The Battalion
^ W74N0. 173
2 Pages
Serving the Texas A&M University community
Thursday, July 9, 1981
College Station, Texas
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Phone 845-2611
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United Press International
BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Catholic
lediators accused Britain of reneging on a deal
tat might have saved the life of hunger-striker
tseph McDonnell, and the IRA chose his re
deem ent in the macabre chain of death fasts.
In an equally hardening attitude, Britain’s
prthern Ireland office vowed Wednesday it
ould not negotiate with a “pistol to its head”
id would never abdicate control of Maze Prison
) ‘[terrorists” despite seven IRA prisoners still
n hunger strikes and the prospects of an eighth.
McDonnell, 30, who died early Wednesday,
ours after the Dublin-based Justice and Peace
mission reportedly presented a peace formula to
Britain, was the fifth hunger striker to die this
year in a quest by IRA detainees to gain political
prisoner status.
“By the clawing back on the part of the gov
ernment, a fine opportunity to get a resolution
was lost,” commission chairman Brian Gallagher
said Wednesday. “We were let down by the
British government.”
In Dublin, new Irish Prime Minister Garret
FitzGerald said he had been in touch with the
British government to “impress on them the
need for an urgent solution.”
The five-man commission met the Maze pris
oners four times in six days to draw up its peace
formula to satisfy the inmates’ demands — unre
stricted movement inside the jail, permission to
wear their own clothes, refuse prison work, get
more mail and a 50 percent reduction in their
sentences for good behavior.
The IRA prisoners, led by Bobby Sands, the
first striker to die, began their fasts in March,
charging Britain reneged on a deal granting
those privileges enjoyed by inmates until the
mid-1970s when they were revoked after reports
the inmates were using the freedom of move
ment to conduct classes on how to make bombs.
In its most explicit language this year, Bri
tain’s Northern Ireland office reiterated that
granting the privileges would amount to letting
the prisoners run the jail.
“The government cannot have a pistol to its
head,” said Minister of State Michael Alison,
explaining the Maze “was not meant to be a
training camp for terrorists.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Humphrey
Atkins offered concessions on two points in the
formula but reaffirmed the government would
not discuss reform until the hunger strike
ended.
The peace formula has not been publicized,
and Gallagher, the chairman of the Dublin com
en waiting
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Setting the trap
Although this spider hasn’t had any courses in civil engineer
ing, the intricacy of its web rivals any man-made construc-
Staff photo by Greg Gammon
tion. The unusual photographic effect is achieved hy holding
a light strobe behind the web while shooting the picture.
Researchers study methanol’s use as fuel
1 with 21
the WBA
tie on Junb'f
Kalule i»ff By BERNIE FETTE
Battalion Staff
I with 30 h Americans may be running their automobiles on fuel that is cheap-
'BA version® cleaner and more efficient in three to five years if the work of four
le by knochTexas A&M researchers continues as planned,
n two row® Joe Popp and Al Hulsey of the engineering technology depart-
nent and Dr. Bill Harris and Dr. Dick Davidson of the chemical
mgineering department are developing a process in which metha-
ioI, a kind of alcohol, will be used as a fuel in automobile engines,
iji “We think methanol is the fuel of the future,” Hulsey said. “And
fs going to be here sooner than people think.”
The methanol used in the engines can be produced from coal at a
st of 40 to 50 cents per gallon, and expected mileage is approxi
mately 75 percent of that gained from gasoline.
The researchers are presently working with two cars which were
purchased for the experiments by Conoco, who will test the pro
totypes when they are finished. Conversions on one of the cars have
been completed and the other will be finished in two to three weeks.
Hulsey said the rising price of gasoline has prompted many
individuals to produce their own alchohol and use it as fuel in their
cars. But the methanol has a distinct advantage over alcohol.
When alcohol is burned in a car’s engine it also burns away the oil
which lubricates the cylinders, causing excessive wear on the engine.
But Popp and Hulsey say that by vaporizing the methanol through a
heat-transfer process, that problem can be eliminated.
The methanol also has an environmental advantage over gasoline
because it burns much cleaner, Popp said.
Since burning the methanol in a car engine requires a different
air-to-fuel ratio, there is the need for a minor adjustment on the car’s
carburetor.
Popp said that at this stage of the research, the cost of converting
an automobile to methanol as a primary source of fuel costs between
$2,000 and $3,000 because all the parts must be custom-made.
The researchers say they hope to make the conversion kits avail
able to consumers for $500 in three to five years. Hulsey said that at
that time, methanol would probably be available at most filling
stations.
“I don’t care what it is,” Popp said. “If there’s a cheaper fuel for
cars, then people are going to buy it. ”
Nature smiled on Texas growers
This summer s fruit crop especially peachy
By KATHY O’CONNELL
Battalion Staff
If you enjoy a mouth-watering peach,
ow is the time to get them, because
exas peach growers have experienced
bumper crop this summer.
B.G. Hancock, a horticulturalist with
e Texas A&M Agricultural Extension
ervice, said this year, “Ol’ Mother Na-
re smiled on Texas growers.”
