he Battalion
i/oi72 No. 133
iordforioieo Pages in 2 Sections
Thursday, April 12, 1979
College Station, Texas
News Dept. 845-2611
Business Dept. 845-2611
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By KEITH TAYLOR
Battalion Staff
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AerknocldiWSic, the amateur radio station of
lay' >xas U&M University, is still hard at
jrk, broadcasting to tornado-stricken
orth [Texas.
^ navid McCarty, chairman of the MSC
S(l iio Committee, said Wednesday night
I e club is now broadcasting personal in-
rmation into Wichita Falls.
People can call the committee and leave
l e {fflone numbers and addresses of
1 ends and relatives in Wichita Falls. The
fltfn bpl relay the numbers to Wichita
■wl WJdlBid the people will be sought.
HkiIso said the club has a map of the
1 RICHMiSfy marked with the path of the tornado
s Editor J ca ]l . - can find out where the tornado
The worst] |,ek.
'1 player is6THe [Radio Committee’s phone number
self a luncl] 845-7245.
ay of sayiijAs of Wednesday night, the committee
nynfore||d Bceived more than 200 calls since
job. iesda\
ows the sail McCarty said that the names of injured
because lit dead may not be broadcast according to
ago follows jderal Communications Commission
l jors and biles. He also said committee members
irown in to mid not say if a street was directly in the
ght after to th of the tornado, but they will give the
easons. idea of the severity of damage in the
have to cj ; a of t he street.
day, hutli “\Ve can’t be definite about damage or
or it yet, ury. Most of what we get back is that
oounced a >y are OK,” he said,
i clubs in tin fire club was handling first priority
jssages Tuesday night, he said. These
ginally m feages were used to coordinate relief
lim to theC orts between Dallas and Wichita Falls
him to the d to find out what supplies were
429 for the eded
orld Series,! Now four amateur radios are operating
wersandji Wichita falls through generator power,
er. Last Mij said. The radios are working in cooper-
o to the Ini |
ing out
d, he’s ba
Roger Cooper, an electrical engineering sopho
more from Midland, lies asleep on the floor of
WSAC’s radio room in the MSC after an all-night
vigil Tuesday. Cooper and other ham operators
helped to coordinate civil defense, the Red Cross
and the National Guard when normal communica
tions to the Wichita Falls area failed as a result of
tornadoes. W5AC is also relaying “health and wel
fare messages” to family and friends. Their phone
number is 845-7245. Battalion photo by Colin Crombie
ation with the Red Cross, Civil Defense,
the Texas Department of Public Safety and
the city government.
He said as far as he knew power had not
been restored as of 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The club will coninue to broadcast to
Wichita Falls until normal communica
tions are restored — at least another two
days, McCarty said.
“Most of the telephone exchanges are
open,” he said. “Only a couple were
knocked out, but long distance lines are
packed. We will be here as long as we
have work.”
About 20 people have been helping the
radio committee in their 24-hour -a-day ef
fort.
He said two students from Wichita Falls
came in to find about their families, then
stayed and worked.
(LB. Zachry says Kyle Field expansion
Kill finish on time — with new schedule
lere doesjl
ooking up) |r-
;ing his sod ■ #
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> Cardinals
a bigger la
te’s sayinj 1
tion thanffl■ By SCOTT D. HARINO
Battalion Reporter
draft this# The Kyle Field renovation project is
drafted ither five weeks behind, not behind at
d, Philader I or somewhere in between — depend-
e of them d ig on who’s talking.
so on Fell The project, which calls for a third deck
;h the seed nRth sides of Kyle Field, a new press
i you call tl» ox and two four-story buildings connect-
eally interfbg Kyle Field to G. Rollie White Col-
were tkeiieum. is being built by the H.B. Zachry
e. i°|struction Co. of San Antonio. The
bo finds so‘ompany bid $22,858,600 to do the work,
id. He sees H|e Texas Aggie football team was sup-
ue clubs li ped to open its 1979 home season Sept,
ed. Lastifagainst Brigham Young University. The
led Sox wa^wf the game was moved to Houston,
ind of s t r( 'H|b v er, when the contractors said they
me of their^Bd have trouble getting the stadium
le banner«gHy in time,
ou gone
ed it at
3 that, onlt' 1
ub draM
g it hard
what the
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ials and
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University of Houston game.
