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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 29, 1980)
The Battalion Vol. 73 No. 112 Friday, February 29, 1980 DSPS 045 360 10 Pages College Station, Texas Phone 845-2611 4&M may increase price of traffic fines By CAROL HANCOCK Campus Staff /iolators of Texas A&M University traf- regulations might pay an additional $5- ) for moving and parking offenses next lestcr. fhe University Traffic Panel approved a tion calling for an increase in fines for king violations from $5 to $10, and an rease in moving violation fines from $10 S20 An additional fee for failing to pay bin 10 days will remain at $5. Jefore becoming policy, the motion must be approved by Dr. John Koldus, vice president for student services. Dan Parker, assistant to the dean of the College of Li beral Arts and chairman of the panel, said Koldus has informally said he will approve the proposal. The motion may also have to go through the Board of Regents, Parker said. The idea of a penalty fee increase came up during the 19-member panel’s annual amendment of the University motor vehi cle regulations. It was passed with the approval of all but two of the panel’s mem ber’s. Those two were student representa tives. Thomas Parsons, director of security and traffic for the University Police, ab stained from the vote. A new limit of four parking and two mov ing violations is also included in the new proposal. After the limit, recipients of violations face the possiblity of having their permit revoked and may be prohibited from driving a vehicle on campus for the remainder of the year. The current limit is six offenses for a parking and four for moving. Parker said there is still some discussion over the double-ticketing policy for cars without permits. The present proposal will do away with the policy but it could be amended if the proposal were to be approved. Money from the increased fines will probably go toward parking lot construc tion and ground maintenance, Parker said. All money taken in from tickets goes into the Parking Facilities Reserve Account. Forty percent of the police department’s operating budget comes from the account. A reduction in the number of violators will probably be the biggest benefit of the increased penalty fee, Parker said. “The current fees are obviously not a deterrent, ” he said. Parker said he did not understand why there has been so much debate over the increased fees. The only people hurt by the increase will be the violators, he said. Steve Hawrylak, a representative on the panel for the Residence Hall Association, said he looked at the proposal’s long-run effects. He said he thought it would be to the benefit of the students he represents, the on-campus residents. If the increased revenue from tickets would go towards street and parking lot maintenance, Hawrylak said, both stu dents and faculty will be better off. The increase could possibly help solve the bicy cle problem by providing funds for more bike lanes and by discouraging motorists from parking in the lanes, he said. Parker said a similar motion passed the panel last year but was not approved. There has not been an increase in traffic violation fines since 1973. >i7 reserve system 'an sustain U.S. H United Press International WASHINGTON —The Energy Depart- :n| pumped 300,000 barrels of crude oil m its much-maligned strategic reserve ufsclay to prove America can count on s stockpile in case of a major supply inter- ition. Ruth Davis, an assistant energy secret- ', told reporters the oil was pumped from derground reserve storage at West ickberry, La., to a terminal 43 miles ay in Nederland, Texas, at what would lount to a daily rate of450,000 to 500,000 rrels. She said the unscheduled test of reserve fraction was declared a success Thurs- ■ter 15 hours of sustained pumping, he agency s management of the strate- ; reserve was criticized last spring during p gasoline shortage when Congress Bed that pumping capability did not jsl to recover the imported crude that dibeen stockpiled in three underground positories. ‘The significance is that this was an un- nounced drill — a testing of the with- awal capacity,” said Jim Griffin, an agen- i spokesman. “We wanted to make sure glsystem works and so far it has. No oblem.” Fred Appel, the agency official dealing directly with the reserve, called the test “surprisingly successful.” Since last September, the Energy De partment has had capability to extract a bit more than 1 million barrels of oil a day from West Hackberry and the other two reposi tories at Bayou Choctaw, La., and Bryan Mound, Texas. Prior to September, Griffin said, an in terim pumping system hastily installed in June 1979 was capable of withdrawing re serve oil at a rate of 275,000 barrels a day. Stockpiling of imported crude oil in the reserve has been stalled for political and economic reasons at 91.7 million barrels — although Congress had set a 1 billion barrel target when it ordered the reserve created in 1975. The administration’s fiscal 1981 budget earmarks money to begin raising reserve levels to 750 million barrels. Griffin said two more potential under ground repositories are being considered to handle the contemplated expansion. West Hackberry currently holds 29.5 million barrels of crude oil, with the rest stored at the other two sites. The current reserve could meet Amer ica’s oil