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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1980)
IBSII1 GH1 (ATTALION Vol. 74 No. 59 32 Pages in 2 Sections Serving the Texas A&M University community Thursday, November 20, 1980 College Station, Texas USPS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 The Weather Yesterday Today High 56 High 56 Low 36 Low 33 Rain 0.00 inches coi 5:00-t 0MPl$ )N iOtll M nil ^leat handlers on strike or insurance benefits By CINDY GEE Battalion Reporter leat handlers at Kroger Family Center are on strike those at Weingarten’s are locked out in a dispute over iloyee benefits and cost of living increases, rikers picketing the two Bryan stores say it’s not the y that they’re unhappy with, it’s that their companies t guarantee insurance benefits and cost-of-living ir occupation is considered by the federal govem- as one of the most hazardous,” one Kroger striker “and the insurance is expensive. We’ve had it for s and years and now they want to cut it off. They don’t why, but any kindergarten kid could tell you it’s DENTS I !use want to pocket that money.” ileat handlers at Weingarten’s are not on strike; 'ever, their company has locked them out to sym- ize with the Kroger stores. Certain local grocery cM es have an agreement that if any union segment . jl^ cesone merchant, the other participating merchants ** - lock those union employees out until a settlement has n reached, said Joe Marek, assistant manager of ingarten’s. Ihis is all from our Houston office,” Marek said. “It is initely hard to lock out an employee that you’re used to ■king with.’ iuddy Harper, a meat cutter at Kroger’s for three s, said he felt his company was putting out informa- to make the strikers look bad. He said local Kroger C H N managers are telling other store employees that the meat cutters want a $4 an hour raise, in an effort to get them not to walk out. “If they did give us a $4 an hour raise, we’d go buy our own insurance,” Harper said. He added that recent media reports that union em ployees had been offered $7 an hour increase were wrong. James Brock, manager of the Bryan Kroger’s, said: “We’re not passing on any rumors, we’re just telling the other workers what is passed down to us.” He said any other information would have to be obtained from the Kroger office in Houston. A spokesman for that office could not be reached comment. Union retail clerks from Kroger’s who met Wednesday night decided by a vote of 22 to two not to honor the meat cutters’ pickets lines. Brad Willingham, a front-end supervisor at Kroger’s who attended the meeting, said the clerks “essentially voted uninformed. ” He said they just wanted to keep on working. Safeway stores in the Bryan-College Station area are not presently affected by the strike because Safeway’s contract with its meat handling employees will not expire for another two weeks. Richard Colby, a union meat cutter for Safeway, said the Safeway employees’ contract is completely different. “I think we re pretty well satisfied with what Safeway gives us,” he said. “I don’t expect any problems when our contract expires. We re all hoping there won’t be any.” Lynard Warhol, meat manager of Weingarten’s, said the companies have proposed a $3 increase over the next three years with no guaranteed benefits. A 32-year veter an of the meat cutting business, Warhol said this is the time in his life when he is most prone to use health insurance. Mary Nell Ryan and Virginia Gomez were picketing outside of the local Weingarten’s store along with Warhol. Both Ryan and Gomez have been employed by Weingar ten’s for over 20 years. The three were told Monday afternoon not to return to work. “I was kind of surprised, ” Ryan said. “It’s pitiful when you want to work and they won’t let you. It’s pretty hard not to get a salary right around Christmas. I guess we’ll just do without; Santa Claus may fall a little short. ” The meat counter at Kroger’s did not seem to be greatly affected by the strike. Many people were still buying meat and the counters were not empty. Trucks are currently delivering meat; however, the truck drivers will not cross the picket lines. Consequent ly, store managers are having to back the trucks into the delivery station and unload the meat themselves. The strikers said they weren’t sure how long the strike would last. “Somebody is gonna have to give in and I don’t feel like we will,” one said. Piggly Wiggly and Skaggs Alpha-Beta are non-union stores and haven’t been affected by the strike. Spokesmen for the stores say they haven’t noticed any change in their meat sales. Staff photo by Pat O’Malley Butchers from Wiengarten’s stand outside the store in a picket line Wednesday in a dispute over employee benefits and cost of living in- '* r enate passes version {original Taps bill Turning on heaters causes problems 'V )0 By NANCY ANDERSEN Battalion Staff he student senate passed amended ver- is of the Enhancement of Silver Taps the Campus Beautification bills idnesday. he enhancement bill originally would e recommended closing all campus- e facilities for an hour on the Tuesdays in Silver Taps is held. These facilities ■e disrupting Silver Taps, said Tracy bill sponsor and vice president for nee. he amended version will not close the library, the remote computing iters or classrooms, it only recommends iceling all intramural events. Senator Mary Ann French who helped Search the bill said the library adminis- tion was not in favor of the bill. Too many dents rely on