rlHE Battalion
ill, let’s saykftfl
i people aresltil
up and raii,
'■ 74 No - 178
ints. Up to si 4
jms the peoplijH,
3 negotiations
t it’s the Ameiil
pays their:
;h salaries,
rat it takes tos
I guess that ifi |
the season isat I Q f \ C O T 'S~V*
incerelyhopeyli/OV/ *3 CtL LC/1
don’t have m. ■■■■■■ ■■
Snt “imall leak
Tiers out tk/J
ake to nwkefe'nic Texas A&M nuclear reactor was
puoher They Ejjtlown briefly Tuesday when a small
)iig witho^ijBjt of radioactive gas escaped in-
lyed, thougl ' ie j] ie re actor building, said the dire-
thier ones r . )x 0 j Texas A&M’s Nuclear Science
>nter
1 listen. p) r j 0 h n Randall said the shutdown
somethin?, 'purred at 9:55 a.m. as part of the reac-
eady beginiu(.’ s | utoinat i c emergency procedure
ren a leak is detected. The incident
s not significant enough to require a
wrt to the Nuclear Regulatory Com-
ssion, he said.
There were no radiation exposures as
esult of the incident and no radiation
Sgiied from the facility. The reactor
[ ULC ilding was reopened by 1 p.m.
na
“About 10 one-millionth of a Curie
aped from an aluminum tube that
s holding a sample being irradiated, ”
ndall said. “That is about the amount
radiation in a wristwatch.
baseball talbi “We never want to see any radiation
jment Momk ape, but privately I’m glad to see this
er negotiate nor incident happen because we
•, the 39thda'! re able to test our emergency proce-
n at 9:30a.in res under actual conditions and found
innouncement :y work very well.”
the talks be a The one mega-watt reactor was built
tldfish bowl r I960 and is located on University
several newsppperty in an isolated area about three
nd cameratwles from the campus. A standard nuc-
•iliationServktrpower reactor is about 3,000 mega-
r, executivediK
itatives, andfe
nsel, amlthe.ii
■t with the two!
6:10 p.m. ami:
reason for to®
:her, it doesnti
ve its version,!
\hip back
rhursday
iftcr search
pate in the nt?
■loser tocompc
free agents, k
edit for serviffi
Texas A&M’s research vessel Gyre,
Tying what searchers hope are photo-
iphs of at least part of the wreck of the
anic, is scheduled to arrive in Boston
8 a.m. Thursday.
■nt on majorl The 174-foot ship loaded with sophis-
to start giving ited underwater detection equip-
mt left the North Atlantic Sunday af-
mrgh Pirates,^:retrieving the cameras used to
■r of the Baitotograph “several hundred tons” of
ic AmericanL ! tal resting on the bottom at about the
ive Bob Boone >t the Titanic was believed to have
le down in 1912.
it Lee MacPb
»ES
Adventurer Jack Grimm of Abilene
itracted the oceanographic research
p operated by Texas A&M Universi-
in his personal hunt for the Titanic,
University officials connected with
b ship said they were excited about
; discovery of the debris two miles
ep and about 200 miles south of New-
indland.
The Gyre will only be in Boston long
ough to drop off Mr. Grimm and his
Jf and refuel the ship,” said T.K.
eadwell Jr., oceanographer and chief
ministrator for the ship.
“The ship will leave immediately for
oods Hole, Mass, to pick up another
um im of scientists and then back out to
i to continue the scientific research
attend *4the Gyre is normally involved in.”
r 846 1501 J ear j n g j n
st conflict
be Friday
iy
ar
A hearing for the writ of mandamus
ing sought by the Bryan-College Sta
rt Eagle to obtain the list of candi-
tes for the Texas A&M University
ssidency has been set for 9 a.m. Fri-
y in 85th District Court.
The Eagle applied for the writ when
j University refused to release the list
er Attorney General Mark White de
mined the list was a public record.
Eagle Publisher John Williams said
believes the law is clearly on the
wspaper’s side in this case.
Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs
nes B. Bond said the University has
[used to release the information be-
iise it is feared some of the individuals
10 are being considered for the posi-
n may bring invasion of privacy suits
ainst the University if the names are
ide known to the public.
Williams said the Eagle will continue
seek the list of candidates even if a
w president is chosen before the dis-
te is settled in court.
Bond said if the court finds in favor of
e Eagle, the University will appeal
5 decision.
Serving the Texas A&M University community
Wednesday, July 22, 1981 USPS 045 360
College Station, Texas Phone 845-2611
Staff photo by Greg Gammon
Alien invader
Texas A&M University students beware! This graph looks like a scene from a science fiction
three-eyed monster from a different, outer- movie, this robot-like structure is actually only a
space planet has landed. Although this photo- wide-angle view of a light pole on Ross street.