needs for about three months in an emergency, provided oil imports did not fall by more than 1 million barrels. prices 10 cents in to rise year United Press International WASHINGTON — Americans can •act for a 30-cent jump in the price of ISoline and a 21-cent hike in home heating 1 prices by this time next year, says a reliminary forecast prepared by Energy department economists. The 207-page draft study, obtained from le agency’s Energy Information Adminis- ation this week, forecasts regular leaded asoline selling for as much as $1.52 a gal- m and heating oil going for $ 1.14 a gallon i the first quarter of 1981. Current retail prices were estimated at 1.22 maximum for regular gas and 92.3 ents maximum for heating oil. ; Despite record world crude oil stock- B, a sluggish economy and conserva tion, the draft “Short-term Energy Out look” said higher crude oil prices and larger gross margins for refiners and supply mid dlemen would continue to lift petroleum products prices. The authors said they assumed reces sionary conditions for 1980 even though the country’s anticipated economic slump so far has failed to materialize. The study projected that residential natural gas prices could rise to as much as $4.19 per 1,000 cubic feet by 1981, up from a current maximum estimate of $3.78. Residential electric bills were projected to rise to 6.4 cents per kilowatt hour by April 1981. The study had estimated the current maximum price at 5.51 cents. Sergeant files lawsuit against Houston police chief Caldwell United Press International HOUSTON — A police sergeant has lid a $40,000 lawsuit accusing the chief of Bating his rights and depriving him of !l;000-a-month in income from off-duty imployment. Sgt. D.D. Baker said in the federal court >uit filed Thursday that Chief Harry Cald well reinstated him after a brief suspension ||the condition that he hold no off-duty work. Baker said off-duty jobs earned him ibout $1,000 a month. ^ Bakerwasrelievedofduty April 11, 1978 after the arrest of his friend, then assistant kr chief Carrol Lynn on extortion, obstruction of justice and perjury charges. Baker was returned to duty Jan. 2, 1979. Baker said a reinstatement letter from the chief showed Caldwell ordered Baker to duty in the prisoners’ compound. Caldwell also ordered Baker to operate no city vehicles, use no city telephones for personal business, handle no police files, spread no rumors, and not to leave his post for more than a 30 minutes at lunch, Baker said. Baker further charged two performance rating reports by Caldwell unfairly low rated him and caused him “embarrassment and humiliation.” Class of 1980 will dedicate Twelfth Man statue Saturday By MICHELLE MORREY Campus Reporter The origin of the Twelfth Man tradi- on at Texas A&M University will be celebrated Saturday morning when the lass of 1980 will dedicate its gift to the illniversity. I A life-size statue of E. King Gill will ; be unveiled behind the Aggie Club building north of Kyle Field. On Jan. 22, 1922, during a post- eason game, Gill was called from the lands to help the football team, which as slowly defeating national champion entre College. Gill was a football play- r during the regular season but had uit to join the basketball team. He nev er entered the game but when it was over, he was the only player standing along the sidelines. Since that time. Aggies have stood at football games to symbolize their support for the team. The Class of ’80 gift committee wanted to donate a statue or a memorial symbolic of Aggie spirit. When Gill died during the summer of 1978, they de cided a statue in his honor would be appropriate, said Paul Gulig, commit tee chairman. Gulig said the project cost $22,000. Money has been raised by selling T- shirts and having class balls, Mark Mur phy, class president said. The dedication will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Clyde H. Wells, chairman of the Board of Regents, and Texas A&M President Jarvis Miller will attend. Gill’s niece, Mrs. C.D. Nichols, his closest surviving relative, will unveil the statue. The Wall’s wall every Tex a ^ xTvr 1 u c °W ect i on newspaper clippings from emeritus ; ^7 „ as ^ et l>all game this year. Hensarling, a professor thoiisandc n r * e 8 e °f Educational Administration, will be one of ° exas A&M fans awaiting the outcome of the Southwest Conference post-season tournament. The Aggies begin play tonight against Texas Tech. The winner goes to the finals for an opportunity to advance to the NCAA national tournament. More sports on pages 13 and Staff photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr. The age of butterfly power arrives on the SS Pussiewillow United Press International WASHINGTON — The age of butterfly power will arrive at the National Air and Space Museum in March with the first pub lic exhibition of a droll new astro- contraption named SS Pussiewillow II. The handiwork of British inventor- sculptor Rowland Emett, the unique machine has the distinction of not being billed as the answer to the world’s energy problems. It exists simply as a reminder of the time not too far gone when the entire concept of space exploration resided in the imagina tion. Beyond that it does nothing but whir, spin, flash, sway, twitch, quiver and play 18th century baroque music — ostensibly from the thrust of a paddle wheel turned by large silver magnetic butterflies. Commissioned