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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1980)
Page 10 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1980 Four arrested for holding na tion prisoners, stealing checks United Press International BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Three men and a woman were arrested Monday on charges they held eight men prisoner at a fenced-in house, some for as long as five years, and forced them to sign over social secur ity and disability checks. Kern County sheriffs deputies made the arrests after one of the vic tims scaled the fence and went to authorities. The men, who ranged in age from 46 to 72, told deputies they were USED GOLD WANTED! lured to a three-bedroom house, thinking it was a convalescent home. Once there, they said, they were not allowed to leave. One told deputies he was beaten. “We found several rooms with locked windows” where the men were apparently kept at night, said Capt. Gary Baker. During the day, he said, they were apparently allowed outside in a yard surrounded by a high fence. One of the men escaped Monday when he was boosted to the top of the fence by some of the others, deputies said. Arrested were Houston Walker, 37, Mildred Walker, 57, Willard Morgan, 31, all of Bakersfield, and Eddie Robertson, 56, of Arvin, Calif. They were charged with conspira cy, assault, extortion and false im prisonment and held in lieu of $100,000 bail. Gritting and grinding teeth becoming national epidemic United Press International PORTLAND, Ore. — The nation may be in the throes of an epidemic of bruxism — the grinding, gritting or clenching of teeth. Once it was thought to plague mainly schoolteachers. Now, it is showing up everywhere. Bruxism is caused, said University of Oregon Health Science dentists and medics, by stress — the same thing that can frazzle your nerves, erode your fingernails and cramp up Cash paid or will swap for Aggie Ring Diamonds. Sun Theatres 333 University 846-! The only movie in town 846-9808 ^ diamond brokers international, inc. W Double-Feature Every Week 693-1647 10 a.m.-2 a.m. Sun.-Thurs. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Fri.-Sat. No one under 18 Ladies Discount With This Coupon BOOK STORE & 25C PEEP SHOWS your intestines. “I’ve treated people who were suicidal” because of severe patholo gical effects, said Dr. William Ho ward, chairman of the School of De ntistry’s department of fixed pros- thodontics. “In dental school in the 1940s,” Howard said. “ We were taught that bruxism was common to school teachers. But goodness, nowadays in our society the stresses of our jobs and personal relationships and so forth all contribute to it. ” Almost everybody is a victim of bruxism, he said,, and it is an uncon scious habit. “I tell patients frequently that our muscles tighten as we become tense,” he said, “ and this includes our chewing muscles which bring our teeth together. Then we start to brace on our teeth or rub them or clench them. This can be the begin ning of some very serious problems. ” By literally grinding away parts of teeth, Howard said, bruxism can cause malocclusion — imperfect alignment of teeth when the jaw is closed — which in turn can contri bute to worse problems, such as: Morning fatigue in the jaw; sensi tivity to cold in the teeth; pain in the teeth; breaking and loosening of teeth; pain in the jawbone; clicking of the chewing joint; sensitivity in the gum area to toothbrushing; mus cle spasms by the ear and along the side of the head; headaches, and sore muscles in the neck and upper back. Many dentists believe that brux ism contributes to problems in the gums and bones supporting the teeth. Howard says the syndrome United Isacram: ia’s free rgy syste ing a be: Golden 1 'he first 5 of the month second p gone in lequests < said 1 closely tied to stress, somepafe t* 16 st may need to seek help fro; psychiatrist’s couch as well Dr. Mario DeStefanis, adei said there are three major techniques for treating bruxisr One is selective grinding do* “high spots” on teeth. A seconc is use of a plastic bite plane, wii patient wears to bed since prol 90 percent of tooth grindingoo while a person is sleeping. A method for treating more cases is to reshape or reconsi biting surfaces with crowns or jon, t that pu d *******^ ******** In 1956, another tradition at Texas A&M University was introduced. November 6 of that year, the College of Agricul ture held its first Agricultural Convocation sponsored by the Ag Council and Alpha Zeta. The event was held in Guion Hall, long since a part of history at Texas A&M. The following school year, the event was held in the spring where it has been held every year since. This year’s 24th annual Agricultural Convocation is valued for the same reasons it was in 1956. The outstanding freshman, sophomore and junior in the College are selected and recognized. The top one percent of the seniors are given Senior Merit Awards for their outstand ing contributions in terms of grades, leadership and activities. The Honor Professor in the College is recognized for his outstanding qualities in student relations and teaching. And the Gavel Award is presented to the technical club in the College with the best percentage of attendance at Convoca tion. Each year a speaker is featured as a part of the program. This year Convocation will be held April 7 in Rudder Auditorium at 8:00 p.m. The speaker is E. de la Garza, a representative to the United States Congress from the 15th Congressional District of Texas. Everyone is invited to attend. Bring your friends and enjoy an evening honoring Agriculture’s finest. Alaska rapidly becomes urbai United Press International PALMER, Alaska —Only 15,000 of Alaska’s 374.6 million acres are under cultivation — about 0.00004 percent. Yet, like much rural land in North America, these precious plots of pro ductivity are being urbanized at a rapid pace. crowded conditions or home sr; Officials of the Mat-Su borra say that at the current rateofuiil zation, most of the commercial la in the area may be gone witkl years. In Alaska, this is occurring primar ily in the Matanuska, a lush valley between the Talkeetna and Chugach ranges, less than a one-hour drive northeast from Anchorage. The Matanuska was turned into a Shangri-la a little less than a half cen tury ago by 202 Dust Bowl refugees sponsored by Uncle Sam. Even the transplanted midwestemers, used to corn as high as an elephant’s eye, were amazed at what they could pro duce in this 10-by-60-mile valley during a 108-day growing season. Not the least of these achievements were cabbages weighing up to 72 pounds. During each of the last foury£ i approximately 4,000 acres in®! Mat-Su have been subdividedlr offered for sale, mostly in one® and half-acre lots. Although! money has caused a slowdown!; estate and house building, ($ say this area is in immediate di of becoming a “bedroom coin; ity” without a tax base to supper There are about 40,000 parce. land in the borough. More thi percent are owned by peoplewi not reside on these parcels One reason farmers have selling their land, other than thti that they can get a good price fori that the cost of farming is so they can’t compete in the with imported products. Ten years ago, 13,500 acres were being farmed in the Matanuska and the bottomland along the lower reaches of the Susitna River just 30 miles or so over the hills west of Pal mer. At that time, the “Mat-Su,” as the borough embracing these two belts of fertility is called, provided 90 percent of Alaska’s locally produced milk, 78 percent of its livestock and 70 percent of its crops. Six years later farmland in this area had dwindled to 11,500 acres. And the drop continues as Anchorage grows and its residents seek less Imports are coming into the® in higher volume. In many imported food is cheaper onp; grocery shelves than local pi in season. The U.S. Soil Conservation:.; vice has identified approximately million acres in Alaska as having® cultural potential. But its devef ment for large scale agribusi® appears unlikely without a subs* tial increase in population^ perhaps, guaranteed markets inp Orient. SI 4