8
The Battalion
Serving the University community
. 76 No. 129 USPS 045360 20 Pages In 2 Sections
College Station, Texas
Thursday, April 7, 1983
stronauts to test
2 million spacesuits
United Press International
jAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Two
[tie astronauts prepare to walk in
le today to test the $2 million
ttoriij lesuits that thwarted a similar ven-
l,n S into an open cargo bay five
4 ^onihs ago.
jior.9lhe spacewalk, first stroll of
luirsjMricans into the silent vacuum in
■ years, is considered a key step
Srd a bold mission planned for
■ April when two space-walking
■inauts attempt to repair a crip-
sun-watching satellite.
Jlight engineers Story Musgrave
Donald Peterson expect to spend
hours floating about in the 60-
otl-long freight compartment, re-
Bingto Challenger’s airlock at 7:45
^Pjtelong-awaited spacewalk is the
SM ,,Jbig goal of Challenger’s maiden
...Bon. Musgrave, Peterson and
in If™ h
pilots Paul Weitz and Karol Bobko are
scheduled to wrap up orbital opera
tions Friday and glide to a landing
Saturday in California’s Mojave De
sert.
The two spacewalkers got ready
Wednesday night for their adven
ture. They put on the white, 250-
pound spacesuits and gave them a
thorough checkout. Musgrave, a
spacesuit expert, pronounced them
ready to go.
The suits provide everything a per
son needs on his own in space — ox
ygen pressurization, cooling, com
munications, drinking water, a food
snack and urine collection.
Today’s operation was designed to
see how well men can move about in
the suits in the cargo bay, and how
much mobility they have for future
repair work. It also gave the astro
nauts a chance to inspect some insula
tion that ripped away from a maneuv
ering rocket pod during Monday’s
blastoff.
Television from Challenger
Wednesday showed the empty
payload bay and one of two safety
wires that run the length of the hold
for the spacewalkers to snap tethers to
so they won’t float away from Chal
lenger.
One minor mystery developed
Wednesday when Weitz asked to
speak to a flight surgeon. It was the
first private medical conference since
Monday’s launch, and it suggested
one of the crewmen might be ill.
Under a new NASA policy, the na
ture of the problem is not reported
unless it threatens to affect the mis
sion’s plans.
“I can assure you there is no mis
sion impact,” said flight director Gary
Coen.
Hide!
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inly j
tate senate approves
tiding fuel adjustments
United Press International
AUSTIN — The Texas Senate re-
to heed Gov. Mark White’s
for statewide election of the
iblic Utility Commission, but tem-
d the snub with the approval of a
hat supporters said would make
» I’UC more responsive to con-
i r .
■J Bn a voice vote Wednesday, the
Kte approved and sent to the
Bse a hill that would abolish the
datnijBroversial fuel adjustment clause
^ “Utility bills and create an indepen-
1 public counsel to represent con
fers in utility rate cases.
[However, senators four times
ivhelmingly rejected proposals to
PUG commissioners, who now
ppointed by the governor.
ivvd'setBejection of tlie election proposals
Stadiuflseen as the first major defeat of
legislative session for White, who
ima Hied intensively for the proposal
econd-J
and hinted he might call a special ses
sion to push for an elected PUC.
“I understand that considerable
pressure has been brought to bear on
the Legislature by the utility lobby on
this issue,” White said in letters to
legislators.
“Your vote in favor of an elected
utility commission would be a state
ment that the will of the people is
greater than the influence of narrow
interests asserted by the utility indus
try,” he said.
Four amendments proposing va
rious schemes for electing the PUC
never attracted more than 10 positive
Senate votes.
Sen. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, a
sponsor of the PUC bill that won Sen
ate approval, described the reforms
as “modest” and warned that the bill
should not be weakened in the House.
“Much of the changes we are mak
ing today are correcting mistakes we
made years ago,” Doggett said. “But I
don’t think it is one where we can
claim even modest reforms if it is
further diluted.”
In addition to abolishing the fuel
adjustment clause and establishing
the public counsel, the bill would:
•Authorize the PUC to conduct
management audits of utilities to de
termine if their expenses were war
ranted and management decisions
sound.
•Limit utilities’ abilities to earn a
return on their investment in power
plants that are under construction
and not yet producing power. A re
turn on investments for construction
work in progress would be considered
“exceptional” rate relief.
•Require the PUC to create a state
wide energy plan detailing Texas’
energy needs in the coming years.
•Disallow certain utility expenses,
including lobbying efforts and the
cost of making refunds to consumers.
cean drilling project
be directed by A&M
' by Karen Schrimsher
Battalion Staff
xas A&M has been selected to
ta new deep-sea drilling project
will provide scientists with data
he nature and evolution of the
s crust.
exas A&M officials said Tuesday
the University will become a ma-
[enter for scientific ocean drilling,
:ting research operations for the
sciences community during the
| decade.
he project will be a continuation
:current Deep-Sea Drilling Pro-
which has been operated since
by Scripps Institution of
nography in California.
