— ■Texos^M
The Battalion
Serving the University communily
f ol. 76 No. 27 USPS 045360 16 Pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, October 7, 1982
ydrogen breakthrough announced
by Gary Barker,
Robert McGlohon
and Denise Richter
Battalion Staff
team of Texas A&M researchers
have developed the technology to
efficiently produce hydrogen fuel
gjWMin.ns.MBrom water, the head of the research
Best Lillli team announce d in a press confer-
rohn ence toda y-
[®nOUS6ilH T he pollution-free and possibly in
expensive fuel source could be used
Texas
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to fuel automobiles and power plants
on a mass level.
g Dr. John Bockris, head of the
Texas A&M Hydrogen Research
Center and director of the research
team that made the discovery, said
extracting hydrogen from water has
been possible for several years, but
Possess!!). discoveT T COLdd make such con-
•m version economically feasible.
' Bockris stressed the discovery may
Inchon not t ^ ie exact commercial process
'25 t ^ at wou ^ d k e used to mass-produce
hydrogen fuel.
Bambi fffWe have not got a definite lasting
7:10 SMO .Iffocess,” he said. “We made a quan-
^ ' "■(turn leap in the direction of one.”
J R EASll|*fBockris credited two researchers —
i/E MaiUMM Dr Marek Szklarczyk and Dr. A.Q.
[ fjCer an" Contractor — tde physical dis-
. co\ery.
nneman* two scientists discovered sili-
:15-9:50 con semi-conductors can be used to bringing the cost of hydrogen
SIKF10YD
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7:25-9:45
convert solar energy into an electrical
current. The current then separates
the hydrogen and oxygen in water
and the gases are collected at the
semi-conductors.
This process of extracting hyd
rogen from water is not new, Bockris
said, but never has resulted in such a
high efficiency rate of recovery.
Research at the University of
Turin and at the University of Cali
fornia at Berkeley has produced re
covery rates of 0.05 percent. The gen
eral recovery rate here has been 13
percent, but more time is needed to
confirm the rates, Bockris said.
Time is the key element in the
development of hydrogen as a fuel
source, he said.
“So much depends on big money
and politics,” he said. “One could start
seeing development in a low number
of years ... maybe five or six or seven.”
But this would require hundreds of
millions of dollars, he said.
The conversion of the country to a
hydrogen-based economy would be
gradual, he said.
If the process consistently can
bring a recovery rate above the magic
10 percent mark, it could make the
production of hydrogen economical
ly feasible and bring its cost into com
petition with gasoline — possibly
bringing the cost of hydrogen for
staff photo by David Fisher
Dr. John O’Mara Bockris explains how hydrogen can be
separated from water molecules economically to produce
an alternate fuel source. Bockris said potential
applications are immense for the polution-free fuel.
automobiles well below the $1 a gallon
mark.
This could make the United States
less dependent on foreign sources of
energy, he said.
“International political signifi
cance is huge,” Bockris said. “This
would free us from Middle Eastern
blackmail.”
Only a few experimental hyd
rogen!-powered cars exist, but Bockris
said hydrogen gradually could be in
troduced as an automobile fuel
source. Cars running on hydrogen
could operate side by side with cars
running on gasoline, with the goal of
eventually phasing out the gasoline-
powered cars, he said.
With only a few modifications,
conventional automobiles can be con
verted to hydrogen fuel use, he said.
The primary modifications would in
clude a fuel injection system, a tur
bocharger and a storage tank.
The discovery that resulted in a
high recovery rate first was observed
three to four weeks ago, Bockris said.
But he stressed the research is not
over. At least two years of small-scale
laboratory research and possibly one
to two years of large-scale chemical
engineering research will be needed,
he said.
But the entire process could be a
failure, Bockris said.
“There’s a 25 percent chance of
flopping,” he said. “But that wouldn’t
mean the idea of using hydrogen with
solar energy is out. We could use
other possibilities.”
Exorbitant costs and the possible
deterioration over time of elements
used in the process could cause the
process’ failure, he said.
Bockris, who has advocated the use
of hydrogen as a fuel source since
1971, said the process is pollution
free. When hydrogen is burned, it is
converted to water — which again
could be converted to hydrogen.
“The process is circular — it re
peats itself,” he said. “There is no
thing left over — it’s a very, very clean
process.
“Without a doubt, hydrogen is the
cleanest fuel there is. It’s permanent
— (it could produce the) ultimate
energy economy that never would
have to be changed.”
Hydrogen also can be stored for
long periods, unlike solar energy.