Kevin Patterson, vice president for stu
dent services in student government, told
the student senate last week that the
project was five weeks behind schedule.
He also said the construction company was
starting 20-hour work days six weeks
ahead of schedule to catch up.
H.B. Zachry, chairman of the board of
Zachry Construction Co., said that the
project was not behind schedule at all.
Zachry was in town Tuesday to give a
speech to the Business Student Council,
and he took time out to personally super
vise some of the work.
Zachry did say, however, that the 20-
hour work days were beginning six weeks
early.
“We’ve had a lot of bad weather and
want to be ready for any more.” Zachry
said there would be no problem getting
the project finished by Oct. 13.
Robert Evans, assistant manager of the
construction division of the Texas A&M
University System, said the Kyle Field
project was three to four weeks behind.
“They have been delayed by the bad
weather, even since the first of the year, ”
he said. In response to Zachry’s claim that
the job wasn’t behind schedule, Evans
said, “Well, a contractor’ll tell you that.”
Evans said that in addition to the
weather, some steel forms for pouring
concrete had not come in until last week.
Since they’re in, he said, “they should be
rolling now. ”
The engineering firm in charge of the
project, Lockwood, Andrews and New-
nam Inc., met Monday with John Mer
chant, manager of the construction divi
sion. Evans said that at the meeting some
changes were made in the plans and the
schedule was rewritten.
For example, Evans said, the construc
tion of the elevator to the press box was
simplified. He said the engineers decided
to scrap a more ornamental, time-
consuming method in order to finish the
job more quickly.
Patterson said that even though the
project was five weeks behind, the new
schedule is written so that construction is
not behind at all.
Athletic Director Marvin Tate said that
he wasn’t afraid of any delays. “I have an
awful lot of confidence in Mr. Zachry and
the Zachry people.”
Tate said that if the Oct. 13 game could
not be played in Kyle Field, they would
try to reschedule the game for December.
Time to register, get back in line
About 16,000 Texas A&M University
students are expected to preregister next
week for the fall 1979 semester.
Preregistration will begin at 8 a.m.
Monday and close at 5 p.m. Friday.
The procedure goes like this:
After choosing their courses and time
schedules, students should report to their
major departments and pick up their card
packets.
Next, students should fill out all the
cards except the course request card.
which must be filled out and signed by a
department adviser.
Students should then turn in their card
packets at the exhibit hall in Rudder
Tower, where ID photographs will be
taken.
Fee statements will be mailed to stu
dents at their permanent home addresses
around July 10. Students must mail in
their fee payments by Aug. 1 or their pre
registration may be canceled.
Fall semester classes are scheduled to
begin Sept. 3.
House barely loses chance
to outlaw state income tax
, ii
1 it
——————^ ^SaSI^Hot^^eRoy Leschper Jr.
i]K° r ^ er atop the P art, y constructed addition on Kyle Field s west s
Mouetted by the evening sun. The bundles of structural steelwUI term
5 backbone of massive concrete pillars supporting the addition.
United Press International
AUSTIN — A San Antonio legislator,
close to seeing passage of his constitutional
amendment prohibiting the state from
adopting a tax on personal or corporate in
come, watched an opportunity slip away
and now the measure faces a dim future.
The constitutional amendment by Rep.
Al Brown, D-San Antonio, was tentatively
approved Wednesday by the House 86-45,
but he needs 100 votes for final passage.
Constitutional amendments require two-
thirds approval from the House’s 150
members.