California seeks court action
against quarantined states
United Press International
LOS GATOS, Calif. — California
went to the nation’s highest court to
stop five Southern states from enforcing
quarantines on its $14 billion fruit and
vegetable crop because of the Mediter
ranean fruit fly infestation.
Deputy California Attorney General
Gregory Wilkinson asked the Supreme
Court Tuesday for a restraining order
against Texas, Florida, Alabama, Mis
sissippi and South Carolina, which slap
ped quarantines on all California pro
duce this week.
Chief Justice Wanen Burger and
Justice Lewis Powell, in turn, asked the
defendants and the U.S. Agriculture
Department for responses to the suit by
Friday.
Of the five states that imposed
quarantines this week, only Texas and
Florida have turned back truckloads of
ripening California fruit. Texas lifted its
roadblocks Tuesday on the orders of a
federal judge, but Florida continued to
turn back truckloads of pears, plums
and peaches suspected of harboring the
voracious fruit fly.
Gov. Jerry Brown Jr. emphasized
Tuesday California’s Medfly infestation
had affected only three counties south of
San Francisco, where a massive air and
ground war has been launched against
the pest that destroys 200 varieties of
fruits and vegetables.
“I’m confident Florida will back off
either under pressure of the U.S. gov
ernment and the Department of Agri
culture, or the federal courts,” Brown
said.
But in Tallahassee, Fla., Gov. Bob
Graham said the state would not lift its
embargo on California fruits and veget
ables without a court order. On Monday
and Tuesday, Florida inspectors re
jected 14 trucks from California.
GNP growth slows
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The gross national product surged
ahead during the first three months of this year, but tentative
figures have led analysts to believe it shifted into idle for
April, May and June.
The Commerce Department was scheduled to release the
official second-quarter GNP figures today at 9:30 a.m. EDT.
A recent unofficial preliminary measurement, known as
the “flash” GNP, showed about a zero increase from April
through June. That contrasts to a first quarter in which the
GNP rose at an annual rate of 8.6 percent.
Late last year, most experts predicted no growth or a
slight decline for the first three months of 1981, believing last
year’s recession would hold down the GNP for at least the
first part of this year.
But if the “flash” GNP proves accurate, the projected
slowdown has arrived.
Economists generally consider GNP growth above 4 per
cent to be enough to reduce unemployment. But the first-
quarter growth of more than twice that rate left the unem
ployment rate unchanged at about 7.4 percent.
in 2nd quarter
Last week, the Reagan administration projected the GNP
would average about 2.5 percent this year.
That’s less optimistic than the private forecasters. Chase
Econometrics sees the year’s GNP up 2.7 percent and Data
Resources, Inc., projects a 2.9 percent expansion. Wharton
sees 3.8 percent yearly expansion.
Supply-side oriented Claremont Economics, on which
the administration has leaned for many of its calculations, is
more pessimistic than the White House. It projects growth of
just 2.1 percent.
But considering the first quarter’s high growth, all the
forecasters agree the second-quarter economy, as well as the
rest of the year, will turn out to be nearly motionless.
Within the overall GNP figures are several other impor
tant economic benchmarks, including corporate profits and
the pace of inflation throughout the economy.
After-tax corporate profits for the first quarter rose 2.3
percent, recovering to slightly above the level before the
recession.
Prices, measured within the GNP figure, were up 9.8
percent at an annual rate for that first three-month period.
The Weather
Today
Tomorrow
High
97 High
97
Low
76 Low
75
Chance of rain.
20% Chance of rain. . . .
. . . 20%
Postal contract
may raise stamps
to 20-cent level
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The tentative
contract between the Postal Service and
two major unions would give 500,000
workers an estimated 10.5 percent pay
hike but may expedite the arrival of a
20-cent, first-class stamp.
Rank-and-file members of the Amer
ican Postal Workers Union and the Na
tional Association of Letter Carriers are
being urged by their leaders to ratify the
three-year pact reached Tuesday after a
marathon negotiating session.
The proposed $4.8 billion accord
averted a threatened nationwide mail
strike and had union leaders predicting
a jubilant celebration.
“Letter carriers will be dancing down
the highways and the byways,” said Let
ter Carriers President Vincent Som-
brotto.
“By 1984, everybody will have what
they want,” said Moe Biller, president
of the Postal Workers Union.
The contract calls for raises and
bonuses totaling $2,100 over the three
years, plus cost-of-living increases.
Postal employees now average $19,915
annually.
Postmaster General William F. Bol-
ger said the pact’s cost could be met
with a 20-cent, first-class stamp rate.
