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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 27, 1981)
THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1981 Page 9 National ourt upholds ailroad merger ■nsurani! United Press International WASHINGTON — The Sup- line Court Tuesday turned down challenge to the merger of the nation’s largest railroad, Burling- ..Mn Northern, and the St. Louis- st out-of-sla|M in Francisco Railway. ■ T he justices let stand a federal job need M |?P eals court rulin ^ that the Intcr - ? a lawsuit late Commerce Commission Srievance loperly considered the public .iefhes e i' neflt > rather tl ! an t ie cons 1 e( l u ; <ota case B ices to other railroads 1 or ra,lroad ate i na JMorkers, in approving the merger. I The $350 million merger came pj i . L November after several months initiated by the compet- *2 Missouri-Kansas-Texas Rail- " ln "*Ed -km»w„ « Katy. A subsidi- lyofKaty Industries, the railroad | a 2,200-mile line operating in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and | exas - I The merger combined Burling- | 0 n Northern’s 24,500 miles of rack with the 4,600 owned by irisco to create the nation s Lgest rail network, extending Burlington Northern’s service bm 19 midwestern and western J.S. Circuit there is no law. ititrust con- > more likely m would em 1 fair share,’ ie appellate raged to risl iwledgetk lie and that cl.” is Industries es would not “that those dries will be Texas Indus- ie high court fundamental states into the southwest. But Katy, describing itself as in a “marginal financial position, said competition from the merger would cost it $8.7 million annual ly, causing it to curtail mainte nance, cut back on service and de lay rate adjustments for its cus tomers. The ICC approved the merger on grounds it would benefit the public without cutting down on essential services and it would not reduce competition. The commission also rebuffed the Railway Labor Executives’ Association’s request for employ ment protection for workers whose jobs might be eliminated because of the merger. Katy appealed the decision, cri ticizing the ICC for the use of an “essential services” standard to determine whether to approve the merger. But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ICC’s ac tion, holding the commission acted in the public interest in approving the merger. Imports help relieve peanut butter crisis United Press International WASHINGTON — The peanut butter crisis is ending. But whether |rices of the sticky staple return to normal when supplies increase jemains a question. I Last winter’s shortage, caused by the drought of the previous summer, has been made up in large part by imports from countries lich as India and China. I The need for imports is what made the prices escalate. They are [loderating now, but whether the decline will continue won’t be mown until this summer and fall when the size of the 1981 U.S. peanut rop can be firmly assessed. American farmers normally produce more than enough peanuts. Mien the crop size declined by 42 percent last winter, a shortfall was reated for the first time in a generation. 1 fl ■Agriculture experts say signs point to a better crop this year. A * A. A ' ViXwVi xwpwtY wo ’p>WAAy>% YrAerAwKYS wclwAlvd y>v:,\\\\\t Ivwvwvrs. would iblant 4 percent more acreage, and more irrigation is being used, address he § articularl y in Georgia, die U.S. Miliw Moisture supplies are low, however, and there is a shortage of seed, 4 Point N,IB 0 the crop cannot be estimated until later in the year, icd in total™ The first crop report will be issued by the Agriculture Department VwAidw ^ August, with reports following in subsequent months. The most Accurate figure will come in November. “If there’s an excellent harvest, I would guess that you’d see an hiprovement (in prices) by November,” said James Mack of the Washington-based Peanut Butter and Nut Processors Association. “If the crop is poor, then we re really in trouble. ” Ernie Moore, a spokesman for the Safeway stores in the Washington Irea, said 12-ounce jars of Peter Pan and Skippy now cost $1.49. A year [go Peanut Pan cost $1.15 and Skippy cost $1.05. But on March 1, both brands cost $1.75 and some jar sizes were Bnavailable. Now the situation is “fairly good,” Moore said. “We have hfull supply on hand of all products. ” /ision nel g-distaiiwlfi ime of his iw| taut obsemt lars rou!) Fast-draw granny captures burglar United Press International Li i PHOENIX, Ariz. — A 77-year- rsity are designed to 1 ; U.S. said a newd [fectiyely I goats. ^ _ j o problems"! old grandmother, fast on the draw coyotes, or"j with a .38-caliber revolver, nab- I bed a would-be burglar at her pome and made him crouch down n all fours as she sipped a glass of ymrbon and waited for police. Gladys Kastensmith was wakened in her rocking chair $!