at a cost of $58,000, the funds for which were privately raised, Pus siewillow II marks the first venture of the space museum, heretofore a rather down- to earth establishment, into the realm of fantasy. Once the exhibit has been formally opened early in March, it will be a perma nent part of the collection of relics, arti facts, vehicles, mementoes and parapher nalia of flight. At a preview, Emett, a slight, tweedy, dignified Enlishman with wispy white hair, undertook to explain how it works. “This space ship is based on the flying carpet principle, only instead of soaring off at random, it is firmly suspended within a CS City Council approves outdoor concert for June By TIM JASEK City Reporter The College Station City Council Thurs day approved an outdoor concert by the Houston Pops. The event, scheduled for June 1, will be co-sponsored by the city and the Brazos Valley Arts Council, (BVAC). Because the city has agreed to pay $250 for advertising along with one-third of the $8,500 total cost, BVAC will allow the council to decide on the concert site. The BVAC suggested the concert be held at either Bee Creek or Oaks parks. The site will be decided at a later date. The Houston Pops perform arrange ments ranging from early 20th century American composers to current move ments. The Pops requested the event be non profit and wished to encourage neighbor ing cities to patronize outdoor summer con certs by performing here. The concert will be the first in a series to be presented every third week throughout the summer, according to the BVAC. The council also agreed to install coin- operated timers for tennis court lights at Bee Creek and Oaks parks. The installation of a chain-link fence around the Thomas Park Pool was also passed unanimously. A wrecker ordinance was passed requir ing the posting of a sign or signs at parking facilities displaying the wrecker company’s phone number. The standard towing fee will be set by the city council following a public hearing to be held at a later date, the ordinance said. In other action, the city council agreed to cancel 52 unpaid property tax accounts tot aling $943. Tax Assessor-Collector Glenn Schroeder said the probability of collecting these taxes would be very slim for various reasons. large translucent Jupiter-ring,” he said in well modulated tones. “The Jupiter-ring, poised gracefully on three especially slowed down high-speed bicycle wheels, undulates in every known direction, at the same time spinning gently in a clockwise manner. This, of course, establishes false gravity. The pilot’s space suit has “helium-filled knee caps.” A fireplace provides warm air updraft, “thus helping considerably to maintain altitude.” And so on. Emett, who began his career as a car toonist for the British magazine Punch, was a good friend of the late Rube Goldberg, the American genius whose fanciful pseudo-mechanical drawings added the term “goldbergian” to the language. It is impossible for a mere layman to tell who influenced whom, if at all, but Gold berg’s legions of admirers would feel right at home gazing glassyeyed at Pussiewillow II. And so would movie-goers who admired “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” Emett de signed all eight of the puckish thingamajigs seen in that 1968 film. Altogether, it is 9 feet high, 18 feet long and 12 feet wide, including the oscillating vanity mirrors that “convert the sun’s rays into puny but positive impulses.” Emett said museum officials became absorbed with his work several years ago when he designed a “revolutionary moon- probe lunacycle” named Maud. “They borrowed it for six months, kept it two years and still didn’t want to return it, ” he said. “When I insisted on having it back, nothing would do but have something simi lar of their own. ” Pussiewillow II, for better or worse, is the end result. Denver suggested as site for international games United Press International DENVER — The city of Colorado Springs, which serves as the training center for the U.S. Olympic Commit tee, would be the perfect site for alter native games to the Moscow summer Olympics, state officials said. In a proclamation sent Thursday to President Carter and Congress, Gov. Richard Lamm and Secretary of State Mary Estill Buchanan urged that the city be considered as a possible host for international competition this summer or fall. The city has been used for a U.S. Sports Festival during non-Olympic years and the two officials said facilities for sporting events were readily avail able. The proclamation urged that an alter native event be planned for American athletes who wiU not be competing in the summer Olympic Games because of the president’s decision to boycott the event to protest the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The proclamation noted many out standing young athletes had sacrificed their educational, financial and social goals for many years in order to compete as representatives of the United States at the Olympic games. The proclamation said these Amer ican athletes “now will never know which among them are the world’s best.” Because of the situation, it urged Car ter and Congress “to create an alternate summer world athletic competition, perhaps in Colorado Springs in the sha dow of Cheyenne Mountain, where the excellence of our spirit may be tested and proven once again in international competition.