local /state Battalion/Page 4 March 26, 1982 Dallas business trades diamonds for oil wells United Press International DALLAS — The insurance company had a problem. A ring with a 5-carat diamond, valued at $168,000, was stolen from the body of a woman in an Oklaho ma funeral home. The woman’s son, a wealthy oilman, wanted the money or a replacement ring with a stone of at least equal value in an identic al setting. The funeral home’s insur ance company called Jean- Raymond Boulle of Direct Diamond Marketing in Dallas. Boulle then called his contacts in Europe and located in Antwerp, Belgium, a diamond of almost 6 carats and almost the same flaw less quality. Boulle’s brother in Paris chartered a jet plane to fly to Antwerp to buy the stone and then flew on to Dallas. Boulle, meanwhile, had a ring setting prepared for the stone. His brother arrived at 2 a.m. at Addison Airport near Dallas, and Boulle put the stone in the ring. Eight hours later, the oilman and representatives of the insurance company arrived from Oklahoma. They were de lighted with the new ring, and the claim was settled on the spot. The family treasures the new ring, and the insurance com pany was pleased to report its total cost was $46,890 less than the insured value of the ring that was stolen. Boulle and his younger brother, Denis, were set up in the diamond business in Dallas by oilman Don Hanvey. The London-born Boulles and Han vey met in Paris, and Hanvey advanced $600,000 to get the business going. Since then his in vestment has been returned, and DDM has accumulated an inventory of diamonds worth more than $1 million. Hanvey got into the diamond business as an investment and because of his belief that oilmen are strongly attracted to diamonds — as baubles to wear and as investments. So many oilmen and their wives fly in private planes to Dal las to buy diamonds from DDM that the Boulles have opened a second office in suburban Addi son, to be near the bustling Addison airport. “They want to fly in in their Learjet and fly back home with something half the value of the Learjet,” Hanvey said. “It’s not out of the ordinary to have someone come in and spend half a million dollars.” In mid-March, DDM sold a 30-carat diamond — one of the largest diamonds to be sold in the world this year — to a Wichi ta Falls couple. Boulle, who once worked for the De Beers cartel that controls most of the world’s production of uncut diamonds, was con tacted by the couple and told the type of stone they wanted. He bought the stone from a diamond cutter in Antwerp, set $352,000 as his asking price and asked the customers to make an offer. The bargaining went back and forth some 20 times, Boulle said, before they agreed on a price of $310,000 for the stone. The buyers then flew to Dallas in their private plane and com pleted the deal. More than half of the world’s diamond production is sold each year in the United States, Boulle said, and more large diamonds are sold to Dallas-area residents than those of any other city. More diamonds are sold in Las Vegas than Dallas, but a large percentage of those stones are sold to visitors to the city, he said. Almost every day, Boulle said, he gets an offer to trade diamonds for oil leases or shares in a producing well. That’s when Hanvey, the oil expert, comes into the picture. “If I like his odds, and I like where he’s drilling, you bet I’ll trade,” Hanvey said. “If we make a good deal, we’re looking at a payback of our investment within two years. The farmer will have nothing but the diamonds for the oil on his land. “Of course it could be a dry hole. Then he’ll have the diamonds, and we’ll have no thing but a lot of expenses. But we’re going to gamble. We’re willing to play. That’s our game.” Oil and diamonds go together, Hanvey believes. He calls it the carbon connection. “I’ve never been around oil people, at a meeting or any so cial event, in which they weren’t wearing diamonds,” he said. RHA discusses lofts dorm key policies by David Calvert Battalion Reporter Recommendations to be sent to the Housing Office concern ing two dormitory policies were discussed by the Facilities and Operations Committee of the Residence Hall Association Thursday night. The housing office suggested room keys be turned in during the Christmas break because some students do not return for the spring semester and their room keys are never returned. The housing office also sug gested lofts be banned from Leggett, Keathley, Fowler, Hughes, Schuhmacher and Mclnnis halls, the modular dor mitories and the Commons. Tmnu Lofts will be allowed in Corps- type dormitories if people build ing lofts submit plans to the head resident before beginning construction. The proposal also calls for inspection of lofts af( they have been built. Ron Blatchley, directorofst dent affairs, said the suggest* was made to make lofts safe! Blatchley said he inspected! eral rooms during Chrism break, and found more tlu half the lofts to be unsafe. The committee will r Tuesday night to furtherdisa the loft policy. However, the committee t agreed with the housing office! suggestion that furniturenotkj stacked in the modular dorm The committee’s recommei dations will be considered 1 fore any action is taken. Car dealer balks Shuttle resaleable Quirks in the News Remark not meant to be racial slur, INS leader says United Press International HURON, S.D. — Gene Chap man says if he had it to do over agaim he would cash the $128,121.25 check he received this week instead of the $1.28 check he was supposed to have gotten as a pavoff on a utility stock. He said Wednesday he would not spend the money, but hold it until the error was discovered. Chapman had invested in the utility stock he would not iden tify, 12 years ago. He said he decided to close the account ear lier this year and asked for a cer tificate . But Chapman said the per- share price was printed out twice so it appeared to be more than $1.6 billion, which meant the check he got Monday was for $128,121.25 instead of $1.28. He returned the check Tuesday night. “I just hope they still remem ber 1 have $1.28 coming,” he said. United Press International SAN ANTONIO — The local director of the U.S. Immigra tion and Naturalization Service has apologized to American In dians for what was construed as a racial slur. Richard Casillas said Wednesday lie meant no disre spect when he labeled Mexican- American political leader Reuben Bonilla earlier this week as “a chief without any Indians.” “It was not meant as an ethnic slur,” Casillas said. “As a matter of fact, I should have said some thing like ‘a leader without any followers.’ Casillas apologized when an Indian leader in Washington said he would ask the INS to re primand Casillas lor the re mark. The INS official had criti cized Bonilla, former president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, for his stand in favor of allowing employers to hire illegal aliens. MONDAY: HAPPY HOUR: LUNCH SPECIAL ROAST BEEF — $2.95 United Press International SPACE CENTER — NASA officials like to boast about theit billion-dollar space shuttle, but a man who makes his living at buying and selling transporta tion shakes his head and says it’s just a depreciating cream-puff driven too many miles by too many hot-rod drivers. Rockwell International deli vered the space truck Columbia to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in March 1979 with a sticker price of $1 billion. But Houston car dealer Jim Brown, a veteran at apprais ing vehicles, said he wouldn’t offer half that much to take it off NASA's hands. “About $451 million,” he said. “If I could I’d even like to get below that. It sounds like we’d have a hard time moving it off the lot.” Brown goes to the basics in appraising the Columbia, and he’s not likely to be swayed by government arguments that it has a huge cargo area, factory air, new tires and even comes equipped with luxuries such as TV monitors, a kitchen and a toilet. First, he notes the shuttle is 3 years old. Using standard appraisal methods, he figures the spacecraft’s value dropped by one-third the first year and has been depreciating ever since. He also notes that although it’s only been out of the garage three times, when the Columbia finishes its current mission it will have more than 5.8 million miles on it. Brown shrugs indif ferently at talk of luxury options, pointing out the toilet needs to be fixed, and it needs some body work. “We’d have to recondition it on the inside,” he said. “And it’s not going to be cheap for us to replace those tiles on the out side.” Before he’d buy the shuttlelj would need to listen to thee gine and maybe take it for aid drive, he said. He notes shuta pilots are notorious forengiis wearing jackrabbit starts ad driving at 17,500 tnph. Another thing knockij down the repurchase pricei that Columbia guzzles anew mous amount of fuel. Althouj the engines only burn for 10m nutes, f uel is used at a ratei 2,502 pounds per second. Despite all those drawbaci Brown concedes that if someoj managed to get the shuttletolj lot, he’d try to unload it. “I’d try to get it for $4511 lion or a little less,” he said. 1 resale, I don’t know — I’dprt ably mark it up a hundred I lion.” Easy payments are no pit lem, he said. “For the right interest ri sure, we’d finance it.” he said Libertarian Austin nurse in lieutenant governor race 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m.-12:00 p.m. United Press International An Austin nurse will be the Libertarian Party candidate for lieutenant governor. ST. MARY'S CHURCH/STUDENT CENTER cordially invite you to hear DR. JOHN JACKSON on Saturday 27 March 1982 7:30 P. M. in St. Mary's Church Dr. Jackson was a menber of a tean of scientists who recently exanined the Laurel Kay Freeman said Wednesday her campaign would stress the issues of educa tion, health care, free enterprise economics and civil liberties. The Libertarian Party is ex pected to field 125 candidates in the Nov. 2 election. In other political news, gubernatorial candidate Bob Armstrong said his first priority if elected would be to support increases in teachers’ pay to put their salaries above the national average. Armstrong also said he would propose pay incentives for career teachers who stay in the classroom. George Strake, a candidate for lieutenant governor, said Congressional Medal of Honor winner Roy Benavidez had agreed to serve as his Mexican- American coordinator. Strake, who speaks Spanish fluently, is expected to put great emphasis on winning the Mex- ican-American vote. Benavidez won his medal for rescuing eight soldiers in Viet- man from enemy fire. He was shot eight times and bayonetted twice during the rescue. House Speaker Bill Clayton, who dropped out of the land commissioner’s race, endorsed Dan Kubiak’s candidacy forn office Wednesday, saving Rockdale legislator was theiW qualified person running. Clayton, who stunned pol® al observers when he withch from the land commission^ race months ago, endofl Kubiak at a Capitol newsconffj ence. Clayton passed by a fdb West Texan, Sen. Pete SnebJ of Midland. Clayton said hef no criticism of Snelson, but ^ Kubiak was better qualified Clayton also said he cor- buted $200 to Kubiak’s ji paign, but probably would A have time to campaign for hi> In the attorney general’s: " Democratic candidate Sherman said fighting crintf] best left up to local governme and the state cannot pass leg tion to meet all Texans’ pc L, | lems. “I think Texas taxpayersl^l come to realize that for mar t the problems they face, thevc find the best solution in d> local governments,” he said Sherman said such crimH violence as murder, rape, ass and burglary are the most wo? some to Texans and also most likelv to be solved loat4 & ^(n>0i)Ga