the library to study and it luld be impractical to close for just an Jr, French said. The computing center staff was not iosed to closing down for an hour and Idone it in the past, French said, but the dent service committee decided that the iters were not disruptive. \s for closing all classrooms, French said iny classes are held during this time, ling it impractical. Earlier this year, Director of Intramurals mnis Corrington said he will not sche- le any outdoor games during Silver Taps pi would consider doing the same for in- or games. The beautification bill recommends that ion be taken to repair the rut paths cre ated by continuous pedestrian traffic. The original bill only mentioned three paths, but 12 other areas were added to the bill. In other action, the senators heard but took no action on three bills and a constitu tional amendment on first reading. The “Is There a Doctor in the House Bill” recommends increasing the student service fees $3.75 to hire five additional doctors for the A.P. Beutal Health Center. The current student service fee is $33.50. The Biblioteque Bill recommends changing the library closing time from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Monday through Thurs day, from 11 p.m. on Saturdays to 6 p.m. and from midnight to 1 p.m. on Sundays. It also recommends opening the reserve room at 9 a.m. on Sundays. The COSGA Budget Appropriations Bill would grant the external affairs committee $400 from the program development fund for its first conference on Student Govern ment associations this February. The constitutional amendment would create an international student senate seat. Over 1,500 students from 86 different countries attend Texas A&M University, said Tim Cavell, bill sponsor and liberal arts graduate student. Creating a special seat would be a sym bolic gesture to show a positive, active attempt at incorporating the international student body into the mainstream of life at Texas A&M, Cavell said. If approved, the student body would vote on the amendment during spring elec tions. By BOBBY SWANSON Battalion Reporter Several Texas A&M University officials have said tam pering with the high pressure heating units in dormitory rooms can result in serious injury and disciplinary action. An incident in Law Hall Monday prompted several of the maintenance workers and supervisors to be con cerned for the safety of students who try to turn on their room heaters, Don Roberts, assistant maintenance fore man for Area Four, said. The heat was turned on Monday in the Corps dormitor ies, Puryer, Law, Walton, Moses, Crocker, Davis-Gary and Moore halls, Roberts said. Work has begun to turn the heat-op, in other dormitories. He said students who think the heat will not be on until after Thanksgiving are incorrect and any student who does not have heat in their room after the building’s system has been turned on should call University maintenance and the work will be done the same day if possible. The incident in Law Hall Monday could have been worse, said Roberts, the superviser who went to Law after water began to pour from a radiator students said they had tried to turn on. “What we are concerned about is the fact that so many students are doing this sort of thing, which they know nothing about and which could get them permanently injured.” The heated water in the Law system had only been on a few hours when Monday’s accident occured, and the heat had only risen to half its potential, another super visor said. The dormitories that are heated on the hot water system use 80-100 pounds-per-square-inch pres sure at 170-180 degrees, maintenance records show. Ron Sasse of the housing office said students are re quired to know and respect the University rules and regulations. Part of this includes students’ responsibility to abide by the policies of the housing guide which states that student will not make maintenance adjustments, Sas se said. “We expect students to call in a work order on all maintenance-type operations,” Sasse said. Students can, and have, had disciplinary action taken against them for ignoring this policy, he said. “I don’t have the report yet regarding the Law Hall incident so I can’t say what we will do in regard to the students involved,” Sasse said. Monica Christen, assistant North Area coordinator, said her office will wait until the dormitory dries out and extent of the damage can be determined before any re commendation will be made to Sasse’s office. Roberts and his workers are professionals who are trained to work safely around high pressure and steam, he said. “Messing with this stuff can get you hurt if you don’t know what you’re doing,” Roberts said. “The people in Law were very lucky. “Others who might think about tampering with these units should ask themselves; ‘Would I drive my car to Houston and then open my hood and pull off the radiator cap with my face over the top of it?’,” Roberts said. “It’s just the same.” Storm leaves blanket of snow United Press International Northeasterners dug out Wednesday from a savage storm that left a blanket of foot-deep snow, at least 20 people dead and weary motorists stranded on snow-packed highways from Texas to New England — with winter more than a month away. The National Weather Service said the storm, which first sock ed New Mexico and Texas, then moved over the Atlantic Ocean. South Florida, however, was enjoying a record warm spell, with temperatures in the upper 80s Tuesday. Hollywood, Fla., recorded the high for the nation with 