.Tlotat Oceanographic Institutions
editor»| - 8 r - -
i have
ckin $
unanimously selected the Texas
ngthe
fnebod'
M proposal March 31. The cor-
^tion manages the program for
Rational Science Foundation.
Two project advisers from the De-
[ )artment of Oceanography, Dr. Phi-
ip D. Rabinowitz and Dr. William R.
Bryant, said they are enthusiastic ab
out what the project will mean to the
University and geoscience students.
Rabinowitz said the project will
attract a large number of scientists
from all over the world, and that the
visiting researchers will benefit the
University.
Bryant said the project will shift the
attention of marine geoscientists to
ward this part of the country and to
ward Texas A&M.
The program will employ about
100 persons, including master’s and
doctoral degree candidates from the
departments of geology, geophysics
and oceanography. Some degree can
didates will do part of their graduate
research in connection with the pro
ject.
A deep-sea drilling ship capable of
reaching depths of 20,000 feet below
the ocean surface will be leased for
the project. The ship will take sam
ples, called cores, from beneath the
ocean floor in all parts of the world.
The samples will be transported back
to Texas A&M to be analyzed and
stored.
The ship should be in operation by
October 1984, so planning and build
ing must begin immediately, Rabino
witz said. The University has agreed
to build a refrigerated core storage
building, a drilling operations center
and laboratories here.
The project has a projected budget
of about $30 million, and will be
funded by the NSF and several fore
ign governments.
Rabinowitz said the proposed
length for the project is 10 years, but
that it could continue indefinitely.
jjffi campuses competing
e
|8
Talent acts to be filmed
by Pamela Haisler
Battalion Reporter
frt Linkletter Productions will be
lere Sunday to film a 10-act talent
Iw to be shown on Disney Cable
(etwork.
[Karen Snow, chairman of the
iSC Variety Show Committee, said
lat at 7 p.m. Sunday, Linkletter
roductions will film the talent show
ithe main lounge of the Memorial
1 itudent Center.
|J' m ^ urc ^’ Variety Show Com-
Jn i ttee a( ^ v ' ser ’ sa 'd .J ac k Linkletter
fj vill be the host of the show — “Com-
f v ng On” — and Snow will be the
i-host. “Coming On” will feature
^lent competition from 26 college
Hnpuses nationwide. Each campus
have its one-hour talent show
adcast on the Disney Cable Net-
'ork, he said.
Hurd said the 10 acts being pre-
823%iited for filming were chosen by a
tent scout from Linkletter Produc
tions. Three of the acts that will be
plmed also will perform at the MSC
vill
ibroa
fvorl
I k
Variety Show on April 15. Those
acts are the Kappa Pickers, a soror
ity singing group; the Stacked Deck,
a barbershop quartet; and a come
dian.
Although the date that “Coming
On” will be aired has not been set,
anyone can stop by the MSC Sunday
night and see it live. Linkletter Pro
ductions requested that a crowd of
at least 250 persons be present for
the filming.
For those who can’t make the
filming, the fourth annual Variety
Show will be held at 7:30 p.m. April
15 in Rudder Auditorium.
Snow said 11 acts, ranging from
“doggers” — folk dancers — to com
edians and vocalists will vie for
trophies and cash prizes.
Jeff Dunham, a professional ven
triloquist and student at Baylor Uni
versity, will serve as master of cere
monies, Snow said. Dunham recent
ly won first place in the All America
Collegiate Talent Search contest
held in Las Cruces, N.M.
The Stacked Deck, last year’s
Variety Show winners, will provide
entertainment at the show. The
group was first runner-up to
Dunham in the All America Collegi
ate competition.
Snow said the present Variety
Show began in 1951 as a talent com
petition. The winner went on to
compete in a regional talent show.
In 1966, the talent show ended, but
returned in 1979 as a Variety Show
sponsored by the MSC.
Any Texas A&M student is eligi
ble to compete in the talent audi
tions held in February, she said.
This year, 48 acts auditioned for the
Variety Show. The 11 finalists will
compete for first, second and third
places and the winner will go on to
compete in the All America Collegi
ate Talent Search competition.
Tickets for the variety show are
on sale at the MSC Box Office and
cost $3 for students and $3.50 for
non-students. All seats are reserved.
Is it over yet?
staff photo by Eric Evan Lee
Jeff Graeber, a junior philosophy major
from Spring, lets out a yelp while giving
blood Wednesday at one of the Wadley
Blood Bank mobile units. Wadley units
have been on campus all week and will be
taking blood donations through today.
