The Battalion
Serving the University community
Vol. 78 No. 36 USPS 045360 12 pages
College Station, Texas
Monday, October 17, 1983
ne Marine dies
In latest attack
United Press International
Beirut, Lebanon — One U.S.
Marine was killed Sunday and three
pthers wounded in fighting with Mos
lem militiamen — tha fourth consecu
tive day of attacks against American
peace-keeping troops.
■ Marine spokesman Maj. Robert
Jordan said one Marine was shot in
the head and killed and three were
wounded in attacks on their position
Bebanese University, near Beirut
International Airport.
■Earlier, Jordan put the number of
wounded at five.
Bie said the Marines fired two pow
erful Dragon missiles, M-16 rifles and
M-M) guns in response to the attacks
launched from a Moslem slum by
inilitiamen using rocket-propelled
grenades and small arms.
■The casualties came during a 30-
minute burst of fire from rocket-
arOpelled grenades and rifles begin
ning about 7:12 p.m., Jordan said,
adding that the Marines were still
coming under sniper fire at around
midnight.
At least one of the wounded was in
serious condition with an arm injury,
Jordan said. The casualties were not
immediately identified.
Since being sent to Lebanon a year
ago as part of a multinational peace
keeping force, a total of eight marines
have been killed. Six were slain in
fighting, one died in the April bomb
ing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut and
one was killed in an accident.
More than 50 have been wounded.
Two marines have now been killed
since a cease-fire went into effect in
the Beirut area Sept. 26 after about a
month of fighting between warring
Lebanese factions.
Jordan said a Marine Medivac CH-
46 helicopter sent to ferry the casual
ties to the USS Iwo Jima, a helicopter
carrier stationed in the Mediterrean
off the Lebanese coast, came under
fire but managed to carry out its mis
sion.
Earlier in the day a sniper fired at a
Marine position in Beirut but the
Marines refrained from firing back,
said a spokesman, Warrant Officer
Charles Rowe.
The shot came from the same area
where snipers killed a Marine and
wounded another Friday. On Satur
day, Marine sharpshooters said they
killed four snipers, may have killed a
fifth, and wounded 10 others in a 40-
minute exchange. The Marines were
also involved in an exchange of fire on
Thursday.
In South Lebanon, thousands of
Moslems mourning a 7th century
martyr hurled rocks and daggers at
Israeli occupation troops in a clash
that left 15 people dead or wounded,
Beirut Radio said.
Dean of Engineering
named to Forsyth chair
by Robin Black
Battalion Staff
A four-year search conducted by
I ■ University was ended last week
lien Robert H. Page, dean of the
■ege of Engineering was chosen as
■jfirst holder of the Forsyth Chair
fMechanical Engineering.
■hechair, which was established in
979 as a provision of the estate of
Hes M. “Cop” Forsyth, Class of’12,
one of six in the engineering col-
:ge Forsyth died in 1981.
Bordon P. Eaton, provost and vice
resident for academic affairs, said
ie Forsyth chair is the first of the six
tails to be filled.
Baton said the applicants for the
hair had to be reviewed and
Kroved by the president of the Uni-
:rsity, and then by the Board of Re-
ents.
■There have been one or two other
itempts to fill the chair, but this is the
|i time it has gone through with no
foblems,” he said. “We just haven’t
pen able to find someone sufficiently
balilied to hold the chair until now.”
The new position is one of consid-
Ble honor, he said.
Eaton said the purpose of any chair
ich as the Forsyth chair is to provide
icome from its funds. Part of the
icome goes directly to the holder,
ltd the rest is appropriated for what-
ver use the holder desires, such as
avel or research. The other pur-
rap, he said, is to bring prestigious
iculty to the University.
, Because of his involvement with
ational engineering societies, Eaton
ticl Page would probably use the
Robert H. Page
funds for the first year for travel ex
penses.