>nday by a. man frying’ fo crawl | hrovigh a doggie door in her f ome > police said. She coolly ffabbed her revolver and fired Fee shots to scare him away. But r e intruder boldly went to mother door and got in the house, olice said. Kastensmith was waiting for im. John Lynch, civilian supervisor for the police radio room, said he monitored the telephone call from the woman. She had him down on all fours and told him if he moved she’d shoot him,” Lynch said. “He moved and she said (to police). Just a minute, honey’ and then kablam)” Lynch said the woman fired at least one shot at the man to keep him from moving while she talked to police. When police arrived, they found David Snead, 28, still on all fours while Kastensmith guarded him. Snead was taken into custody. New test may aid lung patients United Press International RICHMOND, Va. — A new test involving injection of a radioac tive substance may help doctors treat many of the 150,000 people nationwide who each year suffer from severe respiratory ailments. The test — radioactive tracing — was the brainchild of Dr. Harvey Sugerman, an assistant professor of surgery at the Medical College of Virginia. Half of the 150,000 patients who suffer severe breathing difficul ties each year die when their lungs fill with fluid, medical statistics show. Doctors often were frustrated in their attempts to save more patients because no effective method existed for measuring the amount of fluid in the lungs. In Sugerman’s test, similar to tracing tests used on other parts of the body, a patient is injected with a mildly radioactive dose of a substance called albumin. The albumin is pumped into blood vessels of the lungs. If capillar ies of the lungs are leaking substances from the bloodstream, the radioactive albumin will leak-out with them into surrounding tissue. A device called the Gamma camera is then able to detect the amount of fluid in the lungs. The test can be used on patients hospitalized in intensive care units with maladies as diverse as massive infection or drug overdose. “This test gives us a marker to determine how much and how long capillaries are leaking,” Sugerman said. “It gives us a way to find the best therapeutic regimen including respirators and drugs.” Sugerman said the hour-long test had been used successfully on 16 patients at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital. Doctors at the Medical College of South Carolina also have used the test on four patients with favorable results. Sugerman, who earlier demostrated the procedure on laboratory animals, has been developing the test since 1978 in conjunction with Drs. James Tatum and Jerry Hirsch. Soviets warships increase as U.S. carriers arrive United Press International WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Tuesday the Soviet Union has moved more warships into the Mediterranean Sea since the arrival in the area of a U.S. battle group led by the aircraft carrier Inde pendence. “There has been an increase in the number of Soviet vessels” from 32 to 39 since Thursday, Penta gon spokesman Henry Catto told reporters. But, he said, “there have been no unusual pat terns” in the movement of Soviet warships such as a buildup in the eastern Mediterranean. The Soviet Mediterranean fleet numbers between 35 and 45 vessels. The Independence and two guided missile escort ships — the cruiser Yarnell and destroyer Adams — entered the Mediterranean from the Suez Canal May 15 en route home to Virginia from six months in the Indian Ocean. The task force was ordered into a holding pattern in the region in response to the possibility of an outbreak of hostilities between Syria and Israel over the Syrian positioning of Soviet anti-aircraft missiles in Lebanon. Though Catto said the Independence was “going home with a little patience,” defense sources said the 78,000-ton conventionally powered ship was on sta tion south of Cyprus and about 200 miles from the Lebanese coast. Nine more F-4 Phantom fighter-bombers, re fueled in midair on a non-stop flight from the United States, joined the Independence last week, the sources said. Raid uncovers counterfeit cash United Press International LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A Secret Service raid on a farmhouse uncovered a basement “mint” where counterfeiters printed $1.5 million in bogus $100 and $20 bills and funneled them across the southeastern United States. John T. Cook, special agent in charge of the Secret Service in Arkansas, said the raid Sunday yielded $21,400 in counterfeit cash, printing plates and nega tives that could have been used to produce more phony money. Secret Service agents in Mississippi provided a tip last week that led to an investigation and the raid on the farmhouse, in cooperation with Van Buren coun ty law officials. ffib was no Mickey Mouse operation,” Anglin said. I hey were set up to do a lot more, and the money was really well done.” Good banking is an art in itself. Good banking is like art. It doesn’t just happen. Not in a week. Not in a year. It takes ability. And the dedication to practice perfectly. Day after day after day. At RepublicBank A&M, we’ve got that kind of dedication. We have the resources. And the experience. We can perform for you. Because good banking is an art in itself. RepublicBank A&M. We perform. RepublicBank A&M Box 2860 * 111 University Dr. • College Station, TX 77841 846-5721 • Member FDIC