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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1982)
* Battalion/Page 8 September 14,1982 Oil cor over oi ooration sued and gas leases United Press International LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Interior Department has reclas sified 1,900 acres at Fort Chaf fee so that competitive bids will be required for oil and gas leases if a Texas corporation loses a federal court lawsuit. Texas Oil and Gas Corp. and Arkla Inc. will go to court on Sept. 27 in Fort Smith over leases at the military installation. TO&G leased 33,000 acres at Fort Chaffee in 1979 for $1 an acre without competitive bids. Bids weren’t required because the land wasn’t classified by the U S Geological Survey as a “known geological structure” likely to produce oil and gas. The Interior Department cancelled the leases after Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark., pro tested that they cost state and A DEBATE • MICHAEL HARRINGTON CHAIR - DEMOCRATIC SOC IAL IS T ORGAN I Z ING COMMITTEE THE WELFARE STATE: CURE ALL OR KILLER? TUemo nicd Student Centen_ Senate Vacancies HOWARD PHILLIPS NAIIONAI DIRECTOR - THE CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS TUDENT NMENT M UNIVERSITY Ward I Ward II Ward III Krueger/Mosher College of Agriculture-Junior Applications accepted in 216C MSC until Wednesday Sept. 15 5:00 p.m. An important message to every graduating senior regardless of field of specialization. If you’ve been seriously considering a career in computer programming, now is the time to talk to ARCO Oil and Gas Company in Dallas. Your degree, at least six hours of computer science courses, and an interest in the computing field as a career are the keys to our informative, comprehensive training program. This is not “on-the- job training." This is a formal training program that will provide the knowledge and tools you need to become a top-notch programmer .. .within a fast-growing division of Atlantic Richfield Company. You will enjoy working in a professional environment with ready access to one of the largest, most sophisticated hardware instal lations in the country. You’ll have the opportunity to move up fast in a systems/ programming department that offers clear-cut career paths to more responsible advanced programming, systems analysis and/or management roles. Salaries and benefits are fully commensurate with education and experience. For more details on the future you’ll enjoy with one of the nation’s top ten energy companies, sign up at your Career Counseling and Placement office for an interview with our repre sentative who will be on campus this semester. Please bring a copy of your transcript to the interview. ARCO Oil and Gas Company Division of AtlanticRichfieldCompany An equal opportunity employer Warped by Scott McCullar federal government $50 million in revenues. But the department recently reclassified 1,900 acres after a new producing well was drilled less than a mile away. Former Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus said then he was correcting an “administrative error.” The firm appealed the cancellation and won, promp ting Arkla to refile a lawsuit. (continued from page 1) least two, sometimes three weeks. Few local banks will handle pesos; University Bank just started accepting them again last week. And even if students can find a bank willing to try the currency exchange, they are never sure what exchange rate they’ll get. Before the first round of de valuations in February, one dol lar fetched about 23 pesos. The exchange rate fell to about 47 pesos to the dollar in February; after the summer devaluation, that rate dropped to about 70 pesos to the dollar. And it kept on dropping, sometimes as low as 135 or 150 pesos to the dollar. Friday, the going rate in Hous ton was 1.11 cents to the peso, or about 90 pesos to the dollar. Most students here have avoided the exchange problem by having their families send them dollars from Mexico. But, since currency controls were im posed, Mexican citizens can’t buy dollars at all, except in the black market. Some Mexican families sent as much money as they could to their children in the United States after the first devaluation in February, feeling that curren cy controls might be on the way. But for many students whose families are middle-class, that money is quickly running out. And they have little prospect of getting more in the near future. The Mexican consul-general in Houston, Mario Tapia Ponce, said his office provides no spe cial help to Mexican students in Texas. He said the government issued new rules on currency ex change Friday; the special reg ulations are meant to ease the problems of students and other Mexican citizens residing in the United States who depend on financial help from home. But he declined to discuss the new regulations or to speculate as to how long it might be before Mexican nationals here will be able to receive dollars from home. for Science and Technology) and SEP programs — all gradu ate students — the money prob lems are easier, but the future is no more certain. Both programs have been paying for students to go to foreign universities, learn the local language and then en roll in graduate degree prog rams. Suddenly, the two foreign- study programs are suffering cutbacks. “The Mexican government called us last week and told us the scholarship program didn’t have enough funds,” said Mag gie Pinson, program specialist for the Mexican program at UT. “Some of the students affected had been here as long as two semesters, learning English, but the government said if they hadn’t achieved academic admission by September ’82, they had to come home. “We lost 51 students from the SEP program that way; when they returned to Mexico, they were supposed to be able to con tinue their educations at Mex ican institutions. “But