University President Frank E. Van
diver said the holder of this chair will
provide scholarly leadership in
mechanical engineering and will de
velop and maintain liaison with state
and federal agencies, private founda
tions, consulting firms, and other na
tional and international research and
educational institutions.
“I can think of no one better for this
position than Bob Page,” he said.
Page, who has been a full professor
of engineering since he came to Texas
A&M from Rutgers University in
1979, will have a much-reduced
teaching load when he undertakes his
new position, Eaton said.
Eaton said the position of dean will
be filled by Dr. Donald McDonald,
interim deputy provost for en
gineering.
Since Page’s appointment in 1979
as dean of the College of Engineering,
the college has had an increase in both
graduate student enrollment and gra
duate fellowship funding. It also has
attracted several national society
meetings; implemented enrollment
management plans; established
undergraduate research programs,
an Alumni Honors Program and an
Engineering Development Council;
and implemented a Summer En
gineering Enrichment Experience
program to attract minority students
to Texas A&M.
At Rutgers University, Page was a
professor and chairman of mechanic
al engineering. He directed the fluid
mechanics laboratory at Stevens Insti
tute of Technology in New Jersey
from 1957-61 and was a research en
gineer for Esso Research.
Page, who has been a national lead
er in bringing the faculty shortage cri
sis in engineering to the attention of
government and industry leaders, is
the chairman of the National En
gineering Deans Council for 1983-84,
holds memberships in more than a
dozen professional societies and asso
ciations, and is a licensed professional
engineer in three states.
He was recently named as a Fellow
of the American Astronautical Socie
ty, the highest rank in the organiza
tion.
Page has given over 85 major lec
tures across the nation and in several
foreign countries, has published
more than 130 scholarly articles and
papers, and is the recipient of many
national engineering awards.
Having a ball
staff photo by John Makely
Chris Blockus, a junior agricultural
economics major, passes to a
teammate during a water polo
match this weekend at Wofford
Cain Pool. In a best
two-out-of-three match, the Aggie
water polo club defeated the
University of Texas 13-1 and 11-1.
Nomination by Reagan
Prof may get DOE job
by Ronnie Crocker
Battalion Staff
Dr. Helmut Merklein, petroleum
engineering professor at Texas A&M
since 1982, says he never seriously
thought of leaving his position here
for a job in the Department of Energy
until Tuesday.
That was the day President Ronald
Reagan announced his intent to offi
cially nominate Merklein to be assis
tant secretary of international affairs
in the DOE.
Until then Merklein said he had to
discipline himself to keep his expecta
tions from getting too high. The
reason for his caution was the many
barriers in the path to the job.
After returning from a one-day
meeting with DOE officials in
Washington, he said that chances are
good he will be confirmed to the posi
tion.
“I don’t think anyone has any beef
with me,” he said.
Merklein said he was notified “out
of the clear blue sky” that he was being
considered for the job early last sum
mer. He was asked if he was interested
and said that he was.
He said it was a case of “duty calls.”
The agreement led to a long series
of events which led up to the Presi
dent Reagan’s announcement last
week of his intent to nominate Merk
lein.
Merklein said the procedures in
cluded standard questioning and in
vestigation.
He first went to Washington to
meet with DOE Secretary Don Hodel
and a small advisory staff. After being
approved he was sent to the White
House for a meeting with the chief of
personnel.
After the personnel staff agreed on
him, Merklein’s name was sent to the
President and an extensive investiga
tion by the FBI began. It involved
Merklein accounting for his whereab
outs since 1937.
He said that at this stage in the in
vestigation he had not yet met with
the President.
His nomination now is being consi
dered by the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee. If it is
approved there, it will go before the
entire Senate for final approval.
Approval by the Senate will lead to
his swearing in. Merklein said he ex
pects to know something before Con
gress goes into recess Nov. 15.
If, however, something important
such as a crisis in the Mid-East occurs,
the committee may not have time to
make a decision on the nomination
before the recess.
At this time Merklein said there is a
reasonable chance that his nomina
tion will be accepted.