89 degrees. New England was inundated with up to a foot of snow in the mountains, and 4 to 9 inches elsewhere. Motorists were caught by surprise, many without snow tires or chains, and a flurry of minor accidents occurred. Thirteen people died in Pennsylvania, including seven men who were shoveling snow that buried the state under 15 inches. Pittsburgh Coroner Dr. Joshua Perper called the snow- shoveling deaths a “mini-epidemic.” One person in Massachusetts and two in New Hampshire also died shoveling snow. During the past weekend, Texas reported three deaths and Oklahoma one as the storm raged northward. Children in many communities throughout New England en joyed an unscheduled holiday because schools were closed due to the weather. A 9-inch snowfall measured at Concord, N. H., Airport broke a 20-year record “for the greatest amount of snow in a day so early in the season,” said meteorologist Gil McCall. The storm dumped 9 inches of snow in Connecticut, more than half the total snowfall recorded during all of last winter. Massachusetts was hit with 10 inches. Texas tickets on sale Friday Football ticket distribution schedules have been changed for the Texas A&M- Texas football game because of the Thank sgiving holidays. Senior tickets for the game will go on sale Friday at the ticket windows at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Juniors can buy their tickets Monday morning, sophomores Monday afternoon and freshmen on Tuesday. Any tickets left will go on sale to the general public beginning Tuesday. Ticket prices are $10 each. ho#« lourt refuses ander case United Press International I’STIN — The Texas Supreme Court refused to reconsider a decision which missed the appeal of a former South- stern Bell Telephone Co. employee and widow of another to collect millions of liars in damages from the company for nder. The court, without written comment sdnesday, rejected reconsideration of an t. 22 decision dismissing the appeal of eta Gravitt Dixon, widow of O.T. Gra- t, and James Ashley, who contended uthwestern Bell slandered the two lone company officials and drove Gravitt suicide. Atrial court had awarded Mrs. Gravitt d Ashley $1.5 million, but the court of ’ll appeals overturned that decision, rul- ; there had been no evidence showing e telephone company acted in malice in investigation of allegations of sexual im pieties and expense account abuse ainst the two employees. Gravitt was a vice president of South- istem Bell, and Ashley was commercial anager for San Antonio when the com- ny began investigating the two in the fall 1974. Gravitt died of carbon monoxide lisoning in the garage of his Dallas home e week after he was suspended by the mpany, and Ashley was fired two weeks fcr. The Supreme Court, in its Oct. 22 rul- g, said state law does not permit appeal of ider cases to the Supreme Court unless re is conflict among other appellate urts or between the civil appeals court d Supreme Court decisions. There was 1 such conflict in the Bell case, the court ‘led, and the appeal was dismissed. The rt Wednesday denied a motion for re aring filed by Mrs. Dixon and Ashley. EPA looks at water in West Texas aquifer United Press International DALLAS — Underground water in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas may soon be protected from contamination if the area is designated a “sole source” for drinking water, the Environmental Protec tion Agency said. The Odessa chapter of the League of Women voters requested the designation for the Delaware Basin Aquifer. The aquifer system is made up of four reservoirs — Cenezoic Alluvium, Santa Rosa, Rustler and Capitan —- and involves the New Mexico counties of Eddy and Lea and the Texas counties of Crane, Loving, Culberson, Pecos, Reeves, Ward and Winkler. The system serves an estimated 75,000 people in the two states. If the system is designated “sole source, ” no federal money could be provided for any construction pro ject which could contaminate groundwater in the aquifer’s recharge zone, the EPA said. ‘Smokeout’day today Mobile homes Staff photo by Pat O’Malley These trucks are lined up waiting to dispose of their cargo at the modular dorm construction site behind the Commons Dorms. Each truck carries a separate dorm room, complete from top to bottom aside from a small amount of finish work. The rooms are stacked one on top of another to form a complete complex. “Kiss me — I don’t smoke,” the little green frog on the sticker says. Today is “The Great American Smoke out” — a day when all smokers are encour aged to give up smoking for 24 hours, or longer. The smokeout is an annual event spon sored by the American Cancer Society. Members of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity are helping with the no-smoking push by manning booths in local shopping centers and in the Memorial Student Cen ter at Texas A&M University. Members of the fraternity and their “lit tle sisters” ask people passing by if they smoke; if the response is negative, they stick a “Kiss me—I don’t smoke” sticker on their shirt. Those who answer “yes” are asked to sign a pledge card saying they will not smoke today. TKE President Brett Creeser said the fraternity had volunteered its services to the American Cancer Society to help fulfill its commitment to civic service. Last weekend, the group set up booths at Culpepper Plaza and Manor East Mall, Creeser said, and this week a booth was set up in the MSC to warn people of the dan gers of smoking and encourage them not to smoke today.