On Tuesday Brown’s proposal drew 99
votes on tentative approval. But instead of
trying to secure a final vote Wednesday,
he chose to have Tuesday’s vote reconsid
ered, and he lost 13 votes. He now has one
more attempt — if he chooses — to try and
pass the measure.
Brown, insisting the constitutional
amendment is needed to protect future
Texas citizens from overburdening taxes,
argued Rep. John Bryant, alias, and other
opponents had weakened his proposal
with an amendment stating that if the state
ever adopted an income tax, the revenue
would be used only for reduction of state
and local property taxes.
“This is about the best shug job I’ve
seen here,” Brown said.
Bryant said he opposed any kind of state
income tax but insisted Brown’s proposal
could jeopardize the state’s financial fu
ture.
“We re narrowing our tax base ... in the
future if we need revenue, we ll have no
thing left but property tax. It doesn’t make
any sense,’’ he said. “I don’t think
homeowners and farmland owners ought
to pay all the taxes. ”
Earlier during the almost day-long de
bate, Rep. Craig Washington, D-Houston,
submitted an amendment to impose taxes
on gross receipts from the sale of goods,
services and insurance policies.
But Washington’s amendment drew
harsh criticism from members who said it
was contrary to the proposal’s intent and it
was tabled 70-61.
Washington insisted the bill would
abolish taxes that already exist.
“This is just like cheap insurance,” Wil
son said. “It gives it to you in big print,
and takes it away in little print. It’s still a
tax. What difference does it make if it is
gross or income (tax)?”
The worm turns
Why are these somewhat dis
gusting inch worms are all over
the area? No one is quite sure,
but they’ll probably be here
another two to three weeks. See
details on page 5.
Tornado sites
yield more dead
United Press International
WICHITA FALLS — Storm-stunned
residents of “tornado alley” Wednesday
found more bodies amid the tons of shat
tered and twisted debris left by the most
devastating and deadly tornado to strike
the state in the past quarter century.
A Texas National Guard spokesman re
ported at least 61 people, 45 of them in
Wichita Falls, died during a frightful af
ternoon and evening of weather violence
and said the death toll was likely to rise
throughout the day.
Twelve bodies were found in Vernon,
50 miles to the west, one in Harrold, 20
miles east of Vernon, and three in Lawton,
Okla., 60 miles north of Wichita Falls.
At least 600 persons were hospitalized,
two dozen of them mangled and in critical
condition.
Power, water and telephone services
were knocked out to the devastated com
munities. A 4-year-old girl died on an
operating table at Wichita Falls’ Bethania
Hospital during emergency surgery when
the storm cut off the power.
While rescue workers hunted for
victims, guarded against looters and at
tempted to restore services and communi
cations in the hard hit towns Wednesday,
more tornadoes struck the East Texas
communities of Sulphur Springs and
Mahoney. But no one was killed or injured
and damage was reported light in the new
twisters.
The National Weather Service said the
storm system that formed Tuesday’s tor
nadoes likely would generate other twis
ters as it moved to the northeast out of the
state.
Tornadoes are a familiar sight to resi
dents of the Wichita Falls-Vernon area
during the spring. The first 10 days of
April are considered prime time for twis
ters in a state that leads the nation annu
ally in total number of tornadoes.
But the funnel that dipped from a storm
blackened sky at dusk Tuesday was more
than anyone in “tornado alley” had ever
seen before.
“My God it was huge,” said Ellen Gaha-
gan, who escaped injury by hiding in her
bathtub. “When you’re laying on your
stomach with stuff falling all over you, you
don’t feel like you’re going to make it.”
According to NWS storm forecasters,
the gigantic storm was a half mile at its
base and stretched three miles upwards
into the clouds. For six miles it wantonly
skipped about the city, engulfing whole
neighborhoods and lifting them skyward
and while leaving others totally un
touched.
The wind-driven debris became deadly
shrapnel. A Lawton woman was taken to a
hospital in critical condition with a three-
foot 2-by-4 plank driven through her ab
domen. Cattle grazing in nearby pastures
were impaled with fragments of splintered
trees.