Earlier this year, the first-class rate rose
from 15 to 18 cents.
Biller and Sombrotto initially
announced a settlement at 4 a.m. EDT
Tuesday. But a few hours later, after
saying some terms had been switched,
they retracted their statements and re
turned to the bargaining table.
The previous contract expired at
midnight Monday, but despite the
strike threat, the mail never stopped
moving. Members were told by union
leaders to “hang in, stand fast, wait
again for our voices. ”
The word came down at 4 p. m. E DT,
when Sombrotto, Biller and Bolger told
a news conference at a Washington
hotel a tentative agreement had been
reached.
Sombrotto and Biller said the settle
ment was a good one and urged rank-
and-file approval. They also gave Bolger
credit for intervening and resolving last-
minute deadlocks.
Bolger twice has asked the indepen
dent Postal Rate Commission for per
mission to raise the cost of a first-class
stamp to 20 cents. The commission re
jected both requests, but the Postal Ser
vice again is seeking such authority.
The postmaster general has warned
without higher rates now, he may seek
an increase to 23 cents by September
1982.
The tentative contract, to be
approved within 45 days, includes a
$300 wage increase each year, plus a
$350 bonus. The first year also includes
an additional $150, bringing the first-
year pay hike to $800.
It also maintains cost-of-living in
creases without a limit — a hotly con
tested issue during the talks.
Under the contract, overtime would
be restricted to not more than 50 hours a
week mandatory and 10 hours a day for
five days in a service week.
New valve may help
heart researchers
A computerized model of a common
heart valve disorder— mitral valve pro
lapse — has been developed by resear
chers at Texas A&M University to gain a
better understanding of its causes.
The mitral valve allows passage of
blood from the upper left chamber of
the heart, the atrium, to the left ventri
cle and then closes to prevent blood
from returning to the atrium. During
prolapse, the valve suddenly balloons
back into the atrium.
In extreme cases, the ballooning rup
tures, allowing oxygen-rich blood that
should be pumped to the rest of the
body to flow back into the atrium.
Working under a grant from the U.S.
Air Force, a team of researchers from
the Texas Engineering Experiment Sta
tion has developed a mathematical
model to simulate normal and irregular
actions of the valve.
Dr. William Lively, a computer spe
cialist who worked on the project, said
the computer model can simulate mil
lions of actions per second that normally
might take hours to occur within the
actual human heart. By developing a
system of coordinates to track the posi
tions of the leaflets of the valve in va
rious phases of action, researchers can
better define exactly when prolapse
occurs.
“Numerous articles describing the
phenomenon have been published in
the past 15 years and recent advances in
ultrasound (sonar-like) instrumentation
have greatly aided in the detection of
this condition,” he said. “However,
considerable controversy still remains
regarding the causes, criteria for diag
nosis and significance of mitral valve
prolapse.
“Ultimately this model may improve
our understanding of the multiple fac
tors involved,” Lively said.
Most information on the mitral valve
must be obtained from autopsies and
other clinical data. It is difficult to
visualize minute changes in the valve
with radiological techniques, Lively
said, thus making the model an impor
tant tool.
“We can generate a graphic output
that shows the various positions of the
leaflets of the valve,” Lively said. “With
the computer, we can change various
properties of the valve mechanism —
such as stretching the leaflets or causing
irregular contractions — to see if the
changes do in fact cause prolapse.”
Schools should cut
programs, says Hubert
College and University administra
tors meeting at Texas A&M University
have been challenged to trim the dead-
wood from their academic offerings and
to be prepared to accept change.
Dr. Frank W.R. Hubert, chancellor
of the Texas A&M System, urged parti
cipants in the 15th Annual Seminar on
Academic Administration to scrutinize
their institutions for courses and prog
rams that are no longer valid.
“There is not an institution repre
sented in this mixture that doesn’t have
some deadwood courses in its catalog,”
Hubert said.
The four-day seminar attracted about
30 top level higher education officials
from throughout the state.
The chancellor also offered several
suggestions on how administrators can
take charge in a new position or situa
tion.
He urged new administrators to con
duct a thorough reconnaissance of the
“territory” covered by the position. He
also encouraged the group to compile a
detailed personnel file and to keep their
faculty informed of what is going on in
the department or college.
“Faculty and department heads can
make decisions that are no better than
the information they have to act upon,”
he said.
Also speaking at the seminar was Dr.
Haskell M. Monroe, president of the
University of Texas at El Paso.
Monroe warned administrators about
resistance to change. “An administrator
at any level has the opportunity to make
changes and should never hesitate to do
so,” he said. “Nostalgia cannot substi
tute for progressive change. ”