Merklein said the job involves “any
thing that has to do with energy on
international levels.” Among them
are imports, military supplies and
possible embargoes and energy re
lated problems in the Mid-East.
Merklein is scheduled to begin a
leave of absence Oct. 24 that will last
until the swearing in, at which time he
will be forced to resign. Although he
is looking forward to the job, he said
he has mixed emotions about it.
“I hate to leave A&M,” he said.
“Really I do.” But that is what will
happen if his nomination is approved
by the U.S. Senate.
Because Texas A&M receives
grants from the DOE, according to
law all ties must be severed between
him and the University should he be
named to the post.
The job has been vacant since last
November when Henry Thomas res
igned as assistant secretary.
Merklein specializes in petroleum
economics and received his doctorate
from Texas A&M in 1970.
staff photo by Guy Hood
End of the trail
Clark Gimple cools down his quarterhorse,
“Dana’s Blaze,” during the North American
Trail Riding Conference competition this
weekend outside of College Station.
Gimples rode in the Aggie Roundup, a
two-day 50-mile trail ride.
Finance minister not yet named
Israelis walk off jobs in protest
United Press International
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister
Yitzhak Shamir failed to name a new
Finance Minister Sunday and
thousands of Israelis walked off their
jobs in a warning to the government
against imposing harsh new measures
to heal Israel’s sick economy.
Israel Television reported Sha
mir’s own choice for the finance port
folio was Energy Minister Yitzhak
Modai, 47, a tough-talking critic of
former Finance Minister Yoram
Aridor.
Shamir held consultations late into
Sunday night but failed to disclose his
candidate to fill the job, which has led
to the political ruin of most recent
office holders.
1 he prime minister was under
pressure to name a candidate before a
scheduled parliamentary vote of no-
confidence later this week that could
topple his week-old government.
Aridor resigned Thursday amid a
furor triggered by his scheme to tie
the shekel to the U.S. dollar in an
effort to resolve Israel’s financial
problems.
Texas A&M’s phone bills
not too high, officials say
by Elaine Engstrom
Battalion Staff
A $35 phone bill every month
might be a bit annoying, but multiply
that amount ten thousand times and
you’ll get the amount of an average
monthly phone bill for Texas A&M.
The University’s telephone bill for
September totaled $357,352. This fi
gure represents not only long dis
tance charges, but installation fees,
new equipment and other charges.
The University also has a Texas
sized utility bill. Total utility costs for
August 1983 were approximately
$2.5 million. Of this amount, natural
gas costs accounted for $1.6 million.
The University generates some elec
tricity but must buy additional
energy.
Other utility costs include power
plant employee wages and mainte
nance costs.
Charles Cargill, vice president for
operations, says these amounts are
not unreasonable for an institution of
Texas A&M’s size.
“Texas A&M is like a city in itself,”
Cargill said.
Robert Sather, University telecom
munications manager, said there are
about 14,000 telephones on the
campus.
The University’s telephone system
is a computerized network that can
monitor calls and keep track of va
rious statistics. For example, Sather’s
office can determine how often a par
ticular phone feature is used in his
office. These statistics have shown
that phone calls are transferred an
average of 8,000 times a day.
Each day, 100,000 phone calls are
completed within the 845 exchange.
Calls are made to every nation — in
cluding the People’s Republic of Chi
na and the Soviet Union.
There are 21 WATS lines and 41
outgoing lines for the state telecom
munications system. The STS is a
phone system operated by the state
that connects state agencies.
These reduced-cost lines save the
University a great deal of money,
Sather said.
University operators work from
the physical plant building on Univer
sity between Ireland and Asbury
streets. The operators handle about
3,000 phone calls daily for University,
student locator and long-distance in
formation calls. They also handle
emergency calls and elevator phone
calls.
inside
Around town 5
Classified 6
Local 3
National 7
Opinions 2
Sports 9
State 4
What’s up 6
forecast
Fair with clear skies — lows in the
mid-forties.