Hydrogen also can be stored for long
periods, unlike solar energy, which
must be used immediately or can be
stored for only short periods of time,
Bockris said. Research still is under
way on the best way to safely store
hydrogen.
Steps already have been taken to
patent the recovery process, he said.
The hydrogen-recovery process is
owned by the University, Bockris
said, but “the University is pretty li
beral in giving people who have done
the work a share of the royalties.”
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Philadelphia poisoning
may be Tylenol-linked
United Press Internationa]
CHICAGO—The head of the
130-member force investigating
cyanide-laced Extra-Strength
Tylenol capsules says it is too ear
ly to link a cyanide death in Phi
ladelphia six months ago with the
fatal poisonings of seven Chicago
area residents.
State Attorney Genera)
Tyrone Eahner said Wednesday
his team had further trimmed its
list of suspects but refused to spe
cify how many.
“The list of suspects has been
narrowed,” he said. “I’ve been
advised by investigators not to
play a numbers game.”
After starting the week with
24 prime suspects, Eahner said
Tuesday there were “eight or
nine” primary suspects. He said
still
good
“that number
number.”
Relatives of poison victims
Stanley and Theresa Janus filed
two suits seeking $10 million
each from the manufacturer of
Tylenol and a grocery chain that
sold the capsules.
The poisonings case took a
mysterious twist when Philadel
phia police said the death of Wil
liam Pascual, 26, a graduate stu
dent at the University of Pennsyl
vania, originally was ruled a
suicide but now was considered
“Tylenol-cyanide related.” Pas-
cual’s case was reopened when
cyanide was discovered in an Ex
tra-Strength Tylenol bottle
found in his home.
Frank Scafidi, chief of detec
tives in the Philadelphia Police
Department, said Pascual’s April
3 death “links Tylenol and
cyanide” and raises “more un
answered questions than
answers.”
Eahner told reporters, “We
don’t know enough about that
(Pascual’s death) now” to tell if
there is a link. Caution is in
order.
“Our best leads are still fo
cused in the northern geog
raphical area of Chicago.”
Pascual’s wife, Kathleen, told
UPI she and her husband had
never visited Chicago and had no
friends in the city. Even though
police said Pascual had emptied
his bank accounts and left a note,
Mrs. Pascual doubts he commit
ted suicide.
Parsons
reflects
to retire;
on career
Lebanese troops continue
dean-up in west Beirut
United Press International
[’■ For a second consecutive day,
Lebanese troops Wednesday swept
through west Beirut in a clean-up
effort that already has yielded tons of
! military supplies and led to the arrest
of 143 people, four months after
Israel invaded Lebanon.
I' In Tel Aviv, Israel pressed for U.S.
; assurance that Palestinian guerrillas
! will leave Lebanon along with Israeli
and Syrian troops, but warned the
pullout also depends on the release of
captured Israeli soldiers.
On the second day of the Beirut
ackdown, which came as the Israeli
invasion that began June 6 entered its
fifth month, Italian troops today
manned roadblocks as Lebanese sol
diers combed the area for arms caches
and illegal residents.
An army source said the ambassa
dors to Lebanon of the United States,
Italy and France — the nations in the
3,400-man peace-keeping force — all
agreed to the crackdown after being
consulted by President Amin
Gemayel.
But in Washington, the Washing
ton Post reported the three ambassa
dors complained to Gemayel on
Saturday about charges of poor treat
ment of hundreds of Palestinians who
had been arrested since he took office
Sept. 23.
Gemayel, in an interview with A1
Yamama newspaper, said he ordered
the searches because he was con
cerned by the large number of Palesti
nians without residence permits in
west Beirut.
The Palestinians who do not have
proper papers must leave the country
because Lebanon cannot carry the
burden of the Palestinian problem by
itself, the president said.
The independent An Nahar news
paper said 453 people were detained
Tuesday. But army sources said only
143 had been arrested for having ex
pired residence permits, or for hav
ing entered the country illegally.
by Hope E. Paasch
Battalion Staff
Thomas R. Parsons, former Corps
Commandant and director of security
and traffic at Texas A&M University,
will resign from his position Jan. 31.
“I’m leaving this job because my
wife and I decided years ago that if we
could afford it, I would retire before I
was 55,” Parsons, who will be 54 on
Oct. 19, said. “There’s just too many
other things we want to do.”
Parsons, class of 1949, served as
Corps Commandant from June 1971
to July 1977 — longer than any regu
lar Army officer has held the position.
For his efforts in 1973 to help orga
nize a cavalry unit, cadets honored
him by naming the unit after him.
