Page 4/The Battalion/Tuesday, July 17, 1984
Warped
by Scott McCullar
College Station firefighter
likes being public servant
By PAM BARNES
Reporter
Firemen are old scruffy men who
hang around the fire station waiting
for a fire. When the alarm goes off
they slide down a pole and race
there to chop it up with their axes
and douse it with water.
If that’s what you think, you
haven’t looked lately.
The College Station Fire Depart
ment is staffed with men and women
of all ages who are proud of their
neat appearance in their regulation
uniforms. They are public servants
who are trained in all methods of
fire fighting. There isn’t even a pole
to slide down.
Over five years ago a young col
lege student at Blinn Junior College
also thought that firemen were old.
One day he drove past the fire sta
tion and saw young men working in
the yard so he stopped to ask some
questions. He spent the rest of the
day there.
Today Tim Kinchloe, 25, has
moved up from firefighter to driver
and hopes to take his lieutenant’s
test soon.
“That’s almost a promotion a
year,” says Kinchloe. He says his age
isn’t a real problem but that it’s
sometimes hard to ask for respect
from someone who is older than
Firefighter Tim Kinchloe
yoi
“Instead of telling someone to do
something, I ask them,” Kinchloe
says. “I never ask anyone to do
something that I’m not willing to
help them do. If I tell someone the
floors need mopping and then grab
a mop to help them, it’s not so bad.
You have to earn a person’s respect.”
Kinchloe says he likes being a fire
man.
“I like helping people,” he says.“A
fireman is a public servant. We have
to be available to the public at all
times, for any reason.” Each fireman
works for 24 hours then he is off for
48.
“That’s a third of my life,” Kinch
loe says, admitting that it was hard to
get used to working so closely with so
many different people.
“You’ve got to work together,”
Kinchloe says. “I was one of those
people who said, ‘I did my job and
that’s it.’ That’s wrong, it takes team
work.”
He says when there’s a fire he has
to set aside any personal differences
with others, and has to leave your
personal problems at home.
When all the duties are done
around the station and it’s after 5
p.m., Kinchloe says things are pretty
relaxed.
“Sometimes we get a game of bas
ketball going or we work out on our
new weight machines,” he says. “A
lot of times people go off and study
or watch t.v. But when the alarm
sounds, it’s a different story. When I
hear the tone my heart always starts
racing. It’s unbelievable; your gears
automatically start turning.”
As the driver, Kinchloe must get
the address of the call and think of
the quickest and easiest route there.
“One of the greatest dangers is
getting to the fire,” Kinchloe says.
“You have to worry about people
pulling out in front of you or not
pulling over. With all the bike riders
in this town it’s scarey.”
Firefighting is a dangerous occu-
NEST IN A TREEHOUSE!
If you’ve been nesting in one of the A&M dorms,
now could be the time to fly the coop.
Treehouse Apartments give you more room
than dorm housing while
keeping you close to cam
pus. Only a block from
A&M, Treehouse Apart
ments offer all the secur
ity and convenience of
dorm life. PLUS the extra
space, privacy and features
you want — including
swimming pools, large
closets, and outdoor storage areas for bikes and
more. Efficiencies, one- and two-bedroom floor-
plans are available, many with patios or balco
nies. So come home to
roost. At Treehouse Apart
ments.
treehouse
apartments
Move up in the world
205 Jersey St. West / College Station, TX 77840 / 409/696-5707
CS school trustee resigns
By HOLLY ROBINSON
Reporter
pation but Kinchloe says he doesn’t
think of it that way.
“It really makes you feel good
when everything goes like the book,”
Kinchloe says. He says it’s frustrat
ing when time goes by and there
haven’t been any fires or accidents.
“It’s horrible to say something like
that,” Kinchloe says, “but it’s hard
when you don’t get to do the job
you’ve been trained for.”
Kinchloe’s blue eyes look away as
he remembers the sad stories of the
fire that burned a litter of puppies
or the smell of a car accident. He
says those experiences stay with him
and it’s sometimes hard to deal with
the disaster and death.
“We talk about it,” Kinchloe says.
“Maybe a firefighter that has been
through bad fires before will see it
bothering a new fireman. He’ll go
over and say something and talk it
over with him. It really helps to get it
out. You can’t shoulder it all your
self.”
