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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 1984)
Page 4/The Battalion/Friday, August 3, 1984 Warped by Scott McCullar Texas man killed in accident United Press International A&M Agricultural economist studies Texas shrimp farms University News Service Smaller shrimp-farming opera tions don’t have as great a chance for survival as the larger ones, says a Texas A&M University agricultural economist who is evaluating the eco nomics of shrimp farming along the Texas Gulf Coast. the "The operations can be profitable, but they must be large,” said Dr. Wade L. Griffin of Texas A&M’s College of Agriculture. “Smaller op erations aren’t economically feasible based on the assumptions in my re search.” stocking rates and sizes, and stage in the growing season. Much of the work for the study, which is funded by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration through Texas A&M’s Sea Grant College Program, is performed by mariculture re searchers with the Sea Grant pro gram in Corpus Christi, Griffin said. goes up,” he said, "and one large crop of big shrimp will generally generate greater returns than two crops of smaller shrimp.” “Shrimp farming is a potential new industry for Texas and is at tracting a lot of new interest. It’s not just landowners who are interested in converting their ranges into ponds,” he added., “but entrepre neurs who don’t own any land.” “We’re looking at the status of the industry and will point to areas where shrimp farmers can get the most gain for the research dollar,” Griffin said. “Very little is known about the feasibility of shrimp farm ing in Texas, and a small change in the operations can make a big change in profits. That’s the bottom line — profits.” Successful facilities should have at least 250 surface acres of water, such as 10 25-acre ponds, to realize econ omies of size, said the agricultural economist, explaining that operating cost per unit of production are re duced with greater output. Gritfin and other Texas A&M re searchers are developing a simula tion model which can provide pro spective shrimp farmers estimates of output, per-unit costs of production and profits given certain knowns, such as the size of their facilities, Griffin said while it is possible for shrimp farmers to raise two shrimp crops in a Texas growing season, it might be better to raise just one crop, especially when stocking shrimp that weigh less than a tenth of a gram. The average per-acre investment cost for a 50-surface-acre facility is an estimated $9,000, Griffin said, but with a 1,000-acre facility the per- acre cost of investment may be re duced to $4,000. For the smaller fa cility, production cost is about $6 per pound of shrimp, whereas with the larger system the average produc tion cost would be about $2.50 per pound, he said. FORT LUPTON, Colo. — Rescue workers using a crane took 12 hours Thursday to remove the body of a Texas man from the mangled wreckage of a twin-engine plane that crashed in a corn field. A coroner’s spokesman said the body of Wayne E. Carlson, 63, of Amarillo, Texas, was removed from the wreckage of the Cessna 421 about 6 p.m. The fuselage was so badly smashed that Carlson’s body could not be removed with cutting torches, and a crane was used to pull the wreckage apart. The bodies of two other victims, Beryle Brister, 56, and his son, Jerry, 30, both of Amarillo, were re covered from the wreckage Wednes day evening. Investigators deter mined neither of those men was the pilot, and returned to the crash site two miles northwest of Fort Lupton about 1 a.m. Thursday. “After getting the first two bodies to the coroner, the sheriff found out they were not pilots,” Weld County sheriffs Cpl. Mike Sykes said. “He figured, well, we’ve got to have a pi lot here somewhere.” A fire department team cut into the twisted hulk and located Carl son’s badly mangled body. The crane was brought in at daylight. Around town Science sfudents must take exam Any junior or senior in the College of Science who has not prt viously taken the English Proficiency Examination should plan take the test Aug. 9 unless they have completed English 301 withs minimum grade of C. Students in the College of Science are require: to pass either English 301 or the test in order to qualify asat candidate. The I nglish Proficiency Exam will be adnunistei ed by theEn glish Department. Students in the Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics Departments should register for the exam in 313 Biolog ical Sciences Building before August 8. Chamber sponsors computer seminar Eyewitnesses said the plane plunged into the ground about 5 p.m. Wednesday after one engine exploded in flight, tearing off a sec tion of wing. Sykes said the plane hit the ground upside down, crushing the cockpit section. ‘As shrimp grow larger the price Griffin said while the economic analysis suggests the industry can be profitable, it doesn’t take into ac count risks such as hurricanes and disease that can destroy a shrimp crop. A sheriffs spokesman said Carl son apparently had radioed for help shortly before the plane went