Page 4/The Battalion/Friday, March 2, 1984
Will talking tractor be farmer’s backseat driver?
By DAINAH BULLARD
Reporter
A farmer’s best friend is his
tractor — and one day soon it
will be able to talk to him, giving
him advice on how to better op
erate the machine.
A team of agricultural engi
neers at Texas A&M is devel
oping the talking tractor to help
save fuel and money on the
farm. The talking will be done
by a microcomputer that tells
the driver how to operate the
tly.
tractor more efficiently.
“Our main objective is to doc
ument how Texas farmers use
tractors,” said Dr. Bill A. Stout,
professor of agricultural engi
neering. “Our second objective
is to conserve fuel.”
Studies by the Texas Agricul
tural Extension Service predict
the microcomputer system may
cut farm fuel consumption as
much as 25 percent.
“The microcomputer mon
itors or reads what the tractor is
doing,” Stout said. “It tells the
operator what his work load is
(heavy, light, etc.), and suggests
a travel speed and work gear to
get the most out of fuel.”
Stout said tractors perform
several levels of work, ranging
from heavy (plowing), to light
(planting).
Fuel is wasted when a power
ful tractor designed to perform
heavy work is used for light
work, unless the operator ad
justs gears and speeds correctly.
The computer monitors trac
tor speed through sensors con
nected to the tractor’s front and
back wheels. Stout said. Other
sensors measure the amount of
pull the tractor is using to move
its load.
The tractor used in the pro
gram is a John Deere 4440,
loaned to the University by the
Deere company.
“Our budget wouldn’t allow
the purchase of a tractor,” Stout
said. “That tractor is worth
$40,000 to $50,000. We sought
help from John Deere and they
loaned us the tractor and gave
us some financial support.”
The tractor program is sup
ported by three groups: the
Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station, the Center for Energy
and Mineral Resources, and
John Deere. Stout said a “bal
lpark figure” of about $100,000
has been spent on the program
since it began three years ago.
“We use the money mainly to
buy equipment, like computer
equipment and other kinds of
sensors,” Stout said. “It also
goes to supporting the grad stu
dents v^ho work on the pro
gram. There are five grad stu
dents working on it now.”
Stout and his associate, Dr.
Stephen W. Searcy, assistant
professor of agricultural engi
neering, have been involved in
the program since it began.
Stout is in charge of the me
chanical aspects of the project;
Searcy, the microcomputer
work.
ods for speech synthesis in th
l
A&M scientists to go to sea for ocean drilling tests
microcomputer. ThouglH
computer is not yetspealiB
is measuring efficiency,k \Voul «
In fact, the tractor andB son
outer system were
farm last fall.
Ron Ca >
“ I he microcomputer [Hissing
mentation worked beautHr cas«
which was what we wpfiBat de.
know," Stout said. "We’r jjjblecan
being fully operational B^y.
Out microcomputerrepra Briati
a major investment of tut jdences.
money.” Igai nsl
Binty
the ;
his namt
cause Of!
ing appl
By SUZY FISK
Reporter
Texas A&M scientists will
head out to sea in January 1985
to begin a 10-year ocean drilling
project its director says is the
biggest ever.
Texas A&M officials are ex
pected to sign a $124 million
contract today to direct “the
largest ocean drilling project in
the world,” said Dr. Phillip Ra-
binowitz, director of the Ocean
Drilling Program.
The contract designates the
University as the science opera
tor for the program, which is
sponsored by the National Sci
ence Foundation. Responsibili
ties of the science operator are
providing logistical and techni
cal support for a team of scien
tists, managing each two-month
cruise, drilling and distributing
core samples and the coordinat
ing, editing and publishing of
the final research product.
Rabinowitz said the program
will help scientists study what
the ocean floor is made of and
how it’s formed. Other studies
will be on the evolution of the
ocean basins and how they are
formed, the evolution of passive
and active type continental mar
gins and paleo-oceanography
— the study of the environment
of the ocean including plant
and animal fossils. A new tech
nique on the development of
bare rock drilling will be also
tested.
The ship selected for the in-
ternatonal program will be the
SEDCO-BP 471, “the finest drill
ship in the world,” Rabinowitz
said. The 16,000 ton ship,
owned jointly by SEDCO and
British Petroleum, was selected
to drill at various sites around
the world.
The ship can drill to depths
of 30,000 feet, but the deepest
drilling during this program
will be 27,000 feet. There are
55 crew members and the ship
will accommodate 50 scientists.
Scientific direction will be
provided by the Joint Oceano
graphic Institution for Deep
Earth Sampling, who will also
select scientists from U.S.
oceanographic institutions and
those from other participating
nations, Rabinowitz said. The
international members are
from Canada, Germany,
France, Japan, England and the
European Science Foundation.
Each cruise will have a different
team of scientists who will be re
sponsible for information gath
ered during each two-month
period that the ship is out.
Additional funds will be pro
vided to convert pan of the ship
into a “four-story house” for the
scientists to live in andu
other 12,000 square feetc
oratory space. The shij
have a computer system
keeps the ship in position
lime of drilling and willa
low direct contact will
headquarters here at anyi
The University will bd
drilling operations cenj
core repository in the'
A&M Research Park to
off 1 lighway 60.