Gov. Bill Clements, who flew to
Wichita Falls in a National Guard helicop
ter to survey the scene, said the storm may
have inflicted as much as $300 million in
damage. He said he would ask President
Carter to declare the city as a disaster
area.
The American Red Cross sent food,
water and personnel from dozens of
neighboring communities and established
two shelters for the thousands of home
less. Pleas were made for clothing and
more supplies.
Heavily armed National Guardsmen
and DPS patrolmen patrolled the streets
for looters. A spokesman said there were
“12 minor incidents” of looting early
Wednesday morning, but no arrests had
been made.
Jack Hales, a severe storm forecaster
with the NWS in Kansas City, Mo., said
the storm system produced the deadliest
tornadoes since April 3, 1974, when 313
persons died in Ohio, Kentucky, Alabama
and Tennessee.
The last major tornado to hit Wichita
Falls killed seven people and injured 111
on April 3, 1964. The one Tuesday was the
worst in the state since a mammoth storm
roared through Waco in 1953, killing 114.
Where Tornadoes Occur Most Often
Average frequency of tornadoes per 50-mile square (2,500 sq. miles)
3 to 4 a year
2 to 3 a year
1 to 2 a year
1 every two years to 1 a year
Courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The verticle white line indicates the “tornado alley, where tornadoes are
most likely to occur.
Twister season here
Experts don’t know cause
By KEITH TAYLOR
Battalion Staff
Every season spawns its own type of
storm.
Summer in Texas brings the threat of
hurricanes, winter brings snows, fall has
cold, driving rain, and spring brings one of
the most frightening and destructive —
the tornado.
The tornado that hit Wichita Falls
Tuesday killing at least 61 people has once
again made the possibility of a tornado a
frightening reality.
Dr. Kenneth C. Brundidge, head of the
department of meteorology at Texas A&M
University, said the cause of tornadoes is
not known. He said it is theorized that the
same conditions cause both severe thun
derstorms and tornadoes.
The storms and tornadoes that struck
North Texas and South Oklahoma were
caused by a collision of warm, moist air
sucked from the Gulf of Mexico and dry,
cold air from the jet stream pushed south
by a westerly front.
He said as the spring and summer
progress, the jet stream will move north
ward as the number of cold fronts de
creases, so the number of severe thun
derstorms and tornadoes will decrease.
Brundidge said tornadoes are almost al
ways associated with cold front storms.
The thunder storms Texas experiences in
the summertime rarely spawn tornadoes.
He said these thunderstorms are caused
by warm air rising from the surface of the
earth causing the formation of cumulo
nimbus clouds commonly known as thun-
derheads. These storms are isolated and
highly disorganized — usually unable to
produce tornadoes like the highly or
ganized cold front storms.
The destructiveness of a tornado is
caused by two factors, the 100-300 mph
swirling winds and the sudden drops in
atmospheric pressure that the tornado
causes.
“Texas Weather,” a book written by
meteorologists Harold Taft and Ron God-
bey, says a 10 percent reduction in pres
sure caused by a tornado is sufficient to
exert a force of 212 pounds per square foot
on the walls of a house and a force of 106
tons on the ceiling. This is enough to cause
a house to literally explode. The high
winds then carry the debris away.
One of the main dangers of a tornado is
that it cannot be predicted. Meteorologists
can recognize conditions that will spawn a
tornado, but they cannot tell where it will
strike.
The safest thing to do is listen for tor
nado watches and if one is given, prepare
for the worst.
A tornado watch means conditions are
right for a tornado to be produced.
A tornado warning means one has been
spotted in the vicinity.
In their book, Taft and Godbey say the
basement of a house offers the greatest
safety- If ike house has no basement, go to
the center of the house, on the lowest
floor, in a small room, such as a closet or
bathroom. They also advise opening win
dows, so inside and outside pressure can
equalize, reducing the possibility of the
house exploding.