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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 1981)
ocal THE BATTALION Page 5 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1981 Iftsifc AML :Will MSC. activitie bers ar AMU TRAP ^ nizational me iTERPHETAI Room 502, Rudder Tower. m m ■v'" ; . f- ■ ■ le are Building. Beginners and a) iFF CAMP mittees and 201, MSC. MERICAN IN GINEERS:Me will speak on REMED/DE Student Affairs, 7:30 p.m. in Room 321, 4YETTE first meeting of the year to m. in Room iuy. Military Sciences " hunters are welcome. com- j.in. in Room ICAL EN- and Pete Radecki real world. , Associate Dean for edicine, will speak at hold the 6:30 p.m. in organizational meeting at 7 p.m. in Room gineering Center. TEXAS A&M STUDENT DIETETIC :WiIl have a guest speaker and salad supper at 6:30 p.m. ir Room 126, Kleburg. All members should bring an ingredient. TYLER HOMETOWN CLUB:WU1 hold a meeting at 7 p. m. in Room 404, Rudder Tower. Everyone from the Tyler-Smith Area is invited. Elections will be held for club officers. Wednesday EL PASO HOMETOWN CLURrWiH hold an organizational meeting and elect officers at 7:30 p.m. in Room 504 Rudder Tower. TEXAS STUDENT EDUCATION ASSOCIATION:Dean Corrigan, Dean of College of Education, will speak along with membership drive at 7 p.m. in Room 701 Rudder Tower. EUROPE CLUBkOrganizational meeting and discussion of fu ture events at 9 p.m. at Mr. Gatti's. Today s Almanac \\ectronic marketing foreseeable Today is Tuesday, Sept. 15, the 258th day of 1981 with 107 to follow. The moon is moving toward its last quarter. The morning star is Mars. The evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. Those born on this date in his tory are under the sign of Virgo. Republican William Howard Taft, 27th president of the United States, was born Sept. 15, 1857. On this date in history: In 1942, armies of Nazi Ger many began the siege of Staling rad, Russia. In 1963, four black girls were killed in the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Ala. Two black boys also were shot to death that day as citywide rioting broke out. In 1966, Gemini 2 splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean after a then-record, three-day space flight. In 1972, two former White House aides and five other men were indicted on charges of con spiracy in the break-in of Demo cratic National Committee head quarters in Washington (Water gate). A thought for the day: English author John Ruskin said, “That country is the richest which nourishes the greatest number of noble and happy human beings.” iroved i Buyers bullish over computer beef By ERICA KRENNERICH Battalion Reporter ittlex,” a computerized cat- rketing system developed at A&M University, com- its first year of operation 3, proving that cattle can be [onically marketed. U _Jtlex, which stands for cattle ■yHngc, is a joint research pro- tf the Texas and U.S. Depart- ‘nts of Agriculture as well as the Agricultural Extension Ser- nd the Texas Agricultural S Biment Station, both bran- espthe Texas A&M System. Dr Ernie Davis, an extension k marketing specialist and of the system’s developers, d at least jjthe idea for Cattlex started in )eared when he organized a group of almost s wounds, ey, whos u the "ll roved tk| adbyf al associate tomy i took industry leaders to look 'estock marketing alterna- Javis said they became in- sted in computer marketing iewing an electronic mar- system for cotton. “They nterested to know if (Texas) om two tM could develop a similar sys- ded bef( | for cattle, particularly feeder cture tip},'’ he said. Grant money be- be avail tie available and Cattlex went animal I :o development, Davis said. , theewThe Cattlex system began with t yet kiBwperators and has since asheaviown to 29 cooperators state- wormside, including 11 feedyards and it anda'S 13 auction markets. Each cooper ator is a computer terminal loca tion with a printer and cathode ray tube (CRT) which resembles a television screen, Davis said. The 29 CRTs are linked together by telephone lines. Reg ular auctions occur each business day at all terminal locations. Cattle offered for auction are of two types, ranch and delivered. Ranch cattle are those for sale in truckload or larger lots. A truck- load lot weighs about 44,000 pounds. If a seller has a truckload lot, he can have a Cattlex grader go to his ranch to grade and de scribe the cattle while they remain on pasture, Davis said. Davis said the cattle must be delivered to a Cattlex location to be graded and described prior to auction if they weigh less than a truckload lot. The minimum lot that is offered over the system is 10,000 pounds. Cattle also can be offered on a contract basis for fu ture delivery, Davis said. Graders attend a two-day school at Texas A&M to become certified and trained. “Most of them (grad ers) have been cattlemen all of their lives and they are already order buyers or auction market managers, people who sort cattle for auctions and order buyers,” Davis said. “All we do is standar dize the way they grade