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The Battalion
Serving the University community
ol. 75 No. 117 USPS 045360 12 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, March 23, 1982
egents name Hansen System chancellor
oard hears proposal
vr ‘University Hilton’
by Daniel Puckett
Battalion Staff
A proposal for a 10-story Hilton
hotel on campus and a recommenda-
lon against the purchase of electricity
ram College Station were major
spies at Monday’s meeting of the
lexas A&M University System Board
Regents.
Meeting as a committee of the
thole, regents heard committee re
sets in addition to several presenta-
lons from various groups. Final ac
ton on many of the proposals was
pken at the meeting of the full board
his morning.
One of the more controversial
iroposals was for a privately owned
lotel, to be built on University land,
legents Chairman H.R. “Bum”
Iright said Eric Hilton Jr., senior vice
resident of the Hilton Hotel Corp.,
pproached him several months ago
[ith the idea. Bright referred Hilton
i the System administration.
Hilton’s first proposal for a hotel at
he east gate was rejected; the System
aff suggested that regents study
ating the hotel on the southwest
orner of Texas Avenue and Univer-
Ity Drive. The site is now the north
nd of the polo field.
Hilton asked that regents approve
he lease of six acres at the site to
inbelt Hotels of Houston, a Hilton
nchise holder which operates four
otels there. Sunbelt would own and
erate the hotel according to Hilton
anchise specifications.
He said the 275-room hotel, to be
tiled the University Hilton, would
hdude a 10-story main building with
") rooms per floor plus a cabana with
rooms. The hotel would contain a
ally club, a 4,000-square-foot bal-
loom and 2,000 square feet of meet-
jig space.
Bnght said he had received un
favorable reactions to the proposal
rom local residents and hotel oper
ators. He formed a committee to
study the idea, and said committee
members should consider only the
best interests of the University, not
those of the community or local
businesses.
Furthermore, he said, if the com
mittee approves the idea, it should
ensure that bidding for a hotel on the
site is opened to other developers and
hotel operators.
The committee appointed by
Bright comprises four regents and six
University officials, including Uni
versity President Frank E. Vandiver
and Dr. John J. Koldus III, vice presi
dent for student services.
Regents also heard a report from
Bovay Engineers Inc. of Bryan. The
firm had been asked to compare the
relative costs of buying power from
Brazos Electric Power Co-operative
Inc. and from the City of College Sta
tion.
Earlier, regents had decided to
make up a projected shortfall in Uni
versity electric generating capacity by
purchasing electricity from the co-op.
Mayor Gary Halter then wrote the
regents, asking that they consider
buying their power from College Sta
tion.
Bovay was asked to compare the
advantages of each supplier, and in its
report, concluded that while both
suppliers have adequate capacity for
University needs, Brazos Electric
offers power 35 to 40 percent more
cheaply than College Station.
Regents recommended rejection of
the College Station offer.
Among other proposals given ten
tative approval were a number of rate
increases for University housing and
board plans and a $566.3 million Sys
tem budget for fiscal 1983.
Budget Figures will not be released
until their final approval by the full
Board of Regents today.
Appointment finishes
search for successor
photo by Karen Kaley
Regents Dr. John
A. McKenzie, of
meeting Monday.
B. Coleman, left,
Dallas, share a
of Houston,
joke after
William
regents
by Jane G. Brust
Battalion Staff
Dr. Arthur Hansen, president of
Purdue University, will become the
new Texas A&M University System
chancellor, as unanimously con
firmed by the Board of Regents this
morning.
Receiving a standing ovation when
the decision was announced, Hansen
said: “This appointment presents for
me a great challenge. Mrs. Hansen
and I are delighted and anxious to be
aboard.”
Members of a four-man chancellor
search committee recommended
Hansen to the full board in closed
session Monday morning.
His expected appointment con
cluded a two-month search for Chan
cellor Frank W.R. Hubert’s successor.
Hubert announced his resignation
Jan. 25, to take effect Aug. 31.
University sources have indicated
that Hansen has been the regents’ top
candidate since he turned down an
offer to fill the University presidency
last March.