Yell leader race settled
by Kelley Smith
Battalion Staff
Results from last week’s junior yell
leader elections were made official
and posted Wednesday after a re
quest by candidate James C. Becker
that the election not be rerun.
Kelly Joseph, an accounting major
from Round Rock, and Terry Hla-
vinka, an agricultural economics ma
jor from East Bernard, won the elec
tion.
Joseph received 27.7 percent of
the vote. Hlavinka received 20 per
cent.
Becker, a management major
from Lake Jackson whose name was
added to the ballot after elections
opened, came in fifth with 11.5 per
cent of the vote.
When election officials discovered
that Becker’s name was not on the
ballot, 516 votes already had been cast
for junior yell leader. Becker said that
if his name had been on the ballot he
probably only would have received
300 of those votes. Becker was 800
votes away from second place.
“A reasonable margin to protest
the vote would have been 300 votes,”
Becker said.
When the votes were counted,
Election Commissioner Les Asel was
unable to contact Becker to discuss
the outcome. Asel gave Becker a
1,000 vote margin and decided to re
run the election.
“I felt that was unfair and exces
sive,” Becker said of the 1,000-vote
margin. “I felt the victory was decisive
enough that it was a real victory.”
He added that it would be unfair to
Joseph and Hlavinka to rerun the
election.
Other- candidates were: Darrell
Pickard, a psychology major from San
Antonio, who received 13.3 percent
of the vote; Tom King, an accounting/
finance major from Houston, 11.82
percent; Russell McCaskill, a market
ing major from Arlington, 11.4 per
cent; Frank Reister, an agricultural
economics major from El Paso, 2.3
percent; and Gregory W. Simank, a
mechanical engineering major from
Houston, 1.8 percent.
Other candidates in the race still
may appeal until 2 p.m. Friday — 48
hours after the posting, Asel said.
The two other races where names
were left off the ballot — engineering
senator at-large and sophomore en
gineering senator — will be rerun
Tuesday during runoff elections.
Poison found in Easter toy
United Press International
SHREVEPORT, La. — A federal
consumer protection agency has been
placed on nationwide alert to investi
gate the sales and distribution of im
ported stuffed chicks and ducklings
possibly laced with enough arsenic to
kill a 200-pound man.
Some of the chicks tested con
tained arsenic levels high enough to
kill an adult, but the person would
have to eat the stuffed bird to ingest
an immediately fatal amount of the
poison, a toxicologist said.
Dan Sowards, chief of Hazardous
Products Control for the Texas De
partment of Health, said enough
arsenic was found in the chicks, im
ported from China, to kill a 200-
pound man.
Louisiana officials began gather
ing the stuffed birds Wednesday to
test for the toxic substance, and a
large wholesale-retail firm in Texas
removed the chicks and ducks from
shelves in two stores.
The Texas wholesale-retail distri
butor, Marshall Pottery Inc., said
Wednesday its two stores had sold
thousands of the chicks in Texas,
Louisiana and Arkansas.
Texas health officials said the
agency’s regional office in Dallas was
canvassing the product’s distribution.
There have been no reports of
arsenic poisoning from the birds,
which distributors said were stuffed
after hatching dead at China hen
farms. The birds were designed for
use in floral arrangements and not as
toys, but some were used to decorate
Easter baskets.
Arab leaders called
to emergency meeting
United Press International
Arab leaders have been summoned
to an emergency meeting next
weekend in Morocco where Palestine
Liberation Organization officials
want to forge a united stand against
President Reagan’s Middle East peace
initative.
Moroccan envoy Ahmad Bin Suda
announced the April 16 summit in
Fez, Morocco after meeting PLO
chief Yasser Arafat in Kuwait
Wednesday, the Kuwaiti News Agen
cy reported.
“The planned summit follows a
PLO request for a decisive and speedy
stand (by the Arab world) on the pre
vailing situation in the region,” Suda
said.
On Tuesday, Arafat refused to
give Jordan’s King Hussein the go-
ahead to enter talks with Israel on
behalf of the Palestinians as contem
plated by Reagan’s Sept. 1 peace in
itiative.
“We will ask the next Arab summit
to adopt a unified Arab stand against
American Middle East policy which is
hostile to us and our rights,” top PLO
official Yasser Abd Rabbo told repor
ters in Kuwait.
PLO officials said they wanted the
Arab summit to reaffirm the main
points of an Arab League peace plan
that calls for an independent Palesti
nian state and declares the PLO the
sole representative of the Palestinian
people.
inside
Around Town 4
Classified 6
Local 3
Opinions 2
Sports 11
State 5
National 9
Police Beat 4
What’s up 14
forecast
Cloudy to partly cloudy skies today
with a 20 percent chance of show
ers and a high of 63. For tonight, a
50 percent chance of thunder
storms with a low near 49. Cloudy
with a 30 percent chance of thun
dershowers Friday morning, and a
high near 64.