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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1980)
Carter, Reagan win easily in Illinois These barrels contain some of Texas A&M’s radioac tive waste, which has been piling up by the Nuclear Science Center close to Easterwood Airport since early February. Todd Shipyards Co. of Galveston had been collecting the waste until it closed its nuc lear waste operations. The University is seeking a new way to get rid of the low-level waste and is considering buying and sharing a site with other schools. Staff photo by Steve Clark United Press International CHICAGO — President Carter defe ated Sen. Edward Kennedy and Ronald Reagan beat favorite son John Anderson in balloting in the Illinois primary Tuesday. Carter’s victory was seen a major rebuff to Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne, leader of Chicago’s once-powerful political machine. Bryne had openly backed Kennedy in the primary race. With 92 percent of the precinct returns in, Carter had 711, 545 votes or 65 percent to Kennedy’s 327,502 or 30 percent. Jerry Brown was a distant third with 37,685 votes or 3 percent. With 87 percent of the Republican re turns in, Reagan had 482,434 votes or 49 percent. Anderson garnered 356,828 votes 36 percent and George Bush had 109,201 or 11 percent. Rep. Philip Crane had 21,238 votes or 2 percent of the vote. Carter was ahead for 153 delegates for an indicated total of 528.5 toward the 1,666 needed for nomination. Kennedy was win ning 17 for an indicated total of 200.5. The projection for uncommitted delegates was 2, for an indicated total of 24. Reagan was ahead for 42 delegates for an indicated total of 209 toward the 998 needed for nomination. Anderson was ahead for 22 delegates for an indicated total of 35, Bush was ahead for 1 delegate for an indicated total of 46. Rep. Philip Crane led for 3 delegates. There were a projected 21 uncommitted delegates for an indicated total of 38. Despite his overwhelming defeat, Ken nedy says his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination is “still viable” and he expects to make a strong showing in the New York primary next week. “I intend over the period of these next seven days to conduct a strong and vigorous campaign” in New York, Kennedy said Tuesday night in New York City. “I believe that we can make a very strong showing here in the state of New York. I believe it is essential that we do. But I believe we will.” White House press secretary Jody Powell said Kennedy “would have to win 60 percent of the delegates or better” in each remaining primary to wrest the nomination from Carter. Republican presidential hopeful John Anderson said his second-place showing “firmly established” him as a major conten der for the GOP nomination. AScM to buy dump site for radioactive waste Home building at lowest level in three years ad or f juices 33 i stures: 693-5046 Mon. 1-6 Tues.-Sat. II By ANDY WILLIAMS Staff Writer Texas A&M University and several other state universities are considering buying a place to dispose of radioactive waste materials, Dr. Richard Neff, director of Texas A&M’s Radiological Safety and Health Office, said Tuesday. I Neffs office has been in contact with the two companies in Texas that still illect and dispose of radioactive waste. JpXas A&M is required to consider bids if it lets the contract for the job. ^K)n the other hand, Neff said, Texas A&M and other schools may buy and share a disposal site. IpSeff said that idea is still strictly in its ihijtial stages. The next step is to try to get administration representatives to discuss it, Neff said. specific site is being considered, asggs Neff said. Low-level radioactive waste has been piling up at Texas A&M since early Feb ruary, when Galveston’s Todd Shipyard Co., the firm with the contract to haul it, got out of the business. The materials are presently being stored in 55-gallon drums which have been deposited in an outdoor area near the Nuclear Science Center near Eas terwood Airport. “We can last for a few more weeks,” Neff said. “If it goes past that, we’ll have to get a building. He said the Universi ty may provide a shell of a building for the purpose. Waste comes from about 200 labs on the campus which use radioactive mate rials. It consists of the paper, glass, and gloves used in working with radiation; organic scintillator fluid, which is used as a tracer in chemical reactions and in animal bodies; and the bodies of test animals. Todd Shipyard’s job was to pick up the waste, haul it to a reprocessing cen ter, let its radiation degrade to a lower level, then take it to one of three perma nent disposal sites. The company closed its reprocessing center after an accident in which 11 workers were exposed to radiation. State health officials said Todd officials failed to report the occurrence. License holders of centers like Todd’s are re quired to report major accidents within 24 hours. Texas A&M buried its radioactive waste in a landfill near Easterwood Air port until 1978, when the state made plans to regulate the site. Todd was given the hauling contract