and de scribe cattle.” Currently, 55 graders have been certified, he said. They list the sex, age, grade, breed, weight and flesh condition of the cattle. Sellers pay a listing fee and infor mation on their lot is put into the computer and becomes available to buyers at all terminals, Davis said. Each lot listed is offered to all buyers, who view CRT screens, at the same time. Each lot is subject to competitive bidding for 16 mi nutes before it is taken off the auc tion for the day. “Sellers can set a no-sale price on their cattle before the auction,” Davis said. This price specifies the minimum price the seller will accept. Davis said the greatest advan tage of the Cattlex system is its cost efficiency. “You don’t have to travel all over the country to locate cattle,” he said. “You can trans port them straight from the seller to the buyer and the cattle get there in a healthier condition,” Davis said. “The buyers have been very satisfied with the cattle that were delivered,” Davis said. “Sellers have been happy because they have received about $1 per (100 pounds) of cattle more on Cattlex than their local markets were sell ing for on a particular sale date.” held m^ervice said Tw Ci Austin for causes f results I y shed4 ty, herf] ^ v \lfjifeek in Austin for 1st Lt. De- irv ap 1 * aS0n ’ a distinguished itvSBry graduate of Texas A&M 1 u * T ersity. His F-105 aircraft ted off the Danish coast Aug. 'gie flier Memorial services were held m ' sou. ;S was S® Iveston*’ |, where 1 niAuc' f e after r* onditi*? h. iM Texas Student Education Association 1 st general meeting Sept. 16 7 p.m. Room 701 Rudder DEAN CORRIGAN, Dean of College of Education will speak. bon, Class of ‘75, was on a mg mission with his Air Force rve unit, the 508th Tactical ter Group, at the time of the lent. The unit is based at Hill in Utah. | native of Austin, Mason was of retired Col. and Mrs. jht Mason. He joined the Air Reserve soon after gradua- Mason was a member of Squad- FOOlli jj j n tjjg Texas A&M Corps of Its and a member of Alpha Phi h- u AY # Steak •wy esar'd ilher INT QEALTY all us BEFORE you eed us. Free consulta-. ion or buying and sel- g. 846-8179 t jirista Pandey, Broker 4015 Tex. Ave., Bryan next to Taco Bell -J Christian Fellowship vE* CAnrejzsujiy house cptscopAL sruOenr cenrejz would like to welcome you to our Wednesday Evening (5-30) Eucharist and Supper other activities available are— Friday morning (6 ; 30) Eucharist ancl breakfast Evening Prayer Bible studies LiPe Small Qroup (small sharing groups) prayer partners student center chapel (St. Jude’s) open H4 hours study space and TV room open until 11 pm daily 002 jeftsey sr. across pjzom rhe Bonptfze sire 606-0774 OR 696-ms IWSC CAMAC presents LOS CRYSTALES" (a mariache band) commemorating exico^s Independence « date: Sept. 16 B ‘ time: 11 a.m.-l p.m. Ial place: Rudder Fountain Day Davis said there have been no major problems in operating Cat tlex and the current phase simply involves trying to increase the volume of sales over the system. “The market has been basically in a tailspin ever since we started and people will put a no-sale price on their cattle that is generally higher than the market, ” he said. Many of the cattle are retained and go onto a feedyard under the same owner, he said. Another problem, Davis noted, is the short-term length of the pro ject. He said some people are afraid to try the system since it will be shut off in December. “Some people are afraid to lose their mar ket contacts,” he said. Also, some people are uninterested and some do not understand the system, he said. Davis said despite good press coverage there are still many peo ple who have not heard of Cattlex. “But I think definitely in the next two to three years there will be a commercial unit,” he said. before you ^ i IT’S NO tacipEHT THAT 600 ENGINEERS CHOSE US (ALL CIVILIANS) ^ It was intarssting work with computars, aircraft, jet engines and many other kinds of equipment and accessories belonging to the Air Farce (we aren’t recruiting for the military—we’re civilians ). 9It was our permanent location in Oklahoma City, with moderate weather, low cost living—especially for homes and apartments, and a wide variety of life-styles. 0 It was our faster-than-average advancement to better-than-average pay , benefits and long-range stability. CONTACT YOUR PLACEMENT OFFICE AT 845-6551 TO INTERVIEW. FOR FURTHER DETAILS, WRITE TO: MR. ROBERT RIVERA EMPLOYMENT OFFICE ON CAMPUS: SEPTEMBER 15, 1981 0KLA CITY A,R LOGISTICS CENTER TINKER AFB, OKLA. 73145 OR CALL COLLECT: (405) 734-3807 we are an equal opportunity employer anoma city air logistics center MSC FREE UNIVERSITY REGISTRATION WEDNESDAY 10 a.m. to 5 p.m, Juggling Photography Human Sexuality Slimnastics V Judo Guitar Dancercise Yoga Second Floor MSC C&W Dance Jitterbug Dorm & Apt. Security IS LAW SCHOOL FOR YOU? Join the Pre Law Society SP find out! 1st general meeting Wed. Sept. 16 7 p.m. 301 Rudder Tower Items to be discussed include: • MOCKLSAT • WOMEN’S LUNCHEON • RECEPTION FOR LAW SCHOOL DEANS