His pride shines through as he re
calls a story from a few years ago.
“We delivered a baby once,”
Kinchloe says. “We got a call from a
woman in labor. When we got there
it was too late to transport her so we
delivered it there. The mother sends
us pictures of the kid every once in a
while.”
Now that he is a driver he says he
misses fighting fires. At a fire the
driver takes care of the truck and the
hoses and the pumps.
With each fire Kinchloe has been
to comes a new story. In a quiet voice
he tells of the car wreck that left four
family members dead or of the
house that almost burned because
there wasn’t a water hydrant near.
College Station School Board
Trustee Mike Fleming resigned
Monday. Board President John Rea-
gor read a letter from Fleming Mon
day night announcing the resigna
tion. Fleming is taking a job in
Corpus Christi.
The board will appoint someone
to Fleming’s position until the next
elections — in April.
A group of parents spoke out
about the program for gifted and
talented students that began last
year. Many felt the program, which
provides special classes for gifted
students, was not being imple
mented. The board agreed to add a
reaffirmation of approval for the
five-year plan at the next meeting.
The board approved the contin
uation of the drug prevention pro
gram which uses specially trained
dogs to find illegal substances in stu
dents’ lockers and automobiles. The
dogs can find firearms and alcoholic
beverages as well as drugs.
Using incident reports and input
from campus personnel, the admis-
tration found that the service re
duced the flow of illegal drugs.
Securities Associated Interna
tional, which provided the dogs in
1983, will be contracted for 288
hours of service for the nine-month
school year. A trained drug detec
tion dog is available in Brazos
County, but the administrators felt
the SAI service was superior. The
cost of services for the 1984-’85
school year will total $8,004.
curriculum and instructioiil
mated the cost of the pro v
$29,519 to $4 1,000. Owens's
ing part-time instructors, iratsl
the proposed full-time instgl
could reduce the cost rug
$20,169 to $27,075. A
$5,000 for instruments froo|
Arts Council of Brazos Valleio
reduce the cost f urther.
Re<
Vice President Deanna R. Wor-
muth added that the health educa
tion program at the Junior High
School had been successful and
would be more beneficial in the long
run than drug detection dogs.
The board also approved a group
employee insurance program that
maintains current premiums and
coverage for employees, dependents
and retirees and increases the bash
life insurance from $5,000 to
$ 10,000 for each employee.
The board tabled a proposed
strings program for grades 0-8 be
cause of budget restrictions.
Dr. Michael Owens, director of
The board discussed a sum
to begin the school days o«j
hour earlier — 8:05 forekiM
students and 8:10 for secondn
dents. The extra half hourwaJ
lease students earlier for exrJ
ricular activites and prevail
students from missing the!
riod of the day. AssistantSJ
tendent Donald P. Ney sax
schedules might be disrupted^
earlier time. He said somesm
would need to be picked upbd
a.m. and some problems will
loading might occur, butmotti
was needed to determine thcl
impact. Trustee Joe Templttal
the earlier bus routes would!
early for kindergarten andt
lary school students.
Tin
Fun Ei
ties on
a.m. m
given a
and 3n
forms c
era Ho
lion isf
Th
Courst
certain
countc
p.m. tc
845-93
H)
Apartment market glutted
Rents ‘may not declim
He also tells stories of practical
jokes or embarassing experiences
that leave other firemen laughing or
adding to it.
“Like the time,” Kinchloe says,
“when the alarm went off in the mid
dle of the night. I jumped out of bed
and grabbed the nearest pair of
cover-alls. Half-way to the truck I re
alized the zipper was broken and
half the seat of the pants was miss
ing. I had to go to the call like that. I
was lucky it wasn’t a real fire. I don’t
know what I’d have done.”
By Leslie Heffner
Reporter
If you’re waiting until August to
sign an apartment lease because you
think the prices will decrease, recon
sider. Prices may be as low as they
will get.
Nancy Ludwig, an adviser at the
Off-Campus Housing Center, says
apartment complexes cannot afford
to drop rates any lower. College Sta
tion was glutted with apartments so
badly last spring semester that about
1,000 apartments were vacant, she
says.
