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See page 4
See page 11
Senator awarded
Medal of Freedom
See page 4
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Vol. 79 Mo. 164 USPS 0453690 12 Pages
College Station, Texas
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Shuttle
launch
aborted
United Press International
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — An
I engine failure forced a dramatic
I launch abort seconds before blastoff
I of the space shuttle Discovery Tues-
I day. A fire broke out and the shuttle
commander said the crew was ready
to “bail out” if it had not been extin
guished.
[ But the astronauts did not have to
use escape gondolas attached to long
slide wires at the top of the launch
tower to reach safety. Instead, they
spent an anxious 38 minutes in Dis
covery’s cabin while ground crews
I quickly defused the situation.
“We were all disappointed, but
the crew’s reaction was at all times
purely professional and needless to
say, we look forward to a successful
mission later on,” said shuttle com
mander Henry Hartsfield.
Discovery’s maiden flight was de-
j layed indefinitely by the launch fail
ure. Glynn Lunney, shuttle program
; manager at the Johnson Space Cen-
j ter in Houston, said he “anticipated”
the delay caused by the engine fail
ure would be a minimum of 10 days
to two weeks.
“After the 31-second point in the
| launch count, I thought that we were
on our way,” Hartsfield said in a
j statement released by NASA. “We
had the normal big kick when the
engines ignite and almost simulta-
; neously we had the engine alarm.
“It was then that I knew that we
were not going anywhere and my
major concern was that the solids did
not fire,” Hartsfield said, referring
to the shuttle’s twin booster rockets
I that are not ignited until all three
| main engines reach full power.
The launch sequence was stopped
just four seconds before solid rocket
ignition, which would have com
mitted the shuttle to blastoff. In
stead the spaceship remained firmly
| bolted to the launch pad.
A nearly invisible hydrogen fire
flamed briefly at the base of Discov
ery moments after a failure in the
No. 3 main engine had prompted
| the shuttle’s master computer to stop
the launch sequence.
An inspection team was schedule
to assemble at the oceanside launch
pad at 8 a.m. Wednesday to find out
the extent of the damage caused by
the fire and the water spray on deli
cate systems.
[ Discovery is scheduled to blast off
Aug. 29 on its second mission, but
i that date will inevitably slip as the in-
| vestigation into the launch failure
proceeds.
Ag college
enrollment
declines
By KARI FLUEGEL
Staff Writer
The number of agriculture scien
tists retiring and other factors could
result a serious shortage of agricul
tural scientists within the next ten
years, Dr. H.O. Kunkel, dean of the
college of Agriculture, said while
speaking at Govenors’ Conference
on Agriculture.
An estimated 15,000 doctorate
degrees will be granted in agricul
ture during the next decade, or
about 1,500 a year, Kunkel said, but
that may not be enough to fill the
positions of retiring scientists.
“These raw numbers, on the sur
face, suggest the needs will be met,”
Kunkel said.
Because the United States is a ma
jor training ground for third world
agricultural scientists, almost 40 per
cent of the students studying agri
culture in the United States are non
immigrant foriegn students, 90 per
cent of which will find employment
in other countries upon graduation.
“This of course is an essential, vi-
Learning New Steps Photo by PETER ROCHA
The Vidor High School Brigadettes concentrate on a new American Drill Team School on campus this week. See page 5
dance routine in East Kyle. The group is participating in the for related photos.
Education accord reached
Senate
votes for
penalty
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Spurred by
pleas to save hundreds of young
lives per year, the Senate voted
Tuesday to restrict federal highway
construction funds for states that do
not enact a 2Tyear-old drinking age
within two years.
The measure was adopted over
the protests of conservatives, who
said it would curb states’ rights and
discriminate against young drivers.
But backers argued it would stem
highway deaths, especially those of
young people who drive over “blood
borders” to neighboring states to
drink.
The drinking age provision,
which passed 81-16, would cut fed
eral highway construction funds 5
percent in fiscal 1987, which begins
Oct. 1, 1986, and 10 percent in fiscal
1988 for states that do not raise their
drinking ages to 21. It was an
amendment to a child safety bill.
Offered by Sen. Frank Uauten-
berg, D-N.J., it also would add 5 per
cent to highway safety grants for
states imposing mandatory jail terms
and license revocation for drunk
driving offenses.
The House adopted a drinking
age amendment to a different bill
June 7 — and not including the
mandatory sentencing provisions —
so another House vote will be
needed. President Reagan endorsed
the concept June 13.
United Press International
AUSTIN — A House-Senate con
ference committee reached accords
Tuesday on the state school board
and teacher competency tests, leav
ing the complex issue of school fi
nancing as the only remaining area
of discord in two versions of an edu
cation reform bill.
The 10-member committee, in a
more conciliatory mood Tuesday af
ter a late night session Monday
erupted into name-calling and
obscenities, enters its fourth day of
negotiations Wednesday in hopes of
resolving the school financing issue.
Once the two houses accept the
conference committee’s compromise
bill, it then can be sent to Gov. Mark
White for his signature.
