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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 1982)
15, national Battalion/Page 7 June 15, 1982 Warped By Scott McCullar nding will, rconstratoj, shall li, eeredasi; arrested i Comniis : ormation )olice-» 5 event ofm o arrest id )SS officiali the missioE special stc o work ii ed tral the Unittt diplomatic e ol receir lat helptlf Iren,” Jet: s was rek • own rttt husband Mrs. Gas ed on htt vhile her in jail uk remained t $2,500ti by s luclearwi ked herra ie across tit it to clear hol» n the end et.” House it 100,( mn to the onded b' rer, who# word lent 1 lat said: /ou will (it ;o write) ncy Ron. r, R arts for® . and said than that Anid J copies inev. er said Sr rs was to) letter lumnto® itions. Sh Annand l of Occi« ake sure) column ev. i Brezhnf all you, ' you he) me. it rival tied! iped electric? , y apub |( ; > oper atl, . using 3 ed fr°® : of Chitj Chim* thededi^ tysaid d 1 * /dro M ,f cooped tountriei 1 Gene^ has beet :nera' o! ;. nd^ unuse'l 18 moi 1 0 kilo"' 31 ; ill g en 7 r about purch^ ttric CO' AVD IV CLOSING, AA/ APPRECIATION BANQUET WAS HELD LAST THDRS0AY FOR RETIRING TEXAS CHANCELLOR FRANK HUBERT. AgM J> UPPATE WITH 3 rtERRITT JENNINGS HUBERT IS A WELL RESPECTED AND DISTINGUISHED A^NV ADNIINISTRATOR \NHO HAS SERVED THE VNMERSIT) FOR MANX XEARS AND WILL BE retiring ^nm, SOON... 9mm .. THAT'S RETIRING, NOT FIRED, NOT FORCED OUT, NOT MADE TO RESIGN IN PROTEST, NOT REPLACED BEHIND HJS RACK, HE'S APPARENTLY JUST RETIRING OF HIS OWN FREE WILL... ..WHICH FOR TEXAS A^tt, WE HERE AT THE STATION FEEL IS UNIQUE AND NEWS' WORTHY ITSELF. Attention All Students: Wednesday night, June 16, is student night for the MSC Summer Dinner Theater. Tickets are only $2.50 for this “Mon-dinner” special performance of “A Shot In The Dark.” See inspector Clousseau fumble his way through this delightful mystery comedy. Tickets must be bought in person at the MSC Box Office by 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 15. Beverages and cookies will be served at 7:20 p.m. Curtain time is 7:45 p.m. at the MSC Ballroom. Enjoy a free complimentary drink after the show courtesy of Backstage Restaurant at the Morthgate. High court steers clear of helium-pricing dispute United Press International WASH INGTON — The Sup reme Court Monday steered clear of a multimillion dollar business dispute involving the value of helium — the colorless gas best known for inflating bal loons and changing the pitch of a person’s voice. The justices refused to hear arguments in a highly complex, 20-year-old series of cases, focusing on the amount of money that must be paid to indi viduals and companies owning or leasing parts of the Hugoton- Panhandle Gas Fields in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Natural gas produced in the Hugoton region contains about 99 percent of the nation’s recov- eraole supply of helium. Helium is a noncombustible gas used to blow up balloons be cause it is lighter than air and makes them float. When in haled, it briefly changes a per son’s voice to a strange — and often humorous — high-pitched tone. But the gas has more serious applications in various indust rial processes. It is valuable to industry because it has the lowest known boiling and melt ing points of any element. It is used in arc welding, growing crystals of silicon and germanium for semiconductors, and in refining titanium and zir conium metals. It also is mixed with oxygen in the air tanks of deep-sea divers to reduce the risk of getting “the bends.” Crude helium is contained in natural gas found in the Hugo ton area. It is separated by li quefying the natural gas after it is taken from the ground — a key factor in sparking the cur rent cases before the high court. In order to conserve the re source, which would otherwide be lost in the refining and burn ing of natural gas, Congress pas sed the Helium Act Amend ments of 1960. Under the mea sure, the federal government contracts with various natural gas refining companies to ex tract and purchase of helium. The contract price for helium was based on government esti mates of the cost the govern ment would incur if it built and operated helium extraction plants. Because of the urgency in initiating the 1960 helium conservation program, federal officials did not make extensive checks to determine what in terests landowners and produc ers in the Hugoton region might have in the commingled helium. When the Helex Companies began extracting helium from the Hugoton natural gas for sale to the federal government, sev eral landowners and companies in the three states filed suit in 1962, seeking reasonable com pensation for the value of the “commingled helium” taken from their gas fields. A federal distrietjudge initial ly found the reasonable value of the helium ranged from 60 to 70 cents per thousand cubic feet. In later litigation, using a different method of economic analysis, a separate court set the reasonable value for commingled helium at $11.76 to $16.98 per thousand cubic feet. Later still, a federal judge used revised calculations to put the value at $3 per thousand cubic feet. In the most recent decision in the dispute, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver concluded that $2 per thousand cubic feet is the mini mum payment that should be paid to companies that lease the Hugoton fields. The landowners and helium companies appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court. 