I’ve heard that there have been problems with that — the semester had already started when they got home, so they were told they’d have to wait un til January to start school again.” The cutbacks also have hurt students who have been at UT for several semesters. “It’s not just that we’ve had no new admissions this fall: all ap plications for extensions of scho larships have been denied,” Pin son said. Although no students have been recalled from Texas A&M, some students are still afraid that what happened at UT might happen here. “No, we haven’t heard any thing, and as far as I know, no thing will happen here,” Zaldi- var said. “But they didn’t hear anything in Austin before the ax came down.” Loans, jobs denied Government programs cut back For students in the CON- ACIT (National Commission American students have a number of options when they start to run out of money: they can apply for loans, either short- or long-term; they can work on Avoid the rush... EXPOSE YOURSELF EARLY IN THE WEEK! AGGIELAND portraits are now being taken of the Class of 85 and 86 A thru F SEPT. 7-10 G thru O SEPT. 13-17 P thru S SEPT. 20-24 T thru Z...... SEPT. 27-30 Your sitting is FREE, so get over to YEARBOOK ASSOCIATES AT 1700 PERYEAR STREET campus; or they can get a job off campus. Watkins said none of these options is open to most interna tional students, including the Mexicans. University loan applications specifically state that .applicants must be U.S. citizens, she said. And most University depart ments have interpreted Immig ration and Naturalization Ser vice guidelines on employment as prohibiting the hiring of a foreign student if an American citizen is available for the job. Working off campus is even more difficult to arrange, she said. The INS must grant a waiv er of visa restrictions, a waiver which is hard to obtain. In 1981-82, her office ap plied for 15 waivers; onlh two were granted, she sai “We don’t apply for very many in the first place because they’re granted so seldom,” she said. “And we don’t have a very good success rate in obtaining them when we do apply.” One student said that, even if students can obtain an off- campus job, it’s not enough to keep them in school. “Let’s say you work 20 hours a week at $4 an hour,” said Juan Carlos, president of the Mexican Students’ Association. “That makes $80 a week. And when you’re talking about $900 a semester for tuition, plus food and rent — a part-time job can maybe help you with your phone bill, and that’s all.” Carlos is a senior petroleum engineering major from Nava, Coahuila, Mexico. dents have no choice: they’llit- turn to Mexico to work. Those: the government scholars!:; programs are obligated to rt turn home and work in govern ment-assigned jobs for as matj years as they studied abroad. But for the students whop* their money from their families, the situation is different: tin can decide not to return tor country in economic and sooi turmoil. Resendez, the graduaiitj senior, is uncertain. “It’s easier to find ajobhere, he said. “Back home, 1 knot*d graduates who can’t findjobs- people with master’s degrees. “A year ago, we were livingit a dream: tne Mexican com panies would come up hereand give cocktail parties and bigp sentations, just to get youm work for them. Well, they dot! come any more. night Texa the I p.m. At “I may go home after Ign duate to help my father withb business; I don’t know. Bull don’t think I’ll beabletogetajoi outside (my family).” Carlos said the present crisisis adding to his doubt about re turning home. Consequences for Mexico After they graduate, if they graduate, some Mexican stu- "When I first came herefom years ago, I was planning top back to Mexico to work,”hesaid “But now. I don’t know: it’s hard to find ajob — you practical!! have to be someone’s nephew- and when you do find ajob,tk pay is bad, very bad. “Now', of course, nojobsatt available. PEMEX (Petroled! Mexicanos, the governmei owned oil monopoly) is layinj off people. “Will I go back? I don’t kno: I don’t think so.” Did rain cam air crash? ence rill made Texa lege! playe inclui unit: Of back place Jacks again fully Sir rushe in the caugl Linin A gg‘< Bu fense pie g : these fore I as of An chang Foi end United Press International KENNER, La. — Pounding thunderstorms, rather than treacherous wind shears, may have caused a Pan Amjet to slam into a residential neighborhood, killing 154 people, the head of an airline passengers’ group said Monday. “Heavy rain, rather than wind shear, may have been a predominant factor,” William Jennings said. “It’s clear there was an area of heavy rain off runway 10 during the takeoff.” Jennings is head of Volun teers in Service to Aviation Safe ty, or VISTAS, an offshoot of the International Airline Pas sengers Association. VISTAS investigated thejuly 9 crash independently, after failing to gain status as an u. cial party in a federal investig tjon of the tragedy. The Boeing 727 slammed to the ground seconds after lifting off from New Orleans Intenffl tional Airport in heavy thunder storms that had dumped up tog inches of rain in one hour. 1 Heavy rains can reduce an airplane’s lift capability byupto 30 percent, Jennings said, and act like ice in weighing down the craft. Jennings blasted air traffic controllers for not advising the Pan Am pilot of the severity of the rains. He blamed outdated weather radar for part of the problem. Get Your Xerox Copies at Northgate Above Farmer’s Market Inexpensive, High Quality Copies We Specialize In REPORTS and DISSERTATIONS Also: Self-service copying, typing, reductions and enlargements, binding, resume writing, editing, business cords, wedding invita tions, stationery and many other services. One stop service for reports and dissertations. ON THE DOUBLE 331 University 846-3755 HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 7 a.m.-IO p.m. Sat. 9 a.m.-6 p.m.