According to the state comptrol
ler’s office, Bryan-College Station is
not the only area glutted with apart
ments. “From the staked Plains to
the Gulf, from Big Bend to the Piney
Woods, apartment occupancy rates
are dropping and more complexes
are on the way,” says the July issue of
Fiscal Notes, a publication of the
comptroller’s office.
Arthur Wright, a research econo
mist at Texas A&M’s Real Estate Re
search Center told the Bryan-Col
lege Station Eagle last week that the
glut affected Bryan-College Station
the worst two y^ars ago. “...The mar
ket is still pretty soft right now and
vacancy rates are about 20 percent
during the school year,” he said,
“but it’s better than it was.”
Wright agrees with Ludwig’s
opinion that rental rates are not
going to drop because they have al
ready dropped substantially. If any
thing, Wright told the Eagle, rental
rates are expected to rise.
Drew King, leasing agent for Wal
den Pond Apartments (a complex
“It’s going to get worse be
fore it gets better, but we
will see the rental tales
stabilize. ”
Ludwig says, but no one elseiM
knows what is happening. Shi
the area just seems to keepeJ
ing.
under construction) says people are
waiting to sign apartment leases be
cause prices usually drop in August.
Walden Pond will probably not
change its rental rates before Au
gust, he says.
The report in Fiscal Notes states
that rates that do not change are ac
tually falling because they do not
keep up with inflation rates. It also
said that the apartment surplus is
the result of the 1981 Economic Re
covery Tax Act.
The act reduced the amount of
time over which a building can be
depreciated from a range of 30 to 50
years to 15 years.
Another contribution to the over
supply of apartments is decreasing
occupancy rates. “As the supply of
apartments began climbing in 1982,
... occupancy rates began dropping”
the report says.
Ludwig says that in the Bryan-
College Station area apartment oc
cupancy rates have decreased be
cause enrollment at Texas A&M has
a leveled off.
The off-campus center, Ludwig
says, believes College Station is very
much overbuilt.
“The town is built for an indus
trial setting,” she says.
Town investors may know some
thing about the growth of the town,
Lisa Miinch, a senior marl!
major from Orange, says,
years ago when I was a fresli
and lived in a one bedroom
ment, I paid about thesametlu
now paying for a two bednx®
present apartment is newer,
and better than my first one
cost me $325 a month.”
Ludwig says she knows oh
complexes that operatedata3l
cent occupancy rate last spring.
Wright told the Eagle thai
local apartment complexes
good management and locatiot
still able to reach a 90 to95pei
occupancy.”
According to the comptroller!
port, a recent Texas Aparimeis
social ion survey of the 25 apart!
associations in Texas, disclosed
Victoria, Beaumont, Longviev
Killeen look for higher occup
rates. Eight towns expect no cl
in occupancy rates, while 13
expect a decline.
As for the Bryan-College
occupancy rates, Ludwig says
going to get worse before ilgeii
ter, but we will see the rental
stabilize.”
Shi
Educal
named
Hyden
live At
“M
nary n
150 su
Pn
holds;
atton
award'
Sh
Studei
involvi
Ol'
T1
across
Wi
was oi
tried t
Wi
Feder
broug
firstha
which
began
Angel
Fo<
The comptroller’s report said
throughout Texas, building
is slowing down and will
slower if Congress dec
lengthen the building depi
period in order to reduce
national deficit.
i
u wy
Lni
ONE YEAR MEMBERS
PLUS s 6 PHOTO I.D. CARD/ S 1.25
WEEKLY MAINTENANCE FEE
FACILITIES INCLUDE:
COED CONDITIONING FLOOR
FREE WEIGHTS
ICARIAN EQUIPMENT
NAUTILUS
WET STEAM BATH
DESERT DRY SAUNA
RELAXING WHIRLPOOL
PRIVATE SHOWERS.
LOCKERS & DRESSING
OPEN 24 HOURS WEEKDAYS
AGES 16-80
7 DAYS WEEKLY
EXTRA
COED & LADIES AEROBICS
20 MINUTE TANNING BEDS
LIFECYCLES
NURSERY
> *>-
t *• < ? •*?!%*** * > <*
giving
t>usine
GYMS
OF TEXAS
700 UNIVERSITY DR E
846005