Parsons’ Mounted Cavalry is a volun
teer organization for junior and
senior cadets.
A Parsons’ Mounted Cavalry
guidon hangs over his desk at Univer
sity Police headquarters.
“Sometimes a student will walk into
my office and see the guidon,” he
said. “They ask if I have anything to
do with the cavalry and I say, ‘Yeah,
it’s named after me.’ They usually say,
‘Oh, I thought the guy was dead.’”
Another milestone in Parsons’
term as commandant came when the
first female was admitted to the Corps
in 1974.
“Despite some of the letters (The
Battalion) gets, women have a place in
the Corps,” he said. “Particularly at
that time (1974), the military services
needed women. The Corps does turn
out some good women’s officers and
it’s a good program.
“I’m also satisfied that we held the
Corps together through some rough
times. In the early seventies, it wasn’t
very popular to wear a uniform, have
short hair or be in the military. But we
maintained enrollment in the Corps
even then.”
During his term as commandant.
staff photo by David Fisher
Thomas R. Parsons, director of security and traffic
Parsons received the Association of
Former Students Distinguished Fa
culty Award for Student Relations.
The Friends of the Corps also created
two scholarships in his name.
“I enjoyed the Corps,“he said. “It’s
filled with positive things. Becoming
Corps Commandant is the climax of a
career for any Aggie officer. Unless
he plans on making general — then
he probably wouldn’t take the posi
tion. I would rather be Corps Com
mandant than a general in the Army.”
Parsons was chairman of the Bon
fire and Yell Leader Committee, until
he requested the committee be dis
solved.
“It seemed like all we did was listen
to complaints, and I thought it would
work better if each group had an
adviser instead,” he said. “I am still
the adviser for the yell leaders.”
This year’s Bonfire Barbeque will
honor Parsons.
“I used to spend a lot more time
with Bonfire,” Parsons said. “I would
pitch a pup tent and spend a few
nights out there at the cutting site. I
don’t do that anymore* because I’m
not that young any more.”
When Parsons ended his term as
commandant, he immediately filled
the director of security and traffic
position that had just been created.
“(Vice President for Student Ser
vices John J.) Koldus created the posi
tion because the University Police
needed someone to be an administra
tor,” Parsons said. “They offered me
See PARSONS page 11
Quorum to OK
election results
The results of the Class of ’86
elections will not be available until
tonight at 9.
The results are tabulated, but
they must be reviewed and
approved by a quorum of the judi
cial board before they can be re
leased. The quorum will meet
tonight at 8:30 and the results will
be posted outside the Student
Programs Office, 216 MSC at 9
p.m..
inside
Classified 14
Local 3
National 10
Opinions 2
Sports 15
State 4
What’s Up 7
forecast
Cloudy, chance of thunderstorms.
High 88, low 74.
Court overturns
life sentence
United Press International
AUSTIN — The Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals Wednesday over
turned a life sentence given to a Tyler
man accused of fatally assaulting his
girlfriend in retaliation for her testi
mony against him on a tire-slashing
charge.
The appeals court ruled that a
sheriffs deputy in Colorado County
did not have probable cause to stop
and detain 31-year-old Paul Wood
ward as a suspect in the death of his
former girlfriend. The case was re
manded for a new trial.
her testimony against him in a crimin
al mischief trial in Tyler. He had been
charged with slashing Dohnalik’s
tires.
Woodward was arrested approxi
mately two hours after the death of
his former girlfriend, Patricia Dohna-
lik. He originally was charged with
capital murder in Dohnalik’s death,
but the charge later was reduced to
deadly assault.
Shortly after she died from gun
shot wounds on March 15, 1980,
Dohnalik’s roommate testified that
Woodward had been making
threatening calls to their residence.
Although she did not witness the
attack, police issued a statewide bulle
tin for Woodward and he was
arrested a short time later in Col
umbus, Texas. A subsequent search
of his car revealed the murder
According to court documents,
police surmised that Woodward
attacked Dohnalik in retaliation for
weapon.
The high court ruled that Wood
ward’s constitutional rights were
violated because there was not suffi
cient evidence against him to justify
his arrest. The appeals court also
ruled that the gun found in his car
was illegally discovered and should
not haVe been admitted as evidence at
his trial.
Patiently waiting
staff photo by David Fisher
The rain that came Wednesday separated
people in a hurry from people who didn’t
think it was worth fighting the rain to get
somewhere. These waited under an
overhang outside Harrington for the rain to
slow down or quit to go
to class.