shortly after that. By DONALD H. MAY United Press International The housing industry already is in a “ma jor recession,” an industry official says, with home building at its lowest level in more than three years. The outlook for home buyers is expected to get worse. The Commerce Department said Tues day the number of new housing units started dropped 6 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,334,000, the lowest since December 1975. Issuance of building permits, which indi cate future construction, dropped 8 per cent to an annual rate of 1,163,000, the lowest level since April of 1976. The biggest declines were among single family homes, reflecting the fact mortgage rates of 15 percent and more, plus rising house prices and building costs, mean few er and fewer Americans can afford to buy a new home. Robert Sheehan, an economist with the National Association of Home Builders, said only about 5 percent of American fami lies can afford the median-priced home. Two decades ago, nearly half could. The current median is $64,000. While most of the economy still is show ing strong resistance to predictions of re cession, housing already is in “a major re cession,” Sheehan said. Sheehan expects the number of housing units started to dip below 1 million for 1980 as a whole, making it the worst housing year since 1976. Other developments on the economic front: — Chase Manhattan Bank, Continental Illinois, First National Bank of Chicago, Marie Midland of Buffalo, N.Y., and First National Bank of Boston hike their lending rate for prime business customers to 19 percent. Most banks maintained their prime at ISVz percent. — Stocks rebounded from their worst loss in five months with a sharp gain pro duced by bargain hunters and speculators who believe the United States is headed into an inflation-cooling recession. — For the first time in recent months, the personal consumption of Americans rose only 0.5 percent in February com pared to more than 1 percent-a-month for most of the past year. If that becomes a trend, it could help ease inflation. TSTA endorses Caperton onor society answers upcoming election By NANCY ANDERSEN due process bill. rontroversial nnir income tax questions I By ANGELIQUE COPELAND Campus Staff They’re not H&R Block, but they can :lp you get your income tax form filled out ^it and answer almost any question you ight come up with about forms, filing or funds. Beta Alpha Psi, the accounting honor ciety, will have a help desk set up in the ainhall of the Memorial Student Center onj 11-2 p.m. this week and next to tswer questions students or staff may have tout their income tax. In addition to iswering questions, almost every kind of tax form is available at the desk. Cindy Rogers, a junior accounting ma jor, said that most form requests are from students asking for the short form, 1040A. “They ususally have only summer jobs and just want to get their refund.” But itemized long forms as well as spe cialized forms for things such as energy deductions are available at the desk as well. The students who work at the desk have completed an accounting course dealing with tax laws, Rogers said. In addition, the students went through an all-day workshop before spring break put on by tbe Houston office of the IRS. Rogers said that they provided an overview of the new tax laws and any other changes in the laws that may have been made in the past year. But even if the students can’t answer a question the person won’t be out of luck. “Most of the questions people ask are pretty basic, but if they ask something we can’t answer, we have a toll-free number for the Internal Revenue Service and we can call to get the answer to questions right away,” Rogers said. The help desk is sponsored every year by the society, Rogers said. By NANCY ANDERSEN City Staff The Texas State Teachers Association en dorsed Kent Caperton for state senator Tuesday, calling him “an advocate for teachers” at a press conference at the Ramada Inn. Navasota fifth-grade teacher Glen Maxey announced the endorsement Tuesday, and said Caperton’s opponent, incumbent Bill Moore, D-Bryan, could not find the time to talk to local TSTA members. The endorsement is based on Caperton’s pledge to lead the fight for teachers in the legislature, Maxey said. He criticized Moore’s legislative record on educational issues and “vindictive comments” about teachers. TSTA has a four-point legislative prog ram, and Maxey said Caperton promised to fight for three of the points. They are salary due process bill. Currently, the average wage for a Texas teacher is $12,000-$13,000 a year com pared to the national average of $16,000, Maxey said. Caperton promises to raise the Texas average to the national level within the next three sessions, Maxey said. State employees receive group health in surance benefits, but Maxey said teachers have no coverage. Caperton promises to lead the fight for benefits, Maxey said. A due process bill would deal with demo tions and dismissals, Maxey said. TSTA wants a bill requiring teachers to be in formed of a possible action and given a chance to answer any charges, he