down. The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating. The Small Business Council of the Bryan-College Station Cham her of Commerce will present a seminar on “Microcomputers ii Small Businesses,” Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Chamber of Com merce Building at 401 S. Washington. The cost is $ 10 in advanceanJ $12.50 at the door. Please call the chamber office at 779-2278 forad vance registration. m gi Wher SPCA to hold dog bath and dip Sunday The Brazos Valley SPCA will be* having a dog dip on Sundai from 12 to 5 p.m. in the Manor East Mali parking lot. A flea dip be given for a donation of $3 and a hath and a dip for $5. Forfar ther information, please contact the Brazos Valley SPCA at 71> 6491. Driving safety class offered The Texas A&M After Hours Program will sponsor a driver safety course Aug. 3-4 and Aug. 10-11. This course maybe usedto have certain traffic violations dismissed anti to receive a 10 percent discount on automobile insurance. Registration is from 8 a.m. too p.m. in 216 MSC. For more information, call 845-9352. star-gaz nights a and the dons ar this tim dark, g and bet the ligh up. Thee stellatio or Ursa and loo bowl of that for The : the hat look cle there’s ; eyes are find A1 I glassy. | John [student physics once us man Le lieved tl dimmei eyes we The i bowl ol called p P< The 1 portei Depai MI / speed Archi Police (continued from page 1) high. In 1982, 26 percent of officers who married before going into the field were divorced. The divorce rate among officers who married af ter going into the field was 11.2 per cent. McCoy said the relationship of stress to these problems can’t be ig nored. But law enforcement officials can learn to identify and control stress, McCoy said. For example, good nu trition and plenty of sleep can de crease the chances of stress-related illness. “There’s a heck of a lot to be said for meditation, or for just getting out and running around the block. It gives the body a chance to literally burn off stress.” McCoy teaches his classes the techniques of self-hypnosis as a means of better coping with stress. “We let them key in on their own particular fantasies and shut out the stress,” he said. “Many of them don’t realize how much stress they’re un der. The nature of their work is very stressful.” McCoy said that good commu nication skills are of the utmost im portance in reducing stress. One of the most important ways to cope with this problem is by talking about it, he said. “Cops get very frustrated because there’s often no one they can talk to,” McCoy said. Officers often feel frustrated because they don’t want to worry their families by discussing their experiences. “The emphasis is on getting some- one to talk to,” he said. “A staff psy chologist is a damn necessity for ev ery law enforcement agency.” Communication between officers and administrators is extremely im portant, McCoy said. “Communication is often only one-way, from management to the officers, and many of them feel that they can’t respond, which creates frustration.” Both McCoy and Stenning said many state and national law enfo merit agencies are aware of theprd lems presented by stress andarc couraging their employees to k more about it. They emphasized 1 being under stress doesn’t nece ily detract from an officer’s perfi mance. “Most cops are doing a Stenning said. “Most of them handling it.” BU VEH1 A and V len fr Parkii CR T and tl rolet The c Road Train Abandoned van yields cocaine valued at $200 million United Press International HOUSTON — Two Highway Pa trol officers at a roadside checkpoint found nearly half a ton of cocaine — valued at $200 million — abandoned in a van, officials said. The officers were checking driv ers licenses at about 8:30 p.m. on Farm Road 2351 near suburban Pas- dadena at about 8:30 p.m., when a van pulled to the roadside and stopped, said Department of Public Safety Capt. Jack Curtis. “People will do that when they see a checkpoint sometimes, pull over and change drivers or whatever,” Curtis said. “The officers were busy, and when they got a break, they went over and checked.” The troopers found the van aban- “We weighed it, bags and all, and it came to 950 pounds. I can’t remember a seizure that size in Texas.” donned, but inside they found duffel bags full of cocaine. “It was a complete surprise,” said. 15 he “We weighed it, bags and all, and it came to 950 pounds. I can’t re member a seizure that size in Texas,” said Curtis, who has been a narcotics officer 14 years. Curtis said the street value of the cocaine was estimated at $200 mil lion. “I don’t know exactly what they’d be paying at the source, but that size loss is going to hurt somebody,” he said. He said a preliminary investiga tion revealed no clues as to the it titles of the suspect or suspects,! officers were examining evidei into the night. “We don’t have a violatoratll time, we’ll be doing fingerprintii and tests on the cocaine and wn ping to see where it came from,"I said. ULTIMATE CLASS. Experience it at Walden Pond. WALDEN POND APARTMENTS offer a distinctively new design in afforda ble luxury living. 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