The Battalion
Vol. 73 No. 14 Friday, September 21, 1979 USPS 045 360
12 Pages College Station, Texas Phone 845-2611
Weather
Fair to partly cloudy skies with mild temperatures.
High today low to mid 80’s with the low tonight near
60. Winds will be 8-12 m.p.h. diminishing in the
evening.
1
A crane which broke Thursday at the Kyle Field Construction
site is supported by another crane in the foreground. Project
Superintendent V. W. Hall said the accident will not cause any
major setbacks in the construction schedule.
Duplex foreclosures
causes trouble for tenants
By NANCY ANDERSEN
Battalion Reporter
Some Texas A&M University students
living in duplexes on Georgia Street in
College Station are having trouble figuring
out where to send their rent checks for
September.
The 28 duplexes are owned by Personal
In vestment Properties (PIP), a
California-based firm. They are managed
by A&M Realty.
On Aug. 29, tenants found letters taped
to their doors stating the duplexes were
being foreclosed on. They told the tenants
their status would not be affected, but that
all future rent should be made payable to
Jerry Bishop and Lenard Millsap.
Tenants questioning A&M Realty about
the letter were told to ignore it and pay
their September rent to PIP.
Tenants who paid PIP received a second
letter from Bishop and Millsap on Sept.
10. It said that unless tenants paid the two
men immediately, they would be evicted.
The only explanation for the change in
ownership was a quote from the Deed of
Trust, stating the holder of the mortgage
may collect rent in the event of any default
in the payment of the note.
Tenants’ reactions to the letter differed.
“I thought it was a big joke — someone
trying to get some money and skip town,”
tenant Bill Heath said. “I just blew it off.”
Ted Krum said he was upset and didn’t
know what to do.
Kim Elliston, a junior Animal Science
major, said she was scared by the letter,
and went to A&M Realty for an explana
tion.
A&M Realty associate Marielene Far
rar, who also manages the duplexes, told
tenants that Bishop and Millsap were
entitled to the rent and their checks would
be held until the matter is settled.
Bishop and Millsap hold a wrap-around
mortgage on the duplexes, Farrar said.
This, she explained, means PIP makes
payments to Bishop and Millsap and they,
in turn, pay the note to the bank.
Farrar said she first told students to con
tinue to pay A&M Realty because neither
she nor PIP were informed of the foreclo
sure until Sept.6. After being notified of
the foreclosure, Farrar said, she told ten
ants to pay Bishop and Millsap.
“They are entitled to the rent, ” Farrar
said. “But it could have been settled with
out any tenants becoming involved.”
Millsap refused to comment on the mat
ter, and his attorney, W. Tyler Moore,
merely said his clients were trying to pay
off the note.
Several students contacted student legal
adviser James W. Locke about the prob
lem.
Locke said the tenants had three op
tions:
— ignore the second letter.
— stop payments on the first check and
pay Bishop and Millsap.
— file an interpleader with a court ask
ing it to decide who to pay.
An interpleader is a formal request to
the court to decide who is entitled to re
ceive payment for a disputed service or
property.
While Locke said his advice is confiden
tial, he did say the first option might not
be wise and the third was impractical for
students.
Student Government finances
‘Realistic’ budget in works
By MERIL EDWARDS
Battalion Staff
The Texas A&M University student
government finance committee spent
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights
accepting, rejecting or revising the budget
propasals presented to them by the vice-
presidents of the five other committees in
the senate.
Finance Committee Vice President
George Black said he was pleased with the
committee hearings as a whole.
“They went real smooth,” Black said.
“Everyone was cooperative. We re all try
ing to make cuts in the budget where we
Uranium
United Press International
ERWIN, Tenn. — The possibility that
someone has stolen enough enriched
uranium to make an atom bomb
strengthened Thursday with a statement
by officials that chances of clerical error
were “diminishing.”
A routine inventory at the Nuclear Fuel
Services Inc. plant revealed that at least 20
pounds of the substance was missing and
the plant was ordered shut Tuesday until a
complete check could be made.
Seven investigators have been sent to
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Grim Senate lead
ers met with President Carter Thursday
and told reporters the Strategic Arms
Limitation Treaty will not be ratified un
less nearly 3,000 Soviet combat troops are
pulled out from Cuba.