30/60/90 Day Terms Rates subject to change. Call for details. College Station Branch Office: Texas Ave. at Southwest Parkway • 696-2800 Member FSLIC BRAZOS Savings Highlighting, Perms Free Consultations V. 505 University Drive Suite 805 College Staton 846-4771 Analysts say other airlines to avoid ‘Braniff syndrome’ ATTENTION! United Press International WASHINGTON — When Braniff Airways collapsed last month, there were looks of con cern within the troubled indus try at other carriers experienc ing similar financial problems. Now, however, analysts are beginning to detect signs of im provement in the industry, which suffered its worst year in history in 1981, and say Bra- niffs demise might actually help contribute to an eventual up turn. Braniff s old routes are being divided among other airlines. And those that had competing routes have an incentive to raise their fares from the half-price tickets the Dallas carrier was sell ing in its final days. In addition, air travel is be ginning to pick up and three particularly troubled airlines nave managed, through various means, to improve their corpo rate health. “The traffic’s been pretty good and year-to-year compari sons are noticeably better,” said Wolfgang Demisch, a financial analyst with the Wall Street firm of Morgan Stanley. “Generally speaking, the traffic numbers are quite encouraging.” In 1981, airline ticket sales dropped 5 percent, or about 20 million, from the previous year. That was attributed, at least in part, to the nation’s nagging re cession. Also that year, America’s 12 major airlines, battered by re duced business and soaring fuel costs, reported operating losses of more than $558 million. The number of employees for these firms dropped by 39,000 from recent highs. Last year also was marked by the strike and subsequent firings of 11,400 federal air traffic con trollers. As a result, the govern ment limited operations at 22 airports. The past four years have been fraught with problems, but the industry is anticipating a turnar ound soon, provided, of course, that the overall economy picks U P- ... Demisch said besides in creased air traffic, the industry also needs to impose higher fares. He said deep price cutting has begun to slack off, but not enough to provide adequate compensation. “All considered, I have to say that things may not be getting any worse, but I don’t see that much evidence that things are getting sharply better,” he said. “I’d like to see higher fares but I’m not seeing much of that yet.” But there has been other movement. One of the carriers that most concerned analysts, World Air ways, recently announced it was expanding its Washington- London-Frankfurt service due to increased demand. Another, Western, said it has reversed its sagging fortunes and will likely be profitable in the second quarter. A third, Re public, is on the way to resche duling its huge debt load. The industry’s problems can be partially traced to the govern ment’s decision in 1978 to lift its controls over fares and routes. Most observers, including former Civil Aeronautics Board Chairman Marvin Cohen, attri buted Braniff s collapse to over expansion following deregula tion. “I don’t think that means de regulation has failed or is bad for the country,” he said. Alfred Breath, 41, of Dallas, has another view. Last month he was a Braniff pilot. Now he is one of 5,000 unemployed airline pilots nationwide. He flies occa sionally for a private company. Breath does not see much hope of getting another job soon, noting, “My neighbor across the street is about to get furloughed with Continental.” The Air Transport Associa tion, however, sees some hope ful signs. “In any cycle, it is difficult to identify the precise point of the trough at which trends change direction and start moving up ward,” said ATA Senior Vice President George James. “But certainly there is reason to be lieve that the airlines are near that trough point.” He noted inflationary press ures have been reduced and most business economists are anticipating a resumption of real growth in the gross national product in the latter part of 1982 or early 1983. VST RECOGNIZED STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS WANT TO RECRUIT INCOMING FRESHMEN FOR YOUR CLUB? Reserve a table NOW for MSC Open House ’82. Let them know what you have to offer! Table applications available in Room #216 MSC (*5°° deposit required) for further information call Sandra Secrest at 845-1515 or 260-0319 SPECIAL BarBQued Hamburger & Fries $ 1 39 Good Through Saturday, June 19 ALFREDO’S TACOS AL CARBON 509 University Or. 846-3824 N0RTHGATE Western-Wear Oriented Beauty Competition Burroughs Corporation V. B20 Exclusively for Texas A&M University Faculty & Staff Burroughs Corporation cordially invites you to view our exciting new series of Multi-Function, Micro Computer Systems — The B20. Thursday, June 17 Friday, June 18 9:00 a.m.-ll:00 a.m. 9 a.m.-ll:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Aggieland Inn ^ Room 120 — Hall of Fame ^ College Station, Texas DIETING? Even though we do not prescribe diets, we make it possible for many to enjoy a nutritious meal while they follow their doctor's orders. You will be delighted with the wide selection of low calorie, sugar free and fat free foods in the Souper Salad Area, Sbisa Dining Center Basement. OPEN Monday through Friday 10:45 AM-1:45 PM QUALITY FIRST Finals June 29 Come Out To Graham Central Station Tonight and Sign Up!!! Grand Prize... A Week For Two In The Bahamas Plus $200 Spending Money First Runner Up... Falcon II Deluxe Waterbed Second Runner Up... Ladies Cowgirl Boots TONIGHT! WALTZ CONTEST FINALS! Free Beer 7-10 P.MJ 1600B South College Ave.