Last year, he said, growers were pla-
ed with late frost, drought and severe
ail storms. All these elements can
ither make or break a good crop,
i Hancock said the most damage to
)each crops in Texas comes from hail
■ . itorms. If the storm hits the early de-
H KSE ^eloping fruit and knocks them off the
lllli^.Tees, then the crop is ruined. But, if the
i g s & weel^’-rop is “hail kissed”, that is, the fruit is
licked, then they can still be sold to the
iirn xmsumer.
ntn These “hail kissed” peaches are sold
PI ACC it a discount and are good for canning,
^ preserving and freezing, he said.
| “Texans are proud of their peaches, ”
le said. “To the Texan, the tree-ripened
peach is the best. ” Even though Califor-
lia is number one in peach productiv-
ty, most Texans prefer a more ripe,
nature peach.
He said California growers use an en-
:irly different variety of peaches, which
ITS
12.
:all
are bred mainly for their color. “They
(Californians) have developed peaches
that will look mature before they are,”
he said.
“Ripe peaches is where we can beat
the livin’ daylights out of them (Califor
nia),” he said.
Texas is also unique in that ripe
Staff photo by Greg Gammon
peaches are ready at the beginning of
May. Other crops grown in Midwest
ern, Eastern and Southeastern United
States aren’t ready until July.
Texas has an advantage to growing
peaches because, “We have lots and lots
of sunshine and most of the soil is high in
potassium. Potassium gives peaches
good color and taste,” he said.
Hancock said the Texas A&M Agri
cultural Extension Service has test
orchards and provides peach growers
with information on how to prune, spray
and irrigate peach orchards.
As a matter fact, Texas A&M resear
chers have developed four varieties of
peaches: Milam, Denman, Sam Hous
ton and Early Grande. All of these
varieties, except Early Grande, are free
stone peaches.
Hancock said free stone peaches are
easily separated from the seed. “House
wives prefer free stones, because they
slice better than cling peaches.
“Cling peaches don’t break away from
the seed. You have to cut them away
with a paring knife,” he said.
For the consumer who is looking for
Texas tree-ripened peaches, Hancock
said the Red Globe and Loring varieties
are ready right now. Depending on the
variety and the season, a half bushel (25
pounds) of peaches averages about $8.
This price is good, he said, consider
ing they sold for about $10 to $13 last
mission, said he was “astonished” at the state
ment by the Northern Ireland office.
The concessions were read to the seven pris
oners still on hunger strike, as the IRA
announced Pat McGeown, 25, who is married
and has a 6-year-old son, will replace McDonnell
on the hunger strike within 48 hours. McGeown
is serving a 15-year term for possession of explo
sives and the bombing of Belfast’s Europa Hotel
in January 1975.
Of the seven surviving fasters, the weakest
was Kiernan Docherty, now in the 52nd day of
not eating. Sunday, IRA sources said he could
not hold down water.
Galveston
camp starts
Sunday
Summer camp is probably the last
place most kids want to think about
learning. Winning a race at the pool,
hitting a home run and hiding a frog in
the counselor’s bunk are the top priority
activities for most campers.
But the summer camp for gifted chil
dren at Texas A&M University at Gal
veston will be different.
Galveston Island Adventure, co
sponsored by the Gifted Students Insti
tute for Research and Development in
Arlington and the Texas A&M Gifted
and Talented Institute, is expected to
attract about 75 children described by
program director Dr. William Nash as
very bright to genius.
There will be “the normal things you
would find at camp,” Nash said, “but
more important will be the workshops
and coastal lore and creative writing,
architecture, space science and marine
biology.
“We try to give them a broad look at
the field of study,” said Nash, associate
professor of educational psychology and
director of the Gifted and Talented In
stitute.
“Second, we provide them with some
training in the basic technology of that
field. Finally, we try to encourage each
student to become involved in a project
and produce some tangible product. It
might be a story or a model of an oyster
reef. ”
The program, scheduled to run for
two weeks beginning Sunday, is the
second sponsored by the institute. It is
geared toward exposing the children to
material they will not encounter later in
school, said Nancy Roberts, a doctoral
student and graduate assistant working
with Nash.
Instructors try to take children out of
the classroom and into the “field” set
tings as much as possible, Nash said.
“We try not to limit the experience just
to classroom instruction. ”
Children in the coastal lore and crea
tive writing section go out to the beach
and find an object to weave a story
around.
Marine biology workshop partici
pants spend time on boats to gather and
study specimens of marine life and chil
dren in the architecture section tour
Galveston and Houston to compare ear
ly and modern architecture styles.
A tour of the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration Johnson
Spacecraft Center and several planetar-
iums is on the agenda for kids in the
space science workshop along with a
visit to Galveston by some astronauts.
Roberts said the opportunity stu
dents have to interact with other chil
dren who also have above-average intel
ligence is just as important as the learn
ing aspect.
The children who participated in the
camp last year found it “rewarding to be
with people they could finally relate
with,” Roberts said.
MSC Council
will discuss
lounge abuse
The MSC Council will meet Satur
day to hear reports from three council
officers and approve speakers for MSC
SCONA and MSC Great Issues.
MSC Council president Doug Dede-
ker said the meeting will focus on a
report from the vice president of opera
tions concerning abuse of the Serpen
tine and Schiwetz lounges.
Dedeker said there are several
groups of people who play “war games”
in the Serpentine lounge, which is lo
cated on the 2nd floor above the MSC
Main Desk.
Dedker said the MSC Hotel staff has
been continually disturbed by horse
play and loud laughing. He said the
council will discuss how to solve the
abuse of these lounges.
The council will meet at 10 a.m.
Saturday in the Council Conference
Room (216T MSC).
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