“I don’t think the SALT treaty has a
prayer in Hades unless the Russians do
something to de-escalate their presence in
Cuba,” Senate Republican Leader How
ard Baker, R-Tenn., said after the White
House meeting.
“The Senate will insist that combat
troops not be in Cuba. The combat forces
do not belong in Cuba,” said Senate
Crane breaks
at Kyle Field
The main boom of a crane being used on
the Kyle Field renovation project broke
Thursday morning, but the job’s superin
tendent says the accident won’t affect the
expected completion date.
The boom broke while being used to
hang a large concrete beam.
Project Superintendent V.W. Hall said
the accident, which occured at 11:45 a.m.
Thursday, caused considerable damage to
the crane and the concrete beam but that
there were no injuries.
Hall said he doesn’t expect the accident
to set back the expected completion date
of Nov. 17. He also said it will not cause
postponement of the University of Hous
ton game, scheduled for Oct. 13.
“Parts are already on order for the crane
and it should not be too long before it will
be back in service.”
Although the falling beam hit a portion
of Kyle Field, Hall said there was no major
damage done to the stadium.
The crane is one of 10 being used in the
work.
can. If everyone remains this cooperative,
I think we can have the best managed se
nate yet.
Black said the total budget allocation is
$36,254. He said this is the largest budget
ever allocated to the Texas A&M student
government. It is an increase of $9,000
over last year’s budget.
“We’re looking to have a more fiscally
responsible budget this year,” he said.
“We want to try to keep up this attitude.
The senate has not been known for top
fiscal management in the past.
Black, the other vice presidents and the
senate as a whole are concerned with beef-
probably
the installation, which processes fuel for
atomic submarines and specially equipped
aircraft with detection devices were as
signed to fly over the site.
“As the reports come in, we re more and
more thinking that there is less probability
of a simple mistake. The probability of a
simple error is diminishing,” said Bob
Burnett, a director of safeguards with the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “The
simple mistakes usually flow in rapidly.”
Burnett said, however, he has uncov
ered nothing in an investigation at the
Foreign Relations Committee Chairman
Frank Church, D-Idaho.
Baker said he wanted to speak out fur
ther on the subject, but at Carter’s request
has agreed “to give him a little more time
while U.S.-Soviet negotiations continue
over a Russian combat brigade 90 miles
from Florida.
Carter briefed Baker, Church, Republi
can Jacob Javits of New York and other key
senators on the situation as Secretary of
State Cyrus Vance arranged another meet
ing later in the day with Soviet Ambas
sador Anatoly Dobrynin.
“The president brought us up to date,”
said Church, but declined to elaborate on
the options discussed by Carter.
The Senate leaders said they agreed that
the brigade poses no military threat to the
United States, but called it a Soviet chal
lenge to Carter and a provocation that
should not be ignored.
“I do not believe that this issue should
be blown up into an international crisis,
but it does offend U.S. sensibilities,”
Javits, R-N.Y. said after the meeting.
“I believe the negotiations are in mid
career and one cannot tell how they will
go. As far as the United States is con
cerned, the administration policy has been
set down — that the status quo is unac
ceptable. And the status quo is un
changed.”
Baker was more blunt:
“I think we have used too much time.
It’s the president’s turn at bat.”
Other Senate sources, also regularly in
formed on the negotiations, said, “They
are progressing slowly, just plugging away
at it.”
“The Soviets recognize that it is in their
interests to find a solution to the problem,
because the SALT II treaty hangs in the
balance, one Senate source said.
However, the source said: “They’re
suspicious and they (the Soviets) are still
inclined to think the U.S. administration
thought up the whole thing. They have a
hard time believing that U.S. intelligence
didn’t detect the combat troops earlier.”
ing up good public relations for student
government. Each committee will have
approximately $250 to spend on public re
lations.
In his opening talk to the senate last
Wednesday night, student body president
Ronnie Kapavik stressed the importance of
putting across a good image and of letting
the students know what the senate does.
Black said one of his primary goals was
“to let students know more information
about senate activities. We want them to
take advantage of the services offered.”
Another one of Black’s goals is to man
age the budget more professionally and
mountain plant to indicate “a diversion
took place.”