Hansen and his wife came to Texas
A&M Sunday to meet with regents.
After the announcement, Hansen
thanked the regents for their hospit
ality.
Hansen will be paid $135,000 a
year to oversee Texas A&M Universi
ty, Prairie View A&M University,
Texas A&M University at Galveston,
9
Dr. Arthur Hansen
Tarleton State University and the Sys
tem’s seven research and extension
services. As president of Purdue,
Hansen has been paid $84,400 a year.
Hansen, 56, received his bachelor’s
degree in electrical engineering from
Purdue. His master’s and doctorate
degrees are in mathematics. He was a
research scientist for NASA from
1948 to 1949.
Between 1966 and 1969 he was
president of the Georgia Institute of
Technology, and he became presi
dent of Purdue in 1971. Hansen
announced in November that he
would step down from the Purdue
presidency by the end of this year.
Shuttle starts solar experiments
on third journey into space
exican envoy
nds peace talks
United Press International
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — A Mex-
ui diplomat on a three-nation shut-
k seeking peace in Central America
lised hopes for U.S.-Nicaraguan
blks, but relations were endangered
Jay because of a new charge of U.S.
'diversion.
Mexican Foreign Relations Minis-
tjorge Castanecla flew back to Mex-
late Monday from his peace mis-
a, about the same time a news re-
“n in the United States said Presi-
e nt Reagan had approved a scheme
pay Green Berets to infiltrate
"caragua.
Nicaragua’s head of government
aniel Ortega Saavedra planned to
av ei to New York today to press his
a ims in the United Nations that
’ashington is trying to undermine
tts government.
Castaneda flew home after his first
^nd of shuttle diplomacy with the
-nited States, Cuba and Nicaragua, a
ni nistrv spokesman said, but gave
^ details of the talks in Managua.
The Mexican diplomat held a
closed-door session with Nicaragua’s
ruling junta and weekend talks with
Cuban President Fidel Castro to ex
plain his meetings earlier this month
in New York with Secretary of State
Alexander Haig.
After his six-hour visit to Nicar
agua, Castaneda told reporters mem
bers of Nicaragua’s three-man junta
reiterated their readiness to talk
peace in Central America and the
Caribbean with the Reagan adminis
tration.
Castaneda, 60, declined to elabo
rate but a communique issued earlier
said his discussions with the Nicara
guans would focus on the proposals
made by Haig to end the bitter rela
tions between the nations.
In New York, CBS News quoted a
former U.S. Green Beret member
who said the Reagan administration
has approved a plan for paying
bonuses to former and current mem
bers of the Green Berets to infiltrate
Nicaragua.
United Press International
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The
space shuttle Columbia, off to a super
start for a week in orbit, pointed its
tail constantly toward the sun today to
see how it withstands a solar roast on
one end and a deep freeze on the
other.
Astronauts Jack Lousma and Gor
don Fullerton’s busy schedule con
centrated on nearly four hours of
tests of the ship’s robot arm.
The Columbia was performing
like the three-shot veteran it is as it
entered its second day in orbit, cruis
ing around the globe every hour and
a half at 17,500 miles per hour.
Engineers evaluating Monday’s
launching and the shuttle's precision
climb to orbit 150 miles high said the
ship’s complex mechanical and elec
trical innards were in excellent condi
tion and should have no difficulty
covering the 3.4-million-mile course
taking it to New Mexico next Monday.
“I think we’re in a very bright situa
tion,” said flight director Tommy
Holloway at mission control in Hous
ton. “The orbiter is in good shape.”
‘You’ve got us off to a super start,”
Lousma told controllers. “We’re
thankful for it and we appreciate it."
The tail-to-sun heating test was the
first of three thermal tests that are
considered the No. 1 objective of the
flight. Later the shuttle’s nose will be
pointed toward the sun for 80 hours
and its top will face the sun for 26
hours.
Lousma said before launch the idea
is to see where the Columbia “ex
pands and contracts structurally,
where the cold points are and if the
heaters keep the cold points warm
and where the hot points are and if
the cooling system keeps those places
cool.”