Rl
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Measle cases drop to new low
United Press International
AT LANTA — Measles cases
have reached their lowest level
in 71 years, representing a 99.7
percent reduction from the pre
vaccine era, federal health offi
cials said Thursday.
The national Centers for Dis
ease Control said a provisional
total of 1,436 cases of measles
were reported in 1983, a record
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low incidence rate of 0.6 cases
per 100,000 population and the
fewest cases since the nation be
gan keeping records on the dis
ease in 1912.
“This is a 99.7 percent reduc-.
tion from the pre-vaccine era,
when from 1950 to 1962, an an
nual average of 525,730 cases
were reported ...,” the CDC
said.
Dr. Robert Aimler of the
CDC’s immunization division
said measles “is no longer a ma
jor public health problem but it
remains a public health concern
because we have not eliminated
indigenous measles (non-im-
ported) entirely.”
Most of the 1983 cases oc
curred in college students and
in children under age five who
are not directly affected by state
immunization requirements.
The 1983 total represented a
16.2 percent decrease in mea
sles cases from the 1,714 cases
in 1982, which also was a record
low year.
Foui stales accouH
more than 77 percent ofii
digenous cases — Indian:
nois, California and Flohdi
Federal health offtcials
hoped to eliminate thitc
hood disease and laundi
education and vaccinatkxK
paign to accomplish that a
But they failed to achiotl
Oct. 1, 1982, eradication«
line.
Judge
“We do know that when the
effort to control measles is re
laxed the disease returns. If it is
not eliminated, the opportunity
exists for measles to re-establish
itself in our population.”
Of the nation's 3,139 coun
ties, 3002 or 95.6 percent, re
ported no measles cases during
the entire year and every
county was free of measles for
at least six consecutive weeks in
1983.
Zc
Unitei
HOUS
Executive explains expectation
By LISA PEDERSEN
Reporter
An executive for Tenneco
Inc. discussed what his com
pany expects from engineering
graduates who are first year
employees with the company
Thursday night.
Joe B. Foster, executive vice
president for Tenneco, began
his lecture, “What do you call an
Aggie five years after Gradua
tion?”, with anecdotes on bus
stations.
“The reason for the bus sto
ries is to give you a clue on what
you can do early in your career
to avoid missing the bus and
take off like a rocket instead,”
Foster said.
The bus stories were jokes.
Foster’s outline on what it takes
to start the countdown toward
success was no joke.
Tenneco is looking for engi
neers who can think clearly, get
the job done, communicate
their ideas, provide leadership
and show professionalism, Fos
ter said.
“You can’t play in the major
league if you can’t get a curve,”
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Foster said. “You can’t lx? an en
gineer if you can’t think.”
The risks are too high, the
consequences are too great for
mistakes by engineers, so they
have to think clearly, Foster
said.
Tenneco is also looking for
engineers who can get the job
done right the first time, Foster
said.
“We are looking for people
who will go the extra mile,” he
said. “I’ve seen people come
early and stay late if that’s what
it took to get the job done.”
Thinking clearly and getting
the job done won’t do the young
engineer any good if he can’t
communicate his ideas, Foster
said.
“There are people who have
good ideas but are not good
communicators,” Foster said.
“Those who don’t use the En
glish language correctly or can’t
spell are not good engineers.”
In addition to being able to
communicate, Tenneco is
jjeople with i
The CDC said althoughtij
ination of indigenous mol
had not bee 1 'eved, thti
ease’s attack pattern and a
of transmission had been si
stantiaily altered.
250-poun
last mont
has been i
|| Houstc
more tha
entry. :
H Marjor
“I’ve seen alol of peoplt old Housi
because they were toowraBitted t
up in themselves,” Fostersn^me-th
“As a boss or leader, empailsponsorec
essential.” station at
and won
Furthermore, Tenneco prizes. Sh
looking for people with iBme fro:
ership potential, someonetname ant
has the drive and dedicatio: she once c
get the job done, Foster said
lea
looking for
thy.
ader decides what he wane The in
happen and does whatisibor n Feb
essary to do it," he said. Mama pa
Finally, Tenneco is loofl
for someone dedicated to
fessionalism, someone whot \^|Q
it like it is, but with in(«
Foster said.
|L A Unite
Summarizing his speech,tj sl ory and
ter concluded with, “As ®ferred i
Rogers once said, ‘Even if'Employee
Union m
Pci. A r.
fexas A&
IF organi
a,1 d cited
? ta te: Th
I Saw The Wind
A live presentation by Never Summers Productions
A multimedia extravaganza featuring the narration and
photographs of Bob Jameisonand the singer/songwriter
talents of Mark Thompson.
LOCATION: In the heart of student living on
University Oaks, Cripple Creek is on the shuttle bus
route and is popular because of its closeness to
restaurants, clubs and shopping. Investors can enter
their condo in a lease pool and be assured of profes
sional management.
PRICE.' Starting as low as $39,950. Cripple Creek is
affordable for even the most discriminating budget.
VALUE: A large part of the cost of an Aggie's educa
tion can be returned through tax benefits and equity.
Friday, March 2
SHOT
8 pm Rudder Theater
$3.00 per person
Sponsored by the MSC Outdoor Recreation Committee
in conjunction with Outdoor Horizons.
904 University Oaks #56
(409) 764-8682 (409) 846-5741
Models Open Daily
Developed by Stanford Associates. Inc.