ex plained. The only point Maxey said Caperton won’t support is collective bargaining for teachers. Maxey called this issue the most [ran elections ruled to be fair United Press International The Interior Ministry has ruled the first Hinds of voting in Iran’s parliamentary ections were fair, bolstering chances of an ection victory by the hard-line Moslem arty that opposes any compromise on eeing the American hostages until the listed shah is returned for trial. The ruling Tuesday night, stating the alloting for the 270-member Majlis, or arliament, was conducted in “a satisfac- )ry manner,” was a setback for Iranian ■resident Abolhassan Bani-Sadr who said lere were irregularities in the voting. Bani-Sadr also favors a quick end to the ostage crisis Ayatollah Ruhollah Ibomeini says the parliament will decide it convenes in May after a second |id of voting — a run-off election for idates who did not receive a majority. But the returns so far, from the balloting fiday, favor the hard-line Islamic Re- lican Party which opposes any deal un- Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi is re- d to Iran. Since the fate of the 50 hostages, now in ir 137th day of captivity in the U.S. ipassy in Tehran, has seesawed in a pow- struggle between Islamic fundamental- tjs and moderates supporting Bani-Sadr, Interior Ministry’s ruling appeared to ng the balance back to the hardliners. The Interior Ministry ruling said the first base of the elections was conducted “in a Jtisfactory manner despite pressure and violation of regulations by some political groups,” Tehran Radio reported in a broad cast monitored in London. In connection with “complaints about shortcomings in some constituencies and voting stations, these should be submitted to the local central supervision committee for consideration of possible legal proceed ings,” the ruling said. The Ministry assured Iranians that if any irregularities were proved, the results would be “invalidated.” It also called on the public to “strictly avoid all forms of marches, demonstrations and sit-ins, so that investigators could pro ceed with their work. ” Khomeini issued a general amnesty order Tuesday, broadcast by Tehran Radio, to mark the Iranian new year on Friday. The order would free all prisoners except torturers and murderers, but he made no mention of the American captives in the decree. In a related development, the United States pressed its case against Iran at the International Court of Justice in the Dutch capital. The Hague. Iran, however, boycotted the session at which the U.S. representative accused the Islamic government of striking “at the jugu lar” of world peace by officially condoning the imprisonment of the hostages in Tehran. The court’s ruling is expected to take several weeks. What’s the angle? Staff photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr. These Texas A&M student anglers aren’t trying to snag lunker bass on the lawn of Wofford Cain Hall. They’re part of a physical education class in angling, which includes outdoor casting practice. controversial point, and said it arose from the failure of the legislature to face the problems teachers are facing. “Traditionally,” he said, “the Legislature has placed school finances and teachers’ salaries as the last priority and is budgeted on the last day of the legislative term.” TSTA wants a candidate who will bring up teacher-oriented legislation “before all the money is spent,” Maxey said. Maxey said TSTA, the largest teacher organization in Texas, feels Caperton can defeat the 31-year incumbant in the May 3 democratic primary. “This is not a paper endorsement, he said. “Teachers are ac tively involved in the Caperton campaign. We are mailing 50,000 postcards throught- out the (fifth) district with the message “Kent Caperton is backing education and educational issues.’ Rencurrel, Cross named cadet leaders Kenneth B. Cross and David W. Rencur- rel have been named leaders for the 1980- 81 Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M Univer sity. Cross, a pre-medicine major from Dal las, will serve as commander for of the na tion’s largest corps outside the service academies. Rencurrel, a mechanical en gineering junior from Arlington, will be Deputy Corps Commander. The two were recommended to Texas A&M President Jarvis Miller by Ormond R. Simpson, assistant vice president for student services, and Col. James R. Woodall, commandant of cadets. Cross is a Distinguished Student and a Ross Volunteer, and has been a student senator in addition to his involvement in the Corps. The Air Force contract junior served this year on Corps Staff as Corps sergeant major. Rencurrel is currently the Corps supply sergeant, and is on a Naval ROTC scholar ship. He, too, has earned Distinguished Student status, is a member of the Ross Volunteers, and has served on several Uni versity committees related to his supply job. Cross will hold the rank of cadet colonel of the corps, and Rencurrel will be a cadet colonel. The two cadets w ill replace Corps Com mander Bill Dugat of Weslaco and Deputy Corps Commander Dillard Stone of Bra- zosport.