Surfaces on the side of the spacec
raft facing the sun were expected to
heat up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit
while areas in the shade could cool
down to 200 degrees below zero.
Egyptian 8 visit Israel to insure
peaceful withdrawal from Sinai
JERUSALEM — A senior Egyptian
peace emissary opened crucial talks
today with Prime Minister Menachem
Begin on a border dispute that
threatens to stall next month's Israeli
withdrawal From the Sinai Desert.
Begin greeted Osama el-Baz, one
of Egyptian President Hosni Mubar
ak’s senior aides.
El Baz reportedly planned to off er
new Egyptian proposals during the
talks to ensure a smooth Israeli with
drawal from the Sinai.
Egyptian Ambassador Saad Mor-
tada. Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak
Shamir and the director-general of
Shamir’s ministry, David Kimche,
accompanied them in the meeting,
Israel Radio said.
El-Baz’s mission underscored what
diplomatic sources termed growing
Egy ptian concern Israel might stall its
scheduled April 25 pullback because
of a dispute concerning the new
border.
The trouble concerns 15 points
along the proposed Egy pt-Israel bor
der to be established after the Israeli
withdrawal from the last third of the
Sinai Peninsula.
I he major snag is demarcation of
the border near Eilat, Israel’s south
ernmost town and site of a lieach re
sort and a new luxury hotel. Both
Egypt and Israel want it.
Egypt has suggested arbitration to
resolve the quarrel about whether the
holiday village and the hotel should
be in Egypt or in Israel after April 25
but Israel has rejected talks.
Mubarak decided to dispatch El-
Baz to Israel Sunday following a
three-hour conference with his advis
ers. El-Baz, who arrived Monday, also
serves as undersecretary for foreign
affairs in the Egyptian government.
In addition to the border issue,
Israeli officials also expect the Egyp
tian emissary to discuss the West Bank
unrest with Begin and other Israeli
officials.
Operation Facelift working to clean community
Group asking for A&M participation
inside
by Amy Polk
Battalion Reporter
pride — community wide,”
' stressed in Operation Facelift,
l e ” or t to clean up Brazos County to
^Pti| C ^ throughout the month of
Beautify Brazos County Asso-
w iH try to make citizens more
ar e of the growing litter problem
to strive for an overall cleaner
said Dorothy Holland, a
of the board of directors.
The program will coincide with
“Keep America Beautiful Week,”
which takes place April 18 through
24.
Dorothy Miller, association presi
dent, said: “We have found that peo
ple are just not aware of the mess
around Bryan and College Station.
People are pitching out when they
should be pitching in.”
Holland said: “We really would like
to enlist the students at A&M. They
can be a great help and it's their com
munity, too.”
Miller said some of the major prob
lem areas that Texas A&M students
might be aware of are on Wellborn
Road, Highway 30 and the area
around Northgate.
One of the projects planned for the
program is Adopt-a-Block. This
programs lets residents band
together in their own neighborhood
and decide what needs to oe done to
beauufy their area, Miller said.
On April 17, Bryan choir students
in the sixth through the twelfth
grades will sponsor a trash-a-thon in
which the students will get subscribers
to pledge money for each bag of litter
picked up. Miller said.
Throughout the month of April,
roll-off trash containers — similar to
railroad boxcars open on the top —
will be placed in 20 locations all over
Brvan for a week at a time. Residents
will be free to deposit trash into these
containers, she said.
Free junk car removal and brush
pick-up also will be offered. Miller
said.
“We'd love for any groups to take
on projects and get to work on them,”
Miller said. “Equally as important is to
stop people from littering.
“A little bit of litter makes a lot of
litter later.”
Classified 8
Local 3
National 6
Opinions 2
Sports 9
State 4
W’hat’s Up 6
forecast
Today’s forecast: Mostly cloudy
and mild with a 30 percent chance
of rain today and tonight. Today’s
high should be near 70 with a low in
the low 50s. Wednesday’s forecast
calls for partly cloudy skies with a
high in the mid-70s.