Despite strong opposition earlier
by Senate members, conferees
adopted the House bill’s plan to re
quire all teachers to pass a compe
tency test by June 1986 in order to
‘Pro-family’ groups protest
education reform bill
United Press International
AUSTIN — A coalition of
“pro-family” groups Tuesday
protested the education reform
bill being considered by the Texas
Legislature, saying it assumes par
ents don’t know what’s best for
their children.
“Some of these people seem to
have the idea that the parents of
Texas don’t know what they’re
doing and they’re not qualified to
educate their children and rear
their children,” said spokesman
Buddy Hicks of Austin.
About 100 demonstrators,
some carrying placards, gathered
on the state Capitol steps to ex
press their displeasure with the
retain their jobs. The Senate bill
made competency testing optional
for local school districts.
Conferees also compromised on a
career ladder plan that would give
additional pay bonuses to teachers
who complete certain performance
and educational requirements.
For advancement from level one
to level two of the ladder, teachers
would earn between $1,500 and
$2,000 a year; from two to three,
$3,000 to $4,000; and from three to
four, $4,500 to $6,000. School dis
tricts must award the maximum
amounts to teachers unless the state
fails to fund career ladder bonuses.
Disagreements stemming from
the disputed issues prompted an an
gry outburst Monday from Sen. Carl
Parker, chairman of the Senate Edu
cation Committee.
Parker, D-Port Arthur, uttered
obscenities and threatened to walk
out of the meeting.
Other areas of conflict in the two
bills that were resolved by the con
ference committee included:
• Pre-kindergarten for poor or
non-English-speaking 4-year-olds in
school districts where at least 15 eli
gible students wish to attend.
• Passage of a basic skills test for
high school graduation.
• Phase-in of a plan to lower tea
cher-pupil ratios in elementary
grades to 1:22.
• Requiring students to maintain
passing grades in all academic sub
jects in order to participate in extra
curricular activities.
Before adopting the Lautenberg
provision, the Senate defeated, 65-
32, a rival approach offered by con
servative members to add 5 percent
to a state’s highway safety money for
enacting a 21-year-old age drinking
law, 5 percent more for mandatory
sentencing and 1 percent more for
every 1 percent decrease in alcohol-
related deaths.
Twenty-three states now have 21-
year-old drinking laws, including
four that approved them this year.
Lautenberg said his punishment
approach is the most effective way to
end a “crazy quilt of drinking ages in
neighboring states.”
The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration estimates
1,250 lives a year would be saved by
a higher drinking age, Lautenberg
said. Half the nation’s teenage high
way deaths are caused by drunk
driving, he said, and teenagers are
involved in 21 percent of alcohol-re
lated highway deaths.
Dr. H.O. Kunkel
tal contribution of U.S. higher edu
cation to the welfare of people
throughout the world,” Kunkel said.
“But it also suggests that not enough
U.S. citizens have gone into grad
uate studies in agriculture.”
About 27 percent of the current
faculty members in agriculture will
have reached 65 by 1994 and an esti
mated 90 percent will retire within
the decade.
“Assuming a two percent annual
attrition for other reasons, 3,000, or
nearly one-third, of the available
Ph.D. supply will be required for
See KUNKEL page 3
New Hilton
started
By KARI FLUEGEL
Staff Writer
Construction began about a
month ago on a new hotel and con
ference center in College Station.
The Hilton Hotel and Conference
Center, costing an estimated $17.8
million dollars, is scheduled to open
May 23, 1985.
Located at the corner of Univer
sity and Fedmart, the basement of
the complex already has been dug
and workers are pouring cement,
Ron Jackson, president of Sunbelt
Hotels Inc. and one of the owners of
the Hilton, said.
The strange looking t-shaped
crane which can be seen from the
Texas A&M campus will run up the
front of the building. Later, it will
aid in construction as an elevator
shaft to get equipment up to work
ers, Jackson said.
The new complex is being built in
this area because of the expected
growth in the Bryan—College Sta
tion area over the next five years,
Jackson said.
Future university activities and
expected growth of industry in the
area influenced the decision to build
the hotel, Jackson said.
Construction on the new Hil
ton continues.
“We just think the market is ready
for a high quality facility,” Jackson
said. “We’ll have the finest facilities
in the area.”
The 11-story building will have
302 rooms, eight suites, seven Jacuzzi
suites, an outdoor pool and a lobby
bar.
Other facilities at the Hilton will
include a 130-person capacity sea
food restaurant, a 120-person Tex-
mex restaurant called the Plaza Cafe
and a 300-seat Las Vegas-type bar
named Sundance with live club acts.
The hotel also will have a 1,200-
person capacity ballroom, an ampi-
theater with projection equipment
and ten other meeting rooms.
WKm
Local
©day’s Battalion
• The Family Tree is a halfway house for men at least
18 years old suffering from mental retardation. See story
page 3.
State
• Mexican businessmen are complaining about U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization Service officers at the San
Antonio airport. See story page 6.
National
• Democratic rivals Walter Mondale and Gary Hart
made peace Tuesday. See story page 4.
World
• Iran accused Iraq of shelling three of its towns in a
new violation of a U.N.-mediated cease-fire protecting bor
der cities. See story page 6.