it. Denise has vitamin D-resistant rickets, and until re cently she walked with the help of leg braces. Treatment, how ever, has improved her condition and the braces have been re moved for a trial period. The March of Dimes pays for the medicine she needs — about $50 worth a day. Usually, Denise meets the likes of Arnold Palmer, Shann Cassidy, and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders (Cowgirls, as she puts it). But in College Station, she met members of the Corps of Cadets, who are trying to raise $10,000 Saturday by marching to the Brazos River. The money will be donated to the March of Dimes. The organization’s local chap ter held a luncheon for Denise and her party, at which she wore an Aggie t-shirt and learned a new trick...the gig-em sign. known his name. The defense objected to Whitlock’s tes timony saying it was evidence relating to extraneous matters. Judge Barron over ruled the motion. Also giving testimony Thursday was Coleman’s roommate at the time of Baugh’s death, Ahmed Cherrak. Cherrak said he had lived with Baugh for eight months before he began living with Cole man, and had introduced Coleman to Baugh. Cherrak said that on the night of Jan. 12 about 10:30, Coleman came home and told him he had killed Baugh. He said Cole man told him he had gone to Baugh’s to pay back some money. Coleman told him Baugh had made sexual advances towards him and he had kicked Baugh in the neck and broken it. Cherrak said Coleman then told him he had wrapped Baugh in a blanket and taken him to the Navasota River. He said Cole man wanted him to help burn Baugh’s car. Cherrak said he refused and urged Cole man to go to the police. Cherrak said that he and Coleman went to talk to some friends of Cherrak. Cole man told them the same story, he said. Cherrak said he talked to his friends about Coleman and they decided to tell the police. “I was worried about Larry (Baugh). I though he might still be alive, Cherrak said. Cherrak said one of his friends went to tell the police and he and his other friend waited with Coleman. Mike Mansfield was working next door to Baugh’s house on Jan. 12, 1977. He told the court that on that day Coleman arrived at Baugh’s house about ten minutes before Baugh came home from work. He said Coleman went to the back yard of Baugh’s house. A few minutes later he heard an explosion, Mansfield said. He said he recognized the sound as that of a small caliber gun. Mansfield said Coleman came around the side of the house and told Mansfield he had shot off a firecracker. Mansfield tes tified that the sound he heard was defi nitely that of a small caliber gun. He said he knew because he had been handling guns since he was nine years old. On cross-examination. Defense Attor ney Fred Davis pointed out that in the statement Mansfield gave on Jan. 20, 1977, he said the sound could have been from a firearm or firecracker. Dr. J. C. Lee testified there was no way to determine the actual time of death through the Jan. 15, 1977 autopsy because the water in the river was so cold the body was preserved. Lee said Baugh died of the gunshot would to the back of the head and there we no signs that drowning had as sisted in the death. Testimony will continue at 9 a.m. today. Lack of communication causes delay during fire By DANA GARDINA A call to the College Station Fire Department during the March 23 fire in Hughes Hall was delayed 12 minutes because of a lack of communication in the call to the campus emergency dispatcher. According to Gene Oates, resident hall safety and maintenance supervisor, Lee Harvey, head resident for Hughes Hall, called 845-1111, the fire emergency number. This number connected Harvey with the police emergency dispatcher and the radio room in the Physical Plant (campus emergency dispatcher). The dispatcher in the radio room delayed the call to the fire department because she assumed the call to the fire department would be taken care of by the police department. Police investigated the fire, then reported to the radio room to call the fire department. Fire engines arrived at Hughes Hall within six minutes and the fire was out in 20 minutes. If the R. A. had called 845-4311, the general emergency number, she would have reached the radio room only. The radio room would then contact the fire depart ment and the police department. “Either number should have worked. Oates said. “By talking to two people you get twice the error probability.” “The system failed, Oates said. “Nothing was really hurt, but that’s not the way the system’s supposed to work."