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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 1983)
^age 8/The Battalion/Friday, October 14,1983 ►n w k! Pres OMB tie ki der ] sy n< ja hi: mur ael A jiailt) deal ay re, was 1 com dure: o his srson embe ae id orde lis pa derso claim nted kille« Lt said afte* ming ents El Paso is drying up, needs help from West United Press International EL PASO — Without water om nearby New Mexico, the El aso area will eventually dry up nd its residents will be forced to tove away, a water expert said hursday. Attorney Ellis Mayfield, a lember of the El Paso public ;rvice board that governs.water se, said the West Texas city has nly enough water to meet peak emands of consumers until ab ut 1995. “If we don’t find other Durces of water, our grandchil- ren will have to leave El Paso, ist as the Indians did in pre- ious civilizations when the wa- ;r supply dried up,” he said. Mayfield contradicted the statement of Colorado water en gineer, Leo Eisel, who told a Las Cruces gathering Wednesday that El Paso was too worried ab out the distant future. “If we don’t find other source, our grandchildren will have to leave El Paso, just as the Indians did in previous civilizations when the water supply dried up. ” Eisel said that if the 326 wells El Paso wants are drilled, El Paso will have a glut of water. The wells are planned for the western side of the Franklin Mountains and into the Hueco Bolson on the mountains’ east side, Eisel said. Taking water from this area, he said, will harm the water supply for residents of Las Cruces and for farmers in the Elephant Butte Irrigation District north of Las Cruces. The Las Cruces meeting was sponsored by the Concerned Citizens for New Mexico Water Resources. Eisel’s involvement began in 1981 when he was hired by a Las Cruces pecan far mer to study the ongoing water dispute. Eisel also was a key witness for New Mexico in a lawsuit that El Paso filed against that state in 1980 for the right to use its water. In January, U.S. District Court Judge Howard Bratton ruled that El Paso could use some of the millions of gallons of underground water within the borders of both states. An appeal of the ruling is expected. Eisel said El Paso plans for water usage should focus on the next 40 years. Mayfield disagreed, saying the citizens of El Paso must plan for the long range. ‘‘We would be absolutely stu pid and derelict if we did not begin now to plan for the next 100 years,” Mayfield said. Falcons rest on Texas coast SOD Y WORKS Get your body in huggable shape for the cooler months ahead! This week only get a free “can huggie” with your monthly membership Thurs. Oct. 13 — Thurs. Oct. 20 CP 2d 2416 Texas Ave. 696-3555 (next to Krogers) United Press International PADRE ISLAND — Scientists from the United States and Canada took blood samples Thursday from migrating arctic falcons, an endangered species of birds that make brief semi annual rest stops on the Texas Gulf Coast. The birds landed on Padre Island Wednesday and are ex pected to stay only a few days before continuing their winter migration to Central America. “The birds get together and ride a cold wave south much as surfers ride a wave,” said Bob Whistler, chief naturalist at the Padre Island National Seashore. An unusually large number of the arctic perigrine falcons ar rived this year, Whistler said. He declined to disclose the number or the location of the birds be cause of illegal hunters. Canadian and American sci entific teams tagged the birds and took blood samples to deter mine levels of pesticides they had picked up during their sum mer stay in northern Canada. The pesticide levels will be compared to readings taken last spring, when the birds were migrating north. Get your picture taken on-campus at the freshmen, sophomores seniors, grad., vet., med. Dec. 5-9 juniors 1st floor of the pavilion Photos being taken 8:30a.m.-4:30 p.m. ! - — " Seniors, grads. Vet., Med., Juniors Photographs will be taken at the Yearbook Associates Oct. 10-14, Nov. 7-11, office at 1700 S. Kyle behind a a ,’! 17-21, 14-18, Culpepper plaza. For more sp w 24-28, Nov. 28-Dec. 2, information call Yearbook Jd j Oct. 31- Nov. 4 It. Dec. 5-9 Associates office, 693-6756. Jumping the bench photo by Katimah B. Ish* John Rogers, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, started skate boarding when he was eight. He now is one of twenty skate boarders that have recently organized and are attempting to raise funds to replace an old skate board ramp that was torn down. John is practicing jumping on and off the bench near Harrington Tower. Deported refugees subject of lawsuit United Press International BROWNSVILLE— Many Salvadorans and Guatemalans have been forced to return to their countries because the Im migration and Naturalization Service never advised them of their rights, a San Antonio lawyer said Thursday. In an opening statement, Lee Teran told U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa she would show that the INS was not living up to Immigration and Nation ality Act requirements until a federal court order was issued two years ago. A large influx of Salvadorans and Guatemalans into the Un ited States began in 1980, Teran said. Since then, she said, un known numbers have signed “voluntary departures” in which they waived their rights to hear ings and applications for politic al asylum. Her class action suit, on be half of all Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees, seeks to make the temporary injunction issued in November 1981 per manent. That order has forced INS officers to inform illegal aliens from the two countries that they have a right to request political asylum. INS spokesman Duke Austin said that requests for asylum for Salvadorans alone have in creased from 5,000 to 25,000 total since the temporary injunc tion was issued. Austin said the INS position is that the Salvadorans are “eco nomic refugees” who come to the United States looking for jobs and who do not have valid claims for asylum. Harlingen attorney Lisa Brodyaga, who will appear as a witness, said she would present affidavits that show many Cen tral Americans were “pressured, coerced and intimidated” into signing away their rights. Attorney Linda Yanez, co counsel with Teran, said evi dence would also be introduced to show that Salvadorans’ lives are jeopardized when they are sent back to the war-torn country. Alicia’s damage won’t cause massive tax loss United Press International AUSTIN — Losses resulting from Hurricane Alicia for mem bers of the Catastrophe Proper ty Insurance Pool will be less than half the $300 million pre viously expected. Tbe reduced estimate was good news for state budget watchers, who feared that tax credits resulting from insurance payments due to Alicia could mean a tax loss to the state of nearly $110 million in the cur rent two-year budget period. The fears arose because of recent changes to a law which give insurance companies lax credits if they pay large property claims in the wake of a natural disaster, such as Alicia. Under the 1971 law, the 600 insurance companies in the pool will receive tax credits on their state premium taxes for storm losses paid in excess of $100 mil lion. The loss to pool members from Alicia intially was placed at $300 million, meaning the com- 5 til cJ&ii+Uf! McDonalds St (Jou. m Bryan-College Station 801 University Dr. C.S. 2420 Texas Ave. C.S. 825 Villa Maria Rd. Brvan Not valid in conjunction with any other offer. One Big Ma A c per Big Mac meal combination (while supplies last). parties would have been able to reduce premium taxes by roughly $200 million over the next five years. But DonJ. Manthe, chairman of the Texas Catastrophe Prop erty Insurance Association, told the state Board of Insurance Thursday that new estimates of losses to pool members areatless than $150 million. This means the state will lose only about $50 million in premium taxes over the next five years.