Burnett said the search aircraft, a
helicopter and one fixed wing plane,
would make slow, low-levels passes over
the search area. The idea is to compare the
radiation readings of the area with a simi
lar survey run in 1977, when presumably
no uranium was missing.
Burnett, in an interview, said data com
ing in from the search that began Wed
nesday at the mountain facility also indi
cated the uranium has not been acciden
tally released into streams in the area.
He said the air search would continue
for four or five days and would be ex
panded to the hilly countryside around the
plant if necessary.
“It is like looking for a lost item in your
home. You keep looking until you look in
the final place — then you find it,” Bur
nett said.
William D. Dirks, head of the NRC’s
office of nuclear materials and safeguards,
said there is “no indication right now the
material has gotten off site.” But he added,
“We haven’t ruled out that possibility.”
more realistically. For instance, last year
the allocation for Muster was $1,500 and
the actual cost was $2,048. This year the
allocation is $2,300.
“We are allowing for overfunds,” Black-
said. “The extra money will be used to
create a reserve.
“I want to control excessive overruns,
though. I’ve found some from last year.
They are a result of poor managing or not
realistically budgeting.”
The exact figures for each committee’s
budget are under revision now and will be
available for publication next week.
The plant was ordered shut down Tues
day — the first such federal order ever
issued — and NRG investigators moved in
and began looking through records and
re-checking stockpiles.
Officials indicated the fuel could be
missing through a clerical error or some
other “paperwork” mistake. Authorities
said, however, theft was not ruled out.
NRC spokesman Ken Clark said the re
cent publication of plans for building a
bomb “further underscores keeping a tight
rein on the material they are using at this
plant. ”
The missing uranium was the talk of the
town along the streets of Erwin.
“You would hate for some hoods to have
stolen it,” said one resident, Mrs. Horace
Roller. “Particularly when a paper printed
how to make one (an H-bomb).”
The NRC would not say exactly how
much highly enriched uranium was miss
ing at the plant, which makes fuel for the
Navy’s nuclear submarines. But under the
commission’s regulations, at least 20
pounds must be unaccounted for to war
rant a shutdown order.
Faculty, staff, students
exchange ideas at lunch
By MARY JO PRINCE
Battalion Reporter
A good meal and an exchange of
ideas with students are the aim of a
series of informal luncheons held by
Dr. John Koldus, vice president for
student services.
Koldus held the first luncheon of
this year Wednesday at the Memo
rial Student Center.
The lunches bring together Uni
versity faculty, staff and students in
an atmosphere outside the realms of
usual academic conferences, Koldus
said.
The Association of Former Stu
dents picks up the tab for these
lunches.
“A few years ago I initiated a se
ries of these informal luncheons in
an attempt to bring segments of the
university community in closer con
tact with one another, Koldus said.
He described the noon meals as
comfortable, adding that “the
agenda is informal, the luncheon
light, and the conversation steady.”
Main objectives of the luncheons
are to share interactions and over
come the isolation that can come in
an academic atmosphere he said.
Koldus held the first luncheons at
East Texas State University in
Commerce where he was on staff.
He carried on the practice when he
came to Texas A&M.
“I want the participants to share
and use these luncheons as a growth
experience. We can all learn from
each other’s contributions,” Koldus
said.
Those attending receive a
follow-up letter containing a list of
the faculty members and students
that were present and a brief sum
mary of the topic discussed.
The College of Medicine, the Of
fice of Public Information, and the
departments of aerospace engineer
ing, civil engineering, education,
English, environmental design,
plant sciences, physics, and recrea
tion and parks were represented at
Wednesday’s lunch.
Students representing service or
ganizations, MSG programs, and
the Corps of Cadets also attended.
Participants discussed the new
Q-drop policies. Many misun
derstandings and communication
breakdowns were apparant regard
ing the new grad course-dropping
policies. Both students and faculty
had questions regarding pros and
cons of the new policy.
Even relatively minor topics such
as reckless bicycle riders came up
after a while. Not suprisingly,, no
one could come up with a solution
— short of putting campus police on
bicycles and patrolling congested
areas.
SALT in danger,
senators tell Carter
not just misplaced